Up-tempo? Really.....says who?

[True2tRA]

So I heard an interesting short discussion on the radio the other day, and I thought it was a good topic. Is Nebraska really that up-tempo? In what way is our pace benefiting us? What ways is it hurting us?

I hadn't thought about it much, but when you think up-tempo, you think Oregon. Hustle to the line, snap the ball quickly, keep the defense reeling and guessing. Only giving the defense the allowed timing when the refs spot the ball and sub players on defense. Does this type of pace help the offense? Maybe. Hurt your defense? Probably. Do we consider Nebraska really an up-tempo team? Is what we are doing similar to other teams who run that fast paced offense? I say no. When you watch us, we don't huddle, but we don't snap the ball quickly either. All game long we would go to the line, the offensive linemen and WR's would get in their stance, then Taylor would clap his hands, look to the sidelines and make the play call. All while time was running down. It really defeated the purpose of up-tempo didn't it? Would Nebraska benefit from being a huddling offense once again?

I think you can point to multiple occasions in the past where Nebraska has looked confused, maybe even taken some ally questionable timeouts. Would huddling eliminate some of that confusion? In Becks offense, communication seems to be vital. Wouldn't this take some pressure off the QB if we took a huddle, slowed things down a bit? Would a huddle help our defense catch their breath? Personally I think huddling would help the entire team a great deal. We are using the time anyway, we might as well communicate in the huddle as opposed to trying to make calls and changes in formation.

Thoughts about why we do what we do? Do you consider it up-tempo? Is it effective or are we doing more damage than good? What say you?

 

[NUance]

It seems like our up-tempo amounts to getting up to the line fast to prevent the D from substituting. Then about 10 or 15 seconds of audibles before the snap. Actually, I like it when we go up-tempo like that.

 

[JJ Husker]

I know what your saying. Most of the time the only benefit I see is it keeps the D from subbing. I've never aeen us go at an Oregon pace and actually catch the D unprepared. It seems like we're getting more offensive snaps though so the tempo must be up a bit. IMO I don't see where it has done us much good, all the turnovers kind of defeat the purpose of keeping the opponents offense off the field. I actually can't stand it when we get to the line fast and then fiddle f around for another 15 seconds, looking over to the sideline. Drives me f'ing nuts, I hate it. If we're going to take that long to snap the ball, I would much prefer that it's because we're enforcing our will and controlling the tempo. I never get the feeling that is actually what we're doing.

 

[OaheSmashmouth]

I would Love it if we could be an average count, and Let them know when and how it's coming!

 

[Redux]

I dont really want to be much more up tempo. If it isnt clicking right, that just means our defense spends more time on the field.

 

[Count 'Bility]

When it comes to tempo, we're just multiple.

 

[RedRedJarvisRedwine]

What would we do with all those giant picture boards? We as a university cannot be wasteful. Also, what would the people whose jobs it is to hold said boards do then? Would people lose their jobs? I'm not sure those of you that want a huddle and slower pace realize how many people that decision affects. Just sayin!

 

[hskrfan4life]

The offense I want is the one we used against Texas Tech in 2008. We completely owned time of possession and almost came out with a win. I want to see that type of offense.

 

[SouthAfricanHusker]

Think a lot of you are missing the intentions of our offense. We (and most other top offenses) rely on mismatches. Catch them with standard personnel when we have a 4 WR set and you don't want them to be able to sub. You get to the line quick so you could snap at any moment. They can't sub and we can dissect their front for the best advantage to us.

To those complaining about reading the defense for 5-10 seconds before the snap, defenses hate it too. You get D linemen in their stance so they can't rest. LBs and DBs are trying to figure out what's going on. Get then to over think their assignment.

Finally we have several tempos we run. I don't recall specific times we used each but we have. We can go quick, snapping it early in the play clock - we don't often but we do. We can do the hurry up to the line and read the D. We will also run more of the old school break the huddle with 10s on the play clock and snap with 3-5. That actually makes it more difficult. The D can't prepare for one tempo or one style of offense (power, spread, read/option).

