Who will have the best rushing attack in the Big Sky in '06

GoBears · Post by **GoBears** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:42 pm

As a new comer to the Big Sky, I think UNC COULD have the best running attack in the conference. We have a three headed monster at the half back position with Andre Wilson, Jahir Waterman and Patrick Ealy. What's your take on who will be the best in '06. UNC saw what PSU's tailback Ruben could do. What about the rest of the conference? I am asking this here because you guys seem to be a little more objective and fair then the mighty Grizz fans.

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:00 pm

GoBears wrote: I am asking this here because you guys seem to be a little more objective and fair then the mighty Grizz fans.

I'll have to get back to you when I can see again from the tears of laughter I got out of your comment. You are obviously very perceptive and welcome to the BSC.

GoBears · Post by **GoBears** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:07 pm

GOKATS wrote:
GoBears wrote: I am asking this here because you guys seem to be a little more objective and fair then the mighty Grizz fans.

I'll have to get back to you when I can see again from the tears of laughter I got out of your comment. You are obviously very perceptive and welcome to the BSC.

Thanks for the welcome. I can't wait until we start the Big Sky and look forward to the battles that will take place between the Bears and Bobcats.

Potomac Griz · Post by **Potomac Griz** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:22 pm

Just because us Griz fans think that the Griz will have the best rushing attack in the Big Sky next year doesn't mean we are full of it

(at least not all of us anyway)

There is a lot of evidence to support the opinion that the Griz will have the best rushing attack in the Big Sky next eyar. For example...look at the leading rushers in the Big Sky last year. You had two players over 1000 yards rushing.
Joe Rubin...... 1702 yds.....4.9 yds/attempt....17 tds..... 154.7 yards/game
&
Lex Hilliard.... 1322 yds.....5.3 yds/attempt.....12 tds.... 110.2 yards/game

Joe Rubin of course was a Senior, so he will not be back. Hilliard on the other hand is back for the Griz, and averaged 5.3 yards per carry last year. Had the Griz done a little better with their passing attack last year, Hilliard would've had a much better average per carry I think. That 5.3 yards per carry came against defenses that were mostly lined up to stop the run

The addition of Bradshaw to the Griz (Louisville's fastest player from last year) will help the Griz running attack this year. Losing JR Waller does hurt though too, since he was a leader out there and a very good RB himself.

Now before you say "Bah..this is just another typical Griz fan", I do realize there are always surprises out there who pop up, and there have been some very good RBs picked up by other teams in the Sky for next season. ISU has a couple quality backs that seemed to share time last year and both picked up over 780 yards. They were 4th in rushing offense last year (The Griz were 2nd, behind PSU). Weber State also had a fairly good running attack last year, and their RB is back as well (They were 3rd in the Big Sky in rushing last year). I just think that as of right now, based on last season performances, the Griz are looking pretty good for their running game

Anyway, welcome to the Big Sky

Grizzfan · Post by **Grizzfan** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:43 pm

I'm excited about who the Griz will field next Autumn with the addition of the Louisville speedster Bradshaw to augment Hilliard. Don't forget we have #41 Green who is fast and unused. With Chamber from UW committing as a WR and Swogger from WSU as QB we should, (if coached correctly), open up both dimensions. But one cannot ignore the Bobcat RB Groves. He tore us up in November and we'd better be able to defend him as must the Bears and anybody else in the BSC. That kid is impressive.

Welcome to the Big Sky. 2 1/2 months until Spring Ball!! Bring it on.

Tom

Kadeezy · Post by **Kadeezy** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:04 pm

Watch out for a healthy Ryan Mole. I hear he's healthy and having a great off season.

Potomac Griz · Post by **Potomac Griz** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:09 pm

Grizzfan wrote:I'm excited about who the Griz will field next Autumn with the addition of the Louisville speedster Bradshaw to augment Hilliard. Don't forget we have #41 Green who is fast and unused. With Chamber from UW committing as a WR and Swogger from WSU as QB we should, (if coached correctly), open up both dimensions. But one cannot ignore the Bobcat RB Groves. He tore us up in November and we'd better be able to defend him as must the Bears and anybody else in the BSC. That kid is impressive.

Welcome to the Big Sky. 2 1/2 months until Spring Ball!! Bring it on.

Tom

Can't believe I forgot about Groves... He was impressive towards the end of the year for the Cats. He rushed for 326 yards in 3 games on 71 attempts (4.59 average). He could be a dangerous one next year..and will only be a Sophomore next year. The cats also have highly recruited Isiah Taito (The Griz will also have Thomas Brooks-Fletcher of course too). Both Brooks-Fletcher and Taito had great senior high school years and could both become great backs for their teams.

grizgirl · Post by **grizgirl** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:40 pm

GoBears wrote:
GOKATS wrote:
GoBears wrote: I am asking this here because you guys seem to be a little more objective and fair then the mighty Grizz fans.

I'll have to get back to you when I can see again from the tears of laughter I got out of your comment. You are obviously very perceptive and welcome to the BSC.
Thanks for the welcome. I can't wait until we start the Big Sky and look forward to the battles that will take place between the Bears and Bobcats.

