Minor vs. McGuffie, recruiting

If there was one bright spot in our loss to Penn State it was that Brandon Minor played extremely well in the first half. He ran with conviction, broke many tackles and repeatedly got to the second level for big gains. When he gained no yards he was visibly upset. I don't know about the rest of you wolverine fans, but I thought it was a welcome departure from McGuffie who shows promising vision and speed, but folds upon first contact. 

This was the first game where I thought we had a viable, consistent rushing attack (at least for the first half). You'll also notice that Threet carried the ball more as well, making the backside DE have to be more honest. So that also may have contributed to Minor's success. IMO we had more success with him in the first half than we've had all year with McGuffie running the ball. 

That being said, Minor is a big back. He's listed at 214 pounds. He's a bruiser. The top three rushers in the nation are all listed over 200 lbs (Ringer, Brown and Greene). None of our running back recruits breaks 185 lbs (heck, Vincent smith is 156!). Mike Hart is currently listed at 206. 

Though weight may seem like an arbitrary point and it gives no indication of the success of a back (look at Jacquizz Rodgers, for example), it becomes an issue when the back cannot absorb the hits. We don't appear to be recruiting bigger backs, despite the fact that it appears that, at least against a very good defense, our bigger backs were more productive.

Added experience on the offensive line would certainly reduce the amount of early hits a back would take, but the fact still remains that a good running back usually has a combination of size and speed. Though the spread is predicated on speed, you still need a solid, well built running back. Steve Slaton, RR's back at WVU, is currently listed over 200 lbs as well. He would flat run over people. Nobody would accuse McGuffie of that. 

As long as he holds onto the ball, I'd vote that Minor get the start for the rest of the year if he stays healthy. Feel free to disagree, I've just commented based on my observations from watching our offense stumble recently.