SEC Running Back Success Rates | Week Thirteen

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

*programming note: due to a lack of internet last week there was no Week Twelve update, which really wasn't a big deal since pretty much everyone was either playing an FCS team or, worse, Ole Miss. The numbers have been crunched and are included in the cumulative stats after the jump, but you'll just have to wait for the fancy end of season charts to see that week's numbers cause making these tables are a pain.

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 THIRTEEN

Obvious caveat first, yes Jalston Fowler has a 100% success rate but it was one run at the end of a blowout so we're gonna give the crown to Michael Ford, who's 82% success rate and 8.7 yards per carry are a pretty big reason LSU completely stomped Arkansas despite their early game momentum.

The most interesting numbers this week come from Auburn. No really. Stop laughing. Both Dyer and McCalebb had very respectable success rate percentages against our defense, but the ypc averages tell the story.  Between the two, only McCalebb had a 10 yard run, a sharp decline from the "big play" runs they've routinely managed over the course of the season.  I've sad over and over again that these guys are boom or bust backs, either gaining 20 yards or losing 2, but in this game they actually managed to do the whole traditional running back "grind out good yardage on the early downs" routine, but unfortunately for them that's just not what Gus Malzahn's offense is built around.  Just imagine if they had a quarterback....

Finally, Trent Richardson was his typical workhorse self.  His success rate was a little low for him, but considering we've struggled to run against Auburn the last two seasons I'll take it, especially coupled with 203 yards and a 7.5 yard average.  Even more impressive is that he had five 10+ yard runs, including two of 35 and 57 yards, respectively, so he was again his usual blend of explosive playmaker and workhorse grinder.

CUMULATIVE

Not a lot of interesting notes we can make out of the cumulative numbers this week beyond Michael Ford overtaking Trent Richardson as the most successful back.  Given Trent has well over double the carries, the fact he's leading in every other category really tells you something.  And just looking at the rest of the group, beyond the cupcake fueled success of Vick Ballard and Michael Dyer, there just isn't anyone else even close to LSU and Alabama's backfields.