Running game - Too many carries for McCombs

[Huskydog45]

Can anyone explain why McCombs continues to get 20 - 25 carries a game and Hipp/Max get 1 carry combined? Haven't seem Hippolite much to know if he can contribute much but this kid Max DiLorenzo is a big kid with power and speed who seems to deserves some carries to mix things up a bit. If Deleone likes bringing in McCummings to mix things up at the QB position, how does he not give Hippolite and or Max DiLorenzo 8 -10 carries a game to mix up the running game??. I think Max has potential and the fact that McCombs is a small back with limited succcess thus far and based on his size will wear down over the course of the season, how do you not spread out the carries for Hipp and Max and add some power to your running game?????

 

[huskysupporter]

Because McCombs is far and away our best offensive player. How do we know if DiLorenzo deserves 8-10 carries? Honest question. The coaches see these players in practice every day.

McCombs size has nothing to do with whether he will wear down. It actually has nothing to do with anything. He is our best player. He needs to be on the field. If he is getting 30-35 carries a game, yes, that is too much for any back. But 20-25 is fine.

 

[coachcap]

Can anyone explain why McCombs continues to get 20 - 25 carries a game and Hipp/Max get 1 carry combined? Haven't seem Hippolite much to know if he can contribute much but this kid Max DiLorenzo is a big kid with power and speed who seems to deserves some carries to mix things up a bit. If Deleone likes bringing in McCummings to mix things up at the QB position, how does he not give Hippolite and or Max DiLorenzo 8 -10 carries a game to mix up the running game??. I think Max has potential and the fact that McCombs is a small back with limited succcess thus far and based on his size will wear down over the course of the season, how do you not spread out the carries for Hipp and Max and add some power to your running game?????

It's the football coach's theory that a runner gets into a groove: the more carries that you give him, the better the production. The only time that coaches deviate from this theorem is if the running back is prone to fumbling, or if a wunderkind is waiting in the wings. The incumbant generally gets the benefit of the doubt. Herschel Walker didn't start as a freshman, but once he replaced the incumbant, the rest was history. By the same token, Emmett Smith did start in his first game at Florida.

 

[businesslawyer]

Because McCombs is far and away our best offensive player. How do we know if DiLorenzo deserves 8-10 carries? Honest question. The coaches see these players in practice every day.

McCombs size has nothing to do with whether he will wear down. It actually has nothing to do with anything. He is our best player. He needs to be on the field. If he is getting 30-35 carries a game, yes, that is too much for any back. But 20-25 is fine.

Despite Deleone's schemes, the coaches are not morons. If they thought Hyppolite, Williams or Delorenzo could help us win by being on the field more, they would be on the field more.

 

[huskynation]

Can anyone explain why McCombs continues to get 20 - 25 carries a game and Hipp/Max get 1 carry combined? Haven't seem Hippolite much to know if he can contribute much but this kid Max DiLorenzo is a big kid with power and speed who seems to deserves some carries to mix things up a bit. If Deleone likes bringing in McCummings to mix things up at the QB position, how does he not give Hippolite and or Max DiLorenzo 8 -10 carries a game to mix up the running game??. I think Max has potential and the fact that McCombs is a small back with limited succcess thus far and based on his size will wear down over the course of the season, how do you not spread out the carries for Hipp and Max and add some power to your running game?????

I completely agree. And a key point to remember is that the coaching staff did this last year also. This is not to knock McCombs he's a good player and he should continue to get the majority of the carries. However, McCombs is not a complete back, he's too small and he doesnt have elite speed. he's a slasher, he has very good vision, and he can catch the ball out of the backfield. He has his strengths and that usually means getting him in the open field where he can make something happen, like the screen pass that he almost took to the house. But anyone who believes that McCombs is a power back that can push a pile and gain first downs in lying to themselves. If you believe that lyle McCombs is an elite all around back, you definately on something. This blind stubborness of the offensive coaching staff, to insist on not giving any other backs a chance to get some carries is insane. Especially when the offense is struggling. Delorenzo needs to get carries, he's a much bigger back and at the very least he should be there in short yardage situations ( we would have converted some of those third and short plays). Joseph Williams has elite speed, he should get some touches also. Change up the running game a bit.

