RB Options

As we sit here in the 4th week of the season and we've yet to see any form of a running game, I started to think.... What are the options/combination's that are available to us in the backfield.



FB- Zed Mendenhall, Austin Heder, Brian Karyia (Situational), Michael Alisa (Situational)



HB- JJ DiLuigi, Brian Kariya, Josh Quezada, Michael Alisa (Situational).



There are more options than this, but these are the guys we have seen on the field.



What do you guys think? Who are our best options here?



FB- I like Zed and Austin as blockers but neither are a threat to ever run the ball or catch it out the backfield. So we need to work Alisa in more on blocking plays like stretch plays, sweeps, counters stuff like that where he can use his speed to shield guys more than trying to blow them out of the holes.



HB- Don't know what is up with this group. Kariya seems to have his head on sideways, he just seems a step slow, his pass protection is terrible, he is just underwhelming. Josh Quezada, can't seem to find the holes (if there are any) and seems to have a hard time be productive when there are holes. JJ is our most productive but when Heaps does get him the ball he drops it, or when he's open Heaps misses him by a mile.



I think this 7 headed running attack and rotating on every play needs to be minimized. I would like to see more of this rotation. JJ, Josh and Alisa. Alisa kind of reminds me of Hema Hemuli, a big kid that can block a little but not a true full back.



What say you? What combinations which groups would you like to see used a bit more consistently?

Well, one note on Mendenhall, he looked pretty good on his one catch this last game.



I think the coaches are extremely frustrated right now with Josh Quezada's lack of improvement. I'm not sure they are upset with him or if the injury in the pre-season has really had an effect on his growth as a player.

Mendenhall is a stud. The guy punishes people.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTJceqpovjU



I think the problem you state for Josh Q. is the same problem every one of the running backs is facing this year. No holes to be found. Defenses have forced BYU to take shots down the field and BYU can't seem to make them pay. Hard to run the ball with 8-9 in the box.

stuckinbig10country wrote:
Well, one note on Mendenhall, he looked pretty good on his one catch this last game.



I think the coaches are extremely frustrated right now with Josh Quezada's lack of improvement. I'm not sure they are upset with him or if the injury in the pre-season has really had an effect on his growth as a player.

If Q is still suffereing with injury, mayb e a medical RS is the best option. Why waste a year of eligibility if he will be ineffective all year.



MOre practice reps for the others can't be a bad thing.

Here's my assessment: I think we need to use Alisa and Mendenhall more. Alisa really should take snaps from Kariya and Juice if he isn't healthy and Mendenhall needs to be utilized more in the i-formation. That's where we run the ball the best and he looks like the best option for a lead blocker.



I think the O-line and RB's are playing almost equally bad, the O-line a bit worse though. The line isn't blocking very well but when there is a hole our RBs seem to either not see or are slow getting there. And then there's the fumbling problem, which is plain inexcusable.



I thought DiLuigi had maybe the worst game of his career vs Texas. The main reason I say that is because he looked petrified to run the ball against them. He seems to be dancing around more this year than in years past.



Kariya has only ever been able to run in a straight line as evidenced by his career 3.8 YPC, (if there's a hole open 2-3 ft away he seems to never hit it) but this year he seems to be hitting the hole a lot slower for some reason. Kariya has been a great blocker in years past but hasn't performed as well this year.



And then Juice just doesn't seem like himself. Maybe the migraines are a bigger issue than we know.



I really think Alisa has promise, but we'll only know that if he gets more touches. He's only ran the ball 3 times for a measly 2 yards, but he has the highest yards per catch out of all the RBs. He seems to have a good mix of speed, power, and vision.



Also, I wonder if there's already been a decision made on redshirting Pikula. He's a great blocker and he was quoted as saying he wanted to play FB in college.

Short_Change wrote:
Kariya has only ever been able to run in a straight line as evidenced by his career 3.8 YPC, (if there's a hole open 2-3 ft away he seems to never hit it) but this year he seems to be hitting the hole a lot slower for some reason. Kariya has been a great blocker in years past but hasn't performed as well this year.

Ok, y'all know what I'm gonna say, but I feel like I have to say it: Kariya's YPC is more indicative of how he's been used in the offense than his ability to run. Kariya has been used as our power, north-south, short-yardage back. Of course his YPC are going to be a little low when we use him to get a foot for the first down. He hasn't had much of a chance to perform this year, he's been sick and Doman hasn't been giving him the ball. Kariya's a guaranteed three yards, which is more than you can say for our other backs lately.

