Anyone else want the option offense back?

newenglandhusker said:
Shaunk2007 said:
In order to execute at a high level you have to have pride in the type of offense you run. Or team and our fans have no pride in the stupid west coast offense Callahan brought to us. WE HAVE PRIDE IN THE OPTION!by the way what makes people think Cody Green can't run the option?
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Is that your professional opinion? And what in God's name do the fans have to do with the offensive success on the field? Stop posting because you're upset and want your voice heard. Everything you're saying is anecdotal at best and cannot be proven.

And there was only 1 poster that I saw that thought CG couldn't run the option.
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I don't think anyone knows what your talking about in this post. Take a chill pill buddy

 
Solich never ran option football unless you consider which way Crouch or Lord was running an option. But regardless, it all comes down to execution. This group may be limited in talent between the ears moreso than physically. They really don't have much for threats and what they do have doesn't get used as much as they should.

 
Who cares? Do you know what kind of turn-around it would take to successfully implement an option here? The right QB, the right RB's, the right O-line. We'd have to basically start from scratch to put it together, and high school players don't want to run the option anymore. It's gone, at least for now, and you need to let it go.

 
Solich could not recruit I-backs or QBs w/o Osborne. Crouch came in with Newcombe. Lord was Solich's QB.

 
TheCheshireCat said:
Who cares? Do you know what kind of turn-around it would take to successfully implement an option here? The right QB, the right RB's, the right O-line. We'd have to basically start from scratch to put it together, and high school players don't want to run the option anymore. It's gone, at least for now, and you need to let it go.
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Well, its probably more popular then ever in high school now. I coach football and have for 10 years, the option is all over the place, there is not one week that goes by where we dont see it.

As far as the overhaul you are talking about, I think you are right about that.

 
I think it is going to be tough getting great recruiting classes at Nebraska for anyone that recruits the right way like Pelini does. Callahan had some success recruiting but that's because he offered empty promises and got caught up in the hype of recruits and overlooked the players he already had. Example Joe Ganz and Sam Keller. My point is in an option offense you don't need as many highly skilled players to be successful as the West Coast offense. You need a highly skilled quarterback and running back and a great line but you don't need a couple stud wide receivers like the West Coast offense does. Navy over acheives every year mostly because of their execution of the option. I think that with this staff struggling to bring in the highly recruited guys it serves them well to adopt the option attack.

 
The option's fun, it CAN work, but I think it's very difficult to perfect it. And yeah, we'd have to recruit a whole different style of players and I think it'd take a hell of a lot of time to pull off, all the while we'd be even more frustrated than we are now.

 
Everyone keeps saying Nebraska was an option team - like the service academies.

We weren't.

Sure, we ran option, but I seriously doubt it was ever triple option (if it went to the FB, it was called that way), and we ran a lot more in the way of ISOs, Smash, Counter, Trap, Toss, and QB keeper.

And even then, we threw the ball with some pretty good efficiency for some of those years.

The key, as many have pointed out, is in the offensive line. If they don't get guys blocked, nothing will work. However, a steamrolling power running attack would be PERFECT for the Big 12 this day and age. It wouldn't matter how fast the Oklahoma defense is if they were getting blocked off the field by our Pipeline, and that's what would happen, because everybody is recruiting smaller quicker guys to make plays in space vs. the spread.

Osborne has said many times that he knew even back then that the Huskers were hard to prepare for because they were different than most everyone else, just as the Sooners were tough to get ready for.

 
TheCheshireCat said:
The option's fun, it CAN work, but I think it's very difficult to perfect it. And yeah, we'd have to recruit a whole different style of players and I think it'd take a hell of a lot of time to pull off, all the while we'd be even more frustrated than we are now.
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It is very difficult to perfect, that is true.

