Running Back Situation

[FrankMA]

Wood is going to be awesome. How can people be down on him? Didn't watch the games or something?

Woods fumbles a lot. If, and I say if, he can get over all the fumbling he will be a valuable asset to the team. It should be pointed out that many rb's never get over their fumble issues and turn into liabiliies rather than assets.

 

[Sweetness34]

Woods fumbles a lot. If, and I say if, he can get over all the fumbling he will be a valuable asset to the team. It should be pointed out that many rb's never get over their fumble issues and turn into liabiliies rather than assets.

How many fumbles did Woods have? 4 that's it on 154 touches, that's not too bad. That's not a fumble problem, that's being careless at times. A lot of guys learn how to overcome those issues and I think Cierre will be more careful with the ball as his career continues. He is an asset and will always be an asset at Notre Dame.

 

[FrankMA]

How many fumbles did Woods have? 4 that's it on 154 touches, that's not too bad. That's not a fumble problem, that's being careless at times. A lot of guys learn how to overcome those issues and I think Cierre will be more careful with the ball as his career continues. He is an asset and will always be an asset at Notre Dame.

The fumbe that stick in my mind was the one during the big final drive against USC. Lucky for ND and him, an ND player recovered. It would have cost the game. That cannot be tolerated. I believe he was yanked from the game at that point and Hughes took over at HB and took over the drive.

 

[Shamrocks and Shenanigans]

How many fumbles did Woods have? 4 that's it on 154 touches, that's not too bad. That's not a fumble problem, that's being careless at times. A lot of guys learn how to overcome those issues and I think Cierre will be more careful with the ball as his career continues. He is an asset and will always be an asset at Notre Dame.

I'm not sure that 4 is the correct number and if it is that may have been lost balls. He definately dropped more that we recovered. I like Woods and think he will be a great back as long as he runs north and south and holds the ball. Hughs drive that was mentioned earlier agaisnt USC almost didn't happen if we don't recover a Woods fumble.

 

[Irish Canuck]

The fumbe that stick in my mind was the one during the big final drive against USC. Lucky for ND and him, an ND player recovered. It would have cost the game. That cannot be tolerated. I believe he was yanked from the game at that point and Hughes took over at HB and took over the drive.

Actually, I'm pretty sure the fumble you're talking about that happened along the sideline on ND's final drive was Robert Hughes. It was recovered by a lineman.

Anyone remember for sure... too lazy to go look it up.

 

[aubeirish]

Actually, I'm pretty sure the fumble you're talking about that happened along the sideline on ND's final drive was Robert Hughes. It was recovered by a lineman.

Anyone remember for sure... too lazy to go look it up.

You're wrong it was Cierre.

 

[tko]

and back to Savon

 

[Irish Man3]

Actually, I'm pretty sure the fumble you're talking about that happened along the sideline on ND's final drive was Robert Hughes. It was recovered by a lineman.

Anyone remember for sure... too lazy to go look it up.

Cierre Wood fumbled on the final drive. Cierre Wood fumbled a lot. Four may be the number of fumbles he lost but it's not accurate as far as the number of times he put the ball on the field. I hope he can move past those issues because he's a talented piece of this offense and is important to us moving forward.

 

[NDTH91]

The fumbe that stick in my mind was the one during the big final drive against USC. Lucky for ND and him, an ND player recovered. It would have cost the game. That cannot be tolerated. I believe he was yanked from the game at that point and Hughes took over at HB and took over the drive.

Then why can we tolerate Harrison Smith falling and letting RoJo be wide open? Cierre will be a force in years to come and his "fumble problem" will be forgotten.

But agreed, back to Savon...

 

[Freeman Ara]

Then why can we tolerate Harrison Smith falling and letting RoJo be wide open? Cierre will be a force in years to come and his "fumble problem" will be forgotten.

But agreed, back to Savon...

Cierre's fumble problem won't be forgotten. He put the ball on the turf a lot this year. And other teams know this. Watch the Sun Bowl again if you can and anytime Wood goes into a pile they hold him up and go for the ball. Kids got ball security issues, that is a major problem. Teams are going to key on him until he proves he can hold on to the football.

 

[NDinFL]

just an fyi to a couple people above... it's cierre wood, singular, not woods, cierre wood.