Almost 4 yards out of a back is pretty good, considering the steaming pile of cow dung that our running game has been this year.



If you take 4 yards x 22 attempts last game, you have 88 yards. Our total last game? 42 yards. Ergo, (vis a vis) give the ball to Kariya, and you double our running game, instantly.

BlueIsBetter wrote:
and you double our running game, instantly.

Maybe, but did any RBs get their season average last Sat.? Why would Kariya have gotten his? According to your logic, you just give it to the guy with the highest season average from last year and let him get at least that many ypc. Simple enough... if it really worked that way.

I think JJ is the only healthy RB and that's the biggest reason why Kariya and Juice aren't playing/carrying the ball more.



It's the simplest explanation.

I say give David foote some carries. He impressed last year on his limited carries. Give him the rock and see what he can do.



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BlueIsBetter wrote:
Almost 4 yards out of a back is pretty good, considering the steaming pile of cow dung that our running game has been this year.



If you take 4 yards x 22 attempts last game, you have 88 yards. Our total last game? 42 yards. Ergo, (vis a vis) give the ball to Kariya, and you double our running game, instantly.

Kariya is at 3.8 ypc for his career, he's down to 3.3 ypc this year. And in college, that is not a good ypc.

Short_Change wrote:

Almost 4 yards out of a back is pretty good, considering the steaming pile of cow dung that our running game has been this year.



If you take 4 yards x 22 attempts last game, you have 88 yards. Our total last game? 42 yards. Ergo, (vis a vis) give the ball to Kariya, and you double our running game, instantly.

Kariya is at 3.8 ypc for his career, he's down to 3.3 ypc this year. And in college, that is not a good ypc.

I didn't say it was good compared to normal standards, I said he is getting more ypc than any of our backs.

OK ... for your stat gurus ... What are the RBER's for each of these guys?



Just watching the game v :utard: : Mendenhall did very well on his ONE play early in the game (which begs the question: Why only one play to him? He did great on it, so we never go back to him? Doman is really the only one who can answer that, but I suspect the answer is something like: it was game planned to go back to him. My response: your plan wasn't working, so screw the plan and find what works! Peter Drucker: Plans are useless, planning is invaluable.)



Kariya was under-utilized last week. Hit hard and picked up yards. So, why not use him on the short yardage situations. His power compliments JJ's shake and bake, and actually opens up JJ since they must honor Brian ... if he gets the ball.



Juice is struggling. A couple of good opportunities, not a lot from them. He's a fine athlete, but not at the top of his game. Injury related? I don't know. He may be physically fine, and mentally tentative due to the injury (I know of other players on the team that are experiencing that) ... but that's why they have a sports psychologist on the team. If it's mental, help him get through it, we need him.



JJ ... over-used. Has ability, and does alright with it, but he's targeted by every team because a) he's over used; b) he gets tackled easily (usually, not a hard punishing runner who will move a pile) and so it is easy to chip on him.



We've got a strong stable of backs ... but they must be used more effectively (or maybe just used ....)

None of our RBs are over used this year, because none of them are being used at all.



We would have comparable rushing stats to last year if Doman ever called a rushing play. But he doesn't.



The RBER is in another thread.

hawkwing wrote:
None of our RBs are over used this year, because none of them are being used at all.

Look at the number of times JJ has been the target or ball carrier ... it far exceeds anyone else is my gut feel. That is being over-used in my opinion. He is focussed on to the exclusion of other players ... but, I may be wrong. Just $0.02

mtnradio wrote:

None of our RBs are over used this year, because none of them are being used at all.

Look at the number of times JJ has been the target or ball carrier ... it far exceeds anyone else is my gut feel. That is being over-used in my opinion. He is focussed on to the exclusion of other players ... but, I may be wrong. Just $0.02

I think it helps our offense if one player get targeted more than the others. However, there are two things that need to happen, first that player needs to be effective, second that player needs to not be a running back.



Look at Collie and Pitta. Those players were targeted a lot more than the other options. As a result they pretty much drew a double team all season. They were so good that they were still productive in spite of the double team. With two defenders (sometimes three) focusing on one player it opens up other aspects of the offense and also limits the number of players the defense can bring as pressure on the QB.



The problem with trying to make JJ this guy is his touches all come too close to the line of scrimmage. In order for him to be productive he has to get YAC and with a defense focusing on him that isn't likely. Collie and Pitta could get tackled as they were catching the ball but it was effective because they were down the field.



Apo or Hoffman need to become the person the defense has to focus on stopping. If that happens we will probably see more success from our mediocre running backs and inexperienced tight ends.