Who do you think was better at throwing the Ball?

[REDSTEEL]

Lord had a cannon of an arm. He just couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. When the option worked, (and it still would here), and we ran Option Pass, the Tight End would ALWAYS be open. Man I loved that play, Tracey Wistrom, Matt Herian, etc. Loved it, and that throw makes anyone look good.

 

Back on topic...

 

Dailey was thrown into the West Coast Offense. If he ran Solich's offense, he may have been the better passer due to the limited ammount of throws or the run setting up the pass. Yes, we ran the ball under Callahan too, but not to the strength of a Solich based option offense. He was recruited to run Solich's offense. That being said, Lord did run Solich's offense and made some really bad/questionable throws at times.

 

I think it's hard to compare, since they are two different offenses that they both started under. I think Dailey in Solich's system he would have done well to me, but Lord in Callahan's system would have been a disaster. Granted, when Dailey was the starter, there was no real pocket passing quarterback to run Callahan's offense, so Dailey may have won the job by default.

 

Either way, I think the edge goes, slightly, to Dailey.

 

And that's not saying much.

The thing about the Solich offense though was "lets run the option and just have Crouch keep it most of the time". I think one of the biggest downfalls offensively was that Solich retooled the offense and got rid of a lot of things that made us so unpredictable in the 90's.

 

For example, in 2001 Judd Davies, our starting FB, had 40 carries for 240 yards, and he was the only FB that got significant carries.

 

While in 95, we had Jeff Makovicka with 63 carries for 384 yards and Schuster 28 carries for 246 yards.

 

Also, Frazier had only 93 attempt while Crouch over 200.

 

I agree, but the biggest part of Solich's downfall was his recruiting. He was a good offensive coordinator with Crouch under center, but when he didn't have an "Crouch type quarterback" under center, and he had Lord, the offense was "okay" but not "as good". I don't think Solich used his position players as well as he could have. Anyone remember Wilson Thomas? Should have been a huge red zone target, or heck, a legitimate #1 receiver for us.

 

Remember, Solich had Crouch as a player/quarterback for 4 of his 6 years here. We know what happened once Crouch left, 2002 happened. Yes, the defense was bad, but the offense was equally as bad. If Solich had a "Crouch type" here all the time, he may still be around. But he could not develop an offense away from the quarterback only. He couldn't get the ball to the receivers enough, or to different rotating running backs. Recruiting was also a problem, and I think the biggest downfall. The offensive lines during Solich years were very average, which is why he had to hang on Crouch so much, and once Lord was the quarterback, and the line stayed average, the offense became even more vanilla and average.

 

Good point with the fullback. When the fullback position is listed on the depth chart or for starting lineups, I say to myself, "WE HAVE A FULLBACK?!" No offense, but Solich, Callahan, and Watson don't use the fullback enough. Granted, Callahan's offense didn't even THINK about using a fullback, but with Watson here, we've seen the fullback at least on the field on 1st and 2nd down. During Solich's years, we had good fullbacks, but they weren't used as balanced as they were in the 90s. We didn't have the rotating running backs as well. Again, that goes back to recruiting and limit of scholarships as well to hinder teams, which some isn't Solich's fault, but he could have developed a better game plan for when Crouch left, or recruited better, which was his downfall.

 

What about using LaTravis Washington on 2nd or 3rd and goal at Blacksburg? Or heck, even Suh in the goal line package? A quick hitter to the fullback would keep the offense off balance, and of course, brought us a National Title in the 1995 Orange Bowl.

 

I think Solich had a good offensive mind, when Crouch was under center, but once he left, he didn't recruit well to get in players to make up for his absence (offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, full backs) to help out Lord in 2002 and 2003. It became the Lord offense and he did everything, and while he was a great athlete, he wasn't as good of a thrower, nor as quick or as fast as Crouch, which made the offense vanilla and average. It would have been nice to see Joe Dailey in his offense to see if it would have been a little more balanced with everyone and a little different. But we all know how that turned out.

