Autry Denson

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Josh Adams is the obvious exception under Kelly's tenure.

Dexter Williams, Deon McIntosh, and Tony Jones are more the norm.

Dexter Williams
Freshman Year - 21 total carries, 1.6 carries per game
Sophomore Year - 39 total carries, 3.25 carries per game
Junior Year - 39 total carries, 3 carries per game
Total = 2.6 carries per game over three seasons

Deon McIntosh
Freshman Year - 0 total carries, 0 carries per game
Sophomore Year - 65 total carries, 5 carries per game
Total = 2.6 carries per game over two seasons

Tony Jones
Freshman Year - 0 total carries, 0 carries per game
Sophomore Year - 44 total carries, 3.3 carries per game
Total = 1.76 carries per game over two seasons

Four and Five Star Players want to be on the field carrying the ball. When they are being recruited by other schools, it's a pretty easy sell to convince them that they will not get many carries if they go to ND. There's a reason Notre Dame never has a running back in the discussion when it comes to the NFL draft.

This is why numbers are dangerous: people use them to make points that aren't valid.

 

[ACamp1900]

This is why numbers are dangerous: people use them to make points that aren't valid.

Thought I was in the politics thread(s) for a moment there...

 

[EddytoNow]

You can't deny that Kelly runs a pass first offense. Top high school running backs are used to carrying the ball 20 or more times per game.

The statistics I cited regarding average carries per game by running backs 2 through 4 are misleading, but not in a positive way for recruiting top running backs. In a normal year under Kelly, the third and fourth running backs would receive even fewer carries than I cited. The injuries to Dexter Williams, Tony Jones, and even Josh Adams towards the end of the season forced Kelly to use McIntosh and to give Tony Jones a few more carries when healthy. Without the injuries either Jones or Williams probably wouldn't have carried the ball much at all. The injuries forced Kelly to use all four running backs, and they all proved to be effective when healthy and given a chance.

Denson has them ready to play, but you've got to give them the ball and an opportunity to get on the field. When we demonstrate that we can and will run the ball like OSU, Alabama, and Georgia, we will get some of those top tier running backs.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

You can't deny that Kelly runs a pass first offense. Top high school running backs are used to carrying the ball 20 or more times per game.

The statistics I cited regarding average carries per game by running backs 2 through 4 are misleading, but not in a positive way for recruiting top running backs. In a normal year under Kelly, the third and fourth running backs would receive even fewer carries than I cited. The injuries to Dexter Williams, Tony Jones, and even Josh Adams towards the end of the season forced Kelly to use McIntosh and to give Tony Jones a few more carries when healthy. Without the injuries either Jones or Williams probably wouldn't have carried the ball much at all. The injuries forced Kelly to use all four running backs, and they all proved to be effective when healthy and given a chance.

Denson has them ready to play, but you've got to give them the ball and an opportunity to get on the field. When we demonstrate that we can and will run the ball like OSU, Alabama, and Georgia, we will get some of those top tier running backs.

I can deny that because it's mostly bullsh!t, but please allow the numbers to speak for themselves.

Top 6 Rushers for ND:
Name Yr Pos G Att Yards Avg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 Josh A. JR RB 13 206 1430 6.94 9 15.85 110.00
2 Brandon W.JR QB 12 141 803 5.70 14 11.75 66.92
3 Deon M. SO RB 8 65 368 5.66 5 8.13 46.00
4 Dexter W JR RB 10 39 360 9.23 4 3.90 36.00
5 Tony J Jr. SO RB 12 44 232 5.27 3 3.67 19.33
6 Ian Book SO QB 10 37 207 5.59 0 3.70 20.70

Top 6 Rushers for Alabama:
Name Yr Pos G Att Yards Avg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 Damien H. JR RB 14 135 1000 7.41 11 9.64 71.43
2 Jalen H SO QB 14 154 855 5.55 8 11.0061.07
3 Bo S JR RB 14 124 596 4.81 8 8.86 42.57
4 Najee H FR RB 14 61 370 6.07 3 4.36 26.43
5 Josh J SO RB 12 46 284 6.17 1 3.83 23.67
6 Brian R FR RB 11 24 165 6.88 2 2.18 15.00

Top 6 Rushers for Ohio State:
Name Yr Pos G Att Yards Avg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 J.K. D FR RB 14 194 1403 7.23 7 13.86 100.21
2 J.T. B SR QB 14 165 798 4.84 12 11.79 57.00
3 Mike W SO RB 12 101 626 6.20 10 8.42 52.17
4 Antonio W SO RB 12 57 290 5.09 3 4.75 24.17
5 Parris C JR WR 13 10 132 13.201 0.77 10.15
6 DemarioM FR RB 4 14 111 7.93 1 3.50 27.75

