QB run game advances

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12:59 p.m.: Zac Lee rushed for 65 yards in the Holiday Bowl, never breaking anything longer than a 10-yard run. But Lee made some of the progress Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson wants to see from his quarterbacks.
The quarterback run game is going to remain part of the Husker offense. Judging by those in the system and those being recruited, it also looks as if it's going to be on the increase.

So, how much?

"That all depends on the guy doing it,'' Watson said. "It's a part of what we do. So the guys are going to be evaluated in that. What they can bring to the table.''

Lee netted 171 yards rushing last season and Cody Green added 158. Lee had 315 in gains before taking away the losses.

The net yardage by the quarterbacks was modest but still the highest for NU since 2003, when Jammal Lord led the team with 948. That was the last season before the Huskers transitioned from an option-based attack to the West Coast system - and Watson isn't looking for a 1,000-yard rusher back there.

"We're not built like that,'' Watson said. "It's not going to be a quarterback run game like maybe what Florida was with (Tim) Tebow. That's not our style. We're not looking to run a quarterback 20 times a game.''

But Watson said there is a place for Lee or Green or any of the others to be effective with some zone reads or options, protected perimeter runs based off what the defense is giving.

It raises the question of where Taylor Martinez fits, because the redshirt freshman might be the best runner of a bunch that also includes Latravis Washington, Kody Spano and Ron Kellogg. Watson said there might be another edge on the Wildcat formation that featured I-back Rex Burkhead in the Holiday Bowl with "a quarterback who fits that role a little bit more.''

However it goes, Watson said the NU offense will be a mix of the quarterback taking snaps both from the shotgun and from under center.

"We do not want to be one-dimensional,'' he said. "You get to be one-dimensional and you get stopped.''

Watch for Husker spring practice preview stories starting Friday in The World-Herald. Our look-ahead videos also will be available on Omaha.com as NU inches close to the start of practice Wednesday.

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Having a running threat at QB is great, but when your FB team in 101st in the nation in passing offense, your first priority should probably be locating and developing your best young arms. Especially when your returning starter is sitting out most, if not all of spring practice recovering from an arm injury.

 
huzkerbob said:
Having a running threat at QB is great, but when your FB team in 101st in the nation in passing offense, your first priority should probably be locating and developing your best young arms. Especially when your returning starter is sitting out most, if not all of spring practice recovering from an arm injury.
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Amen.

 
huzkerbob said:
Having a running threat at QB is great, but when your FB team in 101st in the nation in passing offense, your first priority should probably be locating and developing your best young arms. Especially when your returning starter is sitting out most, if not all of spring practice recovering from an arm injury.
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But when your total offense is 99th in the nation your first priority should be to develop a "real" running game. Sure, we can run the ball on the SunBelt teams, but....

 
bshirt said:
huzkerbob said:
Having a running threat at QB is great, but when your FB team in 101st in the nation in passing offense, your first priority should probably be locating and developing your best young arms. Especially when your returning starter is sitting out most, if not all of spring practice recovering from an arm injury.
Click to expand...
But when your total offense is 99th in the nation your first priority should be to develop a "real" running game. Sure, we can run the ball on the SunBelt teams, but....
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We ran the ball pretty well on OU and VT also. But when your best 2 RB's are injured, and you have no threat of a passing game, the D can easily load the box and win the battle up front.

 
bshirt said:
huzkerbob said:
Having a running threat at QB is great, but when your FB team in 101st in the nation in passing offense, your first priority should probably be locating and developing your best young arms. Especially when your returning starter is sitting out most, if not all of spring practice recovering from an arm injury.
Click to expand...
But when your total offense is 99th in the nation your first priority should be to develop a "real" running game. Sure, we can run the ball on the SunBelt teams, but....
Click to expand...
Does NU need the QB to gain a "real" running game? Do you think that's what was holding the running game back last season? I know I don't.

