Enhance Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 In 2010, Nebraska averaged 65 plays per game. Through one game in 2011, Nebraska has already eclipsed that average by using an up-tempo offense - an offense that produced 68 plays against UTC. But from what we've heard players and coaches say, this offense can go even faster. Offenses that effectively run up-tempo can cause a world of trouble for defensive coordinators. Not only do players need to play sound fundamental defense, but they also need to avoid getting beat up too early. Three extra plays per game, and only one game into the season never-the-less, may not seem like a lot. But if this offense truly has a faster tempo, I'd love to see it. It turns the game into a game of attrition. And as Husker fans know from the 1995 Orange Bowl, offenses can quickly gain the upper hand when it comes to fatigue. To me, this is one promising stat coming out of last Saturday's game. I'd love to see our guys ramp up the speed while playing disciplined. There are two issues to consider, however. First - if we don't execute, we run the risk of getting our defense back out onto the field far sooner than we would hope, especially if we do a lot of poor passing plays. Therefore, discipline and execution is going to be far more important this year than it has been in the past for this offense. I just hope our guys are up to the challenge Second, some might view plays per game as an arbitrary statistic, a lot like time of possession. Therefore it really comes down to which side you sit on in this debate. However, I'd prefer we can get 70-80 plays consistently this year, rather than games like last year where we only had 58, 52 and 59 plays. Some of those low play count games turned into blowout victories, however they were also some of Martinez' most statistically better games where he would rush for 200+ yards and be responsible for much of the scoring. Quote Link to comment
jsneb83 Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Sweet, so now when we go three and out, our defense will have even less time to rest. 4 Quote Link to comment
bshirt Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I love the up-tempo. More plays per game is a HUGE asset imo due to our run-first offense (it will continue to improve all year). Quote Link to comment
zoogs Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 It is hard to judge an offense from a macroscopic level view based on TOP or # of plays alone. There are a lot of variables that go into it, starting with the defense! Can they do their job and get off the field, or is the other team's offense dictating a bit? etc. But as far as the up-tempo goes, I think it is a means to an end. The real judge of it is in the yards and the yards per play, same as ever. Did the up-tempo do its job in throwing off the defense and allowing the offense to be productive? That is the key question. As long as an offense is productive, it doesn't matter if it is up-tempo or not. Different ways exist to achieve the same result. We averaged about 5.7 yards per play - compared to 9.2 in last year's opener - so it is obvious that there is a ways to go before the team get good at achieving the results they want using this new method. Hopefully, we'll get back to that level in one of our other OOC games this year. There's always that one OOC scrub that makes a semi-decent game of it, and then that one team that we just flatten. Sweet, so now when we go three and out, our defense will have even less time to rest. Heh, tongue-in-cheek, but this is spot on. That is the worry that comes with up-tempo. We just need to see the benefits outweigh the costs. Have not, yet. Let's hope we get there. It isn't necessarily a given, nor an easy task...but when done right, it's pretty cool. Quote Link to comment
bshirt Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 That's fair enough, zoogies. I like our chances of it being a positive factor but who knows? Quote Link to comment
NUance Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I’m on the fence with the up-tempo offense. I’m more concerned with what percentage of the time we convert a drive to put points on the board. If up-tempo helps us score more, then fine. If not we'll just end up putting the Blackshirts on the field more. But up-tempo is kind of exciting to watch. Quote Link to comment
da skers Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I’m on the fence with the up-tempo offense. I’m more concerned with what percentage of the time we convert a drive to put points on the board. If up-tempo helps us score more, then fine. If not we'll just end up putting the Blackshirts on the field more. But up-tempo is kind of exciting to watch. The theory behind all up tempo is that it keeps the defense off balance and on their heals. It shifts the power to the offense because they're always attacking while the defense is forced to react and often without being able to substitute personnel that would give them back the advantage. This is supposed to give your offense a greater chance to score. Thats why the 2 min. drill works well. The downside is that yes both offense and defense have to be very well conditioned and its hard to do that all season long. It will probably be next season or the one after before our guys are conditioned where we want them to be. Quote Link to comment
NUance Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I’m on the fence with the up-tempo offense. I’m more concerned with what percentage of the time we convert a drive to put points on the board. If up-tempo helps us score more, then fine. If not we'll just end up putting the Blackshirts on the field more. But up-tempo is kind of exciting to watch. The theory behind all up tempo is that it keeps the defense off balance and on their heals. It shifts the power to the offense because they're always attacking while the defense is forced to react and often without being able to substitute personnel that would give them back the advantage. This is supposed to give your offense a greater chance to score. Thats why the 2 min. drill works well. The downside is that yes both offense and defense have to be very well conditioned and its hard to do that all season long. It will probably be next season or the one after before our guys are conditioned where we want them to be. Yeah, if it works——higher scoring percentage——I’m all in favor of it. Even if it comes at the expense of putting the Blackshirts on the field more. We’re pretty deep on defense. Especially our D-line, the guys we’ll need to rotate. The thing is, we won't know until about mid-Oct whether hi-tempo is working like we want. Quote Link to comment
irafreak Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 To me it's all a part of the plan. Bo has been developing depth on the defensive side. This would compliment a fast paced offense... Quote Link to comment
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