Run game: striking differences between Riley and Langsdorf

[It'sNotAFakeID]

^

I was just getting ready to say that. UCLA's run defense has been abysmal all season long. It's easy to say we should have run more after seeing the game last night but the reality is pretty much everyone we played had a better run defense than UCLA.

Also UCLA looked more like a 6-6 team last night than an 8-4 team to me. I was really surprised at their record actually. They have Rosen and some decent skill players but beyond that they looked horrible.

You know what other teams's rush defense had been abysmal all season long?

Purdue: This season the Boilermakers gave up about 220 yards per game on the ground. Although I wish I had at-the-game statistics to see where Purdue was immediately before the contest, I do know they've given up about 244 yards per game on the ground in their last 3 games, so the average would've been slightly lower at the time of the Nebraska game. Nevertheless, they were and are the worst rush defense in the Big Ten. For this game, I'm only going to focus on Nebraska's playcalling when it was a 3-possession game in the first half, and a 2-possession game in the second half; Nebraska was inexplicably down big this game, which forced us to pass in order to chip away at Purdue's lead--that's inevitably going to skew the split.

Nebraska's First Possession (1st quarter tied 0-0)

• Terrell Newby rush for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to DPE for 12 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Brandon Reilly for 13 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 1 yard
• Brandon Reilly rush for 20 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 18 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yards
• DPE rush for a loss of 5 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Brandon Reilly for 2 yards
• Drew Brown 41 yard field goal good

Breakdown: 7 rushes (5 RB, 2 WR), 4 passes (75% completion rate)

Nebraska's Second Possession (1st quarter, trailing 7-3)

• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 4 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yard loss
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Terrell Newby for 13 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 20 yards
• Imani Cross rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yards
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 24 yard loss; FUMBLE recovered by Purdue and returned to Nebraska's 16 yard line

Breakdown: 5 rushes (5 RB, 0 WR); 3 passes (100% completion). Nebraska's offense was doing a pretty good job moving the ball both through the air and on the ground. It's a shame that that snap sailed well over Ryker's head, and that he didn't just fall on it. But that's game inexperience for you.

Nebraska's Third Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-3)

• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 14 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 22 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Brandon Reilly
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Stanley Morgan for 20 yards for a TD; PAT Blocked

Breakdown: 1 rush, 4 passes (75% completion, TD). Again, Nebraska had 0 problems moving the ball both through the air and on the ground.

Nebraska's Fourth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-9)

• Ryker Fyfe rush for 8 yard loss (assuming this was a called pass/sack)
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 3 yards (once again assuming that this was a called pass that Fyfe decided to scramble on)

Breakdown: 0 rushes, 3 passes (0% completion). This was an unbelievably bad series for Langsdorf, considering where Nebraska was (inside their own 20) and given Purdue's inability to stop the run at this point in the game. Also notice the lack of WR runs in the last couple of series, which is just another way to mix up the running game. Very strange.

Nebraska's Fifth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-9)

• Imani Cross rush for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass intercepted returned to Nebraska's 22 yard line.

Breakdown: 1 rush, 1 pass (0% completion, INT) Purdue has just punted the ball after consecutive 3-and-outs, and Nebraska was pinned inside their own 10 yard line, which again makes the decision to throw the ball very, very strange and it resulted in giving Purdue the ball in good field position.



Nebraska's Sixth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Imani Cross rush for a 1 yard loss
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 7 yards (assuming this was a called pass play)
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Stanley Morgan for 3 yards

Breakdown: 1 rush, -1 yards, 2 passes (100% completion). Part of what's frustrating about Danny's playcalling this season is his impatience with the running game. We don't get a big gain running on 1st down, so the next play is automatically a pass play.



Nebraska's Seventh Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Cethan Carter for 15 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp
• Ryker Fyfe pass INTERCEPTED and returned to Purdue's 19 yard line.

