Fire Shawn Watson

[Sparker]

Ah, perspective.

How long ago was it we would have been thrilled to beat Top 10 opponents in consecutive weeks? Both those games driven by the offense, including an Oklahoma State victory where the defense gave up 41 points. Anyone call for Carl Pelini's head on that one? How about Iowa State, where our nervous third string quarterback staked us to a 24-10 lead the defense couldn't protect? Against Iowa Friggin' State? Was there teeth gnashing here about our inability to adjust on defense? How about Texas where offense, defense and special teams all freaked out at once? How do you blame that on Bill Callahan...I mean Shawn Watson?

You know which offenses do worse against good defenses? EVERY offense.

Has this offense had big wins? Absolutely. Was the rest of college football - the folks not obsessed with Bill Callahan/trapped in Husker nostalgia - impressed? Yep.

You know what an offensive coordinator can do about dropped balls by wide open recievers? Nothing.

You know which offensive genius had a couple deadly stinkers in 22 of his 25 seasons? Tom Osborne.

Based on the criteria bandied about here, this mob would be clamoring for young Tom Osborne's head. (in fairness, a lot of folks did back then)

This Nebraska offense produced a 1,000 yard rushing quarterback, a 1,000 yard featured running back and a 750 yard supporting running back, all with outstanding per carry averages. Additionally, that Freshman qb was in the Top 20 for passing effiency, although he occasionally didn't have enough attempts to qualify because the rushing game was working so well. Thrown into a worst case scenario, we ran the wildcat with Burkhead to a victory fer christsakes. In terms of what an OC could design and control, this offense was everything the naysayer were screaming for last season.

We're a Top 25 team when we start a mediocre quarterback. We're a National Championship contender when our stud quarterback is healthy. It's really that simple.

You are blaming the defense for giving up points from Niles Paul's fumble in the red zone? Yeah, it would have been nice if they got the stop, but give me a break. I don't remember exactly how the next score came, but I think it was a blown coverage on ONE play.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

I would think with how sweet the defense is now and will continue to be that our offense could really take some chances, especially early, to get a lead. That will make the defense even more special.

 

[kansas husker]

I would think with how sweet the defense is now and will continue to be that our offense could really take some chances, especially early, to get a lead. That will make the defense even more special.

do you have any idea how long the fire Watson thread would be if those chances don't pay off.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

I would think with how sweet the defense is now and will continue to be that our offense could really take some chances, especially early, to get a lead. That will make the defense even more special.

do you have any idea how long the fire Watson thread would be if those chances don't pay off.

Good point! It actually might shut down the inter-web!

 

[husker_99]

This thread is hilarious. We just scored 45 points with our third string QB running a patchwork offense and the wildcat——with our #1 WR/returnman gone for the year. And people are calling for Watson’s head?? Hey, we won!

Yeah against a bad team we put up 45 points. Do you believe we will put up those kind of points next week against a South division winner? Not without a healthy Martinez we won't. Colorado is a bad team. Next week we could score 3 pts and it would fall in line that Watson can't keep the offense scoring a lot points from week to week. You may be happy we won but we could get our assed kicked the next two games. Would you be happy about that? Green has started games last and this year he's far from a 3rd string qb.

3rd string QB not starter not the back up but a third string QB. A fricking running back had over 15 snaps that is a patchwork offense and 45 points would be impressive aginst a fcs team, when you are as banged up as we were this week. No I don't think we move the ball that well agianst either of the south teams we will face next week. We do need to hope that we get healthy but the fact of the matter when given the chance to game plan Wats can put a good game together even when all banged up like we were last week.

My point is we have qb's that all have started games at some point and how many teams have that? You act like Cody Green doesn't have experience and starting for the first time in his career. Last year we relied on Helu and Burkhead to score most of our points and this season we can't do the same? If Cody Green is so bad then why don't we have Burkhead play qb more and throw? he was a qb in high school? For me i expect to win no matter the qb. If Watson is so good he should be able to overcome injuries with his offense schemes right?

 

[bball_backer]

I don't have time right now to read all 3 pages, BUT here is my quick thought:

Matt Hoskinson said it best yesterday. He said that the only way Watson can save his job against a COLORADO defense is to score 160 points. He said if Watson is unable to get his squad to score 40 points per quarter he needs to go. I think he makes a good point: many fans will see Nebraska score against a team that is NOT BOWL ELIGIBLE and think 'oh, watson's fine.' Fact is, his offense has failed to produce in so many big games, a change needs to be made.

