Do we lack a home run threat?

[Hayseed]

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/danhoppen/status/643049397249527808

Damn. And there you have the rest of the story.

 

NU will need to start producing bigger plays in games.

 

Says who?

 

The name of this game is first downs and touchdowns. Don't matter how you get em.

 

Long drives eat the clock and keep your defense on the sideline. As long as you finish drives with scores, it doesn't matter how you do it.

 

I agree....and God knows our defense needs to stay on the sideline as much as possible.

[The Dude]

Sustained drives are fine. It's terribly difficult to string more than a couple together in games against good defenses. Expecting to beat good teams like that is not realistic. We have to be more explosive. Absolutely have to. Riley has said as much, and he wasn't just flapping his gums. He's a sincere dude.

[True2tRA]

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/danhoppen/status/643049397249527808

Damn. And there you have the rest of the story.

NU will need to start producing bigger plays in games.

Says who?The name of this game is first downs and touchdowns. Don't matter how you get em.Long drives eat the clock and keep your defense on the sideline. As long as you finish drives with scores, it doesn't matter how you do it.

I agree....and God knows our defense needs to stay on the sideline as much as possible.

Personally, I like what were doing.

 

It's an aggressive defense. High risk, high reward. We've seen the risks and we've seen some rewards already.

 

If Davie doesn't get beat, what could we really complain about defensively yesterday? And if Davie just puts his damn hands up, he probably doesn't get beat.

[True2tRA]

Sustained drives are fine. It's terribly difficult to string more than a couple together in games against good defenses. Expecting to beat good teams like that is not realistic. We have to be more explosive. Absolutely have to. Riley has said as much, and he wasn't just flapping his gums. He's a sincere dude.

Maybe this is what people like yourself aren't understanding.

 

1. Sustained drives are more than fine. They're great. if we weren't able to do so people would be complaining about that. (and they have in the past)

 

2. Just because we haven't done so, doesn't mean we can't. The whole premise of this argument is built on our ability to hit the home run. We have the ability. We've seen it before. Tommy can launch a ball as far as any Husker QB we've ever had. Why would we suddenly be afraid he can't lob a long ball down there to Reilly or Moore now?

 

We only need to be more explosive when we HAVE to be. We heard all off season about Riley's love for the deep ball. We know Tommy can throw it. There's no reason to believe we lack it. We just haven't needed it. We've been working on far more pressing issues IMO. Just a few weeks ago I recall fans worrying about our short passing game...........

 

We are a silly bunch. Some announcer, who hasn't paid nearly the attention to our team that we have, has got some people questioning something that really is ridiculous at this point.

[ColoradoHusk]

True, it looks like you are going to defend the new staff no matter what, and that's fine.

 

However, over the long run, it's very hard for a team to keep sustaining drives that involve a high number of plays. That's a fact, no matter who the team is. That is why fans are saying that NU will need to eventually start producing big plays to have a strong offense (in the long term).

 

If there is no threat for the big play, defenses won't have to play as deep and they can shrink the space the offense has to operate. It's not complicated.

[Hayseed]

 

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/danhoppen/status/643049397249527808

Damn. And there you have the rest of the story.

 

NU will need to start producing bigger plays in games.

 

Says who?The name of this game is first downs and touchdowns. Don't matter how you get em.Long drives eat the clock and keep your defense on the sideline. As long as you finish drives with scores, it doesn't matter how you do it.

 

I agree....and God knows our defense needs to stay on the sideline as much as possible.

 

Personally, I like what were doing.

 

It's an aggressive defense. High risk, high reward. We've seen the risks and we've seen some rewards already.

 

If Davie doesn't get beat, what could we really complain about defensively yesterday? And if Davie just puts his damn hands up, he probably doesn't get beat.

 

I've complained about NLB-SIE secondaries since I've been on these boards, hate the prevent defense, was told that our d-line would be something special by the local media. The only bright spot I see is maybe Rose-Ivey will plug up the middle and we won't give up 20 yards a play to any decent team. If they play well against Miami, I'll get off their case.

[Saunders]

Home run threat doesn't bother me at all. Our secondary scheme though.... yeesh. We'll see if it works next week against Miami.

[lo country]

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/danhoppen/status/643049397249527808

Damn. And there you have the rest of the story.

 

NU will need to start producing bigger plays in games.

