Offense a work in progress

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LumberJackSker said:
Husker from Kansas said:
I think their goal for the passing game is quick drops and reads. get the ball out in space and let the playmakers do their thing. Armstrong will have to be able to make a pre snap read, and then a quick and accurate throw. If he can throw the short route accurately then he will be fine. I don't think we will see a lot of deep throws this year due to our qbs limitations.
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the deep ball is probably Armstrong's best throw
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Yeah and I think Riley mentioned he likes taking shots downfield. Also read WR Coach Williams is working with his group on deep route responsibilities, including positioning techniques to help make the catch.

 
You have to take shots downfield. it's why I was more of a fan of an Armstrong-ran offense than a Martinez-and it's not putting any blame on Martinez, but under Taylor, the offense seemed a little too reluctant to go deep. Imagine how much better it coulda been had we had a tendancy to be successful in stretching the defense vertically.

 
Hunter94 said:
cornographic said:
Jeremy said:
Skeptical. Riley seems like a Mr. Rogers nice guy, but we needed someone to bring the running game back to Lincoln. We're never gonna have consistent success chucking it all over the field.

I do like Bankers beefing up with the 4-3. Need more size up there to shut down the big backs from Wisconsin, Iowa, and MSU. I also think Bankers is smart enough to put a few more down linemen and fill some more gaps when a back has 2 hundy in the 2nd quarter. One can only hope...
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Riely seems to make due with what he's got pretty well. If he has a good RB, he'll ride him, e.g., Jacquizz Rodgers, et al. If they think there're going to make Armstrong into a strictly pocket passer, though, they are mistaken.
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i think they already know that TA in the pocket is not going to be pretty, most of the time.......we'll see though.
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Word is, they're working with his 'fancy footwork'. I have nightmares of Devon Gardner and Al Borges.

 
Because no one can win the Orange Bowl, set the Orange Bowl rushing record (this bowl has been around awhile), win 11 games in a season, and beat the 7th ranked team with the option. Oh wait, they just did. Not only did they win, the game was over by the start of the 4th quarter. What I wouldn't give to see a fullback with an N on his helmet running over defenders again, just like the Yellowjackets did to the helpless Bulldogs all game long.

Don't get me wrong. I want Riley's pro-style Coryell/Imani and Newby up the middle play-action/hit the TE, find a receiver offense to work as much as any other Husker fan. We've just been there, done that for 10 years, and looking into my crystal ball, I see 3 and out after 3 and out.

 
Jeremy said:
Because no one can win the Orange Bowl, set the Orange Bowl rushing record (this bowl has been around awhile), win 11 games in a season, and beat the 7th ranked team with the option. Oh wait, they just did. Not only did they win, the game was over by the start of the 4th quarter. What I wouldn't give to see a fullback with an N on his helmet running over defenders again, just like the Yellowjackets did to the helpless Bulldogs all game long.

Don't get me wrong. I want Riley's pro-style Coryell/Imani and Newby up the middle play-action/hit the TE, find a receiver offense to work as much as any other Husker fan. We've just been there, done that for 10 years, and looking into my crystal ball, I see 3 and out after 3 and out.
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In one season. People forget a lot of things in regardds to an exlusive option attack in college football. This years Ga Tech team was veteran, It had been a few years in the building. Are Husker fans willing to put up with 7-6's, 8-5's for that chance at a conference title game and 11 wins every 3-5 years when the stars align? Also, talent wins games. How many of them Ga Tech offensive players will be in the NFL.

Solich over-utilized and over-relied on the option game. It's pretty much was ruined him. And folks forget that the TO 90's teams didnt run the option 40 times a game. It was no less a utility play than it under Beck. If you wanna get the talent needed to be elite in college, you have to offer a system that will best prepare the players for the NFL.

 
I thought Solich's disinterest in recruiting is what ruined him.

Other than the off-the-field shenanigans.

 
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Count 'Bility said:
Jeremy said:
Because no one can win the Orange Bowl, set the Orange Bowl rushing record (this bowl has been around awhile), win 11 games in a season, and beat the 7th ranked team with the option. Oh wait, they just did. Not only did they win, the game was over by the start of the 4th quarter. What I wouldn't give to see a fullback with an N on his helmet running over defenders again, just like the Yellowjackets did to the helpless Bulldogs all game long.

Don't get me wrong. I want Riley's pro-style Coryell/Imani and Newby up the middle play-action/hit the TE, find a receiver offense to work as much as any other Husker fan. We've just been there, done that for 10 years, and looking into my crystal ball, I see 3 and out after 3 and out.
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In one season. People forget a lot of things in regardds to an exlusive option attack in college football. This years Ga Tech team was veteran, It had been a few years in the building. Are Husker fans willing to put up with 7-6's, 8-5's for that chance at a conference title game and 11 wins every 3-5 years when the stars align? Also, talent wins games. How many of them Ga Tech offensive players will be in the NFL.

