Husker Chalk Talk: Concept Wednesday - The Speed Option

[Cdog923]

Almost the best thing about the program at this point are concept Wednesdays from HCT: https://huskerchalktalk.com/2018/09/26/concept-wednesday-more-option-please/

[Undone]

Agreed, it's my favorite read on anything Husker related.

 

This was of course really depressing from their write-up:

 

Quote

This guy’s opinion is that Nebraska has a lot of running concepts in the playbook right now, and they might be best served narrowing them down for the foreseeable future.  Lots of scheme is great if you can block it.  But if it just causes communication breakdowns in the OL, you end up with performances like we saw this past Saturday.

 

Fundamentally, no matter what you run, football remains a game of blocking and tackling.  And right now, Nebraska is terrible at the former and only adequate at the latter.  Let’s hope that changes this weekend against Purdue. 

 

Given that there are three starting seniors on the offensive line, can we even expect much improvement in blocking this season? That's really the question. I had expected for there to be more out-of-the-box stuff with Spielman, Williams, and Lindsey getting used on the edges. Maybe those are a part of the offense that gets installed next season or maybe those plays just don't exist at this point in Frost's playbook.

 

We may have to go more vertical against Purdue to even have a chance of winning. Either way, it'd be amazing to see Martinez light it up like he did against Colorado.

[Mavric]

This is why it still surprises me that Oz gets this kind of play.  Should have been a nice gain.  But he's not fast enough.

 

[WyoHusker56]

2 minutes ago, Mavric said:

This is why it still surprises me that Oz gets this kind of play.  Should have been a nice gain.  But he's not fast enough.

 

 

Ya if your RB can't beat a 233lb linebacker to the perimeter you need a faster RB. It's even worse because 10 bit hard on the fake dive too.

[Husker in WI]

I suppose you don't want to tip your playcalls based on personnel, but I totally agree. Everything on that play worked perfectly, and if the RB doesn't have the speed maybe he shouldn't be in there. I love Ozigbo, but this is exactly why people questioned his fit in the offense.

 

Credit to 10 as well though - he's a stud and there aren't many LBs who are going to make that play, even on Ozigbo.

[clyde40]

16 minutes ago, Mavric said:

This is why it still surprises me that Oz gets this kind of play.  Should have been a nice gain.  But he's not fast enough.

 

I think coaches get into a mentality that, "we don't want to be predictable if X guy comes in". Oz has proved to be a good inside runner that gets yards after contact so you think an inside zone or read play wouldn't have done worse. Could have also motioned a WR in the backfield to be a pitch man too. It's always been my opinion that backs like Oz or Cross are good players, they just need put in position to succeed. 

[Cdog923]

3 minutes ago, Husker in WI said:

I suppose you don't want to tip your playcalls based on personnel, but I totally agree. Everything on that play worked perfectly, and if the RB doesn't have the speed maybe he shouldn't be in there. I love Ozigbo, but this is exactly why people questioned his fit in the offense.

 

Credit to 10 as well though - he's a stud and there aren't many LBs who are going to make that play, even on Ozigbo.

 

Agree with this. Maybe against CU or Troy, Ziggy gets a nice gain. But Bush is a 1st rounder for a reason. 

[Undone]

1 hour ago, Mavric said:

This is why it still surprises me that Oz gets this kind of play.  Should have been a nice gain.  But he's not fast enough.

 

Do you think there's any chance that it's an attempt to make the defense think it'll be an inside give because Ozigbo is in there?

 

That's all I got.

Also, I really hope to see Washington out there against Purdue. He did so well against Troy!

[4skers89]

22 minutes ago, Undone said:

 

Do you think there's any chance that it's an attempt to make the defense think it'll be an inside give because Ozigbo is in there?

 

That's all I got.

Also, I really hope to see Washington out there against Purdue. He did so well against Troy!

