(09-24-2015 06:15 PM)NewMex RocketFan Wrote: I would add that the OL needs to improve at opening running lanes for whoever is carrying the ball. That said, their pass protection has been amazing - no sacks allowed YTD
I agree 100%. So far the pass blocking has been truly remarkable but they still need to work on coordinating the timing and execution on run blocking schemes. Hopefully as they gain experience working together as a unit this will improve.
Here is a comparison of Hunt's stats from the 2014 Missouri game and the 2015 Iowa State game:
Missouri: 15 carries for 149 yards = 9.9 yards per carry
Iowa State: 24 carries for 129 yards = 5.4 yards per carry.
I suspect that the 2014 Missouri run defense was as good or better that the 2015 Iowa State run defense and Hunt is still Hunt, so the difference would appear to be the offensive line. Hunt is still a beast once he gets into the secondary and into space but that really only happened about twice against Iowa State which accounted for over 1/2 of Hunt's total yardage. On the other 22 carries, for the most part, he was stopped after short gains and occasionally at or even behind the line of scrimmage.
The OL is talented but inexperienced playing together as a unit, but IMHO this does mean that the Rockets will have to continue to depend more their passing game and less on the running game (as they have in the first two games) until the OL improves with playing time. Of course the other problem is that the passing game depends on receivers catching passes that are on target.
Of course not every receiver is going to be as sure handed as Lance Moore was but this current crop can't drop as many as they have and continue to win games because sooner or later the Rockets are going play some team that unlike Arkansas or Iowa State does not shoot itself in the foot on every possible occasion. One important thing that made the 2000 Rocket team so good was their flawless execution of all phases of the game: a positive and large turnover margin in their favor and few if any dropped passes, missed tackles, missed blocks, missed field goals, missed reads or stupid penalties. If this team could play with that same level of near perfection (barring serious injuries), I think that they would be a likely shoo in for the G5 access bowl slot.