To all that didn't want to run the option!

This is a modern option game- with motions, counter motions and counter steps we didnt see much of during the Osborne era. The option- we saw some of it earlier in the season and flashes of it since.  It was great to see and hopefully we continue to see more of it. HCSF in the past has come up with a wrinkle- it works and you don't see much of it again- like the I formation power game against OSU. 

 
I didn’t get to see last night’s game so I don’t know if it was any different. But I would really rather have the pitch man be one of our running backs as opposed to a receiver.  
 

Do love the extra dimension it brings to the offense. AM seems to be getting more polished running it too. Love the fake pitch I did see on one highlight. 

 
No one has ever pitched it last second like Gill did. How many times did it look like a pile of defenders was about to pile drive Gill and he'd pitch it a split second before going down?
Thomas Lott from Oklahoma (I think he’s the correct one) running their wishbone did that late pitch better than anyone I’ve ever seen. 

 
I didn’t get to see last night’s game so I don’t know if it was any different. But I would really rather have the pitch man be one of our running backs as opposed to a receiver.  
 

Do love the extra dimension it brings to the offense. AM seems to be getting more polished running it too. Love the fake pitch I did see on one highlight. 


I hear you. The problem is when you are a spread team with just one back in the backfield- it's hard to do. 

Johnson is a pretty good Receiver- so if he was the motion- pitch guy, that would be interesting. Yant being the middle run option. 

 
To everyone saying it's just a 'wrinkle': bullcrap.  First of all, Frost has been calling read options since the first play against cu in '18. And we've ran the crap out of that and variations of it. That's option football. 

2nd, even outside of the orbit-motion triple option look, nearly every handoff had a read tag, which is option football. 

It's not just a wrinkle. With a guy like Martinez taking snaps; Yant, Stepp, Johnson in the picture, it would be crazy not to run option plays. 

 
Until Big Ten teams get a handle on stopping it, it should remain a part of the offense every game.  I remember reading Adam Rittenberg talking about how Big Ten teams were mostly unfamiliar with it in the conference.

 
To everyone saying it's just a 'wrinkle': bullcrap.  First of all, Frost has been calling read options since the first play against cu in '18. And we've ran the crap out of that and variations of it. That's option football. 

2nd, even outside of the orbit-motion triple option look, nearly every handoff had a read tag, which is option football. 

It's not just a wrinkle. With a guy like Martinez taking snaps; Yant, Stepp, Johnson in the picture, it would be crazy not to run option plays. 




Zone read without the triple threat of the motion back are VERY different plays. MOST college teams run zone read- very very few run triple option. 

Last year we tried running the very same play with Wandale as the pitch man- it didnt work well at all. Poor inside threat, poor meshes and pitch relationships- motion wasnt tight. 

Yes weve run option with the triple threat since Illinois. BUT not with the counter steps, counter motion and without being in one set or to wide side of the field like early on in the season. Some of the footwork and motion- counter motions looked almost Navy like. 

With Yant as a legit inside threat- better oline play, it certainly opens up more possibilities. Cant wait to see more play action passes off that look. Michigan might.

 
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Zone read without the triple threat of the motion back are VERY different plays. MOST college teams run zone read- very very few run triple option. 

Last year we tried running the very same play with Wandale as the pitch man- it didnt work well at all. Poor inside threat, poor meshes and pitch relationships- motion wasnt tight. 

Yes weve run option with the triple threat since Illinois. BUT not with the counter steps, counter motion and without being in one set or to wide side of the field like early on in the season. Some of the footwork and motion- counter motions looked almost Navy like. 

With Yant as a legit inside threat- better oline play, it certainly opens up more possibilities. Cant wait to see more play action passes off that look. Michigan might.
I agree that simple zone read and the new triple option look we're seeing are totally different animals. 

HOWEVER, comma. 

Zone read is still option, and you'll never convince me otherwise.

 
I agree that simple zone read and the new triple option look we're seeing are totally different animals. 

HOWEVER, comma. 

Zone read is still option, and you'll never convince me otherwise.
 Technically yes, the word option is in the play

HOWEVER- MOST college teams run zone read

VERY VERY few run triple- because it's a whole nother level of complexity and time commitment. AND NU has so many nuances to theirs so it cant be taken away by looking at a formation or tendency. It's obvious theyve invested a lot of time in it- it's not a "cheap" series to install the way NU is doing it- not even close. 

 
It was great to see the Huskers and Frost have some success. Every single person on the team deserved to feel the vibe in that stadium yesterday. I have always loved watching a great option team, but I do believe that the game, the rules, and the players have moved on from it. It worked with Nortwestern, and it may work sporadically within an overall game plan, but a 100% option team, in my opinion, would not be successful today. Remember, it was Northwestern.

 
It was great to see the Huskers and Frost have some success. Every single person on the team deserved to feel the vibe in that stadium yesterday. I have always loved watching a great option team, but I do believe that the game, the rules, and the players have moved on from it. It worked with Nortwestern, and it may work sporadically within an overall game plan, but a 100% option team, in my opinion, would not be successful today. Remember, it was Northwestern.


They did to a terrible team what you are supposed to do to terrible teams. 

 
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