What will change, hopefully change, or stay the same with the 2012 offense?

[bshirt]

To clarify that last statement, I was including the coaches as well, the play calling at crucial times is poor at best.

Pelini's no offensive guru, and Beck's no tenured coordinator. Whether Beck was the right man for the job is irrelevant, because he's who we have. I personally believe he has a lot of potential. I'm not willing to criticize him extensively yet because it was his first year.

 

Why would you criticize him extensively anyways? We fielded a good product on the offensive side of the ball last year. Elite? No. Great? At times. Good? You bet your butt - our offense was good.

 

I gotta agree with that. Especially considering we played so many teams with a decent to very good defense (Michigan St, Michigan, Ohio St, Penn St, Iowa, South Carolina, Wisconsin). On that side of the ball the Big10 is a big upgrade from the BigXII on average, imo.

[Enhance]

To clarify that last statement, I was including the coaches as well, the play calling at crucial times is poor at best.

Pelini's no offensive guru, and Beck's no tenured coordinator. Whether Beck was the right man for the job is irrelevant, because he's who we have. I personally believe he has a lot of potential. I'm not willing to criticize him extensively yet because it was his first year.

 

Why would you criticize him extensively anyways? We fielded a good product on the offensive side of the ball last year. Elite? No. Great? At times. Good? You bet your butt - our offense was good.

Exactly. It would be extremely unjust to a heavily criticize somebody who didn't put a bad product on the field in his first year.

[zoogs]

Why would you criticize him extensively anyways? We fielded a good product on the offensive side of the ball last year. Elite? No. Great? At times. Good? You bet your butt - our offense was good.

Our offense was good?

 

2011: 66th ranked 379.9 yards per game.

2010: 44th ranked, 398.14 yards per game.

 

Yeah, butt is not something I'd be willing to bet here. This is, at best, subject to a lot of interpretation. Considering the 2010 offense -- which was a) year 1 of a new offense, b) year 1 of a raw and totally inexperienced QB, and c) derailed for a good part of the year by injury at the QB spot -- was widely considered one of the most abysmal, ugly performances possible.

 

If you ask me, Beck is just getting the honeymoon treatment still. In short, he isn't Shawn Watson. If Shawn Watson led our offense last year, fans would not be nearly as forgiving of the bad performances. And you know, that'd be fair, you can make the argument, you need to expect improvement from year to year, and it was year 1 for Beck.

 

But now we're in interpretation territory, and arguing why Beck should be excused for what, on paper, was at least not a good product. Average.

[Landlord]

Why would you criticize him extensively anyways? We fielded a good product on the offensive side of the ball last year. Elite? No. Great? At times. Good? You bet your butt - our offense was good.

Our offense was good?

 

2011: 66th ranked 379.9 yards per game.

2010: 44th ranked, 398.14 yards per game.

 

Yeah, butt is not something I'd be willing to bet here. This is, at best, subject to a lot of interpretation. Considering the 2010 offense -- which was a) year 1 of a new offense, b) year 1 of a raw and totally inexperienced QB, and c) derailed for a good part of the year by injury at the QB spot -- was widely considered one of the most abysmal, ugly performances possible.

 

If you ask me, Beck is just getting the honeymoon treatment still. In short, he isn't Shawn Watson. If Shawn Watson led our offense last year, fans would not be nearly as forgiving of the bad performances. And you know, that'd be fair, you can make the argument, you need to expect improvement from year to year, and it was year 1 for Beck.

 

But now we're in interpretation territory, and arguing why Beck should be excused for what, on paper, was at least not a good product. Average.

 

I never judge on statistics - just judge based on judgment I remember seeing a good product on the field most of the season. Could be wrong, sure, but it's what I remember.

['SkersRule]

If something is ranked 44th and there are 88 places, that's average. There are 120 teams in the football bowl subdivision. From just the raw numbers that puts Nebraska's offense into the top one-third of all teams concerning offensive output. That is not great but is better than average.

