running the ball is a mindset. A mindset that this team doesn't have right now.
And no one will convince me we don't have the players to run smash mouth.
But Fisch is too pass happy to stick the the run and make it an identity.
Right now we're passing 60% of the time.
UF is rushing more than 60% of the time. Do they have more of a smash mouth players than we do? Heck no.
Out of all the things that Golden has signed off on this to me is the most perplexing. He needs to tell Fisch to balance out the offense.
1) UF actually has a big lack of proven WRs and a young QB that has clearly proven that he's not ready for primetime against top defenses (they had to run the ball 15 straight times or something vs LSU to win, and did, good for them.) He's thrown for less than 800 yards in 5 games with just 4 TDs. If Morris did that with our current W/L record, there would be a march on Hecht of ****ed off fans demanding to know why we didn't throw it more often. The Turds' best option is to run it a lot (they average about 210ypg) and lean on the defense, so you're dead wrong in your assessment of them.
2) While a little more balance against better competition would be helpful to keep the defense fresh with more time of possession, the OL has had problems creating holes against good and not-so-good defenses. You can't run the ball if you can't run block effectively. On top of that, Mike James is not an explosive player that can make something out of nothing, and the smarter teams we've faced have keyed on Duke in his limited touches, so that really puts us in a hole whenever we try to run. We're just not that good at it, for whatever reason you want to think of.
That leaves us with what we ARE good at: throwing it medium-to-deep (and often) to a group of talented but inconsistent receivers. And deep throws naturally suffer from a lower completion rate, so if we misfire more than a couple times (exhibits A and B the KSU and ND games and the number of blown opportunities) then the offense REALLY stalls out and puts even more pressure on the defense.
There are two issues that are more important than being able to run the ball that's hurting us IMO; Morris' inconsistency on short throws and the lack of a reliable TE threat. You can get away with throwing the ball 50 times a game in college these days and still win a bunch of games, but only if you can complete the majority of those 6 and 7 yard gimmes that extend drives and chew clock. We miss far too many of those, or if they're completed, they are not on target and take running momentum away from the receiver, instead of letting them go upfield quickly. Not having a tight end is crippling in the red zone, because receivers can get chucked off routes and can be stifled and double-teamed in close, but a 250lb TE is going to get whatever he wants against a corner or safety and can't normally be covered by a LB. Heck, we've actually seen this happen, except ours have their hands covered in Crisco and wear cement shoes.
