Rebuilding The Pipeline

[knapplc]

NU assembling deep line of young blockers By Mitch Sherman (OWH)

LINCOLN — Imagine the future of Nebraska's offensive line: Road-graders Brent Qvale and Andrew Rodriguez start at guard with Jeremiah Sirles entrenched at left tackle.

The other spots, perhaps, are eventually won by 2011 newcomers Tyler Moore and Ryne Reeves or maybe Zach Sterup — all currently dominating high school linemen who have committed to NU.

Not so fast.

There are others who will have something to say about playing time: Cole Pensick, Jesse Coffey, Mike Moudy, Brandon Thompson and current high-schooler Ryan Klachko ...

Besides the obvious depth, there is talent, size, strength — and youth.

Is the NU pipeline on its way back?

Redshirt freshmen Sirles and Qvale joined true freshman Rodriguez in their debuts Saturday during the Huskers' 49-10 win against Western Kentucky.

All three look the part. The others aren't far behind.

“Nothing's going to come overnight,” said Sirles, the new starter at left tackle. “It's going to take a lot of work.”

Qvale and Rodriguez stand out, mainly, because of their size.

Rodriguez, 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds, and Qvale, 6-7 and 325 — backing up senior starters Keith Williams and Ricky Henry — are especially massive.

Sirles, 6-6 and 310, fits the profile of the left-tackle spot at which he shares time with 6-7, 320-pound junior newcomer Yoshi Hardrick.

And the Huskers like their attitude, perhaps, more than anything.

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[bshirt]

Now, if we could just have some offensive identity......we'd streamroll our way to glory.

But w/SW that isn't going to happen. But we could still be very good across the plain.

 

[HuskerJosh]

"The other spots, perhaps, are eventually won by 2011 newcomers Tyler Moore and Ryne Reeves or maybe Zach Sterup — all currently dominating high school linemen who have committed to NU."

That's an odd sentence. It makes it sound like Moore, Reeves, and Sterup are currently dominating other linemen who have committed to NU. Maybe "all dominant high school linemen who have committed to NU" would have been clearer. :dunno

 

[Enhance]

Now, if we could just have some offensive identity......we'd streamroll our way to glory.

But w/SW that isn't going to happen. But we could still be very good across the plain.

I always said the same you just did until I realized something: Shawn Watson has an offensive identity.

It's being multiple. Even though it's extremely vague, it's what he believes in whole-heartedly. The problem inevitably becomes teaching your players to understand the facets of the game while being able to make big plays. We excelled with the option run attack because Osborne was tenured in the option and had depth to build and teach it to his guys. Partner that with the idea that the option is one of the easier offenses to execute, you have a fairly dominating offense.

Unfortunately, the offense Watson runs just isn't tailored the same was as our option run attack was. That said, I do like where Bo has pushed the offense. We lined up in quite a few formations last Saturday that we didn't see any of or much of last year, specifically out of shotgun. I saw a lot of formations that look similar to what Florida runs out of the shotgun, and I love Florida's offense.

 

[skersfan]

It seems to me we are seeing changes in the kids we recruit. To me it looks more like shifting to a running offense with pass plays when needed.

Sometimes it takes time to get the type of athlete that would fit the real system you want to run.

Beyond my level for sure. I like what I saw last weekend, but realize it was WKU.

 

[bshirt]

Now, if we could just have some offensive identity......we'd streamroll our way to glory.

But w/SW that isn't going to happen. But we could still be very good across the plain.

I always said the same you just did until I realized something: Shawn Watson has an offensive identity.

It's being multiple. Even though it's extremely vague, it's what he believes in whole-heartedly. The problem inevitably becomes teaching your players to understand the facets of the game while being able to make big plays. We excelled with the option run attack because Osborne was tenured in the option and had depth to build and teach it to his guys. Partner that with the idea that the option is one of the easier offenses to execute, you have a fairly dominating offense.

Unfortunately, the offense Watson runs just isn't tailored the same was as our option run attack was. That said, I do like where Bo has pushed the offense. We lined up in quite a few formations last Saturday that we didn't see any of or much of last year, specifically out of shotgun. I saw a lot of formations that look similar to what Florida runs out of the shotgun, and I love Florida's offense.