An analysis of OC Tim Beck.

[Mavric]

Samuel McKewon ‏@swmckewonOWH 1h

4. Miami kept safeties out of box a lot, which triggered Husker run plays. Had they been in box, NU may have thrown more.

 

 

Interesting that people love "taking what the defense gives you" when it's what they like.

[Mavric]

The expanded version of the tweet above:

 

 

58: First-down carries for Abdullah. That’s tied for second in the nation, behind Pittsburgh plowhorse James Conner (62). Abdullah has gained more yards on first down — 391 — than any other back in the nation, and 41.4 percent of NU’s first-down plays have been Abdullah runs. Twelve of those 58 runs — or 20.6 percent — have gone for at least 10 yards. Abdullah is averaging 212 all-purpose yards per game, good for third in the nation. It’s an All-America/Heisman campaign so far.

 

OWH

[BigRedBuster]

You can sit back and pick apart certain things that Beck has done. However, in general, I like what he has done the first 4 games of this season.

 

He has accomplished two things that I think are absolutely huge.

 

a) He has proven he can beat a team with the passing game (both long and intermediate) if you stack the box and challenge him to do it.

 

b) He didn't over use Ameer in the first three games so he stays fresh and healthy.

 

He has done this while still getting Ameer the touches and yardage needed to keep him in the national discussion. But, he has also saved him for games like last Saturday.

 

I saw someone bitch about one pass play that was called on Saturday. Meh....really? I thought Beck did a great job on Saturday and not every single play that is called is going to be absolutely genius no matter what happens. You know what? Even TO called a play every now and then that didn't work.

 

He only called 13 pass plays and you have to find a way to bitch about it?

 

Great job Beck.....keep it up!!!!

 

Now, what I find funny is that I hear fans claiming he needs to just keep "riding Ameer". If it works, keep using him over and over again. Bla bla bla....that's what he did with Rex and everyone bitched and moaned that he ran him in the ground.

 

I don't care who you are as a team, the OC needs to use multiple weapons to accomplish what the team needs to do. I think Beck is doing a good job of that this year and over the last 4 games, it appears to me that he has a plan for the year on how he wants to accomplish that.

[knapplc]

Best part of this game was our last TD drive. We started at the Miami 40 after their multiple asshat personal foul penalties following Kalu's interception. Ameer had already run the ball 29 times that game. There was no mystery about who was getting the ball anymore. If there's a guy you need to stop, it's Ameer.

 

1st & 10, Miami 40 - Ameer rush over right tackle for 3 yards. Miami penalty, personal foul for 15 yards.

1st & 10, Miami 22 - Ameer rush up middle for 3 yards

2nd & 7, Miami 19 - Ameer rush over right tackle for 6 yards

3rd & 1, Miami 13 - Ameer rush over right tackle for 4 yards

1st & Goal, Miami 9 - Ameer rush over right tackle for 4 yards

2nd & Goal, Miami 5 - False start, Nebraska (-5 yards)

2nd & Goal, Miami 10 - Ameer rush over right tackle for 10 yards, TOUCHDOWN

 

 

It was really simple stuff. Hat on hat, grinding it out, finding out who's the better man. They knew (or should have known) Ameer was getting the ball. He got the ball. They just couldn't stop him.

 

Six rushes, average of five yards per rush, Touchdown. Game.

[tschu]

No doubt in my mind this is Scott Frost.

 

LOL. Only took 4 replies for the name "Scott Frost" to appear. I love it.

[zoogs]

Yeah, that last drive was awesome. The mystifying thing was, they knew Ameer was getting it, but they didn't attempt to stop this. Safeties high. I think Brock Huard was commenting on this on that drive. They had given up, from a coaching perspective.

 

I don't think we'll see another team try what Miami did. Illinois will probably look at McNeese tape and send everything at Ameer. If Tommy starts having some big days through the air, well, all I would say to that is have fun, B1G D-Coords

[Mavric]

College FB Matrix ‏@CFBMatrixMag 8m

Top Scoring Offenses vs FBS opponents, Pts per game:

54.0- Baylor

50.3- Nebraska

50.0- Michigan St.

49.3- Texas A&M

48.7- Georgia

48.0- ASU

[Moiraine]

 

College FB Matrix ‏@CFBMatrixMag 8m

Top Scoring Offenses vs FBS opponents, Pts per game:

54.0- Baylor

50.3- Nebraska

50.0- Michigan St.

