RB in 2008

[Win4Gipper]

I am not sure if there is already a thread on this but how does everyone thing the RB position will shake out next year. What kind of combination will we see of Hughes, Allen and Aldridge?

 

[GoshenGipper]

It's hard to say right now. JA was suffering through a sever high ankle sprain half of the season. During the week he's had it in an air cast while walking around campus. Rember that he ran reasonably well earlier in the season while the OL was doing even worse. If I had to guess I'd say it'll come down to the opponent/gameplan, and who gets the hot hand.

 

[mbooch]

It's hard to say right now. JA was suffering through a sever high ankle sprain half of the season. During the week he's had it in an air cast while walking around campus. Rember that he ran reasonably well earlier in the season while the OL was doing even worse. If I had to guess I'd say it'll come down to the opponent/gameplan, and who gets the hot hand.

This one will be another challenge for Charlie Weis in his main chore, to learn to coach COLLEGE football. There doesn't NEED to be a #1 running back. ND's best offenses in my lifetime (the Holtz offenses from '88 to '93) always featured an ensemble of RB's, sharing the reps and racking up, collectively, HUGE rushing numbers. Same way in my first year at the Dome, 1973 (Bullock at FB, Pennick and Best at RB/slotback).

That being said, it is all but obvious that Scwhapp is doing a bad job at FB, which begs the question of why Schmidt hasn't been getting more reps. Hughes looks like he doesn't have enough top end speed. Aldridge is a little fragile. Allen, though, has looked great.

Anyway you slice it, though, ND is VERY well fixed in the backfield for 2008-2009.

 

[Win4Gipper]

Will Jonas Gray factor in at all???? Also, I think pass blocking will factor in on the amount of snaps of each back. I think another year for all of these guys will help out with that.

 

[mbooch]

Will Jonas Gray factor in at all???? Also, I think pass blocking will factor in on the amount of snaps of each back. I think another year for all of these guys will help out with that.

I agree about the pass-blocking, which brings me to Gray. I saw him Friday night in DCD's state final loss to Marine City. The boy is a HORSE. Helluva runner. Hard to bring down. Good acceleration. Better top end speed than Hughes. But I can't say ANYTHING about his blocking, mostly because he carried the ball for most of DCD's plays. However, his height and weight should make him plenty good as a blocker, if he has the patience to learn.

 

[GoshenGipper]

I agree about the pass-blocking, which brings me to Gray. I saw him Friday night in DCD's state final loss to Marine City. The boy is a HORSE. Helluva runner. Hard to bring down. Good acceleration. Better top end speed than Hughes. But I can't say ANYTHING about his blocking, mostly because he carried the ball for most of DCD's plays. However, his height and weight should make him plenty good as a blocker, if he has the patience to learn.

He was hurt during that game too. I bet he "redshirts unless someone gets hurt or transfers.

 

[mbooch]

He was hurt during that game too. I bet he "redshirts unless someone gets hurt or transfers.

Was it on the last play of the game? I thought I saw him kneeling on the turf. What was the injury?

As far as red-shirting goes, well, that's not ND's usual MO. It may be we see Hughes move to FB, since his strength seems to be the first ten yards, not the long run. A lot of things may happen. Anyway, the stable at RB/FB looks awfully good. I hope next year's offense reflects the strengt at THAT position, instead of "let's see if CW can create another Brady".

 

[GoshenGipper]

Was it on the last play of the game? I thought I saw him kneeling on the turf. What was the injury?

As far as red-shirting goes, well, that's not ND's usual MO. It may be we see Hughes move to FB, since his strength seems to be the first ten yards, not the long run. A lot of things may happen. Anyway, the stable at RB/FB looks awfully good. I hope next year's offense reflects the strengt at THAT position, instead of "let's see if CW can create another Brady".

No, he had gone out earlier in the game with another injury, plus he came into the game with this injury in addition to hurting his left shoulder on the last play of the season.

BY CHRIS SILVA
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The Marine City defense watched plenty of film on Detroit Country Day running back Jonas Gray and knew exactly what to expect from the explosive back: speed, speed and more speed.

If the Mariners could keep Gray in check, they knew they'd have as good a chance as anyone to come away with a state title. For three quarters, they did just that.

Marine City held the Notre Dame-bound Gray to 144 yards rushing on 34 carries and came away with a 21-7 win over Country Day in the Division 4 state championship game.

"He was big, he was fast," Mariners defensive tackle Edward Johns said. "He ran me over a couple times. We tried to bounce him outside so we let our ends clean up and our tackles tried to hold the middle. It was tough trying to contain him."

And Gray wasn't even at 100% on Friday.

Gray practiced only on Thursday this week because of a deep right thigh bruise he suffered in the state semifinals. He figured he'd be fine with one more day of rest.

"But when I went back out there that breakaway speed wasn't there," Gray said. "I think, honestly, they're a great team defensively, but I think if I'm a 100% this game's a little different."

 

[GoshenGipper]

As far as red-shirting goes, well, that's not ND's usual MO.

