HQW 8: Win Now, or Play for Next Year...

October 7, 2004

WIN NOW, OR PLAY FOR NEXT YEAR?

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AR Husker Fan, HuskerBoard.com feature writer

Oct 6, 2004

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I really had high hopes that, with an open date, we’d see the offense come together. Well, we all know that went down the crapper like a HuskerBob morning constitutional. You can boil down the offensive’s problems to one word – turnovers. And almost all of those are from interceptions. Funny thing is, the running game has been pretty damn good – seems we’ve been able to run at-will on every team we’ve faced. Had we turned to the run more, we’d be undefeated – and in each game we’d all have been breathing a lot easier.

So why in God’s name don’t we run the damn ball more? Is it because the coaching staff is willing to lose games this year to prepare for next? Sure as hell looks that way, doesn’t it?

Well, maybe not… I don’t think that’s precisely it. If it were, wouldn’t we see more substitutions and changes in the lineup? Get younger players more playing time to prepare them for next year? Wouldn’t we see the continued motion before the snap? In the Kansas game, the motion seemed to be toned way down, the offense simplified quite a bit.

Could it be that the coaches have a slightly different priority?

I’m guessing that the coaches think that the only way to implement the new offensive system is to play it and take the lumps. But not to prepare for next year – to prepare for this year! Now, bear with me a little here…

I think what the coaches are trying to avoid is the K-State syndrome – a one dimensional attack.

KSU has one weapon, and one weapon only – Sproles. But as we’ve seen already, that makes them pretty easy to defend. Stick 8 or 9 in the box, stop the run, and win. Unless KSU can develop some more offensive weapons, they could end up losing a lot of games this year. While comparing opponents isn’t the best indicator, look at KSU’s first defeat – Fresno State. Last week they lost to LA Tech. LA Tech, for God’s sake!!! Fresno State loses to LA Tech, but they can still defeat KSU, in Manhattan? Gimme a freakin’ break, already! Maybe Fresno State had an off day, and LA Tech played way over their heads. Maybe. My guess is that Fresno State isn’t quite as good as the KSU win indicated. Good, but not great.

Up to now, we’ve played defenses that, at best, are of the “good-but-not-great” variety. In a couple of cases, we played defenses that simply couldn’t match up to us physically. We haven’t played a great defense, or even a top-tier Big 12 defense. So, of course we were able to run on those defenses. And if we’d stuck more to the run in those games, we’d have won walking away in each game.

But what happens when we face a top caliber defense?

Like it or not, Nebraska no longer is physically superior to the teams it faces – or will face. We may have loved the option – I still consider it as much a part of the NU tradition as the Blackshirts – but I think everyone agrees we needed to diversify the offense. Why? To avoid the KSU syndrome.

If the coaches didn’t want to win this year, they would simply go for the run now, and talk about needing the players to implement the system properly, and how they’re recruiting those players. Fans, for the most part, would be happy. So why not do that?

I think that Callahan and company are trying to force feed a diversified offense to the players – and they’re doing it as quickly as they can so NU has the best chance to win this year. They know that at some point the running game won’t be able to dominate or win the game by itself. They know that if we are too dependent on the run, we can win some games, but we can’t contend for a championship. They know that the only way Dailey is going to learn is by doing it in a game. They know the defense can’t win every game by itself, and if they can’t get offensive production, it’s going to cost us.

Yeah, we’ve come too close to losing a couple of games this way. I don’t like it – I want NU to dominate again. But that’s just it – I want NU to win! I don’t want to suffer through a game where we end up saying, “Damn, if we could just pass the friggin’ ball we could have – should have – won”. So we have to keep working on the pass. That’s the price we’re going to have to pay to avoid being “good, but not good enough”.

I think the coaches are staying the course, knowing – hoping – that Joe finally gets it. They’re going to continue with the pass even when the run is working, because if they don’t, NU won’t stand a chance when teams load up the box.

So, win now, or play for next year? The answer is both.

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AR Husker Fan

HuskerBob · October 7, 2004

I really had high hopes that, with an open date, we’d see the offense come together. Well, we all know that went down the crapper like a HuskerBob morning constitutional

what did I tell you about that!!!!!! :steam :rickjames :bat :box