Mark Whipple Officially Named Offensive Coordinator + Quarterbacks Coach

[HuskerNation1]

Just want to make your life much easier for next time: You can instantly get the numbers by clicking on the 'Box Score' heading on ESPN's site. 

It'll give you the totals for rushing and passing.

Yes I am aware it does the aggregate for the full game but could not find the breakdown by half.  Can you help me find where it breaks it down by half?

 

[Undone]

Yes I am aware it does the aggregate for the full game but could not find the breakdown by half.  Can you help me find where it breaks it down by half?

Oh I getcha - sorry about that. That may in fact be the quickest way to get it, I hadn't fully understood the context.

 

[Husker03]

So what do you do differently when your offensive line doesn't block well?

It seems like the people who have a problem with play calling are the ones that think the one and only solution is to run the ball 65%+ times per game.

I'll bet that this stat will come as a big surprise to this crowd of people that think this way: Iowa ran the ball 54.03% of the time this season. We ran it 55.44% of the time.

We've had three main problems on offense since 2019, and not running it enough in general isn't one of them:

1. Turnovers.

2. Penalties.

3. Not using power well enough inside the 10 yard line.

#3 on that list is sort of in the same area code as play calling, maybe.

Sorry.. I should have clarified.. I love Frost's offense and I even love his play calling, so I am not run the damn ball guy at all.  I love college football, but I watch enough NFL to know that it takes a mix of both and, honestly, the size and speed of college athletes these days, you will never win anything of substance running at a 70%+ clip.  50/50 is about the best I think you could hope for for championship style success, but, for most teams, probably need to be targeting 60%+ pass rate imo.

That said, if we could magically make every game go like the NW game went, sign me up. That was literally the happiest night of my life over the past 10 or so years. My daughter was making her pitching debut at an outdoor tourney in York. It was a beautiful evening, my whole family was there watching the softball game,  NU game was on the TV's at the concession stand and the boys were lighting it up,  my daughter pitched a complete game for the W, she went 3 for 3 in the batters box. It was heaven..  Ya, I'd take a bunch more nights like that 100 times over. 

 

[desertshox]

After the game I went back through the play by play and compiled the number of runs and passes.  You are welcome to look at it here, but it was an extremely high percentage of runs that we completed in the first half and our first possession of the second half where we took a 21-6.  After our first possession in the 2nd half is when the run/pass ratio flipped and we significantly dropped the number of runs.  

Doing the quick math, we passed the ball 5 times in the first half vs Iowa and ran the ball 26 times which would equate to 84% runs and 16% passes.  Please help me understand if I am not reading this data correctly.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=401282761

now, what was iowa's defensive alignments for the first half and then for the second half?

 

[HuskerNation1]

now, what was iowa's defensive alignments for the first half and then for the second half?

When I went back and watched the game, they mixed up their defense throughout and there was not a drastic change in their alignment.  For instance, we had some 3 and outs in the first half with our higher percentage of runs, but we continued running the ball on subsequent drives and found success.  In fact, to start the 3rd quarter we scored on the very first drive running the ball 7 of 9 times and mixing in a couple of long passes.  After that first drive of the 3rd quarter we drastically stopped running the ball. I realize the blocked punt was a big point in the game, but we also seem to move away from running the ball too.  

 

[Undone]

Sorry.. I should have clarified.. I love Frost's offense and I even love his play calling, so I am not run the damn ball guy at all.  I love college football, but I watch enough NFL to know that it takes a mix of both and, honestly, the size and speed of college athletes these days, you will never win anything of substance running at a 70%+ clip.  50/50 is about the best I think you could hope for for championship style success, but, for most teams, probably need to be targeting 60%+ pass rate imo.

That said, if we could magically make every game go like the NW game went, sign me up. That was literally the happiest night of my life over the past 10 or so years. My daughter was making her pitching debut at an outdoor tourney in York. It was a beautiful evening, my whole family was there watching the softball game,  NU game was on the TV's at the concession stand and the boys were lighting it up,  my daughter pitched a complete game for the W, she went 3 for 3 in the batters box. It was heaven..  Ya, I'd take a bunch more nights like that 100 times over. 

Nice!

Down the stretch of the season it was obvious that Northwestern's front 7 just flat out sucked. They went downhill so hard compared to where their defense was at in 2020. One of their OLBs looked like he was actually playing the game drunk against us.

With that said, what happened in that game was blocking execution. And Martinez was making great decisions on whether to pitch or keep on the option plays in the first half, and along with Yant's great running we just broke their back by halftime.

But...almost nobody in the B1G played poor defense like Northwestern did this season. Especially not the teams we had on our schedule.

Next year's schedule is better and there's a chance we could actually win 7 or 8 games but we have got to get this offensive line motivated and playing with some attitude like they did against Northwestern.

 

[Koltman]

Nice!

Down the stretch of the season it was obvious that Northwestern's front 7 just flat out sucked. They went downhill so hard compared to where their defense was at in 2020. One of their OLBs looked like he was actually playing the game drunk against us.

With that said, what happened in that game was blocking execution. And Martinez was making great decisions on whether to pitch or keep on the option plays in the first half, and along with Yant's great running we just broke their back by halftime.

But...almost nobody in the B1G played poor defense like Northwestern did this season. Especially not the teams we had on our schedule.

Next year's schedule is better and there's a chance we could actually win 7 or 8 games but we have got to get this offensive line motivated and playing with some attitude like they did against Northwestern.

We also lost two linemen through the Michigan game. The ones that changed the outlook of our offense a bit. Teddy and Nouredin both seemed to help the OLINE a ton, and we had to go back to our other starters after that. However they played magically against Northwestern.