The only thing NU has to do to improve the running game IMO is to build a deeper an more consistent O line, and (knock on wood) have better luck with injuries at the RB position. If Cotton and Beck can improve in those areas , and Watts continues the creative play calling we saw in the Holiday Bowl, then the yards and stats will surely improve.

 
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lilred said:
Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead out of the wildcat should be very exciting this year.
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i wonder how long it will take for other teams to clue in to the whole wildcat thing when these guys go in.. the magic can't last forever and i think with the evolution and sped of this evolution it wont takt long for people to be able to stop this.... however from all i've seen a lot of teams haven't EVEN when they know its coming due to the personal and what not.......

 
irieboy8 said:
lilred said:
Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead out of the wildcat should be very exciting this year.
Click to expand...

i wonder how long it will take for other teams to clue in to the whole wildcat thing when these guys go in.. the magic can't last forever and i think with the evolution and sped of this evolution it wont takt long for people to be able to stop this.... however from all i've seen a lot of teams haven't EVEN when they know its coming due to the personal and what not.......
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The Miami Dolphins run a lot of Wildcat using the same personnel, and they still find ways to gain a lot of yards using it.

The other interesting thing about the Wildcat is the variation of plays you can call. Not only can you do direct snap runs (like we saw Burkhead do primarily), but you can also throw the ball to the quarterback who is split out wide, do reverses, etc. etc. There are very few limitations with the Wildcat.

Lastly, I doubt you will see us use it much this year. IMHO, the Wildcat was used in the Holiday to give us a unsuspected advantage over Arizona. It is not something I expect we will use as much as we did in that game. At most, you can bank on four or five wildcat plays per game, and I still think that might be at best in some games. I doubt you'll see much of it in the non-con. All of our opponents in the non-con will be easy except for Washington, which is when I think we'll pull of a few tricks out of the bag.

 
huzkerbob said:
bshirt said:
huzkerbob said:
Having a running threat at QB is great, but when your FB team in 101st in the nation in passing offense, your first priority should probably be locating and developing your best young arms. Especially when your returning starter is sitting out most, if not all of spring practice recovering from an arm injury.
Click to expand...
But when your total offense is 99th in the nation your first priority should be to develop a "real" running game. Sure, we can run the ball on the SunBelt teams, but....
Click to expand...
Does NU need the QB to gain a "real" running game? Do you think that's what was holding the running game back last season? I know I don't.

The only thing NU has to do to improve the running game IMO is to build a deeper an more consistent O line, and (knock on wood) have better luck with injuries at the RB position. If Cotton and Beck can improve in those areas , and Watts continues the creative play calling we saw in the Holiday Bowl, then the yards and stats will surely improve.
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Implied is a qb who can run would compliment and enhance the running game. Frost/Frazier/Crouch/Gill/ect were no Dan Marino's throwing the ball but they complimented a strong running game nicely.

All we did with those qbs is win boatloads of games (and Big8-BigXII Championships/national titles) I don't remember those offenses being ranked 99th or worse in the nation either (even with a couple decades of time).

But SW clearly states he doesn't want a run 1st qb so I'll just have to hope he succeeds wildly. I wonder of he realizes how lucky he is to be an OC at Nebraska with Bo/Carl building national championship defenses? All he has to "achieve" is an average offense and NU is in the hunt. But even that is a long, long ways from last year.

 
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This comes from today's LJS article.

“I can say I’ve actually done a whole 180 of what I was last year,” Green said. “I’ve done so much better managing an offense and now I know how to do it. It just comes second-nature to me, and that’s the fun part of it.”
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But one area he definitely knows he was lacking in was as a game manager. He cites third downs and red-zone situations.“Just little detail things that really turned into big things.”
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I have reason to believe this "whole 180" means much more decisiveness when it comes to progressing quickly through receivers and hi-tailin' it out of the pocket to get yards with that big frame & athleticism. Those are the decisions that will pay off on any down.

 
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