Fire Shawn Watson

[knapplc]

IMO, the problem with the offense is deeply rooted. Penalties, fumbles, drops, etc. Those aren't problems that are associated with play calling. They are associated with hot summer days in training camp. The offensive culture is that of mistake-prone football. We've seen it each of the past 2 years with different players. It's coaching to a large extent.

 

It's been mentioned before, but the offense, yes solely the offense, has cost this team virtually every game it's lost in the past 2 years. I haven't hear a whole lot of 'if the defense could have just held them...' on any message boards. Every team deals with injuries, and the occasional turnover or dropped ball. Not every team proclaiming to be a big time program deals with failing to put the ball in the end zone for an entire game on a regular basis.

 

Funny, the same people who think it's reactionary to take Watson to task after a poor game are the same ones starting threads after his unit beats up on a bad defense.

 

The offense is fool's gold. They will break your heart next week. Hope I'm wrong.

 

Brilliance. Well done, sir.

[Glendower]

I know there have been plenty of people calling for watson's head. I'm not here to defend or blast him. But I have to wonder. If we don't drop those passes against texas....would we still want him out? Don't know. But his play calling baffles me sometimes. I think what we need to do is run straight ahead and use the fullback more. This will protect martinez and not expose the other qb's. We have the line. Just line up and play. I don't know what the answer is. And then again, I think with better receivers, we might light up the big 10 with this offense. Defensively, we will be fine.

 

Then there's the a&M game. again smashmouth and we win. I think we tend to out think ourselves. Just an opinion.

 

As you can tell from my post, I am scratching my head......what if. But, I'm getting frustrated with "what if". How long do you wait until a change is made? Or do we make a change? One thing is for sure, it's been a few years since this offense was implemented, and I keep seeing the same mistakes.

 

Ya'll, get ready to come down here to Big D. Weather should be perfect. I just saw it should be in the 70's. Safe travels and Go Big Red!!!

 

Enough people, please. The fullback is not part of this offense. Neither Cory Schlesinger or the Mackovica bros are coming out of that tunnel anytime soon.

 

Your revision of history is somewhat entertaining though. We weren't exactly moving the ball on the ground in chunks against A&M. The passing game was employed, not to be cute, but because we had our share of long yardage situations. Unfortunately, a couple throws did not end up in our hands. This offensive line is at the very most, inconsistent. At worst, they are front runners that beat on weaker teams, but get smacked by big, athletic DLines.

 

All that being said, your last point I am in agreement with. After a while, it's time for some accountability.

 

I'm sorry, but both Berkhead and Helu were averaging just under 6 yards per carry against A&M. That, to me, is chunks. However, they were only given 13 and 9 carries, respectively. Of course, there were 3 more penalty yards than rushing yards. Watson has no faith in the rushing game and flees from it a smidge quickly when a game is close. I don't think that means he needs to be fired, because, as has been pointed out, no one will want to take a seat that hot and he's really just a tweak or two from being very, very good. I think that he still carries the hallmarks of the BC era-- freaking out in close games, calling plays in a panic, which contributes to players playing in a panic, and things start to fall apart. I think he needs to learn patience... like Luke did.

[3rd and long]

If you fire an offeseive cordinator after a 10-2 season, it will be very hard to find a replacment. No good coach in their right mind woudl take a job with such high expectations. That simple

 

But I think most people can see through the smoke of records and 1000 yd rushers. To me, it's not difficult to see that this offense has racked up big numbers against really, really poor defenses. It has yet to be efficent against quality opponents. I still have not watched the Texas game, so I can only go by what I hear, which is dropped passes. But if we don't drop those passes, how many TD's do we put up? And it still doesn't explain away the other games where our offense has look completely inept.

 

My opinion (for what its worth..exactly nothing) is kind of a compilation of what others have said. I think he gets too cute at times trying to outsmart someone, doensn't seem to adjust well when one aspect of his gameplan is taken away, and linked to that, doesn't adjust his play calling to his personel (Cody in the Zone read, he looks like a fish out of water).

 

Hopefully, like the Colorado game, he'll have a gameplan taylored to Cody which hopefully means 20 carries apiece for Rex and Roy and some unpredictable play calling. Not zone read for two, zone read for one, incomplete pass on third.

