Bring back the option....

[gamecocks]

Exactly, the old saying goes, "there is more than one way to skin a cat" well that is true in football too. There is more than one way to win. Whether we are running the option or the WCO, all that matters is if we are winning or not.

[California Husker]

Okay, so the option is not coming back; I understand that. But the “leather helmet” and “snack with a nap” comments are a little simplistic don’t you think? Perhaps you are all too young to remember the criticisms that were regularly leveled at Dr. Tom. If you don’t remember let me refresh your memory. In the late `80’s to early `90’s all the brain trusts in the media at ESPN and in SI (and anywhere else that they talked or wrote about college football) were saying that Osborne’s offense was antiquated, that he needed to move forward and get rid of the option. They said that college football offenses were now much more sophisticated and complex and that Nebraska’s old-fashioned option attack had gone the way of the dodo. But then Osborne got the right players in place and VIOLA! From `93-`97 his option attack went 60-3 and won three national championships (and got screwed out of a fourth in `93). Did you catch that? In the era that the option was considered obsolete, Tom Osborne went SIXTY AND F-ING THREE IN FIVE YEARS!!! Read that again in case you didn’t get it. THEY ONLY LOST THREE GAMES IN FIVE YEARS!!! And one of the losses was extremely questionable.

 

They all said that Nebraska should emulate the Florida schools and run a more pro-style passing offense. How sweet was it that those options teams outplayed FSU (and got robbed of a NC), and then beat Miami and Florida for the national championship. Sure…but that was with Tommie Frazier…right? Well, don’t forget that the `94 team went most of the season without Tommie due to blood clots, and even played a pretty good K-state team with Matt Terman at QB when Brook went down with a collapsed lung, and still went undefeated. And also, two years after Frazier was gone, Nebraska won another national championship with a player (Scott Frost) that was nowhere near as talented as Frazier at QB. Don’t get me wrong, Frost was a stud, but he was nowhere near as gifted as Frazier, and Osborne still won a national championship. And oh…by the way… Frost won against a pretty good pro-style offense run by future hall-of-famer Peyton Manning.

 

The west coast offense is a good system. Besides, it’s what we have so we have to root for it to be successful. However, I am not going to be as asinine as the ESPN guys were back in the early `90’s and claim that the option is out of date and would never work again. I think that shows an increasable lack of insight and knowledge of football history. With the right players, and the right coaches, the option can be impossible to defend, witch by definition makes it an absolute perfect offense no matter what decade… or century… you’re in.

[gamecocks]

With the right players, and the right coaches, the option can be impossible to defend, witch by definition makes it an absolute perfect offense no matter what decade… or century… you’re in.

 

I think that you just said what some of the other posters said earlier. The top talent on offense does not want to go run an option offense in college. They want to get in a pro style. Also, Osborne was a master at the end of his career at play calling, something that Solich was absolutly horrible at if you ask me. Its very difficult in this day and age to get a great play calling coach and the best talent to run an option offense in college.

 

And about your 60-3 comment. One, that was 10 years ago. Two, USC is having how much success right now with the WCO. Like I said in my previous post, their is more than one type of offense that can win in college football. The option is gone, and is not coming back anytime soon.

[FriscoTXHusker]

bring back '95!

[benjibean1]

I do miss the option...however the one thing that i really like in the Day and Age of the BC offense is that we are not out of it if we are down 21. We can get back in a game Quickly.

 

And how about that Erikson kid. He is a special blocker on the wing.

[skersfan]

The option is a great system. The draw back is you have to have superior athletes to make it successful. Tom had them, but as the Big 12 evolved he lost an edge, scholarship limits, he nor anyone else could just stockpile kids until they were seniors to play. We lost our hometown/grown ability to compete. We do not have the population to compete. Therefore more emphasis on out of state kids, as stated wanted to play in an offense that prepared them for the NFL. I still think one of the biggest things that changed college sports, was the movie, Show me the Money. It became all about highlights on ESPN. It became the Terrel Owens mentality, just not to that degree.

 

Many things did away with the option. Scholarship levels dropping and kids discoverning that Mississippi State or Boston College could get them to the big dance just as quick. NFL scouts look for talent, not where you played.

