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 8:57 PM ^
since he won't want to play for Urban. That's right, Urban is leaving OSU for Jacksonville. Lots of rumors and sources in far corners of the internet. Places where Cowherd visits at night with a fake name.
December 12th, 2016 at 4:47 PM ^
My one knock on Isaac is that he is not good at staying inbounds when running down the sideline... there's a couple times I remember him losing big chunks of yardage because he stepped out of bounds early without being forced out. Other than that he's looked good to me.
December 12th, 2016 at 4:49 PM ^
Yep. It's tougher to keep that balance when you're 6'3", but he could still improve by leaning inside when he runs into contact. I'm guessing they drill it, because we do in HS, but he's not great at it.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:14 PM ^
I saw a few times and thought why doesn't he lean in and bash them with a shoulder., he's a pretty big guy with that mass he could get a couple of extra yards.
December 12th, 2016 at 4:49 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 5:14 PM ^
His career has been bizarre to say the least. Even when (apparently) healthy he seemed to inexplicably disappear from the rotation. Here's a link to his stats, including his game log.
In 2014 he played in the opener (3 carries for 28 yards vs. App St) then didn't carry the ball again until garbage time against MSU, seven games later. Only when Hoke was a lame duck did he finally enter the rotation and he delivered good games against IU, Maryland and OSU.
Last year he saw action as a situational backup, but didn't carry the ball at all against Utah or MSU, and had just one carry against OSU. It wouldn't have mattered in the Game, but I wonder if he could have given our run game a spark in the other two losses.
And then this year . . . did we ever find out what his injury was?
December 12th, 2016 at 4:53 PM ^
Two things I've noticed:
1) He doesn't seem to like running between the tackles - he tends to bounce plays outside.
2) His pass protection has also been shaky. He's definitely weaker in this area than Smith.
He's had the occasional long run (almost always on a toss sweep, naturally) but I don't know if you can count on him as an every-down back given #1 and #2.
December 12th, 2016 at 4:54 PM ^
FWIW, I thought he was better at staying between the tackles this year than in 2015.
December 12th, 2016 at 4:55 PM ^
Coaches lost faith in him last year b/c of ball security (legit); never seemed to get the #2 back traction this year. Even with Smith gone, I think there will be even tougher competition next year for #1 and #2 carries. Guess that's a good thing.
December 12th, 2016 at 4:59 PM ^
Am I a terrible fan for saying that I didn't know who Kerry Smith was?
December 12th, 2016 at 7:12 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 5:00 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 5:05 PM ^
Usually I'd come on here and say "but yeah look where Derrick Green got his yards against... you can't just go by average."
But all in all his YPC did very well vs the "manball" defenses vs the MAC types Green excelled against. I assume they don't trust his blocking or ball security as much as others.
- PSU 6.7 YPC (yes they were missing a lot of LBs that game)
- Wisconsin 6.0 YPC
- MSU 5.3 YPC (only 3 carries)
- Iowa 7.0 YPC (only 1 carry so skewed)
did not get a carry vs OSU
http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/546420/ty-isaac
December 12th, 2016 at 5:17 PM ^
I guess I'll play the 'old guy' card and talk about the top name on that list - Jon Vaughn. Everyone knows Wheatley, Denard, and Biakabatuka...but you rarely hear about Vaughn. His story is somewhat interesting:
- Redshirted in 1988 as a DB
- Played hardly at all as a RS-Fr in 1989 at RB with just 10 carries
- Exploded to start the season as a RS-So in 1990 with a 201 yard game against the Irish and a 288 yard game against UCLA.
- Lost a lot of carries the last four games of that season to true freshman Ricky Powers
- Declared early for the NFL trying to ride his great season and avoiding shared backfield carries with Powers.
- Played 4 years in the NFL as primarily a Kick returner and sometimes RB. (Intersetingly he never returned kicks at Michigan.)
I remember that he was one of the first players I remember being upset that he left early for the NFL since he seemed like he had so much potential yet untapped.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:21 PM ^
The OL was ripping massive holes in defenses the year that he started with the two 200 yard games. He was probably right to fear that he'd permanently lost his starting spot to Powers by the end of the season. Powers was, I think, getting more of his own yards.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:25 PM ^
And Powers would eventually be surpassed by Wheatley. Man were we deep at RB back then.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:39 PM ^
I just looked this up - That backfield included the following guys: Wheatley (4178 career rushing yards); Powers (2554 career rushing yards); Jesse Johnson (1440 career rushing yards); and Ed Davis (1371 career rushing yards).