[junior4949]

Wasn't Mizzou's defense somewhat highly touted as Helu was gashing them for over 300 yards? I don't see it as our offense being inept against quality defenses. I see it as our offense being completely inconsistent. It's not like our offense only looks inept against good defenses because it has looked just as inept against defenses that are horrible.

[GMoose]

If you fire an offeseive cordinator after a 10-2 season, it will be very hard to find a replacment. No good coach in their right mind woudl take a job with such high expectations. That simple

 

But I think most people can see through the smoke of records and 1000 yd rushers. To me, it's not difficult to see that this offense has racked up big numbers against really, really poor defenses. It has yet to be efficent against quality opponents. I still have not watched the Texas game, so I can only go by what I hear, which is dropped passes. But if we don't drop those passes, how many TD's do we put up? And it still doesn't explain away the other games where our offense has look completely inept.

 

My opinion (for what its worth..exactly nothing) is kind of a compilation of what others have said. I think he gets too cute at times trying to outsmart someone, doensn't seem to adjust well when one aspect of his gameplan is taken away, and linked to that, doesn't adjust his play calling to his personel (Cody in the Zone read, he looks like a fish out of water).

 

Hopefully, like the Colorado game, he'll have a gameplan taylored to Cody which hopefully means 20 carries apiece for Rex and Roy and some unpredictable play calling. Not zone read for two, zone read for one, incomplete pass on third.

Nailed it.

 

I don't know if he is stubborn or bone-headed, but the lack of adjustment and cutesy play calling really frustrates me. Running out of the shotgun for example. Or when we sub in Will Henry and Curenski Gilleylen? Who is he trying to fool? Going on what you said about adjusting gameplans; when Cody comes in in relief, he looks out of place and under prepared. When they knew he was starting, he was extremely efficient, performed very well, and managed the offense as well as we could have asked.

 

And going on what you said about bad defense; look what happens when we played Texas. We couldn't do anything. The only reason we hung 31 on Mizzou (yes, a solid D) is because Gary Pinkel was as bone-headed as Watson in the first quarter.

[3rd and long]

Wasn't Mizzou's defense somewhat highly touted as Helu was gashing them for over 300 yards? I don't see it as our offense being inept against quality defenses. I see it as our offense being completely inconsistent. It's not like our offense only looks inept against good defenses because it has looked just as inept against defenses that are horrible.

 

True, but take away Roy's three big runs, which I know you really can't because they are part of that games offensive production, and our offense really didn't do much after. That also speaks to another facet of our O, we seem to be only a "big play" offense. If we don't have the big play, 50-60 yards, we don't have much.

 

I would be curious to know how many drives we've had this year in the 70yd range that have culminated in TD's and not FG's.

[GMoose]

Wasn't Mizzou's defense somewhat highly touted as Helu was gashing them for over 300 yards? I don't see it as our offense being inept against quality defenses. I see it as our offense being completely inconsistent. It's not like our offense only looks inept against good defenses because it has looked just as inept against defenses that are horrible.

 

True, but take away Roy's three big runs, which I know you really can't because they are part of that games offensive production, and our offense really didn't do much after. That also speaks to another facet of our O, we seem to be only a "big play" offense. If we don't have the big play, 50-60 yards, we don't have much.

 

I would be curious to know how many drives we've had this year in the 70yd range that have culminated in TD's and not FG's.

I don't know how many times this year I've turned to the person next to me and said "Alright, time for a 6 minute 75 yard drive" and watched it end in a punt most of the time, or the occasional long TD run. It's maddening

[junior4949]

I'm not trying to make excuses, but from everything I've seen we don't get those long extended drives where we grind out three to four yards per play because of our OL. We start out grinding out drives only to be hit with a five to ten yard penalty putting us into third and longs where we have to pass to WR's that can't even catch a cold. Also, our OL is very inconsistent where they impose their will at times and then get their butts handed to them at other times. For all the heat that Swift and Peterson got for being slow white receivers, they did something that we haven't seen since: they caught the friggin ball and moved the chains. The other major drive killer I've noticed is the amount of downs we lose because the QB puts the ball on the ground. If you add up all the penalties, dropped passes, and fumbles; we kill all of our drives. I think this offense is very capable of grinding out drives, but then we kill it with one of the above.

