Offensive Potential

[Ziggy]

After all the Marrow hype, definitely looking forward to seeing him carve out a role.

 

 

100% agree....I hope he lives up to all the pressure I am putting on him. HAHA

[HuskerShark]

Marrow may be one of the biggest keys for us, both as a blocking FB and as a big back at I-Back. I would love to see the Maryland I formation with Rex and Ben Cotton lead blocking for Marrow in short yardage and goal-line situations. It would be glorious, and something tells me that the first guy won't take down Big Mike.

[Ziggy]

Marrow may be one of the biggest keys for us, both as a blocking FB and as a big back at I-Back. I would love to see the Maryland I formation with Rex and Ben Cotton lead blocking for Marrow in short yardage and goal-line situations. It would be glorious, and something tells me that the first guy won't take down Big Mike.

 

Wait, you want Rex lead blocking for Marrow? I think that has about no chance of happening. But I do like the idea of the stacked I formation, but either Marrow as a blocking back for Rex, or another big blocker (like SUH in the Duckie) for Marrow. Rex should never be used as a a lead blocker except to run the ball or for play action purposes. I would love to watch a 1st or 2nd or 3rd and goal at the 3 and see them pull out the big uglies and just pound a team into the turf for a TD. My hope is we never see a 4th and goal with the quality backs we have.

[hskrfan4life]

O-Line needs to step up really bad, or FIRE COTTON!

[Nexus]

Well I think having a back who can stop rushing DE's and LB's will help create holes for Burkhead and TMart, and hopefully provide a better pass protection so Burkhead can get into the flats. Anyone who tries to underestimate the importance of the offensive line is for a lack of a better term an " IDIOT " . But barring injury I think the offensive line is going to be the best we have had in the last decade. We have depth, experience, and hopefully a group of "skilled" positions able to execute the plays in the normal 3-5 second window. As to the extra guys on the field, the "/" was supposed to be read as an "or" and the extra WR was if we ran a single TE. As the diamond is a 3 back, 1 QB formation.

 

I get that you're excited about the potential of the offense in the scenarios you presented. I have no problem with anyone "drinking the kool-aid" around here. It's a message board and the off-season is long, so chug away.

 

It also wasn't my intent to come off as a smartass with my response. The same thing is equally true of the defensive line. The old "it starts in the trenches" cliche is really what it boils down to. We show flashes of being solid-to-great in the trenches but not consistently, which has contributed to the wild mood swings we experience from game-to-game as a fanbase.

 

If the SEC has taught us anything, it's that you don't have to be world-beaters on offense. 3 of the past 6 winners were ranked outside of the Top 25 in total offense. The key is limiting mistakes (turnovers, penalties, etc.) on offense and letting the defense win the games. Take 2011 Alabama for example: 3rd in fewest turnovers and 3rd in fewest penalties. Yet, they were 31st in total offense. It was their defense that won games. Ditto for 2009 Alabama which was ranked 42nd in total offense, 3rd in fewest turnovers and 17th in fewest penalties.

 

Would love to see the Pipeline become "Tenopir-esque" again. Truthfully, that's the key to our success if we want to be respected on the national scene again.

[True2tRA]

As long as Burkhead carries the ball 35 times a game, we should have no problem winning 8 games this year. Burkhead seems to be the only sure thing on this offense so far. Everybody is right though, if this offensive line doesn't start playing a lot better, it won't matter what we do. Imagine Burkhead behind a great offensive line though? It would be insane!!!!!!!!!!

[lo country]

Marrow can't possibly do anything other than help. He is... at least based upon his size and the testimony of his skill set --- a great bruisng athletic guy. As a fill in for Rex... that will help. As a physical beast for short yardage... that will help. To potentially wear down the opposing defense... that too will help. And... if he can block... once more that is a big help.

 

Glad to have him.

