OTF Premium Eye-Opening Rushing Numbers (Monday AM)

[CJ Vogel]

A few eye-opening rushing statistics

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Very clearly a main topic of discussion given how this season has gone, but I wanted to set an idea for where things are in the running game currently.

 

Texas rushing stats vs. ranked opponents since the beginning of 2024. Texas has played 13 ranked teams in that time span.

 

Only three times out of the 13 games has Texas averaged 5.0 yards or more. Is that personnel? Is that scheme? Is that the inability or unwillingness to stick with the run before it can figure itself out? 

I'm not sure.

I would bet all of the above.

***

Rushing Numbers from SEC Teams in Conference Games

• 207.0 - Missouri
• 205.3 - Texas A&M
• 201.0 - Arkansas
• 184.3 - Georgia
• 171.9 - Ole Miss
• 146.8 - Vanderbilt
• 138.8 - Tennessee
• 138.1 - Auburn
• 131.4 - Kentucky
• 121.7 - Miss State
• 115.9 - Florida
• 108.8 - Oklahoma
• 102.3 - Alabama
• 99.0 - LSU
• 98.0 - South Carolina
• 71.7 - Texas

Texas also has the second fewest amount of rushing attempts per game in conference play at 27.5. Only LSU, at 26.8, has fewer rushing attempts in conference games.

Additionally, Texas is dead last in yards per rush in SEC play. 

Longhorns are averaging only 2.61 yards per attempt in conference play.

***

The 1,000-yard rushing streak that has been a feather in the cap of Steve Sarkisian's since becoming a playcaller is more likely than not coming to an end.

Leading rusher Quintrevion Wisner has just 375 rush yards this season.

[rgvhorn80]

Agree with Marcus Myers this morning about the type of RB Texas doesn’t have. Texas staff IMO has dropped the ball on RB recruiting. I watch college football every weekend and see so many teams with physical twitchy RBs. No excuse for Texas not to have one.

[alrightalrightalright]

Upon rewatch, looks like Sark abandoned the run game after Wisner’s 8-yard loss, where he was initially stuffed just behind the LOS.

That drive had momentum even after Wisner’s loss, but died after a holding penalty on a check down to Niblett, where Arch also took way too long to get the ball out.

[Longhornlove]

It's pretty clear, Sark doesn't even want to try to run the ball. He did so on his "script" then quickly didn't try anymore. How many runs were called after the first drive? 4, 5, maybe 6? How is that even possible?

[ChanmanV]

Sark once again is out of touch with game planning, in game decisions, and recognizing the strength of his team when it comes to the running game. One mistake (penalty, turnover, etc) and he gives up on the running game. It took him a while to commit to running most the season when we had bijan and roschon. The rushing game is just a throw in once the passing game is effective or when his back is against the wall. When he has choices, it will always favor the passing game. This cost us the Washington game 2 years ago. It hurt us in the Ohio State games and multiple games this year. Sark is predictable in this way at this point. Coaches know this. It's not a coincidence that Georgia and most teams just play 3 back now to force Sark to do things he doesn't want to. Georgia didn't do anything fancy on defense. They just keep testing Sark's patience and he kept trying to press from a passing standpoint. 

Look at the Georgia RB's the last 3 years and look at ours. They are physical runners and no necessarily with elite speed. We gave up on Gibson too early and put too many eggs in the Baxter basket. We need to fully commit and recruit more dawgs on RB/OL and less speed. 

Edited 3 hours ago by ChanmanV

[alrightalrightalright]

14 minutes ago, Longhornlove said:

It's pretty clear, Sark doesn't even want to try to run the ball. He did so on his "script" then quickly didn't try anymore. How many runs were called after the first drive? 4, 5, maybe 6? How is that even possible?

The -8 yard run was the 6th run play called after the first drive.

[f1revo]

Wouldn't mind moving away from the oversized OL with poor athleticism on the trail. If they're big and athletic, cool, but they need to be able to move their feet. Think they've also been hung up on these massive CBs too who simply don't have the short area quickness for the position. I doubt they would've ever recruited Barron because he wasn't 6'1" +

Edited 3 hours ago by f1revo

[alrightalrightalright]

55 minutes ago, Longhornlove said:

It's pretty clear, Sark doesn't even want to try to run the ball. He did so on his "script" then quickly didn't try anymore. How many runs were called after the first drive? 4, 5, maybe 6? How is that even possible?

