If Callahan leaves,what next?

[Hunter94]

great point!

[NamelessHusker]

Prime example of why people are bitching. They just can't get over the fact that this isn't the 20th century anymore and that you need a passing game to go along with a rushing game.

 

Did you even bother to look at which teams are in the top25 of rushing this year? Here's some NCAA stats of teams in the top25 in rushing offense and whether they are ranked in either AP/Coaches poll.

 

1-Minnesota-Not ranked

2-Navy-Not ranked

3-Texas-Ranked

4-Memphis-Not ranked

5-Arkansas-Not ranked

6-USC-Ranked

7-Airforce-Not ranked

8-California-Not ranked

9-La Lafeyette-Not ranked

10-West Virginia-Not ranked

11-Texas A&M-Not ranked

12-Toledo-Not ranked

13-Penn St-Ranked

14-South Florida-Not ranked

15-Boise St- Not Ranked

16-Wash St-Not ranked

17-Mich St- Not ranked

18-New Mexico-Not ranked

19-Arkansas St- Not ranked

20-Rice-Not ranked

21-Auburn-Ranked

22-Wake Forest- Not ranked

23-Missouri-Not ranked

24-Louisville-Not ranked

25-Ohio-Not ranked

 

Do you see a trend in this list from teams that are from conferneces like the WAC, MAC, Sun Belt? How many teams from the powerhouses on that top25 do you see? Texas and USC are in the top10, but can anyone argue that  those teams are loaded with talent? USC has Bush and Lendale white. Guys who will go in the first round of the NFL draft and 100% bet they are top10 picks. Texas has the same situation, to much talent drafted, but not only do they have a QB who can beat the hell out of you with his feet, he can PASS. Penn St is having a good year and the last time they were in the top25 was in 2002 and that's when they had guys who could rush like say Larry Johnson who burned us and was a 2nd round draft pick and Michael Robinson this year who is a milder version of Vince Young in the running department but excels in passing (8 yard shy of 2,000 yards passing)

 

Where is Oklahoma, Miami, Florida St, UCLA, LSU, Notre Dame, Georgia, Florida, or Ohio St on that list? If Rushing was the popular, then why are they not in the top25? There's only so much you can do rushing the ball and these teams figured it out, sadly enough, our fans still think rushing a ball down teams throat like the old days is possible. IT'S NOT

Interesting stats. But again I think it is naive and presumptuous to say that running the ball doesn't work anymore. The stats you listed aren't as cut a dried as it seems. The unranked teams that you listed in the top 25 in the nation in rushing average 40th in the coutry in scoring. Could be better, but definitely not the stagnant offenses you would think. I know I would love for us to be 40th in scoring this year. So what's the difference between the ranked and unranked rushing leaders? The ranked teams averge 13th in total defense while the unranked teams average 71st. So an analysis of the top rushing teams in the country shouldn't yield the conclusion that 'running the ball doesn't work', it should yield the conclusion 'don't have a crappy defense if you want to be ranked'.

I would check your homework and see if what you said was true about those 25 teams listed are infact averaging 40th in the nation in scoring, but i don't have the time. Maybe you can list the info like i did..or is that to much to ask?

 

Oh and by the way, i never said running the ball doesn't work anymore. I said, there's only so much you can do running the ball. That doesn't translate into "running doesn't work anymore"

 

Please don't twist my words around, god knows we have had enough of that and the whole "reading between the lines" threads this past week

[rink6670]

For the HUSKER that posted the top 25 rushing teams and pointed out how few were ranked in the AP top 25.... go back and do the same thing for the top 25 PASSING teams, and you'll get the SAME RESULT!!!! Bottom line: Defense wins championships!

Nebraska was THE dominant team of the 90s and we're supposed to believe that "POOF", it doesn't work anymore? Give me a break! Bear Bryant always said there are 3 things that can happen when you throw the ball, and 2 of them are bad. I still believe that if you run the ball and control the clock you have a BETTER chance of winning. More often than not, the team that has the most rushing yards will win. That is not always the case, but the team that can run the ball definitely has the edge. There are side benefits to running the ball, too. Your defense will be more rested and better able to dominate the game, and your team as a whole will be more physical. Is the option the only way to have a strong running game? Of course not. I like to see SOME option, but as long as we run the ball successfully, I don't care how it is done!