[Guy Chamberlin]

Holy sh#t.

 

Last season ended with Nebraska beating an Arizona team touted as the best defense in the Pac 10 33 - 0 with the semi-healthy Zac Lee running the offense Shawn Watson had always wanted to run.

 

This season the Nebraska offense put on a clinic. The first games two games didn't count, but the loud and intimidating Husky Stadium was going to be the real test. The Husker Offense was dominant, diversified and entertaining.

 

They totally sucked against South Dakota State. But every other Top 10 team has their own crappy win against an inferior opponent.

 

Now comes the test: Big 12 play on the road against K-State. The Husker offense is on fire. Everybody in college football is climbing on board the Husker bandwagon.

 

Now comes the real test: Texas. The whole team collapses. There's no way you can watch that game and blame it all on the offense. We're not talking about a dropped pass or two, we're talking about four dropped touchdown passes, the most egregious by Rex Burkhead and you gotta get real creative to hang that on Gilmore. That's a Bo Pelini loss, plain and simple. Offense, Defense and Special Teams, everyone took the field wound way too tight. And Bo took responsibility for pulling Martinez and putting in Zac Lee, which he later admitted might have been a mistake.

 

But here's the real test: how do they bounce back? By riding their offense to consecutive wins against Top 10 teams. This is a team that had gone 9 years without beating a ranked opponent, the most embarrassing streak in Husker history and now they beat Oklahoma State and Missouri in offensive showcases of passing and running and big plays and sustained drives and the whiners on the internet boards are asking "but what did you do against quality opponents?" Holy sh#t.

 

Oh yeah, and the star quarterback goes down at the end of the first half of the Missouri game, his backup is unavailable and the third string option does not appear to have the confidence of both Bo Pelini and Shawn Watson, forcing an emergency amending of the playbook that puts a once promising season at risk. The Huskers, who were high in every offfensive category, dropped a couple notches without their Heisman hopeful quarterback. Let's also take a moment to appreciate an offense that was able to elevate a Freshman to a legitimate Heisman candidate. Every major college recruiter knew about Taylor Martinez but nobody else thought he'd work as a quarterback.

 

And still they are 10 and 2 and playing for the Big 12 championship.

 

But whatever. Somewhere in magical gumdrop land an offense is able to exert its will in any circumstance against every team, but not in the real world. Tom Osborne teams lost to the likes of Texas and Texas A&M, and barely beat teams they should have dominated (Missouri '97, anyone?) no matter how you'd like to remember it. And even Bill Belichick gets his ass handed to him a couple times a season.

[bshirt]

Blah, blah, blah......excuses, excuses, excuses.

 

Somewhere in the magical gumdrop land our offense can score more than "zero" TD's vs Texas or TAM. Maybe, just maybe....even more than "two" TDs vs powerhouse Kansas & freakin South Dakota State. That's asking a lot, I know....

[3rd and long]

[

Oh yeah, and the star quarterback goes down at the end of the first half of the Missouri game, his backup is unavailable and the third string option does not appear to have the confidence of both Bo Pelini and Shawn Watson, forcing an emergency amending of the playbook that puts a once promising season at risk. The Huskers, who were high in every offfensive category, dropped a couple notches without their Heisman hopeful quarterback. Let's also take a moment to appreciate an offense that was able to elevate a Freshman to a legitimate Heisman candidate. Every major college recruiter knew about Taylor Martinez but nobody else thought he'd work as a quarterback.

 

 

I think that's backwards. That was an incredibly talented freshman quarterback making a mediocre offense look better than it was. If the offense was elevating the freshman quarterback, if the offense was making the player, it shouldn't matter who is taking the snaps.

[zoogs]

Huh? It always matters who is taking the snaps.

[3rd and long]

Huh? It always matters who is taking the snaps.

 

Sorry, I didn't get the quote correct. What I was trying to do was show the quote "our offense has made a freshman quarterback a heisman canidate". What I was trying to say is that the player made the offense, not the other way around. Of course it matters who takes the snaps.

[Landlord]

Don't forget, guys, this offense has been 2-3 years in the making, and this is our first true year of it. It would be ludicrous to expect there not to be bumps in the road.