[zoogs]

If something is ranked 44th and there are 88 places, that's average. There are 120 teams in the football bowl subdivision. From just the raw numbers that puts Nebraska's offense into the top one-third of all teams concerning offensive output. That is not great but is better than average.

 

Yes, but that 44 ranking you are referring to was Shawn Watson's horrendously bad 2010 offense.

 

Tim Beck's good 2011 offense was 66th.

I never judge on statistics - just judge based on judgment I remember seeing a good product on the field most of the season. Could be wrong, sure, but it's what I remember.

Well, we can agree that it's off memory rather than actual production . And there are arguments to be made to explain the context of both sets of numbers -- it is not a matter of right or wrong, which is what I am arguing.

 

I think many of us felt pretty good about the offense last year, or at least that it is heading in the right direction. But for sure, it wasn't the smoothest of rides. Beck will be needing to step his game up, and I like the guy and think/hope he can do so.

['SkersRule]

Yes, but that was Shawn Watson's horrendously bad 2010 offense.

 

Tim Beck's good 2011 offense was 66th.

 

I don't need you confusing me with facts.

[bshirt]

If something is ranked 44th and there are 88 places, that's average. There are 120 teams in the football bowl subdivision. From just the raw numbers that puts Nebraska's offense into the top one-third of all teams concerning offensive output. That is not great but is better than average.

 

Yes, but that 44 ranking you are referring to was Shawn Watson's horrendously bad 2010 offense.

 

Tim Beck's good 2011 offense was 66th.

I never judge on statistics - just judge based on judgment I remember seeing a good product on the field most of the season. Could be wrong, sure, but it's what I remember.

Well, we can agree that it's off memory rather than actual production . And there are arguments to be made to explain the context of both sets of numbers -- it is not a matter of right or wrong, which is what I am arguing.

 

I think many of us felt pretty good about the offense last year, or at least that it is heading in the right direction. But for sure, it wasn't the smoothest of rides. Beck will be needing to step his game up, and I like the guy and think/hope he can do so.

 

 

True enough but one could argue 2011's offense faced far, far better defenses on average than 2010's offense. That's impossible to prove, I admit. But it's how I see it.

[HuskerShark]

If something is ranked 44th and there are 88 places, that's average. There are 120 teams in the football bowl subdivision. From just the raw numbers that puts Nebraska's offense into the top one-third of all teams concerning offensive output. That is not great but is better than average.

 

Yes, but that 44 ranking you are referring to was Shawn Watson's horrendously bad 2010 offense.

 

Tim Beck's good 2011 offense was 66th.

I never judge on statistics - just judge based on judgment I remember seeing a good product on the field most of the season. Could be wrong, sure, but it's what I remember.

Well, we can agree that it's off memory rather than actual production . And there are arguments to be made to explain the context of both sets of numbers -- it is not a matter of right or wrong, which is what I am arguing.

 

I think many of us felt pretty good about the offense last year, or at least that it is heading in the right direction. But for sure, it wasn't the smoothest of rides. Beck will be needing to step his game up, and I like the guy and think/hope he can do so.

 

 

True enough but one could argue 2011's offense faced far, far better defenses on average than 2010's offense. That's impossible to prove, I admit. But it's how I see it.

 

This. Big 12 was known for powerhouse offenses and no defense. B1G is widely regarded as the opposite. Our offense held its own in 2011, regardless what the stats say. It wasn't flashy like the 2010 version because the defenses we faced didn't allow that to happen in the new conference.

 

Plus, it would be difficult to rank in the top 10-15 because there are teams like Houston who play my old high school team every Saturday and throw for 7 TDs a game.

[H2h]

It's interesting that generally people think the offense was the strength of our team, and think the defense was awful.

 

The stats say the opposite. Total defense rank is 37th and scoring defense is 42nd. But stats can say whatever you want them to say to support your argument.