That pretty much hits the nail on the head. Great post.

The lines were very average?

 

Vili Waldrop committed on signing day in 1999, and put the finishing touches on an excellent class that featured eight linemen. An all-state offensive lineman by the Los Angeles Times, Vili Waldrop was a two-year starter for Banning High School (same school as former Husker All-America quarterback Vince Ferragamo, 1975-76), playing for Coach Chris Gutierrez. Vili Waldrop earned all-conference and all-city honors as a junior and senior. He picked NU over Colorado, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Oregon. He attended Eisenhower High in Rialto, Calif., as a freshman and sophomore.

 

He had players like Toniu Fonoti and Dominic Raiola the problem he had was instead of those players staying all 4 years they were leaving early for the Pro's something Osborne did'nt have to deal with. Solich had a lot of problems but lineman were not his problem.

[knapplc]

I remember Mike Stuntz throwing a pretty good pass.

[Cdog923]

Lord had a cannon of an arm. He just couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. When the option worked, (and it still would here), and we ran Option Pass, the Tight End would ALWAYS be open. Man I loved that play, Tracey Wistrom, Matt Herian, etc. Loved it, and that throw makes anyone look good.

 

Back on topic...

 

Dailey was thrown into the West Coast Offense. If he ran Solich's offense, he may have been the better passer due to the limited ammount of throws or the run setting up the pass. Yes, we ran the ball under Callahan too, but not to the strength of a Solich based option offense. He was recruited to run Solich's offense. That being said, Lord did run Solich's offense and made some really bad/questionable throws at times.

 

I think it's hard to compare, since they are two different offenses that they both started under. I think Dailey in Solich's system he would have done well to me, but Lord in Callahan's system would have been a disaster. Granted, when Dailey was the starter, there was no real pocket passing quarterback to run Callahan's offense, so Dailey may have won the job by default.

 

Either way, I think the edge goes, slightly, to Dailey.

 

And that's not saying much.

The thing about the Solich offense though was "lets run the option and just have Crouch keep it most of the time". I think one of the biggest downfalls offensively was that Solich retooled the offense and got rid of a lot of things that made us so unpredictable in the 90's.

 

For example, in 2001 Judd Davies, our starting FB, had 40 carries for 240 yards, and he was the only FB that got significant carries.

 

While in 95, we had Jeff Makovicka with 63 carries for 384 yards and Schuster 28 carries for 246 yards.

 

Also, Frazier had only 93 attempt while Crouch over 200.

 

I agree, but the biggest part of Solich's downfall was his recruiting. He was a good offensive coordinator with Crouch under center, but when he didn't have an "Crouch type quarterback" under center, and he had Lord, the offense was "okay" but not "as good". I don't think Solich used his position players as well as he could have. Anyone remember Wilson Thomas? Should have been a huge red zone target, or heck, a legitimate #1 receiver for us.

 

Remember, Solich had Crouch as a player/quarterback for 4 of his 6 years here. We know what happened once Crouch left, 2002 happened. Yes, the defense was bad, but the offense was equally as bad. If Solich had a "Crouch type" here all the time, he may still be around. But he could not develop an offense away from the quarterback only. He couldn't get the ball to the receivers enough, or to different rotating running backs. Recruiting was also a problem, and I think the biggest downfall. The offensive lines during Solich years were very average, which is why he had to hang on Crouch so much, and once Lord was the quarterback, and the line stayed average, the offense became even more vanilla and average.

 

Good point with the fullback. When the fullback position is listed on the depth chart or for starting lineups, I say to myself, "WE HAVE A FULLBACK?!" No offense, but Solich, Callahan, and Watson don't use the fullback enough. Granted, Callahan's offense didn't even THINK about using a fullback, but with Watson here, we've seen the fullback at least on the field on 1st and 2nd down. During Solich's years, we had good fullbacks, but they weren't used as balanced as they were in the 90s. We didn't have the rotating running backs as well. Again, that goes back to recruiting and limit of scholarships as well to hinder teams, which some isn't Solich's fault, but he could have developed a better game plan for when Crouch left, or recruited better, which was his downfall.

