More option………?

[bshirt]

Here we all are bitching about Martinez and the passing game, so he works on that all off season.. Word is that Nebraska wants to throw the ball more, become a more balanced offense, possibly even heavier toward the passing side. Now, that just wasn't good enough. Now we want more option? You guys once again crack me up. You want him to be an option/dual threat/running/passing QB? Anything else you guys want? Hell, the kid might as well be Superman.

 

The option just hasn't looked very good when we've ran it. Except for that Michigan play which I'm sure 9 out of 10 of you would have went out of your way to point out. Why don't we just get a good offensive balance of pass and run going. If we mix some option in so be it. With the direction of college football, the last thing we need to be is an option based offense. Mix it in a little fine, but if we want the best of the best talent, we have to be more balanced. Plus, I hear Tommy Armstrong can sling the rock. Why waste that on the option.

 

 

Which is precisely what the talking heads claimed in the late 80s. How we needed to be "balanced" to reach the next level. Three NCs in the 90s had them STFU in a big way.

 

However, it's a weapon that needs lots & lots of reps. Used as only a minor part of being "multiple" or "balanced" is a total waste.

[Nobody]

If you want to run the option here and be serious about it... bring in Turner or Eric. Pay him as QBs coach or "Option Coordinator".

[bshirt]

with what could be the best wr corps in the Big Ten, maybe in the country, I hope not.

 

Best in the Big10 or the country? Lol! When they actually start catching passes that hit them in the hands, remember what routes they're supposed to run & can block someone over 140 lbs I'll take it seriously.

 

So far I'd take Swift & Peterson over these guys any day of the week.

[Nobody]

I cringe every time we run the option. It's not pretty... I'm hardly excited. If circumstances were different, I could get into this.

 

It looked bad during the first third of the season but I thought it improved a lot after that with Martinez making some great pitches.

 

This leads me to believe that it will be much improved this year.

 

Na.. you can tell its not being coached the way it should. There isnt enough emphasis on making the end commit or his world ends.

 

I understand its not the option of yore.. but its still the option.

[brophog]

Zone read option yes. Traditional NU option of the past, ehh hopefully not. That takes crazy timing and practice as well as a QB who will step into the mouth of the D to make them commit. Martinez, while incredibly fast, is not for this. He slows up and stands up into contact. Not good. Every time he runs and it is not going to the house I cringe for his safety as I have never seen a player run like he does when contact is imminent. Hopefully he has worked with this some on Ganz.

 

It would also seem that the staff is at least ready to unleash Martinez again which either means he has gotten "more physical", is 100% AND we actually have a plan B that will work if he goes down. (no, not Cross at RB and Rex running the wildcat!)

 

While you are correct, there is a reason you see so much less zone read now than you did a few years back. Once defenses started running the 'scrape exchange' it forced offenses that wanted to continue to run the play to add more complexity, either by changing their blocking scheme to account for that scrape or combining it with other concepts. At that point, you're back to the timing, recognition, and rep problems you mention with the option.

[Excel]

with what could be the best wr corps in the Big Ten, maybe in the country, I hope not.

 

Best in the Big10 or the country? Lol! When they actually start catching passes that hit them in the hands, remember what routes they're supposed to run & can block someone over 140 lbs I'll take it seriously.

 

So far I'd take Swift & Peterson over these guys any day of the week.

 

The Big Ten is weak on WR's across the board though of all units NU's corps is among the least unimpressive.

 

That said they are not anywhere even near being the best in the country. That's ridiculous.

['SkersRule]

I like the idea of running more option. Hardly any teams run it which gives us the advantage.

 

I want option. But not Oregon spread shotgun option. That speed stuff is for pansies.

 

Have you actually watched Oregon's running game? They run a lot to the outside true enough but they are extremely physical at the point of attack.

[caveman99]

More of this, please:

I remember being flabbergasted after that, and Meyer was as well. Zone read thta has another option element, very creative. Not sure why we didn't see that again. Maybe we did and I just don't remember it.

[True2tRA]

with what could be the best wr corps in the Big Ten, maybe in the country, I hope not.

 

Best in the Big10 or the country? Lol! When they actually start catching passes that hit them in the hands, remember what routes they're supposed to run & can block someone over 140 lbs I'll take it seriously.

 

So far I'd take Swift & Peterson over these guys any day of the week.

I like this group of kids. Kenny Bell, Quincy Enunwa, Tim Marlowe, Jamal Turner and Jordan Westerkamp bring quite a bit of talent to the table. WR is not the easiest position to play as your numbers are based upon the style of your offense, and the abilities of your QB. I think this group stacks up against any group pretty well. Swift and Petey were good ones. I'll take these guys though any day of the week.

[Peoriahusker]

with what could be the best wr corps in the Big Ten, maybe in the country, I hope not.

 

Best in the Big10 or the country? Lol! When they actually start catching passes that hit them in the hands, remember what routes they're supposed to run & can block someone over 140 lbs I'll take it seriously.

