Pelini went off on Watson

[gotchman]

Am I the only person in this thread that doesn't think Roy SHOULD have caught that pitch? I mean it was thrown almost over his head, in fact, drilling him in the face mask. I would dare any of you to strap up some pads, run the option against a terrific defense, with a piss poor O-line blocking for you and I'll pitch the football at your face full speed and see how many times you drop the ball...

 

That being said, I think the reception COULD have been made, given some actual "PRACTICE" running the option. If you are going to run the option, RUN IT. You can't expect to just show up on Saturday and be able to run the option. It takes MONTHS of practice.

[Vince from ShamWOW]

Am I the only person in this thread that doesn't think Roy SHOULD have caught that pitch? I mean it was thrown almost over his head, in fact, drilling him in the face mask. I would dare any of you to strap up some pads, run the option against a terrific defense, with a piss poor O-line blocking for you and I'll pitch the football at your face full speed and see how many times you drop the ball...

 

That being said, I think the reception COULD have been made, given some actual "PRACTICE" running the option. If you are going to run the option, RUN IT. You can't expect to just show up on Saturday and be able to run the option. It takes MONTHS of practice.

 

 

The pitch was good and should have been caught.

[Hskr86]

Am I the only person in this thread that doesn't think Roy SHOULD have caught that pitch? I mean it was thrown almost over his head, in fact, drilling him in the face mask. I would dare any of you to strap up some pads, run the option against a terrific defense, with a piss poor O-line blocking for you and I'll pitch the football at your face full speed and see how many times you drop the ball...

 

That being said, I think the reception COULD have been made, given some actual "PRACTICE" running the option. If you are going to run the option, RUN IT. You can't expect to just show up on Saturday and be able to run the option. It takes MONTHS of practice.

 

i'd second the months, if not years, of practice... Helu is also paying attention up field for the wrong colored jerseys, and you don't 'bullet' a pitch to a guy that close to you. timing, softness of the pitch, distance from the sideline, are all 'feel' things from thousands of these things in practice.

 

even in the true 'option days', there were tandems that never quite got it right, and we put the ball on the carpet a helluva lot...

[Joe_5700]

Watson deserved some flak because YOU DON'T RUN THAT PLAY WITH LEE.

 

I feel like they're putting the Option in just to please the old fans, but it's stupid. It also assumes that we're dumb and we're going to be satisfied if they simply run a play that resembles "the good ol' days," and that's hogwash. We're a smart fan base and we know football, and we know that the Option as run by this team (or 2008) is crap. The guys aren't trained for it, we dont' have the personnel to run it, and it looks horrible. I think we've had one really good option play all year, and shite the rest. Put that play on the shelf until you've practiced it for a couple of years.

 

Watson makes a lot of weird calls like that play at that time. I wish he would just analyze his personnel, figure out their strengths, and play to that.

 

That's exactly how I feel about our running of the option.

 

And Green did not look one bit better than Lee on the option.

 

Agreed. The option plays look very "forced" to me. The guys running the plays do not quite understand it or grew up running it. If we are going to run the option, we need guys who actually ran it at the HS level. How long did Frazier run the option as a QB? Wasn't he like 8? The team however does look a little more natural running out of the I formation.

[dergibog]

Did anyone else see how Pelini went off on Watson after the Lee/Helu fumble? I think Pelini knew we had 3 points in the bag with the field position and did not like that pitch call (neither did I).

 

Bo went off on Watson. I'm not a lip reader, but it was pretty obvious he asked Watson "What the F*&% was that?" and Watson screamed back "It was a F&%$ing audible!" So they both laid into Lee.

 

As for the pitch, as a former high school coach, we never wanted the pitch at the running back's face or above his shoulders. It looked like Helu and Lee didn't have the right spacing, 3 yards away but 3 yards behind, and the pitch is out in front of the running back so he can run into it.

 

I wonder what the original play call was. Helu into the line is my guess. Helu out wide gives Henery a pretty tough angle for the FG.

[Joe_5700]

Am I the only person in this thread that doesn't think Roy SHOULD have caught that pitch? I mean it was thrown almost over his head, in fact, drilling him in the face mask. I would dare any of you to strap up some pads, run the option against a terrific defense, with a piss poor O-line blocking for you and I'll pitch the football at your face full speed and see how many times you drop the ball...

 

That being said, I think the reception COULD have been made, given some actual "PRACTICE" running the option. If you are going to run the option, RUN IT. You can't expect to just show up on Saturday and be able to run the option. It takes MONTHS of practice.

With that being said, how would you pitch a ball with a mediocre line against Oklahoma in that situation? My pitch would have been a bit rushed too. I place equal blame and that's why I called it the Lee/Helu fumble in my first post.

[Hskr86]

Did anyone else see how Pelini went off on Watson after the Lee/Helu fumble? I think Pelini knew we had 3 points in the bag with the field position and did not like that pitch call (neither did I).

 

Bo went off on Watson. I'm not a lip reader, but it was pretty obvious he asked Watson "What the F*&% was that?" and Watson screamed back "It was a F&%$ing audible!" So they both laid into Lee.

