Running

[lo country]

Guys watch the game again - Wisc was too fast on the outside. There were no easy yards around the line of scrimmage. This game was not won or lost by Langs - it came down to who was better in the trenches and it wasn't NU.

They were. A really fundamentally sound defense. Which, to me anyway, screams to try something different instead of playing into the teeth of that defense. We spent an awful lot of time in 3rd and long situations because first and second down were runs between the tackles that were stuffed.

A fast defense often takes themselves out of position on any type of misdirection or play fake, but didn't really try much of that. A 10 yard deep reverse to our slowest receiver? I really didn't understand that one.

The other stuff very well might not have worked either, their defense is that good, but don't you at least have to try something different?

IIRC, 2009 Huskers faced offenses that realized the D was quick, aggressive and suseptable to some misdirection, double moves etc..... They'd role the pocket, roll out the QB, do counters etc.... My complaint was that Langs dod not appear to try and do any of that. Same against Indiana and Purdue. NU had enough talent over the first two and not enough against the latter. It didn't work. We didn't wear them out. We needed to try something different and didn't.

 

[Landlord]

Why is Wisconsin the perfect example of what our offense will look like without a dual-threat quarterback? We're not allowed to look at Michigan, Michigan State, Washington, Boise, Oklahoma State, Miami or others for possible results of less-mobile-quarterback-heavy offenses?

 

[3rd and long]

I don't think your QB has to be mobile. If he is thats great, it adds another facet for the defense to be aware of. But if you still have quality backs and receivers (which we do and wii have next year) it's not a must have. As long as your QB is accurate.

To be honest right now I'd take a good accurate QB. I love Tommy, he plays his heart out, but right now it appears his mobility is a huge question mark. Without having that running threat, and the reality that his accuracy levels are too low, he's just an average QB.

I think if we get some improvemt from our OL, with the quality we have at the skill positions, a statue QB will do just fine next year. Just think of the open passes we've missed over the last two seasons. How much difference if we have a QB who consistently completes those throws? Just think of the missed opportunities last night.

And again, not meant as a bash on Tommy. I've been one of his biggest fans during his tenure here (it's another topic if we've played to his strengths or not). But the reality is he's just an average passer at best.

 

[husker98]

Been saying this since the start of last year.

And I have no idea why we tried to go with Wilbon and Ozigbo in the 3rd/4th quarter. Newby was our best offense tonight (when we weren't running him up Utter's butt). Then he disappears.

Newby did get dinged with an ankle injury but don't know why NU didn't try more outside runs with Newby.

Because Newby isn't as fast or as good as you all think he is. Thats why. We weren't fast enough to out run them sideline to sideline, especially when Watt and Biegle where in there, the failed WR sweeps demonstrated this in abundance. And Newby isn't shifty enough to get by NFL level guys.

Our best chance was up the gut where their Nose guard was hurt and interior backers out with injury. Their back ups beat our back ups in the middle fair and square and we lost. Get over it.

The offensive game plan could have included more read option, wiskey bit hard on that a couple times, but in the end i'm not sure it would have mattered. The badgers adjusted extremely well through out the game.

It's time to move on.

 

[lo country]

Why is Wisconsin the perfect example of what our offense will look like without a dual-threat quarterback? We're not allowed to look at Michigan, Michigan State, Washington, Boise, Oklahoma State, Miami or others for possible results of less-mobile-quarterback-heavy offenses?

I agree. See also Stanford, FSU, Clemson....... POB had 640 yrds on on 143 carries Junior year. 4.5/carry average..... He's not immobile. Far from it. A QB doesn't have to be a dual threat to be an effective runner. Just have to be a threat to extend plays with your legs. He appears to be quick enough, big enough etc.... to do some designed runs IMO.

An accurate, less mobile QB can be just as effective in the running game. One can't crowd the box with a QB capable of throwing all over the place. If you choose to double team receivers, it opens up the running game. A less mobile QB could look like a hypeman in those situations..... We've witnessed that enough.............