[Utah_Husker]

I would check your homework and see if what you said was true about those 25 teams listed are infact averaging 40th in the nation in scoring, but i don't have the time. Maybe you can list the info like i did..or is that to much to ask?

 

Oh and by the way, i never said running the ball doesn't work anymore. I said, there's only so much you can do running the ball. That doesn't translate into "running doesn't work anymore"

 

Please don't twist my words around, god knows we have had enough of that and the whole "reading between the lines" threads this past week

I don't think I twisted your words. This isn't the first thread in which you've said that the option or other run-based offenses are out-dated. The point of your whole post was basically that you can't be dominantly running team and have sustained success because of the way college football has changed in the 21st century, correct? You gave a list of the top 25 rushing teams and pointed out that they are not ranked, insinuating that the reason is because of their rushing offense. I merely came back with a different interpretaion of the data. The unranked teams in the top 25 in rushing do indeed average 40th in the nation in scoring. I put those numbers together right before I left work, so I don't have them in front of me. But I'll send them to you tomorrow if you want it all detailed.

I merely noticed that more than one of the teams that you listed as not being in the top 25 because of a run-based offense has a piss-poor defense...so I decided to follow up and see if they all did. There were some exceptions, but as I said, averaging 71st is not good.

This isn't meant to be an argument to bring the option back to Nebraska. I just disagree with your opinion about rushing offenses. I think the primary reason those teams are unranked is that their defenses just aren't good.

[bigredhusker427]

If Callahan and Pederson lost their jobs would you rather a new AD hire another coach(not necessarily better) to continue the WCO? Or would you rather a new AD hire a disciple(not necessarily better) of the option to bring back the running-attack? I think I would prefer bringing in a coach to run the ball down the throats of all our opponents.

I think I would prefer bringing in a coach to run the ball down the throats of all our opponents

 

Prime example of why people are bitching. They just can't get over the fact that this isn't the 20th century anymore and that you need a passing game to go along with a rushing game.

 

Did you even bother to look at which teams are in the top25 of rushing this year? Here's some NCAA stats of teams in the top25 in rushing offense and whether they are ranked in either AP/Coaches poll.

 

1-Minnesota-Not ranked

2-Navy-Not ranked

3-Texas-Ranked

4-Memphis-Not ranked

5-Arkansas-Not ranked

6-USC-Ranked

7-Airforce-Not ranked

8-California-Not ranked

9-La Lafeyette-Not ranked

10-West Virginia-Not ranked

11-Texas A&M-Not ranked

12-Toledo-Not ranked

13-Penn St-Ranked

14-South Florida-Not ranked

15-Boise St- Not Ranked

16-Wash St-Not ranked

17-Mich St- Not ranked

18-New Mexico-Not ranked

19-Arkansas St- Not ranked

20-Rice-Not ranked

21-Auburn-Ranked

22-Wake Forest- Not ranked

23-Missouri-Not ranked

24-Louisville-Not ranked

25-Ohio-Not ranked

 

Do you see a trend in this list from teams that are from conferneces like the WAC, MAC, Sun Belt? How many teams from the powerhouses on that top25 do you see? Texas and USC are in the top10, but can anyone argue that those teams are loaded with talent? USC has Bush and Lendale white. Guys who will go in the first round of the NFL draft and 100% bet they are top10 picks. Texas has the same situation, to much talent drafted, but not only do they have a QB who can beat the hell out of you with his feet, he can PASS. Penn St is having a good year and the last time they were in the top25 was in 2002 and that's when they had guys who could rush like say Larry Johnson who burned us and was a 2nd round draft pick and Michael Robinson this year who is a milder version of Vince Young in the running department but excels in passing (8 yard shy of 2,000 yards passing)

 

