John Moten

[Hungry Jack]

If he gains 200+ yards in the game, I will take the smaller gains. BTW - it felt like more than half were at least 2 yards, but I might have had my purple tinted glasses on.

He had the 68 yard dash, the 40 yard dash, a 15 yard TD scamper, and a bunch around 10 yards.

I think the game planners saw something they liked about Pittsburgh's scheme (duh) in terms of running the ball. Perhaps the Pitt emphasis on pressuring the LOS with its front 7, and relatively poor secondary, was the perfect complement to JJ's ability to make defenders miss in very close quarters. When you compress the front 7 like Pitt did, one little crease was all that JJ needed to break one and get isolation in the secondary. The way he froze that safety like an orange pylom on the 40 yard run was just silly. So I think you just keep hitting the run game until you hit the lottery, which JJ did several times.

 

[GlideCat]

I don't think that sounds like a poor analogy at all. Very different muscle groups and control issues walking forward or backward. Our line men need to walk backward to class

I think we now have the offensive line version of the "tennis ball cannon."

 

[Deeringfish]

I think we now have the offensive line version of the "tennis ball cannon."

Let's hope so. Our Wrs improved quite a bit in the season following the tennis ball canon advice.

 

[Gladeskat]

It is a little odd, isn't it? Our OL seems to have decent power when coming off the ball run blocking, but a lot of trouble anchoring in pass protection. I don't have an answer for it, just kind of illogical.

I suspect it's a lack of athleticism in terms of reaction time and quickness. They can execute a board drill-style block on short yardage because they know exactly what to do and know the snap count versus having the reaction time and ability to read and react to a defender teeing off on them in a passing situation.

We had a backup OT a few years ago who was a monster in board drills from what I could see on practice videos, but he rarely played because of poor balance and quickness. I recall we'd bring him in on goal line situations and he'd just mauled Nebraska defensive linemen, blasting them 2-3 yards off the LOS. Otherwise, he was just too slow to be effective in other situations.

 

[Gladeskat]

True. That's why one hopes that the strength coaches set the right performance goals for our linemen to be successful at this level. Which I assume they are. Which leaves us with the technique question.

The reaction time and balance problem is still there regardless of how strong a player might be (though Olympic-style lifting helps). Conditioning and coaching can improve their skills somewhat, but natural ability (balance, quickness, agility) still limits a player's ceiling.

 

[DaCat]

The reaction time and balance problem is still there regardless of how strong a player might be (though Olympic-style lifting helps). Conditioning and coaching can improve their skills somewhat, but natural ability (balance, quickness, agility) still limits a player's ceiling.

That makes sense. Kind of makes one wonder about the reputation that programs like Wisky and Iowa have of "developing" linemen, vs. recruiting guys that already have high ceilings, which would suggest that the position coaching aspect is a little overrated?

 

[Gladeskat]

That makes sense. Kind of makes one wonder about the reputation that programs like Wisky and Iowa have of "developing" linemen, vs. recruiting guys that already have high ceilings, which would suggest that the position coaching aspect is a little overrated?

I think Wisconsin does a good job of identifying good, large OL prospects and developing them. It's one advantage they have in recruiting Wisconsin, i.e., it's a state with a lot of large people.

I don't know for certain, but I suspect our ability to evaluate and recruit motivated OL is a bigger issue than our ability to develop and coach OL. I had some doubts about functional strength training because we seemed to produce better OL when Larry Lilja was the strength coach. I understand we've reverted back to more power lifting rather than functional strength training.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I will be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about OL play .I watch other teams ,with talent no better than ours, block much more effectively on running plays. I think the way we line up our running back -shallow and still-limits his ability to "find" holes on inside running plays. JJ carried the ball 32 times in the Pinstripe Bowl and I bet half were for no gain or less than 2 yards. Pass protection ,on the other hand, seems to be universally problematic.

Half for no gain or less than 2 yards would be par for the course for almost every RB. The YPC average generally gets pulled out to 5 ypc or more because of long runs.

 

[pawildcat]

Don't disagree, unfortunately ( but I hope we're both wrong ). Either way, Fitz --not McCall, not Cushing--owns the result. It's "on him." Let's see what happens.

I disagree. I thought the line was better overall this year, and with the returning experience there is good reason to expect improvement rather than regression.

I will be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about OL play .I watch other teams ,with talent no better than ours, block much more effectively on running plays. I think the way we line up our running back -shallow and still-limits his ability to "find" holes on inside running plays. JJ carried the ball 32 times in the Pinstripe Bowl and I bet half were for no gain or less than 2 yards. Pass protection ,on the other hand, seems to be universally problematic.

Take any game where a back gets 200 yards or more and carries the ball as often as Jackson does, and I'm betting you'll find a lot of short gains mixed with a few long runs. Jackson was the crux of Northwestern's offense, and I'd be very surprised if during PItt's bowl practices the mantra didn't run something like, "If we stop Jackson, we'll stop Northwestern." That they not only couldn't stop him but were ripped for more than 200 yards speaks very well for our o-line's blocking in the Pitt game. The hole he had for that 68-yard run was so big that I think I might have gotten 2-3 yards out of it.

 

[wildelk2]

Whatever it is it's McCall's fault.

 

[NJCat]

Whatever it is it's McCall's fault.

Or Springer.

Or Cushing.

 

[wildelk2]

Or Colby.