Riley on What He's Looking for in QBs

[Stumpy1]

A lot of people would like to have Stanford's offense and there is nothing exciting about it. Last year against Oregon, Stanford ran the same running play something like 60 times. I believe they only passed 8-10 times and that was it. Pretty damn boring but it won them the game. Alabama has had recent success being boring. The common thing with these teams is that they have had stellar defenses. I don't care if we are fancy or boring, as long as we get the job done and win.

Exactly...at the end of the day we want NU's offense to have scored enough points to win that game.

Yep and I don't care if they done the flea flicker the whole game or your QB sneak offense, just as long as they score and win.

 

[teachercd]

A lot of people would like to have Stanford's offense and there is nothing exciting about it. Last year against Oregon, Stanford ran the same running play something like 60 times. I believe they only passed 8-10 times and that was it. Pretty damn boring but it won them the game. Alabama has had recent success being boring. The common thing with these teams is that they have had stellar defenses. I don't care if we are fancy or boring, as long as we get the job done and win.

Exactly...at the end of the day we want NU's offense to have scored enough points to win that game.

Yep and I don't care if they done the flea flicker the whole game or your QB sneak offense, just as long as they score and win.

Shhhhh...stop telling people about my QB sneak offense!

Related note...years ago I am coaching a JV game. We call a QB sneak...the kid busts over the line and takes off for 50 yards and a TD! About 10 plays later we called an option (not remembering that our new QB had never run it once) he runs down the line to left and pitches, only he pitched it like he was shooting a free throw underhanded. It was the funniest thing we had seen.

 

[Red Five]

Maybe Riley is looking for Everett Golson.

 

[Decked]

Maybe Riley is looking for Everett Golson.

Golson>>Armstrong

 

[True2tRA]

A lot of people would like to have Stanford's offense and there is nothing exciting about it. Last year against Oregon, Stanford ran the same running play something like 60 times. I believe they only passed 8-10 times and that was it. Pretty damn boring but it won them the game. Alabama has had recent success being boring. The common thing with these teams is that they have had stellar defenses. I don't care if we are fancy or boring, as long as we get the job done and win.

Personally I love Stanford and Alabamas offenses.

 

[True2tRA]

This conversation took a weird turn. I don't think anybody ever once said how it looks was more important than winning. Winning is obviously the goal, but the way you get there is important too. I guess I would be willing to watch the same play over and over again if it's working, but I guess where I initially started off, I was simply stating that I wouldn't want that "same play over and over" - to be the zone read.

Stanford and Alabama run more traditional offenses. I hope Nebraska moves more in that direction and moves away from Beck-Basketball On Turf. That's all I was trying to say.

 

[junior4949]

If we get the pipeline rebuilt, the QB jabber will become all but nonexistent. Taylor Martinez would be remembered quite differently by most fans had he been behind a dominant OL. The QB just needs to be a game manager with few mistakes. We have more than capable QB's on the roster already. We just need better OL play.

I'm 100% behind you that we need better OL play, but, I would also argue QB is still huge no matter what. Nebraska hasn't had a truly elite QB since Eric Crouch I think you could argue. You could say TM got close but his turnover problems held him back, and there were times when even his freak athletic ability couldn't make up for the team's poor play. It's also tough to characterize someone as 'elite' when they were responsible for helping put the team into a deep hole.

Anyways, aside from Martinez, I would say we still need to have more than a game manager. OL play is definitely a big concern and I would love for them to be one of the best in the country, but a really good QB would mean a ton to this program and could mean the difference between getting to a conference title game and actually winning a conference title game.

If Martinez would have had the luxury to play behind the OL that Crouch did, most fans would be saying Eric who? We had one of the nation's best OL anchored by Fonoti.

 

[Joe_5700]

If we get the pipeline rebuilt, the QB jabber will become all but nonexistent. Taylor Martinez would be remembered quite differently by most fans had he been behind a dominant OL. The QB just needs to be a game manager with few mistakes. We have more than capable QB's on the roster already. We just need better OL play.

I'm 100% behind you that we need better OL play, but, I would also argue QB is still huge no matter what. Nebraska hasn't had a truly elite QB since Eric Crouch I think you could argue. You could say TM got close but his turnover problems held him back, and there were times when even his freak athletic ability couldn't make up for the team's poor play. It's also tough to characterize someone as 'elite' when they were responsible for helping put the team into a deep hole.

Anyways, aside from Martinez, I would say we still need to have more than a game manager. OL play is definitely a big concern and I would love for them to be one of the best in the country, but a really good QB would mean a ton to this program and could mean the difference between getting to a conference title game and actually winning a conference title game.

If Martinez would have had the luxury to play behind the OL that Crouch did, most fans would be saying Eric who? We had one of the nation's best OL anchored by Fonoti.

I disagree. How many WTF moments did Crouch have? Martinez seemed to have many more of those if my memory is correct.

 

[teachercd]

If we get the pipeline rebuilt, the QB jabber will become all but nonexistent. Taylor Martinez would be remembered quite differently by most fans had he been behind a dominant OL. The QB just needs to be a game manager with few mistakes. We have more than capable QB's on the roster already. We just need better OL play.

I'm 100% behind you that we need better OL play, but, I would also argue QB is still huge no matter what. Nebraska hasn't had a truly elite QB since Eric Crouch I think you could argue. You could say TM got close but his turnover problems held him back, and there were times when even his freak athletic ability couldn't make up for the team's poor play. It's also tough to characterize someone as 'elite' when they were responsible for helping put the team into a deep hole.

