More "Insider" Insights

[Guy Chamberlin]

Tommy may be classified as a dual threat, but if he remains a 60% passer, or less, it won"t really matter.......he needs to make the throws that are there, if he does not, we will struggle.

Completion % is nice, but it's still about yards per attempt.

Last year we averaged 7.7 yards per pass attempt, 5.3 yards per rushing attempt. Not great, but not bad, confirming that we probably didn't pass too much or too little.

An incompletion followed by a 20 yard completion is a 50% rate and 10 yards per down if you choose to look at it that way.

Ameer might get stuffed for no gain, then rip off a 20 yarder, but we don't judge the rushing game by the same standard.

Incompletions don't kill you, but interceptions do.

 

[BigRedBuster]

But plenty of fans on here -- not you necessarily -- considered any forward pass a "trick" play.

Funny......but oh so true.

It was either a trick play or he was...."getting too cute"

 

[True2tRA]

But plenty of fans on here -- not you necessarily -- considered any forward pass a "trick" play.

Funny......but oh so true.

It was either a trick play or he was...."getting too cute"

I don't disagree necessarily, but I think there's more of a gray area here than just black and white. Some of it was too cute. The offense could've used some simplification, and that aspect was discussed by the entire state. Beck himself admitted to needing some paring down.

Problem was, when we supposedly pared down what we were doing, it didn't appear we were all that great or consistent at executing our so called simplified offense.

It appeared our bread and butter was the zone read. For being our bread and butter, it sure looked sloppy a lot of the time. As did many aspects of our offense, including the forward pass.

I don't think anyone debates that the bigger issue was the defense, but the inconsistency and lack of progress throughout the season was an annual issue offensively.

 

[True2tRA]

I mean, how many top rated offenses in the country, a statistic many like to point out, how many of those offenses have the ball snapped repeatedly throughout he season while the QB isn't even ready for it? How many of those top offenses have WR's cutting off each other's routes and running into each other? Also, far too often, Tommy and Ameer looked more like they were running for their lives more than they were actually executing any sort of designed play. The pocket was collapsing on Tommy, and gaps were closing on Ameer.

Our statistics on offense are an indication of some truly dominant performances on some very weak competition, IMO. Hence the 9 wins a year.

 

[Enhance]

But plenty of fans on here -- not you necessarily -- considered any forward pass a "trick" play.

Funny......but oh so true.

It was either a trick play or he was...."getting too cute"

I don't disagree necessarily, but I think there's more of a gray area here than just black and white. Some of it was too cute. The offense could've used some simplification, and that aspect was discussed by the entire state. Beck himself admitted to needing some paring down.

Problem was, when we supposedly pared down what we were doing, it didn't appear we were all that great or consistent at executing our so called simplified offense.

It appeared our bread and butter was the zone read. For being our bread and butter, it sure looked sloppy a lot of the time. As did many aspects of our offense, including the forward pass.

I don't think anyone debates that the bigger issue was the defense, but the inconsistency and lack of progress throughout the season was an annual issue offensively.

Spot on there. Usually, it was the same story, different year. Offense starts strong, hits conference play with high hopes, the team sputters, we lose games mid-to-late season (when wins often matter most) and then land in the 9 win bowl game. It's like watching a movie you've seen before hoping the ending is going to change and it never does.

It's refreshing to hear Riley say things like 'we're going to find out what we do well and rep the heck out of it.' Admittedly, I don't know how much stock to put in this. It stands to reason the previous staff had the team practice certain aspects that were their strengths, while avoiding things they may not have been as good at it. But, then the game hit and we became a doer-of-all, master-of-none.

The one game last year where I felt we had finally figured out who we were and what we wanted to be as a team was Miami. That game was so much fun to watch, especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters when Miami could do nothing to stop our o-line and Abdullah. But, we showed later in the season even the identity we wanted wasn't good enough to win when it really mattered.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

A lot of this still points to focus, discipline and mental toughness -- which were teamwide issues -- rather than scheme and playcalling.

I don't think it has anything to do with the playbook being too fancy or complicated.

Again, for the Holiday Bowl -- for the first time all season -- Nebraska ran 93 plays in a no-huddle offense and a roughly 50/50 run/pass split that adjusted as the game went on.

They didn't play better because the offense had been simplified. If anything, it was more demanding. They simply played with more focus and urgency.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

The one game last year where I felt we had finally figured out who we were and what we wanted to be as a team was Miami. That game was so much fun to watch, especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters when Miami could do nothing to stop our o-line and Abdullah. But, we showed later in the season even the identity we wanted wasn't good enough to win when it really mattered.

Some people think Al Golden did a really poor job of coaching that game.

Not to take away from Nebraska -- although I guess I am -- but any opponent scouting that game had a pretty good blueprint for what not to do.

Nebraska didn't repeat its Miami success because opposing Defensive Coordinators made the proper adjustments. Not because our Offensive Coordinator decided not to run wild.

 

[RedDenver]

The one game last year where I felt we had finally figured out who we were and what we wanted to be as a team was Miami. That game was so much fun to watch, especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters when Miami could do nothing to stop our o-line and Abdullah. But, we showed later in the season even the identity we wanted wasn't good enough to win when it really mattered.

Some people think Al Golden did a really poor job of coaching that game.

Not to take away from Nebraska -- although I guess I am -- but any opponent scouting that game had a pretty good blueprint for what not to do.

Nebraska didn't repeat its Miami success because opposing Defensive Coordinators made the proper adjustments. Not because our Offensive Coordinator decided not to run wild.

If you go back and watch that game, NU hit a long TD pass early that backed off the Miami safeties and gave the running game more room to operate. TA went 9-13 passing that day, so it wasn't like NU couldn't score if Miami stacked the box.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

The one game last year where I felt we had finally figured out who we were and what we wanted to be as a team was Miami. That game was so much fun to watch, especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters when Miami could do nothing to stop our o-line and Abdullah. But, we showed later in the season even the identity we wanted wasn't good enough to win when it really mattered.

Some people think Al Golden did a really poor job of coaching that game.

Not to take away from Nebraska -- although I guess I am -- but any opponent scouting that game had a pretty good blueprint for what not to do.

Nebraska didn't repeat its Miami success because opposing Defensive Coordinators made the proper adjustments. Not because our Offensive Coordinator decided not to run wild.

If you go back and watch that game, NU hit a long TD pass early that backed off the Miami safeties and gave the running game more room to operate. TA went 9-13 passing that day, so it wasn't like NU couldn't score if Miami stacked the box.

Yeah, I remember the in-game broadcasters talking about how the early Armstrong bomb -- and even a couple deep incompletions -- appeared to have spooked the Miami defense. But when Abdullah and the running game continued to run unchecked, it probably would have been wise to stack the box.

Still, it was proof that the passing game helped set up the running game, not simply the decision to run the ball more.