Breakdown: 0 rushes, 4 passes (25% completion, INT). The possession started with 1:19 left in the half on Nebraska's 38 yard line, so the passing is a little more acceptable. Nevertheless, I think Nebraska still had all 3 of their timeouts at this point so the clock still could have been stopped. Just want to note: Nebraska's defense was stout for that second quarter, only giving up 87 yards on 26 plays (3.34 yards per play). Unfortunately they were put in unfavorable positions twice and gave up touchdowns on both those possessions.



Nebraska's Eighth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 5 yards
• Imani Cross rush for 2 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Lane Hovey for 16 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Devine Ozigbo for 30 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Imani Cross rush for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN

Breakdown: 2 rushes, 11 yards, TD; 6 passes (67% completion--1 RB, 3 WR). A solid drive, a lot of passing, but a few of those passes to running backs which are about as good as run plays. So not a bad drive to start the second half. Unfortunately, the defense couldn't prevent Purdue from scoring.



Nebraska's Ninth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 28-16)

• Imani Cross rush for 6 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 13 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp

Breakdown: 1 rush, 6 yards, 4 passes (25% completion--1 RB, 3 WR). Drive started well enough with a solid rush by Imani and a completed pass to Westerkamp, but three consecutive incompletions stalled out the drive.



Nebraska's Tenth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 35-16)



Down by 3 possessions, Nebraska passed once and it was intercepted



Nebraska's Eleventh Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 42-16)



Down by 3+ possessions, Nebraska scored



Nebraska's Twelfth Possession (4th quarter, trailing 42-23)



Down by 3 possessions, Nebraska scored again



Nebraska's Thirteenth Possession (4th quarter, trailing 42-31)

• Ryker Fyfe pass INTECEPTED

Nebraska never got the ball when it was a 2 possession game. So, let's take a look at the breakdown. Nebraska ran it 18 times and passed it 31 times when the game was still considered "close". Against the worst run defense in the conference, that's just inexcusable.



tl;dr Nebraska gave up on the running game too early against Purdue, but it's hopeful for that future that Nebraska continue to take advantage of a weak run defense when given the chance; even after going down 21-7.

 

Edit: I don't know what happened with code...so enjoy the bold!

 

[Hujan]

^

I was just getting ready to say that. UCLA's run defense has been abysmal all season long. It's easy to say we should have run more after seeing the game last night but the reality is pretty much everyone we played had a better run defense than UCLA.

Also UCLA looked more like a 6-6 team last night than an 8-4 team to me. I was really surprised at their record actually. They have Rosen and some decent skill players but beyond that they looked horrible.

You know what other teams's rush defense had been abysmal all season long?

Purdue: This season the Boilermakers gave up about 220 yards per game on the ground. Although I wish I had at-the-game statistics to see where Purdue was immediately before the contest, I do know they've given up about 244 yards per game on the ground in their last 3 games, so the average would've been slightly lower at the time of the Nebraska game. Nevertheless, they were and are the worst rush defense in the Big Ten. For this game, I'm only going to focus on Nebraska's playcalling when it was a 3-possession game in the first half, and a 2-possession game in the second half; Nebraska was inexplicably down big this game, which forced us to pass in order to chip away at Purdue's lead--that's inevitably going to skew the split.

Nebraska's First Possession (1st quarter tied 0-0)

• Terrell Newby rush for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to DPE for 12 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Brandon Reilly for 13 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 1 yard
• Brandon Reilly rush for 20 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 18 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yards
• DPE rush for a loss of 5 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Brandon Reilly for 2 yards
• Drew Brown 41 yard field goal good

Breakdown: 7 rushes (5 RB, 2 WR), 4 passes (75% completion rate)

Nebraska's Second Possession (1st quarter, trailing 7-3)

• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 4 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yard loss
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Terrell Newby for 13 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 20 yards
• Imani Cross rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yards
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 24 yard loss; FUMBLE recovered by Purdue and returned to Nebraska's 16 yard line

Breakdown: 5 rushes (5 RB, 0 WR); 3 passes (100% completion). Nebraska's offense was doing a pretty good job moving the ball both through the air and on the ground. It's a shame that that snap sailed well over Ryker's head, and that he didn't just fall on it. But that's game inexperience for you.

