Only 1 thing worries me as 2008 kicks off

[BULLfreak]

as long as the O line stays healthy i think we will be fine.  they dropped a bunch of weight to help with the downfield blocking.  taylor seems ready to go. ben is always ben.  and ford with a year under his belt (remember before last year it was 2 years since he played)  we should be good with the running game. 

very well said it all starts on the line. A great oline can make a average RB look great and I feel that the three backs we have are above average so we COULD be great.

[Bullpride08]

Take a look at our 3 loses last year.  Each one they basically out ran us on the ground with exception to UConn but in each case MG was our number one rusher.  That needs to change if we are going to prevent those types of losses.  He needs to be a surprise runner not the primary runner.

That goes without saying, but remember we run a 'read-option' and in any option the decision on to run, or not to run falls on the QB and how he reads the defense.  Matt isn't shy about running, and the read-option is an adaptive offense that's suddenly becoming the range of college football.  So Matt is not going to suddenly become a 'surprise' 3-5 times a carry guy, but I do think you'll see guys get the ball a bit a more.  One difficult point about the read option is you need to spread the field and prevent teams from stacking the box.  The reason is if they stack the box and collapse the pocket it can kill the running play.

I think we'll see less 'read-option' plays and a bit more Single back, under center snaps, probably a bit more toss sweeps and off-tackle stuff to use Ford and Taylor properly.  This will end up meaning less Matt and more RB.  The past year and a half the reliance on Matt with the running game has been personnel related and the staff did a good job working with the personnel they had.

[Bullpride08]

I could be wrong but wasn't last year, since being in the BE our best scoring year ?

I wold look for a small improvement this year but that would be great.

Maybe I am watching the wrong game but the WRs looked pretty good last year and it seemed to me that Grothe was thowing the ball behind them to often - Cinci game jumps to mind.

There were times when Grothe threw it behind them, and that hurt as well, but to often USF receivers didn't make the tough catch.  Taurus did, but once Taurus was gone from RU through UL we struggled to find guys willing to make that tough catch...the passing game needs to connect.  We had our best scoring year last year, but if we had cut INT's down from 14 to say 8, and made a few more solid situational pass catches, our scoring goes up about 3-4ppg average, and our overall offense gets much more output.  We're not talking about a passing game that needs overhauling, we just need more consistency from all facets of the passing game.  That's where the most improvement is needed on the offense, if a team wants to win championships they can't be like the 57th best passing offense in the nation running a spread, not unless we can run the ball each game for 300 yards or more!

[beastiebull]

I could be wrong but wasn't last year, since being in the BE our best scoring year ?

I wold look for a small improvement this year but that would be great.

Maybe I am watching the wrong game but the WRs looked pretty good last year and it seemed to me that Grothe was thowing the ball behind them to often - Cinci game jumps to mind.

Grothe needs to improve in leading the receivers and not making poor decisions as evidenced by his 1:1 TD to int ratio in each of the years he has started at QB.  He needs to show marked improvement. 

BJ Daniels is the real deal. 

ET let me save you some time:

"This is just crasy.  Anyone who criticies MG is crasy.  We won 9 games last year.  So what if we had two NFL players in our D-backfield.  USF is nothing without MG.  9 wins is good enough and you should be happy MG chose USF over all of those other top flight schools that wanted him at QB.  Crasy"  :

[RicanBull]

I just wish we would run an I-formation with a lead block for our running backs. Imagine having Ben at full back and Ford running behind him. Coaches say Ben is the best pass blocker we have, and we know he runs with power, so why not see what he can do as a lead blocker. I dont recall us ever running this formation, am I right, or did I miss something?

[usfgrad84]

I just wish we would run an I-formation with a lead block for our running backs. Imagine having Ben at full back and Ford running behind him. Coaches say Ben is the best pass blocker we have, and we know he runs with power, so why not see what he can do as a lead blocker. I dont recall us ever running this formation, am I right, or did I miss something?

You won't see us run the i-formation as our base offense any time soon.  The spread is the offense that a lot of colleges are going to.  There is a great article in the USA Today about Auburn.  Tuberville said he is making the change to the spread because Auburn needs to score points and not just pound the ball with good runners. 

[RicanBull]

I dont think it should be our base offense, but its good to go to. I guess it would be obvious that we are running if we just use the "I" for that. And I understand the spread is taking over college football, but I still think its better to run with a lead block than in single back. But I am by far a football expert.

[Bullpride08]

I just wish we would run an I-formation with a lead block for our running backs. Imagine having Ben at full back and Ford running behind him. Coaches say Ben is the best pass blocker we have, and we know he runs with power, so why not see what he can do as a lead blocker. I dont recall us ever running this formation, am I right, or did I miss something?

Say whaaa?  Huh?  Ben Williams as a lead blocker?  He wouldn't work as a FB in the I-Formation?  In  an I-Formation offense the average FB looks more like Owen Schmidt or Lorenzo Neal then Ben Williams.  Also I-Formation teams typically come at you with 2-3 TE's all weighing 260lbs+ and are like additional tackles on the ends. 

Our team isn't skilled enough to be in a base formation I.  If we go I-Formation the advantages we possess, would immediately dissolve, and many think that some of our players are actually interchangeable in offenses.  For example, nothing that i've seen indicates our receivers are skilled enough to be I-Formation, lock-up with a corner, block down field receivers.  It's easy to look good when teams spread and guys get to run in open space, but go with only 1 or 2 wides, locked up tight with a corner and a safety behind him.  Suddenly you see them or their weaknesses.

This team will use the I-formation but overall we're not big enough, we're not skilled enough, we're not deep enough to go into a base i-formation and to abandon spreads, read-options, etc.  We definitely used some I last year, and even a triple option.

[Bullpride08]

I could be wrong but wasn't last year, since being in the BE our best scoring year ?

I wold look for a small improvement this year but that would be great.

Maybe I am watching the wrong game but the WRs looked pretty good last year and it seemed to me that Grothe was thowing the ball behind them to often - Cinci game jumps to mind.

Grothe needs to improve in leading the receivers and not making poor decisions as evidenced by his 1:1 TD to int ratio in each of the years he has started at QB.  He needs to show marked improvement. 

BJ Daniels is the real deal. 

ET let me save you some time:

"This is just crasy.  Anyone who criticies MG is crasy.  We won 9 games last year.  So what if we had two NFL players in our D-backfield.  USF is nothing without MG.  9 wins is good enough and you should be happy MG chose USF over all of those other top flight schools that wanted him at QB.  Crasy"   :

Keep in mind that BJ Daniels has looked like dog poo during fall practice so he's hardly the real anything right now.  A nice athlete by any comparison, but about a full year away at least from any meaningful contribution.  Some have even said they've liked Evan Landi more in the early going, throws a smoother ball, but as things move along BJ's athleticism should push him ahead of Evan.

But Grothe definitely needs to cut down on the INTs.

[BrownBullsFan]

Our running game.

No running game, no Big East Title.

I don't know who or what (the backs, the o-line, the play calling, whatever), I just want a running game.

consider that RB is our deepest position and O-Line is our thinnest position