Why didn't Coleman have 25 carries vs. WSU?

Coleman is tied for first in FBS with 27 scrimmage plays of 10 or more yards, and is also first in the country with 21 rushes of 10-plus yards.
 
DAWGS are 5-0 if Coleman has 100+ carries right now (assuming no injuries of course)
 
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I'm pretty sure these RBs have pitch counts. The days of Polk and Sankey and possibly Gaskin running 35 times to win a game are long gone.
 
Here are some reasons:
  1. Many coaches value abstract things like balance, getting everyone involved, formations, etc over doing what works. They won't run the ball if it means ruining the abstract thing they value.
  2. There is no glory in calling basic running plays when they are working. Any moron can do it. Sark gets the happy endings from color commentators because of his perceived genius in formations and innovative plays. Many coaches value this more than anything else.
  3. Some coaches are just not very smart. These coaches are all system coaches, where they just copy someone else without any understanding of why that thing worked for the guy they are copying. These guys are so caught up in their systems, that they can't see the forest through the trees and make the in game adjustments necessary.
  4. Most coaches today look at running the ball as a way to set up the passing game, where the real offense happens. Though they may recognize that the running game is working, they also tend to believe that by running the ball they are sacrificing bigger potential offense through passing and call plays accordingly.
All of these are bad reasons, but I think apply to the majority of coaches. I think this can be especially true with a lot of coaches with NFL backgrounds in college. The margins are so small in the NFL that you scheme, play calling, formations, etc matter much more than they do in college. In college, there are usually talent differences that can be exploited that do not exist in the NFL, so you don't need to be as clever. In fact, this attempt at cleverness often backfires because it can confuse your own players. I think we are seeing a lot of this type of thing with the Huskies right now in penalties and incorrect routes.

The Boise St. coach obviously doesn't care about any of that stuff. He just wanted to win, and when he saw a weakness he pounced on it.
 
I don't think we're alone. I definitely the past two years have wondered why teams would stop running the ball against UW when it was working so well and felt like it saved us. I know it's easier to defend the run when you always know it's coming but I don't know if it is it's only like 75% of the time.
 
Gaskin almost never carried 20 times in a game. Usually he topped out at around 18. Coleman or Ahmed seemed to always take 5-12 carries in any given game. Pete was a big “keep em fresh” coach. Sark on the other hand …
 
Right now, the bigger problem is not how many Coleman carries, but we are unable to punch the ball in at red zone. As the recent podcast pointed out, Coleman also seems to have issues inside red zone.
 
halfbrainmanmolder said:
Right now, the bigger problem is not how many Coleman carries, but we are unable to punch the ball in at red zone. As the recent podcast pointed out, Coleman also seems to have issues inside red zone.
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Davis was good at getting into the end zone in 2022 but I wouldn't be surprised if Coleman woudl get pissed if he carries the ball down to the 10 and then doesn't get TDs.
 
Davis, Coleman, and Mohammed should touch the ball 3 out of 4 plays in the Red Zone.
It's actually crazy to say, but the offensive line everyone thought would suck actually looks…good? Credit to Fisch and Carroll there.
It could all go up in flames on Saturday though. Have to win this game.
 
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Big challenges ahead for the OL in the next two weeks. McCree definitely looks like the guy at LT instead of Faasolo who reminded me of early Buelow just too gigantic to move well. I think Hatchett is the answer at center and not the Portland State guy but they seem to continue limiting him.
 
So Coleman sounds like hes nursing an injury? Fisch said he was out against Rutgers getting tended to at one point. I wonder if its a nagging thing that is keeping his carries down
 
Canadawg said:
So Coleman sounds like hes nursing an injury? Fisch said he was out against Rutgers getting tended to at one point. I wonder if its a nagging thing that is keeping his carries down
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He took himself out and everyone here too busy raging to actually watch the game never noticed.
 
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