Solich over-utilized and over-relied on the option game. It's pretty much was ruined him. And folks forget that the TO 90's teams didnt run the option 40 times a game. It was no less a utility play than it under Beck. If you wanna get the talent needed to be elite in college, you have to offer a system that will best prepare the players for the NFL.
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After ELEVEN years, are we still seriously deluded enough to think the next Stafford, Winston, McCarron, Bortles, etc is gonna land in Lincoln? It just ain't gonna happen. And if you can't get one of those guys to run a pro-style offense, it won't do very well. We CAN, however, attract real talent at the O-line, RB, and TE, just like we used to. I like the WR's we have now, and those that have graduated, but who among them is doing much in the NFL? Helu is doing well, as is Niles, but at TE. Burkhead finally got some touches, but we haven't seen him in the game much. Who else offensively is doing much in the no fun league?

Also, we haven't had an eleven-win season since 2001. When we ran option. And, just because we're running option, why does that mean we would have the same record as GT has? Running it successfully would absolutely help all the talent we get on defense - much more than GT is able to get.

Both GT and UNL have issues with recruiting. We know the problems we face. GT has high admission standards, and has trouble pulling blue chips vs other teams in the area. They were picked to finish sixth in their DIVISION before the season, and took FSU to the wire in the championship game, beat Georgia, and literally pounded MSU in the Orange bowl. Remember that bowl - the one we used to got to all the time - when we ran option? They aren't loaded with 4 and 5 stars on either side of the ball, yet beat teams that finish with higher recruiting ratings than them every season.

I like the option look, be it out of the I, flexbone, or splitbacks (never the wishbone, on principle), because you take all the pressure, and evenly divide it among 4 guys in the backfield, and ultimately on the o-line, and receivers stalk-blocking downfield. In the pro-set, a disproportionate amount of pressure is on the QB to not only read a defense, but make pro-level throws while avoiding pocket pressure. There aren't many guys that really handle that well. It's hard to blitz an option offense, but it is very effective against a pro-style offense, as we found out in '04 and '05. Zac Taylor took more and harder hits from blitzers than I ever saw any option qb take before him.

Finally, there's the preparation aspect. Even today, as was the reality in the past - when every team we play only sees our style once a season, it's hard to be fully prepared for it - one of the main reasons Osborne switched in '80 was because OU had so much success with it, and it was hard to be ready for. We aren't going to get elite, pro-level prospects in the numbers we need. We HAVE to be different, if we are going to have an edge. As I see it, pro-style more of the same, and everyone we play will be ready for it.

 
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I'll have to counter this argument

"We aren't going to get elite, pro-level prospects in the numbers we need. We HAVE to be different, if we are going to have an edge. As I see it, pro-style more of the same, and everyone we play will be ready for it."

It comes down to scouting and selecting HS QBs that have the skills and requirements to run the offense. They are out there. Gotta take a chance. Here's some examples:

Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rogers, Tony Romo....

Big Ben played just 1 year of HS, went to Miami OH and threw for 10K yards.

Philip Rivers grew up in Alabama but wasn't projected as a starting QB for Bama or Auburn, so he went to NCState instead and threw for 13K yards.

Aaron Rogers went the JUCO route then to Cal. The only offer he got in HS was to walk-on at Illinois and compete for a scholarship. He turned it down.

Tony Romo went to Div I-AA Eastern Illinois, threw for 8K yards, won the Walter Payton award (best player). He went undrafted in the NFL.

Not to mention, Matt Ryan (Boston College), Joe Flacco (Delaware), Andy Dalton (TCU), Alex Smith (Utah), Jay Cutler (Vanderbilt)

These NFL quarterbacks were not heavily recruited in HS and did not go to elite college football programs. But they're all typical drop back passers; can play under center or in the gun; have some mobility; smart and accurate. That's the definition skill set of a true quarterback, Pro style. We need that here and we just have to go out, find it, and bring it to Lincoln. And that HS pro-style QB will thrive under Riley & Langsdorf. Which will open up doors for future HS pro-style QBs that get passed over for read option, dual threat RG IIIs, Kaeprnicks, Tebows, Terrell Pryors, type HS QBs. And maybe best pro-style QBs will still choose USC, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and so forth. But there are plenty of good ones out there that get overlooked by these schools. NFL proves it.

 
I see what you're saying, but you're kind of proving my point. We're putting a lot on finding (by pure luck?) the next 1st round QB, whether he's well-known in HS or not, when we could be talking about how teams are going to have to deal with Imani pounding the middle, Newby/Taylor taking the pitch, or Armstrong finding a seam on a keeper. Then, when they have to stack the box, there's all kinds of room for DPE and Westy to operate in off play action.

We just don't have pro-style personnel now, and when we do, how long before they're developed? Are we as a fanbase really prepared to watch the once mighty Big Red struggle through 2 or more seasons of being an also-ran in the weaker west division as Riley digs for diamonds in the rough?

 
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