Anyways, aside from Martinez, I would say we still need to have more than a game manager. OL play is definitely a big concern and I would love for them to be one of the best in the country, but a really good QB would mean a ton to this program and could mean the difference between getting to a conference title game and actually winning a conference title game.

If Martinez would have had the luxury to play behind the OL that Crouch did, most fans would be saying Eric who? We had one of the nation's best OL anchored by Fonoti.

I disagree. How many WTF moments did Crouch have? Martinez seemed to have many more of those if my memory is correct.

Sure...but how many of those WTF moments were due to the OL?

 

[Joe_5700]

If we get the pipeline rebuilt, the QB jabber will become all but nonexistent. Taylor Martinez would be remembered quite differently by most fans had he been behind a dominant OL. The QB just needs to be a game manager with few mistakes. We have more than capable QB's on the roster already. We just need better OL play.

I'm 100% behind you that we need better OL play, but, I would also argue QB is still huge no matter what. Nebraska hasn't had a truly elite QB since Eric Crouch I think you could argue. You could say TM got close but his turnover problems held him back, and there were times when even his freak athletic ability couldn't make up for the team's poor play. It's also tough to characterize someone as 'elite' when they were responsible for helping put the team into a deep hole.

Anyways, aside from Martinez, I would say we still need to have more than a game manager. OL play is definitely a big concern and I would love for them to be one of the best in the country, but a really good QB would mean a ton to this program and could mean the difference between getting to a conference title game and actually winning a conference title game.

If Martinez would have had the luxury to play behind the OL that Crouch did, most fans would be saying Eric who? We had one of the nation's best OL anchored by Fonoti.

I disagree. How many WTF moments did Crouch have? Martinez seemed to have many more of those if my memory is correct.

Sure...but how many of those WTF moments were due to the OL?

I don't think you can blame careless ball handling and many of those fumbles on the O-line... Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of both Martinez and Crouch.

 

[True2tRA]

The quarterback is important.

The offensive line is important.

The QB can make his offensive line look better than they are.

An offensive line can make a QB look better than he is.

There is no law that makes one or the other certain.

It's why you watch the game and make a determination on your own. Clearly Nebraska's offensive line has been a weakness for quite a long time now. Some of Martinez's and Armstrong struggles have clearly been due to lack of protection from their offensive lines.

Then again, some of those mistakes were on nobody but themselves.

Some of the mistakes were due to miscommunication between the QB and WR's.

As a coach, it's your job to limit the possibilities for mistakes and make each of those areas feel comfortable in their duties.

I feel like the previous staff over-complicated a lot of aspects in the passing game when it comes to the QB's and WR's both making reads and altering routes.

I don't think the offensive line ever looked like a cohesive well coached unit that understood their assignments on a regular basis.

Our QB's looked overwhelmed many times, checking with the sideline nearly every play and making changes constantly. Getting 11 guys on the same page seemed impossible.

I think the new staff is putting effort into eliminating many of the variables and letting the guys play football again.

 

[RedDenver]

The quarterback is important.

The offensive line is important.

The QB can make his offensive line look better than they are.

An offensive line can make a QB look better than he is the entire offense look better than they are.

FIFY

Something Sam might be missing in his analysis is that every one of the QB's he mentions played behind a great OL.

 

[True2tRA]

The quarterback is important.

The offensive line is important.

The QB can make his offensive line look better than they are.

An offensive line can make a QB look better than he is the entire offense look better than they are.

FIFY
Something Sam might be missing in his analysis is that every one of the QB's he mentions played behind a great OL.

Edit: Saw you scratched out what I said, didn't see what you put in. Yea, I agree. It can make everyone look better.

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

The quarterback is important.

The offensive line is important.

The QB can make his offensive line look better than they are.

An offensive line can make a QB look better than he is.

There is no law that makes one or the other certain.

It's why you watch the game and make a determination on your own. Clearly Nebraska's offensive line has been a weakness for quite a long time now. Some of Martinez's and Armstrong struggles have clearly been due to lack of protection from their offensive lines.

Then again, some of those mistakes were on nobody but themselves.

Some of the mistakes were due to miscommunication between the QB and WR's.

As a coach, it's your job to limit the possibilities for mistakes and make each of those areas feel comfortable in their duties.

I feel like the previous staff over-complicated a lot of aspects in the passing game when it comes to the QB's and WR's both making reads and altering routes.

I don't think the offensive line ever looked like a cohesive well coached unit that understood their assignments on a regular basis.

Our QB's looked overwhelmed many times, checking with the sideline nearly every play and making changes constantly. Getting 11 guys on the same page seemed impossible.

I think the new staff is putting effort into eliminating many of the variables and letting the guys play football again.

This is a slight detraction from the conversation of QB vs OL deficiencies, but I think it addresses the underlying problem.
The previous staff's biggest problem (at least on the field) was they attempted to run the perfect offensive and defensive play versus whatever the other team was doing at all time. This lead to over complicated assignments and confused player. As a result, if one player was out of position or a simple miscommunication occurred, there was no one to cover up that deficiency, and the play busted and picks, fumbles, TFL, and giving up long plays or TD occurred.

They could not maximize the players' potential (at least consistently) because no one can play absolutely perfectly all the time.

 

[NWHuskerfan]

Hmmmm...stumpy1 not sure what Stanford versus Oregon game you talking about, but it sure wasnt last year. Oregon rocked Stanford 46-14 on nov 1st, 2014.