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Quick positive spin on the running-game
Posted on 10/1/25 at 10:56 am
Posted on 10/1/25 at 10:56 am
As you probably know, we caint run the bawl Pawl (3.9 yards a carry, 85th in the country). What you might not know is that we have faced an elite slate of run defenses
•Wisconsin (2.1 yards per carry allowed, 2nd in the Nation)
•ULM (2.9 ypc allowed, 15th)
•UGA (3.1 ypc allowed, 24th)
•Florida State (3.2 ypc allowed, 26th)
Now this requires a lot of context. Our poor running game accounts for 25% of each of these teams’ opponents and all of them have faced at least 1 cupcake. However, it does at least give hope that we’ll sort out the running game and have more success as we go forward. Particularly with Jam back
•Wisconsin (2.1 yards per carry allowed, 2nd in the Nation)
•ULM (2.9 ypc allowed, 15th)
•UGA (3.1 ypc allowed, 24th)
•Florida State (3.2 ypc allowed, 26th)
Now this requires a lot of context. Our poor running game accounts for 25% of each of these teams’ opponents and all of them have faced at least 1 cupcake. However, it does at least give hope that we’ll sort out the running game and have more success as we go forward. Particularly with Jam back
This post was edited on 10/1/25 at 11:09 am
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Posted on 10/1/25 at 11:25 am to Glorious
This is a great point.
I was pulling data for my post from college football nerds earlier and was shocked that based on opponent adjusted averages we are somehow the 4th best team in the country in rushing YPC.
Frankly I don’t believe that is real world, but the numbers are what the numbers are.
I was pulling data for my post from college football nerds earlier and was shocked that based on opponent adjusted averages we are somehow the 4th best team in the country in rushing YPC.
Frankly I don’t believe that is real world, but the numbers are what the numbers are.
Posted on 10/1/25 at 11:34 am to tide06
quote:
I was pulling data for my post from college football nerds earlier and was shocked that based on opponent adjusted averages we are somehow the 4th best team in the country in rushing YPC.
We aren’t but we might sneakily be more competent than we realize
Posted on 10/1/25 at 12:34 pm to Glorious
quote:
We aren’t but we might sneakily be more competent than we realize
We don’t need to be elite at running the ball.
We just have to be competent to good so we can sustain drives against teams who have quality pass defenses.
I don’t see us as having much explosive play capability because our backs aren’t really that athletic, but if we need 3 yards on third down we can’t have to go empty to get it if we want to chase championships this year.
Posted on 10/1/25 at 12:49 pm to Glorious
If we can average 3.5 yards per carry I'll take it. It means if we run the ball twice in row on first/second down we're in a 3rd and 3. I'll take those down and distances all day long and twigh-ssst on Sundays.
Posted on 10/1/25 at 1:10 pm to Glorious
Well, we are about to face the 15th ranked run defense on Saturday.
Posted on 10/1/25 at 1:13 pm to Glorious
Traditional run game, meaning removing WR jet handoffs and QB runs and laterals to offensive tackles:
FSU: 19 for 67
ULM: 30 for 200
Wisky: 15 for 45
Georgia: 26 for 76
That's atrocious, regardless of how good the opponent is at run defense. Now, against UGA it was palatable because they were clearly using play-action a lot and needed to continue to keep the defense honest.
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I am hopeful that as we figure out who our main linemen are going to be that we will start to gel more in the run game. I think Jam also will give it a lift as he gets back into full game shape.
I think we might be moving towards Carroll becoming the RT, Formby becoming the RG, and Dewberry and Sanders duking it out on the left side. I see Vandermark as a valuable backup piece but not a starter.
I don't know what to make of Roberts' status. He was a mauler two years ago but just can't seem to put it together under this new staff.
FSU: 19 for 67
ULM: 30 for 200
Wisky: 15 for 45
Georgia: 26 for 76
That's atrocious, regardless of how good the opponent is at run defense. Now, against UGA it was palatable because they were clearly using play-action a lot and needed to continue to keep the defense honest.
--
I am hopeful that as we figure out who our main linemen are going to be that we will start to gel more in the run game. I think Jam also will give it a lift as he gets back into full game shape.
I think we might be moving towards Carroll becoming the RT, Formby becoming the RG, and Dewberry and Sanders duking it out on the left side. I see Vandermark as a valuable backup piece but not a starter.
I don't know what to make of Roberts' status. He was a mauler two years ago but just can't seem to put it together under this new staff.
This post was edited on 10/1/25 at 1:20 pm
Posted on 10/1/25 at 1:49 pm to Bham Bammer
Our opening drive against FSU we ran it down their throats. Then we panicked and hardly ran the ball. I feel like if we had have just kept trying to run against them, things might have turned out differently.
Wisky actually has a really good run defense.
We kept Georgia honest enough running between the tackles. And effectively using play action to bolster the run game is pretty important in running the ball. The better we pass the ball, the better we run the ball. I think our run game will start getting better and better as long as Ty continues his elite play.
Wisky actually has a really good run defense.
