RUN THE BALL!!!

gbr93 said:
On the drive people are complaining about that was towards the end when we threw it three straight plays, weren't two of them dropped? I could be wrong on that but if so it goes without saying that it makes a huge difference.
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The commentators commented on two "drops." If I remember correctly, they were both not great throws and difficult catches, one was thrown behind the receiver coming across the middle who barely got a hand on it.

 
QMany said:
gbr93 said:
On the drive people are complaining about that was towards the end when we threw it three straight plays, weren't two of them dropped? I could be wrong on that but if so it goes without saying that it makes a huge difference.
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The commentators commented on two "drops." If I remember correctly, they were both not great throws and difficult catches, one was thrown behind the receiver coming across the middle who barely got a hand on it.
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any place that has the replay up yet or somewhere I can go back to watch?

 
Food for thought:


This is RBs making the line just look bad.

There's more to this position than just determination and athleticism, though both are important. Decision-making is key. Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah aren't a thousand times faster or tougher than (I think this is Cross?), but there are a lot of yards to be had on this play.

 
zoogs said:
Newby reminds me a little of Marlon Lucky. Anyone else? Pretty athletic, pretty speedy, lots of talent coming out of HS. As a runner, he can do OK and have a 200-yard game against the right opponent, but he's also just not that tough of a runner.

I think both are good college backs and we have to find ways to get them going. Like Lucky, Newby will be fine if they can do that.

Lucky's "problem" to the extent that being a pretty solid back was a problem, was that he wasn't the kind of runner that we would soon see at Nebraska in Helu, Burkhead, and Abdullah (consecutively!) Perhaps we'll be so lucky again.
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yeah hes pretty good but he just doesn't seem like "THE GUY." We have been pretty lucky to have a few of those in a row. I honestly thought we would have seen someone like Wilbon or Taylor be pushing for the top spot by now.

 
zoogs said:
Food for thought:



This is RBs making the line just look bad.

There's more to this position than just determination and athleticism, though both are important. Decision-making is key. Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah aren't a thousand times faster or tougher than (I think this is Cross?), but there are a lot of yards to be had on this play.
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Yep. Lots of people like to say "But look! We ran the ball three times!" But that's a pretty short-sighted view. Yes, we ran the ball. But we ran in straight ahead with our third string RB. In Cross' defense, there wasn't much of a hole there. But he could have at least gained a couple instead of nothing. And that's what happens when you use basically a three tight end set and the defense knows you're going to run it - there are a bunch of defenders really close to the line.

A little more creativity and a little less predictability could have gone a long ways. And still would have left plenty of run calls available.

 
Mavric said:
zoogs said:
Food for thought:



This is RBs making the line just look bad.

There's more to this position than just determination and athleticism, though both are important. Decision-making is key. Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah aren't a thousand times faster or tougher than (I think this is Cross?), but there are a lot of yards to be had on this play.
Click to expand...
Yep. Lots of people like to say "But look! We ran the ball three times!" But that's a pretty short-sighted view. Yes, we ran the ball. But we ran in straight ahead with our third string RB. In Cross' defense, there wasn't much of a hole there. But he could have at least gained a couple instead of nothing. And that's what happens when you use basically a three tight end set and the defense knows you're going to run it - there are a bunch of defenders really close to the line.

A little more creativity and a little less predictability could have gone a long ways. And still would have left plenty of run calls available.
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UMMMMMM he scores a touchdown if he runs left there..... instead he cuts it back for no reason

 
Imani Cross looks like a beast, but plays like a field mouse.

When you absolutely need two yards and the defense is keying on the run, I'm not sure Nebraska's current offensive line and running backs can impose their will. Not many NFL offenses can, either.

I do think the OL is coming around. Langsdorf or Riley has brought back the I Formation to go along with the Janovich promotion. Throw in a little more play action and we might have something.

 
Yeah, the point there is that if he follows his blockers on the left side (look at Jano driving his man 5 yards downfield and into the next Wisconsin defender), this at LEAST turns into 3rd and short. Instead it's 3rd & 8 or 9 after a loss.

When you put in your power back, you expect to be able to gain at least a couple. Sometimes the defense takes it away,and sometimes you take it away yourself by cutting right into your defenders, and away from your blockers.

This can't have been the only play like this. Not to say our OL has been great, either. I'm not trying to pick somewhere to assign the blame (players, coaches, line) -- just pointing out different examples of the run game not quite delivering.

 
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Man, that's ugly, Zoogs. First time I've seen the blocking on that one. C'mon, Imani. Run where you're supposed to run and give 'em the ol' Imani Smash.
default_facepalm.gif


Like it or not, the coaches are still adjusting to how to call a good offense here. The MO for past Riley teams has been to chuck it around-- at OSU, he's had good Po-style QBs, some great WRs, and was usually playing from behind. Great RBs were comparatively rare there. Langs just spent a year focusing on tutoring Eli in the NFL, which is becoming more and more a passing league. Though Tom Coughlin is very old-school and stresses the run, their running game has been awful for a couple years now.

