Running Back Injuries:
- Jewel Hampton - ACL - Out for season
- Adam Robinson - Ankle sprain - Out for at least a week
- Jeff Brinson -Foot injury of some kind - Has been in and out all season, out for now
- Jayme Murphy - Back injury/concussions - Career over
- Brandon Wegher - Fr. - 87 carries for 321 yards and 3 TDs
- Paki O'Meara - Jr. - 10 carries for 25 yards
- Brad Rogers - Fr. - no game experience (would be burning a redshirt)
- Josh Brown - Fr. -no game experience (would be burning a redshirt)
Rogers was planning on redshirting, but did travel and dress for the game last weekend, and may need to burn his redshirt this weekend. He is a bigger back listed a 5'10" 225lb and is more of a power runner.
The final option would be Josh Brown. Brown came in as an "athlete" but found a spot at running back in fall camp. He's was actually projected as more of a slot guy or as a DB, so he is definitely quick.
The other thing I could see is Ken O'Keefe going to more of the "Drew Tate" offense of 2005 and using Morse as the back mostly as a blocker. We saw Morse in there at the end of the game last week in favor of a running back in the obvious passing situations. We also have seen Morse run the ball with some effectiveness very early in the season (3 carries for 26 yards). KOK has already shown some more spread out looks and in general been willing to call a lot of pass plays. I'm not talking about running the spread here. But more of a pass to set up the run type deal and letting Stanzi roll out of the pocket to make plays. It should be an interesting week.
The Offensive Line:
Week | Left Tackle | Left Guard | Center | Right Guard | Right Tackle |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bryan Bulaga | Adam Gettis | Rafael Eubanks | Dan Doering | Dace Richardson |
2 | Riley Reiff | Dace Richardson | Rafael Eubanks | Julian Vandervelde | Kyle Calloway |
3 | Riley Reiff | Dace Richardson | Rafael Eubanks | Julian Vandervelde | Kyle Calloway |
4 | Riley Reiff | Dace Richardson | Rafael Eubanks | Julian Vandervelde | Kyle Calloway |
5 | Bryan Bulaga | Dace Richardson | Rafael Eubanks | Julian Vandervelde | Kyle Calloway |
6 | Bryan Bulaga | Riley Reiff | Rafael Eubanks | Dace Richardson | Kyle Calloway |
7 | Bryan Bulaga | Riley Reiff | Rafael Eubanks | Dace Richardson | Kyle Calloway |
8 | Bryan Bulaga | Riley Reiff | Rafael Eubanks | Dace Richardson | Kyle Calloway |
9 | Bryan Bulaga | Riley Reiff | Rafael Eubanks | Julian Vandervelde | Kyle Calloway |
The offensive line hasn't exactly been stable this year. Injuries, suspension, mysterious thyroid problems have all impacted the unit's cohesion. Just when it looked like the line was starting to get ironed out, Richardson suffers another injury and is out the rest of the regular season. Vandervelde should have no problems filling in at the familiar spot and Reiff has been playing well all year. Still, it would be nice to keep the same 5 for more than 3 weeks at a time.