 

[Shamrocks and Shenanigans]

just an fyi to a couple people above... it's cierre wood, singular, not woods, cierre wood.

Thank god you were able to point that out for me and the others. I hope I won't lose my ND fan badge now. Back to Savon.

 

[BeauBenken]

I think Cierre could be a great back. He is very elusive and slippery and still has good size. I think if he learns to run behind his pads more at times he has phenomenal potential.

 

[fightincolts]

I think Cierre could be a great back. He is very elusive and slippery and still has good size. I think if he learns to run behind his pads more at times he has phenomenal potential.

He shined at the Blue-Gold game... he will be our 1st and 2nd down back. 650 yards on 150 carries. 3 touchdowns.

 

[johnnykillz]

So are he and Tiger related?









































lol.

 

[fightincolts]

So are he and Tiger related?





































lol.

Well does anybody know how many women hes bagged? That'll be a good indication

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Actually, I'm pretty sure the fumble you're talking about that happened along the sideline on ND's final drive was Robert Hughes. It was recovered by a lineman.

Anyone remember for sure... too lazy to go look it up.

Wood put it down, Eifert covered it.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

How are people not excited about Wood? He got better and better as the season went on. He is starting to see lanes before they develop, and is exploding through holes. His agility and vision are incredible. He's got 3 years left of eligibility.

Every year there is a recruit that will come in as a freshman, and blow the competition away to start and win 4 Heismans. Huggins would be a nice grab, but the DL/LB recruits were CRUCIAL, and Kelly nailed it.

Cierre will get close to 1000 yards this season. He is going to turn into a big weapon for this offense.

 

[Old Man Mike]

To Tommy: I think that everyone is very excited about Cierre and everybody hopes that what you say is going to be true. But there are a whole lot of folks who don't think that it is YET true. For those folks, the running back situation is not yet "set-in-stone" for the next three years, despite how much we all would like it to be. Every person of ND fandom will rise in a hallelujah chorus if Cierre becomes the back we occasionally glimpse --- the lightning gasher with the take-it-to-the-house "IT" factor.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

To Tommy: I think that everyone is very excited about Cierre and everybody hopes that what you say is going to be true. But there are a whole lot of folks who don't think that it is YET true. For those folks, the running back situation is not yet "set-in-stone" for the next three years, despite how much we all would like it to be. Every person of ND fandom will rise in a hallelujah chorus if Cierre becomes the back we occasionally glimpse --- the lightning gasher with the take-it-to-the-house "IT" factor.

Fair enough. It just seems every year there is a new recruit who is going to walk into ND and start for 4 years. If Cierre can tack on about 6-8lbs of lean muscle, 3/4 of that in his legs, he'll be very tough to take down. I have faith he is going to be special.

 

[BGIF]

Fair enough. It just seems every year there is a new recruit who is going to walk into ND and start for 4 years. If Cierre can tack on about 6-8lbs of lean muscle, 3/4 of that in his legs, he'll be very tough to take down. I have faith he is going to be special.

Wood doesn't need to pack on lean muscle. I believe Kelly had him loss weight after he became head coach a year ago. Cierre was a weight lifting machine the last 6 months of high school. There was a great deal of discussion on this board about his added bulk. Some think that was why he didn't play as a freshman. Think about it, Charlie's job was on the line. A 5th year in 2013 wasn't a consideration. If Cierre was part of the answer he would have seen the field as freshman.

Looking at the ND great rushers. Not all of them had a big first year (for a large portion of the "old days" freshman weren't eligibile.

Denson rushed for almost 700 yds, over 5 yds/carry and 8 TDs as a freshman AFTER Holtz started him out as CB. As a soph he move up to almost 1200 yds.

Pinkett ran for 500 yds as a freshman and almost 1400 the next year.

Carter only had 145 yds but jumped to over 899 the next.

Bettis went from 115 yds as a freshman to almost a 1000.

Beckon and Watters both erupted their Junior year.

 

[twig21]

I know it sounds crazy to compare Cierre Wood to Michael Dyer.Dyer was a true freshman but Cierre was a redshirt freshman. So neither had college game experience. Dyer outgained Cierre by quite alot but he had 63 more carries, and the biggest difference is Dyer had other teams keying on THE HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER. Dyer outgained Cierre by .54 yards a carry this year. I'm just saying Cierre has a chance to really become a feature back.