[kchusker_chris]

^ Agree. If we had 2009 or even 2010 defense the offense wouldn't' be getting as much praise. I think the defense being so bad helps the offense out a little and buys Beck some time. We have greater concerns than the offense this offseason (which is a first in about 5 years).

 

Overall we had an 'average' offense against 13 teams we'd never played before. We had a 'below average' defense against the same 13 teams. Somehow we still ended up with a 'better than average' 9-4 season.

 

As a whole, I'm not going to judge either the defense or the offense too harshly based solely on 2011. Switching conferences likely has a similar impact on the on-field results as switching a coaching staff does. This year and next will tell us a lot about our football team. We can look to individual positions, or breakdowns in scheme (DL)...but I'm doing my best not to put a lot of stock in 2011 when it comes to "we have a bad offense/we have a bad defense" - it just can't be decided yet.

[Enhance]

That 2010 offense may have been statistically better, but I'd like to point out a few key points.

 

1) Padded by the greatest single player rushing performance in Husker history.

2) Padded by nobody knowing who Martinez was or what he was capable of for half a year.

3) Padded by terrible defenses like Kansas State and half the rest of the Big 12 (remember how oSu looked against our offense)?

 

Also, although the 2011 offense wasn't statistically better, I felt that we were more consistent. The 2010 offense had explosive games, and then laid absolute eggs in others. Our offense didn't lay an absolute egg this year, at least not imho.

[kchusker_chris]

Back to the OT: I'm really liking the sound of this:

 

Nebraska is exploring ways to get senior tight ends Ben Cotton and Kyler Reed on the field more together. Credit a trip from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick with perhaps opening that door a bit. The Patriots had the NFL’s best 1-2 punch at tight end with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

 

“He was talking with our staff,” Reed said. “They use their two tight ends a lot. Some of our coaches may spend some time up there. We’re still trying to get used it. We’re not trying to force catches — just play within the offense.”

 

Said Pelini: “That’s something we’ve talked about — making a concerted effort to get those guys the football and really have those guys on the field together. Even more than we did last year. You talk about base personnel and you put Kyler Reed on a linebacker? That’s going to create problems for people. He’s really looked good the first couple days.”

 

Reed said he and Cotton are as healthy — at the same time — as they have been in years. Reed suffered through hamstring troubles and a high ankle sprain last year, while Ben Cotton missed a chunk of time after a right arm injury vs. Penn State.

 

http://sports.omaha....ice-quick-hits/

2 reliable TEs - not many drops here. Likely those are short passes that Martinez can read quickly and throw on a line as well. 3rd & 8 conversions you can count on.

[carlfense]

Run the ball right at their souls.

[Saunders]

Back to the OT: I'm really liking the sound of this:

 

Nebraska is exploring ways to get senior tight ends Ben Cotton and Kyler Reed on the field more together. Credit a trip from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick with perhaps opening that door a bit. The Patriots had the NFL’s best 1-2 punch at tight end with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

 

“He was talking with our staff,” Reed said. “They use their two tight ends a lot. Some of our coaches may spend some time up there. We’re still trying to get used it. We’re not trying to force catches — just play within the offense.”

 

Said Pelini: “That’s something we’ve talked about — making a concerted effort to get those guys the football and really have those guys on the field together. Even more than we did last year. You talk about base personnel and you put Kyler Reed on a linebacker? That’s going to create problems for people. He’s really looked good the first couple days.”

 

Reed said he and Cotton are as healthy — at the same time — as they have been in years. Reed suffered through hamstring troubles and a high ankle sprain last year, while Ben Cotton missed a chunk of time after a right arm injury vs. Penn State.

 

http://sports.omaha....ice-quick-hits/

2 reliable TEs - not many drops here. Likely those are short passes that Martinez can read quickly and throw on a line as well. 3rd & 8 conversions you can count on.

Agreed. We should be able to abuse teams with Reed... but we don't.