 

As for the pitch, as a former high school coach, we never wanted the pitch at the running back's face or above his shoulders. It looked like Helu and Lee didn't have the right spacing, 3 yards away but 3 yards behind, and the pitch is out in front of the running back so he can run into it.

 

I wonder what the original play call was. Helu into the line is my guess. Helu out wide gives Henery a pretty tough angle for the FG.

 

 

precisely!

[Enhance]

 

If Lee had kept the ball and gotten a touchdown or if Helu had scored on the pitch, then this conversation wouldn't exist because nobody would be complaining.

 

But I know, it's because it didn't work that it is being discussed.

 

At the same time, it's a call that wasn't executed which has been a problem all year.

 

I strongly disagree..... You don't run that play becuase Lee is not going to get the yards and score 98% of the time. NOBODY worried about Lee running. He is not a threat in anyway, infact looks scared most of the time. The pitch was high, and should have been caught, and looked like he was playing hot potato. I don't see why we would run an option play with Lee period... If you are going to do that, give us the best running option we have and that is not Lee.

 

As far as it not being executed..... thats a callaclown comment and precisely why we keep calling plays that we need to "execute" not plays that compliment our players abilities. That crap is the root of NU's probs for the last several years. You don't take a 6 ft. center in BBall and tell him to dunk it then say well..... he should have executed it... Crap!

Not sure I understand your analogy at the end of your post.

 

And I think you misinterpret my point. If we had scored, regardless of what you think our players abilities are and what they are/aren't good at, this conversation would be non-existent.

 

And football is all about execution. Yeah, you have to have heart and determination, but you also have to know what you are doing and then do it. In order for a play to be successful you have to execute. It doesn't matter what your players abilities are.

 

Execution is catching a ball, making a nice throw, making a guy miss, hitting the right gaps, etc. We called quite a few plays last Saturday that worked towards our "players abilities" according to some arm chair coaches, yet some of them netted us no yardage or a loss on the play. In those instances, it is all about execution.

 

Saying you don't need to execute in football is like saying you don't need to drink water to live. Yes, you need other things to stay alive, but water is your focal point. You can go for weeks without food, but will die in less than a week without water.

[Malth]

Execution is necessary, but it's foolish to force players into something they aren't very good at

 

Lee is a terrible option QB, and it should not be ran EVER when he is in.

 

The blame falls on Watson, Lee, and Helu. It's not just one persons fault, there were other people who contributed it to it.

[chamrocck]

Did anyone else see how Pelini went off on Watson after the Lee/Helu fumble? I think Pelini knew we had 3 points in the bag with the field position and did not like that pitch call (neither did I).

 

Bo went off on Watson. I'm not a lip reader, but it was pretty obvious he asked Watson "What the F*&% was that?" and Watson screamed back "It was a F&%$ing audible!" So they both laid into Lee.

 

As for the pitch, as a former high school coach, we never wanted the pitch at the running back's face or above his shoulders. It looked like Helu and Lee didn't have the right spacing, 3 yards away but 3 yards behind, and the pitch is out in front of the running back so he can run into it.

 

I wonder what the original play call was. Helu into the line is my guess. Helu out wide gives Henery a pretty tough angle for the FG.

Could be that Lee changed the play and so both were ticked at Lee not wanting to run that play knowing Roy is not 100% and could have trouble with the pitch. High risk play with little chance of success and it went all wrong and we needed points desperately...yep, that will get you the wrath of Bo right there.

[Karawithasmile]

As long as we're allowed to throw in conspiracy theories... I bet Lee checked down to the option to prove he could run it better than Green who had not done anything with it all night. And right before Lee was about to prove himself by running the much revered option, and earn back his true position as the starting QB and prince of Huskerland......a fumble occurred.

 

 

Oh, in case you didn't know.

 

And

[irafreak]

I really wish someone would upload this game. I want to see this clip again.

[junior4949]

Am I the only person in this thread that doesn't think Roy SHOULD have caught that pitch? I mean it was thrown almost over his head, in fact, drilling him in the face mask. I would dare any of you to strap up some pads, run the option against a terrific defense, with a piss poor O-line blocking for you and I'll pitch the football at your face full speed and see how many times you drop the ball...

 

That being said, I think the reception COULD have been made, given some actual "PRACTICE" running the option. If you are going to run the option, RUN IT. You can't expect to just show up on Saturday and be able to run the option. It takes MONTHS of practice.

 

 

I'm not going to stick up for the coaching decision here because I have absolutely zero idea how much they practice the option. However and unfortunately, I know too well what it feels like to be the running back in the option against a terrific D with a horrible OL. Here's how the option works. It's the running backs responsibility to keep QB to RB running relationship while running the option. This is because the QB isn't even supposed to look at the RB when they pitch the ball. They're just supposed to pitch the ball to where the RB is supposed to be because they're looking downfield reading off in most cases the defensive end. There is no doubt in my mind at all that Helu should have caught the pitch. I don't like how either Lee or Green runs the option. It doesn't look right, and it doesn't look natural. However, I saw Tebow do the exact same things as both Lee and Green.