LINCOLN — Mike McNeill's name was missing from the final box score Saturday. The senior receiver, whose 60 receptions during the past two seasons are second most among Huskers, didn't record a catch in the NU opener.But he isn't worried. “The touches will come when they come,” he said.
It's a lot easier for McNeill and the rest of the NU playmakers to carry that positive outlook this year.
In the words of Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, the Huskers' offensive attack won't be “vanilla” any more. Watson thinks he finally has the pieces in place to produce an attack that is unpredictable from sideline to sideline.
Here's Watson's ideal: Position so many potential game-changers all over the field that the moment opposing teams start to pinpoint one and shade his way, someone else will have the chance to take advantage.
Watson doesn't have to get too complicated, either. Not with guys like McNeill, receivers Brandon Kinnie and Niles Paul, and running backs Roy Helu and Rex Burkhead. And of course, as was evident on Saturday, the speed of Taylor Martinez has to be accounted for, too.
Isolate any one of those players, Watson said, and there's a legitimate chance of a big gainer.
“When we built plans, we were thinking about individuals in our offense getting touches and creating touches for them because they're the guys that can deliver explosion plays,” Watson said. “We just have to use our creativity. It's on us as coaches to continue to do that and put those guys in places to make plays for us.”
The approach is almost a full 180-degree turn from the strategy late last year, when the struggling NU offense sacrificed sophistication and emphasized mistake-free, field-position football.
“We don't have to live that way because we have experience and we're healthy,” Watson said. “We can cut it loose.”
To illustrate his point, Watson shared a glimpse of his plan for Paul, the gifted, 6-foot-1, 220-pounder from Omaha.
Watson says there's the possibility of Paul lining up at every single receiver spot and running in various route combinations as anywhere from the first option to the third. Paul has plays specific to his skill set, too. Don't be surprised if he's catching a receiver screen pass or running a reverse.
“Sometimes it seems like, I think the public perception is, you (don't) have enough balls to go around,” Watson said. “We do. When you look at us, when the season ends or a game ends, you want to see multiple touches by multiple people.”
So the fact that senior Roy Helu, a 1,000-yard rusher last year, had just five carries in the opener isn't concerning to Watson. Neither was McNeill's quiet night.
If the offense works as the coach expects, everybody will have his moment.
“We do have a lot of weapons, but we have a plan going into it,” Watson said. “We work hard at targeting our people.”
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