Nebraska's Third Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-3)

• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 14 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 22 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Brandon Reilly
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Stanley Morgan for 20 yards for a TD; PAT Blocked

Breakdown: 1 rush, 4 passes (75% completion, TD). Again, Nebraska had 0 problems moving the ball both through the air and on the ground.

Nebraska's Fourth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-9)

• Ryker Fyfe rush for 8 yard loss (assuming this was a called pass/sack)
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 3 yards (once again assuming that this was a called pass that Fyfe decided to scramble on)

Breakdown: 0 rushes, 3 passes (0% completion). This was an unbelievably bad series for Langsdorf, considering where Nebraska was (inside their own 20) and given Purdue's inability to stop the run at this point in the game. Also notice the lack of WR runs in the last couple of series, which is just another way to mix up the running game. Very strange.

Nebraska's Fifth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-9)

• Imani Cross rush for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass intercepted returned to Nebraska's 22 yard line.

Breakdown: 1 rush, 1 pass (0% completion, INT) Purdue has just punted the ball after consecutive 3-and-outs, and Nebraska was pinned inside their own 10 yard line, which again makes the decision to throw the ball very, very strange and it resulted in giving Purdue the ball in good field position.



Nebraska's Sixth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Imani Cross rush for a 1 yard loss
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 7 yards (assuming this was a called pass play)
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Stanley Morgan for 3 yards

Breakdown: 1 rush, -1 yards, 2 passes (100% completion). Part of what's frustrating about Danny's playcalling this season is his impatience with the running game. We don't get a big gain running on 1st down, so the next play is automatically a pass play.



Nebraska's Seventh Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Cethan Carter for 15 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp
• Ryker Fyfe pass INTERCEPTED and returned to Purdue's 19 yard line.

Breakdown: 0 rushes, 4 passes (25% completion, INT). The possession started with 1:19 left in the half on Nebraska's 38 yard line, so the passing is a little more acceptable. Nevertheless, I think Nebraska still had all 3 of their timeouts at this point so the clock still could have been stopped. Just want to note: Nebraska's defense was stout for that second quarter, only giving up 87 yards on 26 plays (3.34 yards per play). Unfortunately they were put in unfavorable positions twice and gave up touchdowns on both those possessions.



Nebraska's Eighth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 5 yards
• Imani Cross rush for 2 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Lane Hovey for 16 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Devine Ozigbo for 30 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Imani Cross rush for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN

Breakdown: 2 rushes, 11 yards, TD; 6 passes (67% completion--1 RB, 3 WR). A solid drive, a lot of passing, but a few of those passes to running backs which are about as good as run plays. So not a bad drive to start the second half. Unfortunately, the defense couldn't prevent Purdue from scoring.



Nebraska's Ninth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 28-16)

• Imani Cross rush for 6 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 13 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp

Breakdown: 1 rush, 6 yards, 4 passes (25% completion--1 RB, 3 WR). Drive started well enough with a solid rush by Imani and a completed pass to Westerkamp, but three consecutive incompletions stalled out the drive.



Nebraska's Tenth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 35-16)



Down by 3 possessions, Nebraska passed once and it was intercepted



Nebraska's Eleventh Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 42-16)



Down by 3+ possessions, Nebraska scored



Nebraska's Twelfth Possession (4th quarter, trailing 42-23)



Down by 3 possessions, Nebraska scored again



Nebraska's Thirteenth Possession (4th quarter, trailing 42-31)

• Ryker Fyfe pass INTECEPTED

Nebraska never got the ball when it was a 2 possession game. So, let's take a look at the breakdown. Nebraska ran it 18 times and passed it 31 times when the game was still considered "close". Against the worst run defense in the conference, that's just inexcusable.



tl;dr Nebraska gave up on the running game too early against Purdue, but it's hopeful for that future that Nebraska continue to take advantage of a weak run defense when given the chance; even after going down 21-7.

 

Edit: I don't know what happened with code...so enjoy the bold!

 

 

 

 

Shouldn't we ask how we got behind against Purdue in the first place? Did it have anything to do with incompletions in the pass game so that our O was off the field quickly and our D on far too long? Not to mention the turnovers by our unseasoned backup QB?

