Spano rushed for a reason????

[BigWillie]

Lets put this into context.

IF Watson is that good of an OC, why does the AD (as great of a coach as he was/is) who has not coached for 12 years need to give a tape of some of his own most effective plays (from over 10 years ago) to a guy who is supposed to be a top OC and a head coach candidate?

Is embarrassing that of one of the top 10 all-time college football programs has an OC that needs to get hand-fed plays from a guy who hasn't wore a headset for over a decade.

You think people suddenly forget coaching or something? Look at Bill Snyder and how much he was able to do with KSU, even with his time off. Teachers never lose their touch.

Think of it this way, when your offense is struggling and you have tried multiple ways to fix it, would you not consult with a great offensive mind like Osborne?

But hey, guess what - after consulting with Osborne it STILL didn't work. Even someone like Osborne couldn't help this offense.

Coaches everywhere consult others to get ideas. Hell, a BCS team came to Bo last year before their game to get advice. If this offense was crapping the bed and Watson WAS NOT asking for help, then I'd be right beside you saying there is a problem here.

 

[BigWillie]

Really? What school offered Shawn Watson a HC job? I'll bet it was some crappy football school like San Jose State or Akron

Um, that's usually how you work up the coaching ladder, unless you are some young hotshot assistant like a Pelini, Muschamp, Sarkisian, etc.,

Watson is 50 years old. He isn't getting the keys to any major D1 gig unless he proves his worth on the lower levels first.

 

[74Hunter]

Um, went away from running against Mizzou? Say what? We didn't run on Missouri at all, until that last drive.

TBH, I quit reading after that. Some are going to criticize Watson unfairly and to me, with you just saying that, it is all you are doing. If you are going to throw barbs, at least be correct in doing so. If not, it's not even worth addressing further because you are going to criticize just to do so regardless.

I guess you should have watched the MissU game before commenting on it. Since apparently you did not watch the game, I'll let you know what happened: NU tried to run a little early, with a little success. Even though MissU is weak against the run, Watson kept calling short out patterns to the far side of the field (30-40 yard passes) in hurricane conditions that were rarely, if ever completed. Even if the were completed, they would have only been for 4-5 yards, max. Fast forward to the 4th qtr., after the O put NU in a nice little hole, they finally dedicated to "pounding the rock" (puke!), picked up chunks of yardage and even scored a rushing touchdown. If they would have just pounded MissU all day, they likely would not have been down as much as they were.

If you want to totally disregard that game, how about some of these brilliant gameplans:

Against T Tech, throwing that stupid lateral pass to a guy with bad hands (the same one that never works) which ended up being a fumbled returned for a TD, totally shifting the momentum. Then, after being down by 3 td's, instead of trying to get some quick scores, he continually called zone reads for most of the 2nd half with Zach, pretty much running most of the time off of the clock.

The 1 yr. TD pass agains OU on 1st and goal when a QB sneak or two likely would have worked just as well and would have been a higher percentage play.

Calling option plays/zone reads with Zach Lee, while not doing so in the same frequency with Cody Green.

Against Va Tech and Texass, repeatedly calling running plays when NU has first and goal from the 9 or 10 instead of trying a pass, which lead to FGs and us losing those games. (This has to be one of the most frustrating and poor game calling I have ever seen. In the next NU game, watch his play calling in these situations: when NU has first and goal from about 3 yards and closer, he calls more passes, and when they have first and goal from about 7 yards and out, he calls more runs.)

We don't even have to get into how little his players (qb's/wr's) have progressed in his system. Really, we just have to look at how historically mediocre to poor his offensives have fared.

I'm sorry my friend you can defend the guy all you want, but the results don't lie. Even if you want to ignore them.

 

[AngryHusker88]

And your last part is cool. Maybe you gave him an A when you begged him not to go to Alabama. Or maybe last year when we had a top 15 offense and he was one of the best coordinators in the country.

Funny what will change peoples opinions so easily.

I'd hate for Pelini to have a down year next year. Guy will go from the next Osborne to calling Nebraska unemployment services to file a claim.