 

Could it work again, if the right kids could be recruited it might, but all you have to do is look at Rivals top 100. You will see very quickly that Nebraska even running the WCO is not getting the top kids, not even close. Weather, proposed lack of nightlife, just football mentality, no ocean, no mountains are factors. But there is something else. I have not figured it out yet. But there is some reason the top kids in the country seem to turn up their noses at Nebraska. I hope BC figures it out. But because of the lack of talent I do not see Nebraska ever running the option again as an offense. SC, Ohio State, MIchigan, LSU, Texas and a few others could, but the first one that does loses it's recruiting pull. Just is not going to happen.

[Axl_sued_me]

But overall, I think defenses are a lot faster now then they were 10 years ago. So the option would really not work today. IMO

[Bleedin_Red]

If anyone watched the greatest team ever brackets on ESPN rescently, Barry Switzer actually said that he thought the Option attack could still be sucessful in college football. He said that he wouldn't run the wishbone, but if he were to coach college again, as in TODAY, he would run the T.O. based option. He said it doesnt matter how sophisticated defenses have gotten, that when teams blitz, they would get burned by the option. He stated that it is all about getting the right players for the system, period. Bring in the right athletes for the system and it will work, no matter what type of offense you run.

 

Dont get me wrong, I am happy with what we are trying to do now, but do miss the option, and have to believe that if we were able to get the right athletes during the Solich days, the system still could have been a good one!

[strigori]

The tripple option that we used to have is a very hard one to win with in modern football. Most of the teams that use option, use some of it only and not as the major base setup.

 

I honestly do not miss it at all. The WCO we have now is more exciting, attracts more elite players, and is flat out more versitile. With the old option, if we were down by more than 2 scores there was very little hope of a comeback. The WCO can do that. ANd the WCO is able to chew clock like the old rushing was.

 

Nostalgia is nice, but I would rather move forward.

[California Husker]

With the right players, and the right coaches, the option can be impossible to defend, witch by definition makes it an absolute perfect offense no matter what decade… or century… you’re in.

 

I think that you just said what some of the other posters said earlier. The top talent on offense does not want to go run an option offense in college. They want to get in a pro style. Also, Osborne was a master at the end of his career at play calling, something that Solich was absolutly horrible at if you ask me. Its very difficult in this day and age to get a great play calling coach and the best talent to run an option offense in college.

 

And about your 60-3 comment. One, that was 10 years ago. Two, USC is having how much success right now with the WCO. Like I said in my previous post, their is more than one type of offense that can win in college football. The option is gone, and is not coming back anytime soon.

Well, since you like to pick apart EVERY LITTLE STINKING DETAIL of a person’s post, the 60-3 run ended nine years ago, not ten. Also, what some of you seem to forget is that in 1999 the Huskers had one of the best teams in the nation. That year we were a Correll Buckhalter fumble on the goal line against Texas away from a perfect season. And that was only seven years ago. And in 2001 the Huskers played for a national title, and that was only five years ago. Granted, they did not run the option the same way in 2001 as they did in 1995, and although I agree that Osborne was a master at play calling, and that Solich was not nearly as good at it, but IMO there is middle ground between those two extremes that can be successful.

 

Also, as to the “you cant get the talent to run the option in college” remark…if that is what the talent is most suited for, and they have an opportunity to win national championships, then they would come. On those teams in the 90’s there were five or six players that played or are still playing in the NFL from the offensive line, LP was a wasted talent, but he was a first round draft choice, Ahman Green, and Cory Schlesinger have had pretty good careers (after all the option is more than just the QB), and guys like Scott Frost and Eric Crouch (I know Crouch wasn’t on the 60-3 teams, but he was the most talented player in college football in the late 90’s) were not going to be NFL QB’s anyway, so they played their role and in the case of Frost, won a national championship. Sure we would not get the NFL style wide receivers…we seldom did. But we didn’t need them. Nor would we get NFL style QB’s. But not every kid in America has the ability to play NFL style QB. Nor does every kid in America have the ability to run the option. There are different types of talent. And yet some of those kids who are very well suited to run the option would jump at the chance to play QB for a major program instead of being converted to safety on a team that runs the WCO.

 

We have the WCO in Nebraska now, and that is not going to change. I was not the one calling for it, however, anyone who thinks it cannot work any longer is just ignorant about college football in general. There are different philosophies, and most CAN work. The spread, the fun and gun, the WCO, the option, that sort of West Coast-ish offense that USC runs… they can all be successful if you commit to the system and recruit to it. In my opinion one of the problems Solich had was that he would not commit to a system. He wanted to continue to run the option, but he wanted to feature the pass more. He also had an incredible talent in Eric Crouch and wanted to feature him more which sort of led him away from some of the things that made Osborne’s option work, i.e. fullback traps, counter plays, shovel passes, wb reverses, and so on. Solich only utilized a fraction of TO’s playbook. I know he wanted to be his own man, but in that role he was not equipped to fill Osborne’s shoes.

