LJS: Numbers Show How Much Husker Offense Struggled

[BIGREDIOWAN]

That helps substantiate to me why I'm not a fan of Langs. Like I said before, I'm willing to give him next season with a QB that'll fit what he and Riley want to do on offense more, but if we stink it up again on offense. He better be gone at the end of that season. There will be enough to get rid of him at that point IMO.

[Husker from Kansas]

That helps substantiate to me why I'm not a fan of Langs. Like I said before, I'm willing to give him next season with a QB that'll fit what he and Riley want to do on offense more, but if we stink it up again on offense. He better be gone at the end of that season. There will be enough to get rid of him at that point IMO.

I do have to credit Riley for the bolded. He has shown through his first 2 season that if something isn't getting accomplished at a high enough level then he isn't afraid to replace that positions coach. However that is a lot harder to do with Langs then it was with our special teams coach this year. I feel like Riley is going to give him the benefit of doubt until "his guys" that he recruited arrive on campus and have some time to get adjusted to D1 football and get on the field. I think it won't be until 2 years from now that Riley will have to make that decision. Next year will be another gimme year because of the youth at the QB position.

[Scratchtown]

Those stats are terrible. No excuse for that hot garbage considering all the numbers were better in year 1.

[In the Deed the Glory]

I have said after the first 5 games, when faced with a more (INSERT ADJECTIVE HERE) defense, Langs really had no answer. His go to running play was always inside into the heart of the stout B1G defensive lines. Little to no misdirection, counters, traps, we saw the dump pass one game (his best IMHO) against Maryland when he actually dialed up a game plan to get Maryland out of the box. He used multiple sets, motions, formations, swing passes, screens, dump passes etc to open up the field and force an underperforming Maryland to go sideline to sideline. That was the first and last time we saw that. Earlier games, it was simply our "depth" and "better athletes" that allowed us to wear teams down and look so good in the 4th......

 

Injuries are excuses, Every team has them. Some one goes down and we can't perform? Development, depth, coaching etc.....Thats not on the kids.....Recruitment, developing depth, preparing kids....... We went in against Iowa with no idea what to do at QB or in play calling and it was painfully obvious.

 

If we don't find a way to get 10 earthmover on the OL, another 8 on the DL, we will continue to see this craptastic performance regardless of QB, DC or OC...... At least other coordinators, can call to the strengths of their teams and find a way to minimize their exposure. Langs hasn't shown me this. Banker, after losing our entire DL to the draft or attrition, isn't in the same position as Langs for me...

 

This was a weak schedule, against weak opponents and we didn't do to well offensively..... We won 9 games which is good, but suffered two blowouts and scored our two lowest point totals since joining the B1G....... Last years losses were on the coaches with poor clock management and poor play calling. They showed (Riley) that he could learn from that and this was the difference in the win column IMHO.

About the bolded, and I am not trying to be an ass, but do you think that had anything to do with the QB that played that game? Maybe it might be a glimpse into our future? Or was Maryland just that bad that it wouldn't have mattered?

[ColoradoHusk]

Those stats are terrible. No excuse for that hot garbage considering all the numbers were better in year 1.

Langsdorf and Riley pared down the playbook in an effort to reduce the number of interceptions from Armstrong. It worked well early in the season, but after a few games of film being put out there, it was really easy to scout and prepare for the offense. Throw in the fact that the offense started playing teams with better defenses, the offense really went to crap in the 2nd half of the season.

[Count 'Bility]

I posted a good write up in another thread about how easy it musta been as DC preparing for Nebraska knowing our issues with solid qb play in the passing game, as well as the holes that became across the oline throughout the year. it's about tendancies and matchups folks. What was there about our offense that defenses had to respect and be ready for at all times that would create a constraint for another aspect? There was nothing. Nothing we did, whether it be scheme or talent or whatever, forced a defense to devise a plan around any particular aspect of our offense. Nothing we did was done with any sort of consistency or great success. And it's a mixed bag as to what's to blame. it's little bit of everything. OC in ability to really coach and teach a style of offense that suits your qb. Lack of talent and depth on oline, which became massive problem when injuries hit. QB play in the pass game. Lack of offensive fit for players. There's still a lot there. That's why sometimes these things take time.

[RedSavage]

 

I have said after the first 5 games, when faced with a more (INSERT ADJECTIVE HERE) defense, Langs really had no answer. His go to running play was always inside into the heart of the stout B1G defensive lines. Little to no misdirection, counters, traps, we saw the dump pass one game (his best IMHO) against Maryland when he actually dialed up a game plan to get Maryland out of the box. He used multiple sets, motions, formations, swing passes, screens, dump passes etc to open up the field and force an underperforming Maryland to go sideline to sideline. That was the first and last time we saw that. Earlier games, it was simply our "depth" and "better athletes" that allowed us to wear teams down and look so good in the 4th......

 

Injuries are excuses, Every team has them. Some one goes down and we can't perform? Development, depth, coaching etc.....Thats not on the kids.....Recruitment, developing depth, preparing kids....... We went in against Iowa with no idea what to do at QB or in play calling and it was painfully obvious.

