38 Carries - Nebraska Record

[Husker67]

Nebraska had 61 carries the day Rex Burkhead had 38 carries. That's not comparable to yesterday's 38 total rushes. Also the lack of commitment to the run is tough to judge. These coaches brought a bland, pro style offense to a team that is designed to run more of a spread, zone read type of attack. You'd think we'd run more zone read or even spread option which Tommy is great at but instead we run bland dives and qb powers.

I get that they want to run more of a pro style approach but it should be a given that you play to your strengths each year! This isn't a comparison of talent but I wonder what Baylor and TCU's offense would look like under Riley and Langsdorf

Just a guess, but I think it would look like a steaming pile of cow pies

 

[LumberJackSker]

Just looking at the numbers in the OP Nebraska ran the ball 59 times in that Iowa game so its not exactly the same except Nebraska as a team today ran the ball as much as one guy did in another game under two different staffs and styles

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

As long as we keep putting up stinkers like this, Mav, it's going to be hard to argue that.

I really don't think the running game is *that* much of a strength. But it's not utterly terrible, either. Should have done better against Northwestern. Underperforming relative to capability, is that going to be the hallmark under this regime? Not promising, so far, right?

When you run the ball straight ahead into a seven man box - which is seemed like we did about 30 out of 36 carries today - you're going to struggle running the ball. There isn't a team in the nation that wouldn't "struggle" to run the ball doing that.

Their defense is decent. But their MIKE had 13 tackles today. He had 13 in the previous three games COMBINED. Their one DT had 10 tackles. He had 9 in the previous three games COMBINED.

We basically did nothing but run straight at them. And apparently the coaches can't figure out why we can't run the ball.

Like I said a couple weeks ago, Langsdorf doesn't get it.

Bravo sir.

As far as True2tRA is concerned, you're still trying to find ways to defend this staff? How about we actually rotate lineman instead of play the same guys all game? Don't run right at the MLB or DT dominating you? Try to find one running back and get him into a rhythm each week instead of mix and match it in ways that don't make sense.

Janovoich on stretch run plays outside the tackle is just plain stupid. We could go on and on. They don't get it.

We haven't started on the defense yet.

 

[Mavric]

We ran 86 plays yesterday. We had the ball 13 times. Our starting RB got 16 carries - that's a little under 20% of our plays but barely more than one carry each possession. Our QB got another 10 carries. Combed, that's less than a third of our plays and averaging 2 carries each time we had the ball. Two rushes per possession is not what I'd call committing to the run. Yes, there were other players who also got carries. But if you're only letting your best runners run the ball on less than a third of your plays, I don't think that's much of a commitment.

Plus, Newby got 5 carries in the second half including only two in the fourth quarter. So we're not taking advantage of running later in the game you often have the most success as the defense tires.

And here are Newby's carries according to Huskers.com (emphasis added):

1-10 NU 38 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NU33 (Igwebuike, G.;Lowry, Dean).

1-10 NEB 09 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 8 yards to the NEB17 (Washington, X.).

2-5 NEB 40 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB42 (Prater, Jaylen).

2-10 NEB 24 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB27 (Walker, Anthony).

1-10 NU 38 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NU36 (Lowry, Dean;Prater, Jaylen).

1-10 NEB 37 Newby, Terrell rush over left end for 9 yards to the NEB46 (Walker, Anthony).

1-10 NU 47 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 6 yards to the NU41 (Prater, Jaylen).

2-4 NU 41 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 1 yard to the NU40 (Walker, Anthony).

2-10 NU 35 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 6 yards to the NU29 (Gibson, Deonte).

2-4 NEB 44 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB46 (Kuhar, Greg)

1-10 NEB 49 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NU49 (Walker, Anthony).

1-10 NU 36 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for loss of 1 yard to the NU37 (Lowry, Dean).

1-G NU 04 Newby, Terrell rush over left tackle for no gain to the NU4 (Thompson, J.;Prater, Jaylen).

2-4 NU 29 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NU24, 1ST DOWN NEB (Smith, R19 Drew;Igwebuike, G.).

1-10 NEB 19 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB21 (Smith, Drew)

1-G NU 03 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for no gain to the NU3 (Gibson, Deonte;Walker, Anthony).

