Time Management

[holvy83]

I know our O has not been clicking and as efficient this year, but still surprised that NU is not controlling the clock like last year. Guessing the coaching philosophy is to let our D control games and get the O in the position to put points on the board. Since this is TT week thought I would bring this up, since I think this was the key to keeping that high powered TT offense off the field last year.

[UGAHusker]

I've been thinking the same thing this season, especially when I look at the box scores of games. I mean, if we keep getting results like we've had though, I doubt the offensive philosophy changes.

[jjamuss]

I know our O has not been clicking and as efficient this year, but still surprised that NU is not controlling the clock like last year. Guessing the coaching philosophy is to let our D control games and get the O in the position to put points on the board. Since this is TT week thought I would bring this up, since I think this was the key to keeping that high powered TT offense off the field last year.

I am sure it will be emphasized come game time... things are played very close to the vest these days.

[Husker Runner]

Oh, I thought this thread was going to be about spending too much time on HuskerBoard instead of working.

[caveman99]

Well this year in games where the O moved the ball, we have seen a lot more down the field plays than last year. More explosive plays and less dink and dunk passing IMO. Heck Curenski has a great YPC average. The explosiveness erodes the TOP stat and that is why for the most part the TOP stat is overrated a bit, games vs. TT would be the exception.

[knapplc]

TOP is overrated. It's a good stat to win, but not as important as turnover margin.

 

We held the ball for 40 of the 60 minutes against Tech last year and lost the game. If you score quick, it doesn't matter how long you hold the ball.

 

That's what defensive depth is for.

[holvy83]

TOP is overrated. It's a good stat to win, but not as important as turnover margin.

 

We held the ball for 40 of the 60 minutes against Tech last year and lost the game. If you score quick, it doesn't matter how long you hold the ball.

 

That's what defensive depth is for.

 

For TT i don't believe it as overrated as other teams, not arguing your point, but they have hung 70 on us before, i think a team like TT will be hard to beat by trading TD's.

[caveman99]

TOP is overrated. It's a good stat to win, but not as important as turnover margin.

 

We held the ball for 40 of the 60 minutes against Tech last year and lost the game. If you score quick, it doesn't matter how long you hold the ball.

 

That's what defensive depth is for.

 

For TT i don't believe it as overrated as other teams, not arguing your point, but they have hung 70 on us before, i think a team like TT will be hard to beat by trading TD's.

Turn Overs are still much more important. Turn overs limit their ability to trade scores with you.

[holvy83]

TOP is overrated. It's a good stat to win, but not as important as turnover margin.

 

We held the ball for 40 of the 60 minutes against Tech last year and lost the game. If you score quick, it doesn't matter how long you hold the ball.

 

That's what defensive depth is for.

 

For TT i don't believe it as overrated as other teams, not arguing your point, but they have hung 70 on us before, i think a team like TT will be hard to beat by trading TD's.

Turn Overs are still much more important. Turn overs limit their ability to trade scores with you.

 

it would be nice to drive a stake into Leach's robotic QB's.Where does he find these guys? A couple of pick 6's and the game is ours, i hope

[junior4949]

TOP is overrated. It's a good stat to win, but not as important as turnover margin.

 

We held the ball for 40 of the 60 minutes against Tech last year and lost the game. If you score quick, it doesn't matter how long you hold the ball.

 

That's what defensive depth is for.

 

For TT i don't believe it as overrated as other teams, not arguing your point, but they have hung 70 on us before, i think a team like TT will be hard to beat by trading TD's.

 

When they hung 70 on us, it was a direct result of turnovers. Didn't our backup QB himself throw like 5 INT's? Any team is hard to beat if we simply swap TD's because the last one with the ball wins. I agree that we need to control the clock, but we also need to not turn the ball over.

[Enhance]

I know our O has not been clicking and as efficient this year, but still surprised that NU is not controlling the clock like last year. Guessing the coaching philosophy is to let our D control games and get the O in the position to put points on the board. Since this is TT week thought I would bring this up, since I think this was the key to keeping that high powered TT offense off the field last year.

 

I think you have to consider the team as a whole when answering this question.

 

For starters, our defense last year was not that good. They were solid, but they were still prone to making a lot of bonehead mistakes. We couldn't afford to keep them out on the field for long periods of time else we would put ourselves into bad situations. So far this year, we haven't given up any touchdowns following a turn over. Last year's defense was not capable of something like that.

 

We don't need to be that ball control, T.O.P. offense as hardcore as we were last year. We have better athletes now who can stretch the field, and a quarterback who can throw the deep ball with accuracy. Swift and Pederson had solid hands, but they weren't going to stretch the field like Paul and Gilleylen have been able to.

[Paul in WI]

I agree that turnovers are more important, but TOP is also very important when playing these "rhythm teams". The longer we can keep their offense off the field, the less chance their qb has to get in sync with his receivers. That helps breed 3 and outs.

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

I know our O has not been clicking and as efficient this year, but still surprised that NU is not controlling the clock like last year. Guessing the coaching philosophy is to let our D control games and get the O in the position to put points on the board. Since this is TT week thought I would bring this up, since I think this was the key to keeping that high powered TT offense off the field last year.

 

I think you have to consider the team as a whole when answering this question.

 

For starters, our defense last year was not that good. They were solid, but they were still prone to making a lot of bonehead mistakes. We couldn't afford to keep them out on the field for long periods of time else we would put ourselves into bad situations. So far this year, we haven't given up any touchdowns following a turn over. Last year's defense was not capable of something like that.

 

We don't need to be that ball control, T.O.P. offense as hardcore as we were last year. We have better athletes now who can stretch the field, and a quarterback who can throw the deep ball with accuracy. Swift and Pederson had solid hands, but they weren't going to stretch the field like Paul and Gilleylen have been able to.

Agreed.

 

I think the coaches have more faith in the defense this year (and rightfully so). And that probably has allowed the offense to take a few more risks resulting in shorter possessions.

 

That said, I still think we still have to take the ball control approach this week. And with a better defense, hopefully it results in a win.