 

And also…gamecocks…. Thanks for repeating what I said. I know the option is gone and is not coming back. My point is that it would still work today if a coach had the intestinal fortitude to commit to it and recruit for it the way TO did.

 

It almost sounds to me like you are trying to forward the ridiculous notion that the 1995 Huskers couldn’t compete in today’s college football world. Because I truly feel that there is still that kind of talent around just waiting to be tapped. But if you think that today’s systems are just superior, then maybe you can join Herbstriet in a whine fest over how 2004 USC should be the greatest team ever.

 

Edited by Mods for personal attack

 

 

Nuff said.

[Blackshirtsguru]

I feel a woodshed "special moment" brewing from this!

[diehard]

With the right players, and the right coaches, the option can be impossible to defend, witch by definition makes it an absolute perfect offense no matter what decade… or century… you’re in.

 

I think that you just said what some of the other posters said earlier. The top talent on offense does not want to go run an option offense in college. They want to get in a pro style. Also, Osborne was a master at the end of his career at play calling, something that Solich was absolutly horrible at if you ask me. Its very difficult in this day and age to get a great play calling coach and the best talent to run an option offense in college.

 

And about your 60-3 comment. One, that was 10 years ago. Two, USC is having how much success right now with the WCO. Like I said in my previous post, their is more than one type of offense that can win in college football. The option is gone, and is not coming back anytime soon.

Well, since you like to pick apart EVERY LITTLE STINKING DETAIL of a person’s post, the 60-3 run ended nine years ago, not ten. Also, what some of you seem to forget is that in 1999 the Huskers had one of the best teams in the nation. That year we were a Correll Buckhalter fumble on the goal line against Texas away from a perfect season. And that was only seven years ago. And in 2001 the Huskers played for a national title, and that was only five years ago. Granted, they did not run the option the same way in 2001 as they did in 1995, and although I agree that Osborne was a master at play calling, and that Solich was not nearly as good at it, but IMO there is middle ground between those two extremes that can be successful.

 

Also, as to the “you cant get the talent to run the option in college” remark…if that is what the talent is most suited for, and they have an opportunity to win national championships, then they would come. On those teams in the 90’s there were five or six players that played or are still playing in the NFL from the offensive line, LP was a wasted talent, but he was a first round draft choice, Ahman Green, and Cory Schlesinger have had pretty good careers (after all the option is more than just the QB), and guys like Scott Frost and Eric Crouch (I know Crouch wasn’t on the 60-3 teams, but he was the most talented player in college football in the late 90’s) were not going to be NFL QB’s anyway, so they played their role and in the case of Frost, won a national championship. Sure we would not get the NFL style wide receivers…we seldom did. But we didn’t need them. Nor would we get NFL style QB’s. But not every kid in America has the ability to play NFL style QB. Nor does every kid in America have the ability to run the option. There are different types of talent. And yet some of those kids who are very well suited to run the option would jump at the chance to play QB for a major program instead of being converted to safety on a team that runs the WCO.

 

We have the WCO in Nebraska now, and that is not going to change. I was not the one calling for it, however, anyone who thinks it cannot work any longer is just ignorant about college football in general. There are different philosophies, and most CAN work. The spread, the fun and gun, the WCO, the option, that sort of West Coast-ish offense that USC runs… they can all be successful if you commit to the system and recruit to it. In my opinion one of the problems Solich had was that he would not commit to a system. He wanted to continue to run the option, but he wanted to feature the pass more. He also had an incredible talent in Eric Crouch and wanted to feature him more which sort of led him away from some of the things that made Osborne’s option work, i.e. fullback traps, counter plays, shovel passes, wb reverses, and so on. Solich only utilized a fraction of TO’s playbook. I know he wanted to be his own man, but in that role he was not equipped to fill Osborne’s shoes.

 

And also…gamecocks…. Thanks for repeating what I said. I know the option is gone and is not coming back. My point is that it would still work today if a coach had the intestinal fortitude to commit to it and recruit for it the way TO did.