Yeah, but when was the last time ND started stocking up on this much talent?

I know they went out of their way to redshirt Harrison Smith this year, so that there would be an extra year between him and Bruton.

 

[mbooch]

Time will tell. One way or another, he's a keeper!

 

[Axl Rose]

To me it doesn't matter who starts, they all should get their fair share of carries. Maybe use Allen as a WR some plays or Hughes at FB at some plays to get them all on the field at the same time.

 

[mbooch]

Good idea. The last thing ND needs next year is a "running back controversy" to replace this year's QB saga. Rotate them and enjoy the show!

 

[Timugen]

Robert Hughes is the next Jerome Bettis. Anyone who watched Bettis at ND can see the similarities in their running. If I didn't know any better I would guess that someone cloned Bettis 18 years ago and we're looking at the end product right now.

I say we go with Hughes and Aldridge at RB, move Kamara to the slot, and move Allen to wideout with Tate while we work Floyd in.

The reason I say this is because Allen has the speed to go to the house every time he touches the ball, but that's never gonna happen with the blocking we have, so lets give him a chance when he only needs to get past 1 layer of D. Kamara has the size and hands, but not the speed (he's fast, but we have faster) to line up wide...put him in the slot and abuse opponents with his size and relative speed. And Tate... well, we just need to exert every effort possible to get that guy ready to go on running routes. Having him without being able to use him is like coming to a knife fight with an unloaded <del>gun</del> Howitzer.

 

[patman1868]

I think that hughes should be the main back that gets the majority of the carries. He is the best back we have as of right now. He has good vision, cutting ability, and has great strength. The only thing that he is missing is the top end speed, which is fine to me because all of his strengths outweigh that.

The second back should be allen. He is a perfect complement to hughes power. It would be a great thing to go from a big bruiser to a speed back, it would keep the defenses honest. I also think it would be cool to see both allen and hughes in the backfield in like a split back set and get kind of creative with that like a play action to hughes and a swing pass to allen, something like that.

That leaves the aldridge as the third back for me. I think that he has the potential to be good but injuries have hampered his development so he has kind of been passed up by allen and hughes. However if he is healthy I think he can work his way in to a fair share of carries.

Bottom line is next year we have 3 good backs to hand the ball off to which is great. ND will have the ability to have a fresh running back in a lot without too much of a drop off, add jonas gray in to the mix and it makes the RB core even better. I think that ND is set up to have a loaded backfield for the next few years.

 

[notredomer23]

I agree with Timugen. Allen has everything to be Rocket 2.0. The question is would he be willing for a positition change.

Hughes will be our feature back next year. Aldridge will get plenty of carries, as well as Allen because Weis keeps him at RB(which is fully expected)

The thing that kills me is all these backs are going to be great.

 

[johnnd05]

Lots of carries for everyone - ride the hot hand each week.

I'm worried, though, about Aldridge possibly turning out to be one of those guys who's always battling some sort of injury. Those skinny little legs ...

 

[johnnd05]

FWIW I totally disagree with the idea that Allen should be moved to WR. Weis needs to find some more creative ways to get him - and Tate - involved, but he's going to be a really good tailback, especially once he gets a bit bigger and stronger. I wouldn't change his position; just add in a few more plays where he splits out wide, and so forth.

 

[Freeman Ara]

This one will be another challenge for Charlie Weis in his main chore, to learn to coach COLLEGE football. There doesn't NEED to be a #1 running back. ND's best offenses in my lifetime (the Holtz offenses from '88 to '93) always featured an ensemble of RB's, sharing the reps and racking up, collectively, HUGE rushing numbers. Same way in my first year at the Dome, 1973 (Bullock at FB, Pennick and Best at RB/slotback).

That being said, it is all but obvious that Scwhapp is doing a bad job at FB, which begs the question of why Schmidt hasn't been getting more reps. Hughes looks like he doesn't have enough top end speed. Aldridge is a little fragile. Allen, though, has looked great.

Anyway you slice it, though, ND is VERY well fixed in the backfield for 2008-2009.

I thought Weis did a pretty good job much all year of splitting time with the RB's. I think he decided that AA was more game ready then Hughes at the beginning of the season and that he was also the biggest homerun threat of the three but they all got good touches as the year went on. I don't think we will see one RB dominate the carries next year.

 

[Freeman Ara]

FWIW I totally disagree with the idea that Allen should be moved to WR. Weis needs to find some more creative ways to get him - and Tate - involved, but he's going to be a really good tailback, especially once he gets a bit bigger and stronger. I wouldn't change his position; just add in a few more plays where he splits out wide, and so forth.

I totally agree, all year I was waiting for CW to get AA the ball off the edge(besides a screen) out in space some how but it never really happened. And as far as Tate goes was he ever put in the game to do anything but run straight down the field for the bomb. I know Weis can recruit but I was just starting to wonder if he doesn't know how to use these guys once on campus.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Robert Hughes is the next Jerome Bettis. Anyone who watched Bettis at ND can see the similarities in their running. If I didn't know any better I would guess that someone cloned Bettis 18 years ago and we're looking at the end product right now.

