Postmortem: Nebraska's Offense, Full Circle

[knapplc]

Agreed that there must be dysfunction on this team in a major way. Precisely what... as you say, can't really tell. That there is dysfunction however... that seems clear. That is the distraction I intimated in my posts. Would you not agree that there is far more of a problem than X's and O's with this team?

 

By the way, if the coaches thought that playing UW was a "slap in the face" then their arrogance is a problem and their response to adversity is woefully lacking and they failed their players. Arrogance is a character flaw.

Yes, I definitely agree that such a problem - if real and not perceived - is a far greater problem than X's and O's.

 

I think we're seeing a third-year Head Coach still struggling to deal with all the nuances of being The Man, and we compounded that with a first-year starter running the offense, who also happens to be a Redshirt Freshman not as familiar with this offense as he'll be as a Junior or Senior. That's a pretty potent one-two punch to work through.

 

Despite that, we won 10 games and beat two top-20 teams. As bad seasons go, that's not too bad.

[Hunter94]

i guess it just took a major scoring drought (and an embarrassing loss) for Bo to figure out all the coaches on the offense were not all pulling in the same direction....obvious conclusion to all at this point....how he handles it and what he intends to do to correct the problem going forward is the question...how he handles this situation and the progress he makes will define his career as a head coach..the way i see it he can improve/correct things either doing it using his own judgement or importing a "Charlie Weiss" and turning over the whole offense to a coordinator. i think i know which way he will go, but i question his personal knowledge and understanding of offensive schemes to get it done effectively......we shall see.

[knapplc]

I don't know, Hunter. Watson has known the door is open for his departure for a while now. It's just that he hasn't been able to land anywhere else.

 

Theoretically, Bo should have a pretty good grasp of the offensive side of the ball. He's a master defensive schemer, meaning he has to know what offenses are doing and how to counteract it. You'd think that would qualify him to, at the very least, know what's going on in his offense, and how to fix the problems. I'm of the opinion he does know this, but why he hasn't fixed the problem yet is anyone's guess.

[kchusker_chris]

He's hustling the Big10. After the A&M loss - he figured why not lose out the rest of the way - make the Big10 think you're a pushover...then dominate them all next year when it really matters. Strategy? Ok, probably not.

[Hujan]

The reason is because if you go back and look at that game (or the Texas game) you will see T-Mart floundering in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY as he did post ankle injury. If you put SDSU and Texas' defensive highlights in a reel along with the defensive highlights for A&M, Oklahoma, and Washington, you would see a consistent theme. I mean freaking identical.

 

Now you want to say that somehow the QB being tossed around like a rag doll in those clips had an ankle injury halfway through that montage, and that the injury had an effect on the outcome? No way. I'm sure it didn't help, but it's not the underlying problem. The real problem is that the offense depicted in that montage is being led by a coaching staff that has absolutely no idea how to put it's passing-challenged QB in the best position to succeed. All the rest in the world for T-Mart's ankle isn't going to fix that.

 

So you're saying that an ankle injury on a running quarterback did not affect his ability to run. And your evidence for that is the fact that he had a bad game against Texas (nevermind the fact that the WHOLE TEAM had a bad game) and against SDSU (again, nevermind the fact that the WHOLE TEAM had a bad game).

 

I'd love to like in a magic world where injuries don't affect a player's ability to perform, but unfortunately, that's not reality.

 

I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that, after Martinez single-handedly destroyed Washington on national TV, defenses had begun to sit up and take notice Martinez and began finding ways to stop his run game. Ankle or not, his running productivity would have declined dramatically as the season wore on. Check out the numbers:

 

In the first three games, Martinez averaged 140 yards per game, 10.5 yards per carry, and 2.67 TDs per game.

 

In the four games before he hurt his ankle against Mizzou, Martinez averaged 112 yards per game, 7.48 yards per carry, and 1 TD per game. That's a pretty significant drop off, particularly in the yards per carry which would prevent you from dismissing these stats on the grounds that Martinez began to throw more as the season wore on. Point is, his productivity was declining.

 

Now, you want to dismiss the Texas and SDSU games as simply "bad games" but I see an uncanny resemblance between Martinez's play in those games, and his post injury numbers. Let's go to the tape:

 

In the Texas and SDSU games, Martinez averaged 48 yards per game, 3.7 yards per carry, and 0 TDs.

 

In the final four games, Martinez averaged approximately 19.75 yards per game, 1.58 yards per carry, and 0 TDs. Note, however, that these numbers are wildly exaggerated because Martinez was taking massive sacks against A&M and Oklahoma (50 yards lost due to sacks against Oklahoma alone!). If you adjust for all those sack yards, the numbers would be identical, I'm sure of it.

 

The TDs also tell the story. Martinez had 12 rushing TDs this year. Eight of them came in the first three games. The other four came in a lone game against Kansas State.

 

As much as the Martinez apologists want to dismiss the SDSU and Texas games as "aberrations," there is no attempt to dismiss his ungodly performances in the Okie State and K State games as aberrations.

 

Against SDSU and Texas, Martinez averaged 101.5 yards and 0.5 TDs passing with a 38% completion percentage, along with 47.5 yards and 0 TDs rushing.

 

Against Okie State and K State, Martinez averaged 225.5 yards and 3 TDs passing with a 67% completion percentage, along with 176.5 yards and 2 TDs rushing.

 

That is all over the span of four consecutive games. The point is that Martinez was capable of dramatic fluctuations in his productivity even without the ankle injury. At times he looked like an all star. At other times, he looked lost and out of place.

 

My opinion is that the truth lies somewhere in between. Martinez is probably not going to consistently play at the level we saw against K State or Okie State this year. But that doesn't mean he's doomed to the performances we saw against SDSU or Texas. But it does mean that we can't just close our eyes and pretend that if Martinez stays healthy (a dubious proposition in its own right) all our offensive woes will magically disappear. We've got to diversify and find other playmakers to compliment him to keep the defense from keying in on him. And we have to expand his game to make him a threat passing the football on a consistent basis. Unless and until we do, Martinez will be mediocre at best, and totally ineffective at worst.

[Hercules]

Washington shut down our offense in the Holiday bowl because they really cared, and we really didn't. There's nothing more to it. People are putting way too much stock into that game.

 

 

OK.... If your premise is correct... that NU did not care about that game in San Diago... then it is reasonable to assert that this is worse than simply being inept on the field --- would you not rather have our team working hard and focused yet lose than to lose because the team does not care? If this team thinks so lowly of the NU tradition of playing with heart and drive on every snap, every game, regardless of score... enough so that they do not care about getting embarrased (once again) on national TV... then the problems with the NU football team are deeper and more ingrained they we might think. If you are correct that the team did not show up caring... and the coaching staff allowed this to be the case... then the problem with this team is not a weak offense or a bad OC... it is lack of character and heart. It is much easier fixing schemes and refining X's and O's than it is instilling charater. If you are correct, then our coaches need to be wildly taken to task... all of them... starting with the head coach. Allowing a team to enter a game w/o the desire to win is inexcusable.

 

As it were, I do think they cared... and I disagree with your premise. They cared. They got whipped anyway. Other facters likely played a role. Too distracted? Maybe. But they cared. At least I really hope that they did. And... the UW game as a bowl game mattered... a great deal. Every time the team dons the red "N" and represents our school and the fine people of Nebraska it matters. Every time one has the oppertunity to snap back after adversity, it matters.

 

The fans didn't give a crap about the Washington game, why would the players? The reaction to the announcement that Nebraska was going to play in the Holiday bowl against a team they already beat by 35 points was a unanimous, "Come on, are you kidding me!? This SUCKS!" from the fans, the media, and the players/coaches, whether they admit it or not.

 

And that game has nothing to do with character. You'd have to be a superhuman motivator as a coach, and you'd have to care about virtually nothing other than football as a player in order to get up for that game. Guys are competitive. But you don't feel like competing against an opponent you already smashed fair and square, nobody does. There are two guys I can think of who wouldn't have had a letdown in that game - Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods. And those two guys care about competition and their sport more than anything else in the world, which isn't really the healthiest thing.

[robsker]

Washington shut down our offense in the Holiday bowl because they really cared, and we really didn't. There's nothing more to it. People are putting way too much stock into that game.

 

 

OK.... If your premise is correct... that NU did not care about that game in San Diago... then it is reasonable to assert that this is worse than simply being inept on the field --- would you not rather have our team working hard and focused yet lose than to lose because the team does not care? If this team thinks so lowly of the NU tradition of playing with heart and drive on every snap, every game, regardless of score... enough so that they do not care about getting embarrased (once again) on national TV... then the problems with the NU football team are deeper and more ingrained they we might think. If you are correct that the team did not show up caring... and the coaching staff allowed this to be the case... then the problem with this team is not a weak offense or a bad OC... it is lack of character and heart. It is much easier fixing schemes and refining X's and O's than it is instilling charater. If you are correct, then our coaches need to be wildly taken to task... all of them... starting with the head coach. Allowing a team to enter a game w/o the desire to win is inexcusable.