LOL, I can assure you I never "begged" Shawn Watson not to go to Alabama. Even last year, I felt like Shawn Watson was a bad playcaller (although looking back I will admit last years offense seem like world beaters compared to this years offense)

As for Pelini, he has clearly done a much better job than Shawn Watson. & at least when Pelini has done a bad job (such as 08 Missouri) he has owned up to it & taken personal responsibility for a bad job performance. In every interview I have seen Shawn Watson give, & in every interview of Watson I read in the paper, never, not once has Shawn Watson taken even a tiny bit of personal responsibility the product he has put on the field (our offense). In that way, he reminds me alot of "excellent job in all areas" Callahan.

 

[I am I]

I am starting to think that BigWillie is connected, or is a coach/football guy...He seems to be extremely knowledgeable (as are many, many Husker fans) in more ways than conjecture and emotion. He lays out a pretty good argument about Watson and the COMPLETE breakdown this year. I tend to agree with a lot he has said, not just in this thread, but in others as well....

Having said that, I just think that when shiit hits the fan either all at once (Castille, Spano, 08 WRs, yadda, yadda) or really slowly (Lee isn't all cracked up to be, Helu gets hurt, Rex goes down yadda yadda season)---that SOMEhow SOMEway, a great coach gets average players to play good. He could do Nothing about 8 TOs against ISU, but damnit, TWO mirror games against solid programs (OU, TX) proves to me that he can't pull what's BEST out of his troops and give a competitive balance to an Outstanding D.

I don't have answers or am not there everyday or whatever, but Watson is there every day and whatever, and he doesn't seem to have answers either. Answers like how to get more than 6 1st downs against Texas in the 13th game of the year. I mean, 100 more yds and 7 more 1st downs WINS that game. and that gives us 206 yds and 13 first downs. some teams do that in a half

I totally see the sh#tstorm that BigWillie is talking about, and it seems he actually knows his stuff...but come ON. Our O was absouletly terrible and they were given some AMAZING chances w our D.

 

[BigWillie]

Really? What school offered Shawn Watson a HC job? I'll bet it was some crappy football school like San Jose State or Akron

And yet we had (I should clarify: some) people going gaga over the idea of a well-connected juco HC coming here to be our OC...

OC? I thought it was a lesser role if he came?

I guess you should have watched the MissU game before commenting on it. Since apparently you did not watch the game, I'll let you know what happened: NU tried to run a little early, with a little success. Even though MissU is weak against the run, Watson kept calling short out patterns to the far side of the field (30-40 yard passes) in hurricane conditions that were rarely, if ever completed. Even if the were completed, they would have only been for 4-5 yards, max. Fast forward to the 4th qtr., after the O put NU in a nice little hole, they finally dedicated to "pounding the rock" (puke!), picked up chunks of yardage and even scored a rushing touchdown. If they would have just pounded MissU all day, they likely would not have been down as much as they were.

If you want to totally disregard that game, how about some of these brilliant gameplans:

Against T Tech, throwing that stupid lateral pass to a guy with bad hands (the same one that never works) which ended up being a fumbled returned for a TD, totally shifting the momentum. Then, after being down by 3 td's, instead of trying to get some quick scores, he continually called zone reads for most of the 2nd half with Zach, pretty much running most of the time off of the clock.

The 1 yr. TD pass agains OU on 1st and goal when a QB sneak or two likely would have worked just as well and would have been a higher percentage play.

Calling option plays/zone reads with Zach Lee, while not doing so in the same frequency with Cody Green.

Against Va Tech and Texass, repeatedly calling running plays when NU has first and goal from the 9 or 10 instead of trying a pass, which lead to FGs and us losing those games. (This has to be one of the most frustrating and poor game calling I have ever seen. In the next NU game, watch his play calling in these situations: when NU has first and goal from about 3 yards and closer, he calls more passes, and when they have first and goal from about 7 yards and out, he calls more runs.)

We don't even have to get into how little his players (qb's/wr's) have progressed in his system. Really, we just have to look at how historically mediocre to poor his offensives have fared.

I'm sorry my friend you can defend the guy all you want, but the results don't lie. Even if you want to ignore them.

I'm only going to address the Mizzou game, because again, TBH, that's all I read and am gonna bother to read.