 

[84HuskerLaw]

QBs who are not a serious threat to make plays with their legs (Tommy vs. Fyfe for example) are much easier to defend. Of course, if you have all American wide outs and a NFL calibler thrower, you will find a lot of success even with Payton Manning back there. But a great defense (think Payton Manning at Tennessee vs. Nebraska in the bowl game, for example) gets ugly. Certainly, there are very few Payton Mannings and Nebraska's never had one and I dare say Riley's probably not had many either.

However, the biggest asset that a QB like Tommy brings to the table is sack avoidance and loss avoidance. I am sure one could review all the film from our first 8 games and count up probably as many as 40 or more plays where Tommy avoided what wiould have been a drive killing QB sack for loss. We have had dam few because he is dam hard for even the best pass rushers to catch before he runs for yards or throws it away or even better buys time and finds a receiver to make a real positive play with. Payton Manning or Bret Favre could NOT do this. Now in the NFL they pass block with offensive lines who are the best money can buy. They also expect to throw some away but never do they expect Payton Manning to scramble for a 20 yard game winning TD! In Lincoln, we do.

Next year we will experience what I am deathly afraid will be the worst of both worlds when we (according to most on this Board anyway) have to sit back and enjoy Tanner Lee (third string 'star' of Tulane I recall) take the snap and get swallowed up by the overwhelming pass rush of most teams we play. Our O line will have to make huge strides from where it is now certainly. Personally, I hope and pray I am wrong but without ANY QB experience next year and without any apparent 'dual threat' (I define to be RB skills with a decent passing and 6'-3 and 225 or bigger), I predict we will NOT have a winning season. Yes, I hate to say it but realistically, our top I Back will be Ozigbo (I really like, followed by Bryant and Wilbon). Because they didn't win the starting job this year, it is arguable that these guys ARE NOT all conference caliber. We should have an all conference RB EVERY freeking year!!! IMO.

We have perhaps the best package of receivers in the post championship era (last 20 years right) yet we are not really considered a strong passing offense. Why? Because we don't pass protect and our passer is not hitting the open receivers often enough to seriously scare defenses into playing the pass respectfully enough. They cheat on the run and literally dare us to throw on them. Why? Because they believe we are not accurate enough and we don't pass block well enough and Tommy does not find the open receivers often enough.

Lets all hope POB or Tanner turn out to be mobile and sack avoidance capable or wins will be hard to come by in 2017.

 

[Nebfanatic]

QBs who are not a serious threat to make plays with their legs (Tommy vs. Fyfe for example) are much easier to defend. Of course, if you have all American wide outs and a NFL calibler thrower, you will find a lot of success even with Payton Manning back there. But a great defense (think Payton Manning at Tennessee vs. Nebraska in the bowl game, for example) gets ugly. Certainly, there are very few Payton Mannings and Nebraska's never had one and I dare say Riley's probably not had many either.

However, the biggest asset that a QB like Tommy brings to the table is sack avoidance and loss avoidance. I am sure one could review all the film from our first 8 games and count up probably as many as 40 or more plays where Tommy avoided what wiould have been a drive killing QB sack for loss. We have had dam few because he is dam hard for even the best pass rushers to catch before he runs for yards or throws it away or even better buys time and finds a receiver to make a real positive play with. Payton Manning or Bret Favre could NOT do this. Now in the NFL they pass block with offensive lines who are the best money can buy. They also expect to throw some away but never do they expect Payton Manning to scramble for a 20 yard game winning TD! In Lincoln, we do.

Next year we will experience what I am deathly afraid will be the worst of both worlds when we (according to most on this Board anyway) have to sit back and enjoy Tanner Lee (third string 'star' of Tulane I recall) take the snap and get swallowed up by the overwhelming pass rush of most teams we play. Our O line will have to make huge strides from where it is now certainly. Personally, I hope and pray I am wrong but without ANY QB experience next year and without any apparent 'dual threat' (I define to be RB skills with a decent passing and 6'-3 and 225 or bigger), I predict we will NOT have a winning season. Yes, I hate to say it but realistically, our top I Back will be Ozigbo (I really like, followed by Bryant and Wilbon). Because they didn't win the starting job this year, it is arguable that these guys ARE NOT all conference caliber. We should have an all conference RB EVERY freeking year!!! IMO.

