The Education of Cody Green

[Paul in WI]

I'd put my money on a beat-up OU to roll USC right now. USC's just not that good. Now, concerning the game this Saturday.....if the Huskers don't play a perfect game AND get some lucky breaks, this is going to be a beat down of legendary proportions. OU is light-years beyond the W-L record that they bring in to Lincoln. If our offense can't keep their offense off the field, we're toast. Go horizontal, we're toast. Chances are.....we're toast.

 

[Hunter94]

I am groaning over the NFL reference.

agree, the only way we win this game is if the D scores 2 TD's....take it to the bank.

 

[nemajordude]

The reference to the NFL type game plan, sounds a lot like BC's game plan against USC in 06. That was a hard game to watch.

It may have been a hard game to watch but we were a Marlon Lucky fumble away from having a fighting chance. I'm no fan boy of Billy C and the Boys but I do feel like that game gets maligned more than it should. I don't think we have the skill on offense to execute that kind of game plan right now however.

GBR!!!

Amen.

 

[shyndy]

I agree. I think that you shouldn't even have the mentality of "trying to get into third and manageables" because you shouldn't even want to see a first down. Your mentality on offense should be trying to get a first down or more on every play.

And having that mentality will keep you from being a great team. Sure, I'd love to score a TD every play, or get a first down every play. Really, if every play is executed to perfection, that is the result that you will get. The only offensive plays not designed to score a TD are the spike, knee, and occasionally the dive/QB sneak if its not on the goal line. Under your mindset, we should always throw a long pass on 2nd and long, which is outrageous IMO. Sure, if your WR can get open deep consistently, call the plays that go that long, but the simple fact is against most defenses you CAN'T try to get a 1st down or more every play, playcalling-wise. I think you are forgetting the fact that there is another group on the other side of the ball.

I'm not saying you throw hail mary's every down. I would imagine most passing plays would have the chance for big yardage though, its not like you "call the short pass" and "call the long pass." What I am saying is that when you talk and talk and talk about third downs and how you hope to get into them that your offense maybe, just maybe might absorb a mentality of it taking 3 downs to get a first down, a sort of lethargic "there's always the next down" sort of attitude instead of an agressive go after it on every play mentality. I'm not talking about actual play calling, but the attitude of averaging 3 yards a play.

 

[shyndy]

I just think Watson's mentality, especially against a team like OU, is wrong. If we are gonna beat them, we need to take shots downfield. We need to get Niles Paul in single coverage and give him a shot deep. We need to get McNeill down the middle of the field for 15-20 yards. We don't need to treat it like an NFL game. That whole dink and dunk mentality is part of the reason our offense has been so inept this season. The WR screens and short hooks and outs to the sideline might work for a well-oiled NFL team with great talent and countless hours of practice. But it's not going to beat anyone in the college game, with an inexperienced offense without any real playmakers. Those passes are high risk with a true freshman quarterback (see: Baylor pick six) and low reward with average receivers. That's not a good combination.

Getting in 3rd and 4 isn't going to save us against OU, because our running game isn't capable of getting four yards, and our short passing game is too slow and simple for a defense like OU's. Although I would rather have it the other way around, our passing game (and particularly downfield passes >10 yards) is going to have to set up our running game. We need to take shots on 1st and 10 and mix up the playcalling enough to possibly get some big chunks in the running game on occasion. Then we'll hopefully be able to get some nice gains off simple play action passes like the one to Kyler Reed.

That is the best chance we have to get a few scores against that defense. Watson's offense, at least in the form it's been for most of this season, will result in a couple pick sixes and maybe 3 points.

I agree. I think that you shouldn't even have the mentality of "trying to get into third and manageables" because you shouldn't even want to see a first down. Your mentality on offense should be trying to get a first down or more on every play.

In other words, never run.

why? did i say that? beside I'm talking about attitude not play calling in what I said. I didn't know it was illegal for a run to get more than 10 yards.

 

[melscott62]

i'd say that game plan worked