UND92,96 Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 After watching Day, Logan, Birkel and to a lesser extent Treasure, I really think UND needs to upgrade its talent level and speed at the running back position. I have nothing but respect for Roland, how hard he runs and what he's given the Sioux the last two years. But there's just no substitute for having a back who can take it 60-70 yards on any given play. We haven't had that since Phillip Moore. I think Logan showed that a very small back can be effective, even against the UND defense. That's why I'd like to see Dressler get a shot next season as the featured back. He's the same size as Logan, and while he may not be quite as fast, they're in the same ball park in that regard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD17 Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 After watching Day, Logan, Birkel and to a lesser extent Treasure, I really think UND needs to upgrade its talent level and speed at the running back position. I have nothing but respect for Roland, how hard he runs and what he's given the Sioux the last two years. But there's just no substitute for having a back who can take it 60-70 yards on any given play. We haven't had that since Phillip Moore. I think Logan showed that a very small back can be effective, even against the UND defense. That's why I'd like to see Dressler get a shot next season as the featured back. He's the same size as Logan, and while he may not be quite as fast, they're in the same ball park in that regard. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> This might sound silly at first but just bear with me. I actually think that having a great running back can sometimes hurt a team. Teams can rely too heavily on the back to carry the team offensively, and when they run into a team that can take him out of the game, there is no where to turn. I think what tends to happen is that teams predicate their entire offensive scheme on being able to run the ball. As soon as a defense takes away the run, the quarterback bootleg and play action passing become ineffective and there is nowhere to turn. I can think of several good examples of this, but perhaps the best is Brian Masek from UNO. He can be extremely effective running the ball and throwing off of play action. But take away the running game and turn him into a dropback passer, and he's not going to beat you. Masek was something like 13-30 with two interceptions on Saturday against Mankato. I think the same could be said for USD's offense this year, NDSU with Lamar Gordon, SDSU with Josh Ranek, and UND with Phillip Moore. Most of the time those teams could win by simply handing the ball off all day. But force them to throw the ball, and you had them beat. This is why I like UND's offensive scheme so much. The balance is tough to defend and by being at least adequate at so many different things, you give a defense plenty to prepare for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND92,96 Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 This might sound silly at first but just bear with me. I actually think that having a great running back can sometimes hurt a team. Teams can rely too heavily on the back to carry the team offensively, and when they run into a team that can take him out of the game, there is no where to turn. I think what tends to happen is that teams predicate their entire offensive scheme on being able to run the ball. As soon as a defense takes away the run, the quarterback bootleg and play action passing become ineffective and there is nowhere to turn. I can think of several good examples of this, but perhaps the best is Brian Masek from UNO. He can be extremely effective running the ball and throwing off of play action. But take away the running game and turn him into a dropback passer, and he's not going to beat you. Masek was something like 13-30 with two interceptions on Saturday against Mankato. I think the same could be said for USD's offense this year, NDSU with Lamar Gordon, SDSU with Josh Ranek, and UND with Phillip Moore. Most of the time those teams could win by simply handing the ball off all day. But force them to throw the ball, and you had them beat. This is why I like UND's offensive scheme so much. The balance is tough to defend and by being at least adequate at so many different things, you give a defense plenty to prepare for. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You make some great points here, Bob. I would only add that I think the scheme would work even better with a little bit better running game. I wouldn't want to completely rely on the running game like UNO does, but I would like to have a back who can make some big plays now and then. Again, I mean no disrespect to Roland or even Strouth. I just think Dressler might be able to give the running game a little different dimension than what it's recently had by bringing both elusiveness and breakaway speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD17 Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 You make some great points here, Bob. I would only add that I think the scheme would work even better with a little bit better running game. I wouldn't want to completely rely on the running game like UNO does, but I would like to have a back who can make some big plays now and then. Again, I mean no disrespect to Roland or even Strouth. I just think Dressler might be able to give the running game a little different dimension than what it's recently had by bringing both elusiveness and breakaway speed. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I definitely agree with you in the sense that having a breakaway threat would add something to the running game. There have been several times the past couple of years where I've seen a run nearly be broken for a long gain and I can't help but think that might have been a touchdown with Riza Mahmoud in there. Having a guy like him that can turn a 10 or 20 yard gain into a 60 yard touchdown would really be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 I definitely agree with you in the sense that having a breakaway threat would add something to the running game. There have been several times the past couple of years where I've seen a run nearly be broken for a long gain and I can't help but think that might have been a touchdown with Riza Mahmoud in there. Having a guy like him that can turn a 10 or 20 yard gain into a 60 yard touchdown would really be nice. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Speaking of Mahmoud, did he ever surface anywhere else? Too bad so many talented athletes end up like him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND92,96 Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 Speaking of Mahmoud, did he ever surface anywhere else? Too bad so many talented athletes end up like him! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I figured he might surface closer to home, such as Concordia-St. Paul, but I don't believe he's played anywhere since 2002. Ditto for Jamel Alkins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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