Hey Brother,
One thing that I have see is the toughness of the backs...not seen in backs since Ron Mclean a few years back at FB. THe significants here is that it forces the opponent to be very physical (which is tough to sustain against us), sound tackling (which a surprising number of teams are not), and swarm-tackling (which obligates multiple players to the box). The point here is that we are forcing the opponent to fully commit to stopping the run, which of course softens up the pass defense.
With the exception on the Tulane gain, this "punch one" of a run/pass "one/two punch" has been good enough to get us by. But we know that this will always be the case (and likely starting this week).
The philosophy of the running backs can be characterized unselfish, in that we cycle backs in and out. One would think that the stable of stud running backs would have issues with someone wanting to be "the man", but I have not seen this. In fact, the system is so agreeable, and works so well that two of our backs are among the conference rushing leaders and we are got a commitment from the #1 RB in Florida.
I would be wrong if I did not include a comment about the OL when praising the RBs. The OL is looking really good, which we have all waited for for some time. Further, the quality and numbers of the youth that are being recruited afford us optimism that this trend will continue.
I hope this helps. Stay cool and hydrated...keep your head down. God Bless.
