Hope

Mavric said:
What Frost did last night was exactly what he's done since he got here.  The results were just better last night - partly because of the opponent.  Plus actually having their #1 back in the game instead of musical chairs because of injuries.

vs Rugters - 58 runs, 28 passes - 67% run

vs Illinois - 52 runs, 25 passes - 67% run

2020 - 334 runs, 229 passes - 59% run

We weren't better against Rutgers than we were against Illinois because we were more committed to the run.  We simply executed it better.  

Also, our offense isn't nearly as bad as people like to claim.  We turn the ball over way too much.  And we screwed ourselves switching QBs for a couple games.  But we also do a lot of things really well.  We just don't have receivers who are a threat.  If we can get Betts, Martin and Brown ready to roll next year (and Manning?), it will start to look more complete.  And hopefully don't have the entire RB room on IR half the year.

Yards against Northwestern this year:

Ohio State - 513

Nebraska - 442

Iowa - 293

Purdue - 265

Wisconsin - 230

Michigan State - 167

Maryland - 143

Illinois - 107
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620 yards last night.  Looked like we did something different.........Frost looked more committed to running Mills between the tackles.  He didn't try and get "cute" ie Hickman on the goal line.....We won in spite of the usual ie penalties, TO's....Maybe it was just against another horrific team and we were simply "less sh!tty" than they were.  

3rd year and no serviceable back up RB is a huge issue IMHO.  I'd also argue that our O is as bad as it appears.  We can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see what fills up first. Going into year 4 and we are still talking about hoping player "X" shows up and shows out....That is ridiculous we are still searching for dudes 4 years in.

 
Mavric said:
What Frost did last night was exactly what he's done since he got here.  The results were just better last night - partly because of the opponent.  Plus actually having their #1 back in the game instead of musical chairs because of injuries.

vs Rugters - 58 runs, 28 passes - 67% run

vs Illinois - 52 runs, 25 passes - 67% run

2020 - 334 runs, 229 passes - 59% run

We weren't better against Rutgers than we were against Illinois because we were more committed to the run.  We simply executed it better.  

Also, our offense isn't nearly as bad as people like to claim.  We turn the ball over way too much.  And we screwed ourselves switching QBs for a couple games.  But we also do a lot of things really well.  We just don't have receivers who are a threat.  If we can get Betts, Martin and Brown ready to roll next year (and Manning?), it will start to look more complete.  And hopefully don't have the entire RB room on IR half the year.

Yards against Northwestern this year:

Ohio State - 513

Nebraska - 442

Iowa - 293

Purdue - 265

Wisconsin - 230

Michigan State - 167

Maryland - 143

Illinois - 107
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The run-pass ratio may have been similar but the play selection to my eye was very different.  Thankfully much less east-west running and an almost complete abandonment of the WR screen / swing pass which has knocked us backwards more often than it moved us forwards in previous games.  If he’d just stop dicking around inside the 5 yard line, it would have been a pretty rational demonstration of play calling.

 
krc1995 said:
More weapons doesn’t mean success. Yesterday I think we saw an exhausted Frost give in to the run game. Not sure when rested if he’ll continue to push his agenda or use what works. 
 

Yesterday was the first game of the year with three minutes left that I knew we were going to win. I think we could have easily lost the other two as well as won a couple we lost. We were destined to win three games this year. And regarding progress, I’ll defer to others that know the intricacies of the game, because I see zero progress. 
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Huh?  So it's more demanding physically and mentally to call a pass play?

 
lo country said:
620 yards last night.  Looked like we did something different.........Frost looked more committed to running Mills between the tackles.
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This is pretty common when we like the results better.  "It had to be because we were doing something different."  No, it doesn't.  Just like everyone was falling all over themselves to praise McCaffrey after the Penn State game.  It wasn't because our QB play was any better.  It was probably worse.  The results were just better so it SEEMS like things were better/different.

For the year, Mills ran:

Left end - 12 carries

Left side - 8 carries

Middle - 24 carries

Right side - 20 carries

Right End - 19 carries

So nearly 2/3 of his carries for the year were between the tackles.

