Is ND trying to pull a UM?

[Praytorian]

Sory to say this but think about how scUM ran out D!ckRod because his style didn't fit traditional UM football. Brian Kelly was known to build up teams by using the pass with a dab of running thrown in. Why change him?

This year all I hear is RUN RUN RUN! I love running the ball personally but that isn't what BK is known for, or why we brought him in. Take in point the 2nd half of the USF game, pass, pass, pass, pass, run, pass - Score what 20-7?

We all want to run the ball for time of posession but when Kelly was at cincy he lost TOP battles. So you want to say "@ ND we play a better schedule so you have to win TOP". No I say due to depth on D. We are bringing in better caliber players who are moving up on the depth chart who "I" think can come in and play hard 3 plays and get a 3&out.

BK's cincy offense had something like an average of 1min 30sec for scoring drives, why do we here at ND need to change him from the coach we recruited (Pass happy) to a run the ball coach?

Go Irish!

 

[tankjeep]

i haven't heard too much clamoring for bk to call games a certain way.

 

[irishff1014]

Coach Kelly's offense will be fine. And i believe that he was brought here to WIN.

 

[tankjeep]

rich rod was screwed from the beginning and hardly had any support. the same can't be said about bk.

 

[military_irish]

I hear what you are saying but after seeing how Wood ran this passed Saturday it would be hard to keep the ball out of his hands. I feel once BK gets more reliable WR's outside of the starters he will go back to his passing ways. But right now he has a stud RB, no need for him to go to waste.

 

[Praytorian]

rich rod was screwed from the beginning and hardly had any support. the same can't be said about bk.

Is that because he would not conform?

 

[nd1]

I really could care less about what type of offense bk runs as long as he winning ball game. if running the ball works then thats fine if not then pass it as long as we win games.

 

[Praytorian]

I hear what you are saying but after seeing how Wood ran this passed Saturday it would be hard to keep the ball out of his hands. I feel once BK gets more reliable WR's outside of the starters he will go back to his passing ways. But right now he has a stud RB, no need for him to go to waste.

Oh I love Wood's production and always thought he was one of the better RB's out there. But look at the 2nd half where he let the qb get into a groove. Would Crist have been better if he had the same chance? I saw more dropped passes than overthows.

 

[GoldenDomer2357]

Rich Rod's seat was warm from the beginning and only got hotter. BK has got much more support. I think fans believe he can win and the players believe in him as well.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Look the strength of the offense at the moment is the offensive line. If the offensive line is strong you run the ball, with a dynamic back like Wood. Plus I believe Kelly has always like a balanced attack even when he was at Cincy.

 

[tankjeep]

Is that because he would not conform?

nope, it's from the old timers not wanting to see the spread in ann arbor. not too many people had rich rod high on the list of coaches to hire for the position anyway.

hoke has been accepted with open arms and will probably be supported as much as humanly possible. and it could be due to his change in offensive philosophy.

imo, i just think rich rod may have stepped on some toes (without the offense being mentioned), and never gained the support needed.

 

[tankjeep]

Oh I love Wood's production and always thought he was one of the better RB's out there. But look at the 2nd half where he let the qb get into a groove. Would Crist have been better if he had the same chance? I saw more dropped passes than overthows.

i agree on the dropped passes, but some of those can be attributed to crist and his accuracy/touch. he had a couple he threw too hard and some where he threw behind the reciever.

i just think dayne's confidence got shaken and he never recovered.

 

[D-BOE34]

What I keep hearing from BK isn't run run run. I hear we don't have the QB to run this system correctly. So when he talks about running the ball, he usually mentions something along the lines of running the ball to take pressure off the QB.

 

[PANDFAN]

What I keep hearing from BK isn't run run run. I hear we don't have the QB to run this system correctly. So when he talks about running the ball, he usually mentions something along the lines of running the ball to take pressure off the QB.

excellent post! this is exactly what he is talking about

 

[Praytorian]

I think we have a strong O-Line as well, but its not only in rushing the ball. The 2nd half they knew we were going to throw the ball and we still scored 20 points on them. If he had ran the uptempo the whole game would we have had 40? Would they even have the 23? I think if we ran the score up they would have to pass more and I don't see too many teams able to match us in the air (be it Tommy or Dayne throwing it), besides USC with the int thrower, or Stanford (with the Heisman winner (PROBABLY).

/added on
And with the score ran up then our D can do what its being built for. Going after the QB. They will have to score more (most likely through the air) and our front 7 can pin their ear's back and get after him!

 

[Whiskeyjack]

We didn't run the ball in the 2nd half against USF because we were behind by 2+ possessions; not because Kelly is pass happy.

 

[BCSorBust]

BK ran the ball at GVSU and CMU when he had his offense in place. I believe at GVSU he averaged over 200 yards on the ground a game. He DOES run the ball when he gets his offense in place. This has been discussed in depth elsewhere and especially on power hours from Mike Frank. It's just a different type of running and not the MSU smash mouth up the gut running.

 

[notredomer23]

This thread is just one big face palm.