We have perhaps the best package of receivers in the post championship era (last 20 years right) yet we are not really considered a strong passing offense. Why? Because we don't pass protect and our passer is not hitting the open receivers often enough to seriously scare defenses into playing the pass respectfully enough. They cheat on the run and literally dare us to throw on them. Why? Because they believe we are not accurate enough and we don't pass block well enough and Tommy does not find the open receivers often enough.

Lets all hope POB or Tanner turn out to be mobile and sack avoidance capable or wins will be hard to come by in 2017.

teams dare us to throw because TA is mistake prone and inaccurate mainly due to bad footwork. Tommy has a cannon and when he steps into throws they are usually on the money. Lately he has rarely done this.
A QB who isn't an elite athlete is not a death sentence for our offense. Our qb's will be coached in rush avoidance and step up into the pocket instead of Tommy's patented spin out to the sideline move. We can have success throwing to our athletes on time and on target. The key is having a guy who can do that. If we do the passing game will be dangerous and that will open up our running game which I think will be solid we have a few good young backs. We may take a few more sacks but we will make up for that with more consistent play in the passing game

 

[C N Red]

Guys watch the game again - Wisc was too fast on the outside. There were no easy yards around the line of scrimmage. This game was not won or lost by Langs - it came down to who was better in the trenches and it wasn't NU.

I watched the game. We had a fair amount of good outside runs. Better than anything we did up the middle. What really irks me is TA has to be able to take that game over in OT. He needs to call his own number and use his feet.Also, i know we are injured in the Oline, but i thought we had better depth than we do. Right now our weakest area on the team is by far the Oline. Pretty disappointed in it to say the least.

 

[In the Deed the Glory]

QBs who are not a serious threat to make plays with their legs (Tommy vs. Fyfe for example) are much easier to defend. Of course, if you have all American wide outs and a NFL calibler thrower, you will find a lot of success even with Payton Manning back there. But a great defense (think Payton Manning at Tennessee vs. Nebraska in the bowl game, for example) gets ugly. Certainly, there are very few Payton Mannings and Nebraska's never had one and I dare say Riley's probably not had many either.

However, the biggest asset that a QB like Tommy brings to the table is sack avoidance and loss avoidance. I am sure one could review all the film from our first 8 games and count up probably as many as 40 or more plays where Tommy avoided what wiould have been a drive killing QB sack for loss. We have had dam few because he is dam hard for even the best pass rushers to catch before he runs for yards or throws it away or even better buys time and finds a receiver to make a real positive play with. Payton Manning or Bret Favre could NOT do this. Now in the NFL they pass block with offensive lines who are the best money can buy. They also expect to throw some away but never do they expect Payton Manning to scramble for a 20 yard game winning TD! In Lincoln, we do.

Next year we will experience what I am deathly afraid will be the worst of both worlds when we (according to most on this Board anyway) have to sit back and enjoy Tanner Lee (third string 'star' of Tulane I recall) take the snap and get swallowed up by the overwhelming pass rush of most teams we play. Our O line will have to make huge strides from where it is now certainly. Personally, I hope and pray I am wrong but without ANY QB experience next year and without any apparent 'dual threat' (I define to be RB skills with a decent passing and 6'-3 and 225 or bigger), I predict we will NOT have a winning season. Yes, I hate to say it but realistically, our top I Back will be Ozigbo (I really like, followed by Bryant and Wilbon). Because they didn't win the starting job this year, it is arguable that these guys ARE NOT all conference caliber. We should have an all conference RB EVERY freeking year!!! IMO.

