Posted on Tue, Oct. 06, 2009 10:25 PM
Missouri hopes to get running game going against Nebraska
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COLUMBIA | As a wide receiver, you might anticipate Jared Perry’s key to Missouri beating Nebraska on Thursday night would have something to do with putting the football in the air.
You’d be wrong.
“We need to get D-Wash running down the field a little bit more,” Perry said of starting tailback Derrick Washington. “In any offense, if you run the ball, it keeps the defense honest.”
In its 4-0 start, No. 24 Mizzou hasn’t needed to keep a defense honest more that it will against the one led by Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (pronounced Sue, as in how do you do).
The Cornhuskers rank No. 1 nationally in scoring defense at just seven points a game in large measure because Nebraska has limited four opponents to an average of 115.4 yards rushing a game.
Now the scary part for Missouri.
Last year at this time, Washington had rushed 53 times for 361 yards — 6.8 yards per carry — with eight touchdowns.
This season over the same span, Washington has gained 301 yards in 68 carries — 4.4 yards a run — with only two touchdowns.
Some outside the team contend Washington, who had offseason knee surgery, has lost a step.
MU coach Gary Pinkel and Washington dispute that.
“I was losing a step when I got hurt,” Washington said, “but the surgery put me right back where I need to be.”
Why then has Washington’s production dipped a bit and why then has Missouri’s run-game production as a team taken a dive from 774 yards in 131 carries for 11 touchdowns last season to 572 yards in 151 carries for four touchdowns so far in 2009?
The easy answer is that Missouri’s offensive line — minus only starting tackle Colin Brown (now a Kansas City Chief who’s recuperating from surgery) — isn’t doing as good a job.
Offensive linemen being the beasts of burden they are, willingly shoulder the blame.
“It starts up front,” left tackle Elvis Fisher said. “We’ve got to get our running game going. They’ve got a really good defensive line. We need to have technique down.
“Get our hands inside theirs before they get theirs on us.”
Center Tim Barnes addressed the same theme.
“They’re big, but they’re also lean,” Barnes said of the Cornhuskers’ front. “They move well. They’re going to be strong inside. They’re going to be a handful.”
Washington, as a good teammate, defends the play of the linemen.
“It’s the running backs’ fault, too,” Washington said. “It’s a timing thing.”
Perhaps that’s true, or perhaps it is that backs and linemen are still trying to master some subtle shifts in the blocking schemes of the running game.
A year ago the wide, open spaces between Tigers’ offensive linemen seemed pretty consistent.
Now?
“Sometimes they’re a little tighter,” Washington said. “Sometimes we open them up.”
Tighter splits may mean more pass protection for sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert. But they may mean smaller holes for the running backs.
Conversely, if you open the splits too wide, Gabbert is placed at risk of more defensive pressure, counter-productive even if the running game production improves.
“We still want to run the football,” Pinkel said. “We still want to have balance. We’re still going to try to do that. We’re not going to throw the ball 70 percent of the time.”
To reach Mike DeArmond, call 816-234-4353 or send e-mail to mdearmond@kcstar.com
Posted on Tue, Oct. 06, 2009 10:25 PM
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