Heard an interesting fact on 1620 to back up the horridness of this offense: in the last 6 Nebraska losses, 2 - YES TWO - total touchdowns have been score. Who scored those TDs? Khiry Cooper and Tray Robinson. WTH is that?

 

[bball_backer]

Had to run back to my computer quick cause I just thought to add this: why in the hell did Wats not have Burkhead throw last week. You know they've been practicin him throwing out of the rexcat all year. Why do you use it against CU, a game you are clearly going to win, but not agains aTm when your offense has turned anemic? Unbelievable. Did Wats call a good game yesterday? Absolutely. The problem is, where has this play calling been when his team needed it?

 

[REDSTEEL]

This thread is hilarious. We just scored 45 points with our third string QB running a patchwork offense and the wildcat——with our #1 WR/returnman gone for the year. And people are calling for Watson’s head?? Hey, we won!

You mean the QB that Pelini and Watson both thought would be the number one qb this before Taylor came out of nowhere? chuckleshuffle

Now if they thought he was going to be the starter why hasn't he progressed under Watson tutelage? Just wondering if Taylor never happened then would Burkhead be the full time qb. Maybe Pelini should make Tim Beck the new QB coach since Burkhead has shown more progress playing qb then anyone Watson has worked over.

 

[irafreak]

Ah, perspective.

How long ago was it we would have been thrilled to beat Top 10 opponents in consecutive weeks? Both those games driven by the offense, including an Oklahoma State victory where the defense gave up 41 points. Anyone call for Carl Pelini's head on that one? How about Iowa State, where our nervous third string quarterback staked us to a 24-10 lead the defense couldn't protect? Against Iowa Friggin' State? Was there teeth gnashing here about our inability to adjust on defense? How about Texas where offense, defense and special teams all freaked out at once? How do you blame that on Bill Callahan...I mean Shawn Watson?

You know which offenses do worse against good defenses? EVERY offense.

Has this offense had big wins? Absolutely. Was the rest of college football - the folks not obsessed with Bill Callahan/trapped in Husker nostalgia - impressed? Yep.

You know what an offensive coordinator can do about dropped balls by wide open recievers? Nothing.

You know which offensive genius had a couple deadly stinkers in 22 of his 25 seasons? Tom Osborne.

Based on the criteria bandied about here, this mob would be clamoring for young Tom Osborne's head. (in fairness, a lot of folks did back then)

This Nebraska offense produced a 1,000 yard rushing quarterback, a 1,000 yard featured running back and a 750 yard supporting running back, all with outstanding per carry averages. Additionally, that Freshman qb was in the Top 20 for passing effiency, although he occasionally didn't have enough attempts to qualify because the rushing game was working so well. Thrown into a worst case scenario, we ran the wildcat with Burkhead to a victory fer christsakes. In terms of what an OC could design and control, this offense was everything the naysayer were screaming for last season.

We're a Top 25 team when we start a mediocre quarterback. We're a National Championship contender when our stud quarterback is healthy. It's really that simple.

Simply not true. Okst did just fine against our defense.

 

[Enhance]

Ah, perspective.

How long ago was it we would have been thrilled to beat Top 10 opponents in consecutive weeks? Both those games driven by the offense, including an Oklahoma State victory where the defense gave up 41 points. Anyone call for Carl Pelini's head on that one? How about Iowa State, where our nervous third string quarterback staked us to a 24-10 lead the defense couldn't protect?

The only reason Iowa State got back into that game was because of Niles Paul's fumble. Save that fumble we keep the field position battle in our favor. Plus, nobody is calling for the Pelini's head because save one bad performance against OSU this defense has played pretty well. We are also Top 15 in every statistical defensive category if I'm not mistaken.

Watson and the offense, however, have pretty much been the sole reason we have lost our last 6 games. Six losses...no offensive touchdowns. NONE.

Against Iowa Friggin' State? Was there teeth gnashing here about our inability to adjust on defense? How about Texas where offense, defense and special teams all freaked out at once? How do you blame that on Bill Callahan...I mean Shawn Watson?

Again, the Texas defense and offense have been very bad this year. Our defense played well enough to win the game against Texas. We should have been able to score 21 points.

You know which offenses do worse against good defenses? EVERY offense.

Alabama, in it's three losses, has at least managed to score two offensive touchdowns in each of those games. We have no Julio Jones nor do we have a Mark Ingram, but we still should be able to get at least ONE TOUCHDOWN AGAINST TEXAS A&M.

Has this offense had big wins? Absolutely. Was the rest of college football - the folks not obsessed with Bill Callahan/trapped in Husker nostalgia - impressed? Yep.

