The Curious Case of Ty Isaac
I've been fixated on our running game lately. While trying to find a website that lists the team's average yards per carry by season, I stumbled on this site:
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/michigan/rushing.html
It didn't have exactly what I was looking for, but a quick scan of the rushing leaders showed Ty Isaac at 5.9 ypc. He's somewhat down the list, but that's because it apparently includes everyone, including Joe O'Donnell who gained 50 yards on 1 carry in 1963. (I don't know, maybe after that stellar first carry, you give him the ball again?)
So I took the data and filtered it by number of carries. I chose 100 as a nice round number. That should limit the list to primary ball carriers or multi-year backups. If you argue that number is too low, there have only been 88 players to crack that. The top 10 running backs, since 1956, in terms of yards per carry (min 100 carries) are:
Player | Career carries | YPC |
Jon Vaughn | 226 | 6.3 |
Denard Robinson | 723 | 6.2 |
Kerry Smith | 154 | 6.2 |
Tyrone Wheatley | 688 | 6.1 |
Tim Biakabutuka | 448 | 6.1 |
Rob Lytle | 554 | 6.0 |
Ty Isaac | 104 | 5.9 |
Tony Boles | 394 | 5.7 |
Allen Jefferson | 175 | 5.7 |
Drake Johnson | 116 | 5.7 |
Isaac's average is boosted a little by one long TD run he had in 2015, but he also averaged 5.9 YPC in his one season at USC. Here's hoping he figures out whatever it is that's holding him back (pass blocking, fumbles? other?) and he gets more productive playing time next season.
December 12th, 2016 at 7:22 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 9:27 PM ^
Eight yards a Kerry Smith - he was at Michigan in the early 80's when I was there.
December 12th, 2016 at 10:15 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 6:33 PM ^
But almost no chance of playing on Sundays for Mr. Isaac. Work that degree young man.
December 12th, 2016 at 9:37 PM ^
Nothing close to our recent NFL backs: Thomas Rawls, fitz toussaint, Mike cox
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December 13th, 2016 at 5:03 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 2:45 PM ^
Not so sure about writing him off with a complete season still to be played.
December 12th, 2016 at 6:36 PM ^
He has deluxe size and speed combo for a RB. He is willing to use his speed, but not the size. I'm sure the Coaches have tried to change his running style, but its just who he is.
December 12th, 2016 at 6:38 PM ^
He's a "smart" runner who picks his way and uses his blockers well.
Devon Smith runs with serious aggression.
Who do you think Coach Harbaugh is going to favor?
Remember how much he liked Frank Gore.
December 12th, 2016 at 7:01 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 6:51 AM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 6:48 PM ^
The reason you don't see Perr, A-Train or even Mike Hart on the list is because they were products of the Lloyd-ball era. They were all talented and great players for the teams they were on. But they also fell victim to the simplistic play-calling, run-run-run-punt-play D, and play close games mentality of Carr. I remember Perry's awesome 200-yard game against MSU that one year......but it took him 52 carries to do it.
December 12th, 2016 at 10:09 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 6:52 PM ^
December 13th, 2016 at 5:02 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 7:29 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 7:31 PM ^
Isaac puts on a bit of bulk this offseason. Convinces during practice that he can take a hit without fumbling (fumble tendency trumps YPC), improves blocking technique just a bit, and has a great season next year.
December 12th, 2016 at 7:33 PM ^
I don't think he needs to add any bulk. He was faster this year at 230 lbs. than he was last year at 240.
December 12th, 2016 at 9:14 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 5:01 PM ^
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December 14th, 2016 at 7:42 AM ^
If he requires bulk (and it slows him down some) to protect the ball better, then he needs to slow down, bulk up, and protect the ball better.
Fumbling tendency offsets YPC.
If it's not a strength issue, then he needs to figure out what it is (and I have genuine hope he will), and secure the ball better. Then I think he gets more play time.
Who cares if he can engineer his own 60 yard drive if it consistently ends with a fumble?
December 14th, 2016 at 10:35 AM ^
Strength isn't the issue. Isaac is pretty jacked. It's all about focus and technique.
December 12th, 2016 at 7:53 PM ^
Deveon Smith=Evander Holyfield. Know what I mean?
December 12th, 2016 at 8:08 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 10:18 PM ^
It is a list of the Michigan players with the highest career yards per carry average. There are a lot of apples and oranges on that list. The players you listed, A-Train, Morris, Hoard, and Hart were not breakaway threats. They are not going to pad their stats with 80 yard TD runs like Jon Vaughn, Denard, or Wheatley did. Tony Boles had incredible speed. I'm not old enough to remember Kerry Smith, but I am old enough to remember Rob Lytle. Odd, since Lytle played before Smith. Lytle is the one guy on that list I don't recall having the breakaway speed. I'd put him over Hart, Morris or A-Train anyday. He finished third in the Heisman behind a once-a-decade talent like Tony Dorsett and the great Ricky Bell.