 

Had we abandoned the run last night and gone to the pass when we were down 21-7, the game would have snowballed very quickly. Sure, we might have made a late run in garbage time to keep it respectable, but we would have lost and probably by a couple TDs. Establishing the run keeps our O on the field our D off, chews clock, slows down the tempo, and opens things up for the pass for us to make big plays down field.

 

This stuff is honestly so easy, I'm alarmed that Langsdorf refuses to recognize it for what it is.

 

[Hunter94]

People will point out that UCLA is weak against the run and that's true, but we shouldn't just wait to run against the weak teams. That is a defeatist mentality. We should impose our will on our opponents, not the other way around.

Stanford piled up 311 rush yards against UCLA, but they also piled up a lot of rushing yards against other teams. We may not have put up 300 rushing yards against everyone we played, but committing to the run* would have been a sounder offensive strategy than asking your athlete QB to sling the ball 40 times a game in foul weather.

Anyone who doubts that Langsdorf is, at bottom, scared to run and defaults to throwing should no longer dare open their mouths after watching Langsdorf throwing the ball on short "goal to go" situations on not one but TWO drives late in the game, until even he knew that he would be shot if he didn't run it. And guess what, we punched the ball in for the game-sealing TD.

*"Committing to the run" means more than just the run-pass ratio. That is a factory, but so too is putting your best foot forward by entrusting the ball to your best running back (i.e., not Newby), bringing in some heavies to block, and dialing up some creative plays.

agree, Langs is not fully "cured" yet.......he still called some renegade sh#t on short yardage downs.......i don't trust him to make the right calls next year either......maybe Riley was up his a$$ last night, but obviously not all the way!

 

[Dansker]

^

I was just getting ready to say that. UCLA's run defense has been abysmal all season long. It's easy to say we should have run more after seeing the game last night but the reality is pretty much everyone we played had a better run defense than UCLA.

Also UCLA looked more like a 6-6 team last night than an 8-4 team to me. I was really surprised at their record actually. They have Rosen and some decent skill players but beyond that they looked horrible.

You know what other teams's rush defense had been abysmal all season long?

Purdue: This season the Boilermakers gave up about 220 yards per game on the ground. Although I wish I had at-the-game statistics to see where Purdue was immediately before the contest, I do know they've given up about 244 yards per game on the ground in their last 3 games, so the average would've been slightly lower at the time of the Nebraska game. Nevertheless, they were and are the worst rush defense in the Big Ten. For this game, I'm only going to focus on Nebraska's playcalling when it was a 3-possession game in the first half, and a 2-possession game in the second half; Nebraska was inexplicably down big this game, which forced us to pass in order to chip away at Purdue's lead--that's inevitably going to skew the split.

Nebraska's First Possession (1st quarter tied 0-0)

• Terrell Newby rush for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to DPE for 12 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Brandon Reilly for 13 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 1 yard
• Brandon Reilly rush for 20 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 18 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yards
• DPE rush for a loss of 5 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Brandon Reilly for 2 yards
• Drew Brown 41 yard field goal good

Breakdown: 7 rushes (5 RB, 2 WR), 4 passes (75% completion rate)
Nebraska's Second Possession (1st quarter, trailing 7-3)

• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 3 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 4 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yard loss
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Terrell Newby for 13 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 20 yards
• Imani Cross rush for 3 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 2 yards
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 24 yard loss; FUMBLE recovered by Purdue and returned to Nebraska's 16 yard line

Breakdown: 5 rushes (5 RB, 0 WR); 3 passes (100% completion). Nebraska's offense was doing a pretty good job moving the ball both through the air and on the ground. It's a shame that that snap sailed well over Ryker's head, and that he didn't just fall on it. But that's game inexperience for you.
Nebraska's Third Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-3)

• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 14 yards
• Terrell Newby rush for 22 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Brandon Reilly
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Stanley Morgan for 20 yards for a TD; PAT Blocked

