A perhaps controversial opinion, something I have been thinking about since midway through the Hawaii game, but failed to mention before this week. I didn't watch the USM game (was at the ballet with my daughter).

Esukpa really hasn't been very effective against FBS opponents. His season numbers are reasonably impressive - 84 attempts, 395 net yards, 4.7 ypc. But if you take out PVAM, those numbers drop to 52 att, 222 yards, 4.3 ypc. That still isn't bad, but he had a 52-yard run against UHouston and a 51-yard run against UHawaii. Obviously, it isn't fair to ignore those runs since they were huge plays. But that leaves him with 50 attempts, 119 yards, 2.4 ypc against FBS opponents outside of his 2 big runs.

I'm not placing that lack of success on Esukpa, it could easily be on the oline or playcalling or scheme or opposing defenses or whatever. But 2.4 ypc is BAD, and particularly bad for an offense with the express goal of grinding the opponent on the ground. Rice's high percentage of short runs on 1st down is really stifling the offense. Lots of 2nd-and-8, 3rd-and-7, etc. The coaching staff needs to fix this if the offense is ever going to find any consistent success. A successful "pound the rock, control the clock" offense relies on the RBs putting up a consistent 2-6 yards on each run, to keep 3rd down manageable. It isn't an offense that thrives on the occasional long run, surrounded by a high percentage of stuffs and minimal gains.

I've also been surprised to see Tyner disappear the last couple weeks. Very easy to see him getting 1-2 series against UHawaii at the end of the game, same with USM. He barely had a chance against UHouston and was put in a tough spot when the oline committed a penalty on his 1st drive. If the coaching staff decides to give him more opportunities, I would also like to see him get a few more run plays.

(09-24-2018 02:36 PM)mrbig Wrote:  A perhaps controversial opinion, something I have been thinking about since midway through the Hawaii game, but failed to mention before this week. I didn't watch the USM game (was at the ballet with my daughter).

Esukpa really hasn't been very effective against FBS opponents. His season numbers are reasonably impressive - 84 attempts, 395 net yards, 4.7 ypc. But if you take out PVAM, those numbers drop to 52 att, 222 yards, 4.3 ypc. That still isn't bad, but he had a 52-yard run against UHouston and a 51-yard run against UHawaii. Obviously, it isn't fair to ignore those runs since they were huge plays. But that leaves him with 50 attempts, 119 yards, 2.4 ypc against FBS opponents outside of his 2 big runs.

I'm not placing that lack of success on Esukpa, it could easily be on the oline or playcalling or scheme or opposing defenses or whatever. But 2.4 ypc is BAD, and particularly bad for an offense with the express goal of grinding the opponent on the ground. Rice's high percentage of short runs on 1st down is really stifling the offense. Lots of 2nd-and-8, 3rd-and-7, etc. The coaching staff needs to fix this if the offense is ever going to find any consistent success. A successful "pound the rock, control the clock" offense relies on the RBs putting up a consistent 2-6 yards on each run, to keep 3rd down manageable. It isn't an offense that thrives on the occasional long run, surrounded by a high percentage of stuffs and minimal gains.

I've also been surprised to see Tyner disappear the last couple weeks. Very easy to see him getting 1-2 series against UHawaii at the end of the game, same with USM. He barely had a chance against UHouston and was put in a tough spot when the oline committed a penalty on his 1st drive. If the coaching staff decides to give him more opportunities, I would also like to see him get a few more run plays.

Re. your comments on Esukpa, when you have a run-oriented, pound the rock and control TOP offense, your RB is going to have a fairly large number of run less than 2 yards simply because opposing teams are loading the block. The good runners will have 3+ runs per game of 10+ yards, and usually break at least one long one. This is what Bryce Love has done the past 2 years at Stanford (this year, especially), and it's what Barkley is doing this year for the NY Giants. It goes with the territory.

Just noticed the title to this thread:

"So Miss" captures it so very well it is scary.

If the title was an accidental entendre, great.

If it was intentional -- an 11 for the sublime comment.