Life in the Red Group

Posted by: drivebyposter on August 12, 2010 8:42AM CST sheesh

Posted by: drivebyposter on August 12, 2010 8:44AM CST I always liked the "timed smash block" by the receiver on the DB. Pretty to watch and usually the results are nice as well.

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 8:55AM CST So the wide outs need to block in the "Pass first" offense. Tells me something.

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 9:19AM CST I have always regared this offense as a "Take advantage of the defense first" offense. If that mean pass that is what you do. If it means run then we will do that. Many don't want to hear the "take what they give you" stuff but to me it just makes sense. It is highly unlikely that we will ever see another team anywhere as dominat as those of the 90"s. Schollie limits, training techique, etc has made the upper eschelon very equal. So, to win, you have to be smarter than they are becasue it is unlikely that you will be superior athleticlly at every spot. So it is back to good game planning, and good execution of the plan by the players and coaches. And the ability to adjust on the fly as the chess game unfolds. All that being said it still comes down to winning the individual battles in the team scheme. Again back to execution. Call it complicated if you like. It is still football.

Posted by: Steve Sipple on August 12, 2010 9:29AM CST PT Husker, Good evaluations, seriously. I think the WRs' comments about blocking are somewhat telling and jibe with what I'm hearing about Nebraska using more option looks (think Oregon and Nevada). You also touched on the word nobody wants to hear about -- parity. It's not going away. We all better get used to it.

Posted by: drivebyposter on August 12, 2010 9:33AM CST PT. kiss kiss kiss hug kiss kiss Sheesh sip. And PT the parity deal is the swinger. Either that or probation?

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 9:38AM CST OK, my puter screen is now much bigger than it was. :) Thanks sip for the support.

Posted by: Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass on August 12, 2010 9:39AM CST I like the idea of hammering on the CB's all game long. Eventually they get soft and are looking for the block from the WR rather than what's going on in the backfield. Then comes the play action...TD BK!

Posted by: chicks dig the long ball on August 12, 2010 9:45AM CST PT, I agree with everything you said, however, I want us to still be able to TAKE 2, 3, or 4 yards in the run game if we need it regardless of the defense. With the size and strength of our line, as well as our strong stable of backs, we ought to be able to pick up the short yardage this year w/o passing.

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 9:49AM CST Chicks, I think we can GET the short yardage you want. but it may come from a short pass rather than the run based on the formation we are facing. End result, the same. Method does not matter. We are still dominating the opposition by moving the sticks, and controlling the ball.

Posted by: STONECOLD on August 12, 2010 9:54AM CST baaaaaaaaaaaammm

Posted by: Inbread on August 12, 2010 9:55AM CST I dont mind passing as long as we dont do the RB checkdown dump pass 15-20 times a game again. That doesn't to anything for me.

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 9:55AM CST I totally understand that 3 things can happen when you throw the ball. And two of them are bad. If the defense has loaded the box to stop the obvious running play the what is wrong with a short, quick pass to the tight end for the first down? The beauty of the option, regardless of the formation.

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 9:58AM CST Can't argue with that Bread. It would appear, for perhaps the first time in the Pelini tenure we are equipped to do either. Talk about off balanced defenses.

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 9:59AM CST Pick the poison you want to stop. the other one will kill you just as dead.

Posted by: drivebyposter on August 12, 2010 10:01AM CST Pt, I am going to quit sending you the "natural medicinal buds."

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 10:04AM CST My oldest son will be upset. He can't afford to buy his own so I am giving him yours.

Posted by: Exiled_in_VT on August 12, 2010 10:17AM CST First of all, Cooper started 4 games last year??? Really? I would have said zero. Second, I love Nevada's offense. They had 3 1000-yd rushers last year. Their quarterback, Colin "the Angry Ostrich" Kaepernick is a blast to watch. Third, I always gush about Chip Kelly's offense, both back at UNH and now at Oregon. If that's the direction we're headed, I'm excited.

