Hawkeyes lose annual rivalry, gain another

[druski_2k5]

I think some people are confusing strictly power football, with what we ran in before 2004.

 

If anyone thinks that the offense that we fielded under Osborne and Solich is even remotely close to what Wisconsin runs, they aren't looking at things with perspective.

 

Our offenses under Osborne and Solich had speed on the offensive side of the ball. Wisconsin is big, heavy, and slow. We used our quarterbacks as a wrinkle in the option game, combined with the play-action pass, used some Shotgun, Zone Read and minimal options and draws from Shotgun with the quarterback, running backs and receivers, as well as some Flexbone. I would consider that offense an "Option offense" with a heavy emphasis on the I-Formation running game.

 

Wisconsin, relies on heavy and powerful backs. We relied on our fast, athletic quarterbacks, and depth of balanced or speed backs.

 

Two VASTLY different offenses, and I MUCH prefer our old offense to Wisconsin's.

 

Our offense of back then could still work TODAY. You have to recruit for it, which we aren't, and most high schools don't run those types of offense as kids these days want to get to the NFL level, so it's hard to find. You can run it, but recruiting maybe a bit tougher. That, along with weightlifting programs and training programs, is where the game truly changes. Not necessarily on the field, but you have to recruit to get players on the field and those might be hard to come by with how things go these days.

 

However, I don't think Wisconsin's style of offense, which is purely powerful and heavy running back driven out of the I-formation, can get them over the hump. We relied on possession receivers blocking up-field and outside on options, off-tackles, counters, tosses, depth at running back, balanced, speed backs, and athletic quarterbacks.

 

Wisconsin does not have athletic quarterbacks like we do, and I'm not sure if they have any balanced or speed running backs, but don't quote me on that, I don't know what kind of depth they have.

 

Which is why I prefer our old offense opposed to theirs.

 

Their offense works well against certain teams, but if they got up against a team stronger than them, they will have problems. They have won X amount of games over the last X amount of years....great...good....wonderful....good for them. But that hasn't yielded in championships or BCS wins.

 

Here's how I see things. We are going back to what we used to do. To an extent. You will see options, athletic quarterbacks, speed and balanced running backs, speed, speed, speed, with an emphasis on running as well as keeping defenses honest with the pass.

 

The only exception?

 

We are spreading the formation out as opposed to running it strictly majority I-formation.

 

That and the athletic quarterbacks vs. non-athletic quarterbacks is a huge difference in the offenses.

 

Which is why I'm excited where we are going with our offense. I loved our old offense, and it would work today, but you have to recruit for it. To think we can "take Wisconsin's playbook" and put that on our 2010 or 2011 squad and have championship wins? Not likely. We don't have the power or size of running backs that Wisconsin does. Those are the biggest differences.

 

Wisconsin also relies on a run to pass ratio of AT LEAST 80-20 if not more. Bo's offense won't ever be at that level, nor should it be there. Osborne's may have been inflated, but due to getting up quickly on teams, again with depth at running back, an athletic quarterback, and a passing game to keep defenses honest, instead of run the score up, we just ran, ran, ran. I think Solich was more 65-35, with a HEAVY emphasis on quarterback doing most of the work, which was his ultimate downfall of not building an offense and just relying on a quarterback.

 

Now wait, weren't we talking about Iowa and their rivalries at the start of the thread?

[blasted_imposter]

And let's put one crazy notion to rest right now - Nebraska didn't go away from the Power Run game because it doesn't work anymore. Nebraska left the Power Run game for the WCO when Solich was fired. Different coach, different offensive philosophies, plain and simple.

 

There is zero reason why a Power Run game can't work today. Athletes are not so much faster today than they were 15 years ago that we couldn't win with Osborne's offenses. We're talking fractions of a second on skill players, nothing more.

 

On the money, knapplc.

 

I too get so tired of hearing that BS. The other one that keeps getting stated 10,000 times is the "power football/option can't work anymore because the defenses are too fast".

Implying the defensive players have got faster but not the offensive players. Makes sense to me.

 

Heck, some of Frank's teams averaged over 40 points a game. TO's teams frequently too. But now we're seven full years into fluffball, we're struggling to score 20. Real progress right? Nevertheless, the mantra is "balance". Who cares what TO or even Frank did without "balance"? Results be damned, we gotta have it because....because.....because!

 

Obviously people forget how texas and texas a&m owned us at the line of scrimmage ever since the big 12 formed basically, and sure, the "power run game" worked against kansas and iowa state, but who cares? and that's precisely why solich got fired in the first place.

 

anybody who doesn't think that's the case simply is in a state of denial, and chooses to forget the tailspin of the early 2000's, when it was patently obvious to everyone bleeding red that the "way things were" wasn't going to get NU over the OU and UT and TA&M hump, and helped us all to excuse Petey's moves away as necessary and inevitable if success in the future was to be ensured.

 

power

football

is

dead

 

Wise up.

[knapplc]

I too get so tired of hearing that BS. The other one that keeps getting stated 10,000 times is the "power football/option can't work anymore because the defenses are too fast".

Implying the defensive players have got faster but not the offensive players. Makes sense to me.

 

Heck, some of Frank's teams averaged over 40 points a game. TO's teams frequently too. But now we're seven full years into fluffball, we're struggling to score 20. Real progress right? Nevertheless, the mantra is "balance". Who cares what TO or even Frank did without "balance"? Results be damned, we gotta have it because....because.....because!

 

Yep. But don't take my word for it - take the word of most any coach in the country, who'll tell you that you HAVE TO be able to run the ball, at will, to win a championship.

 

Texas Tech is a great example of how fluffball only gets you so far. So is Missouri. So was Kansas circa 2007. Throw the ball up and down the field all you want, but when your opponent takes away your passing game and you can't run, you're done.