 

What about using LaTravis Washington on 2nd or 3rd and goal at Blacksburg? Or heck, even Suh in the goal line package? A quick hitter to the fullback would keep the offense off balance, and of course, brought us a National Title in the 1995 Orange Bowl.

 

I think Solich had a good offensive mind, when Crouch was under center, but once he left, he didn't recruit well to get in players to make up for his absence (offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, full backs) to help out Lord in 2002 and 2003. It became the Lord offense and he did everything, and while he was a great athlete, he wasn't as good of a thrower, nor as quick or as fast as Crouch, which made the offense vanilla and average. It would have been nice to see Joe Dailey in his offense to see if it would have been a little more balanced with everyone and a little different. But we all know how that turned out.

That pretty much hits the nail on the head. Great post.

The lines were very average?

 

Vili Waldrop committed on signing day in 1999, and put the finishing touches on an excellent class that featured eight linemen. An all-state offensive lineman by the Los Angeles Times, Vili Waldrop was a two-year starter for Banning High School (same school as former Husker All-America quarterback Vince Ferragamo, 1975-76), playing for Coach Chris Gutierrez. Vili Waldrop earned all-conference and all-city honors as a junior and senior. He picked NU over Colorado, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Oregon. He attended Eisenhower High in Rialto, Calif., as a freshman and sophomore.

 

He had players like Toniu Fonoti and Dominic Raiola the problem he had was instead of those players staying all 4 years they were leaving early for the Pro's something Osborne did'nt have to deal with. Solich had a lot of problems but lineman were not his problem.

 

The thing is, Fonoti and Raiola were the exceptions to the rule in regards to linemen during that time. Vili Waldrop WAS a very average linemen during that time. The other linemen in '99? Chris Loos, Jon Dawson and Tim Green. Not exactly a star-studded class.

[REDSTEEL]

Lord had a cannon of an arm. He just couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. When the option worked, (and it still would here), and we ran Option Pass, the Tight End would ALWAYS be open. Man I loved that play, Tracey Wistrom, Matt Herian, etc. Loved it, and that throw makes anyone look good.

 

Back on topic...

 

Dailey was thrown into the West Coast Offense. If he ran Solich's offense, he may have been the better passer due to the limited ammount of throws or the run setting up the pass. Yes, we ran the ball under Callahan too, but not to the strength of a Solich based option offense. He was recruited to run Solich's offense. That being said, Lord did run Solich's offense and made some really bad/questionable throws at times.

 

I think it's hard to compare, since they are two different offenses that they both started under. I think Dailey in Solich's system he would have done well to me, but Lord in Callahan's system would have been a disaster. Granted, when Dailey was the starter, there was no real pocket passing quarterback to run Callahan's offense, so Dailey may have won the job by default.

 

Either way, I think the edge goes, slightly, to Dailey.

 

And that's not saying much.

The thing about the Solich offense though was "lets run the option and just have Crouch keep it most of the time". I think one of the biggest downfalls offensively was that Solich retooled the offense and got rid of a lot of things that made us so unpredictable in the 90's.

 

For example, in 2001 Judd Davies, our starting FB, had 40 carries for 240 yards, and he was the only FB that got significant carries.

 

While in 95, we had Jeff Makovicka with 63 carries for 384 yards and Schuster 28 carries for 246 yards.

 

Also, Frazier had only 93 attempt while Crouch over 200.

 

I agree, but the biggest part of Solich's downfall was his recruiting. He was a good offensive coordinator with Crouch under center, but when he didn't have an "Crouch type quarterback" under center, and he had Lord, the offense was "okay" but not "as good". I don't think Solich used his position players as well as he could have. Anyone remember Wilson Thomas? Should have been a huge red zone target, or heck, a legitimate #1 receiver for us.