This coaching staff combo of Deleone and Pasqauloni, is old, stubborn, and outdated. College football has changed, and they are still in the 1990's, their own world.

 

[huskynation]

Despite Deleone's schemes, the coaches are not morons. If they thought Hyppolite, Williams or Delorenzo could help us win by being on the field more, they would be on the field more.

BL I know you're a smart guy, you know football. But I'm not buying that bull, maybe last year, but not this year. I've seen Delorenzo, get a few carries and he looked explosive and strong he's a completely different back than McCombs (not better but different which is sometimes all you need for short spurts). Common sense says that when the running game is struggling you rotate your backs in cause it keeps them fresh and keeps the defense off guard. Each back has their strengths and weaknesses. Doesn't it make sense to utilize all of their strengths. the majority of college football believes that rotating your backs helps you keep a strong running game.

You cannot be so predictable that you only give one running back touches the whole season, McCombs is not the back to use for the power running game. They need to stop running him up the middle, thinking that their wearing down the defense, there only gonna get him hurt.

This coaching staff is more into habit and routine than they are into logic or common sense. Don't you think that other teams can see them coming a mile away. Isn't it plain that deleone thinks that his backup running back is the wildcat formation.

 

[bmayuc]

My problem is not with the player but with the staff. Part of the duty of a coaching staff is to clearly define roles for a team.

Mccombs is in the wrong role. A 166 lb running back with wiggle/catching skills was born to be a change of pace back. Screens/counters/swing passes/draws should be his bread and butter for about 10 touches/game.

Instead, he has 25 touches/game and many are of the ISO/iso draw/power variety. Just terrible role for him.

From a team concept the issue with mccombs is what it is. He makes yards where there are clear holes, he is not powering for an extra yard or two. With an OLINE that is, um, struggling, this means a TON of 2nd-n-9s, 2nd-n-12s that put you behind schedule. Give joe Williams a shot, give Max a shot, they look like they can lower their shoulder at least.

Very frustrating, I can strait up call our plays 50% of the time from section 229. Terrible...

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[ktuck911]

Despite Deleone's schemes, the coaches are not morons. If they thought Hyppolite, Williams or Delorenzo could help us win by being on the field more, they would be on the field more.

That scares me with our running game... We get excited about these RB recruits that we think will come in and challenge our 5'8 166lb dynamo ( which one should ), but when the lights come on, none of them get any real burn.... If our depth at RB, after 2 games, is that porous, we need to do a better job recruiting the position.. AGAIN, kinda tough when you don't have a real RB coach....

 

[Uconnalliance]

Can anyone explain why McCombs continues to get 20 - 25 carries a game and Hipp/Max get 1 carry combined? Haven't seem Hippolite much to know if he can contribute much but this kid Max DiLorenzo is a big kid with power and speed who seems to deserves some carries to mix things up a bit. If Deleone likes bringing in McCummings to mix things up at the QB position, how does he not give Hippolite and or Max DiLorenzo 8 -10 carries a game to mix up the running game??. I think Max has potential and the fact that McCombs is a small back with limited succcesthus far and based on his size will wear down over the course of the season, how do you nspread out the carries for Hipp and Max and add some power to your running game???? What about Joe Williams to mix it up a bit? Deleone is friggin predicable

 

[Uconnalliance]

Oops let's try this again! what about Joe Williams in the mix? Deleone is so predictable,god it's looking like Pitt could actually beat us,by then the entire BE will have us figured out.

 

[Husky68]

Despite Deleone's schemes, the coaches are not morons. If they thought Hyppolite, Williams or Delorenzo could help us win by being on the field more, they would be on the field more.

