clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

SEC Running Back Success Rates | Week Seven

Trent Richardson's 183 yards, 10.8 yards per carry average, and 82% success rate put him head and shoulders above the rest of the SEC this week.
Trent Richardson's 183 yards, 10.8 yards per carry average, and 82% success rate put him head and shoulders above the rest of the SEC this week.

Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Week Six

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 SEVEN

Player Team Total ATT Successful ATT Success Rate Gained AVG
Trent Richardson Alabama 17 14 82% 183 10.8
Eddie Lacy Alabama 5 2 40% 22 4.4
Jalston Fowler Alabama 9 5 56% 125 13.9
Blake Sims Alabama 5 4 80% 74 14.8
Michael Dyer Auburn 23 10 43% 73 3.2
Onterio McCalebb Auburn 10 4 40% 43 4.3
Michael Ford LSU 5 3 60% 35 7.0
Spencer Ware LSU 23 9 39% 80 3.5
Vick Ballard Miss. State 20 7 35% 67 3.4
Chris Rainey Florida 16 7 44% 33 2.1
Isaiah Crowell Georgia 10 4 40% 35 3.5
Marcus Lattimore South Carolina 17 4 24% 39 2.3
Tauren Poole Tennessee 19 11 58% 70 3.7

As if we hadn't slobbered all over Trent Richardson enough already, his ridiculous performance against Ole Miss is completely and totally represented by the numbers this week.  82% y'all. 82%. Those are backups against a third string defense kind of numbers, or even a whole lot of short yardage runs, but Richardson was not only "successful," he was explosive, gaining 183 yards and 10.8 ypc bolstered by five 10+ yard runs and a that one 76 yard TD that y'all might remember.  Quite truthfully, if there is another performance this dominating this season from any of these backs I will be surprised. 

Back to the mere mortals, Tauren Poole had a surprise game against a stout LSU defense with a 58% success rate.  His 3.7 ypc average certainly isn't the kind of explosive number you'd like to see (Poole had only one 10+ yard run in the game), but for the most part Poole was able to set up the Vol offense with favorable down and distance.  Makes you want to see what Richardson can do come November 5th, doesn't it?

As for LSU's backs, Michael Ford continues to receive very limited touches, but when he does get the ball he generally does well.  Spencer Ware shared the workhorse load with Michael Dyer with 23 carries, but with only a 39% success rate he was definitely more quantity than quality this week.

As for everyone else? Well, not a very good week.  Auburn's backs are still the epitome of boom or bust, Marcus Lattimore's season ended with a whimper after a solid start that trended downward from week to week, Isaiah Crowell continues to underwhelm despite a lot of hype and even some flashes of what could/will be, and Florida is just broken at this point.

CUMULATIVE

Player Team Games Total ATT Successful ATT Success Rate Gained AVG
Trent Richardson Alabama 7 132 80 61% 912 6.9
Eddie Lacy Alabama 6 51 30 59% 419 8.2
Jalston Fowler Alabama 6 38 26 68% 302 7.9
Blake Sims Alabama 4 22 10 45% 102 4.6
Ronnie Wingo, Jr. Arkansas 5 60 27 45% 284 4.7
Michael Dyer Auburn 7 147 70 48% 752 5.1
Onterio McCalebb Auburn 7 66 27 41% 355 5.4
Michael Ford LSU 7 67 34 51% 359 5.4
Spencer Ware LSU 7 128 69 54% 512 4.0
Vick Ballard Miss. State 7 105 59 56% 598 5.7
Jeff Demps Florida 6 39 16 41% 324 8.3
Chris Rainey Florida 7 103 53 51% 500 4.9
Isaiah Crowell Georgia 7 128 51 40% 608 4.8
Marcus Lattimore South Carolina 7 163 90 55% 818 5.0
Tauren Poole Tennessee 6 97 45 46% 395 4.1

The cumulative numbers continue to average down now that we're in conference play to give us a more accurate pciture of each back's relative worth. Trent Richardson isn't just the top of the pack this week, overall he's now leading the SEC in rushing yardage and success rate.  Jeff Demps and Eddie Lacy are still the leaders in ypc despite barely playing the last few weeks, but Richardson is gaining on them with a 6.9 average.  Marcus Lattimore is the workhorse for at least one more week, but Auburn's Michael Dyer will likely pass this weekend and Richardson won't be too far behind.  Overall, we're starting to see a good separation of the wheat from the chaff, and once the season is over it will be really interesting to see the charts showing the overall season performances.