 

If we don't find a way to get 10 earthmover on the OL, another 8 on the DL, we will continue to see this craptastic performance regardless of QB, DC or OC...... At least other coordinators, can call to the strengths of their teams and find a way to minimize their exposure. Langs hasn't shown me this. Banker, after losing our entire DL to the draft or attrition, isn't in the same position as Langs for me...

 

This was a weak schedule, against weak opponents and we didn't do to well offensively..... We won 9 games which is good, but suffered two blowouts and scored our two lowest point totals since joining the B1G....... Last years losses were on the coaches with poor clock management and poor play calling. They showed (Riley) that he could learn from that and this was the difference in the win column IMHO.

About the bolded, and I am not trying to be an ass, but do you think that had anything to do with the QB that played that game? Maybe it might be a glimpse into our future? Or was Maryland just that bad that it wouldn't have mattered?

 

I was talking about this with some friends during the game. Is Maryland just that bad or does our offense look that much better with a true passer? I think it was a combination of the two but I think the questioning of Langs play calling is not nearly as bad next year when he has someone who can make the passes he wants them to be capable of.

[teachercd]

You know what this makes me wonder...second time through the conference with Riley as coach...I wonder how many Big Ten coaches have started to figure out what NU does?

 

I know they can go back and look at old film from his Beaver days...but it is a little bit different when you get into conference play and really start to know each other.

[RedDenver]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we went the entire season without running a trick play. (not counting a fake punt)

The through these gates blog does a great job breaking down the games. If you go back through those posts, you'll see we ran about 1 trick play per game the first half or so of the season and then nothing the last 4-5 games.

[Redux]

Well that's incredibly sobering. I really thought we would have one of the better offenses in the league and country. Instead, an inexperienced Defense helped carry us to 9 wins and even that unit struggled due to extended time on the field and poor SPteams.

 

Here's the reality. In 2017, we need to see a MASSIVE improvement or that hot seat will be blazing, not just Danny's. I like the guys we return and the guys coming in, I just fear that our offense is going to be so specific that if one guy goes down (like Cethan did) the whold unit will struggle.

[LAblackshirt]

There is obviously a lot of speculation that can be had about our offensive struggles. My opinion is that it may be as simple as it seems: bad QB play = bad offense. To be clear I appreciate Armstrong for his guts and athletic ability, but he is one of the worst passers in the B1G. His QBR doesn't really reflect that, but anyone who has watched him play this year can see that even the most basic of throws to a wide open flat are far from a sure thing for Tommy. When PFF's rankings of QB's in the conference put Tommy in the bottom 2 my eyes were opened, read about the way they rate player vs. what a QBR does to understand further. QBR also doesn't account for the training wheels HCMR and Langs have put on this offense to make sure Tommy doesn't have anymore 4 interception games. When a QB can only run a vanilla offense full of throws and schemes of lower difficulty, and still complete only around 50% that's a problem for an offense. Its not all on the QB, but it mostly is.

 

With Tommy at QB we were really one dimensional. HCMR did a great job of using Tommy's athleticism to win us games, but what we saw is that when a team was athletic enough to stop him from running he was helpless. He couldn't make the throws to keep the ball moving and keep the defense honest. I really feel that if we receive even average QB play for the conference next year we will see a marked improvement in our offense.

[BoNeyard]

I echo those who say we have to see what Langs can do with a true QB. I applaud Armstrong for his toughness and warrior mentality, the guy won us a ton of games this year with his heart, but he was not a good thrower.

 

Lets see what Langs does with a true QB at the helm and how this offense goes with it. We have talented RBs and a great WR core. We need to beef up our line immensley, but hopefully they work on that this offseason.

 

 

The playcalling wasnt as head scratching as it was last year, but those 3rd and 8 hail repeated hail mary bombs vs Iowa were frustrating.

[Elf]

Injuries or not those numbers suck

The numbers do suck, but a patchwork offensive line will do that to you.

[Elf]

I echo those who say we have to see what Langs can do with a true QB. I applaud Armstrong for his toughness and warrior mentality, the guy won us a ton of games this year with his heart, but he was not a good thrower.

 

Lets see what Langs does with a true QB at the helm and how this offense goes with it. We have talented RBs and a great WR core. We need to beef up our line immensley, but hopefully they work on that this offseason.

 

 

The playcalling wasnt as head scratching as it was last year, but those 3rd and 8 hail repeated hail mary bombs vs Iowa were frustrating.

That was probably all on Armstrong. On several yolo bombs even I saw the open reciever, and it wasn't the target of the yolo bomb.

[I am I]

50% completion? That's terrible. Just awful.

 

A QB passing the ball is looking to get the ball out of his hands and into the hands of very skilled players in open space.

 

To only be able to get the ball into those hands HALF the time you intend to is awful. I don't care if it's coaching or the player.

 

If we can get a QB around 63-66% that's when we'all see if offense these guys run is worth a damn. If it's at 65% and we still avg 28ppg and rank in the bottom 1/3 of all offenses then this offense as whole, stinks.