 

Remember, Solich had Crouch as a player/quarterback for 4 of his 6 years here. We know what happened once Crouch left, 2002 happened. Yes, the defense was bad, but the offense was equally as bad. If Solich had a "Crouch type" here all the time, he may still be around. But he could not develop an offense away from the quarterback only. He couldn't get the ball to the receivers enough, or to different rotating running backs. Recruiting was also a problem, and I think the biggest downfall. The offensive lines during Solich years were very average, which is why he had to hang on Crouch so much, and once Lord was the quarterback, and the line stayed average, the offense became even more vanilla and average.

 

Good point with the fullback. When the fullback position is listed on the depth chart or for starting lineups, I say to myself, "WE HAVE A FULLBACK?!" No offense, but Solich, Callahan, and Watson don't use the fullback enough. Granted, Callahan's offense didn't even THINK about using a fullback, but with Watson here, we've seen the fullback at least on the field on 1st and 2nd down. During Solich's years, we had good fullbacks, but they weren't used as balanced as they were in the 90s. We didn't have the rotating running backs as well. Again, that goes back to recruiting and limit of scholarships as well to hinder teams, which some isn't Solich's fault, but he could have developed a better game plan for when Crouch left, or recruited better, which was his downfall.

 

What about using LaTravis Washington on 2nd or 3rd and goal at Blacksburg? Or heck, even Suh in the goal line package? A quick hitter to the fullback would keep the offense off balance, and of course, brought us a National Title in the 1995 Orange Bowl.

 

I think Solich had a good offensive mind, when Crouch was under center, but once he left, he didn't recruit well to get in players to make up for his absence (offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, full backs) to help out Lord in 2002 and 2003. It became the Lord offense and he did everything, and while he was a great athlete, he wasn't as good of a thrower, nor as quick or as fast as Crouch, which made the offense vanilla and average. It would have been nice to see Joe Dailey in his offense to see if it would have been a little more balanced with everyone and a little different. But we all know how that turned out.

That pretty much hits the nail on the head. Great post.

The lines were very average?

 

Vili Waldrop committed on signing day in 1999, and put the finishing touches on an excellent class that featured eight linemen. An all-state offensive lineman by the Los Angeles Times, Vili Waldrop was a two-year starter for Banning High School (same school as former Husker All-America quarterback Vince Ferragamo, 1975-76), playing for Coach Chris Gutierrez. Vili Waldrop earned all-conference and all-city honors as a junior and senior. He picked NU over Colorado, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Oregon. He attended Eisenhower High in Rialto, Calif., as a freshman and sophomore.

 

He had players like Toniu Fonoti and Dominic Raiola the problem he had was instead of those players staying all 4 years they were leaving early for the Pro's something Osborne did'nt have to deal with. Solich had a lot of problems but lineman were not his problem.

 

The thing is, Fonoti and Raiola were the exceptions to the rule in regards to linemen during that time. Vili Waldrop WAS a very average linemen during that time. We didn't have the linemen waiting in the wings to take over like we did in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Thus the problem was them not staying all four years. If they had stayed would those lines have been better? Reading some of the profiles of the lineman a lot of them had health issues which also hurt.

 

It's funny how the lineman were the problem but they were usualy fourth in the Nation in rushing even when everyone knew that Nebraska couldn't pass.

[Cdog923]

Lord had a cannon of an arm. He just couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. When the option worked, (and it still would here), and we ran Option Pass, the Tight End would ALWAYS be open. Man I loved that play, Tracey Wistrom, Matt Herian, etc. Loved it, and that throw makes anyone look good.

 

Back on topic...

 

Dailey was thrown into the West Coast Offense. If he ran Solich's offense, he may have been the better passer due to the limited ammount of throws or the run setting up the pass. Yes, we ran the ball under Callahan too, but not to the strength of a Solich based option offense. He was recruited to run Solich's offense. That being said, Lord did run Solich's offense and made some really bad/questionable throws at times.

