Why the option?

[Hercules]

He was often making the reads pre-snap, and then post injury he wasn't making them at all (not his choice, I guess?). All I'm saying is Taylor wasn't the strongest at making these reads on the team last year. I don't know if I'd say he was terrible at it, but Zac and Rex were both very good at it. Obviously Zac didn't have the same burst as Taylor, so Taylor was more effective by far on this play.

Zac and Rex did pretty well, but no defense schemed against either one of those guys. Teams like Texas schemed to stop Martinez specifically. Watching film of him throughout the season is how they learned his tendencies, and how they figured out that he was making the read pre-snap. Had Lee or Burkhead had to deal with that, perhaps they would have struggled as well.

Just playing devil's advocate... Lee and Rex were more consistent with their reads, but I'm not 100% sure that it was just that they were better. Defenses hadn't scouted out their tendencies to the same extent as Martinez, and maybe that gave Lee and Burkhead a bit of an advantage.

 

[mnhusker]

It is so hard to figure out the post and pre injury Martinez because tougher teams came with the post injury but he also helped beat a few good teams pre-injury. I guess you could say the stat sheet is too thin and the injury makes things worse. Being great will mean health and consistency, on some teams after he was hurt we would not have seen him again last year but we did not have the depth a talent needed to pull this off. I am optimistic but I can't wait for the season. I also hope that the Offense does not cease to function if we have an injury.

 

[irafreak]

Like Hercules said. Nobody feared Zac Lee running the ball so it was easy for him to keep it. Even if he did it was only a 5 or 10 yard gain.

 

[Enhance]

Taylor was effective at the read option play because of his pure athleticism and running ability.

He was not effective at running the read option if by 'running' you mean making the reads. Lee and Rex were both far ahead in that category.

bshirt, Pelini's philosophy on defense has been to stop the pass. Hope you're OK with that.

I specifically remember hearing broadcasters, in more than one game, praise his read-option abilities. I remember watching Martinez hold the ball in the running back's gut for about as long as humanly possible, before tucking the ball and taking it.

Does that mean he made the correct choice most of the time, or half of the time? I don't know. You'd probably have to go back and rewatch every single game before his injury and specifically count how many times he was correct or wrong. Then again, sometimes you have no choice but to take the ball and take the hit, because the defense cut off all routes. If his reads were pre-determined after his injury, it's not fair to count them in the category of "he made the wrong read".

Regardless, I find the read option to be one of the most difficult plays for a quarterback to run. It's a split second decision that must be made otherwise you'll probably lose yards. I always had some difficulties myself in real-life, and still have difficulties doing it in NCAA football ( :LOLtartar ).

 

[bshirt]

He was often making the reads pre-snap, and then post injury he wasn't making them at all (not his choice, I guess?). All I'm saying is Taylor wasn't the strongest at making these reads on the team last year. I don't know if I'd say he was terrible at it, but Zac and Rex were both very good at it. Obviously Zac didn't have the same burst as Taylor, so Taylor was more effective by far on this play.

Zac and Rex did pretty well, but no defense schemed against either one of those guys. Teams like Texas schemed to stop Martinez specifically. Watching film of him throughout the season is how they learned his tendencies, and how they figured out that he was making the read pre-snap. Had Lee or Burkhead had to deal with that, perhaps they would have struggled as well.

Just playing devil's advocate... Lee and Rex were more consistent with their reads, but I'm not 100% sure that it was just that they were better. Defenses hadn't scouted out their tendencies to the same extent as Martinez, and maybe that gave Lee and Burkhead a bit of an advantage.

Exactly!!

That was because opponents saw Tmart as a serious threat and took the risk of being hurt with our passing game. It blows my mind that so many posters pin that loss on Tmart when our wrs dropped passes all game long.

Zero chance Texas would have sold out anything defensively if Green or Lee would have started as they weren't considered a serious threat (at all).

I think this is a point that is frequently overlooked. Just having a greased lightning qb and/or a dominating run game demands opponent DCs compensate for that threat which weakens their pass defense. That's precisely why even "very" marginal NU passers had small but efficient stats (Crouch/Frazier/Frost/etc) passing the ball.

Big threats/playmakers are a huge asset for an offense as it forces opponent defenses to give something away. We get some wrs coached who can actually catch the damn ball and some depth/experience on the Oline.....we're lethal.

 

[bshirt]

Taylor was effective at the read option play because of his pure athleticism and running ability.

He was not effective at running the read option if by 'running' you mean making the reads. Lee and Rex were both far ahead in that category.

bshirt, Pelini's philosophy on defense has been to stop the pass. Hope you're OK with that.

zoogies, no.....Pelini's philosophy on defense is to stop opponents from scoring. Hope you're OK with that.

 

[jsneb83]

Why the option?

Cause it's awesome.

 

[Eric the Red]

Why are people practically drooling over the possibility of running an option based offense? Sure it was great fun to watch in the 90's, but things have evolved, IMO, and if 'we' started running that type of offense, I think it could actually hurt recruiting in the future.

What's your opinion?

It's not the x's and the o's it's the jimmy's and the joe's

 

[The Dude]

Wats always called it to the short side of the field. Which is, ya know, dumb.

In Shawn Watson's defense (seems weird to say this), the staple of TO's championship teams was the weak-side Option. There are fewer defenders on that side of the field, and while you have less space to work with, you not only have one fewer guys to block, but you make the strong-side backer run the width of the field every play. That's a lot of extra miles for that guy.

In the context of making it a staple of your offense, it seems less asinine. It was just frustrating to see Lee pitch it just in time for Helu to run out of bounds, when they would have gained good yardage on the other side. Having fewer defenders on that side is nice, but you also have fewer blockers.