A Candid Conversation With Nebraska Offensive Coordinator Tim Beck, Parts 1 & 2

[NUpolo8]

Post #39 my good man.

[Guy Chamberlin]

 

 

This is one of the things that annoy me about Beck.

 

 

http://m.omaha.com/huskers/mckewon-tim-beck-s-plan-reactive-risky-husker-offense-s/article_b013df9d-8c21-5519-b5f1-5e12f7ec3b83.html?mode=jqm

“When they play man-to-man coverage like they do, they could win eight of them and we win two (out of 10), they're probably 14 points with the guys we got,” Beck told The World-Herald's Dirk Chatelain. “We just didn't make those plays.”

 

Actually, Kenny Bell made a big catch on the first drive and Beck's right: It led to a touchdown. An inside screen to Quincy Enunwa would have if tackle Brent Qvale hadn't impeded his path.

 

Still: If Beck's comfortable with two out of 10 — that's two or three drives where Nebraska punts. Two or three drives where Minnesota holds the ball for an eternity.

 

Relying on receivers to catch deep balls from a rusty quarterback? That's risky on the road, in the cold and the wind, no matter how much you believe in the matchups. I watched Bill Callahan do that at Iowa State in 2004, throw 43 times with Joe Dailey as his starting quarterback because the matchups were there. NU lost 34-27, despite forcing seven punts and averaging 5.6 yards per rush.

 

Saturday, NU forced five punts and averaged 6.3 yards per rush. Beck stuck with the throw game.

 

His plan is to succeed twice while failing 8 times passing instead of taking the 6 yards a rush the other team is allowing.

 

 

Insanity.

 

Nebraska's rush to pass ratio is 2:1. Our average yards per attempt is 2 yards better on passing plays than rushing plays. Our featured running back is a leading Heisman contender. We run the ball. We also pass the ball. Sometimes you pass the ball to set up the run. Or visa-versa. All the cool teams are doing it. It's called football. Some teams do it better than others. When they do the exact same thing, but better, and win more games, we call their particular mix of running and passing an "identity."

 

We might not even be having this conversation if Nebraska had a better defense.

 

Technically, the other team doesn't "allow" us 6 yards a rush. The jet sweep that was working so awesome in the first quarter doesn't always work in the third quarter because the opposing D-coordinator isn't an idiot. We ran pitch outs 22 times against Penn State because Penn State was giving it to us. The next team will watch the tape and be there waiting for it. You better have something else in your quiver. And for the record we also had 20 pass attempts for 170 yards during that same Penn State game, pretty average for a Beck-called game.

 

I'm always mystified by the people who see an incomplete pass and wonder why we continue passing the ball, but never react to a rushing play with little to no gain, a behind the line loss or a fumble by saying "why does Beck insist on rushing the ball?"

 

And "Taking what the Defense Gives You" isn't a slight to your offense. It's what every successful football coach does, and has always done.

 

 

 

Hmm that article and my comment are clearly about the Minnesota game where Beck decided to do an even 50/50 split and average 4.6 yards a pass versus 6.3 yards running because in his own words he thought there was a 20% chance of a big gain in man to man coverage so he kept calling passes. Basically he went full Beck and that is what I don't like about him, when he is following the 2/1 ratio I'm fine with that and as I have said all along in this thread I'd love a power run offense to set up play action passing. So if your rant relieved some stress for you I suppose that's good but it really had nothing to do with the article you were quoting.

 

 

It had everything to do with the entire argument, which gets dragged out periodically and hashed to death.

 

The statistical evidence confirms Tim Beck runs the 2:1 ratio over the course of the entire season.

 

The Minnesota game was more exception than rule. Yet you deem the 50/50 split he called going "full Beck."

 

He called another 50/50 game against MSU, the best defense in the nation, and for three quarters despite 5 turnovers, they couldn't solve the Nebraska offense. It was fun to watch.

 

The only other 50/50 split was against Iowa. I have no idea what we can learn from that game. But like most losses, the passing stats get skewed because there are entire fourth quarters where a sustained, time-consuming pound-the-rock drive isn't gonna cut it. Not that the defense would simply "allow" us 6 yards a rush anyway.

