Mike Riley’s Run-Pass Splits

[teachercd]

I am not sure where the Huskers offense ended up ranked last year but I expect that with Riley's experience and his staff that NU will be 7-12 spots better on offense this year.

[Husker from Kansas]

You gotta consider several things when it comes to Riley's offenseive ratios. I would venture to say (I don't know for sure) that part of the reasons RIley's offenses were more pass heavy is that more often than not he had the less talented teams on the field, and/or it played to his offensive strengths. He probably had to through the ball a lot more than the huskers have in the past due to the fact that his teams were not capable to control the LOS like a lot of husker teams have. So therefor he had to throw the ball a lot to simply stay in the game because his offenses were unable to wear the other teams down.

[I am I]

Traps, screens, counter-tre, play action draw plays, misdirection bootleg pass OR run, reverse direction quick hitters.

 

It's football 101 from Moose Lodge A Team all the way to Memorial Stadium.

 

This is the offense I want to see. Any of theses plays out of mulitple formations will win us games.

[Treand3]

You gotta consider several things when it comes to Riley's offenseive ratios. I would venture to say (I don't know for sure) that part of the reasons RIley's offenses were more pass heavy is that more often than not he had the less talented teams on the field, and/or it played to his offensive strengths. He probably had to through the ball a lot more than the huskers have in the past due to the fact that his teams were not capable to control the LOS like a lot of husker teams have. So therefor he had to throw the ball a lot to simply stay in the game because his offenses were unable to wear the other teams down.

There's some merit to that. If you look at Oregon State OLs, they were always smaller than anything Nebraska has fielded.

[strigori]

Just the pass/run plays mean very little in a vacuum. You would really need the advanced metrics of success rates of each, not just the calls. As well as knowing how the defense of and flow of each game and season went. And if you are trailing, odds are you are going to throw more. If you have a play, or a player, that the opposing defense can't stop, they you keep calling that play. (Unless you're Tim Beck anyway) In 2009 we ran, and ran and ran, and went nowhere. The best offenses can do both very well, which makes them a nightmare to defend. And too often with our extreme run focus, if a team loaded the box and stuffed the run, we were going to be in a world of trouble.

[RunMickeyRun02]

It's hard to gauge anything from these numbers. Were the throwing numbers higher last year because they were trying to come from behind? What about trying to run out the clock? I suppose it all averages out.

 

The only thing I'm sure of is that Riley and his staff have shown a willingness to adapt based on the players they have, good RBs? they would run more. Good QB? pass more. This makes a lot of sense to me and I find it comforting.

For that reason, my hunch is that our offense won't be too dissimilar to last years offense because that's what these kids know and are good at. I know that's a scary thought for some. As years go on though you'll see more adjustment and change based on the kids they can bring in.

[cg_8]

It's hard to gauge anything from these numbers. Were the throwing numbers higher last year because they were trying to come from behind? What about trying to run out the clock? I suppose it all averages out.

 

The only thing I'm sure of is that Riley and his staff have shown a willingness to adapt based on the players they have, good RBs? they would run more. Good QB? pass more. This makes a lot of sense to me and I find it comforting.

 

For that reason, my hunch is that our offense won't be too dissimilar to last years offense because that's what these kids know and are good at. I know that's a scary thought for some. As years go on though you'll see more adjustment and change based on the kids they can bring in.

I have a hunch we won't see too much significant change either. I think some football nuts crazy about X's and O's will notice the change, but the general concepts these kids already know. This isn't 2004 where our best choice at QB was terrified out of his mind because he couldn't understand wtf "4 verts" meant (you could probably argue Cosgrove didn't know what that was either... ha!). Beck has a strong understanding of football. I know we like to pick on Beck (myself picking on him a lot) but he had a stronger understanding of how to coach so many different things, such as west coast concepts from working under Watson when he was our OC. He also utilized some of those concepts in his own scheme. And working under guys like Mangino, you learn so many different things, and learn how to apply them.

 

What we as fans will see is more "QB under center", which may seem like a significant change (schematically it is) but it doesn't change how these players apply their current knowledge and skills to the game they played previously under Beck.

 

Will the offense "look" different? Yes, because we won't be running out of shotgun spread 90%+ each game. Will it actually be drastically different? Not really. More 5-7 step drops.

 

I have a feeling this transition could be positive. Danny L ran his system for years. He and Riley have a stronger understanding of how to apply it and coach it, they'd been doing it for years. Beck had a unique offense that had so many elements. He understood it, but he may not have a strong understanding of how to apply it and coach it as well as the crew we have now, but only because it was his first go 'round. Overall, I'm looking forward to possibly playing cleaner football.

[StPaulHusker]

I can honestly say that I don't care if the ratio is 90% pass and 10% run as long as we win the game. When you don't win, your decision making comes into question.

[junior4949]

50-50 is where I'd like it. That's quite a lot of passing.

Assuming we average around 75-80 snaps a game, I don't think I'll be much of a fan of heaving the rock 40 times a game especially in mid to late November.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Something that may have biased the run-pass ratio is the fact that Oregon State was behind more times than they were ahead, hence the decision to pass more because passing is a far easier way to gain big yards in a short amount of time.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens this year because we may be ahead in more games than Riley and Co. have ever been ahead in one season for their entire careers.

[strigori]

 

50-50 is where I'd like it. That's quite a lot of passing.

Assuming we average around 75-80 snaps a game, I don't think I'll be much of a fan of heaving the rock 40 times a game especially in mid to late November.

 

This gets so overplayed. And its mostly a creation of media and analysts who played down south. Most northern teams made a living in pro-style offenses forever.

[Guy Chamberlin]

 

 

50-50 is where I'd like it. That's quite a lot of passing.

Assuming we average around 75-80 snaps a game, I don't think I'll be much of a fan of heaving the rock 40 times a game especially in mid to late November.

 

This gets so overplayed. And its mostly a creation of media and analysts who played down south. Most northern teams made a living in pro-style offenses forever.

 

 

Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning get better in November.

 

In Green Bay, Boston and Denver.

[zoogs]

Actually, Sam Mckewon had a good article last fall about how Tim Beck's offenses tended to sputter out in November, for whatever reason.

 

I really got on board with what I thought was their vision for Nebraska: lots of running, lots of QB keying the run game, and devastating stretch-the-field pass plays. I still think that can probably work, but the results here have not been that good lately. The passing game was too often dead in the water. If we want to keep a defense on their heels all season long, I'd like to see maybe more of a commitment to having a dangerous passing operatoin.

[strigori]

Actually, Sam Mckewon had a good article last fall about how Tim Beck's offenses tended to sputter out in November, for whatever reason.

 

I really got on board with what I thought was their vision for Nebraska: lots of running, lots of QB keying the run game, and devastating stretch-the-field pass plays. I still think that can probably work, but the results here have not been that good lately. The passing game was too often dead in the water. If we want to keep a defense on their heels all season long, I'd like to see maybe more of a commitment to having a dangerous passing operatoin.

I'm looking forward to a more fully thought out passing game. The down the field throws are fine, but we have had issues with the short passing game. And another option if the ground game is struggling for some reason or another.

[Guy Chamberlin]

Actually, Sam Mckewon had a good article last fall about how Tim Beck's offenses tended to sputter out in November, for whatever reason.

 

 

The defense collapses in November, too.

 

I'm thinking it's related to the quality of opponent, the established tendencies they can exploit, and teamwide jitters when expectations rise.