Breakdown: 1 rush, 4 passes (75% completion, TD). Again, Nebraska had 0 problems moving the ball both through the air and on the ground.
Nebraska's Fourth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-9)

• Ryker Fyfe rush for 8 yard loss (assuming this was a called pass/sack)
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 3 yards (once again assuming that this was a called pass that Fyfe decided to scramble on)

Breakdown: 0 rushes, 3 passes (0% completion). This was an unbelievably bad series for Langsdorf, considering where Nebraska was (inside their own 20) and given Purdue's inability to stop the run at this point in the game. Also notice the lack of WR runs in the last couple of series, which is just another way to mix up the running game. Very strange.
Nebraska's Fifth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 14-9)

• Imani Cross rush for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass intercepted returned to Nebraska's 22 yard line.

Breakdown: 1 rush, 1 pass (0% completion, INT) Purdue has just punted the ball after consecutive 3-and-outs, and Nebraska was pinned inside their own 10 yard line, which again makes the decision to throw the ball very, very strange and it resulted in giving Purdue the ball in good field position.



Nebraska's Sixth Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Imani Cross rush for a 1 yard loss
• Ryker Fyfe rush for 7 yards (assuming this was a called pass play)
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Stanley Morgan for 3 yards

Breakdown: 1 rush, -1 yards, 2 passes (100% completion). Part of what's frustrating about Danny's playcalling this season is his impatience with the running game. We don't get a big gain running on 1st down, so the next play is automatically a pass play.

Nebraska's Seventh Possession (2nd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Cethan Carter for 15 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp
• Ryker Fyfe pass INTERCEPTED and returned to Purdue's 19 yard line.

Breakdown: 0 rushes, 4 passes (25% completion, INT). The possession started with 1:19 left in the half on Nebraska's 38 yard line, so the passing is a little more acceptable. Nevertheless, I think Nebraska still had all 3 of their timeouts at this point so the clock still could have been stopped. Just want to note: Nebraska's defense was stout for that second quarter, only giving up 87 yards on 26 plays (3.34 yards per play). Unfortunately they were put in unfavorable positions twice and gave up touchdowns on both those possessions.

Nebraska's Eighth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 21-9)

• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 5 yards
• Imani Cross rush for 2 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 4 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Lane Hovey for 16 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Devine Ozigbo for 30 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Imani Cross rush for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN

Breakdown: 2 rushes, 11 yards, TD; 6 passes (67% completion--1 RB, 3 WR). A solid drive, a lot of passing, but a few of those passes to running backs which are about as good as run plays. So not a bad drive to start the second half. Unfortunately, the defense couldn't prevent Purdue from scoring.

Nebraska's Ninth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 28-16)

• Imani Cross rush for 6 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass complete to Jordan Westerkamp for 13 yards
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Devine Ozigbo
• Ryker Fyfe pass incomplete to Jordan Westerkamp

Breakdown: 1 rush, 6 yards, 4 passes (25% completion--1 RB, 3 WR). Drive started well enough with a solid rush by Imani and a completed pass to Westerkamp, but three consecutive incompletions stalled out the drive.

Nebraska's Tenth Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 35-16)



Down by 3 possessions, Nebraska passed once and it was intercepted



Nebraska's Eleventh Possession (3rd quarter, trailing 42-16)



Down by 3+ possessions, Nebraska scored



Nebraska's Twelfth Possession (4th quarter, trailing 42-23)



Down by 3 possessions, Nebraska scored again



Nebraska's Thirteenth Possession (4th quarter, trailing 42-31)

• Ryker Fyfe pass INTECEPTED

Nebraska never got the ball when it was a 2 possession game. So, let's take a look at the breakdown. Nebraska ran it 18 times and passed it 31 times when the game was still considered "close". Against the worst run defense in the conference, that's just inexcusable.



tl;dr Nebraska gave up on the running game too early against Purdue, but it's hopeful for that future that Nebraska continue to take advantage of a weak run defense when given the chance; even after going down 21-7.

 

Edit: I don't know what happened with code...so enjoy the bold!