Top 6 Rushers for Georgia:
Name Yr Pos G Att YardsAvg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 Nick C SR RB 15 223 1345 6.03 15 14.87 89.67
2 Sony M SR RB 14 156 1227 7.87 16 11.14 87.64
3 D'Andre S FR RB 15 81 618 7.63 3 5.40 41.20
4 Elijah H SO RB 13 50 293 5.86 2 3.85 22.54
5 Brian H SO RB 14 61 265 4.34 1 4.36 18.93
6 Jake F FR QB 15 55 79 1.44 3 3.67 5.27


Average rushing attempts/game and total TDs:

ND - 43.8, 35 total rushing TDs
Bama - 43.71, 36 total rushing TDs
tOSU - 42.07, 34 total rushing TDs
Georgia - 44.67, 42 total rushing TDs

And remember Bama and Georgia played 2 more games than ND. So again, I've judged your point/narrative and I find it lacking.

 

[IrishLax]

You can't deny that Kelly runs a pass first offense.

Did you even watch the football games last year? I stopped reading right here.

 

[IrishLax]

I can deny that because it's mostly bullsh!t, but please allow the numbers to speak for themselves.

Top 6 Rushers for ND:
Name Yr Pos G Att Yards Avg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 Josh A. JR RB 13 206 1430 6.94 9 15.85 110.00
2 Brandon W.JR QB 12 141 803 5.70 14 11.75 66.92
3 Deon M. SO RB 8 65 368 5.66 5 8.13 46.00
4 Dexter W JR RB 10 39 360 9.23 4 3.90 36.00
5 Tony J Jr. SO RB 12 44 232 5.27 3 3.67 19.33
6 Ian Book SO QB 10 37 207 5.59 0 3.70 20.70

Top 6 Rushers for Alabama:
Name Yr Pos G Att Yards Avg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 Damien H. JR RB 14 135 1000 7.41 11 9.64 71.43
2 Jalen H SO QB 14 154 855 5.55 8 11.0061.07
3 Bo S JR RB 14 124 596 4.81 8 8.86 42.57
4 Najee H FR RB 14 61 370 6.07 3 4.36 26.43
5 Josh J SO RB 12 46 284 6.17 1 3.83 23.67
6 Brian R FR RB 11 24 165 6.88 2 2.18 15.00

Top 6 Rushers for Ohio State:
Name Yr Pos G Att Yards Avg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 J.K. D FR RB 14 194 1403 7.23 7 13.86 100.21
2 J.T. B SR QB 14 165 798 4.84 12 11.79 57.00
3 Mike W SO RB 12 101 626 6.20 10 8.42 52.17
4 Antonio W SO RB 12 57 290 5.09 3 4.75 24.17
5 Parris C JR WR 13 10 132 13.201 0.77 10.15
6 DemarioM FR RB 4 14 111 7.93 1 3.50 27.75

Top 6 Rushers for Georgia:
Name Yr Pos G Att YardsAvg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 Nick C SR RB 15 223 1345 6.03 15 14.87 89.67
2 Sony M SR RB 14 156 1227 7.87 16 11.14 87.64
3 D'Andre S FR RB 15 81 618 7.63 3 5.40 41.20
4 Elijah H SO RB 13 50 293 5.86 2 3.85 22.54
5 Brian H SO RB 14 61 265 4.34 1 4.36 18.93
6 Jake F FR QB 15 55 79 1.44 3 3.67 5.27


Average rushing attempts/game and total TDs:

ND - 43.8, 35 total rushing TDs
Bama - 43.71, 36 total rushing TDs
tOSU - 42.07, 34 total rushing TDs
Georgia - 44.67, 42 total rushing TDs

And remember Bama and Georgia played 2 more games than ND. So again, I've judged your point/narrative and I find it lacking.

Well done.

Eddy has never given a single shit about facts. He's all about narratives and his own personal subjective "truths."

 

[ab2cmiller]

From the stats you cited, it looks like ND, Bama and pOSU are very similar. Georgia is a different animal as the total rushing stats don't have a running QB.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

From the stats you cited, it looks like ND, Bama and pOSU are very similar. Georgia is a different animal as the total rushing stats don't have a running QB.

Yeah, they had two blue chip RBs that lived up to the hype. Since Kelly has been here, we've put Theo Riddick, Cierre Wood and CJ Prosise in the league at RB and we've had a Heisman contender in Adams until he wore down at the end of the season.

We are exactly where we want be in regards to rush attempts/game, right there with all of the heavy hitting programs. We do need to see more high potential RBs join the team because we are creating lanes with our OL, we just need guys to get through the first hole and then let their natural talent do the rest.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

As a super new guy, am I allowed to say

MIC DROP?


