Offensive Play Calling

mwj98

mwj98

All-Conference
One thing I have noticed the last two weeks, has been the type of plays being called. I am not seeing all those damn bubble screens and dump passes. I am seeing more running plays and play action. Maybe Watson has dialed down the playbook. It seems we are controlling the ball better and running straight ahead. It's refreshing and I hope we can keep it up.

Good job yesterday. A little sloppy on defense, but that's ok. It happens. I saw it plenty of times with the teams of the 90's.

As for Bo's temper. Trust me, I would take his fire and intensity anytime.

One more thing.....Asante needs to run some stadium steps after that blunder. I like finishing plays, but good grief.

 
One of the articles talked about watson admitting that they have adapted the playbook to the player's abilities. He said that Lee was running pass plays with two or three reads and we saw that open up his ability to scramble because he didn't have to keep scanning the field. I applaud Shawn Watson. I think our offense will be ok...

 
I was very encouraged to see these type of plays called:

*Play action (from under center). You run the ball enough from I or single back sets and this will keep the D honest.

*The option (whether it was ugly at times, but mostly got positive yards) absolutely opened up the big pass play when they ran the option fake and drop back toss.

*The bootleg rollout passes that gave Zac three options, dump short, throw medium, or tuck it and run.

*Student body right/left.. The power sweep. Just looked fantastic with Helu getting a quick toss 4 yards deep which allowed him to be patient and follow his lead blockers and then hit the holes.

No special blocking involved here. These are very basic plays that have been around teams forever. Just have to execute them and sprinkle them in throughout the game.

Execution on these plays was solid.

 
Addison Mode said:
I was very encouraged to see these type of plays called:

*Play action (from under center). You run the ball enough from I or single back sets and this will keep the D honest.

*The option (whether it was ugly at times, but mostly got positive yards) absolutely opened up the big pass play when they ran the option fake and drop back toss.

*The bootleg rollout passes that gave Zac three options, dump short, throw medium, or tuck it and run.

*Student body right/left.. The power sweep. Just looked fantastic with Helu getting a quick toss 4 yards deep which allowed him to be patient and follow his lead blockers and then hit the holes.

No special blocking involved here. These are very basic plays that have been around teams forever. Just have to execute them and sprinkle them in throughout the game.

Execution on these plays was solid.
Click to expand...
:yeah

 
I'm just happy to see the QB under the center with a FB in the game. It makes me happy knowing that we're going to get positive yards 99% of the time in that set.

 
Changing your philosophy and planning mid season is NOT an easy thing to do, and Watson did it successfully after the MU game last year, and appears to be doing it again this year now.

Green @ Baylor was the last hope of the spread for this year IMO, Watson's last gasp at making the spread work for us this year. They treid to stick with Cody in the conservative game plan with OU, but it's obvious after yesterday that Lee is better suited to the offense we have to play for the rest of the year.

From Shatel's article, hits the nail on the head.

http://omaha.com/article/20091114/BIGRED/711149770/-1/bigred

He (Watson) entered fall camp believing he had “something special” with the spread. He thought his new quarterback and new receivers could thrive, just as Joe Ganz and Co. did last year.

But as October wore on, it became clear that NU doesn't have four worthy wideouts and Lee needs a safe pocket with plenty of blockers. He needs one or two reads. He needs to throw downfield off play-action.

Force him to scan under duress and hit short targets and he struggles. Mightily.

Strangely, it seemed Watson was the last to see the ills, or was he just stubborn. Either way, could he adapt? Could he coach to his strengths?

It took a while — and a little help from a white-haired wizard.

Watson and the offensive staff went back to the drawing board a few weeks ago.

“We've had to get out of all of our comfort zones,” Watson said.

Watson and Brown each compared the brainstorming session to the scene in “Apollo 13,” when the minds at mission control pondered creative techniques to bring the troubled space shuttle home.

 
I think having Helu more available allows you to run and sell the power I . Defenses have to respect tyhat you might run or pass from the I. I also like to see the tight ends used more. without Helu we are almost non dimensional on O. I think maybe Zac Lee is also gaining confidence..but he still seems to run tentatively.

 
I love the fact that we have an offense that works for our personnel. I hate the fact that it takes at least five games to figure out that the style we started with wasn't working.

Last year going through the misery game running the offense we're running now, then going to the spread. This year, the other way around.

To be honest, even though I know we can't this year, I'd rather run a spread style so we don't HAVE to rely on the defense to shut them down or get turnovers. We need more playmakers on offense though.

With our defense, the skers' should be able to get three touchdowns and pretty much have a win ensured.

 
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