 

 

Next year is absolutely make or break time for Watson. We've cycled out the last Bill Callahan class (as far as I can remember?), we've been recruiting the kids that are designed for the vision Bo and Watson have shared and slowly worked on since Bo got here, and we're entering into year two of exactly what we want our offense to be. Considering the VAST improvement of this year over last year, combine with all the aforementioned points, I see reason to be optimistic about next year, and I also see reason to think there will be no more excuses after next season.

 

 

I understand what you are saying and I respect your comments but 3 years of turning an offense around is enough time to do it IMO. I don't see "vast improvement" in the offense as you do. Martinez's running ability has disguised a lot of Watson's unability to coach an offense. Hell, look what Coach Paul Johnson did his first year running the option at Ga Tech. He led that team to a 9-4 record and they were 3rd overall in rushing that year. Mind you, these were players who weren't recruited to play in that style of offense but he made it work. The tripple option that Johnson runs is not an easy offense to learn. This is just one example of how inept I thik Watson is. Of course this just my opinion.

 

 

Point taken as well, but here is my rebuttal.

 

 

The three years of developing into what we are now weren't as simple as just those words make it sound. We had a vision, but we didn't have the players, the knowledge (Watson and Bo were unfamiliar with quarterback rushing schemes, etc.) or the dedication for it..yet. But we did have Joe Ganz.

 

So, year one was spent learning, studying, and preparing while riding a pre-existing system with a damn good quarterback and surrounding cast.

 

Year two was going to be a legitimate, albeit conservative, step in the direction we wanted to go. A lot more shotgun, more zone read, more emphasis on ATTEMPTING to pound the rock to start the season. Then, the injuries. Some more injuries. Oh yeah, a few more injuries. It got to the point where Bo said, "Look, we still have a long term plan, but for right now we need to shut it down and not shoot ourselves in the foot."

 

Year three, well here we are. It's fully developed and fully implemented, but there have been growing pains. I think they can be shored up, and I think the reason they can be shored up is because of what the person that Knapplc quoted said ( don't remember who actually said it ). The biggest problems with our offense, in my opinion, are deep-rooted and have nothing at all to do with the scheming or play-calling, but have to do with the fundamental way our coaching staff goes about things.

 

Some might say that is an even WORSE thing to have, but I think that our coaches are capable of recognizing what the problem is, and still coaching and teaching the same things, but in a more efficient and successful way.

 

We'll see.

[Hercules]

 

The three years of developing into what we are now weren't as simple as just those words make it sound. We had a vision, but we didn't have the players, the knowledge (Watson and Bo were unfamiliar with quarterback rushing schemes, etc.) or the dedication for it..yet. But we did have Joe Ganz.

 

So, year one was spent learning, studying, and preparing while riding a pre-existing system with a damn good quarterback and surrounding cast.

 

Year two was going to be a legitimate, albeit conservative, step in the direction we wanted to go. A lot more shotgun, more zone read, more emphasis on ATTEMPTING to pound the rock to start the season. Then, the injuries. Some more injuries. Oh yeah, a few more injuries. It got to the point where Bo said, "Look, we still have a long term plan, but for right now we need to shut it down and not shoot ourselves in the foot."

 

Year three, well here we are. It's fully developed and fully implemented, but there have been growing pains. I think they can be shored up, and I think the reason they can be shored up is because of what the person that Knapplc quoted said ( don't remember who actually said it ). The biggest problems with our offense, in my opinion, are deep-rooted and have nothing at all to do with the scheming or play-calling, but have to do with the fundamental way our coaching staff goes about things.

 

Some might say that is an even WORSE thing to have, but I think that our coaches are capable of recognizing what the problem is, and still coaching and teaching the same things, but in a more efficient and successful way.

 

We'll see.

 

I do generally like the scheme we've moved towards. I think with how the zone-read is sort of our base offense, there are a number of wrinkles we still need to pick up from schools like Michigan and Oregon, who I think utilize play-action passes out of the zone read more effectively then we do. But I do like our scheme for the most part.

 

I think if you're thinking long-term results, though, you want to see Nebraska's offense ranked top 20 just about every year, like what Bo's defenses are going to be. I think we've made progress towards that, but we aren't there yet, and the thing I worry about is relying too much on Martinez for our production. Maybe in the future guys like Carnes and Turner are going to be able to step in and keep the offense moving efficiently, but that just remains to be seen.