Concerns about the team

74Hunter

74Hunter

Banned
I know that there have been numerous threads about fans' concerns about the rush D, turnovers, coaching, etc. I have one conern about the offense. It doesn't seem like the O has been able to sustain many long scoring drives (8+ plays). Also, it seems like when we don't score quickly, a ball is put on the turf, or we commit a bonehead penalty, and the drive stalls.

Against a good D like tu has, we will need to have long, sustained scoring drives, because I fear that we won't have 5 or 6 40+ yard scoring plays.

Just my .02. Does anyone else share my concern.

 
As long as we put points on the board, I could care less how long a drive takes. But, I see your point. Even though we haven't had hardly any long, sustained drives of 8 plays or more, we've had very few 3 & outs, which means we are at least moving the ball. And as long as we're doing that, we're weakening their defense and putting their offense in a terrible spot once Henery boots it deep in their territory. As important as it is to get down the field and score, I think we'll have the advantage every time if we win the field position battle b/c our D will have the upperhand on any offense.

 
These and many more. How will our running game fare against their defense when we haven't played a competent one yet? Will we be able to throw the ball when they stack guys in the box? Will our guys overestimate themselves or underestimate Texas and let all the hype and attention get to their heads? Will we actually finish? Can Martinez withstand the hits that Texas will deliver? What happens if Martinez goes down? Green? Lee? Will we finally overthrow this psychological edge Texas has?

However, I am encouraged by one simple fact: Texas' offense blows. It's running game is hardly there, and while they might break off a few runs that we won't like, they're not going to ground and pound the whole game. Gilbert has thrown more INTs than TDs, and this is against far worse secondaries. Martinez has a better TD/INT ratio. While our offense might struggle as well, we should be able to at least burn some clock and get a few first downs here and there. Our defense should stall Texas' offense and keep their defense on the field, wearing them down with a combined power running attack. We also have Alex Henerey and Adi Kunalic.

I have never been more nervous for a game, ever. I have a bad feeling about this game and I'm not sure if it's just because of all the hard losses we have. We are a more complete team than they are this year, we should win this. It's a matter of execution.

 
74Hunter said:
I know that there have been numerous threads about fans' concerns about the rush D, turnovers, coaching, etc. I have one conern about the offense. It doesn't seem like the O has been able to sustain many long scoring drives (8+ plays). Also, it seems like when we don't score quickly, a ball is put on the turf, or we commit a bonehead penalty, and the drive stalls.

Against a good D like tu has, we will need to have long, sustained scoring drives, because I fear that we won't have 5 or 6 40+ yard scoring plays.

Just my .02. Does anyone else share my concern.
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I can't remember where (I'll look for it) but there is some stat site made by some math guys that actually lists average yards per play as one of the most important indicators of success. It's not necessarily a bad thing although I see your point, but what it means for Texas is that they will have to play assignment football and execute every single play, something that isn't likely to happen on every down. If they don't, we have the ability to break off an 80 yard run. This is a huge weapon.

Furthermore, we haven't really needed to drive it. If Martinez is getting 15, 20 yard runs instead of 80, that's still a first down. He might not outrun their secondary every time, but he might not have to. If we get good field position because of our defense and we can get a few big runs and drive the field, Henery can score at the very least.

 
I like the fact that our D is set up to stop Texas' offense, regardless of what they're throwing at us. We've proven we can stop the run (KSU), and our D is made for stopping the spread attack that made Texas so dangerous in years past. IMO this is incredibly important b/c I'm thinking Texas will revert to that spread attack early to possibly catch us off guard and throughout the game to keep us honest and open up the running game. Just as cheshire cat said, "It's a matter of execution." Not just for our offense vs Texas' tough D, but also for our D b/c that's ultimately what's gonna decide this game.

 
I have a feeling Texas is going to be throwing blitzes at us all day in hopes that they can break martinez under the pressure. If Texas blitzes they have the athletes to actually catch martinez. I mean, according do the bone heads on talk radio down their, they have 20 guys on the team who run 4.4 40's

 
NU will more than likely have to go to the air, which is what concerns me, still get nervous every time Martinez throws it in the air! Plus the drive killers need to be at a bare minimum on Saturday! :bigredn:

 
holvy83 said:
NU will more than likely have to go to the air, which is what concerns me, still get nervous every time Martinez throws it in the air! Plus the drive killers need to be at a bare minimum on Saturday! :bigredn:
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I'm with you. But I'm not nearly as nervous as when Martinez throws it on the ground. :laughpound