He didn't try and get "cute" ie Hickman on the goal line
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He explicitly did get "cute" with Hickman on the goal line.

3rd year and no serviceable back up RB is a huge issue IMHO.
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I don't think the issues is we don't have a serveable backup.  It's that they're all freshmen, didn't have spring ball, barely had fall camp and were all injured at various points during the year.  We also got somewhat unlucky that both Washington and Bell turned into head cases.  We're still playing catch up and injuries are making it really tough.

 I'd also argue that our O is as bad as it appears.  We can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see what fills up first. Going into year 4 and we are still talking about hoping player "X" shows up and shows out....That is ridiculous we are still searching for dudes 4 years in.
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You can argue that all you want.  The facts are we have the #28 rushing offense in the country and the #10 rushing offense in the Power 5.  Yet people are trying to say that Frost doesn't run the ball.  It's simply complaining about anything and everything when you don't like the overall result.

 
Canadian Fan said:
The run-pass ratio may have been similar but the play selection to my eye was very different.  Thankfully much less east-west running and an almost complete abandonment of the WR screen / swing pass which has knocked us backwards more often than it moved us forwards in previous games.  If he’d just stop dicking around inside the 5 yard line, it would have been a pretty rational demonstration of play calling.
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Again, everyone thinks they see different things when the overall results are better.  If you think we completely abandoned the WR screens you must have missed everyone complaining when we threw one to a white walk-on.  Or the several other we threw to Wan'Dale, Mills, Johnson, etc.

 
Mavric said:
We weren't better against Rutgers than we were against Illinois because we were more committed to the run.  We simply executed it better.
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Yep. We averaged 4.9 YPC against Illinois on the ground, but then averaged 6.3 against Rutgers. And specifically, our best ball carrier against Rutgers (Mills) averaged 7.6 YPC, but our best ball carrier against Illinois (McNuggets) averaged 4.7.

Big, big difference in execution.

 
krc1995 said:
More weapons doesn’t mean success. 
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It may not guarantee it but it definitely increases our chances.  If you are facing a team that is strong against the run you have other weapons to pass to.   If you are facing a team with a stud defender that can lock down our best player then you go to other weapons.  It’s AM and Wandale show with never a threat to throw beyond 10 yards.  Put Luke in there in backfield or slot and they have to defend him.  Give me AM, Luke, Wandale, Fidone, with improved Betts, Allen, and Manning.  Maybe there is something there if we have a reliable RB. 

 
Undone said:
Yep. We averaged 4.9 YPC against Illinois on the ground, but then averaged 6.3 against Rutgers. And specifically, our best ball carrier against Rutgers (Mills) averaged 7.6 YPC, but our best ball carrier against Illinois (McNuggets) averaged 4.7.

Big, big difference in execution.
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Personally I think that is affected by McCaffrey at QB versus Illinois.  With zero threat of the pass most teams can stop the run better.  Adrian at QB helps the run game.

 
runningblind said:
Personally I think that is affected by McCaffrey at QB versus Illinois.  With zero threat of the pass most teams can stop the run better.  Adrian at QB helps the run game.
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Agreed, but I genuinely think a lot of posters on this site don't see this dynamic when they're watching games. Which then makes Adrian the convenient scapegoat...even though Mills hasn't really been all that great in terms of his vision and explosiveness, and neither has our blocking.

 
Mavric said:
Again, everyone thinks they see different things when the overall results are better.  If you think we completely abandoned the WR screens you must have missed everyone complaining when we threw one to a white walk-on.  Or the several other we threw to Wan'Dale, Mills, Johnson, etc.
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So you don’t think there were fewer swing passes outside and behind the LOS?  Or more North-South run plays? 
 

I obviously didn’t chart this years games but it looked like the play selection was very different to me.

 
Everyone is on this "play calling sucks" boner.  While I'd like to see a more power oriented scheme especially at the goal line, execution has more to do with whether the play call looks good or not.  This story is as old as fandom itself.  90% of fans can't see the missed assignments or the open receiver out of view on the screen.  So the default is "that play sucked!!!"

 
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