SI's Andy Staples on Husker's National Perception

[Mavric]

"When they played good teams last year, they got destroyed," he said. "They were good against bad teams, and just got hammered by good teams. That's pretty troubling."

In the interest of fairness, Nebraska pushed Wisconsin into overtime and were every bit as talented as the Badgers, who ended up ranked ninth in the final Associated Press Top 25.

But, yeah, Staples has a point.

"The other thing is, if you're going to run a pro-style offense you need to be able to get those five-star offensive linemen," he said. "You need to have Florida State-type talent. Florida State runs the pro-style offense because they have better players than almost everybody they play."

He believes that spread-option offenses -- like the one Tim Beck ran at Nebraska -- are designed to close talent gaps.

"If Nebraska isn't athletically superior to most of the teams it plays, I worry about how much success they'll have," he said.

LJS

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Yeah, I guess I'll have to defer to the experts, but I've never understood why the spread option requires a less talented offensive line. In the spread option you need big guys who can quickly pull and run laterally, which only adds to the skillset. And because you can't telegraph the spread option every play, you'll still have to operate a regular diet of power running and drop-back pass protection.

I can't think of any offense where you can say "the OL doesn't have to be that great." Tom Osborne's teams were the opposite of a pro-style offense, but our OL talent drove the bus.

And I think the number of QBs who can run a pro-style offense at the highest level are comparable to the number of QBs who can run the dual-threat spread option at the highest level. They're rare. Everyone else is in between. And it seems like the Tommy Armstrong/Taylor Martinez dual threat QB actually requires more out of an offensive line. It's fun for the QB to improvise, not so much for an OL trying to avoid holding penalties.

 

[Mavric]

The theory is you're not just lining up and having to beat people one-on-one much of the time. You aren't just trying to run straight at people and they aren't stuck in straight pass-pro as much. You spread the defense out so there is more space and the line doesn't have to dominate, just get in someone's way for the fast guys with the ball to get around them. Everything works better with a better line. But there are ways of scheming to play to your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

I've been saying basically that for a couple years now. Many have tried to talk down our offensive line and say we were forced to throw more because they weren't opening holes. I'm not saying they've been great, but I think what a lot of people are missing is that a lot of comes down to what the defense can do because of the type of offense we are running. When you run a lot of 10 and 11 personnel, the defense can really only afford to have at most six guys in the box and sometimes only five. That naturally creates more room to run. When you run a lot of 12 or 21 personnel, they're almost always going to have seven guys in the box and maybe eight. So defenses aren't "stacking the box and daring us to throw." They are properly aligning to the offense we are running. And if there are more defenders in the box, your line has to be that much better to create room to run. Plus there are more defenders than the line can block anyway so even if they are doing a good job that doesn't guarantee success.

 

[GSG]

The theory is you're not just lining up and having to beat people one-on-one much of the time. You aren't just trying to run straight at people and they aren't stuck in straight pass-pro as much. You spread the defense out so there is more space and the line doesn't have to dominate, just get in someone's way for the fast guys with the ball to get around them. Everything works better with a better line. But there are ways of scheming to play to your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

I've been saying basically that for a couple years now. Many have tried to talk down our offensive line and say we were forced to throw more because they weren't opening holes. I'm not saying they've been great, but I think what a lot of people are missing is that a lot of comes down to what the defense can do because of the type of offense we are running. When you run a lot of 10 and 11 personnel, the defense can really only afford to have at most six guys in the box and sometimes only five. That naturally creates more room to run. When you run a lot of 12 or 21 personnel, they're almost always going to have seven guys in the box and maybe eight. So defenses aren't "stacking the box and daring us to throw." They are properly aligning to the offense we are running. And if there are more defenders in the box, your line has to be that much better to create room to run. Plus there are more defenders than the line can block anyway so even if they are doing a good job that doesn't guarantee success.

Sounds like some of the breakdown in this article about Tulsa's offense: https://www.footballstudyhall.com/2017/6/23/15855410/tulsa-golden-hurricane-junkyard-wars-offense-phil-montgomery

Everything detailed above is great and immensely valuable to programs like Tulsa that need to figure out how to control the line of scrimmage without access to premium talent. Tulsa’s diverse run game, spread spacing, and RPO mix is masterful for accomplishing this goal, but over the last couple of weeks we’ve detailed other approaches that can arrive at the same end game.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

But I thought Lee's passing was going to open up the run game?

 

[Mavric]

Sounds like some of the breakdown in this article about Tulsa's offense: https://www.footballstudyhall.com/2017/6/23/15855410/tulsa-golden-hurricane-junkyard-wars-offense-phil-montgomery

Everything detailed above is great and immensely valuable to programs like Tulsa that need to figure out how to control the line of scrimmage without access to premium talent. Tulsa’s diverse run game, spread spacing, and RPO mix is masterful for accomplishing this goal, but over the last couple of weeks we’ve detailed other approaches that can arrive at the same end game.

Yep, pretty much. Thanks for the link.

 

[GBRFAN]

I believe that the talent gap is closed with the spread offense in every group except the line. We are getting near elite talent at all the spots except o-line and as long as the o-line can handle their task we will hold our own.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I think our offensive line has done pretty well with what's been asked of it. It's hardly the weak link. There's room for everyone to get better. I'd just like NU to go back to treating OL as a skill position. That would be our calling card.

In fairness, Tommy Armstrong often had plenty of time to stand in the pocket and throw slow-developing long bombs of varying accuracy. Pro-style pass protection wasn't exactly the problem there.

 

[lo country]

The perception is correct. For years we have been dominated by better teams. It happened under Cally, Bo with Ganz,Martinez and TA and Riley with TA.......That's old news. We've run pro style, spread option, multiple, highbred and now pro style. 3 coached, several styles in two conferences. Either we have hired 3 complete turds for coaches or maybe there is something to the Jimmy's and Joe's argument.......

