54 plays for 1 yard or less

[Hercules]

Taylor is not near the passer as most spread/option qbs

You need to watch more spread option QBs. Taylor is pretty darn close to Darron Thomas and Denard Robinson in terms of his passing ability. Next time you get a chance, watch those guys with as critical an eye as you do with Taylor. Groan every time one of them misses an open target like you do with Taylor, and you'll find soon enough that you're not groaning much less. The other thing you'll notice is how much more wide open the Oregon/Michigan wide receivers are, and how they catch the ball when it hits their hands, even if they're bending backwards.

 

[Ziebol]

If we can not run the ball for positive yardage on sustained drives we will lose more than we win the B1G. No question in my mind. If that is our plan of attack, we are one injury away on the defensive line from total failure.

Still think Beck was a cruel joke played on us. We need a real proven offensive coordinator. We did not look for a non proven defensive mind when we went after Bo to be head coach, why did we do it with the offensive side?

It would be different to if the pass plays were even being hit near stride. They are lame ducks floating into hand that have turned around and found themselves open. This will not happen in the B1G is my guess.

We have real offensive problems and I truldy do not see the solution in what we have on the field.

Hope I am completely wrong on this, but if it continouse expect 5-6 or even more losses. Wisconsin will put 70 on us very easily.

Jesus negative nancy. It's the second game sure we're playing very very underwhelming at the moment but I believe we will come into our own very shortly. To say we are a team barely bowl eligible and that wiscy will hang 70 on us is just looney tunes. I think we will shake the cobwebs lose on both sides of the ball Saturday and we will see a more sound team. I'm not putting us on the chopping block and scrambling to pointing fingers, we are a young team who believed the hype and after the FSU wake up call I expect to see a different team.

 

[Danimal]

Living on the big play will wear out your defense at some point. You are prone to many 3 and outs. We can't have our defense on the field the whole game.

I called this offense 'big play or bust' in October 2010 and took a little abuse. The two games this this year are deja vu as far as I'm concerned.

I hope I'm wrong, but the offense will be non existent several games this year.

I disagree. You have to look how those bad games happened. TM getting injured played into our offensive downturn a ton, he just wasn't the same afterward. Against Texas he was healthy but we had an insane number of costly drops. If TM can stay healthy and we don't just blow our leg off with turnovers/goofs I don't see us just getting shut-down. Plus this season we have an O that suits our talent more and way more playmaking ability from receivers. Not saying lack of consistency and physicality aren't issues, it would be good to be able to put extended, clock-killing drives together. We also have to watch turnovers/ball-security. Just saying I think we're just too explosive this year to just get shut-down very often.

 

[shyndy]

If we can not run the ball for positive yardage on sustained drives we will lose more than we win the B1G. No question in my mind. If that is our plan of attack, we are one injury away on the defensive line from total failure.

Still think Beck was a cruel joke played on us. We need a real proven offensive coordinator. We did not look for a non proven defensive mind when we went after Bo to be head coach, why did we do it with the offensive side?

It would be different to if the pass plays were even being hit near stride. They are lame ducks floating into hand that have turned around and found themselves open. This will not happen in the B1G is my guess.

We have real offensive problems and I truldy do not see the solution in what we have on the field.

Hope I am completely wrong on this, but if it continouse expect 5-6 or even more losses. Wisconsin will put 70 on us very easily.

:facepalm:

maybe he forgot the /sarcasm? 70 points? really?

 

[Stumpy1]

Have we really had a need for a long, time consuming drive? You could count the last drive in the FSU game as one, but any other time?

 

[Pedro Guerrero]

Who cares how long our scoring drives are as long as we score.

The real problem is the number of 3 and out’s or 1 first down drives. Those are the drives that kill us both offensively and defensively.

 

[Nebula]

I think the fact that we have managed to break out these big plays while we are still in the infancy of our new offensive system speaks to the athletic explosiveness we have on our roster.