Where is Oklahoma, Miami, Florida St, UCLA, LSU, Notre Dame, Georgia, Florida, or Ohio St on that list? If Rushing was the popular, then why are they not in the top25? There's only so much you can do rushing the ball and these teams figured it out, sadly enough, our fans still think rushing a ball down teams throat like the old days is possible. IT'S NOT

Your statistics are unfair and biased. In order to be fair you need to take a look at the ranked teams that have the highest passing percentage. Let's see, how about Hawaii? They must be great, they throw the ball all the time, they have to be good right? Wrong! If your team is not good, it's hard to run or throw the ball. The option is not dead, it's only dead when you can't run it. Hawaii isn't great, does that mean passing is dead? No. You have to have talent to make any offense work.

[huskered17]

I think now days you have to be able to throw the ball as well as run it, those teams not in the top 25 that seem to have bad defences because they are a running team, sounds like they are haveing the same problem as the Huskers. If you stack the line and stop the run and you can't throw the ball well enough to keep a defence honest then your defence is always on the field. Sure your going to look bad if its 3 and out 7 out of 10 times. Your defence is wore out. We used to do the wearing out of the other team. I think what Coach C is trying to do is a good idea, just don't know if and when he will have the players he needs to get this thing going. Even if he doesn't we should have a talented group of kids if a change is made later. I hope it works out for him just as I would for any other coach they would have brought in. I only want to see this program keep getting better as all of you do.

I don't know if the option would have worked with Joe. D running it behind this years O/L. With no passing to keep the defence honest.

GBR!!!

[formerfan]

I just want a good coach. Period

Name one that would drop whatever job they are at to come here in this mess if Pud fires Callahan that you would consider "a good coach".

Like I have stated earlier, we are between a rock and a hardplace thanks to pud. He fired a pretty successful coach after a pretty decent season, and hired a guy who has pretty much dismantled the program. Nobody in their right mind would want to have to clean this mess up.

 

I have no clue

[junior4949]

I would like to see a spread option offense or my version anyway. The only problem to this offense is that you need a QB like Young, BS, or Marcus Vick. They can spread the defense out with just their feet. If the defense spreads, there should be quite a few guys open for short or midrange passes. If the defense covers the receivers, the QB can run for chunks of yardage. We have Lucky who would work awesome in this kind of offense. When he isn't running the ball, we can dump it out to him in the flats. With 4.3 speed, he'd burn a spread out defense.

 

The spread works well as it's a combo of running and passing. You don't need an outstanding line either because blocks don't need to held really long like on a 5 step drop. It seems to be a good offense when you don't have all the pieces to the puzzle like USC does. However, you do have to have a stud QB. I don't think Frazier could have ever run this offense because he'd have dug too many trenches with his passes. Frost probably couldn't have run it either. Berringer would have been good at it, and I think Crouch would have really excelled in this offense as well.

[Utah_Husker]

You don't necessarily need a Vince Young or Brad Smith to run the spread. Utah had great success with Alex Smith. He's not nearly as fast as those guys, but he has decent speed. He doesn't have as strong of an arm as those guys either. He was extremely accurate on his passes and was very smart. I think that is more importand than blazing speed. Granted, you can't be Dan Marino and run the spread option, but I feel accuracy and good decision-making are more important than blazing speed (as long as you are reasonably fast.

 

If anyone cares anymore, here are those numbers I worked up last night. I know Nameless asked to see them.

 

Top 25 rushing teams that aren't ranked:

 

Team/Scoring/Total Defense

Minnesota 12 65

Navy 27 33

Memphis 58 101

Air Force 46 98

California 13 50

La-Lafayette 81 84

Texas A&M 26 105

Toledo 13 20

USF 56 24

Boise St. 8 52

Wash St. 19 109

Mich St. 11 90

New Mexico 38 61

Ark. St. 54 76

Rice 97 113

Wake Forest 70 63

Mizzou 36 59

Louisville 4 30

Ohio 91 108

 

Average 40 71

 

Top 25 rushing teams that are ranked:

 

Texas 2 6

USC 1 41

Alabama 74 3

Penn St. 15 14

Auburn 17 9

West Virginia 42 4

 

Average 25 13

[junior4949]

What in the heck happened to the wrecking crew at A&M? I didn't realize their defense was that poor. They look more like the wrecked crew this year rather than the wrecking crew. I haven't followed Franchione's teams much in the past other than he usually has a winner. Is it normal for his D's to regress this much? I'm guessing it's not due to Alabama having a pretty decent D with Franchione's recruits.

