Nebfanatic
All-American
read the context bro. You clearly have a rational idea of where we would like to be in terms of rushing, balance, ect.Can you please drop the crazy, strawman argument that those of us who favor a physical, hard-nose, smashmouth style of offense where running the ball is the focus...The only thing I'm defending is the fact that the dominant teams in college football tend to have smashmouth running games, finesse passing games, and shutdown defenses. They don't feel obliged to choose one over the other.I'll take 400 yds rushing on VHS over 169 yds on DVR. Hell 169 yds wasnt even a good day for Calvin Jones.See whats hard for guys like us, is to see how far the program has fallen, and then you have guys who defend it. Like being a crappy version of 1994 Penn St. is something to aspire to. No thanks. That Never was the Nebraska way. At least not when we were playing like Champions.DVD is either a troll or he needs to change his name to VHS.
This notion that Nebraska can return to greatness simply by calling 80% running plays like the good ol' days is nostalgia, not strategy.
There isn't a football coach -- including Mike Riley -- who won't keep running the ball for 400 yards a game if the defense lets him. But better teams don't allow you to run all over them -- which was true in Osborne's time, too. If you look back at Osborne's 25 years as HC, the scheme worked best with a shytload of talent on both sides of the ball.
That we want Riley to be 80% run...and to call running plays up the middle without regard to what the defensive front is, or is doing? Thank you.
As I have stated in another thread, Riley's issue (despite his claims) is he simply doesn't believe in the running game. Now he can prove me wrong, but given Langsdorf's play-calling (and by extension Riley's) the past two years, we're only going to throw the ball more, not less, with the QBs we have now. I mean we actually have an OC in Langsdorf who said in quote to the media that he didn't think he could call the same running play twice in row.
Listen, I want Mike Riley to be successful. I want him to bring Nebraska back into the elite of college football. I'm just not convinced or believe he can do it with the weak sauce style of offense we've seen the last two years.
That's not to say we can't, offensively in terms of stats, resemble Clemson and get the job done, I'd just prefer to statistically, be closer to Ohio State in terms run versus pass in the year they won the national title.
What that means is, Riley and Langsdorf have to figure out how to incorporate mis-directions, counters, using lineman that can pull and trap, etc. Nebraska desperately needs variety in the running game. And why can't Riley have Wilbon and Bryant in the backfield at the same time? Why is it always a 1 back or 1 RB and a FB?
Like I said, I want Riley to win and there are lots of ways to do it. But if you're going to play the odds...Running the ball, playing tenacious defense, and being solid to great in the kicking game is a pretty good way to go about running a football team--at any level.
DVD on the other hand does not. 400 yards a game on the ground is not reasonable and would require running the ball 80% of the time or more. That was what Guy Chamberlin was saying, not that anyone who wants a smashed mouth attack feels this way. Read the thread man. All of this is directed at those who believe we have to get back to 400 yards a game on the ground and nothing else will do.