 
Why didn't it take that long for G-Tech to do it and they came off a losing record? Many of the kids that can't start because they are to short or their arms are not long enough would fit the interior and remember its the I-formation base with the option mixed in from multiple sets/formations, which would include zone read and spread sets just like before. More emphasis on not losing yards, holding onto the ball and teaching QBs to audible to the best plays vs certain fronts.

 
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strigori said:
When GT actually wins something, then maybe someone might have a leg to stand on with saying it's a viable offense. The option can win games, not championships right now. Just like TT's offense can win games but can't win it all.

I'm going to say this next thing only once.

You need to be able to run and pass the ball to win it all

The days of one dimensional offenses are gone. If you are going to incorporate option plays into the offense, the offense will end up resembling either what Florida runs or Rich Rod's offense.

What we are missing is playmakers at the skill positions, and an O-line that actually has some attitude.
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:bs:

Wow havent heard that before other then in the 80's 90's and turned out they were wrong.

I guess your on board saying Nebraska 95's style of play wouldn't work in todays CFB world. Then I guess they arent the best team ever if they couldn't play in todays era. :sarcasm

 
NU was in the MNC game with Solich in 2002. This is 8 years later, things have not changed, Solich could not recruit!

 
Jeremy said:
Everyone keeps saying Nebraska was an option team - like the service academies.

We weren't.

Sure, we ran option, but I seriously doubt it was ever triple option (if it went to the FB, it was called that way), and we ran a lot more in the way of ISOs, Smash, Counter, Trap, Toss, and QB keeper.

And even then, we threw the ball with some pretty good efficiency for some of those years.

The key, as many have pointed out, is in the offensive line. If they don't get guys blocked, nothing will work. However, a steamrolling power running attack would be PERFECT for the Big 12 this day and age. It wouldn't matter how fast the Oklahoma defense is if they were getting blocked off the field by our Pipeline, and that's what would happen, because everybody is recruiting smaller quicker guys to make plays in space vs. the spread.

Osborne has said many times that he knew even back then that the Huskers were hard to prepare for because they were different than most everyone else, just as the Sooners were tough to get ready for.
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Thank you. I've been specifically trying not to use the "O" word, because I keep telling this brick wall around here that the option was only a PIECE of a larger, multi-faceted attack. It doesn't seem to be sinking in. I've also been trying to tell folks that it is a lot easier to get players for that type of system than to compete with every other team in the country for the other type of players. Apparently they think that only two or three players ever lived that could run this type of offense effectively. :wacko:

Will someone please explain to me how we couldn't have a team chock full of ideal players for the system when those are the types of players that the other schools don't want to recruit for their offenses? How is it so difficult to recruit from the unwanted? While you're explaining that, please explain to me the rational behind service academies running similar offenses. Now let me point one other thing out while you're mulling that over: Running backs don't get the ball much anymore. The production at that position is down to where the top back MIGHT get 1,500 yards this year. If you were a hotshot HS running back, wouldn't YOU rather go to a school where your talents would be better showcased for the NFL (ie "more carries")?

By the way, GT did turn it around in a short time. Go ask a Hokie if that type of offense is dead. I'm sure that even you naysayers would take their offense with our defense right now. Enough of this "Option (which wasn't ever really an option) won't work" talk. I've seen absolutely no supporting fact of this--just people repeating the same, tired old mantra and trying to point to Solich's flaws for their rationale. It doesn't fly.

Finally, there seems to be one more common fallacy that makes it way around these parts as fact: Some of you seem to think that a major reason for NU's success in the 80's and 90's is because we got all these wonderful high-caliber recruits. I call BS on that one. Compared to the other schools, Nebraska was a bunch of paupers. Why were there so many in-state players? Why do you think there was a walk-on program, and why do you think that we led the country in strength/conditioning and nutrition? It is because we needed to make the most out of what we had. It was common knowledge around the country that many of Nebraska's players were "maxed out" by the time they hit the draft. Sure, we'd get a few elite players once in awhile, but much of our roster came from the immediate area. :rant

 
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