We rushed for 105 total yards in the Mizzou game. That is on 33 total carries. A total of 3.2 YPC. If not for Helu's 41 yard rush in the 4th quarter, you can imagine.

Even in the 4th, we rushed for 65 of our total 105. Up until that point we had 23 carries for 40 yards.

So we were running the ball? What?

Yeah, selective memory makes you forget that downpour that let Mizzou put 8-9 in the box almost every play to force us to pass. Hate to tell you, but you cannot run on that type of front. Even Texas' 8-9 man front in the CCG agrees.

LOL, I can assure you I never "begged" Shawn Watson not to go to Alabama. Even last year, I felt like Shawn Watson was a bad playcaller (although looking back I will admit last years offense seem like world beaters compared to this years offense)

As for Pelini, he has clearly done a much better job than Shawn Watson. & at least when Pelini has done a bad job (such as 07 Missouri) he has owned up to it & taken personal responsibility for a bad job performance. In every interview I have seen Shawn Watson give, & in every interview of Watson I read in the paper, never, not once has Shawn Watson taken even a tiny bit of personal responsibility the product he has put on the field (our offense). In that way, he reminds me alot of "excellent job in all areas" Callahan.

Of course you didn't. You wanted a top 15 offensive mind to leave last year and you didn't care.

But then admitting that would prove your hypocrisy, but naturally I would never expect you to admit that.

In any case, haters gon' hate. Agree to disagree in this situation.

 

[74Hunter]

Lets put this into context.

IF Watson is that good of an OC, why does the AD (as great of a coach as he was/is) who has not coached for 12 years need to give a tape of some of his own most effective plays (from over 10 years ago) to a guy who is supposed to be a top OC and a head coach candidate?

Is embarrassing that of one of the top 10 all-time college football programs has an OC that needs to get hand-fed plays from a guy who hasn't wore a headset for over a decade.

You think people suddenly forget coaching or something? Look at Bill Snyder and how much he was able to do with KSU, even with his time off. Teachers never lose their touch.

Think of it this way, when your offense is struggling and you have tried multiple ways to fix it, would you not consult with a great offensive mind like Osborne?

But hey, guess what - after consulting with Osborne it STILL didn't work. Even someone like Osborne couldn't help this offense.

Coaches everywhere consult others to get ideas. Hell, a BCS team came to Bo last year before their game to get advice. If this offense was crapping the bed and Watson WAS NOT asking for help, then I'd be right beside you saying there is a problem here.

I never said that TO has forgot anything about football, its pretty obvious that he knows more about the game then all of us combined, and consulting said person is to be commended. My point is that it shouldn't take Watson half a seaon to figure out what his personnel can and can't do, and I have NEVER heard (not that it hasn't happened) of an OC of a major college football team performing such a consultation mid-season. Normally, that is something that is done between seasons, to tweak the offense/defense.

 

[74Hunter]

Really? What school offered Shawn Watson a HC job? I'll bet it was some crappy football school like San Jose State or Akron

And yet we had (I should clarify: some) people going gaga over the idea of a well-connected juco HC coming here to be our OC...

OC? I thought it was a lesser role if he came?

I guess you should have watched the MissU game before commenting on it. Since apparently you did not watch the game, I'll let you know what happened: NU tried to run a little early, with a little success. Even though MissU is weak against the run, Watson kept calling short out patterns to the far side of the field (30-40 yard passes) in hurricane conditions that were rarely, if ever completed. Even if the were completed, they would have only been for 4-5 yards, max. Fast forward to the 4th qtr., after the O put NU in a nice little hole, they finally dedicated to "pounding the rock" (puke!), picked up chunks of yardage and even scored a rushing touchdown. If they would have just pounded MissU all day, they likely would not have been down as much as they were.

If you want to totally disregard that game, how about some of these brilliant gameplans:

Against T Tech, throwing that stupid lateral pass to a guy with bad hands (the same one that never works) which ended up being a fumbled returned for a TD, totally shifting the momentum. Then, after being down by 3 td's, instead of trying to get some quick scores, he continually called zone reads for most of the 2nd half with Zach, pretty much running most of the time off of the clock.

The 1 yr. TD pass agains OU on 1st and goal when a QB sneak or two likely would have worked just as well and would have been a higher percentage play.