I have seen Isaac display breakaway speed. He appears to be a good receiving back out of the backfield. He is tough enough to gain 5.9 ypc behind this year's mediocre line and last years worse than mediocre line. If Evans had enough carries (only 20 more) he would have been first on this list, again, running behind a mediocre line. A line with an All-Big 10 performer, 3 2nd team guys, and a Freshman All-American. It's something to think about.
December 12th, 2016 at 10:30 PM ^
A-Train wasn't a breakaway threat? I don't know about that.
His problem was more that he played in a DeBord offense.
December 13th, 2016 at 12:02 AM ^
December 13th, 2016 at 12:09 AM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 9:49 AM ^
Hart had more career yards but fewer YPC by a full yard. The career yardage is exaggerated by Hart playing 4 seasons to Lytle's 3. Lytle had a better pro career. Lytle was 3rd in the Heisman voting. Hart finished 5th. Lytle's teams won a game versus OSU.
Serious question, are you old enough to have seen Lytle play live?
December 13th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 3:28 PM ^
do you have anything to offer other than your opinion? Lytle gained 6 ypc doing fullback dives up the middle. He played a couple years at TB and one at FB. Compare him to other FBs of that era who gained 3-4 ypc. The last comment about Hart was a dig at people who think you need to win the big games to be considered one of the greatest. I readily acknowledge there are many factors involved. Who had the better offensive line, etc.?
Pro stats:
Mike Hart - 3 seasons, 71 carries, 264 yards
Rob Lytle - 7 seasons, 376 carries, 1451 yards
If, LOL, Mike Hart is so much better than Lytle, why didn't that translate to the NFL? I think Hart was a 3* talent who perfectly fit Lloyd Carr's offense and ran behind the greatest LT in Michigan history for 4 years.
December 13th, 2016 at 4:58 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 5:07 PM ^
You've never had a discussion like this before? People compare backs in different eras all the time. It's how you try to determine who the greatest of all time was. There's never a perfect answer for precisely that reason.
Are you saying the NFL backs in Hart's era were better than in Lytle's? Perhaps that's true due to conditioning and nutrition, etc., but compared to their peers, Lytle was better than Hart. 3rd in the Heisman to 5th, 7 year NFL career to 3. I like Mike Hart. I think it's debateable whether or not he's better than Lytle, Wheatley, etc.
December 13th, 2016 at 2:27 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 11:00 PM ^
Isaac seems to just need "Beast Mode" where at certain times he should try to run people over rather than cutting or juking them. Even if he gets tackled putting that shoulder into people is going to send a message maybe they don't want to do that next time. There's no time for readjustment now, it has to happen in '17 or that's all she wrote.
The guy has the body to wreck all kinds of people in pass pro, just get lower.
Evans despite his great jump cuts and ability to saw guys off at the ankles doesn't seem much of a stopper in passpro (yet). It was almost like when he came into the game it was guaranteed handoff.
Hopefully Coach Wheat can get all of these guys hammering LBs and blitzing safeties at a high level (err, like lower pad level, I mean 8-)
December 12th, 2016 at 11:02 PM ^
May be next summer he can break through. He's big enough to be an every down back. Just secure the ball and pass block a bit better.
December 13th, 2016 at 6:34 AM ^
December 13th, 2016 at 9:06 AM ^
I think he needs a lot work when it comes to protecting the QB in the passing game. That's just not where he excels.
December 13th, 2016 at 4:55 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 4:56 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^
my head the last two years also. They guy has all the tools, size, strength, speed and vision. He seems to do a good job everytime he gets carries and considering he's averaging 5.9YPC it's pretty obvious.
Not sure what is going on behind the scense, but most games I sit watching wondering why they don't play him more. I think it was Iowa he came in for one carry of about 9 yards for a TD and if you watch the replay it was a very good run, then he's sitting the rest of the game.
I don't get it, but I wonder what next year will bring with him. Will he stick around and battle for the starting position, which I think he could win, or does he leave as a grad transfer and play immediately somewhere else. I hope he sticks around.
December 13th, 2016 at 9:50 AM ^
December 13th, 2016 at 10:16 AM ^
Not to switch the topic to other backs but I don't think that the absence of Perry or the A-Train on that list can be solely attributed to the Carr offense. Both of those backs took time to develop and only became stars in their final year.
One thing consistent about most of the backs on the list is that they were good immediately. If you look at Wheatley's and Biakabatuka's stats you will see that their averages were pretty consistently good from the beginning. The same cannot be said for Perry or Thomas. In 1999, Thomas had 283 carries and a 4.4 YPC. Previous years have fewer carries but the same uninspiring average. In 2000, the carries remained similar at 287 but the average jumped to 5.4 YPC. The same is true for Perry who had 267 carries in 20002 and a 4.2 YPC. That YPC jumped in 2003 to 5.0 YPC on 338 carries.
Mike Hart is a little different. He was pretty uniform, with a dip in 2005 when he got hurt and offense was really bad. But he was what he was which was not quite enough to get him on this list.
December 13th, 2016 at 10:34 AM ^
That's not entirely true for Thomas. He averaged 5.2 yards/carry as a sophomore, 4.4 as a junior, and then 5.4 as a senior. He also had 12, 16, and 16 rushing touchdowns during those three years. He was pretty good from the beginning.