Pretty Ugly Running Game Stat

[TexasLonghorns]

1 hour ago, Glass Joe said:

Here’s another fun rushing stat….45% of Texas’ 53 rushing attempts went for 2 or fewer yards …. against UTEP!!!

That’s pitiful 

[Bunk Moreland]

The remarkable thing to me is that this program has had many of the same issues since Sark arrived and none of them have been addressed. The extremely experienced 2024 OL couldn’t get any push in the run game against any decent defensive lines. It took three high-level nfl players (Bijan, Roschon, and Brooks) who were elite at breaking tackles to overcome the problem. I think Sark looked at the results (really good running game 2021-2023) and trusted his buddy Flood without actually reviewing the tape and the advanced analytics. This has been a problem for years that was going to rear its head the second either the OL or RB experience or talent dipped just a bit. This year, unfortunately, both happened.

 

The same is true of penalties. The number of penalties the OL creates is completely unacceptable. That’s a Kyle Flood problem. But we also get a ton of ST penalties and boneheaded plays. That’s a Banks problem. The same is true of Milwee and qb development / mental makeup. I’ve said it before, but Sark has a problem with delegating too much to his buddies on the coaching staff and not holding them accountable. When the same problems keep popping up year after year across multiple position groups and dozens of different players, the problem is systemic. And it stems from the coach who oversees the entire offense.

[CJ Vogel]

 

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

10 hours ago, Dawnpatrol75 said:

CJ, this picture is our run game in a nutshell. Hell it’s our offense in a nutshell. It starts upfront. How does this happen vs a team like UTEP. I question the athletic ability of our OLine.

 

 

 

Looks like someone’s kid just left their Texas action figures laying on the ground. 

Edited Monday at 08:46 PM by Tuco Ramirez

[TexShoe]

We don't have a RB issue.  We have a new OL issue.  Right now, teams are dropping safeties to contain Arch and we still can't run.  If Arch continues to struggle, then it'll get even harder to run.  We just need this OL to gel.

[Hashtag]

3 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

 

 

Stroh is useless.

[Deep in the heart]

16 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

 

 

We have to have somebody more athletic than Connor Stroh on the roster. I don't get it.

[FootLaw]

On 9/14/2025 at 10:50 PM, AusMOJO said:

Is this not on Coach Choice and Coach Sark for lacking of elite recruiting at RB? Poor evaluations/development? I mean, don't get me wrong Wisner is good but he isn't elite. We have no speed at RB, no elite game changer there. That is a problem and it should not be. Plus the run blocking is okay but leaves a lot to be desired. For several years we've had a lack of push up front. Too much finesse/thinking and not enough beat your ass and get you to the dirt, so to speak. 

When was the last time we really saw an OL at Texas maul somebody up front? '23 Bama game, maybe?

Michigan and Texas A&M in 2024?  Texas rushed for 240 at Kyle field against a stacked DL.

We are breaking in a newer OL and TE rotation. Add in the new WRs and losing Blue's HR speed to that mix. Blocking will improve. The coaches get paid a lot of money to iron these issues out and they've been to 2 straight semis. Let's hold judgment for now.

[AusMOJO]

4 hours ago, FootLaw said:

Michigan and Texas A&M in 2024?  Texas rushed for 240 at Kyle field against a stacked DL.

We are breaking in a newer OL and TE rotation. Add in the new WRs and losing Blue's HR speed to that mix. Blocking will improve. The coaches get paid a lot of money to iron these issues out and they've been to 2 straight semis. Let's hold judgment for now.

I didn't really see the OL dominate the LOS in those games, but we ran so much against Texas A&M because Ewers wasn't able to do much in the passing game, if my memory serves me correctly.

I also understand this is a relatively new OL but Hutson has started over the previous 3 years, so has Campbell. Stroh is in his 3rd year, so is Goosby. Baker is in his 2nd, so I can excuse him a bit more than the others. Even Neto is in his 4th year like Hutson and Campbell. 

I'm holding my judgement till the end of the season. Right now I'm just noticing patterns continue to emerge, that's all. 

[Hashtag]

4 hours ago, FootLaw said:

Michigan and Texas A&M in 2024?  Texas rushed for 240 at Kyle field against a stacked DL.

