Zach LINE

[Nacho]

the glaring omission from his game is his ability to catch passes and run routes out of the backfield. i'm prettty certain june was quite unhappy with him for not running a simple swing route on one occasion. that aside from the fumbles i thought he played great.

[ponyboy]

I thought June Jones called the plays.

[Lefty]

June does call the plays, and I remember hearing (or reading) someone saying he's an excellent receiver out of the backfield, albeit not a frequent target.

I agree with the idea of taking the two QBs off the list. Do that, and he is in the top 10 rushers in the country.

Not bad for a sophomore ... in a pass-first offense ... who was recruited originally as a linebacker.

Absolutely amazing performance. Keep it up, Zach.

[Charleston Pony]

Zach has improved tremendously from his FR year. Hard to imagine continued improvement and the possibility he could be here 2 more years...and supplemented by some young studs who will push him for playing time

[Hoss]

With increased maturity and strength understanding of the system, imagine the kind of numbers Line and Padron could put up next year, when we'll have an offensive line full of seniors.

[reddevil]

Also, its pretty cool to think about or RB depth for at least the next two years with Line, Fields, Pope and Nlemchi. That a pretty exciting quartet.

[42sparty]

the glaring omission from his game is his ability to catch passes and run routes out of the backfield. i'm prettty certain june was quite unhappy with him for not running a simple swing route on one occasion. that aside from the fumbles i thought he played great.

Pretty certain you have no idea of what you are talking about. That route was run several times in this game and every time well covered. The only reception was for a one yard gain. The question was not whether is run correctly, but was it open...I for one certainly appreciate you continued knock on Line...the world needs a constant cynic.

Zach...just awesome...proud as can be in Oxford...

[Nacho]

zach is a good player. he has improved tremendously since last season. as i have stated before i think he will play in the nfl. sorry if i have offended a family member.

[couch 'em]

the glaring omission from his game is his ability to catch passes and run routes out of the backfield. i'm prettty certain june was quite unhappy with him for not running a simple swing route on one occasion. that aside from the fumbles i thought he played great.

Not sure I really agree with your anti-Line stance. I get your view that he's not a running threat that has to be respected in the same way that McNeil or a guy of that shiftiness mold would be, but I don't think that is the reason the passing game cannot get going. Yes, he's not the home run threat that some RBs might be, but so what? He's a first down and more threat, and that's all you need. We could have Dickerson standing in the backfield and the other team is still going to go all out against the pass D just as they are now.

Line's numbers are excellent. Other than a little fumblitis lately that will likely not be an issue long term, he's far out performed what anyone expected of him. He IS hard to bring down, and has shown excellent game smarts making clutch decisions to get gain he needs to get.

[Nacho]

i have said that i don't think he is an nfl rb but that he is and nfl fb. is that so terrible? i'm done talking about zach line. i hope he continues to be a very good player for smu.

[Pony_Fan]

Last year the McNeal screen was used a lot. For whatever reason, not as much with Line. He is mostly either running or pass blocking. He's doing an exceptional job (other than TO's) - and we wouldn't have won most of the games w/out him.

[The PonyGrad]

Don't know how it goes in practice, as far as Zach catching the ball, but I was thrilled that they were at least sending him out on routes. If there is no one to block he should be going out as an additional threat.

[ponyboy]

See my post under the 2009 vs. 2010 stats. Line, at this point, appears to be a better running back than Shawnbrey.

[Cadillac]

If we hang on to Nlemchi, it would indeed seem that SMU will have an embarrassment of riches at the RB spot.

While Jones is obviously a system guy with the Run and Shoot, he has shown a willingness to modify the system to fit the players he has. For example, while it may not have made it onto the field very much, the pre-season looks included using a tight end to take advantage of our bigger receivers.

So I'm wondering if there may not be a coming inclusion of a 3 wideout, 2 back set, with one back as a blocker/draw threat, and the other running routs out of the backfield and occasionally taking the handoff.

Obviously, there are downsides to taking one of your receivers and placing them five yards behind the line of scrimmage, but with some of these kids we have coming up, we'll still be a threat with the pass, run, and screen.

With the weapons that we'll have available, I'd really be interested to see how we can take advantage of them.

-CoS

[ThadFilms]

June Jones 1999-2008: Zero 1,000 yard rushers.
June Jones 2009-2010: Two 1,000 yard rushers.

You could amend that to:

June Jones Entire Collegiate Head Coaching career-2008: Zero 1,000 yard rushers.
June Jones 2009-2010: Two 1,000 yard rushers.