 

Says who?The name of this game is first downs and touchdowns. Don't matter how you get em.Long drives eat the clock and keep your defense on the sideline. As long as you finish drives with scores, it doesn't matter how you do it.

 

I agree....and God knows our defense needs to stay on the sideline as much as possible.

 

Personally, I like what were doing.

 

It's an aggressive defense. High risk, high reward. We've seen the risks and we've seen some rewards already.

 

If Davie doesn't get beat, what could we really complain about defensively yesterday? And if Davie just puts his damn hands up, he probably doesn't get beat.

 

I've complained about NLB-SIE secondaries since I've been on these boards, hate the prevent defense, was told that our d-line would be something special by the local media. The only bright spot I see is maybe Rose-Ivey will plug up the middle and we won't give up 20 yards a play to any decent team. If they play well against Miami, I'll get off their case.

 

I'd like to see the bolded by our DL as well. SUH batted down a lot of balls. If you can't get to the QB throw up your hands. it might make him pull it down, make an errant throw, get batted or nothing at all, but with them down no real chance of effecting the throw at all.

[lo country]

Home run threat doesn't bother me at all. Our secondary scheme though.... yeesh. We'll see if it works next week against Miami.

Agree. IIRC, Banker said that the secondary scheme allows for the "deep ball threat" which is one of the hardest passes to complete........

 

Unfortunately, with this D, one of those completed is 6 points...

[Guy Chamberlin]

Our sustained drives in general the last few years have not been grind 'em out clock burning affairs, but a fairly brisk combination of six yard runs and 12 yard passes, sprinkled with an occasional 25-30 yard breakaway in the open field.

 

To say you have to pick sides between big plays and sustained drives is pretty idiotic.

[Red Five]

To say you have to pick sides between big plays and sustained drives is pretty idiotic.

Exactly.

 

Sustained drives are great. But so is the ability to take one to the house from 65 yards out.

[knapplc]

We don't have a home-run threat only because someone hasn't broken free yet. We'll get that, either this week or next.

 

It was just the last couple of years we were wondering if we were too reliant on "the big play" because Taylor Martinez, Roy Helu and Ameer Abdullah were busting 50-yarders with regularity. It's a little amusing that that was a problem, and now this is.

 

We're a tough crowd, we Husker Fans.

[ColoradoHusk]

We don't have a home-run threat only because someone hasn't broken free yet. We'll get that, either this week or next.

 

It was just the last couple of years we were wondering if we were too reliant on "the big play" because Taylor Martinez, Roy Helu and Ameer Abdullah were busting 50-yarders with regularity. It's a little amusing that that was a problem, and now this is.

 

We're a tough crowd, we Husker Fans.

It's not necessarily a problem, but it is a concern that there aren't more big plays. It's great that the offense is churning out 10-20 yard chunk plays to love the chains. But, a great offense can do both.

[knapplc]

It's not necessarily a problem, but it is a concern that there aren't more big plays. It's great that the offense is churning out 10-20 yard chunk plays to love the chains. But, a great offense can do both.

I don't think we'll have a great offense this year. Tommy is good, Westerkamp is good, the cadre of Reilly/Hovey/Morgan/Moore is good, and that's about it. I think we can be good.

 

To be great, one part of the whole has to be great and elevate the rest. We don't have a single great piece on the offense:

 

Armstrong - good, but not great.

RB (Newby, et al) - good last night, so far nobody is great.

WR (Hovey/Reilly/Westerkamp/Moore/etc) - good, but not great

TE - nobody is great. Maybe later someone will be good. Remains to be seen.

O Line - not great. Maybe later could be good. Remains to be seen.

 

I just don't see a "great" offense here. My expectations are tempered by what we have, the pieces we can use. Nobody there is a game-changer. Several (Armstrong, Westerkamp, etc) are good, maybe really good, but nobody is great.

 

Somewhere along the line, somebody will break a long TD. Some defender will take the wrong angle, someone will drop coverage, somewhere there'll be a bust. But that still won't mean we have a home-run threat, not legitimately.

 

I think we can be good, overall. And "good" may be good enough to win the West this year, and that would be a heck of an accomplishment.

 

But great? I don't see it, and I don't expect it. Not this year.

[ColoradoHusk]

Can't argue with what you are saying, Knapplc