Would like to see Mason as RB in short yardage situations. Who's with me?

Submitted by 006BOatman on September 19th, 2019 at 5:37 PM

Hey all, first post!  :D 

I'm starting this thread with the hope that it will pick up steam.  I, like many of you, am all for our new-look offense, and yet, have missed seeing Bench Mason getting his hands on the ball in short yardage situations a couple times a game.  -Both because I think it's a solid play-call in said situation, and b/c everyone seems to like Bench, and I think it will lift the spirits of the team and all of us fans.  I know it would put a smile on my face anyway. 

So, with either Tru and/or Zach likely sitting out again, and after taking a long hard look at our short yardage plays against Army, are you 'telling me there's a chance' this will happen?  What do you think?  Pro's and cons?   One con that came to mind is the possibility (likelihood?) that he hasn't gotten any O reps and might be rusty.  And the last thing we need is more sloppiness with the ball.  (Unless they've gotten him some reps these past two weeks.)

Anyway, go blue!  

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006BOatman

September 19th, 2019 at 10:11 PM ^

Haha, great!  Nerve-racking!

I know the topic wasn’t anything that hasn’t been mentioned, but I just can’t help but think it could be a big morale boost. Or as some have mentioned, maybe even a better “gotcha!” if Bench lines up, and then it turns out to be a pass or something.

But as the realists have said, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be gettin’ a fullback look, and I get it— they’re trying to go all-in on the new-look O.

Joined: 09/17/2018

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S.G. Rice

September 19th, 2019 at 5:40 PM ^

I'd like to see Mean Joe in there, I mean a marsupial is built low to the ground and perfect for squeezing through even small gaps.  He could just ride Onwenu past the sticks.

On a more serious note, it will be interesting to see if Gattis takes a different approach to short yardage now that we're in conference play. 

Joined: 07/18/2008

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MJ14

September 19th, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^

That new offense at Maryland just scored less than 2 touchdowns in a game against a middle of the pack team. When they get into Big Ten play, I guarantee they don’t average more than 28 a game. Just to give you an idea, Michigan averages 35 a game last season and everyone complained. Maryland was ranked 68 out of 130 last year and I’m almost certain they’ll finish middle of the pack again. 

Joined: 01/09/2011

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BroadneckBlue21

September 20th, 2019 at 7:12 AM ^

That new offense is not new. They run the same plays, same tempo, and same formations they ran last year to put up 52 on OSU. The coach came in and may have changed terminology, but Maryland has the same offense with the same backs. And they played a soft first two games. I’d prefer they would have won their third game, but Maryland’s stall shows how all the slippery slope talk does is leave a bunch of intoxicated internet rock climbers sliding down a mountainous slope into a oceanic pile of beer vomit.

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DakotaBlue

September 19th, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^

When Urban Meyer was interviewed about the changes in the offense, he liked what he saw but said it would take some time to make the transition to running it.

I don’t like the guy a bit, but he knows what he’s talking about. Calling for Gattis’ head at this early point of the transition is absurd. 

Joined: 12/30/2010

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006BOatman

September 19th, 2019 at 10:30 PM ^

No one thinks the coaches haven’t considered something they did regularly as recently as last year.  What I think they miiiiight be overlooking is, how pumped-up the team and fans get when Bench touches the football. And how that can be a contagious thing.  

Somewhat related, or maybe not— when Mason hurdled(!) that guy last year it was by far the most memorable and enjoyable play of the game. Priceless.

Joined: 09/17/2018

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BlueWolverine02

September 19th, 2019 at 11:42 PM ^

That's what I don't get though.  I assume the staff isn't braid dead, so why are we handing off into a stacked box on 4th and short lined up in the shotgun when A) their CBs are giving our WRs a ten yard cushion and B) we have years of evidence that a standard goalline offense where we just pound it with a FB or behind a FB works when you need one yard.  Why are the coaches making it harder for our team to win?

Joined: 09/20/2014

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GOMBLOG

September 19th, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^

I’d like to see last season’s offense but with an OC who is willing to open things up a bit.  Harbaugh didn’t have to totally change the offense, he just needed a modern OC to get the ball to his playmakers.   

No space up the gut, no speed off tackle is anticlimactic.  

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JPC

September 19th, 2019 at 5:50 PM ^

He’s 260 pounds and has been, it seems, working out as a DT. There’s no reason to think he hasn’t lost a step at FB. 

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Bando Calrissian

September 19th, 2019 at 5:51 PM ^

I'm sure there's some armchair football expert who's ready to give me a pile of stats and longwinded explanations for why this isn't so, but I will never for the life of me understand running shotgun from inside the 2. Especially when a program just spent four years essentially perfecting about a million different approaches, with great success, to ram the ball into the endzone out of a traditional snap.

It's not that I expect it to be Mason. It's that I don't understand why it's not something to that degree.

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