This is Jerry Kill's run/pass playcalling mix vs TCU's run/pass:
Kill has improved teams in the past by running the ball a lot.
Running the ball was not TCU's issue in 2019. The issue was having the worst passing offense in the B12 and one of the worst in the nation:
Running the ball TCU was ranked:
- 10th of 10 in completion % (115/130 nationally in FBS football)
- 10th of 10 in yards per attempt (111/130)
- 9th of 10 in yards per game (90/130)
Source: http://cfbstats.com/2019/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category02/sort03.html
- 3rd of 10 yards per rush in B12 (38/130 nationally)
- 3rd of 10 rush yards per game in B12 (29/130)
Our offensive line did a decent job of run blocking. They ranked 24th in the country at line yards per carry. But much of our passing game stemmed from terrible protection from the offensive line. Our passing down sack rate ranking was 85/130 and in sacks allowed per game TCU ranked 99/130 nationally.
Sources: https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaa/sp/overallol/2019
http://cfbstats.com/2019/leader/national/team/defense/split01/category20/sort03.html
When we attempted a pass, things just looked sloppy. Many times the WR's didn't run routes very well and they had a lot of drops. Max Duggan definitely sailed a few balls, but it looked like the QB and the WR weren't on the same page. The protection was ghastly, Max did a good job of scrambling and by no means has lead feet, for us to be that bad at allowing sacks with such a mobile QB is unforgivable. Hopefully Kill can focus on technique and make some improvements.
Interesting info. I generally think the best ways to gauge from stats how truly effective a running game is is to take out the most successful and least successful plays. Kind of get an average of the average. For example, Team A runner gets stuffed for 9 yards on 9 carries and then breaks off an 80 yard TD run so he has a 8.9 ypc average on 10 carries. Team B runner on 10 carries gets 7, 10, 6, 13, 4, 7, 15, 8, 12 and 7 yards and also averages 8.9 ypc.
The stats say they are the same but Team B is a much better running team.