 

I really expected a lot more from Franchione and A&M this year in his third year. I wonder if the A&M faithful are wanting their ex. coach Slocum back? Do you suppose any of their fans are thinking their hire was a poor one? In A&M's defense though, they did go out and get a guy who has a proven track record of turning teams around. Maybe the problem is $ Byrne?

[skersfan]

How many Pro teams are soley rushing teams.

 

You need to do both. But no matter the desire and love for it the option is never going to work at the top of college football or the professional side.

 

We are nothing more than a a training site for the Pro side. That is what the top athletes want. To get them you can not offer them the option, it quit working in 97. We did not get one top rated offensive lineman in that recruiting class after we won the National championship. WHHHHHYYYYYYYY?

[junior4949]

How many Pro teams are soley rushing teams.

 

You need to do both. But no matter the desire and love for it the option is never going to work at the top of college football or the professional side.

 

We are nothing more than a a training site for the Pro side. That is what the top athletes want. To get them you can not offer them the option, it quit working in 97. We did not get one top rated offensive lineman in that recruiting class after we won the National championship. WHHHHHYYYYYYYY?

How many teams run the spread option? Maybe one with Atlanta and Vick. How many pro teams win by running the ball for 35 yards in 3 games combined? How many top rated offensive linemen did we get prior to 1997?

 

A lot of our linemen from the championship years were in state kids. Both Rob and Jon Zatecha (sp) were from NU. Wilks was from NU. All starters on NC teams. I'm sure there are others, but I'm not going to take the time to look. I could be wrong, but I don't think any of these players were top rated OL. I know Wilks wasn't because his dad told me that KState wouldn't even offer him a scholly.

 

I don't disagree with college ball being a training site for the pros. NU has quite a few players from teams that ran the option playing in the pros right now. We have several offensive and defensive alumn's playing in the pros right now. We have several lineman who played at NU during our option days playing in the pros right now. Granted, we don't have any QB's. But as far as other positions, we have quite a few. I think NU is ranked in the top 5 programs with alumn's playing in the pros right now. Considering we were running the option up until last year, I guess you're right we can't be a training site for the pros!!!!!!!!

[formerfan]

To get them you can not offer them the option, it quit working in 97.

It worked pretty good in 01, if I remember right?? (Crouch won a few awards, Rose Bowl)

 

We did not get one top rated offensive lineman in that recruiting class after we won the National championship. WHHHHHYYYYYYYY?

 

Normally, NU didnt have very many before then, either. Eric Anderson was a top recruit, and I think Weigert was, also. Other than that, guys like Heskew, Taylor, Graham, Pollock (just to name a few), were not highly rated. Wilks and Treu were walkons. NU always had great Olines, yet didnt always have the most highly rated recruits, and alot of those guys played in the NFL

[TheKiD]

I think nowadays you need to have a good balance between rushing and passing. The good NFL teams do, the good College teams do. Being 1-dimensional in either rushing or passing is not going to work anymore. Whether it's some form of the WCO, Spread Option, or even the Option.

 

You need to have a good short-passing attack, deep-passing attack, and a rushing attack all in your arsenal.. and have a coaching staff that knows when to use what.

 

Heck, I'd love to see an option attack that has some short control passing mixed in.

[hoyamannn]

Like I have stated earlier, we are between a rock and a hardplace thanks to pud. He fired a pretty successful coach after a pretty decent season

That's why the change needed to be made. So we weren't 'pretty good' forever. Now at least we have a chance for talented kids to come in to get us back to being great, unlike what we had when Frank and Co were here.