 

So far I'd take Swift & Peterson over these guys any day of the week.

I like this group of kids. Kenny Bell, Quincy Enunwa, Tim Marlowe, Jamal Turner and Jordan Westerkamp bring quite a bit of talent to the table. WR is not the easiest position to play as your numbers are based upon the style of your offense, and the abilities of your QB. I think this group stacks up against any group pretty well. Swift and Petey were good ones. I'll take these guys though any day of the week.

 

you've lost it....you've seen kenny Bell and Enunwa catch passes in games, jamal sit on the bench and Jordan play Highschool Football. and you're going to stack them up against the best in the Country? Come on..

[Excel]

with what could be the best wr corps in the Big Ten, maybe in the country, I hope not.

 

Best in the Big10 or the country? Lol! When they actually start catching passes that hit them in the hands, remember what routes they're supposed to run & can block someone over 140 lbs I'll take it seriously.

 

So far I'd take Swift & Peterson over these guys any day of the week.

I like this group of kids. Kenny Bell, Quincy Enunwa, Tim Marlowe, Jamal Turner and Jordan Westerkamp bring quite a bit of talent to the table. WR is not the easiest position to play as your numbers are based upon the style of your offense, and the abilities of your QB. I think this group stacks up against any group pretty well. Swift and Petey were good ones. I'll take these guys though any day of the week.

 

you've lost it....you've seen kenny Bell and Enunwa catch passes in games, jamal sit on the bench and Jordan play Highschool Football. and you're going to stack them up against the best in the Country? Come on..

 

Best nationally would be Tennessee, Southern Cal, Clemson, West Virginia and Oklahoma. UGA and Arkys should turn heads this season as well.

 

"Best" in the Big Ten would be between Northwestern, NU and UW. Though due to graduations we have no idea what a lot of teams are stepping out with. I don't expect much from your guys because of the kind of game you play. Best kid would have 700 yards at best.

 

Every fan likes their receivers...at least they should. I see potential in every one wearing a Badger uniform, does that mean I think they are the best around? No.

[irafreak]

Hmmm interesting. Seems it's a mixed bag with posters here. We complain about Martinez not being a solid passer but some think we should use those wideouts.

We want a run game but are concerned about poor pitches and Taylor getting hurt and wearing out Rex.

 

Personally I cringe just as much with either the option or Taylor in the pocket releasing the ball. But hey sometimes good things happen. We're still feast or famine

and until we have another lockdown defense we have to be more aggressive on the offensive side. Didn't TO say the option was like a pass play in his mind?

[brophog]

 

Didn't TO say the option was like a pass play in his mind?

 

Yep. And in a big way it is, in terms of moving the defensive pieces around as a complement to other things. To me, if you're going to track these things then options and screens should be considered their own plays in the stat sheet because of how one goes about defending them. The whole pass/run "balance" argument is a bunch of baloney. The only reason anyone even keeps track of whether or not it is a pass play is for the sake of the rules. One can draw up the same play, and depending on the angle of the pass it would get counted as either a forward pass or a run. To the defense, it's the same play and that's what ultimately matters. How many times you pass or run isn't very important. Much more important is when, and how, and what spacing the team uses, blocking schemes, route combinations, formations, sets............those are the important things to track. The fact you can tabulate run/pass as a simple ratio doesn't mean nearly as much as me saying Nebraska will run Play X with Rex in a singleback set at a depth of 5 yards. The fact that teams that have a 50/50 ratio will usually pass on second down following a failed first down run is noteworthy, but that kind of thing is never mentioned in all of the pass/run debates surrounding the sport. The 50/50 ratio is a big global tendency that doesn't get anywhere near the level of detail one needs to prepare for that team. It's about as significant as what color they wear, tbh. That's why coaches talk about it, because it doesn't mean anything if anyone knows it or not.

 

TO also said something else that I don't think many appreciated until later (but noteworthy to this thread), and that is how dangerous those blind hits are in the pocket vs the hits a runner takes when he can prepare to be tackled. Not so sure that's quite as true to the same extent now with all of the emphasis now on protecting the QB.

[Marf]

I like the idea of running more option. Hardly any teams run it which gives us the advantage.

 

I want option. But not Oregon spread shotgun option. That speed stuff is for pansies.

 

Have you actually watched Oregon's running game? They run a lot to the outside true enough but they are extremely physical at the point of attack.

 

Oh ya mean they block hard? Yeah, most teams do that. The LOS is generally a physical place. However, I didn't see Darron Thomas breaking a tackle then making a pitch, or Lamichael James steamrolling a MLB. That's what I meant, and that's what I want to see.

[Blackshirts007]

I guess I wouldn't running more option if it meant cutting out some of the shotgun read plays. I hope we pass as much or more than we did last year because we are finally getting big name receivers interested and we want them to feel like ya going to pay off.