I noticed last night that when the offense handed the ball off to the same back 3 plays straight, they just looked dead on the 3rd play and didn't do much. 4 rushes. 0 yards, 0 yards, 1 yard and 0 yards. I went back and watched the game again and looked in more detail. It wasn't jailbreaks by the d-line. It was just backs plowing into the center of the line when they normally bounced outside.
I looked at the real time, not game clock time, between when the runner got up from the previous tackle to when they were handed the ball again. Average of about 16 seconds. Longest was 23 when they were trying to milk the clock in the 4th quarter. That's 16 seconds, to get up, sprint back to position and take the ball again. Two other possessions seem to make a similar point without it being the same player 3 times in a row. And it can't all be chalked up to the O-line being tired as well.
On the 3rd possession of the 2nd half, Knighton ran for 2 and 3 yards back to back, then was replaced by Harris, who runs for 14 yards on the next play. .
Besides TD runs where there is no play after, Miami's only 4 runs by RB's over 10 yards were ALL followed by the same RB getting the ball the next play. That happened 4 times and they gained a total of 4 yards. 0,1,2,1.
Example
On the first possession of the 2nd half, Chaney bounced it outside for a long run of 33 yards. From the time he got up and was handed the ball again, it was 16 seconds. On the next play, he went for 2 yards, once again just running into the middle when the outside was open again. After running hard for 33 yards and being tackled, he sprinted back to the backfield and took the ball 16 seconds after getting up off the ground. He was gassed.
Now, I know that these play calls are a zone read where King decides whether to pull the ball out of the RB's belly and keep it or to let the RB hit the hole. However, King or Lashlee has to realize at this point in the season, the conditioning is not there to expect the RB's to do much after either a long run or on their 3rd straight run.
I also am aware that the offense is designed to keep the defense tired, but right now, our RB's are tired after running for long gains or several straight plays. And to be frank, I'm not sure why in those situations the Canes wouldn't just risk the defense making a substitution and bring in another back or keep the same back in and go with a play that doesn't involve them running the ball.
Would love to hear from some of you as to a possible explanation besides fatigue. Watch the game again. The o-line blocking was not that bad on the plays noted here.
I looked at the real time, not game clock time, between when the runner got up from the previous tackle to when they were handed the ball again. Average of about 16 seconds. Longest was 23 when they were trying to milk the clock in the 4th quarter. That's 16 seconds, to get up, sprint back to position and take the ball again. Two other possessions seem to make a similar point without it being the same player 3 times in a row. And it can't all be chalked up to the O-line being tired as well.
On the 3rd possession of the 2nd half, Knighton ran for 2 and 3 yards back to back, then was replaced by Harris, who runs for 14 yards on the next play. .
Besides TD runs where there is no play after, Miami's only 4 runs by RB's over 10 yards were ALL followed by the same RB getting the ball the next play. That happened 4 times and they gained a total of 4 yards. 0,1,2,1.
Example
On the first possession of the 2nd half, Chaney bounced it outside for a long run of 33 yards. From the time he got up and was handed the ball again, it was 16 seconds. On the next play, he went for 2 yards, once again just running into the middle when the outside was open again. After running hard for 33 yards and being tackled, he sprinted back to the backfield and took the ball 16 seconds after getting up off the ground. He was gassed.
Now, I know that these play calls are a zone read where King decides whether to pull the ball out of the RB's belly and keep it or to let the RB hit the hole. However, King or Lashlee has to realize at this point in the season, the conditioning is not there to expect the RB's to do much after either a long run or on their 3rd straight run.
I also am aware that the offense is designed to keep the defense tired, but right now, our RB's are tired after running for long gains or several straight plays. And to be frank, I'm not sure why in those situations the Canes wouldn't just risk the defense making a substitution and bring in another back or keep the same back in and go with a play that doesn't involve them running the ball.
Would love to hear from some of you as to a possible explanation besides fatigue. Watch the game again. The o-line blocking was not that bad on the plays noted here.