You know what an offensive coordinator can do about dropped balls by wide open recievers? Nothing.

This offense has had big wins and atrocious losses. We have had a championship caliber defense the last two years followed by a model of inconsistency on the offense.

And yes, there is something you can do about dropped balls. You can recruit the right kids and coach consistency and mental discipline, something this offense shows a lack of many times.

This Nebraska offense produced a 1,000 yard rushing quarterback, a 1,000 yard featured running back and a 750 yard supporting running back, all with outstanding per carry averages. Additionally, that Freshman qb was in the Top 20 for passing effiency, although he occasionally didn't have enough attempts to qualify because the rushing game was working so well. Thrown into a worst case scenario, we ran the wildcat with Burkhead to a victory fer christsakes. In terms of what an OC could design and control, this offense was everything the naysayer were screaming for last season.

We're a Top 25 team when we start a mediocre quarterback. We're a National Championship contender when our stud quarterback is healthy. It's really that simple.

Some final thoughts. First, there is absolutely no denying that the defense and offense play at completely different levels of consistency. We had one bad game against OSU. Every other game that we gave up 21+ points in was because of miscues by the offense and having a turnover. Iowa State and Washington are two perfect examples.

This offense only scored 24 points against Idaho, 17 against SDSU, 6 against Texas, 20 against Kansas and 6 against A&M.

I will give you this - Watson has shown this year, when his players are healthy and focused, that they can be a very good offense. That said, there really is no denying that the fire, passion, and discipline of the defense is FAR better than the fire,passion, and discipline of the offense on a week to week basis.

 

[Hercules]

You know which offensive genius had a couple deadly stinkers in 22 of his 25 seasons? Tom Osborne.

Based on the criteria bandied about here, this mob would be clamoring for young Tom Osborne's head. (in fairness, a lot of folks did back then)

Tom Osborne's offenses had bad games like Bo Pelini's defenses have bad games. They happened once, MAYBE twice in a season, and other than that were generally very productive and efficient. Furthermore, if Osborne's offense had a bad game, it was usually against somebody like #1 Oklahoma. And they still usually managed to score a touchdown.

You can even make a similar comparison to Osborne's teams that Pelini now faces. Osborne always had great offense, Pelini always has great defense. But what got Osborne over the hump was when they overhauled their defensive scheme in the early 90's, and started recruiting more speed. Pelini at some point may have to make a similar decision with his offense in order to get to the next level. Osborne was able to make the change while keeping the same coaches. We'll see if Pelini can do the same.

Anyways, Watson's bad games are more frequent, and they're also coming with championship-caliber defenses like the ones Osborne and McBride put onto the field in the mid 1990's. The best equivalent I can think of would be 1983, when Osborne had a ridiculous offense, but a below-average defense cost Nebraska the championship. Thing is, that sort of thing has happened like 5 times over the past 2 seasons with Watson, not just once.

Also, just don't ever compare Watson to Osborne. That one isn't even close.

 

[EZ-E]

I've come to the realization that there is nothing Watson can do to win over the fan base. I can only think of one game (texas tech 09) where a game plan was not drawn up that put the team in a position to win. However the people on this board seem to think that it is the OC's job to catch the ball, not fumble, or to magicaly heal injured players. Look at what happned to Bama's offnese today when they went down to their back up qb. We are on our third string and people act like that should not impact an offense in any way. What is hard to understand that the offense has looked pretty good for about 8 out of 12 games, and the games when it has looked poor have been due to exicution not play calling or game plan.

This completely sums up my thoughts.

 

[EZ-E]

You know which offensive genius had a couple deadly stinkers in 22 of his 25 seasons? Tom Osborne.

Based on the criteria bandied about here, this mob would be clamoring for young Tom Osborne's head. (in fairness, a lot of folks did back then)

Tom Osborne's offenses had bad games like Bo Pelini's defenses have bad games. They happened once, MAYBE twice in a season, and other than that were generally very productive and efficient. Furthermore, if Osborne's offense had a bad game, it was usually against somebody like #1 Oklahoma. And they still usually managed to score a touchdown.

You can even make a similar comparison to Osborne's teams that Pelini now faces. Osborne always had great offense, Pelini always has great defense. But what got Osborne over the hump was when they overhauled their defensive scheme in the early 90's, and started recruiting more speed. Pelini at some point may have to make a similar decision with his offense in order to get to the next level. Osborne was able to make the change while keeping the same coaches. We'll see if Pelini can do the same.