 

 

Shouldn't we ask how we got behind against Purdue in the first place? Did it have anything to do with incompletions in the pass game so that our O was off the field quickly and our D on far too long? Not to mention the turnovers by our unseasoned backup QB?

 

Had we abandoned the run last night and gone to the pass when we were down 21-7, the game would have snowballed very quickly. Sure, we might have made a late run in garbage time to keep it respectable, but we would have lost and probably by a couple TDs. Establishing the run keeps our O on the field our D off, chews clock, slows down the tempo, and opens things up for the pass for us to make big plays down field.

 

This stuff is honestly so easy, I'm alarmed that Langsdorf refuses to recognize it for what it is.

Against UCLA, we were able to bounce back and not fall into panic mode. It was nice to see everyone stick together and keep pounding the rock as it resulted in a quick response making it 21-14 and all of a sudden, we had a game.

 

We've bounced back in some of the tough losses but not to the extent of what we saw last night. Everyone should learn from this experience.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Hujan,

That fumble--the high snap--which happened on a 3rd & 5, and could've been either a run or a pass was huge. Purdue converted that turnover into 7 points and the game was really never the same. Also, another area to look is that second quarter, where Nebraska kept forcing 3 and outs from Purdue, only to not take advantage (even time possession wise) of the defense's stops.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Just for the record, every successful coach in the game of football calls a pass play on third and one now and then. Even in the red zone. Especially in the red zone, when the defense lines up to stop the run. Even with less than 4:00 left in the game, because getting a first down lets you run out more clock than any individual play.

UCLA had fourth down and a foot in the first quarter and called a pass play. Got a touchdown out of it.

I was at the game and thinking "well here's an offensive game plan the gang and Husker Board can't complain about."

Sadly, I was wrong.

This actually is an offense that plays to Tommy Armstrong's strength. Given the option of running or passing in the playcall, Tommy preferred trying for the home run ball (and man, that was a beautiful deep pass that hit Brandon Riley right in the fingers, and how much fun was that Stanley Morgan, Jr. TD?). Tommy makes as many brilliant plays as he does boneheaded plays, and unless you have a more consistent and less-exciting QB to put in his place, you gotta run with the full package of risk and reward that is Tommy Armstrong.

Personally, I would have liked to seen more Janovich all season, but I think a team stocked with Jordan Westerkamp, Brandon Riley, Alonzo Moore, Stanley Morgan Jr., Cethan Carter and briefly DPE deserves as many touches as a Newby, Cross, Ozigbo, Janovich running game, and that's pretty much what we got.

If you really want to fixate on what could have been this season, you really need to give our defense the same amount of second-guessing and coach-blaming.

 

[In the Deed the Glory]

Thought this was interesting, from an article by Sean Callahan:

“Part of it was a game plan to do with what we thought we can do, the other part of it was what we really wanted to do,” Riley said. “I made it a point earlier that next year what we want to do is be in the top three of the league at running the football. When you can do that, life goes better everywhere. We didn’t necessarily have to wait until next year to start that idea.”

That would make me very happy.

 

[Dansker]

Thought this was interesting, from an article by Sean Callahan:

“Part of it was a game plan to do with what we thought we can do, the other part of it was what we really wanted to do,” Riley said. “I made it a point earlier that next year what we want to do is be in the top three of the league at running the football. When you can do that, life goes better everywhere. We didn’t necessarily have to wait until next year to start that idea.”

That would make me very happy.

I think that would make a lot of people (Husker fans) happy. I'd be fine with being the #2 B1G rushing team with a 280 yard average

 

[Dansker]

We do need to beef up our offensive line in order to have a consistent rushing attack. There were a couple plays last night where Newby showed a burst of acceleration that all the other backs lack. If he can hit a hole and make one cut, he has the potential to take it for a huge gain/to the house if he didn't go down so easily after contact. I think with a solid o-line Newby would perform much better with stretch/outside run plays. It was a committee approach vs UCLA and to me, Armstrong, Janovich, and Ozigbo really stood out and made some great plays with their feet.

It sucks to lose Jano and Cross was a serviceable grinder out there during the cold stretch. The future is bright for Ozigbo. We can only hope the rest of the running backs can step up as well.