 

It almost sounds to me like you are trying to forward the ridiculous notion that the 1995 Huskers couldn’t compete in today’s college football world. Because I truly feel that there is still that kind of talent around just waiting to be tapped. But if you think that today’s systems are just superior, then maybe you can join Herbstriet in a whine fest over how 2004 USC should be the greatest team ever.

 

Edited by Mods for personal attack

 

 

Nuff said.

 

DAMN!! Somebody needs a nap.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

With the right players, and the right coaches, the option can be impossible to defend, witch by definition makes it an absolute perfect offense no matter what decade… or century… you’re in.

 

I think that you just said what some of the other posters said earlier. The top talent on offense does not want to go run an option offense in college. They want to get in a pro style. Also, Osborne was a master at the end of his career at play calling, something that Solich was absolutly horrible at if you ask me. Its very difficult in this day and age to get a great play calling coach and the best talent to run an option offense in college.

 

And about your 60-3 comment. One, that was 10 years ago. Two, USC is having how much success right now with the WCO. Like I said in my previous post, their is more than one type of offense that can win in college football. The option is gone, and is not coming back anytime soon.

Well, since you like to pick apart EVERY LITTLE STINKING DETAIL of a person’s post, the 60-3 run ended nine years ago, not ten. Also, what some of you seem to forget is that in 1999 the Huskers had one of the best teams in the nation. That year we were a Correll Buckhalter fumble on the goal line against Texas away from a perfect season. And that was only seven years ago. And in 2001 the Huskers played for a national title, and that was only five years ago. Granted, they did not run the option the same way in 2001 as they did in 1995, and although I agree that Osborne was a master at play calling, and that Solich was not nearly as good at it, but IMO there is middle ground between those two extremes that can be successful.

 

Also, as to the “you cant get the talent to run the option in college” remark…if that is what the talent is most suited for, and they have an opportunity to win national championships, then they would come. On those teams in the 90’s there were five or six players that played or are still playing in the NFL from the offensive line, LP was a wasted talent, but he was a first round draft choice, Ahman Green, and Cory Schlesinger have had pretty good careers (after all the option is more than just the QB), and guys like Scott Frost and Eric Crouch (I know Crouch wasn’t on the 60-3 teams, but he was the most talented player in college football in the late 90’s) were not going to be NFL QB’s anyway, so they played their role and in the case of Frost, won a national championship. Sure we would not get the NFL style wide receivers…we seldom did. But we didn’t need them. Nor would we get NFL style QB’s. But not every kid in America has the ability to play NFL style QB. Nor does every kid in America have the ability to run the option. There are different types of talent. And yet some of those kids who are very well suited to run the option would jump at the chance to play QB for a major program instead of being converted to safety on a team that runs the WCO.

 

We have the WCO in Nebraska now, and that is not going to change. I was not the one calling for it, however, anyone who thinks it cannot work any longer is just ignorant about college football in general. There are different philosophies, and most CAN work. The spread, the fun and gun, the WCO, the option, that sort of West Coast-ish offense that USC runs… they can all be successful if you commit to the system and recruit to it. In my opinion one of the problems Solich had was that he would not commit to a system. He wanted to continue to run the option, but he wanted to feature the pass more. He also had an incredible talent in Eric Crouch and wanted to feature him more which sort of led him away from some of the things that made Osborne’s option work, i.e. fullback traps, counter plays, shovel passes, wb reverses, and so on. Solich only utilized a fraction of TO’s playbook. I know he wanted to be his own man, but in that role he was not equipped to fill Osborne’s shoes.

 

And also…gamecocks…. Thanks for repeating what I said. I know the option is gone and is not coming back. My point is that it would still work today if a coach had the intestinal fortitude to commit to it and recruit for it the way TO did.

 

It almost sounds to me like you are trying to forward the ridiculous notion that the 1995 Huskers couldn’t compete in today’s college football world. Because I truly feel that there is still that kind of talent around just waiting to be tapped. But if you think that today’s systems are just superior, then maybe you can join Herbstriet in a whine fest over how 2004 USC should be the greatest team ever.

 

Edited by Mods for personal attack

 

 

Nuff said.

 

DAMN!! Somebody needs a nap.

 

Timouts!!!! All of you!!!!

[hack]

baby jesus cries when husker fans attack each other.

 

i'm just saying.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

baby jesus cries when husker fans attack each other.

 

i'm just saying.

 

Your nuts!!!!