"Two years ago, here was our identity. We had a tailback that was a big-play hitter. We had a receiver that was a big-play, play-action hitter. Last year, we had big plays out of our tailbacks collectively - not one big hitter. We had a quarterback that was electric with his feet. So he became a big play hitter. So we might have lost the (Alex) Amidon last year but we supplanted it with the (Tyler) Murphy. And this year, what we’ve got to get to is, obviously we expect big plays out of our running backs. And I don’t think we got enough of them. But then, on the flipside of that, while Darius (Wade) is very capable runner, is he a house-call runner like (Tyler) Murph? I don’t know. He is more of that 10, 15, 20-yard guy. We have to go find those hits. We have enough receivers. We have speed. We beat others over the top. Anybody over the top. We need to go find those big-hit plays in play action right now. We didn’t get any of those Saturday."
In his first two years teams crowded the box to challenge our run game. This opened up big plays for Amidon, Williams and in Year 2 for Murphy. Now if our opponents put eight guys in the box, do we have anyone to punish them? Is there anyone who once he gets past the line can run away from the other team? Sherman Alston comes to mind first. Even Addazio admitted he pressed a bit in the opener. Let's hope he gets over that quickly and fixes the drops. Like Alston, Thadd Smith has speed. But can he get enough touches? Robinson sounds interesting, but he's only been playing the position two weeks.
The RBs are all relatively productive, but do any of them have the ability to break off an 80-yard run like Williams? Willis can break away but doesn't get a ton of touches. Outlow is an exciting runner, but has yet to show (or been given enough carries) to be considered explosive.
Maybe there isn't anyone who can breakaway. It that is an issue, then Addazio and Fitch need to make sure the offense becomes more consistent and not always looking for the big break.
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6 comments:
Hilliman!
Not getting why u left Hilliman out of the piece?
Hilliman is the guy. Reportedly has 4.41 speed. And is the fastest RB. If he gets in open field will be tough to catch.
Also curious why he got less work than expected vs Maine
The better question might be about our OL. Can they make the right blocks to spring a Hilliman, Alston, , Rouse.
I think Hilliman is as much of a threat as Williams was. He had a long one against PSU. BC has rarely had take it to the house type guys. It's part of the reason we're online U. I hope Daz can change that, but I think his system being more power based is compensation for the schools struggles there over the years. It should be allot easier to find a decent kicker, how about we do that Daz?
Hilliman is considerably faster than Andre Williams (4.4 vs 4.6), but it does not look like he can do what AW did.
Why? The BIG difference is OL that each had.
AW had 4 NFL caliber (or close) lineman - Patchan, Vardaro, Gallik, White and also Harris Williams. Patchan, especially, was a great player for his year at BC. A very mobile tackle that opened a lot of lanes for AW. Indeed, if I recall, Andre's best groove was either slightly inside the tackle or slightly outside the tackle. Lot of that was due to Patchan's ability.
Now we have 5 guys that do not presently seem like NFL (or close) caliber (h williams is close . .. but was so-so vs Maine). Against Maine (Maine!!!) I do not recall seeing any great off-tackle runs. Mainly up the middle stuff and wide.
I'm sorry but Willians ran a 4.56 40 at the combine. I've seen nothing from Hilliman (and please don't quote some made up high school 40 time) to show he's faster then that. The big difference between H and W is W just destroyed would be tacklers. Watch H in the Maine game, I don't think he broke one tackle and we're talking 1AA athletes. He's a big dude but at this point he's not even close to AW.
Geof
Sorry if I implied that he was in the same leauge as Andre, he isn't yet, but could be. He's just 1 game into his second year. Andre was a great representative of a Catholic school,"saving his best for last"
GeoLux, good point about AW's tackle breaking ability (at BC, that is, not in the NFL), but there is no doubt Hilliman is faster. Just watch him run. Guy is fast and powerful.
AW runs a ~4.6 (yes, his very best is a 4.56 at the NFL combine)- but AW was somewhat slow for a ACC RB. JH is reported to run a 4.41. He was a 4* and heavily recruited for some reason right?
Still, you have to keep the comparison in context and look at the respective OL's that AW and JH have. Big difference, esp. Patchan.
Hoib, weren't you 'just leaving' again?
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