Newby vs. Ozigbo - who should start & who should see the most carries

[Guy Chamberlin]

How on earth did we get 550 yards on 78 plays?

I mean ... these type of comments are getting really old.

If you think how we played is all the better we can play and it'll be good enough to beat Oregon, Wisconsin, Ohio State and whoever we play in the B1G championship, that's great for you.

But otherwise why can't we also talk about things that can be done better?

Yeah but.....how old is the "run the damn ball!"argument getting?

And here's the thing: we ran the damn ball 43 times. We ran it inside. We ran it outside. We ran misdirection. We had 7 different ball carriers. We had designed running plays for Tommy including two TDs (one called back).

Craig Bohl likely watched our Fresno State game film a decided to stop the run first and dare Tommy Armstrong to beat them with his arm. So Tommy threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns. And we needed pretty much every one of those running plays to make the passing game successful.

I never remotely suggested this is all the better Nebraska can play, nor that it's good enough to beat better teams. Far from it.

I just happen to think the team needs to get better at a lot of things. Better play in the secondary. Something/anything from special teams. Senior leadership and decision-making from Tommy. Better discipline and execution across the board. Of course this is on both players and coaches.

But I think there's a lot of odd misreading of Nebraska playcalling -- going on 12 years now. It simply doesn't accept a good passing day as a successful offense.

Fun fact: Alabama went pass-happy to beat Western Kentucky. Michigan went pass-happy to beat UCF. Both teams are likely to mix it up as the season goes on.

 

[Elf]

How on earth did we get 550 yards on 78 plays?

I mean ... these type of comments are getting really old.

If you think how we played is all the better we can play and it'll be good enough to beat Oregon, Wisconsin, Ohio State and whoever we play in the B1G championship, that's great for you.

But otherwise why can't we also talk about things that can be done better?

Yeah but.....how old is the "run the damn ball!"argument getting?

And here's the thing: we ran the damn ball 43 times. We ran it inside. We ran it outside. We ran misdirection. We had 7 different ball carriers. We had designed running plays for Tommy including two TDs (one called back).

Craig Bohl likely watched our Fresno State game film a decided to stop the run first and dare Tommy Armstrong to beat them with his arm. So Tommy threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns. And we needed pretty much every one of those running plays to make the passing game successful.

I never remotely suggested this is all the better Nebraska can play, nor that it's good enough to beat better teams. Far from it.

I just happen to think the team needs to get better at a lot of things. Better play in the secondary. Something/anything from special teams. Senior leadership and decision-making from Tommy. Better discipline and execution across the board. Of course this is on both players and coaches.

But I think there's a lot of odd misreading of Nebraska playcalling -- going on 12 years now. It simply doesn't accept a good passing day as a successful offense.

Fun fact: Alabama went pass-happy to beat Western Kentucky. Michigan went pass-happy to beat UCF. Both teams are likely to mix it up as the season goes on.

I couldn't agree more with this. All of it.

Don't get me wrong, I loved watching Osborne's option offense and then later his offense in the 90's as much as anyone else. It was truly a thing of beauty, but its not the only offense type that can be a thing of beauty. Any offense that is clicking is fun to watch.

 

[fb30]

I think a lot of us just feel a power running game and being more physical than other teams helps us with our recruiting disadvantages. I mean our average rank is in the 20s right? Besides a lot of 4 and 5 star guys are pansies. Good athletes but don't like getting beat up by a bunch of Midwesterners.

 

[Mavric]

How on earth did we get 550 yards on 78 plays?

I mean ... these type of comments are getting really old.

If you think how we played is all the better we can play and it'll be good enough to beat Oregon, Wisconsin, Ohio State and whoever we play in the B1G championship, that's great for you.

But otherwise why can't we also talk about things that can be done better?

Yeah but.....how old is the "run the damn ball!"argument getting?

And here's the thing: we ran the damn ball 43 times. We ran it inside. We ran it outside. We ran misdirection. We had 7 different ball carriers. We had designed running plays for Tommy including two TDs (one called back).

Craig Bohl likely watched our Fresno State game film a decided to stop the run first and dare Tommy Armstrong to beat them with his arm. So Tommy threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns. And we needed pretty much every one of those running plays to make the passing game successful.

