OWH: Huskers Must Fix QB Play

[gobiggergoredder]

If the defense continues to improve, POB can make mistakes. He won't have to win games. A breakaway threat at RB would help.

No team can handle the position that TA is putting the Huskers in. Find any team on Saturday that has this type of QB play.

I'm really impressed with Baker Mayfield. Kid has the same skill set and ability as TA, but there is one obvious difference in their game.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

1. We knew that TA was going into this year...I have no idea why people seem to have a hard time believing his stats were what they were.

2. We knew what Riley was coming into this year...I have no idea why people seem to have a hard time believing his W/L record ended up how it did

3. POB is not really a runner. I know he has rushing yards but that is because in HS he is the big strong kid...in college he will just be another tall QB that is not very shifty. That usually means big hits when they take off running. But, that is not Riley's game plan anyway so it really doesn't matter.

 

[Sargon]

We have no idea what we have in PB. We have no idea if he will be able to adjust to the huge jump in speed and athleticism at the next level. We have no idea if he can run the ball when he needs to or learn the plays and reads at the college level.

So if we do nothing then we are stuck with what we have now and 1 new player we know nothing about. That's just not something we can hang our hat on.

We HAVE TOO recruit a juco or graduating senior. We HAVE NO CHOICE.

Even worse in my opinion is that if we recruit throwing "gunslingers"... then what happens to our run game? If we hire a gunslinger can he run? If not then we are loosing an offensive player on every play... which is why so many teams including ours uses a dual threat quarterback. It gives us an extra offensive player on every play. See Ohio State today as to the wisdom of using quarterbacks who can pass AND run.

I believe many people hoping for the current staff to get their recruits in the program may well end up regretting what they wished for. The "pro style" is a step backward... not a step forward.

Can we recruit a dual threat quarterback from the juco's or graduating seniors... I sure hope so.

Never hard to find terrible posts but this one is truly a cut below.

 

[melscott62]

How about calling plays that take advantage of TA's running abilities?

Exactly this. It's unbelievable people are blaming Tommy for our loss yesterday or others during the season. This is squarely on a coaching staff that is asking a QB with tremendous running capabilities to pass the ball when everyone knows this is not his skill set. If Tommy was handing the ball off, running the option and occasionally a pass or two were added to the mix, we win vs. Iowa and probably a few more games as well this season.

We don't have the line or rb to run the ball with any success.

 

[Saunders]

How about calling plays that take advantage of TA's running abilities?

Exactly this. It's unbelievable people are blaming Tommy for our loss yesterday or others during the season. This is squarely on a coaching staff that is asking a QB with tremendous running capabilities to pass the ball when everyone knows this is not his skill set. If Tommy was handing the ball off, running the option and occasionally a pass or two were added to the mix, we win vs. Iowa and probably a few more games as well this season.

I think this is just plain wrong-headed. As a coach, I'm not going to let the players dictate my philosophy based upon what they aren't good at. I'm going to run my offense/defense and force the players to adapt. Players have to learn the system . . . not the other way around. Coaches don't play fantasy league football, BTW.

Then say it up front. Don't lie all offseason and fill the media with garbage about "adapting" and then not do it.

 

[Landlord]

Then say it up front. Don't lie all offseason and fill the media with garbage about "adapting" and then not do it.

Plz go count the number of times Tommy ran the ball on Friday, and then compare it with the averages of Riley/Langsdorf quarterbacks in the past.

I'll bet you everything I own there's a big gap between the numbers.

 

[EngineeringHusker]

How about calling plays that take advantage of TA's running abilities?

Exactly this. It's unbelievable people are blaming Tommy for our loss yesterday or others during the season. This is squarely on a coaching staff that is asking a QB with tremendous running capabilities to pass the ball when everyone knows this is not his skill set. If Tommy was handing the ball off, running the option and occasionally a pass or two were added to the mix, we win vs. Iowa and probably a few more games as well this season.

We don't have the line or rb to run the ball with any success.