Calling option plays/zone reads with Zach Lee, while not doing so in the same frequency with Cody Green.

Against Va Tech and Texass, repeatedly calling running plays when NU has first and goal from the 9 or 10 instead of trying a pass, which lead to FGs and us losing those games. (This has to be one of the most frustrating and poor game calling I have ever seen. In the next NU game, watch his play calling in these situations: when NU has first and goal from about 3 yards and closer, he calls more passes, and when they have first and goal from about 7 yards and out, he calls more runs.)

We don't even have to get into how little his players (qb's/wr's) have progressed in his system. Really, we just have to look at how historically mediocre to poor his offensives have fared.

I'm sorry my friend you can defend the guy all you want, but the results don't lie. Even if you want to ignore them.

I'm only going to address the Mizzou game, because again, TBH, that's all I read and am gonna bother to read.

We rushed for 105 total yards in the Mizzou game. That is on 33 total carries. A total of 3.2 YPC. If not for Helu's 41 yard rush in the 4th quarter, you can imagine.

Even in the 4th, we rushed for 65 of our total 105. Up until that point we had 23 carries for 40 yards.

So we were running the ball? What?

Yeah, selective memory makes you forget that downpour that let Mizzou put 8-9 in the box almost every play to force us to pass. Hate to tell you, but you cannot run on that type of front. Even Texas' 8-9 man front in the CCG agrees.

LOL, I can assure you I never "begged" Shawn Watson not to go to Alabama. Even last year, I felt like Shawn Watson was a bad playcaller (although looking back I will admit last years offense seem like world beaters compared to this years offense)

As for Pelini, he has clearly done a much better job than Shawn Watson. & at least when Pelini has done a bad job (such as 07 Missouri) he has owned up to it & taken personal responsibility for a bad job performance. In every interview I have seen Shawn Watson give, & in every interview of Watson I read in the paper, never, not once has Shawn Watson taken even a tiny bit of personal responsibility the product he has put on the field (our offense). In that way, he reminds me alot of "excellent job in all areas" Callahan.

Of course you didn't. You wanted a top 15 offensive mind to leave last year and you didn't care.

But then admitting that would prove your hypocrisy, but naturally I would never expect you to admit that.

In any case, haters gon' hate. Agree to disagree in this situation.

How about reading the entire post before answering then, instead of being so all-knowing and condescending. Acting in such a fashion confirms that your argument really doesn't have a leg to stand on.

I know that 2.3 yards per rush isn't great, but it's much, much better than 0 yards on each pass. If he wants to sling the ball around in such conditions, why not try high percentage passes like short slants, hooks, or in patterns (not that crappy bubble screen to a WR that has never worked), or are those plays not part of his vautned offense? Since you have the game broken down into segements, why don't you break down Lee's stats 1st-3rd qtrs vs. 4th qtr. Besides, if you keep running you might get lucky and break one for 8 or 10 yards here or there, wear down the defense, and really open the game up in the 4th qtr., but hey I would never expect you to admit that.

I admit, if Watson left for Bama, I wouldn't have lost any sleep. If one good year makes him a "top 15 offensive mind" then what does this year make him? Is he now a bottom 20 offensive mind, or are only using that defense when it suits your needs. Watson's offenses had a couple of good years, a couple of bad years, but mostly have been middle of the pack. It seems that in most seasons, he is a top 60 or 80 offensive mind. I don't understand why you won't admit this.

The results don't lie, and in this case, you are wrong, my friend.

 

[zoogs]

OC? I thought it was a lesser role if he came?

Yeah, although at first the speculation was that Wats was gone and he was the replacement.

 

[I am I]

Sorry 74Hunter. Coaches talk EVERY day to one another, even sometimes coaches they play against that week. Coaching networks are actually very very small..and everyone knows everyone.

However, I will agree w you about the Half Season makeover. Even Watson has said that he has to "check his ego, not to be tempted to sling it around"...That's whats all to familiar to us:

A coach (Cozgrove) doing the same crap over and over with no success. Lets face it: 6 games last year (til after Mizzou makeover) and so far 10 games this year with VERY limited success on offense. It can't be all players.

