Play call ???

Both would have been great calls if they had gotten the first down.

Looking over the game -- which was hard fought and a well earned win -- there wasn't a single bread and butter play of ours that wasn't in danger of being stuffed on a 3rd and 2 or 4th and 2. If you'd have polled this room before the fumble, I don't think anyone would have fretted about the riskiness of having Rex Burkhead hand the football to our fullback.

fyi Forge, the problem most people had with Shawn Watson wasn't that he played scared or safe. It was mostly the opposite.

 
You know the fumble we had was really on the offensive line. Devon Still, which is a really good DT, came in virtually unblocked to hit Rex during the exchange with Legate. Legate wouldn't have had a huge gain, but a good 3 - 4 yd carry would have been the result at least. Devon Still wreaked a bit of havoc in the backfield.

So i like the play call, any time Rex line up under center to take the snap (not the wildcat) he usually kept the ball, with the exception of handing it off to Abdullah for the first Husker TD.

I think we need to start fitting in formations that involve more than one IB, defenses are keening on Rex, this is a perfect time to give the other 3 true freshmens a chance to run a misdirection with a fake to burkhead.

 
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I don't think the play call made a difference. Even if it had been TM handing off to Legate, the way the DL blew the play up there is a good chance of a fumble happening. When that tackle hit whoever is QBing as he's trying to handoff, bad things are probably goint to happen. I might have liked the play bette if it was a simple lead play with Legate lead blocking and Rex simply following him through the hole. Takes away the risk of a non QB handing off. But really, is there anything Rex can't do.?

 
3rd and long said:
I don't think the play call made a difference. Even if it had been TM handing off to Legate, the way the DL blew the play up there is a good chance of a fumble happening. When that tackle hit whoever is QBing as he's trying to handoff, bad things are probably goint to happen. I might have liked the play bette if it was a simple lead play with Legate lead blocking and Rex simply following him through the hole. Takes away the risk of a non QB handing off. But really, is there anything Rex can't do.?
Click to expand...

I agree with most of the responses... Thanks... it is fun to see other's insight.... I still stick with my "opinion" on the idea that it was an unnecessary risk at that point. I believe it was 2nd and 2.... Reports in papers said that the DT slid into the gap, gearing up for a RUN, since Rex was under center... and yes, he jumped (anticipated) snap count and beat our OL.

Point being: 2nd and 2 is a GREAT passing down and if Taylor lines up under center, you have to respect the pass and can't gear up for run only. Plus, Taylor does a good job at snap counts and because Rex doesn't make his "living" calling cadence, it is easier to jump count...especially after they had heard Rex's cadence 3-4 other times during game....

In today's Omaha World Herald quoted Beck as saying that he is still "learning when to back off a little"..... no one said "conservative", just not taking risks when you don't NEED TO.

** In any accounts, Nebraska WON and that is what is the most important to all of us.

 
You can see Beck is really trying a lot of different things. Still trying to learn about his team and learn what his offense's capabilities are. I like his creativity. I love that he has brought the option back. Great execution on that option by Martinez by the way. Martinez is growing in this offense. Beck is growing in this offense. They are all learning together. This is why Burkhead is so important. Right now he is the one sure thing. We are young and talented on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive line is still a glaring weakness. Let's not forget though, this is only Beck's first year and we can already see he has done far more with things than Watson ever could. If this offensive line can get better, I think this offense ends up being one of the best in the country. Especially the way Martinez is looking. He's throwing the ball really really well. I'm impressed.

 
HANC said:
3rd and long said:
I don't think the play call made a difference. Even if it had been TM handing off to Legate, the way the DL blew the play up there is a good chance of a fumble happening. When that tackle hit whoever is QBing as he's trying to handoff, bad things are probably goint to happen. I might have liked the play bette if it was a simple lead play with Legate lead blocking and Rex simply following him through the hole. Takes away the risk of a non QB handing off. But really, is there anything Rex can't do.?
Click to expand...

I agree with most of the responses... Thanks... it is fun to see other's insight.... I still stick with my "opinion" on the idea that it was an unnecessary risk at that point. I believe it was 2nd and 2.... Reports in papers said that the DT slid into the gap, gearing up for a RUN, since Rex was under center... and yes, he jumped (anticipated) snap count and beat our OL.

Point being: 2nd and 2 is a GREAT passing down and if Taylor lines up under center, you have to respect the pass and can't gear up for run only. Plus, Taylor does a good job at snap counts and because Rex doesn't make his "living" calling cadence, it is easier to jump count...especially after they had heard Rex's cadence 3-4 other times during game....

In today's Omaha World Herald quoted Beck as saying that he is still "learning when to back off a little"..... no one said "conservative", just not taking risks when you don't NEED TO.

** In any accounts, Nebraska WON and that is what is the most important to all of us.
Click to expand...
All true. Plus I wonder if their DT showed anything pre snap that if TM had been under center he might have seen and checked out of the play. All in all, while I love the creativeness that Beck is showing, I'm tending to agree with you HANC that maybe that wasn't the best scenario to showcase the creativeness.

But you know how most all of us fans are, if that play had popped Legate for a big gain, we'd all be on here saying what a great call it was. It's great to quarterback from the arm chair!

 
OP, I think that hindsight is always 20/20. If Long or Caputo or whoever it was doesn't get beat by #71, Rex most likely gets a clean handoff, and Legate picks up the first down. That formation worked several times, and I loved how Beck mixed up our looks to make us more effective running the ball.

 
I couldn't tell for sure. Was Caputo moving out to the LB immediately, and did the guard pull. I just don't understand how a DL who is right in the gap can go unaccounted for, or was he just too quick shooting the gap that noone could get to him.?

 
One other thing to consider about PSU blowing up the second down play and us fumbling the ball - on more than one occasion, PSU's defensive line looked to have jumped the snap count on that formation. I'll have to rewatch that play, but the DT was into the backfield so fast that I can't imagine it was a simple matter of just missing the block. It's possible Burkhead was using a simple cadence and they were jumping it.

Again, purely speculative and going off of memory alone here having not seen it since yesterday.

 
It was a good play call with poor O-line execution. The defense had to be eyeing Rex since he usually keeps the ball when he's taking the snap. Had the fullback rambled for 20 yards everyone would have been declaring this a genius play call.

 
Well...that power toss is our bread and butter that typically gets us at LEAST 3yrds a pop....if not 10 to 12 yards. Go with what works...not a bad call IMO. They're definitely could've been a better call for that 4th down, but it wasn't a bad move IMO.

 
I don't know. I think it was a good call, but maybe with poor execution. I was hoping they would run that play to set up a pitch to TM. It was a calculated risk that didn't work out for whatever reason. The 4th & 1 call I wasn't a fan of, but again we had been running that sweep for the past couple of plays, maybe Beck was thinking PSU was expecting the run up the middle. Either way, it wasn't executed and we turned it over.

 
To the OP...................I agree with all of your analysis .......................(Today's paper indicated that we blew an OL assignment).

 
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