 

As it were, I do think they cared... and I disagree with your premise. They cared. They got whipped anyway. Other facters likely played a role. Too distracted? Maybe. But they cared. At least I really hope that they did. And... the UW game as a bowl game mattered... a great deal. Every time the team dons the red "N" and represents our school and the fine people of Nebraska it matters. Every time one has the oppertunity to snap back after adversity, it matters.

 

The fans didn't give a crap about the Washington game, why would the players? The reaction to the announcement that Nebraska was going to play in the Holiday bowl against a team they already beat by 35 points was a unanimous, "Come on, are you kidding me!? This SUCKS!" from the fans, the media, and the players/coaches, whether they admit it or not.

 

And that game has nothing to do with character. You'd have to be a superhuman motivator as a coach, and you'd have to care about virtually nothing other than football as a player in order to get up for that game. Guys are competitive. But you don't feel like competing against an opponent you already smashed fair and square, nobody does. There are two guys I can think of who wouldn't have had a letdown in that game - Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods. And those two guys care about competition and their sport more than anything else in the world, which isn't really the healthiest thing.

 

 

I do see your point. Yet there is a reality associated with "OK then.... accept your lot and we did not get the opponent we wanted. Not what we wanted but... we represent NU, Nebraska and our fans everywhere. We wear the same red "N" on our helmets as did 5 teams of national champions and countless conference champion teams. And we will represent them well by playing with all the heart, all the energy, and all the focus we can muster --- it matters not who we play --- we play every down, every player with full fire and full intensity. Anything less and we do not deserve to wear the N on our helmets. We can not control who we play but we can control how we play."

 

No, my friend, it is entirely about character.

[knapplc]

My opinion is that the truth lies somewhere in between. Martinez is probably not going to consistently play at the level we saw against K State or Okie State this year. But that doesn't mean he's doomed to the performances we saw against SDSU or Texas. But it does mean that we can't just close our eyes and pretend that if Martinez stays healthy (a dubious proposition in its own right) all our offensive woes will magically disappear. We've got to diversify and find other playmakers to compliment him to keep the defense from keying in on him. And we have to expand his game to make him a threat passing the football on a consistent basis. Unless and until we do, Martinez will be mediocre at best, and totally ineffective at worst.

 

That's a very roundabout way of getting to what I've been saying all along. No, Martinez isn't the end-all, be-all of offense. He cannot do it on his own. I've never said that, and to my knowledge nobody has said that. What I've been saying all along is that he has talent. He has potential to be good. If he keeps developing that talent in the next couple of years, he could be someone special. He could also be Beau Davis. At this point, we don't know, but we have evidence that he could be pretty good. It's not unrealistic to hope that he continues to improve, and that he ends up being a piece of a pretty good offense.

 

That's all I've been saying about Martinez ever since the boo birds struck up their chorus round-about his first poor game.

[Hunter94]

same qb, same coach = same result....sure, he will get better, but really......how much, to what degree, will it be enough...and what the hell will be plan B, the Rexcat?

 

i am praying there will be no repeat of last season.........

[Hujan]

My opinion is that the truth lies somewhere in between. Martinez is probably not going to consistently play at the level we saw against K State or Okie State this year. But that doesn't mean he's doomed to the performances we saw against SDSU or Texas. But it does mean that we can't just close our eyes and pretend that if Martinez stays healthy (a dubious proposition in its own right) all our offensive woes will magically disappear. We've got to diversify and find other playmakers to compliment him to keep the defense from keying in on him. And we have to expand his game to make him a threat passing the football on a consistent basis. Unless and until we do, Martinez will be mediocre at best, and totally ineffective at worst.

 

That's a very roundabout way of getting to what I've been saying all along. No, Martinez isn't the end-all, be-all of offense. He cannot do it on his own. I've never said that, and to my knowledge nobody has said that. What I've been saying all along is that he has talent. He has potential to be good. If he keeps developing that talent in the next couple of years, he could be someone special. He could also be Beau Davis. At this point, we don't know, but we have evidence that he could be pretty good. It's not unrealistic to hope that he continues to improve, and that he ends up being a piece of a pretty good offense.

