Illinois Week Pressers

[ColoradoHusk]

I don't really remember Frost doing much 22 man personnel at all. If I'm wrong there, somebody correct me.

He ran some 12 man for sure, and I definitely think any team should  run a healthy dose of 12 man in the B1G. But in my opinion, Frost did creative things out of 11 man that make Satterfield's playbook look pretty lame, all in all.

I’m not exactly sure what you are complaining about. Yes, the offense isn’t good.  But, don’t you think that the offense we are seeing is a by-product of the available talent, the QB situation, and the injuries at RB and WR.  I’m not going to pretend that Satterfield is an offensive genius, but to be saying he needs to be “more creative” is a fool’s request. He’s being asked to run the offense which Rhule and him thinks is the best to win games right now. It’s not what he was running at South Carolina, because he doesn’t have the same talent at Nebraska. A coach can only run the formations which he has the talent for, and for which the opponent has weaknesses.  

 

[Undone]

I’m not exactly sure what you are complaining about.  

You quoted a post where I responded to ZRod pushing back on the comments that Frost's playbook and Satterfield's playbook were very similar. And I'm definitely not "complaining" about anything.

But, don’t you think that the offense we are seeing is a by-product of the available talent, the QB situation, and the injuries at RB and WR.

Yes, and I mentioned that in a different post that you didn't quote where I said:

Again...I know we're a bit limited by talent in some of that.

Now...maybe some of the defenses we're going to play in these next 4 games have dropped off quite a bit from where they've typically been the last few seasons, and maybe they're more like Northern Illinois and less like Minnesota. So maybe the big sets and power running is good for 28 points in those games and if the defense shows up we win most of them.

About to find out!

 

[ColoradoHusk]

You quoted a post where I responded to ZRod pushing back on the comments that Frost's playbook and Satterfield's playbook were very similar. And I'm definitely not "complaining" about anything.

Yes, and I mentioned that in a different post that you didn't quote where I said:

Fair enough. My bad if I misunderstood posts or didn’t go all the way thru the thread.

I think the coaches are trying to get thru the Illinois week, and then use the bye week as a chance to re-evaluate things for the 2nd half of the season.  A big component of this is the health of Sims. Rhule seems to be willing to do anything to get the team wins, so who knows what to expect the rest of the season. 

 

[ZRod]

I don't really remember Frost doing much 22 man personnel at all, outside of goal line scenarios here and there. Didn't really do that at midfield that I recall. If I'm wrong there, somebody correct me.

He ran some 12 man for sure, and I definitely think any team should  run a healthy dose of 12 man in the B1G. But in my opinion, Frost did creative things out of 11 man that make Satterfield's playbook look pretty lame, all in all.

So like, Rhule's comments there first of all were inaccurate. And for me were also just a hair away from "whiny" and definitely in the category of making excuses. Like I said, I think the s*** they've rolled out kind of sucks and they need to get a bit more creative. Just my opinion there.

That's what I meant by window dressing. Frost didn't run much 22. He preferred to use H backs, and spread the field when possible, but the plays being ran were all the same: inside/outside zone, counter, power, heavy dose of QB runs, option galore. And to that point the run/pass ratio as you mentioned leaned more run, which makes Rhule's quote look foolish.

Frost was a good OC, we just couldn't get an O line to save our life.

 

[Undone]

That's what I meant by window dressing. Frost didn't run much 22. He preferred to use H backs, and spread the field when possible, but the plays being ran were all the same: inside/outside zone, counter, power, heavy dose of QB runs, option galore. And to that point the run/pass ratio as you mentioned leaned more run, which makes Rhule's quote look foolish.

Frost was a good OC, we just couldn't get an O line to save our life.

I getcha, that's good stuff.

I think you and I have talked about Fidone out there; we gotta get this kid the ball. Or Kemp - find some different ways to get him into an open field mismatch. I don't think these things are asking too much of the talent we have this season.

As I said a couple posts up though, maybe the defenses we're going to face in the next four games are more like Northern Illinois and less like Minnesota's and the "keep it simple, stupid" approach is good for 28 points and we win three out of the four and we're good to go. Totally possible, I just don't know that it's smart to bank on that if you're Rhule & Satt.

 

[ZRod]

I getcha, that's good stuff.

I think you and I have talked about Fidone out there; we gotta get this kid the ball. Or Kemp - find some different ways to get him into an open field mismatch. I don't think these things are asking too much of the talent we have this season.

As I said a couple posts up though, maybe the defenses we're going to face in the next four games are more like Northern Illinois and less like Minnesota's and the "keep it simple, stupid" approach is good for 28 points and we win three out of the four and we're good to go. Totally possible, I just don't know that it's smart to bank on that if you're Rhule & Satt.

At this point I feel like we need to go Penn St 2011. Just find the one play that works and run it over, and over, and over again until they stop it.

 

[Red Five]

maybe the defenses we're going to face in the next four games are more like Northern Illinois and less like Minnesota's

Not calling you out at all, but its funny that Minnesota has the worst defense.  They have been absolutely shredded the last 3 games.

