Goal: 200 rushing 200 passing

[FaithInIrish Forever]

To me 200 rushing and 200 passing will continue to be a benchmark

 

Here's why

 

I believe 7 of the last 7 Champs achieved these benchmarks

 

Who cares?

 

200 is a number that denotes proficiency but not over reliance.

 

I know 200 passing seems low these days but its hard to achieve 200 yards rushing.

 

I don't think teams like Navy or even Georgia tech have much of a chance to win nationally with over 300 yards rushing because its not in balance.

 

I started noticing this because in 2012 was the 1st year in a long time we achieved 200 yards rushing.

 

Winners almost always have balance and 200 of each. I'm on the record if we do its double digit wins for ND.

[OklahomaIrish]

To me 200 rushing and 200 passing will continue to be a benchmark

 

Here's why

 

I believe 7 of the last 7 Champs achieved these benchmarks

 

Who cares?

 

200 is a number that denotes proficiency but not over reliance.

 

I know 200 passing seems low these days but its hard to achieve 200 yards rushing.

 

I don't think teams like Navy or even Georgia tech have much of a chance to win nationally with over 300 yards rushing because its not in balance.

 

I started noticing this because in 2012 was the 1st year in a long time we achieved 200 yards rushing.

 

Winners almost always have balance and 200 of each. I'm on the record if we do its double digit wins for ND.

 

This is the truth but if we had the schedule of all these other teams I think we could honestly shoot for 250 yards rushing and passing. Most teams build gaudy stats coming out of the gate. Teams like Georgia Tech never seem to win it all but they are starting to scare me. I grew up with Oklahoma football dominating with option football and sketchy passing so I know it can be done as they won 3 national titles in the 70's and another in the 80's.

[FaithInIrish Forever]

This is the truth but if we had the schedule of all these other teams I think we could honestly shoot for 250 yards rushing and passing. Most teams build gaudy stats coming out of the gate. Teams like Georgia Tech never seem to win it all but they are starting to scare me. I grew up with Oklahoma football dominating with option football and sketchy passing so I know it can be done as they won 3 national titles in the 70's and another in the 80's.

 

Yeah in the 70-80's the option was still king. So 300 rushing -100 passing was probably normal.

 

Then the late 80's Bill Walsh and west coast offense started making 3 and 5 step drops popular, timing routes, slants, hooks, think timing.. Then of course later the run and shoot(more passing, adjust your routes on the fly(June Jones).

 

Lately of course its the spread and anti-spread and tempo. Spread, the race for space. Anti-spread, make that box heavy 3 te tackle eligible unbalanced lines.

 

So point being for the beginning of football the run was king 300- 100

 

Then came guys who said we want to throw it

100 becomes 200 and sometimes more

 

Now balance will rule the day 200 and 200

 

and you're right stats are effected by schedules, but I think the better your balance is the more your gonna win

[OklahomaIrish]

Yeah in the 70-80's the option was still king. So 300 rushing -100 passing was probably normal.

 

Then the late 80's Bill Walsh and west coast offense started making 3 and 5 step drops popular, timing routes, slants, hooks, think timing.. Then of course later the run and shoot(more passing, adjust your routes on the fly(June Jones).

 

Lately of course its the spread and anti-spread and tempo. Spread, the race for space. Anti-spread, make that box heavy 3 te tackle eligible unbalanced lines.

 

So point being for the beginning of football the run was king 300- 100

 

Then came guys who said we want to throw it

100 becomes 200 and sometimes more

 

Now balance will rule the day 200 and 200

 

and you're right stats are effected by schedules, but I think the better your balance is the more your gonna win

 

Balance is critical and we have all the ingredients. This offensive line is going to pave the way. I see McGlinchey at 325 pounds next year and a future first rounder along with Stanley.

 

Now, can we keep Golson as our security blanket and back up??

[jon33dn]

For elite teams, rushing yards are often a symptom, not a cause...

 

IF you are up 35-7 at the half... you gonna throw a lot of passes in the second half?

 

Second point, rushing dependent offenses are too susceptible to biased officiating. ND vs big ten teams had a massive differential in the timing and impact of holding calls through the years. Our recent transition to 'chunk' offenses based on passing have taken a substantial portion of this conference control out of the game.

