Starting job up for grabs as QBs test new offense

[Nexus]

LINCOLN — When junior Cody Green describes his approach to playing quarterback in Nebraska's offensive system last year, it sounds like Saturdays were as much quarterback class exam as football game.

 

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[zoogs]

The direction last fall, Green said, was to put the offense in the best situation to win.

 

“That's not making a contested throw,” he said. “Or throwing the ball away instead of taking the sack."

 

How awful.

 

"Not rolling out and attempting to make a play. Be smart with the ball.”

 

Things are changing this spring.

 

I would say this changed during the Washington game...

 

I hope all this distancing-from-last-year rhetoric pans out, and actually means something. Because there is definitely a lot of strong talk.

 

A simple bottom line for me is that QB seems by its very nature to be a very cerebral position, with high demand placed on the mental ability of the quarterback. I am not sure you can really get away from that.

[The Dude]

In other words, Shawn Watson was a joke. Most of us already knew that.

[huskered17]

Wouldn't surprise me to see a new starting qb this year. Thought Lee was a lock last year to start. Any one else surprised that Spano is just a sophomore, seems like he has been here for ever. Hope he doesn't have any more bad luck with those knee's. Should make for an interesting, spring and fall practices to see who will line up behind center for the first game this year.

 

GBR!!!

[da skers]

Wouldn't surprise me to see a new starting qb this year. Thought Lee was a lock last year to start. Any one else surprised that Spano is just a sophomore, seems like he has been here for ever. Hope he doesn't have any more bad luck with those knee's. Should make for an interesting, spring and fall practices to see who will line up behind center for the first game this year.

 

GBR!!!

That's because he came in January of his Sr year of HS. I think he's actually a Jr. He's listed as Sophomore because they expect the NCAA to give him a year back for the injury.

[Hercules]

The direction last fall, Green said, was to put the offense in the best situation to win.

 

“That's not making a contested throw,” he said. “Or throwing the ball away instead of taking the sack."

 

How awful.

 

"Not rolling out and attempting to make a play. Be smart with the ball.”

 

Things are changing this spring.

 

I would say this changed during the Washington game...

 

I hope all this distancing-from-last-year rhetoric pans out, and actually means something. Because there is definitely a lot of strong talk.

 

A simple bottom line for me is that QB seems by its very nature to be a very cerebral position, with high demand placed on the mental ability of the quarterback. I am not sure you can really get away from that.

 

I don't think Watson and Beck are going to be teaching the QBs different things, for the most part... It's not like Beck doesn't want them to throw the ball away if a play is completely falling apart.

 

But, their teaching style is way different. In this article, Cody makes it sound like Watson was always passive, a "Don't do that, and don't make this mistake" type of teacher. As opposed to Beck, who sounds more like an agressive, "Do this," type of teacher. I might be reading way to much into it, but the more I read, the more they just make it sound like the real difference between Beck and Watson is less about football knowledge and ability to scheme, and more about their ability to teach.

 

As far as the "cerebral" aspect you talk about, I think that their goal with the new offense is to take that aspect out of it as much as possible. They want QBs to be able to use their athleticism and improvise.

 

They want the offense to be like the QBs' first language - you don't have to think before you speak, you just speak. Last year, our offense was like our QB's 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language. They were able to say, "Donde esta la biblioteca?" But they didn't know what the hell it meant, and when the defense was actually fluent in Spanish, our offense didn't understand their answer.

[zoogs]

I hope so, Hercules. If our current QBs respond to Beck better, then it's good. However, with a lot of the articles that have come out I am getting a "we're doing everything so different" vibe, which is something I hope is true only in rhetoric. In other words I read into it the opposite of what you did: that it is all about scheme.

 

I am optimistic that my view on that is wrong though. We have been getting 'much simpler' on offense year, after year, after year, since like 2004. You'd think at this point, it would be pretty impossible to get simpler. I guess the changes aren't all what they're made out to be.

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

I don't want to open a can here, but on my way to rec last week I saw the offense practicing outside, in that 10 mins I saw more option plays than we have seen in the past 5 years. Out of every formation imaginable.

[The Dude]

I don't want to open a can here, but on my way to rec last week I saw the offense practicing outside, in that 10 mins I saw more option plays than we have seen in the past 5 years. Out of every formation imaginable.

Nice. I was wondering where that speed option out of the shotgun was all year last year. We ran it with Zac Lee, but not with an actual running QB.

[Spartness]

My first thought was an aggressive offense means more risk of turnovers. But look at all the turnovers, mainly fumbles, with a "passive" offense last season. So I will update my thought and say it's about sound execution and knowing how to improvise that perhaps avoids turnovers.

[Hunter94]

Beck sounds really vague, that makes me nervous...receivers winging it, changing the terminology, tweaking things? sure sounds like a rudderless offensive scheme to me,

i wonder if Beck knows what he is doing? he sounds more focused on leadership issues? doesn't talk about a skill set in his qb......better be more to this than running the option out of 10 different formations or we are busted!........also not sure how we had good stuff, but could never get to it....

[PaulCrewe]

In other words, Shawn Watson was a joke. Most of us already knew that.

Shawn Watson says he is not a joke, but more of a pun or a play on words.

 

ZING, hijacking another one

[bshirt]

I don't want to open a can here, but on my way to rec last week I saw the offense practicing outside, in that 10 mins I saw more option plays than we have seen in the past 5 years. Out of every formation imaginable.

 

 

Ohhhh....I like that!

 

Hey, SW had Z. Lee plod along the option. Why not use it with a qb who is fast?

[walksalone]

I kinda figured that this would open up the race for QB.

 

I don't think "senority" is going to mean much, but the right guy for the job...

[Hercules]

As far as rhetoric about the QB race goes, I don't really put too much stock into that. Martinez is about as likely to lose his starting job as Alfonzo Dennard, if you ask me. The coaches are always going to say the QB race is open, just like every other position.