I'd agree. It's not like we have a Wisconsin line with Melvin Gordon that we just aren't using because we like to pass it around the playground. I really don't think our running game is bad by any means, but honestly I feel like the strength of this offense is the receiving corp. When people say just run Tommy more as if it would magically fix everything, I think they're leaving out most of our offensive weapons. We pass because our receivers are dang good. Even when Tommy would get "hot" they'd still usually have to bail him out.

I wouldn't mind seeing Tommy get the call to run 2-3 more times per game. He is indeed a good runner, and I love how he runs with tenacity. I just find it a bit humorous that so many people on this board are so after Riley and Langsdorf about not adapting to the players, but they only look at one player. Frankly, we have a lot of talent spread out on the field, and it would be a shame not to get it in their hands. I think we did a pretty good job of trying to do this. Perhaps this is a way of adapting to the players? Just a thought...

 

[Husker Psycho]

We have no idea what we have in PB. We have no idea if he will be able to adjust to the huge jump in speed and athleticism at the next level. We have no idea if he can run the ball when he needs to or learn the plays and reads at the college level.

So if we do nothing then we are stuck with what we have now and 1 new player we know nothing about. That's just not something we can hang our hat on.

We HAVE TOO recruit a juco or graduating senior. We HAVE NO CHOICE.

Even worse in my opinion is that if we recruit throwing "gunslingers"... then what happens to our run game? If we hire a gunslinger can he run? If not then we are loosing an offensive player on every play... which is why so many teams including ours uses a dual threat quarterback. It gives us an extra offensive player on every play. See Ohio State today as to the wisdom of using quarterbacks who can pass AND run.

I believe many people hoping for the current staff to get their recruits in the program may well end up regretting what they wished for. The "pro style" is a step backward... not a step forward.

Can we recruit a dual threat quarterback from the juco's or graduating seniors... I sure hope so.

I mean I like running QB's but we've also had our butts kicked several times this year by immobile QB's. Simply choosing not to run with the quaterback isn't an offensive flaw it's an offensive style that teams have had success with before(Alabama just won three national championships with a guy who couldn't run), when we hired Riley and an NFL position coach we knew that's what we were getting so it's not really a surprise. This is what these coaches do and they've had success at it in the past but just because we're recruiting pocket passers does not automatically mean our offense will be weaker.

The potential benefit of going all in with the pro style offense with Tommy this year is that now everyone on the team has a year of experience running Riley's system. That's not just the quarterbacks but offensive line, receivers, running backs, fullbacks, everyone... even if Tommy is beat out next year this will make it much much easier for POB or whoever to step in and run an efficient offense right away. Remember how many Illegal procedures we had early in the season? and how they've basically gone away completely? That's something that we most likely will not have to deal with next year thanks to going through the growing pains now. It sucks that Tommy is not being utilized to his strengths but it's better for the team as a whole to not rework the entire playbook around him, cause then what happens when he leaves? We have to go through growing pains of learning a new system again to fit our new QB which just wastes another year.

Alabama and dual threat quaterbacks:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2490995-alabama-football-are-dual-threat-only-qbs-the-new-future-for-crimson-tide

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2015/02/alabamas_offer_to_leeds_qb_tad.html

I suggest you go and watch POB's highlights. He is a pass first QB that is mobile. Ran for almost 700 yds this year.

The "pro style" is in no way a backwards step. It would honestly be a step forward when it came to recruiting. It would help land better players, which in turn would produce better results on the field.

As far as your "gunslinger" remark. TA is the definition of a gunslinger.

Here's a list of the top 70 dual threat quarterbacks coming out of high school this year... POB is NOT on the list.

http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings?View=Detailed&Page=2&Position=DUAL

Ohio State uses dual threat quarterbacks. They won the national championship last year and beat Alabama in the process which is also now going to dual threat quarterbacks. It puts an extra player-threat on the offense, which is a huge deal (ask Tom Osborne) . If you watched Ohio State play yesterday with Meyer taking over play calling (replacing Beck) you would have seen the best performance by a college team this year, with lots of designed running plays by the quarterback and plenty of smash mouth. That game showed perfectly the wisdom of using dual threat quarterbacks.

And neither one of those teams (Ohio State or Alabama) has any trouble attracting top level recruits.

