Too much zone read offense?

[Cali Husker]

Just wondering if we are ever going to open up the playbook now that we are in conference play. The zone read isn't going to work against everyone. Where is the play action pass downfield? The play action roll out? The counter run with Helu/Burkhead? Even the wildcat we saw against Arizona last year? Just wondering what everyone thought on our "zone read only" offense.

 

[Hercules]

Just wondering if we are ever going to open up the playbook now that we are in conference play. The zone read isn't going to work against everyone. Where is the play action pass downfield? The play action roll out? The counter run with Helu/Burkhead? Even the wildcat we saw against Arizona last year? Just wondering what everything on our "zone read only" offense.

It just slipped through Niles Paul's hands.

Also, when your QB is already a deadly running threat, you don't need the wildcat.

 

[zoogs]

Interesting article on the zone read: http://varsityblue.blogspot.com/2008/04/basics-of-zone-read-play.html

This is from a Michigan standpoint, so I'm sure there's some variation with how we run it.

Since Michigan's offense will call the zone-read option its bread-and-butter play for the next few years, fans are probably interested in how the play works. Slightly more interesting than "run left," I assure you.

Most important to the smooth operation of the zone-read is not a quarterback who is blazing fast, but a signal caller who can make the right decision with the ball, and can at least do a little damage with his feet.

(continued in link...)

Also some comments on Pat White (this article is from '08) that I thought were pertinent:

Pat White actually isn't the exact fit because of his throwing ability?

Exactly. West Virginia had to run a lot over the past four years mostly because of White's limited abilities as a passer. Despite this, they were still able to be among the top offenses in the nation (and the system gave White a ton of easy throws that resulted in his surprisingly good passer rating/ability ratio).

That about sums up what we are hoping for, IMO. A high statistics-to-ability ratio for Taylor, opened up by the system. We've seen it in some games. And we almost saw it against Texas.

 

[Hunter94]

tomorrow may be a day to use TM like Texas used Gilbert, instead of running the zone read so much. tomorrow we will also see what kind of coordinator Watson can be..i am nervous!

 

[suh_fan93]

After Texas and SDSU I'm sick of it. Sure it worked great early on against bad defenses but there is no variation in our offense. It's hand the ball off or keep it or 3 step drop and pass in obvious passing situations. I don't care what offense we run as long as we mix it up. When things aren't working (in big games) Watson doesn't know how to do this. He'd better learn because not every defense is going to be the Idaho Vandals.

 

[Hunter94]

After Texas and SDSU I'm sick of it. Sure it worked great early on against bad defenses but there is no variation in our offense. It's hand the ball off or keep it or 3 step drop and pass in obvious passing situations. I don't care what offense we run as long as we mix it up. When things aren't working (in big games) Watson doesn't know how to do this. He'd better learn because not every defense is going to be the Idaho Vandals.

you are spot on here with the assessment of Wats, he has to mix it up, just trying to change blocking assignments, like he did against Texas is not enough. maybe we need to open up the game with Lee at QB and throw the short game right out of the chute? imagine, starting Lee against Texas, that would have taken some balls, but you knew Musgrave was gonna crash the line, so why not adjust right away?....that would be innovation! even one or two series would have thrown UT off a little. i wonder if we will just try to play smash mouth football in the first half against OSU? might not be a bad call to start the game, as long as we adjust if needed before half time......adjusting seems to be Wats' weakness.

 

[zoogs]

Why are (effective) blocking assignment changes not enough? Because they are not plainly obvious to us casual observers, enough so that we can say it looks like change? Most changes, and the best kinds IMO, are going to be invisible to most people. We had innovation against Texas in the form of new looks/formations and a lot of new routes. Unfortunately we could never take advantage of the times where we caught Texas off guard, and horrible reads/execution put us in impossible playcall situations again, and again, and again. There's no innovation to be had when you are in 3rd and 12 as opposed to 3rd and 7 which should have been the worst case scenario.

 

[Hunter94]

Why are (effective) blocking assignment changes not enough? Because they are not plainly obvious to us casual observers, enough so that we can say it looks like change? Most changes, and the best kinds IMO, are going to be invisible to most people. We had innovation against Texas in the form of new looks/formations and a lot of new routes. Unfortunately we could never take advantage of the times where we caught Texas off guard, and horrible reads/execution put us in impossible playcall situations again, and again, and again. There's no innovation to be had when you are in 3rd and 12 as opposed to 3rd and 7 which should have been the worst case scenario.

running the damn zone read over and over got us in 3rd in long a number of times.......why run the same play and expect a different result? that is the part of Watson that drives me nuts.....he is sitting way up there, with a great view of what Muschamp was running against us and he didn't change a damn thing until after half time......wow..........

 

[huskered17]

We all watched the same game. If our receivers and backs can't catch, then all the changes won't do much. Wats had to be just as frustrated as anyone. Sure there were bad reads by Martinez, but they looked even worse because he couldn't get any help, when he did burn Texas, and he did burn them on his end. We were playing the best defense we might see till Okl, and the team should have beaten them by 14 to 21 points. If the zone read isn't working this week, I also hope Wats has another way to go. I think we win out and not just because I am a Husker fan. OK might have a little to do with it

GBR!!!