[FaithInIrish Forever]

For elite teams, rushing yards are often a symptom, not a cause...

 

IF you are up 35-7 at the half... you gonna throw a lot of passes in the second half?

 

Second point, rushing dependent offenses are too susceptible to biased officiating. ND vs big ten teams had a massive differential in the timing and impact of holding calls through the years. Our recent transition to 'chunk' offenses based on passing have taken a substantial portion of this conference control out of the game.

 

How did you get up 35? I bet rushing averages 4.5 yards or more have something to do with that. I'd rather throw ahead of the chains, then face unpredictable blitz's on 3rd and 8

 

Tell me that Ezekiel Elliot didn't cause a Buckeye Win? They turned it over a bunch and STILL WON

 

Sorry dude I don't care if its a symptom or a cause. I look at the last 7 National Champs and I want to be where they are.

 

200 rushing(7 out of 7 times) don't believe me, look it up

200 or more passing

around or less then 20 points given up on defense

 

Wanna be the champs? Put up the numbers the champs do. Its an objective truth here guys. I'm not trying to break news but to use the past to show what needs to happen in the future..

[NDhoosier]

For elite teams, rushing yards are often a symptom, not a cause...

 

IF you are up 35-7 at the half... you gonna throw a lot of passes in the second half?

 

Second point, rushing dependent offenses are too susceptible to biased officiating. ND vs big ten teams had a massive differential in the timing and impact of holding calls through the years. Our recent transition to 'chunk' offenses based on passing have taken a substantial portion of this conference control out of the game.

 

I am glad someone else said this. I have seen talk of the rushing game and champions the past few weeks and everyone seems to forget this.

 

Having said that, I am not saying a running game is unimportant, I am just say that a passing team can win just as easily, but when they get so far ahead, they turn to the run game, so their running stats look better or more balanced than what they really are.

[FaithInIrish Forever]

I am glad someone else said this. I have seen talk of the rushing game and champions the past few weeks and everyone seems to forget this.

 

Having said that, I am not saying a running game is unimportant, I am just say that a passing team can win just as easily, but when they get so far ahead, they turn to the run game, so their running stats look better or more balanced than what they really are.

 

Either you can run it when it counts or you can't. Against Northwestern we couldn't.

 

Against LSU we closed out the game on the last drive. I don't care if you "intend to be balanced" or not. Your numbers especially your record won't lie.

[VCDomer]

For elite teams, rushing yards are often a symptom, not a cause...

 

IF you are up 35-7 at the half... you gonna throw a lot of passes in the second half?

 

Second point, rushing dependent offenses are too susceptible to biased officiating. ND vs big ten teams had a massive differential in the timing and impact of holding calls through the years. Our recent transition to 'chunk' offenses based on passing have taken a substantial portion of this conference control out of the game.

 

Ahh.... The old chicken or egg hypothesis. I don't buy it. Offensive trends come and go. One thing for sure. You live or die by exclusively being one or the other. CBK has tried to be the pass happy coordinator. All the while perpetuating his/this myth that his offense is soooooo complex to learn.

[hawaiiirish]

I am no fan of BKs offense---often its very predictable and sometimes it seems to be neither here nor there--not an uptempo spread, not a pistol, a confused use of the run game, hard to see exactly where the strength is in many games.

 

But it is what it is.....and given the basics of this offense its hard to just SAY 200 yards rushing--200 yards passing.....

 

That may be a fine goal, but often the OTHER TEAM determines what Kelly does not vis versa.

 

We may want 200 yards rushing but if you run the ball for two or three series and get only one or two first downs its DIFFICULT to keep that up ....

 

If your defense can't handle the other teams tempo and find itself giving up over 20 points in a half---again it becomes very difficult to resist throwing the ball to CATCH UP and KEEP UP!

 

If you run into teams that simply win the LOS which seems to happen often to us, and running is ineffective , again its DIFFICULT to go for 200 yards rushing when that attempt turns into PUNTS INSTEAD OF POINTS.

 

When your offense MOVES the ball freely passing and struggles to dominate the game running---once more it becomes difficult to commit to running , especially if the other team scores easily.

