38 Carries - Nebraska Record

[cm husker]

I am sorry, Newby is not a great back, Ameer could run up the gut because he could break tackles and get into the secondary and make guys miss, Newby has very little vision and folds on most initial contact. If you bang Jano and Cross inside play after play, you use some clock and wear their line down.........we don't do that.........ever....our coaches don't believe in power football, that's their call, that's what we pay them for.......

Most "great" backs are developed and/or a product of a system (like most of NU's were in the glory years).

Ameer was a phenomenal player, but he was definitely developed. He didn't step onto the field as the most dynamic freshman or sophomore in NU history.

I wish we could see what Cross and Newby would be doing under Brown's tutelage.

 

[cm husker]

Rex Burkhead set the Nebraska record for most carries in a game on 11/25/2011. He had 160 yards.

Nebraska ran the ball 38 times today against Northwestern. Nebraska had 82 yards.

Yet according to many Huskerboard members, Nebraska didn't "commit" to the run.

You can't possibly believe what you write here.

Did you even bother to look at the total running plays in that game back in '11? It was 61. For 222 yards. Not even that amazing of a day running from a ypc, but it's a way to grind out an WIN a game. NU put it up 22 times in that game.

Contrast that with the loss on Saturday. 38 runs. 48 passes.

No, not entirely. I think I was drinking. I just found it funny that 38 was the record number of carries for Burkhead, and 38 was the number of carries we had in a game that people swore we "didn't run the ball enough".

When you're averaging two yards a carry, how much should an offensive coordinator continue to call the run? 38 times seems like enough times to either find a rhythm and establish something, or give it the f#*k up.

So when you can't run the ball, the only other way I know in this game that an offense can legally move the ball down the field is to throw it. So I'm assuming that's where the 49 passes comes from.

It seems really logical to me, but very confusing for some others here. It's okay, it's not just you.

The key isn't 38 times. It's timing, ball carriers and type of play.

16 total carries by the starting IB.

He goes for 40 on 10 carries in the first half. Not a massive amount of yards, but 4 ypc and no negative plays (as usual in this offense, there weren't any real big plays either.. just steady 3 to 8 yard pick ups).

During that time, NU threw it 27 times.

10 runs versus 27 passes. In a half.

You can't get your RB or OL in rhythm when you're calling your play selection like that.

I thought it came down to their defensive line beating the piss out of our offensive line. Especially on the one side.

So if Tommy needs 10 passing plays to get into a rhythm, and the run game needs 15-20 consecutive or closely called together runs to find a rhythm, what the hell is Langsdorf supposed to do?

Seriously, an offensive line needs a bunch of plays to get into a rhythm? Is this one of those things that just applies to Nebraska football? I think we're getting carried away with that. The RB maybe, the QB maybe but not all the time, but the offensive line needs to get in a rhythm now too?

You're either physical or you're not. You're either powerful or you're not. You either know what you're doing or you don't. You can either beat the man across from you or you can't.

Serious question, when is the last time you saw a Nebraska offensive linement just dominate the man across from them all game long. And don't name just one game and call it the overriding rule. I'd like to know the last linemen that consistently owned his gap. Spencer Long maybe the only one in a long time....?

No, it applies everywhere. It helps to when OLs are running similar and complementary plays. Not a hodgepodge of grab and go.

Your last "serious question" makes no sense. You ask for an example of a player dominating his guy over the course of a game, but then you don't want me to name a game? I can name guys who played well, but you'll just scoff (e.g., if I pointed out that much maligned Jake Cotton was HM from coaches and media last year and played much better than credited for or that Alex Lewis was a force last year, also earning honorable mention from coaches and media). You mentioned Spencer Long. That wasn't some sort of ancient history. He played in 2013. Pensick was 2nd team all conference that year. Siriles was too, the year before that. I won't bother going back much further.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Most stuff being posted here points to the difference between having Terrell Newby as your featured running back vs. Ameer Abdullah as your featured running back.

And remember when Tim Beck was criticized for not running between the tackles enough? For not running Imani Cross enough?

As mentioned, Nebraska has had a very decent per carry average all season. It wasn't working very well this Saturday. It didn't always work under Brown's tutelage and with Ameer at the top of his game, either, and against the likes of McNeese State, who aren't exactly Northwestern. It worked for Georgia Tech this Saturday, but the week before, GT pounded the rock 42 times for a grand total of 71 yards on the way to a 2-5 record of their own.

We never think of Michigan State or Wisconsin as pass-first teams, but both Cook and Stave have thrown more than 50 passes in games this season, with no one here accusing those coaches of abandoning the run because they won. In some cases that involved a good chunk of luck. Don't assume the coach you wish was at Nebraska would look at the available resources and competition and simply reinstate the run.

I'll defend the coaches this far: they know these plays can work, because they work in practice and they work in games. Until they don't. When the play you call creates a wide open receiver who drops the ball, the answer isn't to run the ball instead. When you give your dual threat QB the option of calling his own run or pass -- and choosing the receiver -- and he makes the wrong call a mere 20% of the time, it can ruin the offensive rhythm. But the answer isn't to bench him, because Tommy Armstrong will then do something incredibly athletic and successful and you're reminded that neither Ryker Fyfe or a fullback counter is likely to have better results.

You think of all the games that could have been won with a field goal (5) and wonder if a quarterback capable of completing a pedestrian 58% of his passes instead of a gunslinger's 50% would have made a difference. And remember the games where the passing game was on, and how that opened up the running game, no matter how much Nebraska fans want to think it can only be the other way around.

Even our offensive line isn't that bad. Not good enough to dominate, but good enough to win these games.

The truth is, the entire team has played well enough to win every game, but lacks the killer instinct when we're ahead. I'll lay that at the coachs' feet, cause teamwide mental discipline was always my problem with Pelini. Playcalling...not so much. Talent? Sure. Of course it's an issue. Forgetting the defense a moment, a slightly more accurate QB and a legitimate heir to the Helu/Burkhead/Abdullah lineage makes a difference. And right now, the offense can't afford to stall because the defense clearly needs a two touchdown cushion in the fourth quarter.