I never remotely suggested this is all the better Nebraska can play, nor that it's good enough to beat better teams. Far from it.

I just happen to think the team needs to get better at a lot of things. Better play in the secondary. Something/anything from special teams. Senior leadership and decision-making from Tommy. Better discipline and execution across the board. Of course this is on both players and coaches.

But I think there's a lot of odd misreading of Nebraska playcalling -- going on 12 years now. It simply doesn't accept a good passing day as a successful offense.

Fun fact: Alabama went pass-happy to beat Western Kentucky. Michigan went pass-happy to beat UCF. Both teams are likely to mix it up as the season goes on.

To answer your original question, we got 550 yards by playing a team that was last in their division in the Mountain West last year. A team where our backups were far superior to their starters. And all we had to do was chuck the ball as far down the field as we could throw it and let our receivers outrun their DBs. Yeah, it was fun, but I don't think it translates very well into winning games that matter a lot more later in the season.

Part of wanting to have a good run game is being able be balanced against teams that actually have a defense. Part of wanting to have a good run game is not being in the bottom five of interceptions thrown again this year. Part of wanting to have a good run game is that we have a QB who has proven over and over again that he is prone to bad decisions and the fewer opportunities he has to make those bad decisions, the better off we'll be.

And you continue to want to throw out stats without having any context to them. "LOOK!!!! We ran the ball! All is well with the world!" Our OLine outweighed Wyoming's DLine by 50 pounds per man and yet the guy who many consider our best RB averaged 2.9 yards per carry on 14 carries. You're welcome to feel like everything is fine and mock those who bring up the part that we might need to be better than that. But that's a pretty naive view.

Yes, the team needs to be better at a lot of things. But considering this is a thread about our Running Backs, I thought discussion them and the associated running game may be appropriate. Crazy thoughts, I know.

And you might need to direct your "why are you complaining about these big wins" toward a more appropriate source - Riley and Langsorf. Riley was definitely not pleased last week. Langsdorf did everything but say TA isn't getting the job done last week.

And here's Sipple's comments about Langsdorf's response to this week's game which you don't think can be complained about:

Danny Langsdorf wasn't exactly cheerful after the 35-point triumph.

You get the distinct feeling the Nebraska offensive coordinator doesn't suffer foolish decisions by his veteran quarterback particularly well.

You get that feeling because Langsdorf, when asked Saturday to assess Tommy Armstrong's overall performance, initially skipped right past the part about the senior completing 20 of 34 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns, with another TD negated by an illegal block.

Langsdorf initially skipped the part about Armstrong recognizing a mismatch and lofting a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Westerkamp that helped put Nebraska in control early in the fourth quarter.

Langsdorf initially skipped the part about Armstrong's improved touch and decision-making in the screen game, which was an effective antidote for Wyoming's frequent inside blitzes.

Langsdorf completely skipped the part about Armstrong setting a school record for career touchdown passes with 57, topping Taylor Martinez by one, as Nebraska improved to 2-0 by burying Wyoming with 28 fourth-quarter points in a 52-17 victory at Memorial Stadium.

There were plenty of positives for the home team, but enough issues — including a bunch of knucklehead penalties — to make even the most optimistic Nebraska fan feel a bit fidgety with 24th-ranked Oregon up next.

Langsdorf was his usual calm-and-collected self as he addressed reporters. Asked to assess Armstrong, Langsdorf said he was "pretty good overall."

The veteran coach proceeded to shift quickly to Armstrong's early second-quarter interception on first-and-goal from the 5-yard line. Armstrong said he spotted a receiver in the back of the end zone. But there were defenders (plural) in the way. Armstrong gunned it anyway, as he's wont to do, and safety Andrew Wingard made the pick.

LJS

 

[GBRFAN]

It's ok to talk about the things that need to be improved. In week 2 of the season it is pretty common for their to be some parts that need to be adjusted. However, it gets old when we hear over and over about the 10% that was bad and aren't able to acknowledge the positive things that happened. Danny's quote above shows that he wanted to focus on the negative, however was still able to recognize the positive.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

How on earth did we get 550 yards on 78 plays?