Don't think the coaches are "mildly mentally dumb", just poor coaches. Brown seems to be on his own with schemes (not an old time PP guy) so I'll exclude him. PP and Deleone go back a way so comment re offense is on them. Vandy game last year, no way you have McE attempt to make that throw. Was at game, saw how he was being handled by defense, saw his duck and chuck body language, just no excuse with a 7 point lead. Saying QB race last year was about production and then reinventing it to "continuity" 'cause production couldn't be used to explain sticking with McE.
PP and Deleone have made OL blocking and schemes undueable by the talent at hand; maybe NFL guys can do it; or the talent at the old Syracuse; but whatever is required by our OL has them lost. See plenty of our OL standing next to air with defenders wisking around the backfield and at the LOS untouched. Do you roll the pocket, pass on 1st down, stop the 2 TE scheme and tight formation; whatever this ain't working.

So the offensive strategy for 14 games is give it to the 166 lb back who is not exceptionally elusive or strong; mostly in power back handoffs. Here are stats for last year and this: LM 2011 275 carries for 4.2 ypc; next most carries by back were 23. LM 2012 43 carries for 3.3 ypc; next most carries by back is 4. No OL is that bad to get the featured back to average only 4.2 ypc when he is so good the next best back only gets less than 10% of his carries.

2012 stats have of top 100 RB's NCAA only 4 have ypc less than 4 yards and none as low as 3.2.

2011 had only 4 of top 100 RB's NCAA with less than 4.2 ypc.

PP and Deleone have convinced themselves that stick with one back and use wildcat (McC seems to make bad reads as he hands off into trouble rather than just keeping it and running; and can't pass; so also uses WR in scheme which really tells you something about how good an idea this is) as the back up running. So use WC on 1st and 10 and QB sneak on 3rd and 1. Hmmmmmm.

Morons no; poor decision makers yes. That's why coaches get fired. They keep their jobs 'cause they make good decisions or hire assistant coaches like Brown and stay out of their way.

Indiana had 333 rushing yards and 263 passing yards against Mass.; Uconn had 147 rushing and 225 passing. Maybe Indiana has way more talent at OL and running back; things look bad for 2012 if that's true.

 

[Palatine]

Because McCombs is far and away our best offensive player. How do we know if DiLorenzo deserves 8-10 carries? Honest question. The coaches see these players in practice every day.

McCombs size has nothing to do with whether he will wear down. It actually has nothing to do with anything. He is our best player. He needs to be on the field. If he is getting 30-35 carries a game, yes, that is too much for any back. But 20-25 is fine.

How do you know that if the other backs never get a carry?

Every coach in America rotates running backs. Why not UConn.

 

[huskysupporter]

How do you know that if the other backs never get a carry?

Every coach in America rotates running backs. Why not UConn.

I am assuming the coaches watch the running backs in practice and have determined that they are not ready at this point.

Now if you want to turn this into a discussion of the current regimes evaluation of talent, that is another thread entirely.

 

[Palatine]

I am assuming the coaches watch the running backs in practice and have determined that they are not ready at this point.

Now if you want to turn this into a discussion of the current regimes evaluation of talent, that is another thread entirely.

Coaches screw that up all the time. Bill Parcells started Scott Brunner ahead of Phil Simms. They have blind spots. Remember Marcus Easily, Edsall nailed him to the bench until halfway through his senior year. There are a ton of examples.

The "the coaches see them in practice" argument is often used but it is not infallible.

 

[BlueMAB]

We'd need Barry Sanders to pick up more than 2 ypc behind this OL. It wouldn't matter who we put in there when watching from my seats, there isn't anywhere to run.

In fairness to the OL, I don't think it's all their fault, there are definitely a few talented players there. If the constant shuffling vs UMass is any indication of what happened in practice, it's not surprising there is no cohesive unit. We've seen predictable play calling produce better results. I just hope Deleone doesn't take over QB coaching too.