 

The 2:1 ratio doesn't win games. Executing plays win games. Beck is right in that.

 

And like most coaches in football, he will keep running the ball as long as a defense lets us. But the better teams don't let us. Our problem is with the better teams.

 

Who wouldn't love to impose their will on a defense? If it was as easy as running really hard every play, everybody'd be doing it.

 

(you might even be surprised how many pass attempts Tom Osborne's Huskers had against some of their toughest opponents in the '90s)

[Mavric]

So this is your answer? That's a pretty vague identity.

Malzahn has borrowed a lot from the run and blocking schemes that Osborne used to use, and that,obviously is not what Nebraska does now.

They typically use man blocking, but can drop into a zone.

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Overall Beck is pretty good but he gets into these ruts where he doesn't want to use what is working because he wants to outsmart himself. Wisconsin 2011 where he called 11 straight passes if I remember right, UCLA 2012 in the second half, UCLA 2013 in the second half, Minnesota 2013, whatever the hell Iowa 2013 was. Those are just ones I can think of now but there is more. Beck just needs to not over think his game plans.

[RedDenver]

Overall Beck is pretty good but he gets into these ruts where he doesn't want to use what is working because he wants to outsmart himself. Wisconsin 2011 where he called 11 straight passes if I remember right, UCLA 2012 in the second half, UCLA 2013 in the second half, Minnesota 2013, whatever the hell Iowa 2013 was. Those are just ones I can think of now but there is more. Beck just needs to not over think his game plans.

The older I get, the more I see everything is cyclical. This might as well be the discussion of Osborne's offense from 1987-1993. Substitute "rushes" for "passes" and "run short side option" for "over think his game plans".

[Saunders]

 

So this is your answer? That's a pretty vague identity.

 

Malzahn has borrowed a lot from the run and blocking schemes that Osborne used to use, and that,obviously is not what Nebraska does now.

 

They typically use man blocking, but can drop into a zone.

 

Tim Beck agrees.

[Abdullah the Butcher]

 

Overall Beck is pretty good but he gets into these ruts where he doesn't want to use what is working because he wants to outsmart himself. Wisconsin 2011 where he called 11 straight passes if I remember right, UCLA 2012 in the second half, UCLA 2013 in the second half, Minnesota 2013, whatever the hell Iowa 2013 was. Those are just ones I can think of now but there is more. Beck just needs to not over think his game plans.

The older I get, the more I see everything is cyclical. This might as well be the discussion of Osborne's offense from 1987-1993. Substitute "rushes" for "passes" and "run short side option" for "over think his game plans".

 

 

Never heard anyone complain about the offense in that time, only the defense and needing to change to a speedier philosophy. Care to elaborate on the offensive issues then?

[Saunders]

Overall Beck is pretty good but he gets into these ruts where he doesn't want to use what is working because he wants to outsmart himself. Wisconsin 2011 where he called 11 straight passes if I remember right, UCLA 2012 in the second half, UCLA 2013 in the second half, Minnesota 2013, whatever the hell Iowa 2013 was. Those are just ones I can think of now but there is more. Beck just needs to not over think his game plans.

I think part of it is the fact that he's only called plays for 3 seasons. Is it a valid excuse? Not really. But in the OC world, he's a young pup.

 

Only guy that gets more grief than the HC and QB is the OC. OSU fans were livid with their gameplan against Clemson and the 2nd half playcalling against MSU. Yet, he's considered one of the best, and is talked about for HC jobs. Hell, I even heard FSU fans complain about their OC last year.

[Guy Chamberlin]

 

 

Overall Beck is pretty good but he gets into these ruts where he doesn't want to use what is working because he wants to outsmart himself. Wisconsin 2011 where he called 11 straight passes if I remember right, UCLA 2012 in the second half, UCLA 2013 in the second half, Minnesota 2013, whatever the hell Iowa 2013 was. Those are just ones I can think of now but there is more. Beck just needs to not over think his game plans.

The older I get, the more I see everything is cyclical. This might as well be the discussion of Osborne's offense from 1987-1993. Substitute "rushes" for "passes" and "run short side option" for "over think his game plans".

