Watson resolute amid tension

[CENTEXHUSKER]

Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson says an offense evolves during the course of a season.
In what ways might the Huskers’ offense evolve now in the wake of Rex Burkhead’s foot injury, Roy Helu’s aching right shoulder and an increasing awareness that Big Red might have an ordinary offensive line and set of wideouts?

Can Ndamukong Suh play on offense again?

The 15th-ranked Huskers are 4-1 and suddenly regarded nationally as exciting up-and-comers. In Huskerville, meanwhile, folks seem uneasy, if not a tad testy. For instance, wolves are still howling over Watson’s play-calling in last week’s win at Missouri. Questions abound.

A few answers arrived Tuesday.

“Missouri brought a lot of run pressures, just to get guys in gaps,” Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee said in reference to Watson’s decision to eschew the run game much of the time Thursday night despite driving rain.

Give Mizzou credit. Its game plan was to give Nebraska the outside passing lanes, a wise defensive strategy considering the conditions.

“They kind of loaded the middle of the field,” Lee said. “But no matter what the conditions, we have to take what the defense gives us.”

You want a definition of Nebraska’s offensive identity? There it is. Take what the defense gives you. Can Husker fans ever get used to that? Just asking, because you seldom feel this much tension in the air after such a significant and hard-fought triumph.

Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini gave a one-word answer last month when asked to describe the Huskers’ offense: multiple. In that regard, NU possesses the ability to adapt, which is nice, but causes identity confusion at times.

Identity confusion obviously wasn’t an issue for those great Husker teams of the 1990s. They would punish with their ground game, rain or shine.

Given the soggy conditions at Missouri, Watson’s plan seemed to defy logic. Nebraska passed 22 times in the first half and ran 13 times.

 

But raw data can be somewhat deceiving. Watson pointed out Tuesday that of those 35 first-half play calls, 21 were designed runs.

 

“And then we had run-pass checks with them,” he said. “If they loaded up the box, then we can use a pass play to get us out of that loaded look and take advantage of the structure of the defense.”

Stacked box or not, most Big Red fans want to see commitment to the run.

However, “You can only run into a loaded front so much,” Watson said. “Pretty soon that becomes defeating.”

“You do what it takes to win games,” he added. “That’s how we’ve built ourselves. We know what it takes to win games in our league. You’re going to face defenses that want to load up the box. You have to be able to throw to win in those situations.”

The thing is, Watson does express a big-picture commitment to the run. He has long told me a fundamental tenet guides him: You better be able to run the ball well, period. He believes that’s how championships are won. His six years at Colorado (2000-05) — which included four Big 12 North Division crowns and a league title — suggest he knows something about play-calling.

It should be noted he’s experienced years in which he had to use the passing game to set up the run. Perhaps this will be one of those years. It’ll be interesting to monitor how this offense evolves.

It’s evolving, all right.

In its glory years, Nebraska often had a loaded stable of running backs. Now the Huskers have a wounded starter in Helu and a bunch of unproven youngsters. Would it make sense now to pound the rock all day long, rain or shine? Or might it be better to be good at a lot of things?

Hey, just asking.

 

[Husker_x]

Sometimes I wonder why fans are so quick to set up police tape as though one or two bad performances is some kind of natural disaster. Watson's offense is generally good. A lot of factors went into the Mizzou game that slowed us down.

But don't forget that in the blink of an eye the offense racked up 27 unanswered points. If it was so piss worthless, how the hell did that happen?

 

[knapplc]

Sometimes I wonder why fans are so quick to set up police tape as though one or two bad performances is some kind of natural disaster. Watson's offense is generally good. A lot of factors went into the Mizzou game that slowed us down.

But don't forget that in the blink of an eye the offense racked up 27 unanswered points. If it was so piss worthless, how the hell did that happen?

This is very true, which is why I have yet to fully push the panic button. I watched that game and there were a number of issues which led to our anemic offense.

 

[rcruter]

what watson said makes sense, if the d stacks 8 or 9 in the box, why not throw over it to your hot read? basic stuff and that is what you should do, take what is given. just pounding the ball when your top back is hurting and is getting stuffed just doesn't make sense.

 

[Vince from ShamWOW]

Let's see what he does this week, and throughout the rest of the season in the form of play calling. If we see another MU game plan and the same VT red zone calls, we'll know what's really what.

 

[J_2_THA_BONE]

Sometimes I wonder why fans are so quick to set up police tape as though one or two bad performances is some kind of natural disaster. Watson's offense is generally good. A lot of factors went into the Mizzou game that slowed us down.

But don't forget that in the blink of an eye the offense racked up 27 unanswered points. If it was so piss worthless, how the hell did that happen?

This is very true, which is why I have yet to fully push the panic button. I watched that game and there were a number of issues which led to our anemic offense.

Agreed. I'm in the same boat.

 

[drewbudd]

I commented to my brother during the game that it seemed like before every play, Lee checked off to a different play. Well, it was that or he just likes waving his arms around. :ahhhhhhhh

 

[Twodocs]

what watson said makes sense, if the d stacks 8 or 9 in the box, why not throw over it to your hot read? basic stuff and that is what you should do, take what is given. just pounding the ball when your top back is hurting and is getting stuffed just doesn't make sense.

It is interesting to note he was calling run plays and Lee checked out of them...