We have perhaps the best package of receivers in the post championship era (last 20 years right) yet we are not really considered a strong passing offense. Why? Because we don't pass protect and our passer is not hitting the open receivers often enough to seriously scare defenses into playing the pass respectfully enough. They cheat on the run and literally dare us to throw on them. Why? Because they believe we are not accurate enough and we don't pass block well enough and Tommy does not find the open receivers often enough.

Lets all hope POB or Tanner turn out to be mobile and sack avoidance capable or wins will be hard to come by in 2017.

The bolded is not true AT ALL. This is exactly what Favre did that made him special.

 

[Mavric]

Guys watch the game again - Wisc was too fast on the outside. There were no easy yards around the line of scrimmage. This game was not won or lost by Langs - it came down to who was better in the trenches and it wasn't NU.

If you don't think we could make yards to the outside, you either didn't watch the game or are being intentionally ignorant.

 

[Stumpy1]

I watched the game and we didn't make many yards when we did run to the outside.

 

[GBRFAN]

Guys watch the game again - Wisc was too fast on the outside. There were no easy yards around the line of scrimmage. This game was not won or lost by Langs - it came down to who was better in the trenches and it wasn't NU.

I watched the game. We had a fair amount of good outside runs. Better than anything we did up the middle. What really irks me is TA has to be able to take that game over in OT. He needs to call his own number and use his feet.Also, i know we are injured in the Oline, but i thought we had better depth than we do. Right now our weakest area on the team is by far the Oline. Pretty disappointed in it to say the least.

Agree with the OT with only 25 yards of field open it would have been nice to give TA some ability to win it with his legs and maybe a short pass while on the outside. The OT runs up the middle were weak, however it is easy for me to say that now after seeing the results. We have depth on the OL they are just too young (gates is a rare case). This line will become twice as good next season and then again the following.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Something ive boticed is we just dont do a lot of pin/pull. It was Devines td tun 3plays into 2nd qtr when we saw the forst bit of pulling action by any oline. Mid 2nd qtr ive seen one pull play and one wham technique. Ive thought this all year. We seem real bland up front and seldom do anything to take advantage of angles and freate any deception.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Why is Wisconsin the perfect example of what our offense will look like without a dual-threat quarterback? We're not allowed to look at Michigan, Michigan State, Washington, Boise, Oklahoma State, Miami or others for possible results of less-mobile-quarterback-heavy offenses?

I agree. See also Stanford, FSU, Clemson....... POB had 640 yrds on on 143 carries Junior year. 4.5/carry average..... He's not immobile. Far from it. A QB doesn't have to be a dual threat to be an effective runner. Just have to be a threat to extend plays with your legs. He appears to be quick enough, big enough etc.... to do some designed runs IMO.
An accurate, less mobile QB can be just as effective in the running game. One can't crowd the box with a QB capable of throwing all over the place. If you choose to double team receivers, it opens up the running game. A less mobile QB could look like a hypeman in those situations..... We've witnessed that enough.............

Stanford's offense is dead last in FBS in total offense this year. Florida State is using a dual threat QB as a freshman. Clemson uses a dual threat QB. Miami, FL is in the 60s in total offense, with a 3rd year starting QB. I will give Jake Browning at Washington, as he is great. Michigan State's offense is always a mess unless they have a future NFL QB there. Look at this year. Boise State is in the Mountain West and just lost to Wyoming. Oklahoma State has a good offense, but so does 3/4 of the Big 12.

 

[GBRFAN]

Guys watch the game again - Wisc was too fast on the outside. There were no easy yards around the line of scrimmage. This game was not won or lost by Langs - it came down to who was better in the trenches and it wasn't NU.

If you don't think we could make yards to the outside, you either didn't watch the game or are being intentionally ignorant.

No I leave that up to you - your pretty good at it.

If you couldn't see that they had team speed on the edges than I don't know how to help you. We probably ran more times inside then out, however our RB yards were very equal if you total the inside runs to the outside runs.