I like seeing Rodriquez being escorted to the bench. (I don't want to refer to him as A-Rod. There is already an A-Rod out there, and the last time I checked he was making out with himself in the mirror.) The offensive line needs a cattle prod taken to it, because all of these 3< yard plays are, in my amateur arm-chair coach opinion, a direct result of the offensive line failing to get the push we need for those extra 2-3 yards. If we can get the kinks worked out up front, we're going to be looking at a lot more 2nd and 5 situations. The explosive plays are still going to be there, because we have explosive players at the skill positions. Every single skill position. Multiple players that can break one all the way.

Everything hinges on the o-line. (As, really, it always does.)

 

[knapplc]

Who cares how long our scoring drives are as long as we score.

The real problem is the number of 3 and out’s or 1 first down drives. Those are the drives that kill us both offensively and defensively.

I think this is what people are mostly concerned about, and the conversation has taken a while to work its way around to this. The worry isn't that we score from 60 yards out, it's that we get too many completely unproductive drives. That's a concern, but hopefully as the season progresses we'll get better at this offense and those will go away.

We'll also start doing things to make defenses pay for stacking the box, and I expect to see a couple of plays this week that will exploit that. Washington's best bet is to hope we run the ball and that they stuff us with more bodies at the point of attack. We have plays designed to exploit this - it's just a matter of executing them, to use Bo's favorite word.

 

[bshirt]

Who cares how long our scoring drives are as long as we score.

The real problem is the number of 3 and out's or 1 first down drives. Those are the drives that kill us both offensively and defensively.

I think this is what people are mostly concerned about, and the conversation has taken a while to work its way around to this. The worry isn't that we score from 60 yards out, it's that we get too many completely unproductive drives. That's a concern, but hopefully as the season progresses we'll get better at this offense and those will go away.

We'll also start doing things to make defenses pay for stacking the box, and I expect to see a couple of plays this week that will exploit that. Washington's best bet is to hope we run the ball and that they stuff us with more bodies at the point of attack. We have plays designed to exploit this - it's just a matter of executing them, to use Bo's favorite word.

I'm betting we see that as well. "Now" is the time to unleash the new offense.

 

[gobiggergoredder]

Who cares how long our scoring drives are as long as we score.

The real problem is the number of 3 and out's or 1 first down drives. Those are the drives that kill us both offensively and defensively.

I think this is what people are mostly concerned about, and the conversation has taken a while to work its way around to this. The worry isn't that we score from 60 yards out, it's that we get too many completely unproductive drives. That's a concern, but hopefully as the season progresses we'll get better at this offense and those will go away.

We'll also start doing things to make defenses pay for stacking the box, and I expect to see a couple of plays this week that will exploit that. Washington's best bet is to hope we run the ball and that they stuff us with more bodies at the point of attack. We have plays designed to exploit this - it's just a matter of executing them, to use Bo's favorite word.

I'm betting we see that as well. "Now" is the time to unleash the new offense.

I think the point that many of us are making is that you have to be able to make those plays that 'exploit' the defensive gamble.

If anything has been hidden, I think it's Turner. I wouldn't be surprised if he is taking some direct snaps, screens, reverses or short passes.

Kind of off the subject, but don't be surprised when Maher takes off on a fake punt or field goal. The dude has game and I'm sure the coaches know that. He's as much of an athlete as he is a kicker.

 

[knapplc]

I think the point that many of us are making is that you have to be able to make those plays that 'exploit' the defensive gamble.

If anything has been hidden, I think it's Turner. I wouldn't be surprised if he is taking some direct snaps, screens, reverses or short passes.

Kind of off the subject, but don't be surprised when Maher takes off on a fake punt or field goal. The dude has game and I'm sure the coaches know that. He's as much of an athlete as he is a kicker.

We do need to execute those plays when we attempt them, that's for sure. But so far we haven't even attempted them, which is a philosophy I just don't agree with. But if it works this week and throughout the season, we can overlook a couple of ragged games early on, I guess.

 

[bdubb75]

You just can't rely on home runs to win the game, though. Sometimes you need a base hit or a sac. bunt. Against better teams, those big plays will be few and far between so consistency is the key!

 

[bshirt]

Who cares how long our scoring drives are as long as we score.

The real problem is the number of 3 and out's or 1 first down drives. Those are the drives that kill us both offensively and defensively.

