best QB to ever run the option at NU

[RedDenver]

I'm surprised so many picking Crouch. He was a good runner, but he wasn't that great of a QB. Any defense that had just tackled him would have stopped that offense because Crouch kept the ball way too much. (I still think Newcombe was the better QB, and Crouch should have been a wingback.) I picked Gill because he was absolutely smooth and unflappable with beautiful late pitches, but Frazier, Frost, Steve Taylor, and even Gdowski are all good options.

[MichiganDad3]

6 hours ago, NUinID said:

My wife always felt Crouch was a ball hog.  I tried to explain to her that pitching the ball is the last option in the option game.  If you don't have to pitch you don't pitch.  Crouch was by far the fastest and could really accelerate through a gap and because of that carried the ball a lot more.  He also didn't have the surrounding cast of Gill, Frazier or Frost for that matter. 

 

It is all about preference.  

I also thought Crouch was a ball hog. As far as supporting cast, Dan and Buck were a great pair of backs. Both were big and fast. Thunder Collins and Judd Davies weren't bad either.  The OL was pretty good too. Fonoti was a 1st team AA. Raiola won the Rimington Trophy. Garrison was 2nd team all BIG 12. Hochstein was 1st team AA. Volk was 2nd team all BIG 12.  We cannot even buy tickets to post season award events for the OL now.

[JJ Husker]

8 hours ago, ColoradoHusk said:

FYI, Tagge didn't really run the option.  NU's offense back in his day was a power running, pro-style offense.  NU didn't start running much option until Osborne decided to copy Oklahoma and use power-running, option offense out of the Power-I formation (rather than OU's wishbone).

 

Personally, I would put Gill, Frazier, and Crouch as my 3-best NU option QB's (in no particular order really).  They were each different.  Gill was so smooth and was great at passing from an option look.  Frazier was so quick and great at making decisions while running the option.  Crouch had the pure speed at an option QB that not many NU QB's could match.

 

If someone was arguing for Frost, I would put Frost well down the list.  Nothing against Frost because I am a huge fan of his playing days at NU, but a lot of Frost's runs were designed QB runs (more like an old, single-wing style) rather than a pure option play.

Totally agree with this. I can't pick one of Gill, Frazier or Crouch over the other with only "option QB" as the guideline. Each had their particular strengths and varying degrees of a supporting cast. If forced to pick I would probably have to go with Gill as he was extremely smooth running down the line, making reads/decisions and maybe was the most balanced of the 3. But both Frazier and Crouch performed different aspects of the option at a higher level in different circumstances.

[suh_fan93]

Frazier was a dynamic playmaker and ran the option well but Turner Gill ran it like no other.  That late pitch to Jeff Smith in the '83 Orange Bowl that he scored on in the final drive to put Nebraska within a point of tying the game was legendary. 

[ColoradoHusk]

5 minutes ago, suh_fan93 said:

Frazier was a dynamic playmaker and ran the option well but Turner Gill ran it like no other.  That late pitch to Jeff Smith in the '83 Orange Bowl that he scored on in the final drive to put Nebraska within a point of tying the game was legendary. 

If NU wins that game, that 4th and 8 conversion goes down as one of the best plays in NU history. Sadly, it’s now forgotten by many Husker fans. The play starts with Gill looking for the slant pass after his reverse pivot. After it was covered, he went down the line with the run option, followed by one of the best pitches tossed by an option QB. Smith catches it in stride and races to the end zone for the TD. Smith was a faster back than Rozier, who struggled with an ankle injury in that Orange Bowl. 

[TonyStalloni]

For any that may have never seen Gerry Gdowski play, at least watch him move the Huskers after the Oklahoma fumble.  He won 8 gold medals at the state meet running track for Fremont High.  His time in the 400 at state was 48.67.  

 

 

[Big Red 40]

38 minutes ago, TonyStalloni said:

For any that may have never seen Gerry Gdowski play, at least watch him move the Huskers after the Oklahoma fumble.  He won 8 gold medals at the state meet running track for Fremont High.  His time in the 400 at state was 48.67.  