We are breaking in a newer OL and TE rotation. Add in the new WRs and losing Blue's HR speed to that mix. Blocking will improve. The coaches get paid a lot of money to iron these issues out and they've been to 2 straight semis. Let's hold judgment for now.

Michigan and A&M were not elite defenses in 2024

[horns96]

Rewatching the UTEP game, at least a few of the run plays that were blown up are on TE blocking and few others are on RBs not hitting holes.

It looks like our guys on offense, especially #6 and #9,  are still playing "thud" reps.

On the bright side, Townsend continue to lay the wood and was basically uncovered on Arch's INT in the end zone.

[horns96]

On 9/15/2025 at 3:46 PM, TexShoe said:

We don't have a RB issue.  We have a new OL issue.  Right now, teams are dropping safeties to contain Arch and we still can't run.  If Arch continues to struggle, then it'll get even harder to run.  We just need this OL to gel.

Just to be repetitive, some of the struggles in the run game are on #6 and #9 and the TEs.

[FootLaw]

14 hours ago, AusMOJO said:

I didn't really see the OL dominate the LOS in those games, but we ran so much against Texas A&M because Ewers wasn't able to do much in the passing game, if my memory serves me correctly.

I also understand this is a relatively new OL but Hutson has started over the previous 3 years, so has Campbell. Stroh is in his 3rd year, so is Goosby. Baker is in his 2nd, so I can excuse him a bit more than the others. Even Neto is in his 4th year like Hutson and Campbell. 

I'm holding my judgement till the end of the season. Right now I'm just noticing patterns continue to emerge, that's all. 

They dominated both games. To be fair, Wisner also played his best game yet against aggie.

We lost Banks, Majors, Conner, and Williams (plus Helm at TE). That's a lot of veteran starting experience in your OL and TE rooms. That's not an excuse for how poorly our interior OL is playing right now but it helps explain the lack of "domination" at this point. Then you add in losing Blue's homerun ability out of the backfield as a safety net. Practice reps only get you so far and you never know what you truly have until the season gets going. I think we'll see steady improvement throughout the year. If we don't, then I'll start to panic haha

14 hours ago, Hashtag said:

Michigan and A&M were not elite defenses in 2024

Most defenses a team faces throughout the year aren't "elite". You'll get one or two games a year (maybe). Nonetheless, aggie's DL was, in fact, elite last year (or as close as it gets) and we ran the ball down their throats. Michigan DL had Graham and Grant (both first rounders), along with Stewart (3rd rounder). I'd say that's another stacked DL. We lost 4 OL starters who are all on NFL rosters this year. Rebuilding an OL after that isn't easy.

[HornyHorn]

Don’t worry guys Tony Hills told me the run game was super great and we were pushing guys off the ball against loaded boxes! Nothing to worry about here

[Oldest Horn]

15 hours ago, Hashtag said:

Michigan and A&M were not elite defenses in 2024

Michigan wasn’t? Please cite your “facts”. 

[Oldest Horn]

4 hours ago, FootLaw said:

They dominated both games. To be fair, Wisner also played his best game yet against aggie.

We lost Banks, Majors, Conner, and Williams (plus Helm at TE). That's a lot of veteran starting experience in your OL and TE rooms. That's not an excuse for how poorly our interior OL is playing right now but it helps explain the lack of "domination" at this point. Then you add in losing Blue's homerun ability out of the backfield as a safety net. Practice reps only get you so far and you never know what you truly have until the season gets going. I think we'll see steady improvement throughout the year. If we don't, then I'll start to panic haha

Most defenses a team faces throughout the year aren't "elite". You'll get one or two games a year (maybe). Nonetheless, aggie's DL was, in fact, elite last year (or as close as it gets) and we ran the ball down their throats. Michigan DL had Graham and Grant (both first rounders), along with Stewart (3rd rounder). I'd say that's another stacked DL. We lost 4 OL starters who are all on NFL rosters this year. Rebuilding an OL after that isn't easy.

Michigan was a top 20 defense despite having a non-existent offense. They also shut Oh St down. That’s pretty elite. 

[FootLaw]

1 hour ago, Oldest Horn said:

Michigan was a top 20 defense despite having a non-existent offense. They also shut Oh St down. That’s pretty elite. 

I concur. Our OL had those boys gassed in the 4th.