I think this is what people are mostly concerned about, and the conversation has taken a while to work its way around to this. The worry isn't that we score from 60 yards out, it's that we get too many completely unproductive drives. That's a concern, but hopefully as the season progresses we'll get better at this offense and those will go away.

We'll also start doing things to make defenses pay for stacking the box, and I expect to see a couple of plays this week that will exploit that. Washington's best bet is to hope we run the ball and that they stuff us with more bodies at the point of attack. We have plays designed to exploit this - it's just a matter of executing them, to use Bo's favorite word.

I'm betting we see that as well. "Now" is the time to unleash the new offense.

I think the point that many of us are making is that you have to be able to make those plays that 'exploit' the defensive gamble.

If anything has been hidden, I think it's Turner. I wouldn't be surprised if he is taking some direct snaps, screens, reverses or short passes.

Kind of off the subject, but don't be surprised when Maher takes off on a fake punt or field goal. The dude has game and I'm sure the coaches know that. He's as much of an athlete as he is a kicker.

Oh sure, I completely agree with ya. I just also think PA is another huge weapon that's been hidden. Yes, yes.....we need Turner, Bell, etc on the field and those who can't catch passes on the bench (upper classmen/good blockers or not). I'm sure you will disagree but I hope we see some option too. I love SuperRex but we need one of the triplets in there as Tmart just can't seem to slow down enough for Rex.

As others have mentioned Rex to FB would be a terrific idea. The guy is just too good to not be on the field but horizontal sprints where you have to run like a scalded dog just isn't his forte, imo. Just about everything else is though.

Maher is a really good athlete huh? Sure didn't know that.......great idea!

GBR!!

 

[Enhance]

I think the point that many of us are making is that you have to be able to make those plays that 'exploit' the defensive gamble.

If anything has been hidden, I think it's Turner. I wouldn't be surprised if he is taking some direct snaps, screens, reverses or short passes.

Kind of off the subject, but don't be surprised when Maher takes off on a fake punt or field goal. The dude has game and I'm sure the coaches know that. He's as much of an athlete as he is a kicker.

We do need to execute those plays when we attempt them, that's for sure. But so far we haven't even attempted them, which is a philosophy I just don't agree with. But if it works this week and throughout the season, we can overlook a couple of ragged games early on, I guess.

I think you're touching on something that has always bothered me with the last few years of Nebraska football.

First, a question. What's the one thing that people always say to excuse the offense that they almost never use to excuse poor defensive play?

Answer: Opening up the play-calling.

Now, I realize that the offense and defense are different when it comes to play-calling. Defense is a lot more about what the offense is doing rather than what the defense is doing. That said, I never see anyone say we need to open up our defensive playbook. Why? Because it doesn't matter. No matter what our defense does they're usually successful.

The offense, on the other hand, is usually backed up by "vanilla" play every year. Honestly, how much does it truly help us if we aren't "opening up the playbook" early in the season? Come mid-October it's not going to matter. We could have our entire playbook at our fingertips but if we're not executing then it's worthless. Scheming is important, but execution is far more important.

I'm hoping that within the next season or so we get away from this mentality of playing hush-hush with what the offense is going to do in the fall; and, I'm hoping we get away from the idea of playing vanilla offense just for the sake of not letting someone see our plays. Eventually it'll all be out there and we have to execute.

I don't like these offensive mind-games that get played before the season and in the first couple of weeks.

 

[skersfan]

If we can not sustain drives against Wisconsin, our defense will be done by the end of the third quarter. Exhausted, beaten to death. I could care less about his passing ability or lack of, I am concerned that we really do not seem to be able to run the ball against a better than average defense, what will happen against a top flight, physical, and deep defense. I do not see our WR's finding themselves wide open against many of the B1G's defenses.

Also throwing those slow developing deep pass plays opens up Martinez to violent sacks with a less than stellar oline.

We need to be able to run the ball in the B1G is my point. 40 plus yard plays are not going to be the regular is my guess.

Again I hope I am wrong, but I am sick of the Kool Aid. We have heard the same things over and over every pre season, about how much they have improved. I have yet to see that stated improvement. Or at least enough improvement to make this offense a force.