Allen--Isn't that a great argument they make that you and I couldn't do better than Solich (maybe true, maybe not) so that is what makes Solich a fine, fine coach?!

Have you been a fulltime coach for 40 years?

In your work, is it okay to repeatedly miss the obvious, repeatedly make the same mistakes, and repeatedly underperform in a get-bashed-by-dregs-of-the-MAC way?

At your work, could you convince the stockholders/fans that not meeting the main goal (MACC) in 11 years and the repeated beatdowns is evidence that all is well?

I like you would have to make adjustments or be held accountable.

There are only so many snaps in a game, and players have to earn those snaps. We have three quality players in front of Irons, it happens, move on. If sports is truly about building intangibles of character, why do some of you believe certain people should just be handed to people. The young man simply needs to continue to work to get better, do all the things asked of him and be ready when his opportunity arises.

Disagree vehemently.

The analysis is incorrect.

Here's what it should be: A guy is deemed worthy of being in uniform and available to play or not. If the answer is yes, available, then the best guy plays if he's the best. Period.

Irons.


Some of you seem to think that carries should be doled out based on citizenship, GPA, character, etc.

That's ridiculous. If any player is markedly short on those, then, okay, don't dress him. But once it's game time and he's in uniform, talent is the yardstick.

It's a bit cruel, perhaps, but it's the reality of life and college athletics.

No Irons..seriously??

I actually agree with Monroe here. If there is some issue with a player suspend him for a half or a game. If not, play the best players period.

So, watching the game counts for little.

Yours is the argument of a rather closed mind, my friend. Really, no one can comment--from either/any side--unless they are on the team or a coach?

My opinion and 2 bits (well, 20 bits after inflation) will buy a cup of coffee, but in my opinion the coaches did a very good job this year of using the running backs appropriately. The best power back was AJ, the best explosive back was Papi, and the best all-around back was Daz, while the backs of the future were Dorian and Maleek. Maleek looks very good in the open field, but has some work to do on his inside running game. The potential is there, but he has a lot of work to do to become a full-time back.

So, why didn't Ohio get more yards on the ground this year? It wasn't the backs, that's for sure. Early in the year the o-line was inconsistent, but from the BG game onwards they played much better, and the running game showed marked improvement, making all the backs look better.

What went wrong against App State? Well, the Oline may have been a little rusty from the long layoff, and they got off to a bad start, but the main factor was the App State defense. They have an outstanding run defense, and they proved it. Ohio did get some yards, but it wasn't easy. Would Irons have gotten more yards per carry than AJ did? Don't be ridiculous. The problem was not AJ, nor Daz, nor Papi. The problem was that there was no running room. Barry Sanders wouldn't have gained much, either.

Put another way, the offensive line is responsible for the first three yards of a run, and the running back is responsible for making yards after that. How many times did a run get stopped for under 3 yards? Unfortunately, most of the time.

How will the offensive line be the next few year? In my opinion, very good. Yes, three players will be lost, but the linemen from 2014 will be in their third year, and should be ready to play. For example, Pruehs should step in for Powell, and Ohio shouldn't miss a beat. The same should be true for the other positions. Johnson seems to be a very good coach, and you can see the improvement that the line has made from two years ago to today. I expect further improvement next year, and I think it will be a big year for running backs.

I hope that Irons stays, and if he stays, I hope he works hard, and rounds out his game. He has the potential to be very good.

Monroe, focus on selling accessories to the wealthy elite lovers of purse dogs.

But, as I showed earlier, in games where the other teams had very good run defenses, and there was little in the way of running room, Irons had a very low average per carry, and AJ had a significantly higher average per carry than any of the other backs. In games where the back gets a good start, and can make more with his balance/elusiveness, Irons had a lot of upside and some big carries.

Which kind of foe was App State? A team where it was very difficult for the running back to get started, and where power was at a premium? Or a game where the running back got a good start, and could put his elusiveness to work? If you answer the question honestly, the only conclusion that you can reach is that the best choice, by far, was to use AJ a lot.

Can Irons improve his power and inside running? He certainly has the size to do that, so I think that there is no doubt that he can, but that is a far cry from saying that he is the best choice today for power running inside. If you think he is, then you weren't watching very closely, and you weren't looking at the data very closely.

No doubt you'll want some hard data, but I have some for you. There were two games where all the backs got carries, where the carries weren't in garbage time, and where Ohio was up against a run defense that mostly shut Ohio down, WMU and Buffalo. Here are the stats for the various running backs in those two games (note that this particular data set isn't very fair to AJ since he was devoting his practice time to linebacker against Buffalo, and he didn't run well when he did get carries against Buffalo):
Brown 8 carries for 28 yards, 3.5 yards/carry
Papi 2 carries for 7 yards, 3.5 yards/carry
AJ 6 carries for 20 yards, 3.3 yards/carry
Daz 18 carries for 50 yards, 2.8 yards/carry
Irons 7 carries for 16 yards, 2.3 yards/carry

Again, Irons has a lot of potential, but that does not mean that he is the answer to every problem, nor that he is the best back today.

I fully support all efforts not to play Irons, if that's what Solich and staff choose.

They get it right.



And, if next year Irons should break out, clearly the talent was not there or ready now..clearly holding him off the field will have been what developed that talent.

Actually, it'll mean that Frank finally listened to you, Monroe, and we'll all give you credit for being a prophet whose football brilliance is finally getting the recognition that it deserves. In fact, Frank will probably name you Honorary Assistant Coach for Running Back and Trick Play Development.

Maybe his vision is failing. Solich needs to get this right, i don't care about Nebraska. He won a conference championship, he needs to win one here and he does not have 20 years to do it.