 

[Huskydog45]

You look at the box scores of NCAA D1 games and its hard to find any team that runs one back 25 carries and the rest of the team once. LM deserves a majority of the carries but he is not an all purpose back and not the guy we need in short yardage situations, expecially since the O line is not creating the holes for LM to find to get the first down. I saw Max D. carry the ball 4 times and I saw speed, toughness and power. Give the guy a few carries in short yardage situations to start and see how he responds. If he responds, he gets more carries. Like Polatine said, how do you know if you don't give a kid the opportunity? If LM was converting all short yard situations, I would say stay with him but he is not. You don't need to see a player every day to know that if a player is not effective in certain situations like short yardage, you find or try someone else for that role.

 

[UconnFamily]

So because McCombs doesn't get 100 yards in the first two games we blame the O-Line? Okay, the O-Line isn't pretty, but they do produce wholes for McCombs at times. What happens here is that McCombs drops after first contact about 80% of the time... From what I was hearing this off season was that Joe Williams a 5'11 over 200lbs RB that runs a 4.4 forty was making our DEFENSE look lost. He was breaking tackles (something McCombs rarely does) and running from one side of the field to the other and breaking it for a long one, or a touchdown, and that was with a O-Line that ain't pretty!! The coaches are not utilizing the RB's properly and maybe that's because we don't have a real RB's coach... that should be something to think about. McCombs should be used in open spaces, not running up the middle let's use those plays for the big backs...

 

[Jimdish255]

Despite Deleone's schemes, the coaches are not morons. If they thought Hyppolite, Williams or Delorenzo could help us win by being on the field more, they would be on the field more.

That's not always true. We may want it to be true but they're not infallible. If they were we wouldn't have stunk up the joint on Saturday. Who's that guy on the Knicks that wasn't expected to play until all-world got hurt? He was a terrible practice player I guess. We may not be as smart or as informed as the coaches but that doesn't make the casual fan a moron (by inference) either. McCombs may be the best, but he may not be the best for every down or situation. BTW I think they are stubborn for sticking with the wildcat and wrong in their philosophy in using it this season. But the coaches are always right because because because...

If the o-line doesn't get squared away we'll never have consistent production. Even so I'm not a firm believer in banging your head against the wall if that wall isn't moving. Open some new doors and see what's there. Now's the time to try these guys before conference play starts and we're wasting that opportunity.

 

[businesslawyer]

That's not always true. We may want it to be true but they're not infallible. If they were we wouldn't have stunk up the joint on Saturday. Who's that guy on the Knicks that wasn't expected to play until all-world got hurt? He was a terrible practice player I guess. We may not be as smart or as informed as the coaches but that doesn't make the casual fan a moron (by inference) either. McCombs may be the best, but he may not be the best for every down or situation. BTW I think they are stubborn for sticking with the wildcat and wrong in their philosophy in using it this season. But the coaches are always right because because because...

If the o-line doesn't get squared away we'll never have consistent production. Even so I'm not a firm believer in banging your head against the wall if that wall isn't moving. Open some new doors and see what's there. Now's the time to try these guys before conference play starts and we're wasting that opportunity.

Not that this hasn't been said in other contexts one million times, but to be clear, my statement does not mean that I think these coaches are infallible (which should be clear) or even necessarily right. It just means that when someone isn't getting snaps that we haven't seen a lot of on the field, I don't know on what basis people determine they should play.

The fact that coaches might be wrong is not an argument that they actually are wrong.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Not that this hasn't been said in other contexts one million times, but to be clear, my statement does not mean that I think these coaches are infallible (which should be clear) or even necessarily right. It just means that when someone isn't getting snaps that we haven't seen a lot of on the field, I don't know on what basis people determine they should play.

The fact that coaches might be wrong is not an argument that they actually are wrong.

I'm not sure how to put my thoughts into words yet, BL, so I just type. But I read around here, and I read your thoughts, and I think about what I saw with my own eyes, the simple thing that becomse clear, is that our offense had breakdowns all over the place, in the most very fundamental things about offense - we could not do. Snap the ball to the QB, and get the play going. Block. Couldn't do it.

There was a lot of talk about Pitt/Cincy - and how bad PItt is. I remarked that they're playing so slow, that they can't do fundamentals. They've been trhough so many coaches and systems, that the players are simply playing too slow, to do the basics.