49.3- Texas A&M

48.7- Georgia

48.0- ASU

 

 

The funny thing about that stat is dropping McNeese from the equation helps our average

[True2tRA]

Yeah, that last drive was awesome. The mystifying thing was, they knew Ameer was getting it, but they didn't attempt to stop this. Safeties high. I think Brock Huard was commenting on this on that drive. They had given up, from a coaching perspective.

 

I don't think we'll see another team try what Miami did. Illinois will probably look at McNeese tape and send everything at Ameer. If Tommy starts having some big days through the air, well, all I would say to that is have fun, B1G D-Coords

Yep. +1. The Miami game was literally a take what the defense gives you type of game. For both offenses really. Miami and Nebraska both were safeguarding against the big play. Difference is Nebraska has Ameer Abdullah. Our offensive line also did a damn nice job against defense in the second half.

 

Teams in the future are going to have to decide, plain and simple. I truly believe we will burn them either way. I think Miami just had more faith in their front seven being able to do the job. They were wrong. That long ball to Bell was the end of their risk taking with their safeties.

[True2tRA]

Samuel McKewon ‏@swmckewonOWH 1h4. Miami kept safeties out of box a lot, which triggered Husker run plays. Had they been in box, NU may have thrown more. Interesting that people love "taking what the defense gives you" when it's what they like.

So true.

[tschu]

 

College FB Matrix ‏@CFBMatrixMag 8m

Top Scoring Offenses vs FBS opponents, Pts per game:

54.0- Baylor

50.3- Nebraska

50.0- Michigan St.

49.3- Texas A&M

48.7- Georgia

48.0- ASU

 

 

Remember when we were supposed to average 50 ppg LAST YEAR?

[EmeraldIngot]

You can sit back and pick apart certain things that Beck has done. However, in general, I like what he has done the first 4 games of this season.

 

He has accomplished two things that I think are absolutely huge.

 

a) He has proven he can beat a team with the passing game (both long and intermediate) if you stack the box and challenge him to do it.

 

b) He didn't over use Ameer in the first three games so he stays fresh and healthy.

 

He has done this while still getting Ameer the touches and yardage needed to keep him in the national discussion. But, he has also saved him for games like last Saturday.

 

I saw someone bitch about one pass play that was called on Saturday. Meh....really? I thought Beck did a great job on Saturday and not every single play that is called is going to be absolutely genius no matter what happens. You know what? Even TO called a play every now and then that didn't work.

 

He only called 13 pass plays and you have to find a way to bitch about it?

 

Great job Beck.....keep it up!!!!

 

Now, what I find funny is that I hear fans claiming he needs to just keep "riding Ameer". If it works, keep using him over and over again. Bla bla bla....that's what he did with Rex and everyone bitched and moaned that he ran him in the ground.

 

I don't care who you are as a team, the OC needs to use multiple weapons to accomplish what the team needs to do. I think Beck is doing a good job of that this year and over the last 4 games, it appears to me that he has a plan for the year on how he wants to accomplish that.

You brought up some good points, and if you read carefully, your points support my analysis. Beck has been taking advantage of what's been given. When opponents load the box, though, a long bomb is not always going to work, and against a heavy blitz, standing in the pocket and waiting for deep routes to develop will lead to sacks. This is why I emphasized the use of quick routes, especially by TEs and RBs out of the backfield, to defeat a heavy blitz. If you read carefully, I praised a lot of what Tim Beck was doing. I didn't agree with all of it and I offered tweaks to an already good system to make it better.

 

After the Miami game, I really feel that Beck is maturing as an OC, and he will be a good one. Nebraska football is and should always be based on the run game. But when the opponent sells out to stop it, that's when we need to have a complete passing game as well. That includes the short routes. Beck already does well with his long routes, no doubt about it, but the short routes can be just as effective as a supplement to the deep routes on the same play. If you send a TE on an out route or an angle route or a slant or whatever kind of short route, and you send the two outside receivers on streaks and the slot on a post, and Abdullah on a wheel out of the backfield, you can do a lot. If the safeties play the deep routes, or focus on the streaks, you might be able to slip one into the post route, but only if the slot has beaten his man. Those TD passes to Westy and Bell that have gone for touchdowns used this simple read. But let's say all the deep routes are covered. This puts the LBs in a bad spot, because they'll have to cover both the TE and the RB, and with three WRs on the field, the D will have had to be in a Nickel package at the very least. That means one on one against a TE, a match up that we can exploit for good yardage, or a one on one against Abdullah, which I would take any given play on any given Saturday. And that is assuming they didn't blitz one or both of their LBs, which would leave one or both of those short routes wide open, and open quickly enough that Armstrong could get the ball out well before he gets sacked. If you exploit the short routes, they'll either roll their coverage down to cover them, which will leave the deep routes wide open, or they will stop stacking the box, which will let Abdullah run wild. Those short passes added to what we already do well, would make our offense much more versatile, and a much bigger threat than it already is.

