The issues are simple... 1. We are useing these huge lineman in the wrong offense.....Here is a 5 Alarm warning sign..... We couldnt even get a yard on 4th and 1 against Northwestern. NW's defender was in our back field even before Taylor could get to the edge.. Y? Its all because our lineman guys are not as fast as the defense, because they were not designed to move sideways like lineman, are in a true spread offense. The lineman we have. are built better for pushing, shoveing. And Beck is not calling any plays to help them.. Because he just assumes that the line will do there job. Being a lineman and blocking something faster than you is just plain a$$ tuff!! He has got to start helping them out, and begin takeing the defenses legs away, by using some misdirection.(Just because a lineman is out there, doesnt necessary mean he is always going to do his job, the defender is required to do his job too!!so? why not help his guys out) And? By misdirection I dont mean a reverse,(Reverses take to long to set up) I mean plays that appear to go to the left, but are designed to bust back right. Putting the defense into vectors for the offense to lay some weight on them.. It just amazes me that with all the talent that Nebraska has, in its line.. Nebraska never dominates anyone that has equal or slightly lesser talent.. and that all comes down to coaching..Alot of those guys are 3, and 4 stars..... Beck calls the majority of plays designed to score, or get huge chunks. He does not use his lineman to break the will because his goal is to score, kind of like a basketball player.and he wants to use a hurry up offense too!! (thats a joke!, because bigger guys always get tired first, and who has bigger guys than us??. When Beck does run, his running plays are mostly sweeps, either left or right..He never sets up the defense by changeing their thinking.. Its always to early to go mano vs mano, when Beck runs. Because they always still have their legs..(defense) However? I got to give our running backs credit. Burkhead, and Abdullah are dam good!! (tenacious, and very fiesty)
2. The other thing is Beck is useing Taylor Martinez way to much. He has to incorporate more plays that involve more guys. The problem wiil surface again, when we are behind, and Tim wil panic. and what does he do when he panics? He puts the game all on Taylor Martinez. Then Taylor Martinez runs to much for this team.Or throws to arrantly.. Taylor is just to little to carry the team. He is no Cam Newton, or Scott Frost.. He goes down like a lead weight, and he fumbles to much when he gets hit, because he get hurt.. If he would use Taylor primarily as a ball distributer, Then? when Taylor did run, he would be way more effective.
3.. And the final thing is? Bo Pelini needs to calm down!!. Because his defense, is thinking way to much out there!!... They need to react, and not think.. This thinking slows down the execution.. and thats all because they are afraid of messing up, and getting their butts chewed out,..... He needs to put more guys on the line of scrimmage, and rely on his dbs to protect from the pass. Big deal if they give up yards on a pass, It would be better to give it up there, than on the run.. Because once you are able to run the ball, you will not stop the offense... unless a fumble happens. Giveing up yards on the pass, requires a well thrown ball, and a good catch..or a interception, or a dropped pass.. There are more variables that can happen to good passing teams vs good running teams.. Running teams wear out the defense. Passing teams are still faceing a fresh defense..
One more thing.....about Tom's 5th year. Did you know that Tom prior to 1978, he never beat Oklahoma.. He went back and asked himself, why does Oklahoma always win? Do you know what he came up for an answer?? his answer was, because Oklahoma runs the football.. think about that for a second? Tom ran the ball, before, but not like did after 1978. Because he relied more on the pass,(Dave Humm, Vince Ferragamo) He kept Devany's offense, when he took the reigns. They threw the ball roughly around 25 to 30 times a game.(depending on how far they were ahead or behind) So? in 1978 Tom switched to the option offense, and made it physical.. He found out that when teams got their nose bloodied, they quit playing....and that was also the first year that he beat Oklahoma. he beat lots of teams, but he would always lay an egg, when it came to the New Years bowl....and thats because he was usually playing either Florida State, or Miami, or some other team that threw the ball, that always had the elite athletes of all athletes ..
He couldnt beat them either, and that was all because his defense, and everybody's defense in the Big 8, were designed each other in the Big 8, where the objective was to stop the run first. He had big linebackers that weighed 240lbs, Like big tanks... Big heavy defensive guys built to stop the run.. Back then? If Tom would of had a spread offense, he would have clobbered teams... So? the landscape had to change for Tom to win, because he never did change on offense.. But? he did change, when he recruited speed for his defense, He found out that speed could still stop the run.
Bo and Tim are not the right guys for Nebraska. Its been 5 years, and this is what we have...... Because they neglected Tom, and continue to play weak.. Neglect Tom at your own peril buddy boy!!
You seem to want to compare our team this year to the 1994 Huskers, or the other great teams we had in the 90's. But it doesn't really make sense to cherry pick your comparison like that. So let's compare apples to apples.
In Osborne's fifth year, 1977, we lost a fourth of our games, going 9-3. Two of those losses were to unranked teams, Washington St and Iowa State. We edged out one top five team (#4 Alabama, 31-24), and got creamed by another (#3 Oklahoma, 7-38). So Osborne's fifth year was a decent season--but nothing to compare to the Husker dominance of 1994, 95 or 97.
Don't get me wrong--I think Osborne was a GREAT coach. But Osborne's team his fifth year was closer to Bo's team this year (his fifth) than it was to the best team Osborne fielded during his 25 years as the Husker head coach. I want the Huskers to be a dominating team once again. But that just doesn't happen very often. It took Osborne over 20 years. It might not happen again for quite a while, regardless of who we have coaching. So be patient grasshopper.