We are starting to get the talent. We are starting to get recognized for recruiting, we are starting to get what looks to be an incredibly solid staff on the defensive side of the ball. Jury (for me) is still out on Langs and Cav. I'd like to see how well Langs can call a game with his style guys under center. He, like Beck, showed flashes of brilliance, and then went complete stupid.....

 

[SuperBigFan69]

The perception is correct. For years we have been dominated by better teams. It happened under Cally, Bo with Ganz,Martinez and TA and Riley with TA.......That's old news. We've run pro style, spread option, multiple, highbred and now pro style. 3 coached, several styles in two conferences. Either we have hired 3 complete turds for coaches or maybe there is something to the Jimmy's and Joe's argument.......

We are starting to get the talent. We are starting to get recognized for recruiting, we are starting to get what looks to be an incredibly solid staff on the defensive side of the ball. Jury (for me) is still out on Langs and Cav. I'd like to see how well Langs can call a game with his style guys under center. He, like Beck, showed flashes of brilliance, and then went complete stupid.....

I think Langs is safe no matter what (I also thought that with Banker though). I know that other coaches rave about the route concepts that Langs designs and/or borrows from other teams and that is awesome but now we need to see it work on the field.

 

[Saunders]

I believe that the talent gap is closed with the spread offense in every group except the line. We are getting near elite talent at all the spots except o-line and as long as the o-line can handle their task we will hold our own.

I'm using 247's rankings from the recruits page here at huskerboard and I'm using http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/nebraska/91303 for the two deep:

Starting:

LT Nick Gates -

LG Jerald Foster -

C Michael Decker -

RG Tanner Farmer -

RT David Knevel -

Second String

LT Matt Farniok -

LG John Raridon -

C Cole Conrad - Walk-On (probably 2-3 stars)

RG Boe Wilson -

RT Christian Gaylord -

Yeah boy we sure look to be lagging behind. Only 6 out of 10 of our two string O-Line recruits are 4 star. We really suck.

Yup. Now go look at Wisconsin and Iowa's O-line recruits...

Either recruiting rankings are complete B.S. or we're developing guys wrong.

 

[lo country]

I believe that the talent gap is closed with the spread offense in every group except the line. We are getting near elite talent at all the spots except o-line and as long as the o-line can handle their task we will hold our own.

I'm using 247's rankings from the recruits page here at huskerboard and I'm using http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/nebraska/91303 for the two deep:

Starting:

LT Nick Gates -

LG Jerald Foster -

C Michael Decker -

RG Tanner Farmer -

RT David Knevel -

Second String

LT Matt Farniok -

LG John Raridon -

C Cole Conrad - Walk-On (probably 2-3 stars)

RG Boe Wilson -

RT Christian Gaylord -

Yeah boy we sure look to be lagging behind. Only 6 out of 10 of our two string O-Line recruits are 4 star. We really suck.

Yup. Now go look at Wisconsin and Iowa's O-line recruits...

Either recruiting rankings are complete B.S. or we're developing guys wrong.

Culture, attitude and coaching.......

 

[Saunders]

I believe that the talent gap is closed with the spread offense in every group except the line. We are getting near elite talent at all the spots except o-line and as long as the o-line can handle their task we will hold our own.

I'm using 247's rankings from the recruits page here at huskerboard and I'm using http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/nebraska/91303 for the two deep:

Starting:

LT Nick Gates -

LG Jerald Foster -

C Michael Decker -

RG Tanner Farmer -

RT David Knevel -

Second String

LT Matt Farniok -

LG John Raridon -

C Cole Conrad - Walk-On (probably 2-3 stars)

RG Boe Wilson -

RT Christian Gaylord -

Yeah boy we sure look to be lagging behind. Only 6 out of 10 of our two string O-Line recruits are 4 star. We really suck.

Yup. Now go look at Wisconsin and Iowa's O-line recruits...

Either recruiting rankings are complete B.S. or we're developing guys wrong.

Culture, attitude and coaching.......

Yup.

 

[dvdcrr]

Riley doesnt use the pass to open up the run. He uses the pass to open up the PASS.

And the result is usually a well conditioned punt unit.

 

[Saunders]

I believe that the talent gap is closed with the spread offense in every group except the line. We are getting near elite talent at all the spots except o-line and as long as the o-line can handle their task we will hold our own.

I'm using 247's rankings from the recruits page here at huskerboard and I'm using http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/nebraska/91303 for the two deep:

Starting:

LT Nick Gates -

LG Jerald Foster -

C Michael Decker -

RG Tanner Farmer -

RT David Knevel -

Second String

LT Matt Farniok -

LG John Raridon -

C Cole Conrad - Walk-On (probably 2-3 stars)

RG Boe Wilson -

RT Christian Gaylord -

Yeah boy we sure look to be lagging behind. Only 6 out of 10 of our two string O-Line recruits are 4 star. We really suck.

Yup. Now go look at Wisconsin and Iowa's O-line recruits...

Either recruiting rankings are complete B.S. or we're developing guys wrong.

Or perception is wrong on fans part here. OL will take a major step forward this year.

Regardless, we ARE getting elite talent at the position..six 4 stars in a 10 person rotation is fantastic...we don't even have that level at receiver yet. Results on the field haven't been with the recruits from the new coaches and thus, we cannot claim development, culture, or attitude issues exist...we haven't even seen some of them play yet. So we might try waiting and seeing how they are this year before we say there is some kind of systemic infection or that Cav can't coach.

So, now instead of recruiting guys that are the same level, or slightly better, than Wisconsin and Iowa, we're recruiting guys that are much better. Hopefully the OL produces this year, because it's been.. not good the last couple years.