Our Identity

"I am pretty sure we would get the better athletes the Navy."

Ya think? If not, NU should be renamed "Army".
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The option was simply a component of a larger power rushing attack. Just as we hear that it wouldn't work now, you have to admit that we heard the same complaint all throughout the Osborne era as well. He did manage to average 10 wins per season for his career (along with 3 NC's), which wasn't bad for an "obsolete" offense. I'm very glad that Tom didn't listen to the experts of the time!

 
Back in the 70s when every team went wishbone, TO was pro-style (Humm, Feragamo), When the pendulum went to the run and gun, he went power/option/play action. When I was coaching, I would go counter to what was common. 1-3-1 instead of 2-1-2 in basketball. Even man line when NU (and so did every HS) was going odd, NU (and the HS) switch to even, I went odd.​

 
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jmfb said:
TO's offense was morphing to Spread Option with a more QB centric running game before he retired- lots more 1 back sets

I think I remember reading somewhere that he said he would be a spread option team if he were coaching today

That is a bit different than the 100s of ways Johnson runs his option and orbit sweep game he runs at GT

They aren't just a triple option team, they run midline and you even see some veer concepts at times, the guy is a genius

While Tenopir was running zone schemes in his latter years- some of the better O-linemen are going to look at an option offense as something they probably want to stay away from if they want to play in the NFL

That may be an offense that can get you to 8-3 or maybe even 9-2 with a class ranked a lot lower than other teams in the top 15, but you may not get the kids you need to be a top 5, top 10 team.

When you are one of many trying to get the very same type of player to come to your University and are just above average with blah uniforms, good academic support and not much scenery- that isn't a great value proposition for most HS kids. So there definitely is value in considering being different.

While defending spread teams was something that was different and kind of a hassle to do 15 years ago, much easier today, because we all see so much of it. Everyone runs smash, everyone runs 4 verts, everyone runs shallow, everyone runs bubble, everyone runs mesh the Mike Leachs of the world are having a much tougher time dinking and dunking people to death. Yes he is an air raid guy and I know that is a Hal Mumme spread subset that isn't used by many- but many teams including NU have taken those concepts and added them to their offenses.

The approach of being different certainly makes sense to look at

Understand true option teams at the High SChool level has dropped off dramatically. If you go to places like Florida, Georgia, Texas most of what you see is Spread to Pass teams.

Pro style throwing QBs aren't being overlooked at all

Tough decision
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I don't know man...I thought we put quite a few linemen into the NFL during the 90's...but maybe I am wrong...

 
I do remember that Dave Rimington was considered the best center and one of the best college offensive linemen of his generation, but when asked to do more pass protection than pulling and sweeping in the NFL, he quickly washed out.

Marcus Mariotta looks to have tons of NFL quality skills, but even he got a lot of circumspection for not running a purely pro-set offense in college.

Talent will usually carry the day, but running a college-only offense will always take some valuable prospects off your board.

The notion that poor, empty, windswept Nebraska has no other choice is a bit insulting. I believe the list of NFL style quarterbacks playing in cold and/or less-than-glamorous college towns is pretty long, but I don't have the time to put it together.

 
If O linemen would be able to be totally honest, we would be able to fill up with great option linemen. The problem is, every single one of these players know they are going to the NFL after college. So, they aren't going to be willing to go to a school that says..."Hey, we know we don't have traditional NFL linemen, but we can win championships in college if you come here."

That just doesn't sound as pretty as some other hot coach promising he can get to the NFL at his school.

 
A true triple-option is what Georgia Tech runs. Nebraska was never a triple-option offense and was never an option offense. We ran a power run attack with some option principles and play-action.

I disagree with Staples only because his language is incorrect. If he had said something like "Nebraska needs to return to a power running offense," I'd be all aboard. I too think that's the better direction for Nebraska, similar to what Stanford or Wisconsin runs. An offense based on powerful, physical linemen who can dominate the line of scrimmage, a good quarterback who can make key throws when you need them and a powerful stable of running backs.

Competing for WCO or spread players is not the correct formula for Nebraska, in my opinion. But, we still don't know exactly what MR's offense is going to look like. He very well could rely more on the run this year based on the QB's we have, and that may help us develop a powerful line. I'm in a wait and see mode.