Yes, please don't group all us Griz fans in with some of the folks on egriz. The best running attack? I'd say us right now, but I no nothing about your team. EW will have Ryan Cole back and he has a lot of his line back. He may get more carries with Meyer and Kimble gone. PSU always has a good run game and WSU's could be good, too. MSU is good and young, but lost their best blocker. McEndoo might be the best off. line coach in the Big Sky, at least at developing players. He always seems to have a couple all Big Sky players every year.

GoBears · Post by **GoBears** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:31 pm

I certainly want to envite any of you to our fan website. It's not the most happening fan page and there is only 3-4 of us who really post regularly. We might as well get to know each other a bit

http://uncbears.proboards27.com/index.cgi

bozbobcat · Post by **bozbobcat** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:47 pm

I saw your schedule, gobears. It looks like a good one, and you got six home games, which is a good sign for a program. I'll post it here for reference. We'll see you on November 4th here in Bozeman!

09/02/06 UC Davis
09/09/06 at Portland State *
09/16/06 at Texas State
09/23/06 Western Illinois
09/30/06 at Weber State *
10/07/06 Idaho State *
10/14/06 Eastern Washington *
10/21/06 Bye
10/28/06 at Sacramento State *
11/04/06 at Montana State *
11/11/06 Montana *
11/18/06 Northern Arizona *

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:03 am

I'd put my vote in for Weber. They return their top two leading rushers and improved a lot last year. They averaged only 5 yards per game less than the Griz at 157 per game. Weber is a team on the rise, methinks.

I thought Mole would be great last year but he dissapointed. I thought he would have lead the conference last year. But we'll see.

If the Griz can get a decent passing attack going it should open up the running lanes, though the loss of Waller will be harder than they think.

VictorG · Post by **VictorG** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 9:32 am

Another Griz fan here.

To answer the question I have to ask one. Do you define rushing attack as purely a measure of total yards gained rushing the ball, or average yards per carry?

If it's average yards per rush attempt the Griz very well may have the best rushing attack next year. If it's total rush yards, I don't think so. The Griz strive for a balanced offense and the team that has the most total rush yards is usually one that rushes the ball far more often than they throw it.

Unless, of course, the Griz rush AND pass for over 300 yards a game! (Which since this is only January seems totally possible right now!

)

grizzh8r · Post by **grizzh8r** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:35 pm

bozbobcat wrote:I saw your schedule, gobears. It looks like a good one, and you got six home games, which is a good sign for a program. I'll post it here for reference. We'll see you on November 4th here in Bozeman!

09/02/06 UC Davis
09/09/06 at Portland State *
09/16/06 at Texas State
09/23/06 Western Illinois
09/30/06 at Weber State *
10/07/06 Idaho State *
10/14/06 Eastern Washington *
10/21/06 Bye
10/28/06 at Sacramento State *
11/04/06 at Montana State *
11/11/06 Montana *
11/18/06 Northern Arizona *

That is an impressive schedule, no D-II or D-1A teams there, a semifinal playoffs team, and a young and good Cal-Davis squad. Have fun with that schedule...

Obzerver · Post by **Obzerver** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 9:23 pm

grizgirl is correct about EWU With Meyer/Kimble gone. Also missing is a 1,000 yard WR in Vijil and other starting wideout Craig Mac. We will be doing a bunch more running with Ryan Cole(879 yards 14 TD's)leading the way...

JahGriz · Post by **JahGriz** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:33 pm

Even though I think the Griz have the best RB in the BSC, and will have very solid depth with Brooks-Fletcher, Bradshaw, and Green I don't think the Griz rushing attack will be the "best" stat wise in the Sky. Phenicie's O just isn't build to have a solid rushing game. The Griz running game should be better than last year just because there is no possible way our passing game can be worse than last year. So that will open things up for the running game.
That being said, you can't run out of shotgun rarely having a lead blocker, out of a spread formation with your main RB as more of a downhill power type back and expect to do much in the rushing game. Most of Lex's yards last season were due to him making a play, not because there were gaping holes to hit.
I think PSU once again will have the running game that is most effective. They recruit Oline guys who are drive blocking type guys, and their system is build around a running game.
There will be some nice RB's across the Sky this year, and I like it. I also will like seeing some of the new faces at the position like Brooks-Fletcher, Taito, and Pearson(who I'm hearing from eag fans may not play RB, so who knows).

GoBears · Post by **GoBears** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:37 pm

[quote="JahGriz"]type guys, and their system is build around a running game.
There will be some nice RB's across the Sky this year, and I like it.quote]

I think you fans will enjoy our running game as well. As I mentioned we have three running backs that could start a lot of 1aa teams.

SloStang · Post by **SloStang** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:11 pm

GoBears wrote:
JahGriz wrote:type guys, and their system is build around a running game.
There will be some nice RB's across the Sky this year, and I like it.quote]

I think you fans will enjoy our running game as well. As I mentioned we have three running backs that could start a lot of 1aa teams.

Andre Wilson is a stud. If UNC new coaching staff puts a good offense around him, he will have a great year.

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