 

39 minutes ago, alrightalrightalright said:

The -8 yard run was the 6th run play called after the first drive.

That was the last called run for a RB until the final play of the game — a handoff to CJ Baxter. Woof.

[Jerky]

No surprise but deeply disappointing to have the lack of rushing production in year 5 for Sark.

Sark, Flood, Becton and Choice failed Texas.

Excellent detailed work CJ!!!

 

4 year players Hutson, Robertson, Neto and DJ didn't develop into an IOL group that can successfully run block. 4 years is plenty of time to develop fundamentals, techniques, explosiveness, more size/strength, better push and cohesion to run block effectively. Becton, Flood and Sark didn't succeed with OL. TEs have not been good run blockers over the past 5 years. Becton, Banks and Sark need to do better with TE run blocking. All our good Herman/Drayton RBs are gone. Drayton recruited maybe 5 RBs that went on to get drafted including two that were the first running backs taken in the draft. We converted a tweener to RB out of necessity. Without Wisner, we would have next to nothing at RB. Choice didn't evaluate RBs well enough imo. We had 2 RBs coming back from serious injury. We didn't hit the portal for a RB like we should have. Missouri is #1 in rushing and they hit the portal for RB Hardy. Our RB woes are mainly on Choice and Sark.

Our OL & RB personnel, development, coaching and rushing attack came up woefully short this season. Sark and others did not recognize the urgent need and potential to get a starting portal RB along with upgrading our IOL.

Pathetic rushing attack this season along with poor pass blocking in many of the earlier games. This is year 5 for Sark, Flood and Becton yet we waisted Arch's first season as a starter.

 

Going forward changes need to happen. We are not on the right track as a rushing offense.

Edited 3 hours ago by Jerky

[Longhornlove]

3 minutes ago, alrightalrightalright said:

 

That was the last called run for a RB until the final play of the game — a handoff to CJ Baxter. Woof.

Wow, that was even worse than I thought. That is absolutely insane.

[Steamboat Willie]

Honestly, this is exactly why Iwaited a full 24 hours before posting anything. When you look at the numbers laid out like this, it’s hard not to say the quiet part out loud: the offseason talent eval and offensive roster building flat-out missed the mark.

And the stats don’t sugarcoat it.

Last in the SEC in YPC (2.61).

Second-fewest rushing attempts.

Dead last — by a mile — in conference rushing yards per game.

Averaged 5.0+ YPC vs ranked teams only three times in 13 tries.

That’s not a “trend.” That’s an identity crisis.

It’s a combination of everything:
• Personnel misses (– whether we mis-evaluated the backs, the OL, or both)
• Scheme stubbornness
• No real rhythm or commitment to the run game
• And a portal strategy that backfired

This isn’t bad luck. It’s structural.

The SEC is a league where you earn yards on the ground, and right now Texas is trying to win heavyweight fights by shadowboxing. You can’t live in 3rd-and-8 all season and expect your offense to look coherent.

The craziest part?
Sark came in with a 1,000-yard rusher streak that spanned like a decade and half a country. Now we’re staring at a season where the leading rusher might not hit 450 yards.

That’s not a small dip — that’s falling out of the airplane without a parachute.

There’s a ton to fix this offseason, but the first place to start is admitting the eval and acquisition strategy at RB and OL simply wasn’t up to SEC standard. Until that’s addressed, everything else is window dressing.

And yeah… this was the toned-down version of what I wanted to post yesterday.

[Deep in the heart]

Sark needs to hire a coordinator, bottom line.

[drag worm]

I don't think a power running game is a priority for Sark. It's not in his DNA. He's a finesse offensive coordinator. He builds his offensive side of the ball from the outside in. When it works and he has the perfect personnel like at Bama in 2020 it's a thing of beauty. When it doesn't it's a total s-show. 

Sark benefitted from three tough ass NFL running backs that Herman left behind. Once they left he’s done nothing to replace them. 

Edited 1 hour ago by drag worm