[BostonCard]

I think the hand wringing about power running backs is overstated, not because I don't think we should run a power running game, but because I think we are capable of running a power running game with somewhat undersized running backs.  Although we've been very effective running with Gerhart, Taylor, and then Gaffney, and less so this last year, I think that has had more to do with the lack of an effective pulling guard than with the lack of a power running back.  Power is not a play that depends on the running back to break a tackle at the line of scrimmage; if everything works correctly, the pulling guard and fullback will have blocked would be tacklers at the point of attack, and it will be a safety coming up to make the tackle.

In our last three games, we gained 190, 204, and 202 yards rushing, compared to an average of 140 yards rushing the first 9 games of the season.  Much of that was gained with our traditional between the tackles rushing game.  I think the big thing was not that our running backs somehow got bigger and stronger, but that our offensive line finally jelled (and our coaches finally started calling more rushes; the last two games were the only two in which we rushed more than 40 times in the game, versus eight such games last year, including the famous 66 times we ran against Oregon).  Next year, either four or five of our starting offensive linemen will be back, including both guards and our center; while they were a bit slow to develop this year, I expect our running game will look more like our running game of the previous five years than this year's running game, despite the fact that we will be using the same personnel at running back next year.

BC

[BostonCard]

I think the hand wringing about power running backs is overstated, not because I don't think we should run a power running game, but because I think we are capable of running a power running game with somewhat undersized running backs.  Although we've been very effective running with Gerhart, Taylor, and then Gaffney, and less so this last year, I think that has had more to do with the lack of an effective pulling guard than with the lack of a power running back.  Power is not a play that depends on the running back to break a tackle at the line of scrimmage; if everything works correctly, the pulling guard and fullback will have blocked would be tacklers at the point of attack, and it will be a safety coming up to make the tackle.

In our last three games, we gained 190, 204, and 202 yards rushing, compared to an average of 140 yards rushing the first 9 games of the season.  Much of that was gained with our traditional between the tackles rushing game.  I think the big thing was not that our running backs somehow got bigger and stronger, but that our offensive line finally jelled (and our coaches finally started calling more rushes; the last two games were the only two in which we rushed more than 40 times in the game, versus eight such games last year, including the famous 66 times we ran against Oregon).  Next year, either four or five of our starting offensive linemen will be back, including both guards and our center; while they were a bit slow to develop this year, I expect our running game will look more like our running game of the previous five years than this year's running game, despite the fact that we will be using the same personnel at running back next year.

BC