 

 

me too......he is the guy we need to play in our league, but if will be a first if Beck really incorporates him in the offense......seems we are always after the "darling play".....take it to the house potential, every play......that's nice, but in reality, the idea of pounding the other guys and their backers is a great strategy for the 3rd and 4th quarters...it has been a loongg time since we have really used a fullback at NU......i am not sure Beck is smart enough to utilize the talent....i also don't think he knows what he wants our offensive identity to be.......what our 2 or 3 "bread and butter" plays would be when the chips are down........when you need to sustain that final drive, right on through the red zone and into the end zone.......hello????????

 

This. What exactly is our offensive scheme? I really have no idea. I also think we need to have a few plays that we can execute in our sleep regardless of the defensive scheme and regardless of our players that are in. ie an end sweep with Reed blocking to seal the outside wont work. Teams realize he is the "catching" TE and Cotton is the "blocker". We need a few plays that 9 times out of 10 can work. The plays that we see work and then gone forever need to stop. Plays that work continue to execute to perfection, until the D stops them.

 

Marrow will be a much needed asset. a RB in a FB body. Big enough to get a tough yrd or two even if the line gets no push. In the B1G we need to feed the opposing D lines a steady dose of the big RB to wear them down and get them out of the box. We also need Martinez to be the guy who is currently being advertised.

 

The single biggest factor for improvement is the O line. Better O line play and all else the same we win two more games. Even if Martinez becomes Steve Young, Marrow is Rathman etc it wont matter if the O line can't block.

[bshirt]

Well I think having a back who can stop rushing DE's and LB's will help create holes for Burkhead and TMart, and hopefully provide a better pass protection so Burkhead can get into the flats. Anyone who tries to underestimate the importance of the offensive line is for a lack of a better term an " IDIOT " . But barring injury I think the offensive line is going to be the best we have had in the last decade. We have depth, experience, and hopefully a group of "skilled" positions able to execute the plays in the normal 3-5 second window. As to the extra guys on the field, the "/" was supposed to be read as an "or" and the extra WR was if we ran a single TE. As the diamond is a 3 back, 1 QB formation.

 

I get that you're excited about the potential of the offense in the scenarios you presented. I have no problem with anyone "drinking the kool-aid" around here. It's a message board and the off-season is long, so chug away.

 

It also wasn't my intent to come off as a smartass with my response. The same thing is equally true of the defensive line. The old "it starts in the trenches" cliche is really what it boils down to. We show flashes of being solid-to-great in the trenches but not consistently, which has contributed to the wild mood swings we experience from game-to-game as a fanbase.

 

If the SEC has taught us anything, it's that you don't have to be world-beaters on offense. 3 of the past 6 winners were ranked outside of the Top 25 in total offense. The key is limiting mistakes (turnovers, penalties, etc.) on offense and letting the defense win the games. Take 2011 Alabama for example: 3rd in fewest turnovers and 3rd in fewest penalties. Yet, they were 31st in total offense. It was their defense that won games. Ditto for 2009 Alabama which was ranked 42nd in total offense, 3rd in fewest turnovers and 17th in fewest penalties.

 

Would love to see the Pipeline become "Tenopir-esque" again. Truthfully, that's the key to our success if we want to be respected on the national scene again.

 

I fully agree. A big section of our internet fan-base wants a Dan Marino with some kind of fun & gun offense but I seriously doubt we'll ever win big with that. We sure can lose with it though (right, Callahan?). NU just doesn't have the recruiting prowess or tradition to hack that. With a real pipeline though....

 

I really think Bo gets that. We'll see.

[Warrior10]

Marrow may be one of the biggest keys for us, both as a blocking FB and as a big back at I-Back. I would love to see the Maryland I formation with Rex and Ben Cotton lead blocking for Marrow in short yardage and goal-line situations. It would be glorious, and something tells me that the first guy won't take down Big Mike.

Wait, you want Rex lead blocking for Marrow? I think that has about no chance of happening. But I do like the idea of the stacked I formation, but either Marrow as a blocking back for Rex, or another big blocker (like SUH in the Duckie) for Marrow. Rex should never be used as a a lead blocker except to run the ball or for play action purposes. I would love to watch a 1st or 2nd or 3rd and goal at the 3 and see them pull out the big uglies and just pound a team into the turf for a TD. My hope is we never see a 4th and goal with the quality backs we have.