I mean ... these type of comments are getting really old.

If you think how we played is all the better we can play and it'll be good enough to beat Oregon, Wisconsin, Ohio State and whoever we play in the B1G championship, that's great for you.

But otherwise why can't we also talk about things that can be done better?

Yeah but.....how old is the "run the damn ball!"argument getting?

And here's the thing: we ran the damn ball 43 times. We ran it inside. We ran it outside. We ran misdirection. We had 7 different ball carriers. We had designed running plays for Tommy including two TDs (one called back).

Craig Bohl likely watched our Fresno State game film a decided to stop the run first and dare Tommy Armstrong to beat them with his arm. So Tommy threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns. And we needed pretty much every one of those running plays to make the passing game successful.

I never remotely suggested this is all the better Nebraska can play, nor that it's good enough to beat better teams. Far from it.

I just happen to think the team needs to get better at a lot of things. Better play in the secondary. Something/anything from special teams. Senior leadership and decision-making from Tommy. Better discipline and execution across the board. Of course this is on both players and coaches.

But I think there's a lot of odd misreading of Nebraska playcalling -- going on 12 years now. It simply doesn't accept a good passing day as a successful offense.

Fun fact: Alabama went pass-happy to beat Western Kentucky. Michigan went pass-happy to beat UCF. Both teams are likely to mix it up as the season goes on.

To answer your original question, we got 550 yards by playing a team that was last in their division in the Mountain West last year. A team where our backups were far superior to their starters. And all we had to do was chuck the ball as far down the field as we could throw it and let our receivers outrun their DBs. Yeah, it was fun, but I don't think it translates very well into winning games that matter a lot more later in the season.

Part of wanting to have a good run game is being able be balanced against teams that actually have a defense. Part of wanting to have a good run game is not being in the bottom five of interceptions thrown again this year. Part of wanting to have a good run game is that we have a QB who has proven over and over again that he is prone to bad decisions and the fewer opportunities he has to make those bad decisions, the better off we'll be.

And you continue to want to throw out stats without having any context to them. "LOOK!!!! We ran the ball! All is well with the world!" Our OLine outweighed Wyoming's DLine by 50 pounds per man and yet the guy who many consider our best RB averaged 2.9 yards per carry on 14 carries. You're welcome to feel like everything is fine and mock those who bring up the part that we might need to be better than that. But that's a pretty naive view.

Yes, the team needs to be better at a lot of things. But considering this is a thread about our Running Backs, I thought discussion them and the associated running game may be appropriate. Crazy thoughts, I know.

And you might need to direct your "why are you complaining about these big wins" toward a more appropriate source - Riley and Langsorf. Riley was definitely not pleased last week. Langsdorf did everything but say TA isn't getting the job done last week.

And here's Sipple's comments about Langsdorf's response to this week's game which you don't think can be complained about:

Danny Langsdorf wasn't exactly cheerful after the 35-point triumph.

You get the distinct feeling the Nebraska offensive coordinator doesn't suffer foolish decisions by his veteran quarterback particularly well.

You get that feeling because Langsdorf, when asked Saturday to assess Tommy Armstrong's overall performance, initially skipped right past the part about the senior completing 20 of 34 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns, with another TD negated by an illegal block.

Langsdorf initially skipped the part about Armstrong recognizing a mismatch and lofting a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Westerkamp that helped put Nebraska in control early in the fourth quarter.

Langsdorf initially skipped the part about Armstrong's improved touch and decision-making in the screen game, which was an effective antidote for Wyoming's frequent inside blitzes.

Langsdorf completely skipped the part about Armstrong setting a school record for career touchdown passes with 57, topping Taylor Martinez by one, as Nebraska improved to 2-0 by burying Wyoming with 28 fourth-quarter points in a 52-17 victory at Memorial Stadium.

There were plenty of positives for the home team, but enough issues — including a bunch of knucklehead penalties — to make even the most optimistic Nebraska fan feel a bit fidgety with 24th-ranked Oregon up next.

Langsdorf was his usual calm-and-collected self as he addressed reporters. Asked to assess Armstrong, Langsdorf said he was "pretty good overall."