 

Look at USC - spread the ball all over the field during their championship years, but when crunch time hit, they could RUN THE BALL. LenDale White and Reggie Bush behind that ridiculous O Line. That's how they won, not simply throwing the ball.

[redblooded]

Our offense of back then could still work TODAY. You have to recruit for it, which we aren't, and most high schools don't run those types of offense as kids these days want to get to the NFL level, so it's hard to find. You can run it, but recruiting maybe a bit tougher. That, along with weightlifting programs and training programs, is where the game truly changes. Not necessarily on the field, but you have to recruit to get players on the field and those might be hard to come by with how things go these days.

 

I agree with pretty much everything you said except some of this.

 

Part of the propaganda that came with the Callahan hire was A ) the old style Nebraska offense wasn't able to work anymore because of the speed of players in college now and B ) we cant recruit the best players because they all want to go to the NFL style programs. The first part as stated before was being said since the 80s. The second part was/is probably used by recruiters for skill position kids out of high-school but it is still bull, if you have the athletic ability and the NFL teams think you might help them win games they'll find you. I doubt the NFL aspirations of those kids really have any bearing on what offenses they are running at high-school levels.

[bshirt]

And let's put one crazy notion to rest right now - Nebraska didn't go away from the Power Run game because it doesn't work anymore. Nebraska left the Power Run game for the WCO when Solich was fired. Different coach, different offensive philosophies, plain and simple.

 

There is zero reason why a Power Run game can't work today. Athletes are not so much faster today than they were 15 years ago that we couldn't win with Osborne's offenses. We're talking fractions of a second on skill players, nothing more.

 

On the money, knapplc.

 

I too get so tired of hearing that BS. The other one that keeps getting stated 10,000 times is the "power football/option can't work anymore because the defenses are too fast".

Implying the defensive players have got faster but not the offensive players. Makes sense to me.

 

Heck, some of Frank's teams averaged over 40 points a game. TO's teams frequently too. But now we're seven full years into fluffball, we're struggling to score 20. Real progress right? Nevertheless, the mantra is "balance". Who cares what TO or even Frank did without "balance"? Results be damned, we gotta have it because....because.....because!

 

Obviously people forget how texas and texas a&m owned us at the line of scrimmage ever since the big 12 formed basically, and sure, the "power run game" worked against kansas and iowa state, but who cares? and that's precisely why solich got fired in the first place.

 

anybody who doesn't think that's the case simply is in a state of denial, and chooses to forget the tailspin of the early 2000's, when it was patently obvious to everyone bleeding red that the "way things were" wasn't going to get NU over the OU and UT and TA&M hump, and helped us all to excuse Petey's moves away as necessary and inevitable if success in the future was to be ensured.

 

power

football

is

dead

 

Wise up.

 

I was at the 99 ccg and Texas didn't own squat. Heck, the game we played them earlier that year had Texas win a squeeker only because we fumbled four times in their red zone. Who owned the LOS in both those games? How about the 97 ccg with Texas A & M? 54 - 14? Yeah, they tore us up.

 

Solich got fired beacause we had the biggest POS in the history of cfb as an AD. Firing Frank/Bo for a bowl winning 10 - 3 was way, wayyyyy beyond stupid. We payed the full price for that move too with the four Clownahan years (and even three more years of Callawatts).

 

The "way things are" for the last seven years tells me fluffball just isn't going to hack it at NU.

 

Lastly, Frank with smashmouth won the BigXII, played in the NC game (should have in 99 much more than 01) and beat Texas. How many of those things has Clownahan or even Bo done since Pedey fired him?

[RedDenver]

 

intelligent

discussion

is

dead

 

Wise up.

Fixed it for ya.

[blasted_imposter]

I too get so tired of hearing that BS. The other one that keeps getting stated 10,000 times is the "power football/option can't work anymore because the defenses are too fast".

Implying the defensive players have got faster but not the offensive players. Makes sense to me.

 

Heck, some of Frank's teams averaged over 40 points a game. TO's teams frequently too. But now we're seven full years into fluffball, we're struggling to score 20. Real progress right? Nevertheless, the mantra is "balance". Who cares what TO or even Frank did without "balance"? Results be damned, we gotta have it because....because.....because!

 

Yep. But don't take my word for it - take the word of most any coach in the country, who'll tell you that you HAVE TO be able to run the ball, at will, to win a championship.

 

Texas Tech is a great example of how fluffball only gets you so far. So is Missouri. So was Kansas circa 2007. Throw the ball up and down the field all you want, but when your opponent takes away your passing game and you can't run, you're done.

 

Look at USC - spread the ball all over the field during their championship years, but when crunch time hit, they could RUN THE BALL. LenDale White and Reggie Bush behind that ridiculous O Line. That's how they won, not simply throwing the ball.

 

absolutely, but you can't just rely on one damn thing, this or that, offensively. you have to be able to do both to win the MNC. every single championship team over the last ten years has been able to beat teams throwing the ball, on more than one occasion, and that is what nebraska has not been able to do when it needed it, all the way up till this past season. Having a run of teams that are so physically dominant that you can simply Run Over Them all season long is not a reasonable expectation, if your expectation is a championship season.

 

Now, beck's offense will be throwing the ball more often and with more effect while still maintaining the ability to run it down your throat, and beat you to the places big lumbering linebackers, and other slower more vulnerable defenders, are not.

 

Anybody remember how OU beat NU by going at grixby all game?

Cosgrove could never seem to protect him or adjust enough through the course of several contests.

This is what beck is installing. Find a weak point and squeeze.

 

Also, all power football pundits will find out this very season that:

Teams that simply try to line up and run at this years Huskers will not be able to score points. You can take that to the bank.

 

I will fight any one of you.

:bonesflag: :bonesflag: