The Model for Success at Nebraska: A Strong Physical Running Game

[The Duke]

Nice to hear this from our offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf today 10/13 http://www.omaha.com/huskers/blogs/practice-report-oct-sticking-with-the-run-more-often/article_cefbb72a-71ff-11e5-9922-934c2506f263.html

"We've run the ball pretty well, but there's been times when we've been inconsistent, and you have to stay with those," Langsdorf told reporters. "You get chased out of them when you lose yardage and you might need to stick with them more. I think that's happened a few times--you get spooked. You lose two yards and don't go back to it early enough."

One of the keys to having an effective running game is to stay committed to it...even when it's not initially working. This not only helps the offensive line and running back get into a rhythm, but it will do wonders to the play-action passing game.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Having a fullback who is a genuine threat to run can really improve the play action game.

Janovich can be effective as a lead blocker, ball carrier or total deke.

 

[TITANIC VS LUSITANIA]

Sorry, but I'm just not a fan of this West Coast crap. It's been totally ineffective, under both Callahan and Riley. I'd rather have a strong running game that sets up high-completion passes and play-action, instead of tossing it all over the place. One thing in particular I can't stand are all of the screen passes. Rarely do they work and more often than not we lose yardage. But since we're stuck with this scheme for the time being... POB can't get here soon enough.

Tom Osborne was a big fan of the slow developing screen pass. I wasn't a big fan of it back then myself, but it's not a directive of the WCO, just another weapon used by most teams in football. Really popular in the NFL right now.

Last year the common complaint was that we didn't do enough safe screen passes to get the RBs in open space.

Some Husker fans seem to think that any offense that passes a lot is a West Coast Offense. That's not it at all. The whole idea of the WCO was to use passing, running, and all legal offensive weapons in high percentage plays that prevented defenses from keying on any one element or player. The WCO was a "dink and dunk" offense, not a deep passing offense. It led to the high completion percentage you now see throughout football. Although not so much at Nebraska.

I don't think Riley is running a WCO offense per se. If he is, so is almost every other coach in the NCAA.

I think his is closer to it than some others. In the NCAA its a mix of coaching trees, and each one seems to borrow from the other. By chance, do you know if the play Tommy calls in the huddle has the Bill Walsh nomenclature? i.e. "Green Right 79 X Hook " or something similar?

The big hallmark of the WCO is the timed passing, which (from Tommy's comments) was not something emphasized under Beck's offense, or at least not to the same degree.

I actually like the WCO, but one small tweak I would make is to put Tommy under center more often, because I think there is a stronger run threat there, and it sets up the bootleg pass, which I feel is Tommy's best pass, when he rolls out. My guess is Tommy feels more comfortable in the gun, because it is what he is used to though.

 

[Hujan]

I agree with the OP 100%, but let's be clear: The need to rely on a running game versus a passing game is a college football issue, not just a Nebraska issue.

College QBs with solid mechanics, the ability to read defenses, work through progressions, and make sound decisions are very few and far between. It's much easier to find fast, strong kids who can see and hit a hole and to assemble some big uglies to open them up.

Assuming you have a decent offense yourself, if you had to pick a defense to stop either the run or the pass at the college level, I'll take the run every time. Why? Because few teams have the ability to beat you consistently through the air. Take away the run, and many teams will fold, especially if you can control the clock with a solid ground game of your own.

I think the defense is actually not far off. We've been hammered by injuries and have a talent deficit at the two key positions in Banker's scheme: Corner and end.

But short of a blue chip QB, the offense will never excel unless Riley uses this as an opportunity to commit to an offense defined first and foremost by a power-run game, complimented with screens and play-action passing. Riley would not even have to abandon many of his fundamental concepts. For example, the fly motion he likes would be a great compliment to a power-run game as it adds an extra wrinkle to defend.

All he has to do is change the run/pass balance and place an emphasis on devising productive run plays. He also needs to go with the best pure running back, not the best pass protector. Does anyone know if that kid from LSU can pass block worth a damn? Or are we too focused on the fact that he's gone over 1,000 rushing yards in his first five games of the season?

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Riley has actually re-introduced the tight end and the fullback to the offense, which many of us had been clamoring for. We also demanded more short, safe RB screens for Tommy last season, now claim not to like them.

A 50/50 split is hardly abandoning the run. Especially on a team still auditioning running backs for the Helu/Burkhead/Abdullah role, and finding the best candidate is the Senior fullback who'd been ignored for three seasons.

And in fairness to Tim Beck and Shawn Watson, they ran offenses that produced three of the most prolific rushing careers in the rich history of Nebraska running backs.

The balance isn't that far off.

And a glance over at the last of the great pound-the-rock offenses finds Georgia Tech also at 2 - 4, having pounded the rock 41 times last week for a grand total of 70 yards.

 

[GBRedneck]

It sounds like this Riley fellow is doing a bang up job. Hip hip hooray!

 

[Dansker]

Nebraska is unique. TO fully took advantage of the unique attributes of Nebraska with his system. A WCO could work if all the stars aligned perfectly, but you're swimming upstream trying to implement that type of offense. It doesn't fit in well with TO's entire philosophy.

Nebraska football as we know it began when Bob Devaney rescued Nebraska from the "three yards and a cloud of dust" offense of Bill Jennings. Devaney's first play as coach in 1962 was a forward pass, and Memorial Stadium gave it a standing ovation.

TO helped Bob Devaney win Nebraska's first two national championships by introducing MORE passing and indeed more complicated offensive sets to the previously conservative run-heavy scheme.

As HC, it took Tom a full nine seasons before he settled into the power option game we remember. It took him 20 years and a perfect set of recruits on both offense and defense to create the 1990s powerhouses we remember -- and to shut up Tom's critics.

Tom Osborne is on record as saying that the run-happy offense he once perfected probably wouldn't work in today's game. So there's that.

It is increasingly hard to recruit top tier players for a scheme that doesn't prepare them for the NFL.

Who is the dream candidate you'd choose to replace Riley? Have you vetted his run/pass ratio? If Riley is pass-happy, then so is everyone in college football.

And let me get this straight: you celebrate the appearance of Andy Janovich and cheer the revival of the fullback trap, but withhold all credit for the coach who pulled it out of the mothballs and continues to run it?

I've asked this on two other threads and gotten no answer:

Assuming he was available (he wasn't) would you have grabbed Paul Johnson and his run-first offense for Nebraska in a heartbeat?

Would it change your mind that Johnson is currently 2 - 4 at Georgia Tech, with worse losing margins than Mike Riley at Nebraska?

This is a silly comparison considering the fact that Paul Johnson has a career winning record of 167-78, 4 ACC division titles, and an ACC conference championship.

Silly comparisons are the lifeblood HuskerBoard.

So if Georgia Tech were to freak out about the team getting off to a 2-4 start and Johnson became available, would you grab him?

Right, I'm not for Paul Johnson. I just think your analogy is lacking. That is all.

 

[Dansker]

Riley has actually re-introduced the tight end and the fullback to the offense, which many of us had been clamoring for. We also demanded more short, safe RB screens for Tommy last season, now claim not to like them.

A 50/50 split is hardly abandoning the run. Especially on a team still auditioning running backs for the Helu/Burkhead/Abdullah role, and finding the best candidate is the Senior fullback who'd been ignored for three seasons.

And in fairness to Tim Beck and Shawn Watson, they ran offenses that produced three of the most prolific rushing careers in the rich history of Nebraska running backs.

The balance isn't that far off.

And a glance over at the last of the great pound-the-rock offenses finds Georgia Tech also at 2 - 4, having pounded the rock 41 times last week for a grand total of 70 yards.

Tight end has been nearly non-existant this year. We can't even setup a screen with our O-Line while our QB couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat.

 

[Dansker]

Nice to hear this from our offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf today 10/13 http://www.omaha.com/huskers/blogs/practice-report-oct-sticking-with-the-run-more-often/article_cefbb72a-71ff-11e5-9922-934c2506f263.html

"We've run the ball pretty well, but there's been times when we've been inconsistent, and you have to stay with those," Langsdorf told reporters. "You get chased out of them when you lose yardage and you might need to stick with them more. I think that's happened a few times--you get spooked. You lose two yards and don't go back to it early enough."

One of the keys to having an effective running game is to stay committed to it...even when it's not initially working. This not only helps the offensive line and running back get into a rhythm, but it will do wonders to the play-action passing game.

This is what's aggravating when our rookie OC ditches the run game in favor of vertical incomplete passes back to back to back. You can't have a solid run game if you fail to work at it but the coaches see differently they see that our passing game is failing so they'd rather make that their primary fix.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Nebraska is unique. TO fully took advantage of the unique attributes of Nebraska with his system. A WCO could work if all the stars aligned perfectly, but you're swimming upstream trying to implement that type of offense. It doesn't fit in well with TO's entire philosophy.

Nebraska football as we know it began when Bob Devaney rescued Nebraska from the "three yards and a cloud of dust" offense of Bill Jennings. Devaney's first play as coach in 1962 was a forward pass, and Memorial Stadium gave it a standing ovation.

TO helped Bob Devaney win Nebraska's first two national championships by introducing MORE passing and indeed more complicated offensive sets to the previously conservative run-heavy scheme.

As HC, it took Tom a full nine seasons before he settled into the power option game we remember. It took him 20 years and a perfect set of recruits on both offense and defense to create the 1990s powerhouses we remember -- and to shut up Tom's critics.

Tom Osborne is on record as saying that the run-happy offense he once perfected probably wouldn't work in today's game. So there's that.

It is increasingly hard to recruit top tier players for a scheme that doesn't prepare them for the NFL.

Who is the dream candidate you'd choose to replace Riley? Have you vetted his run/pass ratio? If Riley is pass-happy, then so is everyone in college football.

And let me get this straight: you celebrate the appearance of Andy Janovich and cheer the revival of the fullback trap, but withhold all credit for the coach who pulled it out of the mothballs and continues to run it?

I've asked this on two other threads and gotten no answer:

Assuming he was available (he wasn't) would you have grabbed Paul Johnson and his run-first offense for Nebraska in a heartbeat?

Would it change your mind that Johnson is currently 2 - 4 at Georgia Tech, with worse losing margins than Mike Riley at Nebraska?

This is a silly comparison considering the fact that Paul Johnson has a career winning record of 167-78, 4 ACC division titles, and an ACC conference championship.

Silly comparisons are the lifeblood HuskerBoard.

So if Georgia Tech were to freak out about the team getting off to a 2-4 start and Johnson became available, would you grab him?

Right, I'm not for Paul Johnson. I just think your analogy is lacking. That is all.

It's not a perfect analogy, but it's still a relevant question for people wishing we could grab someone else immediately.

Would you hire Paul Johnson in a heartbeat, or does GT's current 2-4 record and exposed offensive liabilities give you serious pause?

Should a coach with last year's #8 team and offensive scheme well in place be given a pass for his current 2-4 start?

Would he be expected to do better, starting from scratch at Nebraska?

 

[The Duke]

This is what's aggravating when our rookie OC ditches the run game in favor of vertical incomplete passes back to back to back. You can't have a solid run game if you fail to work at it but the coaches see differently they see that our passing game is failing so they'd rather make that their primary fix.

I agree with mostly all you had to say, but please let's be fair to the man...Danny Langsdorf is not a rookie offensive coordinator. Give the man his due credit, he does have experience.

Here is his past coordinating experience:

2000-2001 Edmonton Eskimos (OC/QB)

2005-2013 Oregon State (OC/QB)

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Some Husker fans never remember those 3 and outs when we run the ball.

But they never, ever forget two consecutive incomplete passes.

 

[The Duke]

Mike'l Severe & Joe Ganz from The Omaha World Herald's The Bottom Line give a good breakdown of one of the plays Nebraska has tried to establish this year...

Quarterback Counter.

http://studio.omaha.com/Play-Breakdown--QB-Counter-29812481?vcid=29812481&freewheel=91341&sitesection=omahawh

These are the kind of plays Nebraska needs to utilize more often, especially when Tommy is struggling throwing the ball.

 

[Kernal]

Mike'l Severe & Joe Ganz from The Omaha World Herald's The Bottom Line give a good breakdown of one of the plays Nebraska has tried to establish this year...

Quarterback Counter.

http://studio.omaha.com/Play-Breakdown--QB-Counter-29812481?vcid=29812481&freewheel=91341&sitesection=omahawh

These are the kind of plays Nebraska needs to utilize more often, especially when Tommy is struggling throwing the ball.

I agree with this. I'm not sure about going all the way back to the old 80s & 90s offenses (not that I wouldn't like to see it, but I just don't think it's realistic anymore) but we do need to have a good mix of plays that we can consistently execute, and a good bit of them need to be running plays.

 

[Count 'Bility]

To save this season Tommy will have to be allowed to run the ball more. Its that simple. Theres a trend ive studied. When he gets going with his legs, and his attempts go down, his competence and completion % in the pass game soar. As does the whole teams win/liss success. This is not coincidence. Its a pattern dating back to his first start in 2013. Hes a thumper. Ges 6-2, 220 pounds. Hes the most physical-and in my opinion- most skilled running back we have. Feed him.