If you have not watched the Big Red wrap up you will menjoy Joe Ganz and his breakdown of Watson and how Lee checks and his reads very interesting and show just why Cody Green is going to have a lot of learning to do!

 

[junior4949]

Zac Lee has to prove he can make throws in order to open up the running game. For all those calling out the OL, 5 guys can't take on 8 in the box without some help. Had Lee been able to complete some of the passes he attempted in the first half, the game would have been over by halftime. In no way am I calling out Lee because the field conditions were horrible. However, it's getting a little old reading about our average OL and Watson's playcalling.

 

[holvy83]

Sometimes I wonder why fans are so quick to set up police tape as though one or two bad performances is some kind of natural disaster. Watson's offense is generally good. A lot of factors went into the Mizzou game that slowed us down.

But don't forget that in the blink of an eye the offense racked up 27 unanswered points. If it was so piss worthless, how the hell did that happen?

This is very true, which is why I have yet to fully push the panic button. I watched that game and there were a number of issues which led to our anemic offense.

:clap Amen to both of you :thumbs

 

[LouisianaHuskerFan]

Sometimes I wonder why fans are so quick to set up police tape as though one or two bad performances is some kind of natural disaster. Watson's offense is generally good. A lot of factors went into the Mizzou game that slowed us down.

But don't forget that in the blink of an eye the offense racked up 27 unanswered points. If it was so piss worthless, how the hell did that happen?

This is very true, which is why I have yet to fully push the panic button. I watched that game and there were a number of issues which led to our anemic offense.

Agreed. I'm in the same boat.

Same here. I like Watson and think he is a really good offensive coordinator. Our offense will be fine. We will be back in form this weekend. GBR!!!!

 

[irafreak]

what watson said makes sense, if the d stacks 8 or 9 in the box, why not throw over it to your hot read? basic stuff and that is what you should do, take what is given. just pounding the ball when your top back is hurting and is getting stuffed just doesn't make sense.

Except for the fact that it's painfully obvious with the audible. Anytime lee waves both arms in a "scrap that sign" it means the D setup right and here comes a pass. At least that would be what they were implying in the article by saying they had a certain number of runs called but they stacked the box so we audibled to a pass play. I realize there are many different passing plays in each formation but I do still wonder how many run plays lee stuck too despite the look the defense gave him. Just some observations and thoughts.

 

[Vince from ShamWOW]

Sometimes I wonder why fans are so quick to set up police tape as though one or two bad performances is some kind of natural disaster. Watson's offense is generally good. A lot of factors went into the Mizzou game that slowed us down.

But don't forget that in the blink of an eye the offense racked up 27 unanswered points. If it was so piss worthless, how the hell did that happen?

This is very true, which is why I have yet to fully push the panic button. I watched that game and there were a number of issues which led to our anemic offense.

Agreed. I'm in the same boat.

Same here. I like Watson and think he is a really good offensive coordinator. Our offense will be fine. We will be back in form this weekend. GBR!!!!

We'll see. I hope you are right.

Hi find these two contradicting comments intersting:

“Missouri brought a lot of run pressures, just to get guys in gaps,” Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee said in reference to Watson’s decision to eschew the run game much of the time Thursday night despite driving rain.

Give Mizzou credit. Its game plan was to give Nebraska the outside passing lanes, a wise defensive strategy considering the conditions.

“They kind of loaded the middle of the field,” Lee said. “But no matter what the conditions, we have to take what the defense gives us.”

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But raw data can be somewhat deceiving. Watson pointed out Tuesday that of those 35 first-half play calls, 21 were designed runs.

“And then we had run-pass checks with them,” he said. “If they loaded up the box, then we can use a pass play to get us out of that loaded look and take advantage of the structure of the defense.”

 

[huzkerbob]

Let's see what he does this week, and throughout the rest of the season in the form of play calling. If we see another MU game plan and the same VT red zone calls, we'll know what's really what.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The Huskers redzone issues had nothing to do with the play calling. It was EXECUTION that was the problem. Shawn Watson didn't drop two sure TDs in the end zone, or commit a half dozen false starts on one drive. And he sure as hell didn't commit the holding penalty that cost McNeill his TD either.

Seriously all this armchair coordinating is getting old. Was I freaking out at half time of the Mizzou game? Damn right I was, and by the end of the game I felt foolish for it too. If you guys aren't sold on the fact that Watson is a damn good Coordinator yet, then I'm afraid you will never be satisfied. What would you prefer we canned him for someone like Barney Cotton? We know he likes to run the football. How bout we bring ol' Franky Solich back, and see how unproductive our offense is then! <_<

 

[irafreak]

Zac Lee has to prove he can make throws in order to open up the running game. For all those calling out the OL, 5 guys can't take on 8 in the box without some help. Had Lee been able to complete some of the passes he attempted in the first half, the game would have been over by halftime. In no way am I calling out Lee because the field conditions were horrible. However, it's getting a little old reading about our average OL and Watson's playcalling.

Commenting on this...I think the issue people have is why were there only 5 guys in to run block. Why not call more plays like the handful of times we did with 4 tightends? Just give it a series and see what happens. Try to establish a power running game in wet sloppy conditions. Especially since Nevada was able to put yards up on them. I know Nevada is a run first team but I would like to believe we have a more physical offensive line than they do.