The veteran coach proceeded to shift quickly to Armstrong's early second-quarter interception on first-and-goal from the 5-yard line. Armstrong said he spotted a receiver in the back of the end zone. But there were defenders (plural) in the way. Armstrong gunned it anyway, as he's wont to do, and safety Andrew Wingard made the pick.

LJS

I agree with Langsdorf's comments. They don't run counter to any of mine.

I'm not sure you actually read my post #147.

 

[Count 'Bility]

I dont know if this has been mentioned. But i saw on tape last night watching, Ozigbo had a particular run in the second where he probably woudlve scored by cutting outside, instead he cut inside in an apparent attempt to look for contact. He got to the second level and the safey had flatfooted himself too far inside.

 

[GBRFAN]

Guy sorry for the confussion - i was replying to the post above mine #150. I can't remember a time where i didn't see your direction

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Guy sorry for the confussion - i was replying to the post above mine #150. I can't remember a time where i didn't see your direction

No I was responding to Mavric, who posted the Langsdorf comments.

I just don't see any direct refuting of what I said in post #147.

If it saves time, I want a stronger running game. So does every team.

But it's easier said than done.

And passing isn't the enemy.

That's all.

 

[Enhance]

So Riley said the coaches counted 30 middle blitzes from Wyoming.

And apparently we still couldn't figure out to try to run outside.

The argument could probably be made that they should've tried more outside running, but they did at least try. There were a few times I can think off off the top of my head where they tried to run stretch or some variety off run play outside the tackle box.

Unfortunately, Wyoming's line was having a lot of success in the trenches. There was one particular outside rush with Ozigbo that got flattened almost immediately because their defense had better numbers and execution at the point of attack.

 

[Redux]

Yeah the outside running didn't look great. I wanted to see more, but what they did kept getting gobbled up IIRC. I love stretch runs too, but netween Newby and Ozigbo it just wasn't there. Maybe Tre can be our outside guy but that would get easy to sniff out.

 

[Mavric]

You guys must be watching a different game than I am.

Here are Newby's four carries according to Huskers.com:

1-10 NEB 41 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB46 (WACHA, Lucas;GRANDERSON, C.), PENALTY NEB unsportsmanlike conduct off-setting, PENALTY WY unsportsmanlike conduct
off-setting
2-10 NEB 03 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 7 yards to the NEB10 (MAY, D.J.;HULL, Antonio)
1-10 NEB 35 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB40 (WINGARD, Andrew;WILSON, Logan)
2-10 NEB 29 Newby, Terrell rush over left tackle for 3 yards to the NEB32 (GRANDERSON, C.;CAIN, Conner).


So he got four carries and three of them were "up middle."

Now for Ozigbo's:

1-10 NEB 25 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 1 yard to the NEB26 (GRANDERSON, C.)

1-10 NEB 18 Ozigbo, Devine rush over left end for loss of 2 yards to the NEB16 (MAY, D.J.)

1-10 WY 18 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 8 yards to the WY10 (WINGARD, Andrew).

2-2 WY 10 Ozigbo, Devine rush over left end for loss of 2 yards to the WY12.

1-10 NEB 45 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for no gain to the NEB45 (WILSON, Logan;APPLEBY, Chase).

1-10 NEB 37 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB42 (EPPS, Marcus)

1-10 WY 49 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 5 yards to the WY44 (EPPS, Marcus).

1-10 NEB 24 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 6 yards to the NEB30 (MAY, D.J.;GRANDERSON, C.).

1-10 WY 49 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 4 yards to the WY45 (WACHA, Lucas;GRANDERSON, C.).

1-G WY 01 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 1 yard to the WY0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 12:59

1-10 WY 42 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 4 yards to the WY38 (EPPS, Marcus;APPLEBY, Chase).

3-1 WY 33 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 4 yards to the WY29, 1ST DOWN NEB (HULL, Antonio).

2-10 WY 29 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 9 yards to the WY20 (WINGARD, Andrew;MAY, D.J.)

3-1 WY 20 Ozigbo, Devine rush over left tackle for 2 yards to the WY18, 1ST DOWN NEB (CAIN, Conner)

1-G WY 08 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for loss of 1 yard to the WY9 (LOLOHEA, Nela)

Out of Ozigbo's 15 carries, 12 of them were "up middle".

