Pelini not worried about Husker's rushing game

[I See Red People]

http://www.kptm.com/Global/story.asp?S=8938787

 

LINCOLN (AP) - Bo Pelini says he knows fans are concerned about Nebraska's lack of rushing yards against Western Michigan.

 

The Nebraska coach said Tuesday that those concerns are unfounded.

 

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson promised in the preseason that the Cornhuskers would impose their will in the running game. But they netted only 138 yards on the ground against the Broncos on Saturday.

 

Nebraska had just 31 rushing attempts compared with 36 passes.

 

Watson says he called fewer running plays because Western Michigan loaded up the area around the line of scrimmage with defenders. He says that opened up passing opportunities.

 

Pelini says Nebraska has an outstanding offensive line that, when asked, is able to create running room.

 

Sounds good, is it totally true?

[huskerjack23]

Murtha being out didn't help. honestly, with how bad our running game was doing, i missed the zone stretch plays.

[CornHunka]

I like the fact that we finally have the passing attack to throw it when there is 8, 9 or 10 defensive players in "the box." Keep passing it until either the game is over or the opposing defense switches schemes.

[EbylHusker]

It's true they were loading up the box to stop the run quite a lot, and that makes it much more difficult to run no matter who you're playing. I think it's too early to say the running game is having problems, however I don't think our run blocking was firing on all cylinders either.

[admo]

I think Watson did a good job. It's a lot better than "We dont take what they give, we take what we want blah blah" from years before.

 

The normal gameplan for most teams will always be "stop the run". The adjustment worked out well.

[NEHUSKERS311]

Well think about Nebraska football of old, they didnt care how many guys you put in the box they still ran over them and the other team knew we were going to run the ball an still couldnt stop it.. Now I understand times have changed, but the o-line needs to improve so if we need to control the clock we can.. To me the O-line was some what getting pushed around instead of pancakeing there butts..

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

If Bo's not worried... I'm not worried!

 

[GHOST]

Its gonna take more then a few games to get the running game back.Besides the o-line aint built for the running game lol they was built for the passing game that whats his face built oh yea callahan .And now hes in the nfl because of his running game

[clone]

What would you say?

 

The much smaller 80ish ranked team in the nation stacked the line and we couldn't move the ball against them so we threw it?

 

Or...

 

The much smaller WMU dline denied us the run but gave us the air so we took it?

 

I definitely wouldn't expect Bo to throw the oline under the bus.

 

At least watson knew when to give up on the run and go to what worked.

 

He said the right thing.

 

 

GO BO!!

[GHOST]

Now that I think more about it,maybe he has something planned for the big GAMES this year.I wouldnt really worry about it becuzz iam sure he knoes if you wanna win you have 2 work the clock

[shyndy]

I just thought that the running game looked a little out of sync. I saw a lot of guys getting good hits and whatnot, but the timing just wasn't always great, the speed of the blocking I think was the issue, I mean look at that run Lucky had where he had to stop and wait for a minute. Yeah WMU was stacking the line and using some run blitz/plugs, but I think a lot of it will be just syncing everything up a bit. I hope thats all it is, anyway.

[huskerstag]

Running the ball isn't always as simple as knocking someone over. Given that it was the first game of the season, we started a redshirt freshman (Jones) at tackle and three regulars barely played or didn't play at all (Burkes, Murtha, Smith) I'll withold judgement of the running game. Its like everything else - it takes a game or two to get in rhythm with the other linemen and the backs.

 

Besides - why run your backs into a 10 man wall when you can just toss it over their heads? Watson's words may sound cliche' - but the ease with which the offense threw the football leads me to believe its more than just coachspeak.

[huskered17]

Whats wrong with Murtha now? I thought when he signed his letter of intent that we had a offensive lineman that would be the strength of that line for, four great years. He has never lived up to expectations. Seems hes always hurt. If he thinks it hard here to stay healthy at the college level, hes in for a rude awakening at the next stop. I can't see him having much of a carrier at the next level.

 

GBR!!!

[Hunter94]

Well think about Nebraska football of old, they didnt care how many guys you put in the box they still ran over them and the other team knew we were going to run the ball an still couldnt stop it.. Now I understand times have changed, but the o-line needs to improve so if we need to control the clock we can.. To me the O-line was some what getting pushed around instead of pancakeing there butts..

 

 

you are exactly correct. we don't have the athletes on the offensive line to dominate like we used to do, but we still need to work harder on scheme blocking and the run game. thankfully Ganz can throw a little, otherwise this season would be horrific. this is not going to be easy moving forward, this game should have opened a lot of eyes and should bring the kool-aid drinkers back down to earth!

[HuskerFan505]

I just thought that the running game looked a little out of sync. I saw a lot of guys getting good hits and whatnot, but the timing just wasn't always great, the speed of the blocking I think was the issue, I mean look at that run Lucky had where he had to stop and wait for a minute. Yeah WMU was stacking the line and using some run blitz/plugs, but I think a lot of it will be just syncing everything up a bit. I hope thats all it is, anyway.

 

Yeah I just think it was a case of both the O-line not being 100% (Murtha out, Jaivario not 100%, and Mike Huff rolling his ankle). That and the fact that they were putting 8 guys in the box to stop the run. But hey, they forgot about the pass, so. We will run better I'm confident.

 

 

GBR!