 

[HuskerNCo]

BigWillie....I luv you...thanks for bringing reason to the board...appreciated.

ok continue on.....

 

[AngryHusker88]

I guess you should have watched the MissU game before commenting on it. Since apparently you did not watch the game, I'll let you know what happened: NU tried to run a little early, with a little success. Even though MissU is weak against the run, Watson kept calling short out patterns to the far side of the field (30-40 yard passes) in hurricane conditions that were rarely, if ever completed. Even if the were completed, they would have only been for 4-5 yards, max. Fast forward to the 4th qtr., after the O put NU in a nice little hole, they finally dedicated to "pounding the rock" (puke!), picked up chunks of yardage and even scored a rushing touchdown. If they would have just pounded MissU all day, they likely would not have been down as much as they were.

If you want to totally disregard that game, how about some of these brilliant gameplans:

Against T Tech, throwing that stupid lateral pass to a guy with bad hands (the same one that never works) which ended up being a fumbled returned for a TD, totally shifting the momentum. Then, after being down by 3 td's, instead of trying to get some quick scores, he continually called zone reads for most of the 2nd half with Zach, pretty much running most of the time off of the clock.

The 1 yr. TD pass agains OU on 1st and goal when a QB sneak or two likely would have worked just as well and would have been a higher percentage play.

Calling option plays/zone reads with Zach Lee, while not doing so in the same frequency with Cody Green.

Against Va Tech and Texass, repeatedly calling running plays when NU has first and goal from the 9 or 10 instead of trying a pass, which lead to FGs and us losing those games. (This has to be one of the most frustrating and poor game calling I have ever seen. In the next NU game, watch his play calling in these situations: when NU has first and goal from about 3 yards and closer, he calls more passes, and when they have first and goal from about 7 yards and out, he calls more runs.)

We don't even have to get into how little his players (qb's/wr's) have progressed in his system. Really, we just have to look at how historically mediocre to poor his offensives have fared.

I'm sorry my friend you can defend the guy all you want, but the results don't lie. Even if you want to ignore them.

I'm only going to address the Mizzou game, because again, TBH, that's all I read and am gonna bother to read.

We rushed for 105 total yards in the Mizzou game. That is on 33 total carries. A total of 3.2 YPC. If not for Helu's 41 yard rush in the 4th quarter, you can imagine.

 

Even in the 4th, we rushed for 65 of our total 105. Up until that point we had 23 carries for 40 yards.

 

So we were running the ball? What?

 

Yeah, selective memory makes you forget that downpour that let Mizzou put 8-9 in the box almost every play to force us to pass. Hate to tell you, but you cannot run on that type of front. Even Texas' 8-9 man front in the CCG agrees.

How about reading the entire post before answering then, instead of being so all-knowing and condescending. Acting in such a fashion confirms that your argument really doesn't have a leg to stand on.

I know that 2.3 yards per rush isn't great, but it's much, much better than 0 yards on each pass. If he wants to sling the ball around in such conditions, why not try high percentage passes like short slants, hooks, or in patterns (not that crappy bubble screen to a WR that has never worked), or are those plays not part of his vautned offense? Since you have the game broken down into segements, why don't you break down Lee's stats 1st-3rd qtrs vs. 4th qtr. Besides, if you keep running you might get lucky and break one for 8 or 10 yards here or there, wear down the defense, and really open the game up in the 4th qtr., but hey I would never expect you to admit that.

I admit, if Watson left for Bama, I wouldn't have lost any sleep. If one good year makes him a "top 15 offensive mind" then what does this year make him? Is he now a bottom 20 offensive mind, or are only using that defense when it suits your needs. Watson's offenses had a couple of good years, a couple of bad years, but mostly have been middle of the pack. It seems that in most seasons, he is a top 60 or 80 offensive mind. I don't understand why you won't admit this.

The results don't lie, and in this case, you are wrong, my friend.

OWNED

 

[Danimal]

Can't put it all on the line when our ineffective passing-attack lets defenses consistently stack the box. Our pass-blocking isn't bad, if Lee and the wr's were getting the job done D's would have to play us straight and it would open the run-game more.