So we have a back who's best skill is his speed. But for some reason we continually run him straight ahead where he has the least chance to be able to use his speed. So much for putting players in a position to succeed. Then we try to say "Look at how many times we ran the ball!" We only ran our speed back to the outside one time.

In case you're curious, 6 of Imani's 7 carries were "up middle" or "off ... tackle" and both of Janovich's were as well. Only 2 out of the 25 carries our running backs got were to the outside.

We have almost no creativity in our running game most of the time.

 

[LumberJackSker]

We ran 86 plays yesterday. We had the ball 13 times. Our starting RB got 16 carries - that's a little under 20% of our plays but barely more than one carry each possession. Our QB got another 10 carries. Combed, that's less than a third of our plays and averaging 2 carries each time we had the ball. Two rushes per possession is not what I'd call committing to the run. Yes, there were other players who also got carries. But if you're only letting your best runners run the ball on less than a third of your plays, I don't think that's much of a commitment.

Plus, Newby got 5 carries in the second half including only two in the fourth quarter. So we're not taking advantage of running later in the game you often have the most success as the defense tires.

And here are Newby's carries according to Huskers.com (emphasis added):

1-10 NU 38 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NU33 (Igwebuike, G.;Lowry, Dean).

1-10 NEB 09 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 8 yards to the NEB17 (Washington, X.).

2-5 NEB 40 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB42 (Prater, Jaylen).

2-10 NEB 24 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB27 (Walker, Anthony).

1-10 NU 38 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NU36 (Lowry, Dean;Prater, Jaylen).

1-10 NEB 37 Newby, Terrell rush over left end for 9 yards to the NEB46 (Walker, Anthony).

1-10 NU 47 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 6 yards to the NU41 (Prater, Jaylen).

2-4 NU 41 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 1 yard to the NU40 (Walker, Anthony).

2-10 NU 35 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 6 yards to the NU29 (Gibson, Deonte).

2-4 NEB 44 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB46 (Kuhar, Greg)

1-10 NEB 49 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NU49 (Walker, Anthony).

1-10 NU 36 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for loss of 1 yard to the NU37 (Lowry, Dean).

1-G NU 04 Newby, Terrell rush over left tackle for no gain to the NU4 (Thompson, J.;Prater, Jaylen).

2-4 NU 29 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NU24, 1ST DOWN NEB (Smith, R19 Drew;Igwebuike, G.).

1-10 NEB 19 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB21 (Smith, Drew)

1-G NU 03 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for no gain to the NU3 (Gibson, Deonte;Walker, Anthony).

So we have a back who's best skill is his speed. But for some reason we continually run him straight ahead where he has the least chance to be able to use his speed. So much for putting players in a position to succeed. Then we try to say "Look at how many times we ran the ball!" We only ran our speed back to the outside one time.

In case you're curious, 6 of Imani's 7 carries were "up middle" or "off ... tackle" and both of Janovich's were as well. Only 2 out of the 25 carries our running backs got were to the outside.

We have almost no creativity in our running game most of the time.

seems like the only outside run plays are the jet sweeps

 

[Hunter94]

I am sorry, Newby is not a great back, Ameer could run up the gut because he could break tackles and get into the secondary and make guys miss, Newby has very little vision and folds on most initial contact. If you bang Jano and Cross inside play after play, you use some clock and wear their line down.........we don't do that.........ever....our coaches don't believe in power football, that's their call, that's what we pay them for.......

 

[True2tRA]

Why are you sorry?

 

[Branno]

Rex Burkhead set the Nebraska record for most carries in a game on 11/25/2011. He had 160 yards.

Nebraska ran the ball 38 times today against Northwestern. Nebraska had 82 yards.

Yet according to many Huskerboard members, Nebraska didn't "commit" to the run.

derp.jpg

You really are circling the wagons when it comes to defending Riley.

 

[suh_fan93]

I am sorry, Newby is not a great back, Ameer could run up the gut because he could break tackles and get into the secondary and make guys miss, Newby has very little vision and folds on most initial contact. If you bang Jano and Cross inside play after play, you use some clock and wear their line down.........we don't do that.........ever....our coaches don't believe in power football, that's their call, that's what we pay them for.......

Well said. Newby goes down on first contact with regularity. Why keep trying something when you're getting the same results? I'm asking you Nebraska coaches.

