2011 Oklahoma Football Offensive Preview: Running Backs
by ccmachine on Aug 24, 2011 5:37 PM CDT
in Oklahoma Sooners Football
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Let's be honest and not sugar coat anything. The Sooners struggled in the running game in 2010 and will enter 2011 without their super star four-year starter in DeMarco Murray. That's not to say there's a void of talent at the running back position, because there's plenty there, but proven talent is scarce.
A new offensive philosophy behind new offensive coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell is the first step to improvement, a deeper and more experienced offensive line is the second step but the main factor in trying to improve on Oklahoma's 3.4 yard per carry average from 2010 will be the new backs fighting for playing time.
Sophomore Brennan Clay has possibly had the best camp of any of the Sooner backs and if I had to predict one of the opening day starters he would certainly be one of them. At 5-11/194 he's not a big bruising back but he possesses good speed and hands which makes him a receiving threat. He has 36 rushing attempts for his career for 127 yards (3.5 YPC).
Jonathan Miller sat out last season with a redshirt so he'll return to the field this fall as a sophomore. Coming off a knee injury, thus the reason for the redshirt, he's ready to prove himself to Sooner Nation. As a true freshman, in 2009, Miller averaged 7.2 yards per carry and a score but was limited to only 18 total carries for the season.
Sophomore Roy Finch showed flashes of brilliance last season, as a true freshman, reminding many Sooner fans of Quentin Griffin. He carried the ball 85 times for 398 yards (4.7 YPC) and two touchdowns. At 5-7/166 he's very much a scat back with great balance and superb hands. After catching 10 passes for 49 yards in `10 he'll be spending some time in the slot this fall.
Junior Jermie Calhoun was the nation's top running back prospect (per ESPN) coming out of high school in 2008 and sat out as a redshirt freshman his first season in Norman. In 2009 he worked his way up to third on the depth chart and saw 45 carries, in limited action, producing 4.5 yards per carry. He's currently the highest touted running back on Oklahoma's roster (not by much though) but due to the injury bug he's never really been able to make much headway.
True Freshman Brandon Williams looks to be the future of the Oklahoma running game but needs to weave his way through the depth chart first. Arriving early for the spring and having a solid summer camp has helped him immensely but there's still a ton of talent on the roster to compete with.
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From what I hear from Stoops and Heupel's comments
It sounds like Brandon is already the best pure runner (by a bit), but Clay has him beat in the passing aspects
by King Sam Rules! on Aug 24, 2011 5:54 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
i think williams will be a beast
he may not have a huge impact this year but i think in the next couple of years he will be awesome. The fact is we don’t know who is the best RB yet. We will start to find that out next saturday, hopefully all will get carries and we’ll know more then.
"I feel sorry for peple who don't drink, when they wake up in the morning thats as good as they are gonna feel all day long." Frank Sinatra
They may not be proven, but I like what we have.
With so much competition for playing time, when any of these backs get on the field they will be giving their best.
As the season develops, I believe the various strengths each back possesses will be utilized.
Finch may be smallish, but that young man can play and has a huge heart. I can’t see him sitting too much, each time he gets the ball he can break it big and he showed his hands on that pass in the OSU game that I thought Landry was trying to throw away.
If you train people properly, they won't be able to tell a drill from the real thing. If anything, the real thing will be easier. --Richard Marcinko
We will not have a 1,000 yard back.
Texas A&M has the best backs in the league, bar none.
We will also not have more rushing yards, at year-end, than Texas A&M.
That said, we will beat them head-to-head and have more total wins and conference wins than they do.
I like our chances to be a full half-yard greater per-carry than we were last year. Enh, call it a full yard. Three feet are easier to grasp when you’re wrapping your brain around the concept of five complete backs. All of this is dependent, of course, upon good blocking from the line, but I expect better results when Landry hands the ball to someone than we saw last year.
0.5 yards better to a full yard better, at least. Any takers? Who’s got the opposing argument?
In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?"
by SaintSooner on Aug 24, 2011 11:32 PM CDT up reply actions
I agree we probably won't have a thousand yard rusher.
But I think the total contribution by all the backs in rushing and receiving will overshadow having a feature back with lots of carries and yards.
We were hampered early last season with injuries to Clay and Finch, which left us with Murray and Madu to carry the load much of the season. If we can avoid injuries and have all the talented backs we now have available, I think the rushing yards will improve, especially if we keep the number of snaps per minute at previous levels.
I do think the O-line will be improved, just from experience.
If you train people properly, they won't be able to tell a drill from the real thing. If anything, the real thing will be easier. --Richard Marcinko
Going into 2004, I don't know how many people expected you guys to have a 1000yd. rusher
And most of those who did probably expected Jones to just inch past his 2003 production. Then of course Peterson almost doubled Jones’ 2003 production on his way to NY.
Anyway, I’ve been reading what I can for fantasy purposes, and it really sounds like the door is open for a talent who simply didn’t have a true chance last year to break out to the tune of 1000+yds. Obviously you guys aren’t expecting a line performance like the one that paved the way for Peterson, and the aerial attack looks like the dominant aspect, but I would not be even a bit surprised if Clay or Williams were to take the keys and pile up yardage well beyond that thousand-yard mark. Sure, I hope it doesn’t happen, especially at the expense of Texas, but Jones, Broyles, and Still ought to make things very easy on the running game this year.
QB Garrett Gilbert was the Beavis & Butthead episode of the 2010 college football season. Even when things were going well there was always one bad decision that meant he wasn’t going to score.
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1070636.html
by burntorangehorn on Aug 25, 2011 11:23 AM CDT up reply actions
which keep in mind also meant keeping Murray healthy as Madu was not capable of being an evry down back.
Proven remarkably at Mizzou. The Diamond brings all kinds of delicious-ness to the table.
Don't forget about Millard
He has more game experience than most of the rest and imo will see more carries/catches this year. With his blocking prowess and ball carrying ability he may boost the ypc a yard or so on his own.
I doubt OU runs much more than they did last season.
Interestingly enough though, they never really had to either. Pass defenses were horrible in the big 12 last season.
I believe OU is definately a top 10 team, but the #1 ranking is a bit over the top for me, considering the teams OU lost to last season, and the fact Texas completely sucked, has me believing they’re a bit over-rated.
Texas A&M was not that great of a team last season. Any good defense worth their salt like OU’s was supposed to, would’ve stopped the Aggies offense.
Also, OU caught the Corn Huskers at just the right time late last year in the Big 12 championship game. Nebraska’s QB was a Redshirt Freshman and was coming back from an injury.
He was rusty and had no experience in those types of games.
UConn? (high school) Really? Good lord, now the schedule gets even better?
If OU had landed were they should’ve last season, considering the mediocre schedule they played, they would’ve landed somewhere around 14th in the polls. They were not that impressive.
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