IMO, Kelly has seen the light, realizes that you have to be able to pound the ball to win. He just needed an OC who could sell that to him and run a scheme to prove it.

And don't forget, Long likes to throw the ball just as much as the next guy... but not at the expense of the run game.

 

[BGIF]

Well done.

Eddy has never given a single shit about facts. He's all about narratives and his own personal subjective "truths."

Speaking of Eddy, Nick not the subjective poster, no way he'd come to ND today and have to lug the rock 20 carries a game. For his 30 game career he averaged 9.7 carries a game.

Nick Eddy Rushing

Year	School	Pos	G	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
1964	ND		RB	10	98	490	5.0	5
1965	ND		RB	10	115	582	5.1	4
1966	ND		RB	10	78	553	7.1	8
Total	ND		RB    30    	291	1625	5.6	17

ND Offense During the Eddy Years

Year Tot Yd  Rush Pass
1964 401.4   190.9 210.5  OMG what was Ara thinking Passing more than Rushing!
1965 299,5   214.5  85.0
1966 391.5   210.6 180.9

The wide variation in Passing Yds was due to the QBs and the LEs,
Huarte & Snow in '64,
Zloch and Talaga in '65,
Hanratty and Seymour in '66


A huge difference between Ara's teams in those years and Kelly's is that Ara's had a defensive juggernaut.

Scoring D
1964 7.7 PPG 11th in Nation
1965 7.3 PPG 4th in Nation
1966 3.8 PPG 2nd in Nation

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

As a super new guy, am I allowed to say

MIC DROP?


IMO, Kelly has seen the light, realizes that you have to be able to pound the ball to win. He just needed an OC who could sell that to him and run a scheme to prove it.

And don't forget, Long likes to throw the ball just as much as the next guy... but not at the expense of the run game.

As a seasoned vet on here, your point is well taken.

 

[NDMIA]

Top rushers from the last 4 seasons with their yards per carry.

2018
Tony Jones Jr. 4.8ypc
Jafar Armstrong 3.6ypc

2017
Josh Adams 6.9ypc
Deon McIntosh 5.7ypc
Tony Jones Jr. 5.3ypc
Dexter Williams 9.2ypc

2016
Josh Adams 5.9ypc
Tarean Folston 4.3ypc
Dexter Williams 5.1ypc

2015
CJ Prosise 6.6ypc
Josh Adams 7.1ypc

Didn't watch much on Saturday, but wanted to know people's thoughts on Jafar Armstrong. Irish Illustrated mentioned this is the worst running back room that ND has had while BK has been there. Now, they did mention that could change quickly with the development over the next few weeks of Jafar and Dexter coming back, but are people concerned with the running backs? What do you guys think of Jafar? And is this mostly on the OLine for being bad, or are the running backs not great?

 

[koonja]

Top rushers from the last 4 seasons with their yards per carry.

2018
Tony Jones Jr. 4.8ypc
Jafar Armstrong 3.6ypc

2017
Josh Adams 6.9ypc
Deon McIntosh 5.7ypc
Tony Jones Jr. 5.3ypc
Dexter Williams 9.2ypc

2016
Josh Adams 5.9ypc
Tarean Folston 4.3ypc
Dexter Williams 5.1ypc

2015
CJ Prosise 6.6ypc
Josh Adams 7.1ypc

Didn't watch much on Saturday, but wanted to know people's thoughts on Jafar Armstrong. Irish Illustrated mentioned this is the worst running back room that ND has had while BK has been there. Now, they did mention that could change quickly with the development over the next few weeks of Jafar and Dexter coming back, but are people concerned with the running backs? What do you guys think of Jafar? And is this mostly on the OLine for being bad, or are the running backs not great?

I'm seen as a pessimist, but my prediction before season was that they're fine. They're just OK, won't hurt you, and they can do their jobs, but they're not scaring any DC's.

I stand firmly by my prediction.

 

[beryirish]

Only two games into the season - should reserve judgment until more games are under their belt as they are being compared to groups with full bodies of work already.

 

[koonja]

Only two games into the season - should reserve judgment until more games are under their belt as they are being compared to groups with full bodies of work already.

But don't we kind of know what they are? We know what Tony Jones Jr. is. Jafar was the unknown, and we kind of know he'll be really good as a receiver, but as a RB, he's average IMO. He isn't a tackle breaker, is fast, but not elite, and runs too high.

FWIW, I like Tony Jones the most.

If Dexter comes back and BK doesn't hold a grudge, this all changes completely.