Biggest problem is this is very complex for our players too. That's a big reason for all of our unforced errors under Bi.

 

[walksalone]

How about not worrying about tempo, and about getting positive yards?

 

[HuskerFowler]

Think a lot of you are missing the intentions of our offense. We (and most other top offenses) rely on mismatches. Catch them with standard personnel when we have a 4 WR set and you don't want them to be able to sub. You get to the line quick so you could snap at any moment. They can't sub and we can dissect their front for the best advantage to us.

To those complaining about reading the defense for 5-10 seconds before the snap, defenses hate it too. You get D linemen in their stance so they can't rest. LBs and DBs are trying to figure out what's going on. Get then to over think their assignment.

Finally we have several tempos we run. I don't recall specific times we used each but we have. We can go quick, snapping it early in the play clock - we don't often but we do. We can do the hurry up to the line and read the D. We will also run more of the old school break the huddle with 10s on the play clock and snap with 3-5. That actually makes it more difficult. The D can't prepare for one tempo or one style of offense (power, spread, read/option).

Biggest problem is this is very complex for our players too. That's a big reason for all of our unforced errors under Bi.

This. Pat Narduzzi said if he ever got a head coaching job he would want Tim Beck as an offensive coordinator.

 

[RedDenver]

Think a lot of you are missing the intentions of our offense. We (and most other top offenses) rely on mismatches. Catch them with standard personnel when we have a 4 WR set and you don't want them to be able to sub. You get to the line quick so you could snap at any moment. They can't sub and we can dissect their front for the best advantage to us.

To those complaining about reading the defense for 5-10 seconds before the snap, defenses hate it too. You get D linemen in their stance so they can't rest. LBs and DBs are trying to figure out what's going on. Get then to over think their assignment.

Finally we have several tempos we run. I don't recall specific times we used each but we have. We can go quick, snapping it early in the play clock - we don't often but we do. We can do the hurry up to the line and read the D. We will also run more of the old school break the huddle with 10s on the play clock and snap with 3-5. That actually makes it more difficult. The D can't prepare for one tempo or one style of offense (power, spread, read/option).

Biggest problem is this is very complex for our players too. That's a big reason for all of our unforced errors under Bi.

This. Pat Narduzzi said if he ever got a head coaching job he would want Tim Beck as an offensive coordinator.

Where did you see that?

 

[papersun87]

Think a lot of you are missing the intentions of our offense. We (and most other top offenses) rely on mismatches. Catch them with standard personnel when we have a 4 WR set and you don't want them to be able to sub. You get to the line quick so you could snap at any moment. They can't sub and we can dissect their front for the best advantage to us.

To those complaining about reading the defense for 5-10 seconds before the snap, defenses hate it too. You get D linemen in their stance so they can't rest. LBs and DBs are trying to figure out what's going on. Get then to over think their assignment.

Finally we have several tempos we run. I don't recall specific times we used each but we have. We can go quick, snapping it early in the play clock - we don't often but we do. We can do the hurry up to the line and read the D. We will also run more of the old school break the huddle with 10s on the play clock and snap with 3-5. That actually makes it more difficult. The D can't prepare for one tempo or one style of offense (power, spread, read/option).

Biggest problem is this is very complex for our players too. That's a big reason for all of our unforced errors under Bi.

Nailed it. This is more what up-tempo means. Although I wish we'd do the quick-snap thing more often.

 

[zoogs]

Great post, mohusker.

I'm a believer in Tim Beck, and this season is going to be a big one for him. Really interested in seeing what he does with Armstrong (or Stanton).

 

[Hunter94]

we get up to the line in a hurry, at times......then we stand around waiting for the D to get set while we are getting a play from the sideline.....damn, i could write a short story at times....we damn sure ain't Oregon up tempo! we don't leave anyone breathless!