 

I think we have seen the barest glimmer of these tweaks, but I guarantee you that we will need them to beat MSU.

[NUinID]

I really have to give Beck credit. He really went away from his natural need to get too cute and try and pass when it wasn't needed. He always comes out in one series and throws 3 straight downs and he didn't do that on Saturday.

[cg_8]

You brought up some good points, and if you read carefully, your points support my analysis. Beck has been taking advantage of what's been given. When opponents load the box, though, a long bomb is not always going to work, and against a heavy blitz, standing in the pocket and waiting for deep routes to develop will lead to sacks. This is why I emphasized the use of quick routes, especially by TEs and RBs out of the backfield, to defeat a heavy blitz. If you read carefully, I praised a lot of what Tim Beck was doing. I didn't agree with all of it and I offered tweaks to an already good system to make it better.

After the Miami game, I really feel that Beck is maturing as an OC, and he will be a good one. Nebraska football is and should always be based on the run game. But when the opponent sells out to stop it, that's when we need to have a complete passing game as well. That includes the short routes. Beck already does well with his long routes, no doubt about it, but the short routes can be just as effective as a supplement to the deep routes on the same play. If you send a TE on an out route or an angle route or a slant or whatever kind of short route, and you send the two outside receivers on streaks and the slot on a post, and Abdullah on a wheel out of the backfield, you can do a lot. If the safeties play the deep routes, or focus on the streaks, you might be able to slip one into the post route, but only if the slot has beaten his man. Those TD passes to Westy and Bell that have gone for touchdowns used this simple read. But let's say all the deep routes are covered. This puts the LBs in a bad spot, because they'll have to cover both the TE and the RB, and with three WRs on the field, the D will have had to be in a Nickel package at the very least. That means one on one against a TE, a match up that we can exploit for good yardage, or a one on one against Abdullah, which I would take any given play on any given Saturday. And that is assuming they didn't blitz one or both of their LBs, which would leave one or both of those short routes wide open, and open quickly enough that Armstrong could get the ball out well before he gets sacked. If you exploit the short routes, they'll either roll their coverage down to cover them, which will leave the deep routes wide open, or they will stop stacking the box, which will let Abdullah run wild. Those short passes added to what we already do well, would make our offense much more versatile, and a much bigger threat than it already is.

 

I think we have seen the barest glimmer of these tweaks, but I guarantee you that we will need them to beat MSU.

 

 

 

You're suggesting that we make the TE's, RB's, and even FB's to be primary receivers. A concept that I LOVE. I dislike the idea of the traditional screen, so I would throw that out the window (although, Ameer made a huge play on a screen vs McNeese St). However, a play that takes safeties and CB's away from the LB-RB match up is a concept that I have always loved. The wheel route out of the backfield something good, but you aren't guaranteed that match up every time depending on what the coverage is. For example: that play doesn't work with the way that MSU plays their very complicated cover 4 scheme. It can be exploited if someone makes the wrong read while in coverage, but any route would work then.

 

I am in love with plays drawn up that "clear" the area around the LB-RB match up. One place I would look, is how Miami did it to us. Granted, our LB was just plainly out of position, but Miami made Duke Johnson the primary receiver on a few plays. It didn't work every time, but it was very noticeable when it did work.

 

We scored those two TE touchdowns against Fresno because the TE was the primary receiver (along with the slot receiver running a wheel route) in which Tommy had to make a coverage read. Tommy made the right read when the LB moved towards the wheel route. That play, is a perfect example of what a lot of us would like to see.

 

Anyway, great ideas. I love this thread! I wish we did more talking about actual football on here like this. I often get a little sick of just "Tommy doesn't throw no good..." comments repeated times 12 with 4 people that agree and 9 people that disagree.

[Guy Chamberlin]

I really have to give Beck credit. He really went away from his natural need to get too cute and try and pass when it wasn't needed. He always comes out in one series and throws 3 straight downs and he didn't do that on Saturday.

 

But did you notice those two crucial sequences when we got the ball on our own 5 after the interception, Beck ran it three straight times with Abdullah and we were forced to punt?

 

Then again at the Miami 5 yard line, he ran it three straight times with Abdullah and we were forced to kick a field goal?

 

Sometimes three straight passes is no different from three straight runs.

 

Passes aren't cute. They're awesome. And they only help the running game.