All of THAT ^^^ lends itself to coaches who are more comfortable throwing it all over the yard than running. In pressure situations, I'm not surprised they've reverted to that tendency.

This last game, they got way from it and stuck with the run, wit fantastic results. Let's hope that continues.

 
klb835 said:
UMMMMMM he scores a touchdown if he runs left there..... instead he cuts it back for no reason
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zoogs said:
Yeah, the point there is that if he follows his blockers on the left side (look at Jano driving his man 5 yards downfield and into the next Wisconsin defender), this at LEAST turns into 3rd and short. Instead it's 3rd & 8 or 9 after a loss.

When you put in your power back, you expect to be able to gain at least a couple. Sometimes the defense takes it away,and sometimes you take it away yourself by cutting right into your defenders, and away from your blockers.

This can't have been the only play like this. Not to say our OL has been great, either. I'm not trying to pick somewhere to assign the blame (players, coaches, line) -- just pointing out different examples of the run game not quite delivering.
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He MAY have gotten more yards running to the left. But the play is "designed" to go somewhere from right up the middle to the right side. You can tell because the entire right side of the line is blocking left. It's a classic inside zone run where there is a general idea where the back will aim but it's up to the back to find where the hole appears. It's just that there wasn't really a hole on this one. That's the problem with running inside zone, especially when they have a bunch of guys in the box - there just isn't any room for the line to create a hole because there are too many defenders. Yet we run this play a lot. It's a lot of the reason why our running game is "struggling".

But I'm far from convinced that Cross would have gotten many yards had he bounced it outside to the left. For starters, there is a free defender - who Jano blocks his guy into - who is unblocked so he would have been up at the line by the time Cross got there. Plus Cotton didn't get much of a block on his guy - looks like Cotton got tripped up. That defender flows back inside as Cross runs that way. So there would definitely have been at least one defender and quite possibly two to meet Cross at the line by the time he got there.

 
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klb835 said:
Mavric said:
zoogs said:
Food for thought:



This is RBs making the line just look bad.

There's more to this position than just determination and athleticism, though both are important. Decision-making is key. Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah aren't a thousand times faster or tougher than (I think this is Cross?), but there are a lot of yards to be had on this play.
Click to expand...
Yep. Lots of people like to say "But look! We ran the ball three times!" But that's a pretty short-sighted view. Yes, we ran the ball. But we ran in straight ahead with our third string RB. In Cross' defense, there wasn't much of a hole there. But he could have at least gained a couple instead of nothing. And that's what happens when you use basically a three tight end set and the defense knows you're going to run it - there are a bunch of defenders really close to the line.

A little more creativity and a little less predictability could have gone a long ways. And still would have left plenty of run calls available.
Click to expand...
UMMMMMM he scores a touchdown if he runs left there..... instead he cuts it back for no reason
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I fail to see where he would have scored a TD on this play. He ran where the play was designed to run. He may have gained a couple yards if ran right in the middle, but that hole was pretty well stuffed also.

Lack of creativity is what lead this to being a no gain. If there is any type of misdirection on this play, it may have gained more.

You can't get upset at an RB who runs to the right when the play is designed to go to the right just because you have a couple guys on the other side of the field that look like their are blocking well.

 
BigRedBuster said:
klb835 said:
Mavric said:
zoogs said:
Food for thought:



This is RBs making the line just look bad.

There's more to this position than just determination and athleticism, though both are important. Decision-making is key. Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah aren't a thousand times faster or tougher than (I think this is Cross?), but there are a lot of yards to be had on this play.
Click to expand...
Yep. Lots of people like to say "But look! We ran the ball three times!" But that's a pretty short-sighted view. Yes, we ran the ball. But we ran in straight ahead with our third string RB. In Cross' defense, there wasn't much of a hole there. But he could have at least gained a couple instead of nothing. And that's what happens when you use basically a three tight end set and the defense knows you're going to run it - there are a bunch of defenders really close to the line.

A little more creativity and a little less predictability could have gone a long ways. And still would have left plenty of run calls available.
Click to expand...
UMMMMMM he scores a touchdown if he runs left there..... instead he cuts it back for no reason
Click to expand...
I fail to see where he would have scored a TD on this play. He ran where the play was designed to run. He may have gained a couple yards if ran right in the middle, but that hole was pretty well stuffed also.

Lack of creativity is what lead this to being a no gain. If there is any type of misdirection on this play, it may have gained more.

You can't get upset at an RB who runs to the right when the play is designed to go to the right just because you have a couple guys on the other side of the field that look like their are blocking well.
Click to expand...
Actually it was blocked very well to the left. It is designed like all zone blocking plays to allow for a cut back, It just didn't need to be cut back. That is the problem with too many RB they always want to see the cut back. Cross would not have been my choice to be in the game at that time. He and Newby hesitate too much sometimes. Ozigbo IMO would have been better at that point.

 
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