We kept Georgia honest enough running between the tackles. And effectively using play action to bolster the run game is pretty important in running the ball. The better we pass the ball, the better we run the ball. I think our run game will start getting better and better as long as Ty continues his elite play.
Posted on 10/1/25 at 2:22 pm to Funky Tide 8
quote:
Our opening drive against FSU we ran it down their throats. Then we panicked and hardly ran the ball. I feel like if we had have just kept trying to run against them, things might have turned out differently.
I agree. I think on the first drive we had nine runs from what you’d call “traditional run game.” So only 10 the whole rest of the game.
Could be worse. Auburn lost a six point game last week and only ran their backs eight times. Despite having a QB that isn’t good passing the ball.
This post was edited on 10/1/25 at 2:26 pm
Posted on 10/1/25 at 2:46 pm to Glorious
Florida State was getting gashed on the ground by Virginia. Bama was actually running it well on them at first too but got away from it. Other than that they've played truly horrendous teams like East Texas A&M
Posted on 10/1/25 at 5:30 pm to Bham Bammer
Whats odd to me is Roberts is still being listed as a co-starter. But he gets very few reps
Posted on 10/1/25 at 5:42 pm to Glorious
Can you put a positive spin on the run defense for me?
Posted on 10/1/25 at 9:23 pm to LovetheLord
quote:
Well, we are about to face the 15th ranked run defense on Saturday.
Vandy is 44th in the nation at defensive rushing YPC when you adjust for opponent.
UGA is 17th, FSU is 23rd and Wisky is 8th
To put that in context ours is 27th even with all those chunk plays against UGA and FSU.
Bottom line the computer thinks their defense can be had as they have them 57th in adjusted scoring (we’re 5th).
TBD.
Posted on 10/2/25 at 6:11 am to angryslugs
quote:
Can you put a positive spin on the run defense for me?
Posted on 10/2/25 at 8:10 am to Glorious
quote:
•Florida State (3.2 ypc allowed, 26th)
I watched Virginia torch FSU on the ground. Sadly...Bama is a contributor to why these teams have such good rush D #s.
Posted on 10/2/25 at 8:29 am to scottydoesntknow
quote:
I watched Virginia torch FSU on the ground
Eh. Virginia averaged 4.4 ypc against FSU. Good but not great
We played FSU on the road, in the rain, without our starting rb and missing a starting o-lineman. It’s telling that Hill and Young didn’t sniff the field once Jam came back
quote:
Sadly...Bama is a contributor to why these teams have such good rush D #s.
True. We’ll know a lot more after we play Vandy and all our opponents play a conference game
This post was edited on 10/2/25 at 8:30 am
Posted on 10/2/25 at 8:37 am to Glorious
I don’t fret about it too much. We do a lot of stuff as an extension of the run game that doesn’t get recorded as a rushing stat, but 6 yards is 6 yards. Having Jam back will help our average too. I don’t think he’s an elite rushing back, but I do think he’s very clearly better than Young and Hill who gobbled up a lot of carries early on without much to show for them. Riley and Jam is a pretty complementary 1-2 punch, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of AK Dear this season
Posted on 10/2/25 at 11:32 am to Glorious
To be fair, I thought running game showed a glimmer in UGA game. I fully expect Bama to run the ball better from this point on
Posted on 10/2/25 at 12:05 pm to scottydoesntknow
I think median yards per rush would be a good statistic to have. I'm not sure how you could do that very easily, but it would be good to know. It would nice to know the 70th percentile rush distance too. So if your median run is 3 yards but your YPC is 6 that means you're busting a lot of long runs. While that's nice, I'd rather be able to consistently run the ball.
If you look at a guy like Richard Young, you'll see he's averaging 2.5 yards per attempt. If he had busted 1 50 yard rush he'd be averaging 5 yards per carry. Lots of that on the team. We just haven't broken any big ones. Back in 2022 we had lots of long runs but couldn't always get the short ones when we needed it.
Right now Bama is 129th in runs over 10 yards and 115th in runs over 20 yards. We are 99th in rushing yards per carry. Not great, but not as bad as the other stats. That means we are doing okay rushing wise but just haven't gotten any big runs. We only have 1 run over 30 yards this season and 2 over 20.
If you look at a guy like Richard Young, you'll see he's averaging 2.5 yards per attempt. If he had busted 1 50 yard rush he'd be averaging 5 yards per carry. Lots of that on the team. We just haven't broken any big ones. Back in 2022 we had lots of long runs but couldn't always get the short ones when we needed it.
Right now Bama is 129th in runs over 10 yards and 115th in runs over 20 yards. We are 99th in rushing yards per carry. Not great, but not as bad as the other stats. That means we are doing okay rushing wise but just haven't gotten any big runs. We only have 1 run over 30 yards this season and 2 over 20.
Posted on 10/2/25 at 12:25 pm to scottydoesntknow
quote:
To be fair, I thought running game showed a glimmer in UGA game. I fully expect Bama to run the ball better from this point on
Weirdly enough, we were constantly in 2nd and 6-8 against Georgia. Very rarely were we getting hit in the back field
Babysteps
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