 

I think it's hard to compare, since they are two different offenses that they both started under. I think Dailey in Solich's system he would have done well to me, but Lord in Callahan's system would have been a disaster. Granted, when Dailey was the starter, there was no real pocket passing quarterback to run Callahan's offense, so Dailey may have won the job by default.

 

Either way, I think the edge goes, slightly, to Dailey.

 

And that's not saying much.

The thing about the Solich offense though was "lets run the option and just have Crouch keep it most of the time". I think one of the biggest downfalls offensively was that Solich retooled the offense and got rid of a lot of things that made us so unpredictable in the 90's.

 

For example, in 2001 Judd Davies, our starting FB, had 40 carries for 240 yards, and he was the only FB that got significant carries.

 

While in 95, we had Jeff Makovicka with 63 carries for 384 yards and Schuster 28 carries for 246 yards.

 

Also, Frazier had only 93 attempt while Crouch over 200.

 

I agree, but the biggest part of Solich's downfall was his recruiting. He was a good offensive coordinator with Crouch under center, but when he didn't have an "Crouch type quarterback" under center, and he had Lord, the offense was "okay" but not "as good". I don't think Solich used his position players as well as he could have. Anyone remember Wilson Thomas? Should have been a huge red zone target, or heck, a legitimate #1 receiver for us.

 

Remember, Solich had Crouch as a player/quarterback for 4 of his 6 years here. We know what happened once Crouch left, 2002 happened. Yes, the defense was bad, but the offense was equally as bad. If Solich had a "Crouch type" here all the time, he may still be around. But he could not develop an offense away from the quarterback only. He couldn't get the ball to the receivers enough, or to different rotating running backs. Recruiting was also a problem, and I think the biggest downfall. The offensive lines during Solich years were very average, which is why he had to hang on Crouch so much, and once Lord was the quarterback, and the line stayed average, the offense became even more vanilla and average.

 

Good point with the fullback. When the fullback position is listed on the depth chart or for starting lineups, I say to myself, "WE HAVE A FULLBACK?!" No offense, but Solich, Callahan, and Watson don't use the fullback enough. Granted, Callahan's offense didn't even THINK about using a fullback, but with Watson here, we've seen the fullback at least on the field on 1st and 2nd down. During Solich's years, we had good fullbacks, but they weren't used as balanced as they were in the 90s. We didn't have the rotating running backs as well. Again, that goes back to recruiting and limit of scholarships as well to hinder teams, which some isn't Solich's fault, but he could have developed a better game plan for when Crouch left, or recruited better, which was his downfall.

 

What about using LaTravis Washington on 2nd or 3rd and goal at Blacksburg? Or heck, even Suh in the goal line package? A quick hitter to the fullback would keep the offense off balance, and of course, brought us a National Title in the 1995 Orange Bowl.

 

I think Solich had a good offensive mind, when Crouch was under center, but once he left, he didn't recruit well to get in players to make up for his absence (offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, full backs) to help out Lord in 2002 and 2003. It became the Lord offense and he did everything, and while he was a great athlete, he wasn't as good of a thrower, nor as quick or as fast as Crouch, which made the offense vanilla and average. It would have been nice to see Joe Dailey in his offense to see if it would have been a little more balanced with everyone and a little different. But we all know how that turned out.

That pretty much hits the nail on the head. Great post.

The lines were very average?

 

Vili Waldrop committed on signing day in 1999, and put the finishing touches on an excellent class that featured eight linemen. An all-state offensive lineman by the Los Angeles Times, Vili Waldrop was a two-year starter for Banning High School (same school as former Husker All-America quarterback Vince Ferragamo, 1975-76), playing for Coach Chris Gutierrez. Vili Waldrop earned all-conference and all-city honors as a junior and senior. He picked NU over Colorado, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Oregon. He attended Eisenhower High in Rialto, Calif., as a freshman and sophomore.