 
I agree that we didn't run the true triple option. But a lot of the time we ran a triple option look, which accomplishes much the same thing. We didn't give to the FB anywhere near as much as Georgia Tech and other true triple option teams do. But we'd fake to the FB a couple dozen times until they forget about him and then he rumbles untouched past Warren Sapp's tired a$$.

 
Nebraska was definitely a power rushing offense back then. With Eric Crouch though, my brain seems to recall that we were running much more option. I think that was stated earlier.

I think Nebraska's offense under Tim Beck could have been MUCH more efficient, but, like everyone knows, Beck always seemed to get in his own way. I really like the Spread running game. Clearly it is successful and being a 70/30 rush/pass can get the job done. Plenty of power run scheme's to fit into the spread. It's just a matter of running it.

We've had WCO here before, and that is the one part about Riley/Langsdorf I'm not a fan of. I think this is why I was rooting super hard for Frost to be here as OC. I know Oregon hasn't won a national title but offensively they are what I wish NU was. Even though I think they tend to get a little cute, and struggle too much defensively when it matters. Oregon's spread is the kind of style I like to see. Or, I think Ohio State has really raised the bar in terms of physical offense out of the spread, I enjoy that style as well.

 
My problem with Oregon is they like to get slumped big time when it matters, and they've been known to struggle against power teams. I want to be the one doing the bruising, not receiving it.

 
Let's just say watching GT is a hell of a lot more exciting to watch. There's something absolutely fantastic about watching pulling linemen sprint their way down field to make a block on the second level. The motions are utilized in a way where you could pitch a rocket sweep or utilize it as a speed option also. There's so much going on with TE's, HB's, and FB's with their ability to block, run a route or run with the ball. You're actually watching all the working parts of football since it appears everyone has a role.

I know everyone has a role on every play, but 5 step drops get a bit boring. Lineman just go into pass pro (don't get me wrong though, route concepts excite me too, as well as how they work in certain coverages).

It's like having the opportunity to watch the inside of an internal combustion engine work to get a car up to 45 mph. When you're watching the engine, it looks great, you see things moving in a well engineered and timely matter. You want to watch it again, in slow motion to get a real feel for how well it works.

But I don't know. GT is good. You know they have to be getting the top QB recruits for that offense. I love watching Justin Thomas run that offense. He runs it as well as anyone I have seen. But his passing is nowhere near what we had in Tommie, Frost, Crouch, etc. If Thomas is the top QB prospect, I don't know if that's good enough. GT has only been better than "good" last year because of Thomas. Every year before they were 8-9 wins that we are already familiar with. And Johnson is possibly the best of the best at running that type of offense in today's game.

I'd love to see it. But I don't see it happening. We already had a pretty darn good "running based" attack on offense with Beck that had a lot of those elements. He just happened to call the stretch play way too often... haha.

 
Stanford and Wisconsin ran power football offenses that started with big, talented, cohesive offensive lines.

But they also ran multiple, take-what-the-defense-gives-you offenses at the same time. Stanford played a lot of between the tackles football and even utilized the fullback(!) and there were games where Andrew Luck rarely had to throw the ball. Then there were games where Andrew Luck threw the ball a lot, and they looked like a classic pro-set offense. It was nice to have the choice. Stave is no Luck, but Wisconsin ran a similar mix.

When we talk about identity it always seems to be about the run-pass ratio; the all-in rushing teams like Georgia Tech or the balls-out passing teams like BYU and Texas Tech. The spread is a scheme. I'm not so sure it's an identity. Good teams do a lot of things well. If you don't like the word "multiple" come up with another one, because that's how winning teams play. And when you're winning, nobody debates your identity.

 
Stanford and Wisconsin run power football, but it's still pro style. Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson are very very far from 'option' quarterback mold.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Stanford and Wisconsin run power football, but it's still pro style. Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson are very very far from 'option' quarterback mold.
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It's a nice style though, right?

And both Luck and Wilson are damn good runners. Wilson got to keep running in the NFL, but Luck was strongly encouraged to avoid extra contact.

 
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