Pro style is ancient history, in college football and it takes us further away from smash mouth football. Terrible idea. It appears that Nebraska is now so far behind that "pro" style now looks like something new to our coaching staff. Hopefully they will come to their senses... ?

 

[Husker Psycho]

We have no idea what we have in PB. We have no idea if he will be able to adjust to the huge jump in speed and athleticism at the next level. We have no idea if he can run the ball when he needs to or learn the plays and reads at the college level.

So if we do nothing then we are stuck with what we have now and 1 new player we know nothing about. That's just not something we can hang our hat on.

We HAVE TOO recruit a juco or graduating senior. We HAVE NO CHOICE.

Even worse in my opinion is that if we recruit throwing "gunslingers"... then what happens to our run game? If we hire a gunslinger can he run? If not then we are loosing an offensive player on every play... which is why so many teams including ours uses a dual threat quarterback. It gives us an extra offensive player on every play. See Ohio State today as to the wisdom of using quarterbacks who can pass AND run.

I believe many people hoping for the current staff to get their recruits in the program may well end up regretting what they wished for. The "pro style" is a step backward... not a step forward.

Can we recruit a dual threat quarterback from the juco's or graduating seniors... I sure hope so.

Never hard to find terrible posts but this one is truly a cut below.

You've got nothing to say. Just some high school level honk.

 

[HuskerNBigD]

We have no idea what we have in PB. We have no idea if he will be able to adjust to the huge jump in speed and athleticism at the next level. We have no idea if he can run the ball when he needs to or learn the plays and reads at the college level.

So if we do nothing then we are stuck with what we have now and 1 new player we know nothing about. That's just not something we can hang our hat on.

We HAVE TOO recruit a juco or graduating senior. We HAVE NO CHOICE.

Even worse in my opinion is that if we recruit throwing "gunslingers"... then what happens to our run game? If we hire a gunslinger can he run? If not then we are loosing an offensive player on every play... which is why so many teams including ours uses a dual threat quarterback. It gives us an extra offensive player on every play. See Ohio State today as to the wisdom of using quarterbacks who can pass AND run.

I believe many people hoping for the current staff to get their recruits in the program may well end up regretting what they wished for. The "pro style" is a step backward... not a step forward.

Can we recruit a dual threat quarterback from the juco's or graduating seniors... I sure hope so.

I mean I like running QB's but we've also had our butts kicked several times this year by immobile QB's. Simply choosing not to run with the quaterback isn't an offensive flaw it's an offensive style that teams have had success with before(Alabama just won three national championships with a guy who couldn't run), when we hired Riley and an NFL position coach we knew that's what we were getting so it's not really a surprise. This is what these coaches do and they've had success at it in the past but just because we're recruiting pocket passers does not automatically mean our offense will be weaker.

The potential benefit of going all in with the pro style offense with Tommy this year is that now everyone on the team has a year of experience running Riley's system. That's not just the quarterbacks but offensive line, receivers, running backs, fullbacks, everyone... even if Tommy is beat out next year this will make it much much easier for POB or whoever to step in and run an efficient offense right away. Remember how many Illegal procedures we had early in the season? and how they've basically gone away completely? That's something that we most likely will not have to deal with next year thanks to going through the growing pains now. It sucks that Tommy is not being utilized to his strengths but it's better for the team as a whole to not rework the entire playbook around him, cause then what happens when he leaves? We have to go through growing pains of learning a new system again to fit our new QB which just wastes another year.

Alabama and dual threat quaterbacks:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2490995-alabama-football-are-dual-threat-only-qbs-the-new-future-for-crimson-tide

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2015/02/alabamas_offer_to_leeds_qb_tad.html

I suggest you go and watch POB's highlights. He is a pass first QB that is mobile. Ran for almost 700 yds this year.

The "pro style" is in no way a backwards step. It would honestly be a step forward when it came to recruiting. It would help land better players, which in turn would produce better results on the field.

As far as your "gunslinger" remark. TA is the definition of a gunslinger.