 
ESPY said:
I like the fact that our D is set up to stop Texas' offense, regardless of what they're throwing at us. We've proven we can stop the run (KSU), and our D is made for stopping the spread attack that made Texas so dangerous in years past. IMO this is incredibly important b/c I'm thinking Texas will revert to that spread attack early to possibly catch us off guard and throughout the game to keep us honest and open up the running game. Just as cheshire cat said, "It's a matter of execution." Not just for our offense vs Texas' tough D, but also for our D b/c that's ultimately what's gonna decide this game.
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If Texas reverts to last year's offense, that's a HUGE admission of failure by Mack Brown, a coach who's pretty accustomed to having things go his way. I hope they think they can beat us by slinging it around. Nothing would be better than a three pick day for Prince, Gomes, and Dennard to top off a nice rushing performance.

 
Hunter, what you're describing (concern over having to make long drives) is exactly what Bo predicates his defense on. Instead of a vicious attack-oriented defense, he plays field position, control of the opponent and short gains. The whole point of that philosophy is that it's far harder to score on long drives than short ones, so we don't play that Charlie McBride "High-Risk/High-Reward" major blitzing style of D.

The best way to defeat that style of defense is to have a solid Offensive Line and to have multiple playmakers. This year, thus far, we have a solid Offensive Line. Thus far, we have multiple playmakers

Texas has athletes on defense without question, but we counter that with Taylor Martinez, Roy Helu, Rex Burkhead, Mike McNeill, Brandon Kinnie, Niles Paul and Kyler Reed. That's a lot of playmakers, six of whom can be on the field at one time. That's where we'll get these guys - they just won't match up with us everywhere.

 
74Hunter said:
I know that there have been numerous threads about fans' concerns about the rush D, turnovers, coaching, etc. I have one conern about the offense. It doesn't seem like the O has been able to sustain many long scoring drives (8+ plays). Also, it seems like when we don't score quickly, a ball is put on the turf, or we commit a bonehead penalty, and the drive stalls.

Against a good D like tu has, we will need to have long, sustained scoring drives, because I fear that we won't have 5 or 6 40+ yard scoring plays.

Just my .02. Does anyone else share my concern.
Click to expand...
I agree and that has been one of my main concerns on the O side. I think that the big plays come from the talent we have though. Meaning one or two blocks by the O-line and T-Mart is gone because he is that fast, and same with Helu. I have a feeling though against better talent such as Texas those long TD runs turn into 20 yard gains or less, and can we keep the ball moving if this happens. IMO it's not so much that we can't sustain drives, it's just that we havn't really had to, to win. Should interesting to see. GBR

 
HuskerJosh said:
Why would you want "sustained scoring drives" when you can score in 3 plays?
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I guess I don't know how to explain it any more clearly. Against bad, non-athletic defenses, 3 play scoring drives are going to be okay. But against teams who can match up athletically, we will not just rip off a handful of 50+ scoring plays. We will have to grind it out, and as of yet, it seems that our O always shoots itself in the foot, penalty, busted play, turnover, etc. I have a feeling that tu will make us earn everything we get.

That, and the TOP is critical. It would be nice to keep the D fresh by keeping them off of the field as much as possible.

 
HUSKER FREAK said:
74Hunter said:
I know that there have been numerous threads about fans' concerns about the rush D, turnovers, coaching, etc. I have one conern about the offense. It doesn't seem like the O has been able to sustain many long scoring drives (8+ plays). Also, it seems like when we don't score quickly, a ball is put on the turf, or we commit a bonehead penalty, and the drive stalls.

Against a good D like tu has, we will need to have long, sustained scoring drives, because I fear that we won't have 5 or 6 40+ yard scoring plays.

Just my .02. Does anyone else share my concern.
Click to expand...
I agree and that has been one of my main concerns on the O side. I think that the big plays come from the talent we have though. Meaning one or two blocks by the O-line and T-Mart is gone because he is that fast, and same with Helu. I have a feeling though against better talent such as Texas those long TD runs turn into 20 yard gains or less, and can we keep the ball moving if this happens. IMO it's not so much that we can't sustain drives, it's just that we havn't really had to, to win. Should interesting to see. GBR
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Also, with Martinez's spotty passing, if we find ourselves in a bunch of 3rd and longs against a top notch secondary, I fear that the passing game will not be as effective as it was in 4 of the first 5 games.

 
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