Anyways, Watson's bad games are more frequent, and they're also coming with championship-caliber defenses like the ones Osborne and McBride put onto the field in the mid 1990's. The best equivalent I can think of would be 1983, when Osborne had a ridiculous offense, but a below-average defense cost Nebraska the championship. Thing is, that sort of thing has happened like 5 times over the past 2 seasons with Watson, not just once.

Also, just don't ever compare Watson to Osborne. That one isn't even close.

You mean like the drastic change that we have seen from 2008 to present now with a predominantly run-oriented QB?

 

[Hercules]

You know which offensive genius had a couple deadly stinkers in 22 of his 25 seasons? Tom Osborne.

Based on the criteria bandied about here, this mob would be clamoring for young Tom Osborne's head. (in fairness, a lot of folks did back then)

Tom Osborne's offenses had bad games like Bo Pelini's defenses have bad games. They happened once, MAYBE twice in a season, and other than that were generally very productive and efficient. Furthermore, if Osborne's offense had a bad game, it was usually against somebody like #1 Oklahoma. And they still usually managed to score a touchdown.

You can even make a similar comparison to Osborne's teams that Pelini now faces. Osborne always had great offense, Pelini always has great defense. But what got Osborne over the hump was when they overhauled their defensive scheme in the early 90's, and started recruiting more speed. Pelini at some point may have to make a similar decision with his offense in order to get to the next level. Osborne was able to make the change while keeping the same coaches. We'll see if Pelini can do the same.

Anyways, Watson's bad games are more frequent, and they're also coming with championship-caliber defenses like the ones Osborne and McBride put onto the field in the mid 1990's. The best equivalent I can think of would be 1983, when Osborne had a ridiculous offense, but a below-average defense cost Nebraska the championship. Thing is, that sort of thing has happened like 5 times over the past 2 seasons with Watson, not just once.

Also, just don't ever compare Watson to Osborne. That one isn't even close.

You mean like the drastic change that we have seen from 2008 to present now with a predominantly run-oriented QB?

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. We just have yet to see if the overhaul is going to work the way we want it to... The main thing I want to see (and I don't think we'll get a real answer to this question this year) is whether or not our current offense works without Taylor Martinez. It seems like it was designed around him, and without him it has struggled. We had one good game against Colorado, but I need more than that.

edit: if our offense looks good without Martinez this week against Oklahoma, then I'll jump off the fence and onto the "Watson's cool" bandwagon. You have my word.

 

[EZ-E]

You know which offensive genius had a couple deadly stinkers in 22 of his 25 seasons? Tom Osborne.

Based on the criteria bandied about here, this mob would be clamoring for young Tom Osborne's head. (in fairness, a lot of folks did back then)

Tom Osborne's offenses had bad games like Bo Pelini's defenses have bad games. They happened once, MAYBE twice in a season, and other than that were generally very productive and efficient. Furthermore, if Osborne's offense had a bad game, it was usually against somebody like #1 Oklahoma. And they still usually managed to score a touchdown.

You can even make a similar comparison to Osborne's teams that Pelini now faces. Osborne always had great offense, Pelini always has great defense. But what got Osborne over the hump was when they overhauled their defensive scheme in the early 90's, and started recruiting more speed. Pelini at some point may have to make a similar decision with his offense in order to get to the next level. Osborne was able to make the change while keeping the same coaches. We'll see if Pelini can do the same.

Anyways, Watson's bad games are more frequent, and they're also coming with championship-caliber defenses like the ones Osborne and McBride put onto the field in the mid 1990's. The best equivalent I can think of would be 1983, when Osborne had a ridiculous offense, but a below-average defense cost Nebraska the championship. Thing is, that sort of thing has happened like 5 times over the past 2 seasons with Watson, not just once.

Also, just don't ever compare Watson to Osborne. That one isn't even close.

You mean like the drastic change that we have seen from 2008 to present now with a predominantly run-oriented QB?

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. We just have yet to see if the overhaul is going to work the way we want it to... The main thing I want to see (and I don't think we'll get a real answer to this question this year) is whether or not our current offense works without Taylor Martinez. It seems like it was designed around him, and without him it has struggled. We had one good game against Colorado, but I need more than that.

With what Watson has created when it is working it is very fun to watch in my opinion. I would not be able to pull up the article for you, but I read an article awhile ago talking about their study of mobile shotgun QBs and how to implement them and put their own twist on it. So what Watson has done is taken the passing framework of the west coast offense and implemented it with a mobile qb that takes snaps from the gun. We have recruited to this new scheme if you look at our current list of QB commits and the one that we brought in last year. It will work without him. The problem is is that it will not work with a guy that has the skill-set of a Cody Green.