Here's a list of the top 70 dual threat quarterbacks coming out of high school this year... POB is NOT on the list.

http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings?View=Detailed&Page=2&Position=DUAL

Ohio State uses dual threat quarterbacks. They won the national championship last year and beat Alabama in the process which is also now going to dual threat quarterbacks. It puts an extra player-threat on the offense, which is a huge deal (ask Tom Osborne) . If you watched Ohio State play yesterday with Meyer taking over play calling (replacing Beck) you would have seen the best performance by a college team this year, with lots of designed running plays by the quarterback and plenty of smash mouth. That game showed perfectly the wisdom of using dual threat quarterbacks.

And neither one of those teams (Ohio State or Alabama) has any trouble attracting top level recruits.

Pro style is ancient history, in college football and it takes us further away from smash mouth football. Terrible idea. It appears that Nebraska is now so far behind that "pro" style now looks like something new to our coaching staff. Hopefully they will come to their senses... ?

POB isn't listed as a duel threat QB, hence why he's not on that list you provided. Usually recruiting sites decide which style is a best fit and move forward. He is, however, listed as the 10th best pro-style QB. Just because he's listed as a pro-style QB, doesn't mean he lacks athleticism and cant potentially beat players with his legs

 

[Husker Psycho]

POB isn't listed as a duel threat QB, hence why he's not on that list you provided. Usually recruiting sites decide which style is a best fit and move forward. He is, however, listed as the 10th best pro-style QB. Just because he's listed as a pro-style QB, doesn't mean he lacks athleticism and cant potentially beat players with his legs

It's not a matter of IF he can do it once in a while or occasionally when a pass play beaks down... it's a matter of designing quarterback running plays into the offensive scheme and using them on a regular basis, like Ohio State does and Alabama is moving toward... and Nebraska did under Tom Osborne. It gives us an extra player-threat-runner on offence that the defense has to account for on every play. The best minds in college football coaching understand this totally.

 

[Landlord]

Pro-style offenses are far from ancient history. They're not particularly popular right now, but that's because of trends. Trends are exactly what they are; they don't last.

Florida State

USC

Alabama recently and even still for the most part

Stanford

Georgia

Iowa

Michigan State

Michigan

Notre Dame

Oklahoma-ish depending on the year

all run relatively pro style offenses

 

[Enhance]

1. We knew that TA was going into this year...I have no idea why people seem to have a hard time believing his stats were what they were.

2. We knew what Riley was coming into this year...I have no idea why people seem to have a hard time believing his W/L record ended up how it did

3. POB is not really a runner. I know he has rushing yards but that is because in HS he is the big strong kid...in college he will just be another tall QB that is not very shifty. That usually means big hits when they take off running. But, that is not Riley's game plan anyway so it really doesn't matter.

Well, in regards to your #1, it's very common for quarterbacks to increase their completion percentages from year-to-year. Martinez found a way, Zac Taylor found a way, Tim Tebow found a way, Tyrod Taylor found a way. It's easy for people to now sit here and say "well, his stats are what they are", when expecting improvement was extremely reasonable. I for one believed he'd hit 57 completion percentage this year. That was very realistic.

I for one still put some blame on the coaches, not just TA. They know he's not a great passer, yet we keep trying to find ways to make him win a game with his arm and it just doesn't make sense. It's disappointing, quite frankly. Once again, TA threw more than 40 times. Once again Nebraska lost. Yeah, TA may be the one making the throws, but his coaches are calling the plays. At some point there has to be a give and take.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Duh.

Thanks.

 

[Husker Psycho]

Pro-style offenses are far from ancient history. They're not particularly popular right now, but that's because of trends. Trends are exactly what they are; they don't last.

Florida State

USC

Alabama recently and even still for the most part

Stanford

Georgia

Iowa

Michigan State

Michigan

Notre Dame

Oklahoma-ish depending on the year

all run relatively pro style offenses

Thanks for your reply.

Serious question....did you read the link I provided above... especially the first one from BR. If not you should read it. Very interesting.

Also, did you watch the Ohio State game yesterday. That was the best performance by a college football team this year with Meyer back at the helm calling his offense. That was a masterpiece. Designed quarterback runs were an essential part of that offense.

There are some amazing similarities with what Tom Osborne's philosophy was in his prime.