 

[Mavric]

We are like oh yeah look at how good the run game works against an EZ team to run on. Low hanging fruit..

Because Miami (#107 in rush defense), Illinois (#66 rush defense) and Purdue (#108 rush defense) were simply too tough to run on?

 

[lo country]

We are like oh yeah look at how good the run game works against an EZ team to run on. Low hanging fruit..

UCLA has been susceptible to the run all year. Their defensive line is undersized and they got manhandled by Nebraska last night.

I think I would agree that it was low hanging fruit, but we've seen low hanging fruit already this season and failed to pick it. Last night we picked it, that's an improvement.

So for the first time, Langs attacked a weakness and we b!^@h that we got 300+ yrs on the ground. I am not a fan of the hire all the way around, but Langs called a great game last night save for a few calls already mentioned.

Purdue, Illinois, BYU, WIsky and even Miami would have been wins had we run the ball 62 times. Excuses for the win all day, but the bottom line is for once this season, against a quality opponent, we imposed our will with POWER FOOTBALL.

Now next year, we roll out the same craptastic air raid, I'll be the first to complain. At least for one game, Langs attacked and didn't abandon the run when some didn't get a lot of yards. Also used the backs as they should be. Cross inside, Newby on the edge and passing game, Jano inside and Oz all over.

 

[Whs from cb]

Hopefully Langsdorf has realized that a couple of stuffed running plays does not mean the running game has stopped working. It still serves a huge purpose. Shortens the game when your own D might be suspect, wears the opposing DL down, forces the opposing D to commit more players to the box, and opens up the passing game.

I agree. It was especially concerning to me when he called a pass play in the waning moments of the game and killed the clock after a negative run play. That could have backfired on us but it didn't so not a lot of people are talking about it. I'd like to believe Langsdorf has learned from this season not to take play calling for granted and is able to manage a game better.

Agree. The 3rd and 1 pass play on the drive that resulted in the field goal had me upset. We were bulldozing them and could have had 1st and goal from the 2 while taking another minute plus off the clock.

This is what has caused the Husker fans to go nuts all year long. Passing the ball from the one foot line on third down drives me crazy. We were running the ball for 3-7 yards pops all game long, and then the OC throws the ball from the one foot line. I don't think the OC can help himself, he is pass first oriented and wants to pass the ball. The West coast and NFL teams do this all the time and this is what he believes will work. Look how it played out this year.

 

[Elf]

Our OC goes away from the running game WAY too easily. That's the main issue I have. His idea of trying the run game is to stop trying if they stuff it 2 times.

If I have an issue with Langsdorf, this would be a reasonable one to have.

 

[Elf]

Hopefully Langsdorf has realized that a couple of stuffed running plays does not mean the running game has stopped working. It still serves a huge purpose. Shortens the game when your own D might be suspect, wears the opposing DL down, forces the opposing D to commit more players to the box, and opens up the passing game.

I agree. It was especially concerning to me when he called a pass play in the waning moments of the game and killed the clock after a negative run play. That could have backfired on us but it didn't so not a lot of people are talking about it. I'd like to believe Langsdorf has learned from this season not to take play calling for granted and is able to manage a game better.

Agree. The 3rd and 1 pass play on the drive that resulted in the field goal had me upset. We were bulldozing them and could have had 1st and goal from the 2 while taking another minute plus off the clock.

This is what has caused the Husker fans to go nuts all year long. Passing the ball from the one foot line on third down drives me crazy. We were running the ball for 3-7 yards pops all game long, and then the OC throws the ball from the one foot line. I don't think the OC can help himself, he is pass first oriented and wants to pass the ball. The West coast and NFL teams do this all the time and this is what he believes will work. Look how it played out this year.

It can and does work, when you have an offensive line that can consistently provide protection, a quarterback that doesn't throw off his back foot regularly and you need receivers that reliably catch the ball. (UCLA had 1 drop iirc.)

 

[BoNeyard]

So, lets go get a big beefy O-Line, and some quick speedster RB's and get this thing going!