Dear Benard:

[mcrooks7]

Benard originally posted this messege:

What improvement have you seen on offense? Personally id take our offense last year over this years. Our offense looked good maybe one or 2 games against poor defenses otherwise it has been god awful. The defense is equally bad.

 

Ok. I'm not entirely sure numerically what has happened over the past two years on offense, and I really don't care. What I have seen is a signifigant improvement in the running of the WCO. Callahan has made no secret of the fact that this is the style of O he wants to run no matter what. Yet, last year, the true WCO was not to be seen on the field. Yeah, there was a bit more passing, but for the most part Huskers fans were just privy to watching an inept QB in Dailey try to make long pass plays to players that weren't recruited to do so. The WCO is mainly button-hooks and short to intermediate slant routes. We didn't see very much of that last year. The players on the field now are much more talented than last years', and when the actual WCO is run, we see better execution (for the most part). In the last three games, it has seemed like Cally, against all reason, has decided to go away from the true WCO into one of utter predictabilaty. There were games earlier in the season where the Huskers would set up a center screen, or the middle slant, or something creative, but recently it has either been a run up the middle, or a intermediate to long pass to the sideline. I was amazed to watch in the KU game a KU offense that was using the WCO weapons against us. How many times did they run the center screen? I even called it several times. I knew it was coming, but the NU defense wasn't, and I think there might have been two scores off of that one play. The point is, the play on the field, when coupled with some creative play-calling has been of an exceptional rate, at least when compared to last year. I agree that the offense hasn't been putting up what they need to, but I saw signifigant improvement until the MU game. I don't know why the offensive scheme started to morph, but it didn't need to. Bring back the hard-nosed quick short pass plays and the Husker offense might start racking up the score again. Were we to regress into last years theme, though, I think we would find ourselves at a loss to make anything happen offensively on the field. GO HUSKERS!!!

[Benard]

So whose fault that we are "not" running the west coast now? Our offense hasn't been good all year imo. Them short passes don't work against the okie/kansas's of the world. They might work against poor defenses. WCO=pitiful imo.

[mcrooks7]

So whose fault that we are "not" running the west coast now? Our offense hasn't been good all year imo. Them short passes don't work against the okie/kansas's of the world. They might work against poor defenses. WCO=pitiful imo.

Umm... no. They work against all defenses. Unfortunately the coaching staff hasn't been employing their services in the last several games. I must admit I have no idea why that would be. No, our offense hasn't been horrible all year, it has been improveing. Improveing in the style that Callahan came to introduce. Arguements about whether or not we like this offensive scheme at Nebraska aside, the truth is that the scheme works. It delivers. Against all kinds of defenses. Look to the schools who are running it with not only skill, but great success. Like USC. You can "IMO" about the WCO all you want, but if you intentionally close your ears and eyes, you'll only observe what you truly want to see, and apparently that is the failure that you have convinced yourselves that our team has become. I refuse to look at it that way, and I am going to believe that we are improving for next year. Take out the last three games, and there was nothing but steady improvement week in and out. We'll see what happens next week. GO HUSKERS!!!

[Hunter94]

i guess the last 3 games don't bother you.......but they sure do a lot of other people.......why can't we build on something here? THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG!

 

hunter

[BigRedDallasTexan]

It's wrong to say that the west coast offense doesn't work because it's proven that it can. I'm just not so sure about Bill Callahan's west coast offense. His offense doesn't look so hot without Rick Gannon and Jerry Rice.

[mcrooks7]

DO NOT GET ME WRONG!!! These last three games have been horrible to watch! I have been angry and ashamed, but that doesn't mean that I am not able to look on the bright side of things occaisionally.