I think Bettis was faster and quicker, but they're both very good.

 

[Timugen]

I think Bettis was faster and quicker, but they're both very good.

Yeah, a little bit.....but both are/were very easily mistaken for a Mack truck running down the field.

 

[jonesman]

Guys,
Don't get all hung up on position moving of RB's. We will need all three backs next season. There is way too much chance for injury with a RB. If CW can get his prevurbial head out of his backside, he has plenty of carries for all three backs. Do not be so fast to throw Aldridge to the scrap pile. He ran well when we were not blocking well. Further, he does not fumble. Hughes will be excellent. Allen has great speed, but his size prohibits him from taking a pounding in a 25 carry game. Look around the country and many successful programs are running multiple backs. At ND, Lou did a great job with multiple backs. Let's hope Charlie does not get stuck on one which could cause someone to leave.
As for FB, this position just gets my blood boiling. Schwaap is just freaking terrible. I went back and watched the game again last night. Asaph missed several pass blocks which got JC scrambling. Further, on the fumble, he got hit by a LB which he saw coming. Then the coaches were screaming at the OL on the sideline. If you watch the play, they were making their blocks, just the D knew what was coming and filled the hole. Luke Schmidt deserves a shot. He has good size, better speed and possesses a real running threat.
In the end, celebrate all our RB's. What a problem to have. I will even be glad to have Jabbie back next season if he wants to come back. He looked good in spot duty.

 

[johnnd05]

I totally agree, all year I was waiting for CW to get AA the ball off the edge(besides a screen) out in space some how but it never really happened. And as far as Tate goes was he ever put in the game to do anything but run straight down the field for the bomb. I know Weis can recruit but I was just starting to wonder if he doesn't know how to use these guys once on campus.

Ahh, come on. Remember that these guys are true freshmen; it's going to take them a while to develop all the necessary skills. (Tate was a RB until his last year of HS; Allen didn't even play as a senior.) We can't both complain about the offense being too complicated AND demand that he do all sorts of tricky things with the kiddies. The third-down play yesterday where Tate came out of the backfield was a really nice one; it just didn't pick up enough yards. Just be patient; I'm sure we'll see more creative stuff in '08.

 

[piyachi]

John - Golden did play WR too in high school, but nowhere near it being enough to prepare him for a starting role at ND.

The consensus seems to be wait and see because everyone like both Aldridge and Hughes, and I agree. I do think that Aldridge is going to suffer a lot of injuries, but he does have more speed than Hughes (although Hughes runs through people).... it goes back and forth. Both have a lot of potential. We can't use backs as much as the Holtz era because it simply was a different offense. We are committed to 50/50 pass rush. I do think that there will be enough carries to make AA/JA/RH all meaningful players, and not simply backups. If I would favor one guy to be our featured back it's Hughes because even with some sloppy blocking he still gets us 5/6 yards in most cases. Buuut I want them ALL, muhaha.

I think Allen being to ND what (The Cheater) is to the Saints isn't a bad idea. I literally have yet to see that speed because we can't block much downfield for him, and breaking him out there on a few plays a game could work for us.

Hell lets hire Houston Nutt as our OC and run the wing-T.

 

[goldandblue]

Schwapp is not getting it done for sure. I'd like to see Schmidt in there more for 08 or have Hughes take some snaps there. What a backfield that would be! Hughes at f.b. Aldridge and Allen alternating at R.B.

 

[jonesman]

How about putting Allen and Hughes in a split backfield in short yardage situations. The defense does not know whether you will pound the middle with Hughes or run the corners with Allen. Nah, it is more fun having just a big back and running into 11 defenders knowing the play is coming. CW needs to better utilize all the weapons. How about a full house backfield of Tate, Allen and Aldridge or Hughes. The D has to defend both corners because of speed and respect the power in the middle.

 

[Mattmags]

I was watching the Arkansas game this past weekend and I was extremely impressed with the game plan on offense and working in Darren Mcfadden at rb, qb and slot. This is a tough scheme to perfect but does anyone think it's possible with Armando?

 

[Timugen]

I was watching the Arkansas game this past weekend and I was extremely impressed with the game plan on offense and working in Darren Mcfadden at rb, qb and slot. This is a tough scheme to perfect but does anyone think it's possible with Armando?

Gawd, I hope we don't go there.

 

[johnnd05]

Gawd, I hope we don't go there.

Ditto. No way, no how. Charlie is not that kind of coach, nor is Armando the right kind of player.

Isn't that how the UM game started off, though?

 

[GoshenGipper]

FWIW I totally disagree with the idea that Allen should be moved to WR. Weis needs to find some more creative ways to get him - and Tate - involved, but he's going to be a really good tailback, especially once he gets a bit bigger and stronger. I wouldn't change his position; just add in a few more plays where he splits out wide, and so forth.

I agree with john. They should also keep him on KR, and think about playing him on PR too.