 

 

Good vid.

I'd forgotten much of his college years but i knew him in high school, and nobody worked harder .He , his sister Linda and their old man practically lived at the practice field/track in town, long after everyone else went home. Gotta give him props for that.

[Big Red 40]

I initially voted for Crouch, but i reconsidered and went with Gill. He was very smooth, and good at drawing the defender in, and pitching at the last second. Ran it to perfection most times.

[PasstheDamnBallGuy]

I dont think he belongs on this list overall, but Armstrong had a really strong pitch game, that was probably underutilized by both staffs. Maybe it just seemed better because of how lacking we were in that are for a long time, but I felt really confident in him making a play once out in space running the option. His fake pitch specifically was one of the best I think.  Now his read option decision making was another story. 

[Hans Gruber]

An interesting thought that my dad used to say. Scott Frost isn't the top option quarterback in school history. But, if you were going to build one in a lab, it would basically be Frost.

And I voted for Frazier.

[The Dude]

Touchdown Tommie by a country mile.

[NUance]

10 hours ago, RedDenver said:

I'm surprised so many picking Crouch. He was a good runner, but he wasn't that great of a QB. Any defense that had just tackled him would have stopped that offense because Crouch kept the ball way too much. (I still think Newcombe was the better QB, and Crouch should have been a wingback.) I picked Gill because he was absolutely smooth and unflappable with beautiful late pitches, but Frazier, Frost, Steve Taylor, and even Gdowski are all good options.

 

It might be more of a function of who people remember seeing.  That, and the Heisman thing.  

 

If you go back and watch videos of Turner Gill, Steve Taylor, Jerry Gdowski or Jammal Lord, they all compare pretty well with Crouch and Lord and Frazier.  Really, all seven of them are top notch triple option QBs.  

[Enhance]

11 hours ago, RedDenver said:

I'm surprised so many picking Crouch. He was a good runner, but he wasn't that great of a QB. Any defense that had just tackled him would have stopped that offense because Crouch kept the ball way too much. (I still think Newcombe was the better QB, and Crouch should have been a wingback.) I picked Gill because he was absolutely smooth and unflappable with beautiful late pitches, but Frazier, Frost, Steve Taylor, and even Gdowski are all good options.

I picked Crouch because the OP's framing isn't 'who was a great QB' or 'who was the best QB' but the 'best qb to ever run the option at NU.' I interpreted that as which QB ran the option the best.

 

I can't think of any Husker QB I'd rather have run the option than Crouch. It's probably Crouch then Frazier. I think Crouch was the better runner overall, but that was also because the '01 team depended on Crouch more than Frazier's teams depended on Frazier. That's not to downplay Frazier's significance, but I would wager the '01 NU team doesn't sniff the national title game without Crouch at the helm.

[MichiganDad3]

10 hours ago, ColoradoHusk said:

If NU wins that game, that 4th and 8 conversion goes down as one of the best plays in NU history. Sadly, it’s now forgotten by many Husker fans. The play starts with Gill looking for the slant pass after his reverse pivot. After it was covered, he went down the line with the run option, followed by one of the best pitches tossed by an option QB. Smith catches it in stride and races to the end zone for the TD. Smith was a faster back than Rozier, who struggled with an ankle injury in that Orange Bowl. 

I always wondered if the game would even have been close if Smith played the entire way. Many that guy was fast. I thought we were doomed on 4th and 8. That was one of the most beautiful plays ever. 

[ColoradoHusk]

11 minutes ago, MichiganDad3 said:

I always wondered if the game would even have been close if Smith played the entire way. Many that guy was fast. I thought we were doomed on 4th and 8. That was one of the most beautiful plays ever. 

I’m too young to remember the exact details of the Orange Bowl and when Rozier got hurt.  It would be pretty difficult to sit the current Heisman Trophy winner unless he couldn’t go at all. Maybe Osborne could have gone to Smith the instant Rozier was injured, but maybe they wanted to give Rozier the opportunity to play thru the injury. Every game has what-if moments.