December 12th, 2016 at 9:34 PM ^
That was a really, really good team in general. It was nearly as good as '97 defensively and more explosive offensively.
Too bad overtime didn't exist then.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:48 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 6:52 PM ^
Yes and the OL was Cocozzo, Tre Jenkins, Payne, Runyan, Everett. That makes it a lot easier to run.
December 12th, 2016 at 7:27 PM ^
I remember Jesse Johnson being really hard to tackle. He was fun to watch.
December 12th, 2016 at 8:56 PM ^
He just seemed unstoppable
December 12th, 2016 at 9:39 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 8:49 AM ^
Seattle Times article previewing the Huskies' bowl opponent, 12/25/1991:
"They call him House Cat because house cats just sit around the house and get really big," said cornerback Deon Johnson, no relation.
Johnson entered camp in August with a spare tire at 216 pounds, but now carries 198 and is ready for action. Garfield has become a tiger.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:33 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 5:49 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 7:25 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 9:45 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 5:22 PM ^
I think Magnus hit it correctly with his comments about toughness, blocking, and little things. I suspect that shows up in practice and was what got him in the doghouse last year. You saw Higdon come out of nowhere and get carries probably because he was doing those little things.
It is hard to fault the coaches too much with how well the season was overall, the fact that four different RB had successful seasons, and the fact that they also mixed in Peppers. But I do think that they gave up a little too easily on Isaac and Higdon late in the season. I'm always of the opinion that you ride the hot hand more and it feels like Isaac gets yanked even if he breaks off a big run.
i also agree 100% that Michigan didn't use the screen game as much as they could and that Isaac is probably the best choice for that besides Khalid Hill.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:43 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 5:40 PM ^
Pass pro worth a damn or not, the kid gets yards. Some guys need to be hit once or twice to warm up and get themselves mentally into the game. If Isaac got pissed off, you'd see some coordinated sticks in the passing game protection. The kid has ability. Just needs to be poked. If Wheatley told Isaac that the team really needed him to be the guy with encouragement, I think Isaac could get it done. Isaac is like me in that he wants to know that he's needed and that he's the guy for the job. Not good at going above and beyond unless called upon but have the ability to do it. I like blowing smoke up my own ass too!
December 12th, 2016 at 6:12 PM ^
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December 13th, 2016 at 5:06 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 5:38 PM ^
The OP mentioned Joe O'Donnell and I thought the readership might appreciate some info on him:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_O'Donnell_(American_football)
tl;dr -- He became an offensive lineman.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:52 PM ^
He gained his 50 yards on a fake punt. Second on the list is Mike Gillette, a kicker. So Michigan's two greatest runners on a yards per carry basis are a punter and a kicker. 5th on the list is defensive back Charles Woodson. 6th is linebacker Erick Anderson. He probably got his yards on fake punts as well.
There are a lot of receivers in the top 20 - Woodson, Toomer, Terrell, Kolesar, Howard, Chesson, Bellamy, and McDooooooooooooooom.
December 13th, 2016 at 1:44 AM ^
Joe played his college football at the University of Michigan, where he began his career as a fullback, but moved to the offensive line in his sophomore year. Joe also punted for the Wolverines, and is remembered for a fake punt in a game against Southern Methodist University in 1963 in which he rambled 50 yards for a touchdown. The fake punt was not a called play. Joe had noticed the defensive end releasing early for the return on the previous punt and decided to run for it if he saw that again.
December 13th, 2016 at 2:04 AM ^
Found this link...
Live Edge Artisan Gallery was opened to showcase the amazing, air-dried woods and studio furniture of artisan, Scotty Myers. Myers may have the largest (air-dried for over 40 years) collection of highly figured woods in the country. This collection was harvested by former pro football player, Joseph O'Donnell...Joseph moved from his farm in Eden, New York back to Milan, Michigan in 1978. The wood collection that Scotty Myers uses was harvested in Upstate, New York and moved to Milan, Michigan in the late 70's. Although O'Donnell only made one piece-a rolling pin-he saw the value and beauty in every tree he harvested.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:40 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 5:59 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 6:01 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 6:05 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 6:19 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 8:50 PM ^
Career YPC:
Anthony Thomas - 4.8
Mike Hart - 5.0
Chris Perry - 4.6
Our running game back then was surprisingly inconsistent given the talent we had. Overly predictable playcalling probably was a factor.
December 12th, 2016 at 5:59 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 6:58 PM ^
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December 12th, 2016 at 6:06 PM ^
...Ty Issac is a year younger.
December 12th, 2016 at 6:23 PM ^
December 12th, 2016 at 6:33 PM ^
Ok, I give. Who is Kerry Smith?