Derrick Green should be the starter next week against Notre Dame.
There is a serious case to be made here. While I agree that Green could use a little more time with Wellman to get things toned before he's an All American, he is still the best RB on the team. He led the team in rushing yesterday, and also looked the best doing it.
The Notre Dame defense is relatively small, and I believe we definitely could benefit greatly from having such a big option pounding the rock at all times. We definitely don't want to rely on the arm of Gardner this week(interceptions killed us last year against ND), and can easily win this game with an effective ground game.
September 1st, 2013 at 10:26 PM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 6:43 PM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 7:26 PM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 7:42 PM ^
Based on my recall and because of Green's body type, I would have thought that he would more consistently gain yards but would have fewer long runs. But the opposite was true. Green was less consistent but had the longest run ( 30 for G vs. 20 yards for F). That long rush helped account for his higher yard per rush mean average (5.3 for G vs 4.1 for F).* Yet, the middle among the string of gains was a full yard greater for Fitz (3.0 yards for G and 4.0 for F)** Also, Fitz’s average was higher, when one accounts for the variability.***
This simple analysis disregards the fact that,1. Fitz has an advantage in the passing and blocking games, 2. Fitz gained tougher yards at the beginning of the game with a fresh and not demoralized defense on CMU, 3. this was Green’s first college game and that his upside is enormous and 4. Green may have had for some runs a less experienced Offensive line. However,based on this simple analysis, I expect that, if you put Fitz’s runs together in random order, you would have a higher percent of first downs than you would have with Green. That is exactly the opposite of what I expected.
*On very short runs, Fitz scored 2tds, Green 1. Presumably, Fitz could have gained more yards than one or two if the end zone did not limit him on his extra td run; so he probably would have had at least a 4.2 or 4.3 yard average.
**Median length of run) =3 yds for G; and =4 for F.
***Mean divided by stdev =.63 for Green, .73 for Fitz
September 2nd, 2013 at 1:35 PM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 10:08 PM ^
September 2nd, 2013 at 3:51 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 10:21 PM ^
What is the rationale for not rotating Running Backs? I understand you want to have consistency and rhythm, but wouldnt having the tail back as fresh as possible lead to the best results?
In essence, I'm wondering whats the benefit for having a featured tail back
September 1st, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 11:27 PM ^
Much steeper talent gradient between qb1 and qb3 than there is between rb1 and rb6. I want my rb1 to be the one who is best at protecting qb1. End.
September 2nd, 2013 at 1:25 AM ^
September 2nd, 2013 at 7:41 AM ^
Do I win a prize???
September 2nd, 2013 at 8:29 AM ^
September 3rd, 2013 at 2:37 AM ^
I'm going to go ahead and upvote this thread. Can't believe so many people are against Green starting.
September 5th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
then I like Michigan's chances to grind it out, but still score TDs.
If Michigan gets behind in the game, then I think we're looking at another crazy passing circus, INTs and WTF touchdowns with 20+ million viewers globally flirting with cardiac arrest.
I don't need that shit.
Just give me Michigan with a 14 point lead and a nice rotation of Fitz, Green and Smith. And don't freaking fumble.