I'm just about the last guy to call for a coach's head

[irieboy8]

I'm pretty sure the biggest problem we have is the fact our top 3 backs are injured or gone for good and even our 4th string is banged up. You can't expect 5th and 6th string backs to come out and get 200 yard games. If we had this running game we wouldn't have to rely on the passing game of inexperienced QB's and WR's and we could run down the clock and let our D take care of the rest. Just unfortunate, I don't know if it's anyone's "fault."

This O obviously has other problems. But if we had a healthy combo of Helu, Castille, and Burkhead playing we'd likely be humming-along at 7-1 with wins over VT and ISU.

cotton is alright... a bit of a kook in my opinion.... but i think he doesnt have much business doing anything more than coach the o-line (barely doing a good job with that) i.e OC

 

[MCAT800]

Somebody had a quote on here from Slauson a while back where he said Cotton wasn't so much concerned about technique and who they blocked as long as they played hard. That's not for gospel but it was something close. Which if you have ever paid close attetnion to the OL makes perfect sense.

 

[HuskerTrucker]

The Offensive line is just one of the problems on offense. And again, Bo, and Cotton are still pretty much using players recruited by BC. Give them another season, and then they own the problem, and will have to answer fully for it if it doesn't get fixed.

It is premature to be calling for heads.

 

[WisnerPilger Husker]

The Offensive line is just one of the problems on offense. And again, Bo, and Cotton are still pretty much using players recruited by BC. Give them another season, and then they own the problem, and will have to answer fully for it if it doesn't get fixed.

It is premature to be calling for heads.

I agree, Cotton has not shown me that he can coach. The line is not getting better and their technique is terrible.

 

[billdozer15]

The Offensive line is just one of the problems on offense. And again, Bo, and Cotton are still pretty much using players recruited by BC. Give them another season, and then they own the problem, and will have to answer fully for it if it doesn't get fixed.

It is premature to be calling for heads.

I agree, Cotton has not shown me that he can coach. The line is not getting better and their technique is terrible.

Has the line ever gotten better under Cotton? The guy is on his second stint here and both times the O-line has sucked and in between the time he was here he went to ISU to coach their line and during his tenure there the ISU line may have been the worst in school history. The guy has a track record of not producing very good O-lines.

 

[billdozer15]

The Offensive line is just one of the problems on offense. And again, Bo, and Cotton are still pretty much using players recruited by BC. Give them another season, and then they own the problem, and will have to answer fully for it if it doesn't get fixed.

It is premature to be calling for heads.

If that is the case then why does the defense seem to be leaps and bounds better than it was? Meanwhile the offense is actually regressing, our offensive system has remained pretty much unchanged. This isnt a personel issue on the offensive side just like our defensive struggles werent a personel issue. It boils down to coaching and Barney Cotton is not good.

 

[Enhance]

I think our problems are a lot bigger than that.

We're missing Bill Callahan here, admit it or not. He's doing a damn good job coaching OL for the Jets. [see a mention here]

Now I'm as glad as any of you that he's out as HC and we've got Bo. But we really got to get someone who can coach our O-line like that and not like Barney.

I understand what you are saying though. Say what you want about Bill Callahan as an OC/HC, but he is a damn good o-line coach.

 

[junior4949]

What is VT's run defense ranked? When everyone was relatively healthy, we seemed to run the ball pretty well against them. In terms of the playbook, it brings back not so fond memories of when I played football. Our OL had the same thing. Not so many plays, but several different formations with the same play. The problem from an OL standpoint is the formations typically changed their blocking assignments. Our OL spent more time thinking about who they were supposed to block than just firing off the ball blocking someone. I as the RB then had to run for my life as one or two defenders nearly every play came free with no blocks on them. I'm wondering if this isn't more the problem than a talent or coaching problem.

 

[billdozer15]

What is VT's run defense ranked? When everyone was relatively healthy, we seemed to run the ball pretty well against them. In terms of the playbook, it brings back not so fond memories of when I played football. Our OL had the same thing. Not so many plays, but several different formations with the same play. The problem from an OL standpoint is the formations typically changed their blocking assignments. Our OL spent more time thinking about who they were supposed to block than just firing off the ball blocking someone. I as the RB then had to run for my life as one or two defenders nearly every play came free with no blocks on them. I'm wondering if this isn't more the problem than a talent or coaching problem.

What you describe is a coaching problem.

 

[Enhance]

What is VT's run defense ranked? When everyone was relatively healthy, we seemed to run the ball pretty well against them. In terms of the playbook, it brings back not so fond memories of when I played football. Our OL had the same thing. Not so many plays, but several different formations with the same play. The problem from an OL standpoint is the formations typically changed their blocking assignments. Our OL spent more time thinking about who they were supposed to block than just firing off the ball blocking someone. I as the RB then had to run for my life as one or two defenders nearly every play came free with no blocks on them. I'm wondering if this isn't more the problem than a talent or coaching problem.

What you describe is a coaching problem.

It's a coaching and an understanding problem, imho.

When I played football, we had some great coaches who got us to play hard and play very well. But, there are some players out there that just have trouble getting things down.

I remember this kid, name was Ben, who played the guard spot on our offense. No matter HOW many times he was told how his role in a blocking scheme would work, he would consistently miss key blocks that would hurt the team. Needless to say, he didn't see a lot of PT come season end.

When I played high school football for two years, we had maybe 120 plays max, and even then we had trouble with kids getting the playbook down, and we did not have NEAR as many formations/sets that Nebraska runs.

Coaches can only do so much. Players need to understand their roles and their responsibilities, else the team fails.

 

[irafreak]

here's the thing that I see---we don't really ever get our running backs into the "2nd level"---

we're all Husker Fans so I assume we all know what that means...

Watching Oregon and KSU, their backs were able to run through big and small holes and get into the level of the LBs and DBs and get into open space...it seems to me whatever play we run (read option out of the gun, or a sprint option w/ Cody or whatever) that we never get our guys in 1 on 1 matchups past the friggin line of scrimmage.

I will say however that Helu did get to the second level numerous times against VT and, obviously, he had a very big day numbers wise.

I think our Line doesn't get a good enough initial push coupled with the plays that are called don't get our guys in open space enough times to make the gashing 7-12 yd runs. If the Line could move the Dline back, and the RBs could get in open space, we would see A LOT of our offense open up.

It's hard to get to the 2nd level when opponents are stacking the box. If we had a couple dependable wideouts that could get open consistently and then catch the ball...

 

[skersfan]

Ira you speak the gospel.

Look at Oklahoma Saturday. They will be 8 maybe 9 in the box. As all of our passes are to the line or behind the line of scrimmage. They do not need to be deep as there is never a threat of going deep or even 20 yards.

The Oline is outnumbered on every single play it seems.

Injured running backs are another concern.

This is not all Barney's fault. There is enough blame to go around, But the buck stops at Bo's desk. He needs to figure it out and do it this week or we will be setting home for the Holidays.