 

That's all I've been saying about Martinez ever since the boo birds struck up their chorus round-about his first poor game.

 

Well then, after all that, I suppose we largely agree. As I've said before, I like the kid and hope he does well. I'll be rooting for him for sure. I was just responding to the notion---which I thought you and others had expressed---that we would have kept piling up insane offensive numbers but for his ankle. Not so, I say. Defenses were catching up with him before that injury, and the injury just made the inevitable decline all the more rapid and dramatic.

 

There are fundamental problems with our offensive scheme that must be addressed or else Martinez, a potentially very good Husker QB, will be squandered.

[butterswolfman]

The offense was a bad version of Oregon. The play book read Zone Read, Zone Read, Zone Read, Zone Read, pass that takes forever to develope, Zone Read, Zone Read, Zone Read, Fake Zone read, wildcat run, wildcat zoneread

[knapplc]

My opinion is that the truth lies somewhere in between. Martinez is probably not going to consistently play at the level we saw against K State or Okie State this year. But that doesn't mean he's doomed to the performances we saw against SDSU or Texas. But it does mean that we can't just close our eyes and pretend that if Martinez stays healthy (a dubious proposition in its own right) all our offensive woes will magically disappear. We've got to diversify and find other playmakers to compliment him to keep the defense from keying in on him. And we have to expand his game to make him a threat passing the football on a consistent basis. Unless and until we do, Martinez will be mediocre at best, and totally ineffective at worst.

 

That's a very roundabout way of getting to what I've been saying all along. No, Martinez isn't the end-all, be-all of offense. He cannot do it on his own. I've never said that, and to my knowledge nobody has said that. What I've been saying all along is that he has talent. He has potential to be good. If he keeps developing that talent in the next couple of years, he could be someone special. He could also be Beau Davis. At this point, we don't know, but we have evidence that he could be pretty good. It's not unrealistic to hope that he continues to improve, and that he ends up being a piece of a pretty good offense.

 

That's all I've been saying about Martinez ever since the boo birds struck up their chorus round-about his first poor game.

 

Well then, after all that, I suppose we largely agree. As I've said before, I like the kid and hope he does well. I'll be rooting for him for sure. I was just responding to the notion---which I thought you and others had expressed---that we would have kept piling up insane offensive numbers but for his ankle. Not so, I say. Defenses were catching up with him before that injury, and the injury just made the inevitable decline all the more rapid and dramatic.

 

There are fundamental problems with our offensive scheme that must be addressed or else Martinez, a potentially very good Husker QB, will be squandered.

 

Again, I agree with that. It's funny how in this imperfect medium of words on screens how we can talk and talk and talk yet pretty much think the same thing. It's entertaining, at least. You write a good post, always worth reading.

[Hercules]

There are fundamental problems with our offensive scheme that must be addressed or else Martinez, a potentially very good Husker QB, will be squandered.

 

Hujan, I'm sorry if you've posted this somewhere else and I missed it, but specifically what are those fundamental problems that need to be addressed? I agree that they exist and have my own thoughts on what might help, but what do you think?

[zoogs]

The offense was a bad version of Oregon. The play book read Zone Read, Zone Read, Zone Read, Zone Read, pass that takes forever to develope, Zone Read, Zone Read, Zone Read, Fake Zone read, wildcat run, wildcat zoneread

 

Wow, this is actually very far off from reality.

 

We haven't run the zone read nearly as much as we did prior to Taylor's injury, which would be the latter half of the season. And as far as pass plays, we ran an awful lot of quick slants (against Oklahoma for instance, with the game on the line), which people didn't like - but what else was Taylor going to do? The plays didn't actually call for Taylor to sit back in the pocket and panic for a few seconds before getting planted to the turf. As for the Wildcat, it only emerged after Taylor's injury to supplement what Taylor couldn't do, and was the most consistent and effective thing we had going.

 

Given that it is our first year in this system, running with an extremely raw quarterback, I don't think it should be surprising at all that it wasn't a raw version of our scheme (which does seem to be going in Oregon's direction), as opposed to a polished one.

[knapplc]

We haven't run the zone read nearly as much as we did prior to Taylor's injury

 

Many people see us line up in that same formation with Taylor/Cody handing the ball off or keeping it, that they think that's the Zone Read. Same look, but no read is being made (which was obvious to lots of us when the play was blown up, but the opposite choice would have gained yardage). Apparently there are quite a few folks who think that was the Zone Read.