Your take on our corps of running backs

[Guest BasketBull.]

Would you rather have the running backs that we do have now, or would you rather have Andre Hall in his senior year?

I guess I'm trying to figure out if you Bulls think that have solidified our running game since Andre's departure.

(Personally, I think we are all in for a very exciting year of running the ball, and I don't mean Matt!)

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

I think Mike has the potential to be what Dre was for us, but it's just that... potential.

It remains to be seen if that potential fleshes out.

That said, I would take Dre over our stable of backs.  If we had Dre last year I think we would have been playing in a BCS bowl, if not the NC.

Our backs still have a lot to prove, and none of them are complete players:

Mike is a big, strong runner, but his blocking and pass protection leaves much to be desired, and his fumblitis is a killer.

BBQ is a great blocker, good catcher, but he is not an effective runner. Hand off between the tackles to BBQ is usually a stop at the LOS.  He runs into tacklers rather than around them, and his size often leads to him getting suplexed by bigger linerbackers.

Taylor is a better blocker than Mike, but not as good a runner.  He's a better runner than BBQ, but not as good a blocker.

We have a lot of talent, but none of them are the all-around game-changer and workhorse that Dre was... At least not yet.

[Matt]

Andre led the big east in rushing.  hard to make an arguement against that.

but i think it is still too early to judge what Mike Ford can do for us.  I like were we are at with the RBs right now.

[Guest BasketBull.]

But you have remember that when Andre played, he was the ONLY weapon we had. Had he gotten hurt, there was nothing else. "Smokey" wasn't going to pick up the slack at RB like most of us thought at the time.

Now, we have depth and talent. I think a lot of things, just little stuff and the lack of experience on our RBs part, really hurt us last year. As I recall, we couldn't run even on the softer teams. For example, against Syracuse, we didn't do very much on the ground with the RBs, as I recall.

Don't forget about Kelly!

[USF Bulls Football]

No Basketbull, I believe Ford had a 100 yards and Aston Samuels came close to 100 that game. We had over 200 yds.

[Bulls On Parade]

With ford in even better shape I expect big things from him this year, gotta remember he was just a freshman and he wasn't really in football shape.

[Matt]

"smokey" as you call him....had a SOLID freshman season when Andre was here.

Ricky Ponton had the talent he just didnt have the focus.

[Bullpride08]

Andre led the big east in rushing.  hard to make an arguement against that.

but i think it is still too early to judge what Mike Ford can do for us.  I like were we are at with the RBs right now.

Andre came in as a 21 year old junior ready to play after two full JC seasons.  Mike came in after sitting out a year, and spending a year in prep school.  Wait until after this season and the next then compare Mike's value to Andre.  At this moment we'd all say we want Andre because he's been there done that, but Mike's getting to that level.  I expect much better things from him this year since he showed me worlds more during the spring game then he showed all last year.  He'll get there.

[CowbellBandit]

If Ford can hold on to the ball, he's got the potential to be a USF great.

[lmiusf]

My favorite stat from the spring game......Ford 14 carries, NO FUMBLES! Last season he would have fumbled 7 times with 14 carries...... He looked like a totally different animal in the spring game. I'm talking about speed and foot work. I wouldn't want to be a DB when Ford breaks into the open field.