I question if the blocking was correct. Schematically it shows someone blocking #10. I think #11 should block #10 and the tackle should block #97 that our #11 is blocking. The tackle looks like he is going after the other linebacker but blocking #10 would have created traffic and difficult for the other linebacker to make a play.

[BigRedBuster]

This is one of the plays that really has shown me the lack of speed on our offense.  I remember another speed option where #10 stopped Martinez and made him pitch.  He still got to the RB on the perimeter to make the tackle for little or no gain.  

 

Now, on the play that I remember, Martinez could have made him commit more to him and there could have been a little more space between RB and QB.  But, still....one guy covered both.

 

The speed option takes a lot of practice to get really really good at it.  I hope they are getting it because it's an awesome play when ran well.

[ZRod]

2 hours ago, Mavric said:

This is why it still surprises me that Oz gets this kind of play.  Should have been a nice gain.  But he's not fast enough.

 

Two thing:.

 

This staff seems to be making a similar mistake to the previous one's. Trying to use Oz as an East/West runner, which we all know he is not. Yes you can sprinkle these lateral plays in to keep a defense honest, but he's at his best when he's pounding it between the tackles.

 

Other issue is I'm not sure this play was blocked correctly either. I would think the TE and LT should be working to the OLB. At a minimum OLB should have been chipped to slow him down. Maybe I'm wrong though.. I think this comes down to communication on the O-line, and I'm looking at the Center position. Blocking assignments were a major issue for NU this game, they pretty much destroyed our passing game allowing defenders to run free to the QB. I keep thinking back to last year when a change was made at Center and things seemed to improve. I think that indicates a serious communication issue on the line stemming from the center position.

 

 

 

Last thing is that the author pointed out my other big takeaway from the game, Martinez is pretty raw in the option game. He needs to have a heavy focus on making the correct reads, and attacking his read defender to make them commit. @BigRedBuster it was really Martinez not attacking on that play which allowed the defender to cover both players. He tried to string it down the line, which we all know is a big no,no. You can get away with that against lesser teams, but the big boys have the speed to make you pay for that mistake. Alongh with that some of the backs need to improve their play fake on these counter or bluff plays. They were a little sloppy against U of M and didn't cause the LBs to bite often.

[husker98]

2 hours ago, Mavric said:

This is why it still surprises me that Oz gets this kind of play.  Should have been a nice gain.  But he's not fast enough.

 

 

Thats why you do it, they aren't expecting it and we got a gain on the play, one of the few on the day. But i agree, this play doesn't exploit any of his strengths and talents, he is a between the tackles runner.

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Undone said:

 

Do you think there's any chance that it's an attempt to make the defense think it'll be an inside give because Ozigbo is in there?

 

That's all I got.

Also, I really hope to see Washington out there against Purdue. He did so well against Troy!

 

Washington is promising athletically, but there is some causes for concern in how he runs. Granted i thought he would play more, but him not playing validates some theories i have.

[BigRedBuster]

1 hour ago, ZRod said:

@BigRedBuster it was really Martinez not attacking on that play which allowed the defender to cover both players.  He tried to string it down the line, which we all know is a big no,no. 

 

That's why I said this.

 

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

Now, on the play that I remember, Martinez could have made him commit more to him and there could have been a little more space between RB and QB. .....

 

[LaunchCode]

3 hours ago, Mavric said:

This is why it still surprises me that Oz gets this kind of play.  Should have been a nice gain.  But he's not fast enough.

 

Even though 10 bites on inside fake, he's lined up outside OZ pre snap to begin with so not the advantage it first appears.  Also Oz receives ball 7 yards behind LOS, LB is only 3 yards off LOS when he starts his pursuit.  That's a 4 yard advantage to the LB and yet OZ still picks up 2 positive yards. 

 

What stands out most to me on this play is what happens to our left guard.

[ZRod]

9 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

That's why I said this.

 

 

Just adding emphasis homie 

 

I hope this is a major point of emphasis the next few weeks, and I expect it to improve as AM sees more in game reps.