3 main concerns that will continue to hold us back

[HuskerShark]

After the MSU game, I've got 3 main concerns with this team that will be key factors in how the rest of season plays out. The first is a concern that I've had for a while, and really showed itself Saturday.

 

#1 - Receiver route combinations

 

Too many times in the past few years under Tim Beck's offense, we've seen 2 receivers running routes and ending up in the same area (Late throw to Moore in the endzone that was nearly a TD). There also seem to be a lot of routes that don't quite complement each other (Final throw by Tommy that was intercepted).

 

I'm not an offensive guru by any means, but these route combos seem like a problem. I can understand if there are young receivers in the game and they aren't running them correctly, which was the case on that last drive, but it has happened with our passing game for years now. Wasn't Beck the passing game coordinator at Kansas? You'd think these types of things wouldn't happen.

 

#2 - Offensive line - Bad push and too many penalties

 

Against Fresno, Miami, and Illinois, our line looked possessed. They controlled the line even though teams were loading the box. Saturday against MSU, they looked like absolute dog crap. They got absolutely tooled by MSU's front 7 (which I acknowledge is very good), and that factor alone held us back from winning the ballgame. I'd love to see a stat as well on penalties, as Alex Lewis and Jake Cotton have to be two of the most penalized offensive linemen in CFB. And at times on Saturday, Sterup looked like a Jr. High kid trying to block Calhoun and Rush. Totally tooled.

 

This is the one thing that I'd give Beck some leeway on. I've heard a lot of bitching about how we kept trying to do the same thing over and over even though it wasn't working. Let's be honest - If Beck would have tried to run early on and just aired it out the rest of the game, people would be complaining about that too. Ameer Abdullah is the best playmaker on the team, and we had to continually try to get him the ball. Unfortunately, when your OL can't block and is continually whiffing on LBs and DL all game long, it's hard for your All-American RB to find space to run.

 

#3 - Depth in the secondary

 

Losing Daniel Davie hurt. Bad. He's been doing a pretty good job this year and was holding his own early on in the game. Then the first play Jonathon Rose came in, MSU went right after him with a double move and threw a 55 yard TD to Lippett.

 

Kalu shows major promise, he's just young and pretty green. He will be a different person next year after an off season in the weight room.

 

Josh Mitchell, while I love his heart and his leadership, just isn't a guy who is going to make us feel comfortable on an island against a quality receiver.

 

I really hope our young CBs and Charles Jackson can step in next year and make that unit much improved, because lack of depth and ability there right now is pretty concerning. I know someone is bound to post that Connor Cook was just held to 11/29, so here would be my response to that:

Our best form of pass coverage right now is our stellar front 4. Cook didn't have all day to sit in the pocket and make throws because RG4, McMullen, Collins, and Valentine are freakin' amazing!

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

With that said, I truly believe that there is something special about this team. The leadership that is present is different than years' past, and our defense plays with attitude. I fully expect this team to run the table and face MSU in the B1G CCG with an 11-1 record. And the way things are playing out this year, I'd venture to say that the winner of that game could be looking at the 4th spot in the playoff.

 

GBR!!!

[Minnesota_husker]

Excellent post/good detail.

 

Lots to touch on, so I am just going to touch on your first point.

 

Agree 100%. Seems like we are always running really deep routes that take forever to materialize. With how bad the line was and how off Tommy was, it was a recipe for disaster.

 

Our TE's must be god awful at catching or running routes.

 

 

Overrall, I think our passing game as a whole had so many things fail:

O-line gave tommy no time

Run game wasnt there to at least force MSU to bite on fakes

We rarely tried play action or bootlegs

Tommy was very inaccurate all night

The weather

Lack of depth at WR

like you mentioned the routes.

 

 

They tried to fix some of that with the screen style passes... but Tommy missed on soo many of those.

 

I know they were probably trying to get the deeper ball going to spread the field and open up the run... but just failed big time

[BigRedBuster]

OK...please don't take this as me ragging on you but I have seen similar complaints. Yours just happened to have them all in the same post so I'll make my comments here.

Excellent post/good detail.

 

Lots to touch on, so I am just going to touch on your first point.

 

Agree 100%. Seems like we are always running really deep routes that take forever to materialize. With how bad the line was and how off Tommy was, it was a recipe for disaster. This was a problem in the McNeese State game. Against Fresno and ever since, we have had many plays every game with shorter routes. Against MSU, we had many MANY plays with passes in the flats that simply weren't completed because of either the QB's bad throw or the WR dropping the ball.

 

Our TE's must be god awful at catching or running routes.

 

 

Overrall, I think our passing game as a whole had so many things fail:

O-line gave tommy no time

Run game wasnt there to at least force MSU to bite on fakes

We rarely tried play action or bootlegs We ran play action a LOT on Saturday. Seriously, I rewatched most of the first half last night and many of our passes were off of play action. We also rolled Armstrong out a couple times.

Tommy was very inaccurate all night

The weather

Lack of depth at WR

like you mentioned the routes.

 

 

They tried to fix some of that with the screen style passes... but Tommy missed on soo many of those.

 

I know they were probably trying to get the deeper ball going to spread the field and open up the run... but just failed big time

You are correct on Tommy's accuracy Saturday night. It was simply sad to see because the plays were there much of the night.

[Minnesota_husker]

OK...please don't take this as me ragging on you but I have seen similar complaints. Yours just happened to have them all in the same post so I'll make my comments here.

Excellent post/good detail.

 

Lots to touch on, so I am just going to touch on your first point.

 

Agree 100%. Seems like we are always running really deep routes that take forever to materialize. With how bad the line was and how off Tommy was, it was a recipe for disaster. This was a problem in the McNeese State game. Against Fresno and ever since, we have had many plays every game with shorter routes. Against MSU, we had many MANY plays with passes in the flats that simply weren't completed because of either the QB's bad throw or the WR dropping the ball.

 

Our TE's must be god awful at catching or running routes.

 

 

Overrall, I think our passing game as a whole had so many things fail:

O-line gave tommy no time

Run game wasnt there to at least force MSU to bite on fakes

We rarely tried play action or bootlegs We ran play action a LOT on Saturday. Seriously, I rewatched most of the first half last night and many of our passes were off of play action. We also rolled Armstrong out a couple times.

Tommy was very inaccurate all night

The weather

Lack of depth at WR

like you mentioned the routes.

 

 

They tried to fix some of that with the screen style passes... but Tommy missed on soo many of those.

 

I know they were probably trying to get the deeper ball going to spread the field and open up the run... but just failed big time

You are correct on Tommy's accuracy Saturday night. It was simply sad to see because the plays were there much of the night.

No worries. Ill have to re-watch the game.. because I guess i didnt notice those as much.

 

 

Seemed like most routes were all 10+ yards except for the swing type passes. I mean more routs that consist of slants/middle of the field in the 7-10 yard range.

[BigRedPowerWagon]

Im thinking with how fast they were crushing the pocket do quick slants or sideline tosses. Just get rid of the ball for 5 yards apiece, when they catch on to that then use tommy. Wear them down and pull away in the 4th.