[Hashtag]

5 hours ago, Oldest Horn said:

Michigan was a top 20 defense despite having a non-existent offense. They also shut Oh St down. That’s pretty elite. 

 

4 hours ago, FootLaw said:

I concur. Our OL had those boys gassed in the 4th.

Yeah buddy! We sure gassed them in the run game with our IMPRESSIVE 88 yards rushing on 27 carries by Gibson, Wisner, and Blue for a STAGGERING 3.25 YPC!

[Oldest Horn]

9 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

 

Yeah buddy! We sure gassed them in the run game with our IMPRESSIVE 88 yards rushing on 27 carries by Gibson, Wisner, and Blue for a STAGGERING 3.25 YPC!

We were addressing your comment that Michigan wasn’t an elite defense. They were  

Try to focus and stay on subject please. Unless this was an intentional diversion, of course. 

[Hashtag]

2 minutes ago, Oldest Horn said:

We were addressing your comment that Michigan wasn’t an elite defense. They were  

Try to focus and stay on subject please. Unless this was an intentional diversion, of course. 

Oh I'm sorry for talking about run game in the run game thread. My apologies for being on topic.

[Oldest Horn]

7 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

Oh I'm sorry for talking about run game in the run game thread. My apologies for being on topic.

You couldn’t substantiate your assertion that Michigan didn’t have an elite defense, so you moved the goalposts. I’d say nice try, but we both know it really wasn’t. Try harder. 

[Hashtag]

8 minutes ago, Oldest Horn said:

You couldn’t substantiate your assertion that Michigan didn’t have an elite defense, so you moved the goalposts. I’d say nice try, but we both know it really wasn’t. Try harder. 

How is that a goal post move? We didn't run the ball well vs them at all. The statistical facts say so. We torched them through the air with sideline to sideline passes, not the run game.

[Oldest Horn]

5 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

How is that a goal post move? We didn't run the ball well vs them at all. The statistical facts say so. We torched them through the air with sideline to sideline passes, not the run game.

Look at my original response to your post, and get back to us. 

[AusMOJO]

10 hours ago, FootLaw said:

They dominated both games. To be fair, Wisner also played his best game yet against aggie.

We lost Banks, Majors, Conner, and Williams (plus Helm at TE). That's a lot of veteran starting experience in your OL and TE rooms. That's not an excuse for how poorly our interior OL is playing right now but it helps explain the lack of "domination" at this point. Then you add in losing Blue's homerun ability out of the backfield as a safety net. Practice reps only get you so far and you never know what you truly have until the season gets going. I think we'll see steady improvement throughout the year. If we don't, then I'll start to panic haha

Most defenses a team faces throughout the year aren't "elite". You'll get one or two games a year (maybe). Nonetheless, aggie's DL was, in fact, elite last year (or as close as it gets) and we ran the ball down their throats. Michigan DL had Graham and Grant (both first rounders), along with Stewart (3rd rounder). I'd say that's another stacked DL. We lost 4 OL starters who are all on NFL rosters this year. Rebuilding an OL after that isn't easy.

Thanks for reminding me of that, sometimes I think I should go back and watch these games to job my memory a bit more. Yes losing that does hurt but you'd think the guys we have stepping up would be playing a lot better. Considering 2 of the 3 have a ton of starting snaps. Another saw live action against some tough teams last year, etc. 

Just my opinions anyway, they don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. I'm still reserving my full judgement till the end of the year but so far they have been inconsistent and unimpressive up front. 

As for losing Blue, I do agree with you there but doesn't that once again come back to recruiting? Why did Coach Choice and Coach Sark not do a better job there? None of the guys he recruited are speedsters, especially considering you're taking two per class while Choice was here. 

As you said, we should see steady improvement but I've just noticed the same things over the years. I was trying to be optimistic in game 1 when they played pretty well but the last couple of games against weaker competition they fell apart, wildly. We'll see. 

[AusMOJO]

10 hours ago, HornyHorn said:

Don’t worry guys Tony Hills told me the run game was super great and we were pushing guys off the ball against loaded boxes! Nothing to worry about here

I was listening to the Coaches speak on this yesterday, I think it was. Coach Erwin and Coach Shipley. Both seemed concerned about the OL, which is natural given the performance but the development is a concern, too. Considering we were lead to believe that this was Coach Flood's strong suit. 

Edited 2 hours ago by AusMOJO