There are obvious reasons we are 3-5 that have so much to do with these coaches and not the players.

 

[True2tRA]

Rex Burkhead set the Nebraska record for most carries in a game on 11/25/2011. He had 160 yards.

Nebraska ran the ball 38 times today against Northwestern. Nebraska had 82 yards.

Yet according to many Huskerboard members, Nebraska didn't "commit" to the run.

derp.jpg

You really are circling the wagons when it comes to defending Riley.

Trying to. Not with everything, but with some things. I don't like some of the issues he seems to be ignoring on this team. I really wish he'd take control of this thing and make some changes. Other than that though, I do think the firing talk is absolutely stupidity and I think he and his staff deserve a little longer than 10 months. At least maybe get a shot with some of their own recruits.

 

[cm husker]

Rex Burkhead set the Nebraska record for most carries in a game on 11/25/2011. He had 160 yards.

Nebraska ran the ball 38 times today against Northwestern. Nebraska had 82 yards.

Yet according to many Huskerboard members, Nebraska didn't "commit" to the run.

You can't possibly believe what you write here.

Did you even bother to look at the total running plays in that game back in '11? It was 61. For 222 yards. Not even that amazing of a day running from a ypc, but it's a way to grind out an WIN a game. NU put it up 22 times in that game.

Contrast that with the loss on Saturday. 38 runs. 48 passes.

I keep hearing Riley talk this crap about "well, we thought we were moving toward a good balance, a good run to pass ratio." Are you kidding??? That's not the purpose of running an offense.

Oh, and another interesting tidbit from that '11 game? Ameer had only 35 yards on 12 carries. Everyone wants to act like he was a superstar from day one, but reality is, great backs are developed. And the lack of production at RB today is a result of awful development. We miss Ron Brown badly.

 

[cm husker]

Rex Burkhead set the Nebraska record for most carries in a game on 11/25/2011. He had 160 yards.

Nebraska ran the ball 38 times today against Northwestern. Nebraska had 82 yards.

Yet according to many Huskerboard members, Nebraska didn't "commit" to the run.

derp.jpg

I can not believe that I fell for the BS coach speak about "fitting the scheme to the guys", "really like the idea of a running QB"..... Should have known the truth with the comments "I think we ran well today" (38 carries for 82 yards), "I haven't ever had a running QB before", "we can use the pass to set up the run".....

A$$ clowns for coaches. Not all, but most.

When Riley said he'd adjust to the talent on hand, I believed it too.

But while every game and season is important to the fans, this staff just views it as part of the long term building process, as if this first season is just a minor bump in the road to long term success.

I think "adjusting to the talent" really meant finding which plays in the Riley playbook that Tommy and crew can have success with. Not actually running the type of plays that they had success with in the past.

Reminds me of Callahan's first year , going 5-7 and saying that it's "just one season".

Zatechka made a similar point a few weeks ago, but with a twist. He basically said, as demented as it was, Callahan basically sacrificed the '04 season to put in his system. The scary thing to me is that I don't think Riley through his players on the ash heap; I think he has tried to adapt his system. The problem is, even adapted, it's just not a very good system.

 

[True2tRA]

Rex Burkhead set the Nebraska record for most carries in a game on 11/25/2011. He had 160 yards.

Nebraska ran the ball 38 times today against Northwestern. Nebraska had 82 yards.

Yet according to many Huskerboard members, Nebraska didn't "commit" to the run.

You can't possibly believe what you write here.

Did you even bother to look at the total running plays in that game back in '11? It was 61. For 222 yards. Not even that amazing of a day running from a ypc, but it's a way to grind out an WIN a game. NU put it up 22 times in that game.

Contrast that with the loss on Saturday. 38 runs. 48 passes.

No, not entirely. I think I was drinking. I just found it funny that 38 was the record number of carries for Burkhead, and 38 was the number of carries we had in a game that people swore we "didn't run the ball enough".

When you're averaging two yards a carry, how much should an offensive coordinator continue to call the run? 38 times seems like enough times to either find a rhythm and establish something, or give it the f#*k up.

So when you can't run the ball, the only other way I know in this game that an offense can legally move the ball down the field is to throw it. So I'm assuming that's where the 49 passes comes from.