 

[Joe_5700]

I like how we run the zone read with Martinez. As long as he can hit some passes AND our receivers decide to catch the ball it is very effective. What I do not like about the zone read is when Cody Green and Zac Lee come in running the SAME plays. They both look unnatural executing it. Why on earth is Watson calling these plays for those two? It is IDIOTIC.

 

[Enhance]

Just wondering if we are ever going to open up the playbook now that we are in conference play. The zone read isn't going to work against everyone. Where is the play action pass downfield? The play action roll out? The counter run with Helu/Burkhead? Even the wildcat we saw against Arizona last year? Just wondering what everything on our "zone read only" offense.

The Wildcat is void when you have a running threat at quarterback. It gives defenses another look, sure, but the Wildcat is only truly applicable when you don't have a serious running threat at quarterback.

As far as the zone read is concerned, expect to see it until your eyes bleed. Everybody has been saying that the zone-read is Nebraska's bread and butter, which I have no problem with as long as it is executed well. We tried at least one play action roll out and at least one against Texas. The problem was that nobody executed, so none of these plays worked correctly.

Any offense is a good offense if it is executed, plain and simple. Sometimes, you just get shut down.

 

[Paul in WI]

With two comparable defenses, the harsh fact is that their OC took less and made more of it than our OC did. If something isn't working, change. That means change DURING THE GAME--NOT NEXT FRIGGIN WEEK. If our receivers have hands of stone, don't keep going to them expecting a different result. The same goes for the zone read. If we're so friggin "multiple," let's start seeing some of that famous multiplicity when something isn't working. Show me just how smart you really are as an OC. (and yes, I loathe Shawn Watson--regardless if we win by 100 or lose by 1 on a given day. He doesn't know how to make changes in-stream in tough situations. )

 

[ESPY]

Just wondering if we are ever going to open up the playbook now that we are in conference play. The zone read isn't going to work against everyone. Where is the play action pass downfield? The play action roll out? The counter run with Helu/Burkhead? Even the wildcat we saw against Arizona last year? Just wondering what everything on our "zone read only" offense.

The Wildcat is void when you have a running threat at quarterback. It gives defenses another look, sure, but the Wildcat is only truly applicable when you don't have a serious running threat at quarterback.

As far as the zone read is concerned, expect to see it until your eyes bleed. Everybody has been saying that the zone-read is Nebraska's bread and butter, which I have no problem with as long as it is executed well. We tried at least one play action roll out and at least one against Texas. The problem was that nobody executed, so none of these plays worked correctly.

Any offense is a good offense if it is executed, plain and simple. Sometimes, you just get shut down.

Remember when we ran the triple option for all those years with TO? There's nothing terribly exciting about it, and we ran it almost every other play. Obviously those teams knew the importance of executing every time they ran it, and it ended up being a thing of beauty. The same goes for the zone read in my book. We might get tired of seeing it run over and over again, but that's only if we don't execute. When we don't execute, we don't have success. Once we turn the corner with the zone read every time we run it, we're all gonna be like "where's this been? I love this!"

 

[74Hunter]

After Texas and SDSU I'm sick of it. Sure it worked great early on against bad defenses but there is no variation in our offense. It's hand the ball off or keep it or 3 step drop and pass in obvious passing situations. I don't care what offense we run as long as we mix it up. When things aren't working (in big games) Watson doesn't know how to do this. He'd better learn because not every defense is going to be the Idaho Vandals.

you are spot on here with the assessment of Wats, he has to mix it up, just trying to change blocking assignments, like he did against Texas is not enough. maybe we need to open up the game with Lee at QB and throw the short game right out of the chute? imagine, starting Lee against Texas, that would have taken some balls, but you knew Musgrave was gonna crash the line, so why not adjust right away?....that would be innovation! even one or two series would have thrown UT off a little. i wonder if we will just try to play smash mouth football in the first half against OSU? might not be a bad call to start the game, as long as we adjust if needed before half time......adjusting seems to be Wats' weakness.

People need to figure out what they want from Watson. Some people have been whining that we aren't multiple enough, that we don't open up the playbook. Others have whined that we try to do too much with all of this talk of being multiple and we don't do any one thing well enough. Which is it?

While I have not been a supporter of his, I don't think that this year he has been horrible. Looking back on texa$$, he may have done a decent job, good enough to win if Taylor made the proper reads and we didn't drop about 8 balls.

Why are (effective) blocking assignment changes not enough? Because they are not plainly obvious to us casual observers, enough so that we can say it looks like change? Most changes, and the best kinds IMO, are going to be invisible to most people. We had innovation against Texas in the form of new looks/formations and a lot of new routes. Unfortunately we could never take advantage of the times where we caught Texas off guard, and horrible reads/execution put us in impossible playcall situations again, and again, and again. There's no innovation to be had when you are in 3rd and 12 as opposed to 3rd and 7 which should have been the worst case scenario.

This.

 

[suh_fan93]

Nebraska no longer has the pipeline to just line up and continue to run the ball when an actual good defense is blatantly playing the run in my opinion. People are forgetting this. We just don't have the bulldozers we used to. This has zero to do with executing, it's about skill, manpower, blocking ability and the ability to win the battle upfront.

Also Nebraska needed more than just 1 play action roll out against that D that Texas was calling. I hope Sean Watson can prove me wrong the next time we face a half way good defense. I truly do.

As for me I'm still waiting.