 

He had players like Toniu Fonoti and Dominic Raiola the problem he had was instead of those players staying all 4 years they were leaving early for the Pro's something Osborne did'nt have to deal with. Solich had a lot of problems but lineman were not his problem.

 

The thing is, Fonoti and Raiola were the exceptions to the rule in regards to linemen during that time. Vili Waldrop WAS a very average linemen during that time. We didn't have the linemen waiting in the wings to take over like we did in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Thus the problem was them not staying all four years. If they had stayed would those lines have been better? Reading some of the profiles of the lineman a lot of them had health issues which also hurt.

 

It's funny how the lineman were the problem but they were usualy fourth in the Nation in rushing even when everyone knew that Nebraska couldn't pass.

 

You can't count on talent staying for all four years. You also can't count on players staying healthy. That's why you always go after the best athletes, the best talent. Solich whiffed on a lot of players after all of Osborne's players left. Offensive line was an area that really suffred. I'd like to see the stats on carries, YPC and total yards of our starting RBs and our starting QBs from 2000-2003. I'd be willing to guess they favor the QBs, a testament to the freak levels of athleticism that Crouch and Lord had.

[Blackshirtsguru]

Neither! They both were equally terrible at throwing the ball.

[Enhance]

You can't count on talent staying for all four years. You also can't count on players staying healthy. That's why you always go after the best athletes, the best talent. Solich whiffed on a lot of players after all of Osborne's players left. Offensive line was an area that really suffred. I'd like to see the stats on carries, YPC and total yards of our starting RBs and our starting QBs from 2000-2003. I'd be willing to guess they favor the QBs, a testament to the freak levels of athleticism that Crouch and Lord had.

I don't have time to do all of the stats, but if you scroll up the page a bit I believe one of my posts talks about this exact thing as far as yards are concerned.

 

Frazier put up 655 yards rushing his senior year on 97 attempts. Crouch put up around 1,200 on over 200 attempts. In comparison, Green put up 1,100 rushing yards in 95 and Diedrick put up something like 1300-1400 rushing yards. However, the 95 team spread the ball out a lot more and relied much less on the legs of two guys.

 

Up the thread a bit I also discuss how the full back became practically non-existent in Solich's offense. We had Makovicka and Schuster combine over 600 yards on 91 carries. Judd Davies, the starting fullback in 2001, had 40 carries for only 240 yards. Schuster alone put up 246 on 12 fewer carries.

[holvy83]

Didn't Lord just have one pass play? Deep down the middle to Herrian?

[Cdog923]

You can't count on talent staying for all four years. You also can't count on players staying healthy. That's why you always go after the best athletes, the best talent. Solich whiffed on a lot of players after all of Osborne's players left. Offensive line was an area that really suffred. I'd like to see the stats on carries, YPC and total yards of our starting RBs and our starting QBs from 2000-2003. I'd be willing to guess they favor the QBs, a testament to the freak levels of athleticism that Crouch and Lord had.

I don't have time to do all of the stats, but if you scroll up the page a bit I believe one of my posts talks about this exact thing as far as yards are concerned.

 

Frazier put up 655 yards rushing his senior year on 97 attempts. Crouch put up around 1,200 on over 200 attempts. In comparison, Green put up 1,100 rushing yards in 95 and Diedrick put up something like 1300-1400 rushing yards. However, the 95 team spread the ball out a lot more and relied much less on the legs of two guys.

 

Up the thread a bit I also discuss how the full back became practically non-existent in Solich's offense. We had Makovicka and Schuster combine over 600 yards on 91 carries. Judd Davies, the starting fullback in 2001, had 40 carries for only 240 yards. Schuster alone put up 246 on 12 fewer carries.

 

Good post. Phillips, Green, Benning and Childs all could've rushed for over 1000 in '95. What I'd be interested in seeing is how the percentages of total rushing offense from 2000 till 2003 play out. I'd be willing to bet that there was a higher % of yardage produced from the QB than from the RB position.