 

 

Never heard anyone complain about the offense in that time, only the defense and needing to change to a speedier philosophy. Care to elaborate on the offensive issues then?

 

 

Osborne's Huskers simply overpowered a lot of teams. When they matched up against a fellow college football powerhouse like Oklahoma or our major bowl opponent, those same bread and butter plays didn't work. We were dinged for being predictible, which was only a problem when good teams forced us out of our comfort zone. Some of that vintage Husker success was built in Boyd Eppley's weight room, but these days more teams have bigger stronger players on the line. A simple playbook and imposing your will isn't so simple these days.

[Mavric]

This could be interesting:

 

Dan Hoppen ‏@danhoppen 1h

Teaser for a column I’ve got running tomorrow: Nebraska ran 300 times on 1st down this year compared to just 120 passes. Too much passing?

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Part 3 of the Tim Beck interview will be out tomorrow morning also.

[Hunter94]

Overall Beck is pretty good but he gets into these ruts where he doesn't want to use what is working because he wants to outsmart himself. Wisconsin 2011 where he called 11 straight passes if I remember right, UCLA 2012 in the second half, UCLA 2013 in the second half, Minnesota 2013, whatever the hell Iowa 2013 was. Those are just ones I can think of now but there is more. Beck just needs to not over think his game plans.

agree, too many times he stopped doing what was working just fine..........wow!!

[RedDenver]

 

 

Overall Beck is pretty good but he gets into these ruts where he doesn't want to use what is working because he wants to outsmart himself. Wisconsin 2011 where he called 11 straight passes if I remember right, UCLA 2012 in the second half, UCLA 2013 in the second half, Minnesota 2013, whatever the hell Iowa 2013 was. Those are just ones I can think of now but there is more. Beck just needs to not over think his game plans.

The older I get, the more I see everything is cyclical. This might as well be the discussion of Osborne's offense from 1987-1993. Substitute "rushes" for "passes" and "run short side option" for "over think his game plans".

 

 

Never heard anyone complain about the offense in that time, only the defense and needing to change to a speedier philosophy. Care to elaborate on the offensive issues then?

 

Guy already mentioned the offense struggling against teams with equal talent. Remember that NU lost 7 bowl games in a row, and most of that was blamed on the offense being outdated - not on the defense even though that's what TO and McBride changed. Look up the stats from the early 90's 22-0 loss to Miami when the offense only gain something like 120 yards. Even during that great 90's run, NU got shutout by ASU in 1996 - so even the great TO in his heyday wasn't immune from bad offensive performances.

 

And people were constantly criticizing the lack of a passing attack. You'd have to go find local newspaper articles from that time period to really get a sense of it - especially after the losses.

[Count 'Bility]

Overall Beck is pretty good but he gets into these ruts where he doesn't want to use what is working because he wants to outsmart himself. Wisconsin 2011 where he called 11 straight passes if I remember right, UCLA 2012 in the second half, UCLA 2013 in the second half, Minnesota 2013, whatever the hell Iowa 2013 was. Those are just ones I can think of now but there is more. Beck just needs to not over think his game plans.

God I find myself agreeing with you. I think I'll go smash my head with a hammer now.

 

But seriously. You got it nailed here.

[cg_8]

Did any of you guys actually read the articles?

 

There is some good stuff in there. I can't believe this conversation started on TE's and FB's!

 

I mean, heck, he explains the evolution of the DLine and how players play that position now and how that limits the type of plays we just plain don't see nowadays. I think that really puts great emphasis on that one to one battle between the DLineman and the QB during a zone option play.

 

Game planning for players who aren't practicing because of injury.

 

How it was difficult to game plan for a RS freshman who was injured his RS season, and a walk-on Senior with no true game experience.

 

The conversation to go for the hail mary between Bo, Joe Ganz, and himself. Having him explain everyone's roles during that Hail Mary play...

 

Also, how much of an effect losing has on his children. So much so that they don't want to go to school in fear of being teased.

 

That stuff is a MILLION TIMES better than his short excerpt about the TE and FB position becoming obsolete in college football... (Which they are...)