 

[Irishnuke]

We didn't run the ball in the 2nd half against USF because we were behind by 2+ possessions; not because Kelly is pass happy.

This. If the score were close you can bet Wood would have been running the ball in the
2nd half. Our running game(Wood) was effective but couldn't be utilized because of turnovers. We need to run the ball. If we have to throw 70 times per game like you want, we're not going to win many games.

 

[Praytorian]

This. If the score were close you can bet Wood would have been running the ball in the
2nd half. Our running game(Wood) was effective but couldn't be utilized because of turnovers. We need to run the ball. If we have to throw 70 times per game like you want, we're not going to win many games.

Don't say like I want, I love running the ball, if it were my decision the Power I would be our base formation. I'm just saying look where the game plan landed us.
First half score 0-16.
Second half score 20-23.
You tell me wich half was more productive on the scoreboard where everyone else seems to say is the ultimate game stat.
If we had thrown it more in the first half maybe C.Wood wouldn't have been so winded and have had to take himself out of the game when we fumbled on the 2. (That my friend was on the first drive as well)
I love C. Wood's talents in running the ball but he isn't a 25-30 carry back at this time in his career.

P.S. If you don't like a thread don't facepalm it, just don't reply. Your just wasting space where other people who might have an opinion might reply.

 

[irishff1014]

Wood was tired be cause he was running all over them that first drive. And i love the fact at like the 12 yard line he lowered his should and tried to bullrush that defender. If we had not had that fumble this game was wood coming out party. But i do think he will have more sucess with the Qb under center seemed like they ran the ball better to me.

 

[Jerry]

I think if Quinn or Clausen were still your QB Kelly would be throwing more. But he probably doesn't have tons of confidence in either Crist or Rees. When you have a QB who's fearless and can make every throw the play calling is different than the current situation where the next bad pass could have you yanking the guy.

 

[Praytorian]

Somehow I don't remember Cincy having a guy who could make ALL the throws, and I do remember BK changing the QB's what 5/6 times that year?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Don't say like I want, I love running the ball, if it were my decision the Power I would be our base formation. I'm just saying look where the game plan landed us.
First half score 0-16.
Second half score 20-23.

You think three first half TOs-- two of them in the red zone-- was part of the game plan?

If we had thrown it more in the first half maybe C.Wood wouldn't have been so winded and have had to take himself out of the game when we fumbled on the 2. (That my friend was on the first drive as well)

Gray was stripped of the ball at the 1-yard line during our first drive. Wood never fumbled.

Wood was wearing down for a bit late in the 1st half, but as I mentioned earlier, we didn't stop running because it was part of the plan or because Wood was gassed. We stopped running because we were down by a significant margin and we couldn't afford to burn the clock. Teams get down by a lot and they have to pass; basic football.

P.S. If you don't like a thread don't facepalm it, just don't reply. Your just wasting space where other people who might have an opinion might reply.

He facepalmed because your posts are based on misinformation.

 

[laservet]

Unfortunately, Wood is the only running back ND can count on, and it isn't reasonable to have him run 30 times per game. And if he gets injured it will be a tough situation. Young rb's may run fairly well early on, but blocking and all the other things the backs have to do take time to learn.

At this point BK needs time to get his own recruits in place. Until then, fans won't see his true offense.

Can't really compare the situation with RichRod. There were Carr/Miles people inside and outside the athletic department who encouraged players to leave, encouraged recruits to sign elsewhere, and continuously leaked negative stuff to the press because their guy wan't hired. RR didn't have much of a chance. The one thing to take from that debacle is if you don't support your coach, he will go away.

 

[ToledoGoIrish]

If running the ball means the ball gets placed in Jonas Grays arms (albeit once or twenty times), then i want nothing to do with any run game.

 

[ulukinatme]

You can't win championship football without some form of a running attack. If you look back to the teams that have won in the past, they all had a decent running game. We have not run the ball well in the last several years if you ask me. We can still be pass heavy and let that setup the run, but we need to be able to get those "chunck" yards and why not use the running game if we're controlling the line of scrimmage? It can only help us.

 

[irishff1014]

Wood was doing a good job. Us being behind closed the door on more chances for him.

 

[ToledoGoIrish]

or at least a mix of power football. OSU would run a near half and half power/spread. Lil' Brother has been power as long as D'antoni has been there and they had one BIG overachieving year.

But u are correct .... it has to be in there somewhere.

 

[orobs]

nope, it's from the old timers not wanting to see the spread in ann arbor. not too many people had rich rod high on the list of coaches to hire for the position anyway.

hoke has been accepted with open arms and will probably be supported as much as humanly possible. and it could be due to his change in offensive philosophy.

imo, i just think rich rod may have stepped on some toes (without the offense being mentioned), and never gained the support needed.

Mostly the stubbornness over running a spread option when our QBs were slow as molasses drop back QBs and forcing D coordinators to run a 3-3-5 despite them never having experience with it (and never getting involved with D himself)

Going 3-9 in his first year didn't help cool off his seat one bit either.