This is exactly what happened to our offense on Saturday, IMNSHO. Too slow to do the basics.

The difference - is that our coaching staff has been in place, and our players, have had the same system, to play in, for over a year now.

It better get speeded up fast, somehow. The easiest way that happens, is to simplify the playbook. I don't know if Deleone is capable of simplifying a playbook, to get a team to play faster - and that worries me.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Not that this hasn't been said in other contexts one million times, but to be clear, my statement does not mean that I think these coaches are infallible (which should be clear) or even necessarily right. It just means that when someone isn't getting snaps that we haven't seen a lot of on the field, I don't know on what basis people determine they should play.

The fact that coaches might be wrong is not an argument that they actually are wrong.

Nope, but I sure do know that what they're doing now clearly isn't working.

Joe Williams isn't redshirting. From all accounts I've heard from media guys he is a strong and freakishly fast running back. I would like to see what he can do under the bright lights.

This premise of this thread is not a knock on McCombs.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I'm not sure how to put my thoughts into words yet, BL, so I just type. But I read around here, and I read your thoughts, and I think about what I saw with my own eyes, the simple thing that becomse clear, is that our offense had breakdowns all over the place, in the most very fundamental things about offense - we could not do. Snap the ball to the QB, and get the play going. Block. Couldn't do it.

There was a lot of talk about Pitt/Cincy - and how bad PItt is. I remarked that they're playing so slow, that they can't do fundamentals. They've been trhough so many coaches and systems, that the players are simply playing too slow, to do the basics.

This is exactly what happened to our offense on Saturday, IMNSHO. Too slow to do the basics.

The difference - is that our coaching staff has been in place, and our players, have had the same system, to play in, for over a year now.

It better get speeded up fast, somehow. The easiest way that happens, is to simplify the playbook. I don't know if Deleone is capable of simplifying a playbook, to get a team to play faster - and that worries me.

I agree with everything here 100%.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I agree with everything here 100%.

There's more to it though, Jimmy, becuase there ahs to be that energy there on offense. It's perplexing to me that we don't have it. With the energy that Don Brown's D brings to the game, there should be more than enough energy there to feed off, but somebody on that offensive side of the ball has to stoke the fire. If the offensive coaches aren't setting the tone, then the players need to do it.

THe problem, is that you don't just change personality overnight, otherwise it's fake. It's got to be genuine change, if the personality is going to change, and I simply don't see the killer personality on offense. It seems like it's a relief for these players, when they can get lined up and get a play off correctly - never mind the outcome.

The playbook needs to get simplified, for the players and offensive team to begin to adapt that kind of personality, to play fast and mean and unconscious of the basics, so they can simply focus on beating the guy across of from them, and it ticks me off to no end, that this is the situation we're in, at this point in time.

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm not sure how to put my thoughts into words yet, BL, so I just type. But I read around here, and I read your thoughts, and I think about what I saw with my own eyes, the simple thing that becomse clear, is that our offense had breakdowns all over the place, in the most very fundamental things about offense - we could not do. Snap the ball to the QB, and get the play going. Block. Couldn't do it.

There was a lot of talk about Pitt/Cincy - and how bad PItt is. I remarked that they're playing so slow, that they can't do fundamentals. They've been trhough so many coaches and systems, that the players are simply playing too slow, to do the basics.

This is exactly what happened to our offense on Saturday, IMNSHO. Too slow to do the basics.

The difference - is that our coaching staff has been in place, and our players, have had the same system, to play in, for over a year now.

It better get speeded up fast, somehow. The easiest way that happens, is to simplify the playbook. I don't know if Deleone is capable of simplifying a playbook, to get a team to play faster - and that worries me.

That is a great post. Which I agree with 100%.

 

[Excalibur]

That is a great post. Which I agree with 100%.

As do I. We had better see evidence of some effort to ignite the offense over the next three games, whether it be simplifying the playbook, a few personnel changes, an attitude adjustment, or a little of all three, to show that the staff is capable of adapting. If not, I think we can assume that they won't/can't change.