 

[BGIF]

... I'm just saying Cierre has a chance to really become a feature back.

I don't think there's any disagreement about the "chance" part.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

Wood doesn't need to pack on lean muscle. I believe Kelly had him loss weight after he became head coach a year ago. Cierre was a weight lifting machine the last 6 months of high school. There was a great deal of discussion on this board about his added bulk. Some think that was why he didn't play as a freshman. Think about it, Charlie's job was on the line. A 5th year in 2013 wasn't a consideration. If Cierre was part of the answer he would have seen the field as freshman.

Looking at the ND great rushers. Not all of them had a big first year (for a large portion of the "old days" freshman weren't eligibile.

Denson rushed for almost 700 yds, over 5 yds/carry and 8 TDs as a freshman AFTER Holtz started him out as CB. As a soph he move up to almost 1200 yds.

Pinkett ran for 500 yds as a freshman and almost 1400 the next year.

Carter only had 145 yds but jumped to over 899 the next.

Bettis went from 115 yds as a freshman to almost a 1000.

Beckon and Watters both erupted their Junior year.

Adding 6 lbs of lean muscle won't bulk him up, specifically, if it is in his legs and core. Also, it would not slow him down at all, may even make him a tad quicker. He seems to get taken off course if he gets bumped when running through a lane. The added leg strength would enable him to run through arm tackles, bumps..etc.

He's still a kid too, he's got a lot of room to grow. 200 lbs now will look a ton different then if he is 195 lbs as a senior. He will look a lot bigger, stronger, and faster.

 

[phgreek]

Wood is going to be fine, but I'm still a breath short of ecstasy. I am deliriously happy on how much he RAPIDLY improved on pass protection and that made me a fan. But I would really like to see him get better on recognizing where the "three-yard" hole is when the other options are no-gain. He can really gash it, that's for sure. In the broken down tough sledding though..... ummm, I think there's room for improvement. And I believe that this is why Big Robert's coming-out-party was so important there at the end. I see no reason why Cierre cannot do this upgrade, but would like to see the runs be both spectacular gashes and the tough-to-read three yarders.

Agree...only thing I can add is...recall AA. He was always nifty...then in his junioir campign he got stronger, and carried some folks along...this year, he squared some folks up, and hammered them. AA's changes came with time and strength...confidence. I saw him do more thre yard, tough sled stuff as time went on...he too was a bit of a dancer early on...

CW seems comfortable in the scheme, if he gets stronger, I expect to see him in more "three-yard" hole runs...of his choosing and by design

I too like Jonas, and can see him in a role, but CW seems the back in this system that stresses the D most. He'll get stronger and more confident, and get the tough yards too.

I love recruits...but too many years of the next great thing...what I have seen is the guys that can do it at this level are hard to come by, and in many cases need alot of work to be functional in a system...that doesn't happen for freshmen very easily or very often unless you have no choice but baptism by fire.

 

[irishff1014]

I think that Wood will put alot of extra work in during the spring to make sure that he gets the number one spot. I think his extra work will pay off and he will be ok in the 2011 season.

 

[Riddickulous]

The one big knock on Cierre Wood is his fumbles, but I think the real issue is his vision. He tries too hard to bounce it to the outside and get the big play every down instead of lowering his head and getting positive yardage. How many times did we see Wood try to break a big one off tackle and get taken down for a huge loss? A lot.

 

[irishandy]

I have a seat solidly reserved on the Wood bandwagon!

I am with you, been on the bandwagon since he's been here. Wood had a solid year last year, but he has room for improvement. This past season was his first year on the field, I expect more out of him this up and coming season and I think he'll come through surprising a lot of people.

 

[irish1958]

CW needs to improve ball control and blitz pickup.
He needs some work on pass catching.
If your offense relies upon just running the ball as does (did) Pitt, these skills are not as important; hence, a freshman back can pick up a lot of yards, but will probably not get much better over time.
Kelly's offense requires all four skills.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

I think Cierre will have a great year this year. Sure he has alot of room for improvement but I think he will be better this year. As far as Savon goes, I would love to add him to this class because he is a great running back, however he is not a must get. It looks like he will go to Rutgers anyways. I like who we have thus far on the roster and with Cierre, Roberson, Gray and Cam we will be just fine at the RB position if all else fails.