 

[GowerND11]

YPC mean nothing if there are no holes. They've struggled when the OL struggled. They've flourished when the OL dominated. Also, take a look at yards after contact. That tells a more complete story to YPC IMO.

 

[calvegas04]

YPC mean nothing if there are no holes. They've struggled when the OL struggled. They've flourished when the OL dominated. Also, take a look at yards after contact. That tells a more complete story to YPC IMO.

Would be nice if BW can pass the ball and get some room opened up for the RB's

 

[IrishLax]

Top rushers from the last 4 seasons with their yards per carry.

2018
Tony Jones Jr. 4.8ypc
Jafar Armstrong 3.6ypc

2017
Josh Adams 6.9ypc
Deon McIntosh 5.7ypc
Tony Jones Jr. 5.3ypc
Dexter Williams 9.2ypc

2016
Josh Adams 5.9ypc
Tarean Folston 4.3ypc
Dexter Williams 5.1ypc

2015
CJ Prosise 6.6ypc
Josh Adams 7.1ypc

Didn't watch much on Saturday, but wanted to know people's thoughts on Jafar Armstrong. Irish Illustrated mentioned this is the worst running back room that ND has had while BK has been there. Now, they did mention that could change quickly with the development over the next few weeks of Jafar and Dexter coming back, but are people concerned with the running backs? What do you guys think of Jafar? And is this mostly on the OLine for being bad, or are the running backs not great?

It's mostly the OL being bad, but the RBs are also clearly not impact players right now. You watch guys in the NFL or at places like Georgia, USC, Stanford... really anywhere... and I just go "yeah those guys pass the eye test way better than our guys."

Dexter Williams is an explosive RB, and if the OL can fix their nonsense he's gonna be successful.

 

[koonja]

It's mostly the OL being bad, but the RBs are also clearly not impact players right now. You watch guys in the NFL or at places like Georgia, USC, Stanford... really anywhere... and I just go "yeah those guys pass the eye test way better than our guys."

Dexter Williams is an explosive RB, and if the OL can fix their nonsense he's gonna be successful.

I'm all in on Dexter Williams this year. He's going to make our offense look completely different. He's a game wrecker, and we're so far away from that with Jafar/Tony that it's going to be a new offense if the OL can even block to an average level.

I'll eat all the crow if Dexter doesn't ball out assuming BK doesn't bury him once he's back.

 

[NDIrish88]

2015 to 2017 ND had 4 guys who were selected within the first 2 rounds of the NFL draft. 3 of the 4 were in the top 10 overall. If you can't make the holes how can run the ball?

Also ND has Jeff Quinn and not Harry Hiestand. Not saying Quinn sucks. I am just saying it could have an effect on the OL.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

yeah....we only ran for 116 yards against Ball State. That's not good, and most of those yards came on two big runs, one by Armstrong that set up the opening drive TD, and the TD of 30+ yards by Jones.

OL played very poorly against Ball State. They played pretty well against Michigan. I'm on alert regarding our OL, but I'm trying to tell myself that they just got caught off guard by a solid defensive scheme when they weren't expecting a challenge at all (basically, in summary: the perfect recipe for a "let down game")

 

[Luckylucci]

Two factors here.

1. OL play has been very poor. And it's not just lack of movement upfront, it's blown assignments that are destroying plays.

2. Couple that with a RB who's playing his first two collegiate games and doing so at a position he's never played.

And, this is what we've got so far. I think Jones is solid and will continue to be. And, I think Jafar is going to be really good. He's just 28 carries into his career and is literally seeing things for the first time, that's not coach speak. If our OL gets better, so will the run game. I'm a huge fan of Dex's so of course having him back will help.

 

[BoredIrish]

Interviewed for HC job at Charleston Southern

https://247sports.com/college/notre-dame/Article/Notre-Dames-Autry-Denson-interviews-for-Charleston-Southern-head-coach-opening-127600788/Amp/?__twitter_impression=true

 

[Mattmags]

Interviewed for HC job at Charleston Southern

https://247sports.com/college/notre-dame/Article/Notre-Dames-Autry-Denson-interviews-for-Charleston-Southern-head-coach-opening-127600788/Amp/?__twitter_impression=true

NOOOO! Positioning himself for a salary increase at ND?

 

[ACamp1900]

Make him a lifetime,... don’t even care, too important to my childhood and I’m a selfish bitch,....

 

[SoIll]

cya

 

[BoredIrish]

I wonder if this is a Charlie Molnar like situation...

 

[zelezo vlk]

I wonder if this is a Charlie Molnar like situation...

My first thoughts as well.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[Irish YJ]

wonder what the HC salary is a CS?

 

[ColinKSU]

wonder what the HC salary is a CS?

Probably more than he’d make if he was asked to leave at ND.