Wherefore art thou, Cox and Toussaint?

One of my take-aways from the game is that either Cox, Toussaint, and Hopkins must have trouble with the playbook and/or put the ball on the ground in practice for Vincent Smith to feature as prominently as he is.  I like the kid.  He's a good blocker.  He's good out of the backfield.  Seems like a heady player.  I thought he had turned a corner, based on his performance against UConn.

But at this point in his career, I really think he is a below-average running back in terms of carrying the ball.  He's got decent first-step quickness and good vision, but his speed is lacking, and no matter how willing he is to stick his nose between the tackles, the fact remains that he consistently goes down with first contact.  He was arm tackled at least a couple of times against UMass, a team with considerably less size and strength than Big Ten defenses will show.  He is not fast or explosive enough to make linebackers miss in space.  He is not a long-term solution.

Maybe in a couple more years under Barwis, Smith will be ready to make a few plays on his own, but right now on 90% of his touches he gets exactly what the line gives him (at best), and not a yard more.  Please let this be the time that people stop just thinking about his height and let the Mike Hart comparisons die.  I really, really hope that Fitz and Cox can see the field next week, so one way or another I at least can see what we've got with those guys.  Shaw looks like he's stepping up his game, but we still need to find another runner to rotate in with him - preferably one with a bit more power and brawn.

(I'm not even going to fucking try to figure out what can/should be done about the defense.  I think prayer may be the best answer for that situation.)