MIKE FORD CHILLIN IN UCONN

[Rocky Style]

he onlys gets 4 touches a game, so i don't expect him to have to sit out long

Yeah usually 4 touches.  1 for a TD and 3 other touches for gains. 

He will join Grothe on my man crush list as well.

[Superfan]

Take your time to heal Mike Ford and the other RB's. You guys dont get to touch the ball anyways so rest up all year. We have a stable of RB's and they barely get any carries- Doesn't it make you wonder? Maybe these guys are not legit RB's. Its been 8 games folks the game plan will not change, maybe next year after they overhaul the offense will the RB's get involved. It kills me to see how other teams use their RB's with screens, play action, short passes and we dont do any of it. Basic vanilla pass first, qb run second, RB block offense.

[Rocky Style]

Basic vanilla pass first, qb run second, RB block offense.

Yeah when they were actually running Mike Ford on 1st down and setting up a great field position for 2nd down I didn't know how to handle it.  I am used to dropped pass on 1st down, draw play from shotgun to Ben Williams for a loss of 1 or gain of 1 and then 3rd and long.

[Guest JulmisteForPrez]

Basic vanilla pass first, qb run second, RB block offense.

Yeah when they were actually running Mike Ford on 1st down and setting up a great field position for 2nd down I didn't know how to handle it.  I am used to dropped pass on 1st down, draw play from shotgun to Ben Williams for a loss of 1 or gain of 1 and then 3rd and long.

Exactly.

I've come to the realization that Greg Gregory likes the challenge of 2nd & 12, then 3rd & long.

Getting yardage on 1st down is overrated, right Greg?

I think he'd like the CFL where they only have three downs.

[WWMJD]

RUSHING              GP  Att Gain Loss  Net  Avg  TD Long Avg/G

----------------------------------------------------------------

GROTHE, Matt          8  124  728  178  550  4.4  6  53  68.8

WILLIAMS, Benja      8  79  409  28  381  4.8  5  54  47.6

FORD, Mike            7  57  309  22  287  5.0  6  48  41.0

TAYLOR, Jamar        8  44  162  18  144  3.3  2  54  18.0

Ford has a 0.2 yards per rush advantage over Williams.  Add his tendency to fumble, limited playbook, and inability to block (although he is obviously working on this from last game)... and come on.  People blow this **** way out of proportion.  He is not THAT GOOD right now.  GIVE HIM TIME!

[Rocky Style]

RUSHING              GP  Att Gain Loss  Net  Avg  TD Long Avg/G

----------------------------------------------------------------

GROTHE, Matt          8  124  728  178  550  4.4  6  53  68.8

WILLIAMS, Benja      8  79  409  28  381  4.8  5  54  47.6

FORD, Mike            7  57  309  22  287  5.0  6  48  41.0

TAYLOR, Jamar        8  44  162  18  144  3.3  2  54  18.0

Ford has a 0.2 yards per rush advantage over Williams.  Add his tendency to fumble, limited playbook, and inability to block (although he is obviously working on this from last game)... and come on.  People blow this **** way out of proportion.  He is not THAT GOOD right now.  GIVE HIM TIME!

Well we kind of have to don't we?  I just watch the kid go in and make plays, I don't care as much about the stats.  I do notice that Ford has the most TDs out of those RBs. 

I am not hating on Ben Williams, I just wish they would put them both on the field at the same time.  Ben Williams rocks because he can catch and block and grind it out.  No argument there.  Also, thank god for Williams in that FAU game.

The running game needs help especially when you get in these situations where you clearly need to run the ball (UCONN game).

[WWMJD]

That's funny, because I watch Ben Williams make big plays.  Aside from a few people, no one seems to notice.  Ben Williams is the only RB on the roster that can handle the physical grind of being an every down back if necessary.

Ford has more TDs because he gets a higher percentage of his carries in the redzone.  I have no problem with this because I think his weaknesses are negated in that situation, and his strengths suit him to be a TD kind of guy.

You might not care about stats, but stats tell the truth where emotion does not.  The Ford/Williams/etc debate has gotten away from fact, to emotion where people remember this big play or that big play.  In reality, Ford had one real big play, vs. Auburn.  We all remember that because it was HUGE.  Truth is, he disappeared in that game other than that carry.  He was about to collapse on the field after getting 22 (I think) carries that game.

I think there are problems that need to be fixed with our running game but just sticking Ford in there and changing nothing else is not the answer.

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

i think all of our backs are talented. 

Ben can make plays, and so can the Ford and Jamar (that huge run he broke at UConn was impressive).

it's more the playcalling and the way they're used that is incomprehensible.

Matt has more carries than Ben and Jamar combined.  we need to get at least ONE of them the **** ball ALOT more.

i'm with SuperFan--- more screens, RB passes in the flat, etc.

OPEN UP THE F*&$KING PLAYBOOK PLEASE!!!!

our offense is WAYY too predictable.  the guys have talent but they can't make plays when they're getting STUFFED every down because we only have a 7 page playbook and are practically telegraphing our plays with the formation and personnel we have on the field.

[Guest JulmisteForPrez]

OPEN UP THE F*&$KING PLAYBOOK PLEASE!!!!

That's just it, guys.

Do we really think Gregory hasn't opened up the playbook EIGHT games into the season.

What we see is what we've got, fellas.

[BULLheaded]

That's funny, because I watch Ben Williams make big plays.  Aside from a few people, no one seems to notice.  Ben Williams is the only RB on the roster that can handle the physical grind of being an every down back if necessary.

Ford has more TDs because he gets a higher percentage of his carries in the redzone.  I have no problem with this because I think his weaknesses are negated in that situation, and his strengths suit him to be a TD kind of guy.

You might not care about stats, but stats tell the truth where emotion does not.  The Ford/Williams/etc debate has gotten away from fact, to emotion where people remember this big play or that big play.  In reality, Ford had one real big play, vs. Auburn.  We all remember that because it was HUGE.  Truth is, he disappeared in that game other than that carry.  He was about to collapse on the field after getting 22 (I think) carries that game.

I think there are problems that need to be fixed with our running game but just sticking Ford in there and changing nothing else is not the answer.

I agree that Williams has done a decent job for us this year, however stats actually can lie and in this case I think they do. If Ford is consistently getting the ball around the goal line then that in itself will reduce his average per carry yards. ie...if he gets the ball on the 3 he can't get more than a 3 yard carry on the stat book. If Ford was getting the ball more frequently with more room to work with then it would be a much more meaningfull comparison.