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[Bradr]

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There’s been a lot of talk about the defense stemming from last year’s success and the loss of one Ndamukong Suh. But the offense isn’t looking bad either. The Husker media guide had an interesting statistic in regard to experience coming back. They broke it down by percentage, how much of the production from last year’s units was coming back this year.

 

This is how it panned out for the “O”:

 

Category Pct. of 2009 Total

Rushing Yards...............100%

Passing Yards...............100%

Receiving Yards.............86%

Total Offense Yards.......100%

All-Purpose Yards..........91%

Scoring..........................93%

 

Just in relation to the total number of starts on the offensive side coming into this Fall practice, the Husker offense brings back 177 total starts, while the defense brings back 135. Coming into last season, the offense had 78 total starts while the defense had 127.

 

The receiver position has 52 of those starts coming into this season, if you count the 26 credited to Michael McNeill, who switched to the hybrid wide receiver/tight end role this season. Niles Paul, Nebraska’s leading receiver last year, comes into this season with 18. Last year’s wide receiving corps had eight total starts going into the 2009 campaign.

 

“We’re experienced. Experience is a big key factor,” Offensive Coordinator/Quarterback Coach Shawn Watson said of why the offense has improved so much already during Fall practice. “They have been developed both in offense and fundamentally. So, that’s what you see. Success breeds confidence. Confidence breeds higher level of play. So, all that is kind of coming together for us.”

 

The experience is there, but don’t rule out the inexperienced from being potential impact makers this year. One of them could be in that already experience-laden group of wide receivers. Freshman Quincy Enunwa seems to be making some noise, and while no coach, especially the Offensive Coordinator, is going to adorn him just yet, even Watson admits that this kid has some potential.

 

"He’s physically gifted. He has a knack for making plays. He has really figured into a look,” Watson said of the 6-2, 205 lbs. California native. “He still has to earn his place. He is still working on that, but he has talent, and he has that ability to make plays that’s just natural. So, he has put himself in the hunt for depth at receiver.”

 

Watson said that he saw Enunwa as a dual-threat type of receiver in that he thought he was both a possession type as well as a speed threat. "He plays big and he plays fast," he said. "He's really a complete player. We are really pleased with him."

 

There are a host of other names to watch out for on that offensive side, Enunwa being one of the true fresh faces while fellow wide receiver Stanley Jean-Baptiste is new, but from the junior college ranks. The offense had a major mountain to climb in just getting these players experience last year, and finishing the season as the 99th ranked offense in the country tells you that the growing pains were many.

 

But on paper at least, and taking into account that this offense is mostly healthy, something they couldn’t say all of last year, the Husker offense looks like it might make some leaps forward this year which could be as dramatic as some of the leaps they took the other way just a year ago.

 

I knew we were returning a lot of our offensive production, but those numbers are amazing.

[knapplc]

I'm no mathematician so I won't be embarrassed when someone points out what I'm missing, but how can these numbers add up?

 

Category Pct. of 2009 Total

Rushing Yards...............100%

Passing Yards...............100%

Receiving Yards.............86%

Total Offense Yards.......100%

 

 

If we only return 86% of our receiving yards, how can we return 100% of our total offensive yards? Just a weird thing I noticed.

 

 

That said, I think we're poised to be better on offense, but to beat that dead horse, nothing improves until the line improves/gets healthy. If the line has the same sputtering play as last year none of the above numbers mean anything.

[funhusker]

I'm no mathematician so I won't be embarrassed when someone points out what I'm missing, but how can these numbers add up?

 

Category Pct. of 2009 Total

Rushing Yards...............100%

Passing Yards...............100%

Receiving Yards.............86%

Total Offense Yards.......100%

 

 

If we only return 86% of our receiving yards, how can we return 100% of our total offensive yards? Just a weird thing I noticed.

 

 

That said, I think we're poised to be better on offense, but to beat that dead horse, nothing improves until the line improves/gets healthy. If the line has the same sputtering play as last year none of the above numbers mean anything.

 

Knapp,

 

I thought the same thing at first.

 

But after looking at game stats from random games, "total offense" is figured by adding "passing yds" and "rushing yds". "Receiving yds" although part of "passing yds" are not part of "total offense" equation.

 

I think I'm more confused now....

[ESPY]

Passing yards = receiving yards, right? That's the easiest way I can think of it. Of course this isn't the kind of thing that keeps me up at night.

 

Btw, you can ooooo & ahhhh over percentage of yards all you want, but the fact remains we really didn't gain that many yards last year. It's nice to know we have so many guys returning, but I'd rather see the total yardage go way up from what they produced in '09.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

The only offensive stats that matter from 09, IMO, are these:

 

Rushing Offense: 62nd

Passing Offense: 101st

Total Offense: 99th

Scoring Offense: 75th

Passing Efficiency: 79th

 

If you combined the OP's stats with these stats, you could almost say we stand a 100% chance of returning a less than mediocre offense.

[Huskerzoo]

The only offensive stats that matter from 09, IMO, are these:

 

Rushing Offense: 62nd

Passing Offense: 101st

Total Offense: 99th

Scoring Offense: 75th

Passing Efficiency: 79th

 

If you combined the OP's stats with these stats, you could almost say we stand a 100% chance of returning a less than mediocre offense.

 

I think the idea behind what the OP was saying is that the lack of experience was the cause of those stats. Now that there's some game experience, we should see drastic improvement. You're arguing that the players don't improve essentially.

[knapplc]

I think the idea behind what the OP was saying is that the lack of experience was the cause of those stats. Now that there's some game experience, we should see drastic improvement.

 

Here's to hoping this happens. It should - we have good players and good coaches and a desire to improve - you just never know what a team's going to be like year to year.

[CAHusker]

80% of the time, it works everytime

 

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

The only offensive stats that matter from 09, IMO, are these:

 

Rushing Offense: 62nd

Passing Offense: 101st

Total Offense: 99th

Scoring Offense: 75th

Passing Efficiency: 79th

 

If you combined the OP's stats with these stats, you could almost say we stand a 100% chance of returning a less than mediocre offense.

 

I think the idea behind what the OP was saying is that the lack of experience was the cause of those stats. Now that there's some game experience, we should see drastic improvement. You're arguing that the players don't improve essentially.

I'm not arguing the players haven't improved. Instead, I hope they have dramatically improved. What my point was, saying we return nearly 100% of the offensive production, when our offense was horrible last year, is a little misleading and not something to necessarily get excited about. I think it's great we return a lot of starters and I hope the offensive production improves by leaps and bounds.

[Danny Bateman]

80% of the time, it works everytime

 

Wow, the second Anchorman quote I've seen on HB in as many days. Great movie.