 

WE had excellent running in 2012, but we were able to stay patient by a DEFENSE THAT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO SCORE ON and often gave us pretty fair field position.... in 2014 when our defense became grossly POUROUS against up tempo teams of any kind IT was simply NOT FEASIBLE to rely on a running attack and we ended up putting everything on the passing offense.

 

So to say 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing is your desire, that's dandy and sound but YARDS DON'T COME IN A VACUUM and don't come because you CHOOSE to get more yards running....

 

YARDS HAVE TO BE EARNED!

 

If you can run the ball and play great defense that's a TERRIFIC recipe----if you struggle to run the ball and can't stop the opponents attack----THAT CHANGES THE DYNAMIC 180 degree's.

 

LSU was a great example--we surprised them with our QB running for near 100 yards and we faced a team with QB troubles that could NOT move the ball against our defense even as well as a UNC & NORTHWESTERN and that ilk yet alone USC and ASU .

 

In 2015---many teams will control Kellys run game--- his offense will simply NEVER be overly dynamic as a run offense unless a leopard changes its spots . When that happens , and it will often, we will go back to passing as the staple . If teams can STILL SCORE freely on our 2015 defense , and some certainly will , we will go back to passing as the staple.

 

If we had Paul Johnson running his triple option at ND instead of GT it would be fun and I think we could likely win more then we have with BK---

 

If we had URBAN running his attack---we would be more successful running and would win more then we have with BK

 

But if-- if's and buts were candy and nuts-----we have BK with an offense he has dedicated 25 years to----and if you want to see it produce 400 yards evenly split---you can't do that with PLAY CALLING as if its a personal choice---game dynamics will trump that---THE ONLY WAY TO GET BK TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THAT BALANCE IS TO PLAY VERY STRONG DEFENSE THAT SETS THE GAME TONE AND HAVE A DOMINATING OLINE THAT CONTROLS SCRIMMAGE AGAINST 8 out of 10 opponents.

 

200/200----clearly a winning recipe, but it needs some special and difficult to attain ingredients in order to rise in the oven!

 

aloha's

[irishrb]

Great Post Hawaii! I'm right there with you as a total non-fan of BK's offense and you summed things up very well.

[davislove]

I am glad someone else said this. I have seen talk of the rushing game and champions the past few weeks and everyone seems to forget this.

 

Having said that, I am not saying a running game is unimportant, I am just say that a passing team can win just as easily, but when they get so far ahead, they turn to the run game, so their running stats look better or more balanced than what they really are.

 

I agree. Everyone is jumping on the running bandwagon now. If Oregon would have won it be a whole different story.

 

There is no single formula for winning. I hated when I heard people say things like "we need to run the ball 33 times a game" to win. LOL. Not 32 or 34. Thirty three. Play to your strength whatever it is and let the game dictate what happen. That's why games are played on the field and not on paper.

 

People just jump on trends. A few years ago teams started going to a spread offense and that became the popular thing and the media gushed over it non stop. Soon defenses started getting smaller and faster to counter the offensive speed. So what happens next? Teams like Bama and OSU for example have big power backs that can run over the smaller defenses. And now everyone wants to run the ball again. Never ending cycle.

[corysold]

I agree. Everyone is jumping on the running bandwagon now. If Oregon would have won it be a whole different story.

 

There is no single formula for winning. I hated when I heard people say things like "we need to run the ball 33 times a game" to win. LOL. Not 32 or 34. Thirty three. Play to your strength whatever it is and let the game dictate what happen. That's why games are played on the field and not on paper.

 

People just jump on trends. A few years ago teams started going to a spread offense and that became the popular thing and the media gushed over it non stop. Soon defenses started getting smaller and faster to counter the offensive speed. So what happens next? Teams like Bama and OSU for example have big power backs that can run over the smaller defenses. And now everyone wants to run the ball again. Never ending cycle.

 

Nope, they'd say the same thing.

 

Oregon ran it around 60% of the time this year and had more rushing yards in the first half of games than the second, so they weren't only running when winning big at the end of games.

 

In the first half of games they had 324 runs and 284 passes.

 

FSU is about the only team in the last 10 or so title winners who you could say was a pass first team.