It seems really logical to me, but very confusing for some others here. It's okay, it's not just you.

 

[cm husker]

Rex Burkhead set the Nebraska record for most carries in a game on 11/25/2011. He had 160 yards.

Nebraska ran the ball 38 times today against Northwestern. Nebraska had 82 yards.

Yet according to many Huskerboard members, Nebraska didn't "commit" to the run.

You can't possibly believe what you write here.

Did you even bother to look at the total running plays in that game back in '11? It was 61. For 222 yards. Not even that amazing of a day running from a ypc, but it's a way to grind out an WIN a game. NU put it up 22 times in that game.

Contrast that with the loss on Saturday. 38 runs. 48 passes.

No, not entirely. I think I was drinking. I just found it funny that 38 was the record number of carries for Burkhead, and 38 was the number of carries we had in a game that people swore we "didn't run the ball enough".

When you're averaging two yards a carry, how much should an offensive coordinator continue to call the run? 38 times seems like enough times to either find a rhythm and establish something, or give it the f#*k up.

So when you can't run the ball, the only other way I know in this game that an offense can legally move the ball down the field is to throw it. So I'm assuming that's where the 49 passes comes from.

It seems really logical to me, but very confusing for some others here. It's okay, it's not just you.

The key isn't 38 times. It's timing, ball carriers and type of play.

16 total carries by the starting IB.

He goes for 40 on 10 carries in the first half. Not a massive amount of yards, but 4 ypc and no negative plays (as usual in this offense, there weren't any real big plays either.. just steady 3 to 8 yard pick ups).

During that time, NU threw it 27 times.

10 runs versus 27 passes. In a half.

You can't get your RB or OL in rhythm when you're calling your play selection like that.

 

[True2tRA]

Rex Burkhead set the Nebraska record for most carries in a game on 11/25/2011. He had 160 yards.

Nebraska ran the ball 38 times today against Northwestern. Nebraska had 82 yards.

Yet according to many Huskerboard members, Nebraska didn't "commit" to the run.

You can't possibly believe what you write here.

Did you even bother to look at the total running plays in that game back in '11? It was 61. For 222 yards. Not even that amazing of a day running from a ypc, but it's a way to grind out an WIN a game. NU put it up 22 times in that game.

Contrast that with the loss on Saturday. 38 runs. 48 passes.

No, not entirely. I think I was drinking. I just found it funny that 38 was the record number of carries for Burkhead, and 38 was the number of carries we had in a game that people swore we "didn't run the ball enough".

When you're averaging two yards a carry, how much should an offensive coordinator continue to call the run? 38 times seems like enough times to either find a rhythm and establish something, or give it the f#*k up.

So when you can't run the ball, the only other way I know in this game that an offense can legally move the ball down the field is to throw it. So I'm assuming that's where the 49 passes comes from.

It seems really logical to me, but very confusing for some others here. It's okay, it's not just you.

The key isn't 38 times. It's timing, ball carriers and type of play.

16 total carries by the starting IB.

He goes for 40 on 10 carries in the first half. Not a massive amount of yards, but 4 ypc and no negative plays (as usual in this offense, there weren't any real big plays either.. just steady 3 to 8 yard pick ups).

During that time, NU threw it 27 times.

10 runs versus 27 passes. In a half.

You can't get your RB or OL in rhythm when you're calling your play selection like that.

I thought it came down to their defensive line beating the piss out of our offensive line. Especially on the one side.

So if Tommy needs 10 passing plays to get into a rhythm, and the run game needs 15-20 consecutive or closely called together runs to find a rhythm, what the hell is Langsdorf supposed to do?

Seriously, an offensive line needs a bunch of plays to get into a rhythm? Is this one of those things that just applies to Nebraska football? I think we're getting carried away with that. The RB maybe, the QB maybe but not all the time, but the offensive line needs to get in a rhythm now too?

You're either physical or you're not. You're either powerful or you're not. You either know what you're doing or you don't. You can either beat the man across from you or you can't.

Serious question, when is the last time you saw a Nebraska offensive linement just dominate the man across from them all game long. And don't name just one game and call it the overriding rule. I'd like to know the last linemen that consistently owned his gap. Spencer Long maybe the only one in a long time....?