.If it wasn't for them bringing Wells back we would not be in this position we are in today..If they thought enough of Ricky as a passer they would have let him run about 5 times a game from the pocket when needed instead of the punishment he received running 20 plus times a game
Because they brought Wells back, we were able to beat Samford and the three worst MVFC teams? Davis, at the time suffering from a traumatic brain injury, beat a playoff team, ISUr, on the road by two scores. Without Davis, we needed a special teams TD to win to beat ISUb. 13.3% of Wells' completions that day were to the opponents defense.
I believe they let Davis run because he could. Look at the last game where he was at least healthy for a part of the game. At WVU, he was our leading rusher and had no turnovers. This year, Davis has 340 yards rushing. Wells is negative 34 yards so far rushing this year (minus 78 years last two years)....against the worst Ds the MVFC has to offer and one of the worst SoCon Ds. Against Samford, it was particularly obvious Wells was going to not run and risk contact when given the opportunity. Even the ESPN announcers couldn't ignore that. He doesn't sacrifice himself for the team.
Here's the MVFC total offense stats:
9. Davis, Ricky-YSU Jr 8 340 864 189 1204 150.5
10. Ruiz, Martin-YSU Sr 12 1086 0 191 1086 90.5
Davis moved the ball.
http://www.mvc.org/football/stats/ind.pdfAlso, in our last 5 games, our passing yards are down ~33%. Thankfully our rushing yards are up.
Current passing efficiency stats:
PASSING GP-GS Effic Cmp-Att-Int Pct Yards TD Long Avg/G
Davis, Ricky 8-6 126.5 55-106-5 51.9 864 5 74 108.0
Wells, Hunter 5-5 125.5 66-105-3 62.9 736 3 41 147.2
http://ysusports.com/sports/fball/2016-17/files/teamcume.htmDavis with a higher passing efficiency, yards, and more TDs with similar # attempts and with stats compiled against better competition....and while injured. Davis is not just a better runner, but a better passer.
I know the coaches were desperate when our #s 1 and 2 QBs went down, and likely struck a deal with Wells to forgo a redshirt year and not transfer to D2. I think the right move was to start Mays, who would've gained valuable experience and still beat the cellar dwellers, and convert Bailey to the reserve QB. I hope Saturday to be proven wrong.