SEC Running Back Success Rates | Week Eleven

Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five
Week Six | Week Seven | Week Eight | Week Nine | Week Ten

For those of you who are new to this, the Running Back Success Rate is a measure of how "successful" each of a running back's rushing attempts are. A "successful" run is one that :

Gains at least 40% of the yardage needed to move the chains on 1st down
Gains at least 60% of the yardage needed to move the chains on 2nd down
Gains at least 100% of the yardage needed to move the chains on 3rd and 4th down

On to the numbers...

WEEK ELEVEN

LSU's Michael Ford is the winner as far as success rates go this week, but considering the level of competition I would like to highlight both Isaiah Crowell and Chris Rainey this week since Crowell has been a bit of a punching bag so far this season after all the massive recruiting hype and Rainey has been a pretty big bust so far in his career, but both put together impressive games this weekend, leading the pack in total yardage.

Crowell put up a very impressive 63% success rate on 24 carries, gaining 132 yards and a 5.5 ypc average.  He had five runs of 10 yards or more, plus three more of nine yards to boost his overall numbers.  That's no real surprise considering he's shown plenty of explosive ability over the course of the season.  But its the success rate that's impressive and should give Georgia fans warm feelings towards his future.  63% is a very solid effort, especially with a relatively workhorse carry load, and considering he's still only a 44% back overall it's not a stretch to call this his most complete game running the ball yet.

Meanwhile Rainey put together a solid performance of his own.  With a 59% success rate on 17 carries for 132 yards and a 7.8 ypc (2nd highest ypc behind Eddie Lacy), Rainey was back to being a productive running back instead of a boom or bust scat back.

As for Alabama, Trent Richardson put in another workmanlike performance with 32 total carries for 127 yards and a 56% success rate.  His 4.0 ypc average is below par for him, but considering we basically rode him the second half behind a patchwork offensive line that was opening precious few running lanes, the rest of the numbers are pretty remarkable.  As for our defense, we gave up only one successful run to Vick Ballard, so there you go.

CUMULATIVE

As for the cumulative numbers, it's pretty much Alabama and LSU and everyone else.  Vick Ballard is the only active running back still above 50% but his numbers are grossly inflated by early season blowouts against weak defenses.  Auburn's Michael Dyer topped the 1000 yard mark this week, but compare him to Richardson, who has a comparable numbers.  Though Richardson has only 5 more carries, he has nearly a 200 yard advantage over him and a 9% higher success rate.  Truth is, Dyer is as boom or bust as they come, and the only reason I suspect his success rate numbers will stay in the upper 40% range is the fact that Samford's defense will go a long way towards bolstering those numbers.