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LJS: Numbers Show How Much Husker Offense Struggled


Mavric

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Injuries were part of it, yes. The Huskers played multiple games without Jordan Westerkamp, and almost four full games without Cethan Carter. Left guard Jerald Foster missed the first nine games. Other O-linemen got dinged. Starting QB Tommy Armstrong missed a game and was clearly slowed as a runner against Iowa.

 

Still, the sharp dive in the numbers won't look good to Riley and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf.

 

After the Iowa trip, NU's total offense average dropped to 386.1 yards per game, which ranks 85th nationally and is 60 yards less per game than last year's output, which ranked 34th.

 

The scoring offense dipped to 26.8 points per game, which ranks 76th nationally, NU's worst output since it averaged 25.1 in 2009.

 

Nebraska also hasn't crossed the 30-point barrier since the season's fifth game, against Illinois on Oct. 1. A late, long Terrell Newby touchdown kept the Huskers from going all conference season without scoring in the 30s.

 

Rushing offense? Newby had his moments, specifically in fourth quarters, though he'll still need 136 yards in the bowl game to give this team a 1,000-yard rusher. The goal Riley set of being a top-three rushing offense in the league probably won't be met.

 

Nebraska currently is sixth in the league in rushing yardage, and 63rd nationally, averaging 178.2 yards a game. (By the way, before holding up Iowa as a shining example of ground-and-pound football, just know the Hawkeyes ranked 72nd nationally over the long haul of this season.)

 

If you go by average yards per rush for the Huskers, it was slightly worse, with NU ranking 77th, averaging 4.3 per carry. The Huskers averaged 4.7 a rush last season.

 

NU's passing offense, meanwhile, ranked 90th, with the Huskers picking up 207 yards per game in the air. Armstrong's completion percentage is at 51.4, which is almost 4 percentage points below last year and just below his freshman season.

LJS

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Those are some sobering statistics but they do not come as any surprise. Watching the games it was very evident how much the team struggled offensively, execution and maybe play calling most of all. Early in the season I thought Langs was coming around but not so much later on or against anybody with a pulse. If you throw out the doormat opponents, those numbers must get really ugly.

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It all starts with the offensive line. Better blocking and we start moving the chains. And keep our defense off the field. Our points go up. Their points go down. The thing is, you can't grow an offensive line overnight. It takes at least two, maybe three successful recruiting cycles for a major upgrade. Along with S&C to develop the talent. I wonder how well we are addressing this. :dunno:

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It all starts with the offensive line. Better blocking and we start moving the chains. And keep our defense off the field. Our points go up. Their points go down. The thing is, you can't grow an offensive line overnight. It takes at least two, maybe three successful recruiting cycles for a major upgrade. Along with S&C to develop the talent. I wonder how well we are addressing this. :dunno:

Well by your calculations we may find out next season NUance. We better hope we addressed it, because it looks like we no longer have a running threat at QB. The ghosts of 2009's offense are whispering...
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I have said after the first 5 games, when faced with a more (INSERT ADJECTIVE HERE) defense, Langs really had no answer. His go to running play was always inside into the heart of the stout B1G defensive lines. Little to no misdirection, counters, traps, we saw the dump pass one game (his best IMHO) against Maryland when he actually dialed up a game plan to get Maryland out of the box. He used multiple sets, motions, formations, swing passes, screens, dump passes etc to open up the field and force an underperforming Maryland to go sideline to sideline. That was the first and last time we saw that. Earlier games, it was simply our "depth" and "better athletes" that allowed us to wear teams down and look so good in the 4th......

 

Injuries are excuses, Every team has them. Some one goes down and we can't perform? Development, depth, coaching etc.....Thats not on the kids.....Recruitment, developing depth, preparing kids....... We went in against Iowa with no idea what to do at QB or in play calling and it was painfully obvious.

 

If we don't find a way to get 10 earthmover on the OL, another 8 on the DL, we will continue to see this craptastic performance regardless of QB, DC or OC...... At least other coordinators, can call to the strengths of their teams and find a way to minimize their exposure. Langs hasn't shown me this. Banker, after losing our entire DL to the draft or attrition, isn't in the same position as Langs for me...

 

This was a weak schedule, against weak opponents and we didn't do to well offensively..... We won 9 games which is good, but suffered two blowouts and scored our two lowest point totals since joining the B1G....... Last years losses were on the coaches with poor clock management and poor play calling. They showed (Riley) that he could learn from that and this was the difference in the win column IMHO.

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I have said after the first 5 games, when faced with a more (INSERT ADJECTIVE HERE) defense, Langs really had no answer. His go to running play was always inside into the heart of the stout B1G defensive lines. Little to no misdirection, counters, traps, we saw the dump pass one game (his best IMHO) against Maryland when he actually dialed up a game plan to get Maryland out of the box. He used multiple sets, motions, formations, swing passes, screens, dump passes etc to open up the field and force an underperforming Maryland to go sideline to sideline. That was the first and last time we saw that. Earlier games, it was simply our "depth" and "better athletes" that allowed us to wear teams down and look so good in the 4th......

 

Injuries are excuses, Every team has them. Some one goes down and we can't perform? Development, depth, coaching etc.....Thats not on the kids.....Recruitment, developing depth, preparing kids....... We went in against Iowa with no idea what to do at QB or in play calling and it was painfully obvious.

 

If we don't find a way to get 10 earthmover on the OL, another 8 on the DL, we will continue to see this craptastic performance regardless of QB, DC or OC...... At least other coordinators, can call to the strengths of their teams and find a way to minimize their exposure. Langs hasn't shown me this. Banker, after losing our entire DL to the draft or attrition, isn't in the same position as Langs for me...

 

This was a weak schedule, against weak opponents and we didn't do to well offensively..... We won 9 games which is good, but suffered two blowouts and scored our two lowest point totals since joining the B1G....... Last years losses were on the coaches with poor clock management and poor play calling. They showed (Riley) that he could learn from that and this was the difference in the win column IMHO.

All this is true, however its hard to say the losses last year were on the coaches (only) when several key players have come out and said that the players had buy in issues last year. If these kids played the way they have this year those games would have not needed to come down to the last plays last year.

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It all starts with the offensive line. Better blocking and we start moving the chains. And keep our defense off the field. Our points go up. Their points go down. The thing is, you can't grow an offensive line overnight. It takes at least two, maybe three successful recruiting cycles for a major upgrade. Along with S&C to develop the talent. I wonder how well we are addressing this. :dunno:

Well by your calculations we may find out next season NUance. We better hope we addressed it, because it looks like we no longer have a running threat at QB. The ghosts of 2009's offense are whispering...

 

 

Yeah, I hope so too. I know we have a couple guys coming off redshirt seasons. Will things get better? Time will tell.

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All this is true, however its hard to say the losses last year were on the coaches (only) when several key players have come out and said that the players had buy in issues last year. If these kids played the way they have this year those games would have not needed to come down to the last plays last year.

And if the coaches' scheme was so great last year we wouldn't have been running a significantly different style offense and totally different defense this year.

 

Maybe the players were having trouble buying in because the scheme was so terrible they didn't want to be running it. Or the defense was getting beat too badly when they were doing what they were supposed to do.

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