Football: Breaking down and analyzing the Wolf Pack’s running game

By: Juan López

Friday, November 13, 2009 - 4:10 PM

Juan López

Due to the ridiculous amount of rushing yards Nevada has been tallying up this year, I’ve decided to start tracking when and where they’re coming from.
We all know the Wolf Pack can run the ball up and down the field (team averages nation-best 341.1 rush yards per game), but how exactly are they doing it?

Take a look at some notes I took from Nevada’s game last Sunday against San Jose State where the Wolf Pack rushed 59 times for 517 yards and eight touchdowns. They speak for themselves.

TOTALS WHEN NEVADA RUNS…
LEFT: 16 rushes, 170 yards, four touchdowns, 10.6 yards per carry
MIDDLE: 23 rushes, 195 yards, three touchdowns, 8.5 yards per carry
RIGHT: 19 rushes, 156 yards, one touchdown, 8.2 yards per carry

*Note: One carry for minus four yards is not accounted for because it was credited to the team.

RB Vai Taua: 12 rushes for 144 yards and one touchdown
LEFT: Two rushes, 79 yards, touchdown
MIDDLE: Eight rushes, 50 yards
RIGHT: Two rushes, 15 yards

QB Colin Kaepernick: 11 rushes, 115, three touchdowns
LEFT: Four rushes, 46 yards, one touchdown
MIDDLE: 1 rush, 19 yards, one touchdown
RIGHT: Six rushes, 50 yards, one touchdown

RB Luke Lippincott: 12 rushes, 112 yards, two touchdowns
LEFT: Three rushes, 20 yards, one touchdown
MIDDLE: Six rushes, 61 yards, one touchdown
RIGHT: Three rushes, 31 yards

RB Lampford Mark: 17 rushes, 114 yards, one touchdown
LEFT: Three rushes, eight yards
MIDDLE: Eight rushes, 65 yards, one touchdown
RIGHT: Six rushes, 41 yards

RB Courtney Randall: Two rushes, 10 yards, one touchdown
LEFT: Two rushes, 10 yards, one touchdown

WR Shane Anderson: One rush, 11 yards
RIGHT: One rush, 11 yards

QB Luke Collis: One rush, eight yards
RIGHT: One rush, eight yards

QB Tyler Lantrip: Two rushes, seven yards
LEFT: Two rushes, seven yards

One note I found funny was that Nevada has a pattern to its running attack. Here are some more notes:

In the first quarter, Nevada ran left two times, middle nine times and right two times.

Second quarter: Left two times, middle seven times and right nine times.

Third quarter: Left nine times, middle two times and right three times.

Fourth quarter: Left three times, middle five times and right five times.

The Wolf Pack ran mostly middle in the first quarter, mostly right in the second quarter, mostly left in the third quarter and was pretty even in the final period. Interesting stuff, huh? I’ll be noting the team’s running patterns so stay tuned to see what it does next week.