More ideal would be CJ (guy that is fighting with Marrow for the FB role) and Ben leading the way for Marrow. That is some power!

[HuskerShark]

Marrow may be one of the biggest keys for us, both as a blocking FB and as a big back at I-Back. I would love to see the Maryland I formation with Rex and Ben Cotton lead blocking for Marrow in short yardage and goal-line situations. It would be glorious, and something tells me that the first guy won't take down Big Mike.

 

Wait, you want Rex lead blocking for Marrow? I think that has about no chance of happening. But I do like the idea of the stacked I formation, but either Marrow as a blocking back for Rex, or another big blocker (like SUH in the Duckie) for Marrow. Rex should never be used as a a lead blocker except to run the ball or for play action purposes. I would love to watch a 1st or 2nd or 3rd and goal at the 3 and see them pull out the big uglies and just pound a team into the turf for a TD. My hope is we never see a 4th and goal with the quality backs we have.

 

Do you not remember the couple of goal-line situations last year when we put Rex under center with Legate at FB and Abdullah as the I-Back? Rex pitched it to Abdullah and then was the lead blocker that opened the hole for Ameer to roll into the endzone. Great play! One of my favorites.

[Enhance]

I think we have more than enough weapons without Marrow to be successful offensively. With guys like Bell, Turner and Enunwa playing receiver, Reed and Cotton at TE, Burkhead/Abdullah/Green in the backfield and Martinez under center, we have deadly weapons everywhere. For the last several years, our biggest problem has been line play, and it continued to be a problem through last year. Injuries and a lack of depth played a part, but we had people criticizing our line's technique after the first couple games of the season, when we were pretty healthy.

 

I don't like talking about o-line play because it usually reverts back to me saying I don't think Cotton should be our line coach, and I still don't. Our best offensive line was in 2008. The 2011 line was better than '10 and '11, but not by an approving amount. These next couple of years, especially 2013, there will be no excuses for bad line play with the amount of talent and depth we have coming back.

[Hunter94]

no matter the playmakers, it is always about the offensive line..........always. we may be deeper this season, but experience is obviously missing, it could be rough, again............

[HuskerShark]

I think we have more than enough weapons without Marrow to be successful offensively.

 

I definitely won't disagree with you, but when you have a big bruiser RB like Marrow, not to use him in a short-yardage situation would be a little silly IMO. I don't see Aaron Green being able to carry a D-1 LB for the extra yard or two. Sometimes Rex is hardly big enough to do that. If Marrow is as advertised, I see him being the guy that defenders don't want to have to try and bring down. That is a huge asset in short-yardage situations like 3rd-and-2 or 4th-and-1. Not to mention, it will save Rex the beating because I am guessing that a lot of the beating that he takes during games is in those situations.

[Enhance]

Very true, HuskerShark. But, I still go back to the offensive line being far more crucial to this offense than a big bruiser back.

 

In 2008, Quentin Castille (the biggest back we've had around here in a long time) got stuffed on 4th and 1 in one of our games. 4th and 1. A big back doesn't mean anything if your line can't make a hole for him. Now, there's a lot more that could have gone into that play, i.e. Castille not going to the right hole. However, where's the evidence that Marrow is even ready for this kind of role? Being 300 pounds doesn't mean you'll be a good linemen.

 

I would like a big, bruising back, but I'd love a more powerful offensive line even more.

[HuskerShark]

Very true, HuskerShark. But, I still go back to the offensive line being far more crucial to this offense than a big bruiser back.

 

In 2008, Quentin Castille (the biggest back we've had around here in a long time) got stuffed on 4th and 1 in one of our games. 4th and 1. A big back doesn't mean anything if your line can't make a hole for him. Now, there's a lot more that could have gone into that play, i.e. Castille not going to the right hole. However, where's the evidence that Marrow is even ready for this kind of role? Being 300 pounds doesn't mean you'll be a good linemen.

 

I would like a big, bruising back, but I'd love a more powerful offensive line even more.

 

I definitely won't disagree with you. The game of football starts up front, on both sides of the ball. And sadly, the O-Line and D-Line are the weakest parts on the team.