Nebraska #26 4.77 ypp

Michigan St #61 5.37 ypp

Northern Illinois #68 5.51 ypp

Northwestern #71 5.55 ypp

Illinois #73 5.62 ypp

Purdue #76 5.64 ypp

Minnesota #98 5.89 ypp

 

[Undone]

Not calling you out at all, but its funny that Minnesota has the worst defense.  They have been absolutely shredded the last 3 games.

Nebraska #26 4.77 ypp

Michigan St #61 5.37 ypp

Northern Illinois #68 5.51 ypp

Northwestern #71 5.55 ypp

Illinois #73 5.62 ypp

Purdue #76 5.64 ypp

Minnesota #98 5.89 ypp

No, that's good stuff. If I'm wrong on stats I'm not going to argue with anybody.       I thought Minnesota played us fairly well on D in that game just with the eyeball test, but I do remember the announcers saying that Fleck usually loses when his opponent puts up more than 150 yards on the ground.

Since I mentioned Northern Illinois, I guess on the flip side the big thing in that game was that we were even in the turnover margin in that one. Obviously makes a huge difference. Not the case in the Minnesota game (we were -3).

 

[Mavric]

At this point I feel like we need to go Penn St 2011. Just find the one play that works and run it over, and over, and over again until they stop it.

We actually did this in one of the games.  I can't remember which but we ran the same off-tackle power pulling a backside OL about 8 times in a row and scored.

Then we didn't go back to it.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Not calling you out at all, but its funny that Minnesota has the worst defense.  They have been absolutely shredded the last 3 games.

Nebraska #26 4.77 ypp

Michigan St #61 5.37 ypp

Northern Illinois #68 5.51 ypp

Northwestern #71 5.55 ypp

Illinois #73 5.62 ypp

Purdue #76 5.64 ypp

Minnesota #98 5.89 ypp

Nebraska did a fairly good job of moving the ball on Minnesota, but mistakes/turnovers cost us points against them in that game. Even with the INT before half, the killer mistake was the false start penalty when NU was inside the 5 in the 4th quarter. NU had a chance to go up two scores with a TD, and had to settle for a FG on that drive.

Since the Minnesota game, Nebraska has done a poor job of getting into the red zone all together. The scoring has been by big plays. 

 

[Red Five]

Since I mentioned Norther Illinois, I guess on the flip side the big thing in that game was that we were even in the turnover margin in that one. Obviously makes a huge difference. Not the case in the Minnesota game (we were -3).

We had 5.26 ypp vs Minnesota.  Not great by any means, but not terrible.  We had under 300 total yards because we only ran 56 plays.  We don't throw the pick in the EZ (or don't false start at the 1 or get a correct replay call on the Ervin TD) or fumble at the end of the game and we win that one.

We had 5.62 ypp vs No Illinois.  Again, not great, but not terrible.  But we had almost 400 yards because we ran 15 more plays.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I don't really remember Frost doing much 22 man personnel at all, outside of goal line scenarios here and there. Didn't really do that at midfield that I recall. If I'm wrong there, somebody correct me.

He ran some 12 man for sure, and I definitely think any team should  run a healthy dose of 12 man in the B1G. But in my opinion, Frost did creative things out of 11 man that make Satterfield's playbook look pretty lame, all in all.

So like, Rhule's comments there first of all were inaccurate. And for me were also just a hair away from "whiny" and definitely in the category of making excuses. Like I said, I think the s*** they've rolled out kind of sucks and they need to get a bit more creative. Just my opinion there.

Frost's creativity on offense was not the problem.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

We had 5.26 ypp vs Minnesota.  Not great by any means, but not terrible.  We had under 300 total yards because we only ran 56 plays.  We don't throw the pick in the EZ (or don't false start at the 1 or get a correct replay call on the Ervin TD) or fumble at the end of the game and we win that one.

We had 5.62 ypp vs No Illinois.  Again, not great, but not terrible.  But we had almost 400 yards because we ran 15 more plays.

Right now, Nebraska isn’t running very many plays, because we aren’t doing well enough on first and second down, which is causing our average 3rd down to go to be too long. Throw in the fact that our o-line can’t block well enough to convert 3rd and long, and that’s not a good recipe for success.

I know that we have had a few long runs on first downs, which may skew the numbers for average first down gain, but the inconsistency shows in our average length of 3rd down and the 3rd down conversion rate. 

 

[Red Five]

Right now, Nebraska isn’t running very many plays, because we aren’t doing well enough on first and second down, which is causing our average 3rd down to go to be too long

Adding to this, we also run our offense at a very slow pace.  I saw a stat before the Michigan game that both teams ranked above 100 in offensive tempo (which I think was  plays/minute).

 

[Husker in WI]

Adding to this, we also run our offense at a very slow pace.  I saw a stat before the Michigan game that both teams ranked above 100 in offensive tempo (which I think was  plays/minute).

And that's just part of the plan, being a "defensive team" that wears down opponents. We are unlikely to ever be top ten in things like yards or points per game, but we do need to be a lot better on a per drive basis. More 3rd down conversions (and turnovers forced by the defense) would help bump those numbers up, but yards per play and points per drive are what I will be looking at for offensive success.