[REDSTEEL]

Lord had a cannon of an arm. He just couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. When the option worked, (and it still would here), and we ran Option Pass, the Tight End would ALWAYS be open. Man I loved that play, Tracey Wistrom, Matt Herian, etc. Loved it, and that throw makes anyone look good.

 

Back on topic...

 

Dailey was thrown into the West Coast Offense. If he ran Solich's offense, he may have been the better passer due to the limited ammount of throws or the run setting up the pass. Yes, we ran the ball under Callahan too, but not to the strength of a Solich based option offense. He was recruited to run Solich's offense. That being said, Lord did run Solich's offense and made some really bad/questionable throws at times.

 

I think it's hard to compare, since they are two different offenses that they both started under. I think Dailey in Solich's system he would have done well to me, but Lord in Callahan's system would have been a disaster. Granted, when Dailey was the starter, there was no real pocket passing quarterback to run Callahan's offense, so Dailey may have won the job by default.

 

Either way, I think the edge goes, slightly, to Dailey.

 

And that's not saying much.

The thing about the Solich offense though was "lets run the option and just have Crouch keep it most of the time". I think one of the biggest downfalls offensively was that Solich retooled the offense and got rid of a lot of things that made us so unpredictable in the 90's.

 

For example, in 2001 Judd Davies, our starting FB, had 40 carries for 240 yards, and he was the only FB that got significant carries.

 

While in 95, we had Jeff Makovicka with 63 carries for 384 yards and Schuster 28 carries for 246 yards.

 

Also, Frazier had only 93 attempt while Crouch over 200.

 

I agree, but the biggest part of Solich's downfall was his recruiting. He was a good offensive coordinator with Crouch under center, but when he didn't have an "Crouch type quarterback" under center, and he had Lord, the offense was "okay" but not "as good". I don't think Solich used his position players as well as he could have. Anyone remember Wilson Thomas? Should have been a huge red zone target, or heck, a legitimate #1 receiver for us.

 

Remember, Solich had Crouch as a player/quarterback for 4 of his 6 years here. We know what happened once Crouch left, 2002 happened. Yes, the defense was bad, but the offense was equally as bad. If Solich had a "Crouch type" here all the time, he may still be around. But he could not develop an offense away from the quarterback only. He couldn't get the ball to the receivers enough, or to different rotating running backs. Recruiting was also a problem, and I think the biggest downfall. The offensive lines during Solich years were very average, which is why he had to hang on Crouch so much, and once Lord was the quarterback, and the line stayed average, the offense became even more vanilla and average.

 

Good point with the fullback. When the fullback position is listed on the depth chart or for starting lineups, I say to myself, "WE HAVE A FULLBACK?!" No offense, but Solich, Callahan, and Watson don't use the fullback enough. Granted, Callahan's offense didn't even THINK about using a fullback, but with Watson here, we've seen the fullback at least on the field on 1st and 2nd down. During Solich's years, we had good fullbacks, but they weren't used as balanced as they were in the 90s. We didn't have the rotating running backs as well. Again, that goes back to recruiting and limit of scholarships as well to hinder teams, which some isn't Solich's fault, but he could have developed a better game plan for when Crouch left, or recruited better, which was his downfall.

 

What about using LaTravis Washington on 2nd or 3rd and goal at Blacksburg? Or heck, even Suh in the goal line package? A quick hitter to the fullback would keep the offense off balance, and of course, brought us a National Title in the 1995 Orange Bowl.

 

I think Solich had a good offensive mind, when Crouch was under center, but once he left, he didn't recruit well to get in players to make up for his absence (offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, full backs) to help out Lord in 2002 and 2003. It became the Lord offense and he did everything, and while he was a great athlete, he wasn't as good of a thrower, nor as quick or as fast as Crouch, which made the offense vanilla and average. It would have been nice to see Joe Dailey in his offense to see if it would have been a little more balanced with everyone and a little different. But we all know how that turned out.