 

[blackshirts5115]

this probably isn't the right mind set to have but i'm friends with a player on the team who says that everyone talks trash on Kody behind his back. apparently he isn't a very good teammate and really wouldn't be a good leader which makes me root for Green to win the starting job.. my friend is the same guy who said lee was not going to be good at all this year based on spring and summer practices, even with all the hype he was getting. so i trust his assessment on Kody Spano too

 

[Hunter94]

I guess you should have watched the MissU game before commenting on it. Since apparently you did not watch the game, I'll let you know what happened: NU tried to run a little early, with a little success. Even though MissU is weak against the run, Watson kept calling short out patterns to the far side of the field (30-40 yard passes) in hurricane conditions that were rarely, if ever completed. Even if the were completed, they would have only been for 4-5 yards, max. Fast forward to the 4th qtr., after the O put NU in a nice little hole, they finally dedicated to "pounding the rock" (puke!), picked up chunks of yardage and even scored a rushing touchdown. If they would have just pounded MissU all day, they likely would not have been down as much as they were.

If you want to totally disregard that game, how about some of these brilliant gameplans:

Against T Tech, throwing that stupid lateral pass to a guy with bad hands (the same one that never works) which ended up being a fumbled returned for a TD, totally shifting the momentum. Then, after being down by 3 td's, instead of trying to get some quick scores, he continually called zone reads for most of the 2nd half with Zach, pretty much running most of the time off of the clock.

The 1 yr. TD pass agains OU on 1st and goal when a QB sneak or two likely would have worked just as well and would have been a higher percentage play.

Calling option plays/zone reads with Zach Lee, while not doing so in the same frequency with Cody Green.

Against Va Tech and Texass, repeatedly calling running plays when NU has first and goal from the 9 or 10 instead of trying a pass, which lead to FGs and us losing those games. (This has to be one of the most frustrating and poor game calling I have ever seen. In the next NU game, watch his play calling in these situations: when NU has first and goal from about 3 yards and closer, he calls more passes, and when they have first and goal from about 7 yards and out, he calls more runs.)

We don't even have to get into how little his players (qb's/wr's) have progressed in his system. Really, we just have to look at how historically mediocre to poor his offensives have fared.

I'm sorry my friend you can defend the guy all you want, but the results don't lie. Even if you want to ignore them.

I'm only going to address the Mizzou game, because again, TBH, that's all I read and am gonna bother to read.

We rushed for 105 total yards in the Mizzou game. That is on 33 total carries. A total of 3.2 YPC. If not for Helu's 41 yard rush in the 4th quarter, you can imagine.

 

Even in the 4th, we rushed for 65 of our total 105. Up until that point we had 23 carries for 40 yards.

 

So we were running the ball? What?

 

Yeah, selective memory makes you forget that downpour that let Mizzou put 8-9 in the box almost every play to force us to pass. Hate to tell you, but you cannot run on that type of front. Even Texas' 8-9 man front in the CCG agrees.

How about reading the entire post before answering then, instead of being so all-knowing and condescending. Acting in such a fashion confirms that your argument really doesn't have a leg to stand on.

I know that 2.3 yards per rush isn't great, but it's much, much better than 0 yards on each pass. If he wants to sling the ball around in such conditions, why not try high percentage passes like short slants, hooks, or in patterns (not that crappy bubble screen to a WR that has never worked), or are those plays not part of his vautned offense? Since you have the game broken down into segements, why don't you break down Lee's stats 1st-3rd qtrs vs. 4th qtr. Besides, if you keep running you might get lucky and break one for 8 or 10 yards here or there, wear down the defense, and really open the game up in the 4th qtr., but hey I would never expect you to admit that.

I admit, if Watson left for Bama, I wouldn't have lost any sleep. If one good year makes him a "top 15 offensive mind" then what does this year make him? Is he now a bottom 20 offensive mind, or are only using that defense when it suits your needs. Watson's offenses had a couple of good years, a couple of bad years, but mostly have been middle of the pack. It seems that in most seasons, he is a top 60 or 80 offensive mind. I don't understand why you won't admit this.

The results don't lie, and in this case, you are wrong, my friend.

OWNED

wats is just plain overated, nice guy, but doesn't show me much.