So out of the 19 carries that our best two backs got, 15 of them run run directly ahead - with no misdirection - into the heart of the defense. So, yes, technically we did run a couple plays to the outside. But on almost 80% of our running plays we gave our backs very little chance to do anything. Especially when Wyoming was blitzing linebackers up the middle frequently - though I wonder if they were actually blitzing or they could just react to our running straight ahead and they filled the hole.

That's why saying "look at how many times we tried to run it" really tells very little of the story. And that's why several of us had noted that we have very little creativity in the running game.

Our struggle to run the ball Saturday probably had more with what kind of plays we were trying to run than it did with what Wyoming was trying to do.

 

[knapplc]

Depth chart says -OR- now:

 

[Count 'Bility]

eh. I dont know. they lined up conventionally, in a straight up cover 2 against a spread 2 x 2 set. They were not gonna let us beat them with the run. That was the play where the bubble slant combo when for 60 yards and six. Too easy.

 

[Redux]

You guys must be watching a different game than I am.

Here are Newby's four carries according to Huskers.com:

1-10 NEB 41 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB46 (WACHA, Lucas;GRANDERSON, C.), PENALTY NEB unsportsmanlike conduct off-setting, PENALTY WY unsportsmanlike conduct

off-setting

2-10 NEB 03 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 7 yards to the NEB10 (MAY, D.J.;HULL, Antonio)

1-10 NEB 35 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB40 (WINGARD, Andrew;WILSON, Logan)

2-10 NEB 29 Newby, Terrell rush over left tackle for 3 yards to the NEB32 (GRANDERSON, C.;CAIN, Conner).

So he got four carries and three of them were "up middle."

Now for Ozigbo's:

1-10 NEB 25 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 1 yard to the NEB26 (GRANDERSON, C.)

1-10 NEB 18 Ozigbo, Devine rush over left end for loss of 2 yards to the NEB16 (MAY, D.J.)

1-10 WY 18 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 8 yards to the WY10 (WINGARD, Andrew).

2-2 WY 10 Ozigbo, Devine rush over left end for loss of 2 yards to the WY12.

1-10 NEB 45 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for no gain to the NEB45 (WILSON, Logan;APPLEBY, Chase).

1-10 NEB 37 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB42 (EPPS, Marcus)

1-10 WY 49 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 5 yards to the WY44 (EPPS, Marcus).

1-10 NEB 24 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 6 yards to the NEB30 (MAY, D.J.;GRANDERSON, C.).

1-10 WY 49 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 4 yards to the WY45 (WACHA, Lucas;GRANDERSON, C.).

1-G WY 01 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 1 yard to the WY0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 12:59

1-10 WY 42 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 4 yards to the WY38 (EPPS, Marcus;APPLEBY, Chase).

3-1 WY 33 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 4 yards to the WY29, 1ST DOWN NEB (HULL, Antonio).

2-10 WY 29 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for 9 yards to the WY20 (WINGARD, Andrew;MAY, D.J.)

3-1 WY 20 Ozigbo, Devine rush over left tackle for 2 yards to the WY18, 1ST DOWN NEB (CAIN, Conner)

1-G WY 08 Ozigbo, Devine rush up middle for loss of 1 yard to the WY9 (LOLOHEA, Nela)

Out of Ozigbo's 15 carries, 12 of them were "up middle".

So out of the 19 carries that our best two backs got, 15 of them run run directly ahead - with no misdirection - into the heart of the defense. So, yes, technically we did run a couple plays to the outside. But on almost 80% of our running plays we gave our backs very little chance to do anything. Especially when Wyoming was blitzing linebackers up the middle frequently - though I wonder if they were actually blitzing or they could just react to our running straight ahead and they filled the hole.

That's why saying "look at how many times we tried to run it" really tells very little of the story. And that's why several of us had noted that we have very little creativity in the running game.

Our struggle to run the ball Saturday probably had more with what kind of plays we were trying to run than it did with what Wyoming was trying to do.

I don't believe anyone is actually arguing with you?