That pretty much hits the nail on the head. Great post.

The lines were very average?

 

Vili Waldrop committed on signing day in 1999, and put the finishing touches on an excellent class that featured eight linemen. An all-state offensive lineman by the Los Angeles Times, Vili Waldrop was a two-year starter for Banning High School (same school as former Husker All-America quarterback Vince Ferragamo, 1975-76), playing for Coach Chris Gutierrez. Vili Waldrop earned all-conference and all-city honors as a junior and senior. He picked NU over Colorado, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Oregon. He attended Eisenhower High in Rialto, Calif., as a freshman and sophomore.

 

He had players like Toniu Fonoti and Dominic Raiola the problem he had was instead of those players staying all 4 years they were leaving early for the Pro's something Osborne did'nt have to deal with. Solich had a lot of problems but lineman were not his problem.

 

The thing is, Fonoti and Raiola were the exceptions to the rule in regards to linemen during that time. Vili Waldrop WAS a very average linemen during that time. We didn't have the linemen waiting in the wings to take over like we did in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Thus the problem was them not staying all four years. If they had stayed would those lines have been better? Reading some of the profiles of the lineman a lot of them had health issues which also hurt.

 

It's funny how the lineman were the problem but they were usualy fourth in the Nation in rushing even when everyone knew that Nebraska couldn't pass.

 

You can't count on talent staying for all four years. You also can't count on players staying healthy. That's why you always go after the best athletes, the best talent. Solich whiffed on a lot of players after all of Osborne's players left. Offensive line was an area that really suffred. I'd like to see the stats on carries, YPC and total yards of our starting RBs and our starting QBs from 2000-2003. I'd be willing to guess they favor the QBs, a testament to the freak levels of athleticism that Crouch and Lord had.

Then blame the runningbacks and fb which I would agree with but the linemen were hardly the problem.

TO didn't have to worry about lineman leaving early because it was something new. To blame Solich when his best linemen left their junior or even after their sophmore season because he didn't have a All American waiting as a backup just seems wrong.

[Enhance]

Here you go, Cdog923. I'm not going to count throwing the football just because that would give the obvious advantage to the quarterback if we just simply compared how many yards they put up. If you'd like that information too though, just let me know and I'll put it up.

 

2000 - Crouch rushed for 1119 yards out of 4076, good for 27.4% of total offensive rushing yards. Dan Alexander had 1174 yards, for comparison.

2001 - Crouch rushed for 1262 yards out of 4031, good for 31.3% of total offensive rushing yards. Diedrick had 1319 yards, for comparison.

2002 - Lord rushed for 1708 yards out of 4218, good for 40.5% of total offensive rushing yards. Diedrick had 980 yards, for comparison.

2003 - Lord rush for 1160 yards out of 3436, good for 33.8% of total offensive rushing yards. Josh Davis had 633, for comparison.

 

Now, we'll compare this to the % numbers from the 1995 squad. These numbers are based off of the top 5 rushing leaders on the team.

 

Green - 24.2%

Frazier - 14.3%

Phillips - 12.4%

Childs - 9.8%

Benning - 9.2%

 

Analysis

As you can see from 2000-2003, the QB had the largest impact in the rushing numbers for 2 out of those 4 years. The QB had an ever bigger role following Crouch's departure. This can be seen by the fact that Lord put up nearly 40% of the total offensive rushing yards. Davis rushed for a little over half of what Lord did that season.

 

Also, according to the numbers available, Tom Osborne never had a quarterback lead the team in rushing yards.

 

Hope this helps. If there are some numbers you would like me to add, just let me know! Enjoy.

[HuskerMoon]

Stronger Arm: Jammal Lord

 

More Accurate: Joe Daily

 

 

I have much more compassion for Joe Dailey, he at least has a valid excuse for his "struggle" as a Nebraska Quarterback.