 

[Undone]

We also lost two linemen through the Michigan game. The ones that changed the outlook of our offense a bit. Teddy and Nouredin both seemed to help the OLINE a ton, and we had to go back to our other starters after that. However they played magically against Northwestern.

Yep, good call. I believe Nouili came back, but totally agree on Teddy.

I'm worried about Teddy's full recovery and where he'll be at as an athlete, for sure.

 

[Koltman]

Yep, good call. I believe Nouili came back, but totally agree on Teddy.

I'm worried about Teddy's full recovery and where he'll be at as an athlete, for sure.

Really think we win a lot more games if those two remained healthy through the rest of the season. I'm super excited for next year. I think the amount of experience we are getting back puts us in a good position. Defense will be iffy, but I have confidence in it, and having an offense that can put up points will hopefully alleviate some of those situations we were putting on the defense. Overall, whoever we get at quarterback is the most important in my opinion.

 

[Lorewarn]

After that first drive in the third, they loaded the box for the majority of plays the rest of the game.  Watch the film.

So what? We were still having success. We went pass happy first, then got a punt blocked for a TD, then we ran for 4 yards, 2 yards, and what would have been a first down option if not for Logan's fumble. Then we went pass happy again.

You're proving the opposite point than you think you are. Frost abandoned the run after the first signs of chaos, he wasn't forced by lack of success.

 

[Hilltop]

So what? We were still having success. We went pass happy first, then got a punt blocked for a TD, then we ran for 4 yards, 2 yards, and what would have been a first down option if not for Logan's fumble. Then we went pass happy again.

You're proving the opposite point than you think you are. Frost abandoned the run after the first signs of chaos, he wasn't forced by lack of success.

You want it to be so easy- Our coach failed and we lost because of __________.  It doesn't work that way.  Our offensive plan was good.  It worked.  During Iowa's 12 regular season games it held opponents to an average of 17 points.  Only 5 teams scored over 20 and Nebraska was one of them.  Pretty damn impressive with a QB under center who had never started a collegiate game.  Iowa adjusted and Nebraska wasn't able to adjust with the same level of success, mainly because we had a rookie under center.  Not because we abandoned what would have so obviously worked...smh. 

We lost the game for many reasons but I don't put offensive play calling evenly remotely towards the top.  We scored enough to win if the other parts of the team had performed ok.  

 

[BigRedBuster]

You want it to be so easy- Our coach failed and we lost because of __________.  It doesn't work that way.  Our offensive plan was good.  It worked.  During Iowa's 12 regular season games it held opponents to an average of 17 points.  Only 5 teams scored over 20 and Nebraska was one of them.  Pretty damn impressive with a QB under center who had never started a collegiate game.  Iowa adjusted and Nebraska wasn't able to adjust with the same level of success, mainly because we had a rookie under center.  Not because we abandoned what would have so obviously worked...smh. 

We lost the game for many reasons but I don't put offensive play calling evenly remotely towards the top.  We scored enough to win if the other parts of the team had performed ok.  

I agree.

 

[Lorewarn]

You want it to be so easy- Our coach failed and we lost because of __________.  It doesn't work that way.  Our offensive plan was good.  It worked.  During Iowa's 12 regular season games it held opponents to an average of 17 points.  Only 5 teams scored over 20 and Nebraska was one of them.  Pretty damn impressive with a QB under center who had never started a collegiate game.  Iowa adjusted and Nebraska wasn't able to adjust with the same level of success, mainly because we had a rookie under center.  Not because we abandoned what would have so obviously worked...smh. 

We lost the game for many reasons but I don't put offensive play calling evenly remotely towards the top.  We scored enough to win if the other parts of the team had performed ok.  

I'm not blaming the loss on the playcalling.

But yes I am saying that Frost's brilliant first half + one drive was soured by abandoning the run the rest of the way out as soon as the curse energy popped up.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

After the game I went back through the play by play and compiled the number of runs and passes.  You are welcome to look at it here, but it was an extremely high percentage of runs that we completed in the first half and our first possession of the second half where we took a 21-6.  After our first possession in the 2nd half is when the run/pass ratio flipped and we significantly dropped the number of runs.  

Doing the quick math, we passed the ball 5 times in the first half vs Iowa and ran the ball 26 times which would equate to 84% runs and 16% passes.  Please help me understand if I am not reading this data correctly.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=401282761

Your math appears to be correct and my memory extremely faulty. 

 

[84HuskerLaw]

I'm not blaming the loss on the playcalling.

But yes I am saying that Frost's brilliant first half + one drive was soured by abandoning the run the rest of the way out as soon as the curse energy popped up.

Yes.  It’s not ‘play calling’ as such although he did call the wrong plays.  It’s scheme calling not the plays themselves where he went wrong primarily.  Most people think of play calling as selecting the right run play or the right pass play  in a sense.  Each run play or pass play is just as important, imo, as whether it’s a run vs pass.  
 

Often stats, for example, simply say, the run vs pass ratio was 50/50 so therefore the Coach tried to be balanced.  But if the runs were mostly QB sneaks, scrambles or simple keepers, while the passes were scattered around short, medium, long among five receivers, it really is NOT a true indication of balance.  Same can be true of the passes.  Are they spread around or mostly screens, deep outs or whatever.  
 

Really, the ideal mix or balance can be measured better by ratio of yards gained not attempts used. 
 

My view is Frost needs to strive for 200 yards rushing by the RBs.  The rest of the yards can be from QB runs or passes.  Goal of 475 total yards or more and 5 TDs (35 pts or better).  With 500 total yards, 40 pts is reasonable. 
 

The more the rush yards go up, the more the points expected will increase.  Rushing yards are more valuable than passing.