Posted by: Exiled_in_VT on August 12, 2010 10:20AM CST Fourth, I think DBs are going to love being blocked by Khiry. I think our starting WRs are going to be Niles, McNeill, and B-R-A-N-D-O-N K-I-N-N-I-E, who are all in the 225-235 range and much more physical than Khiry. Not to mention any of the TEs we could add to that mix (Cotton, Young, Reed, Hill, McClure)--okay, I did mention them.

Posted by: Exiled_in_VT on August 12, 2010 10:20AM CST Fifth, there's a new topic up and I'm going to miss the BAM.

Posted by: CBHusker on August 12, 2010 10:21AM CST One thing a lot of college coaches don't point out to WR recruits: You gotta block, too. This isn't just at Nebraska. Pro teams demand this every game. That's were Husker receivers will have an advantage at the next level.

Posted by: Inbread on August 12, 2010 10:22AM CST Exiled, where does it say that he started 4 games last year? I must have missed that part. It does say he played in 12 games, but I dont see where it says anything about starts. But then again, I may be reading and comprehensionnally inept.

Posted by: Exiled_in_VT on August 12, 2010 10:24AM CST Inbread, right after the words "Cooper played in 12 games last season" come the words, "with four starts."

Posted by: PT Husker on August 12, 2010 10:25AM CST Inbread, The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Cooper played in 12 games last season, with four starts. He made 13 catches for 80 yards. Of course, he's looking to move to another level this season. Remedial reading in the room down the hall. :)

Posted by: Inbread on August 12, 2010 10:26AM CST exiled, see I told you I was reading and comprehensionnally inept.

Posted by: Denver Bob on August 12, 2010 10:27AM CST This offense is going to operate very much like Watson's CU group that hung 62 on DONU 9~ years ago. NU has strong running backs and the receivers are much better than the nation knows about "yet". The Big Red offense will need to average about 20 points per game to win 10 or 11 regular season games - they will average closer to 30 i.m.o. GBR!

Posted by: Exiled_in_VT on August 12, 2010 10:33AM CST From the official stats, Cooper started vs. Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Huh. Kinnie only started against Colorado and Texas.

Posted by: TruBlueRed on August 12, 2010 3:53PM CST Parity is much more evident today than it was back in the "good old days" when we were running only option and play action passes. The scholarship reduction that came in right after TO quit coaching was the biggest contributor to parity. Nebraska was also light years ahead of others in the conditioning game, but many others have now developed similar facilities and programs. Football is a continually evolving game, defenses figure out how to contain certain offenses as they did with the option and are now starting to do with the spread. The coaches who can make changes successfully to keep up will be around for a while One of Solich's problems was not having a good true dual action QB

Posted by: Fuzzy on August 12, 2010 4:30PM CST PT...what happens when you come against a defense that doesn't give you anything....i.e. Oklahoma or Texas. I think we saw what you get then. That is why you have to be able to know who you are and what you are going to accomplish, and force the action rather than reacting to it. That's why this whole 'mulitple, take what they give you thing' is such a total crock. Shawna puts a great spin on it and makes it sound good, but I don't need much more than last year as evidence to back up my point.

Posted by: Mountainman@ on August 12, 2010 4:49PM CST One thing bloggers are forgetting is how critical downfield blocking is in the passing game. When a receiver catches a ball 10 yards downfield, will it be a 10-yard gain--or a long TD? The difference is how well the other WR's take out the DB's. A few days ago I watched a replay of last year's Utah-Utah State game. Utah's WR blocking was outstanding. Utah was behind when WR Reed caught a 10-yard slant. One WR (Peel) obliterated a DB who was about to tackle Reed, while another WR screened off the other DB who was in a postion to stop Reed. The short pass went for a 67-yard TD. A few minutes later WR Peel himself caught a short pass and his other WR's again cleaned out the secondary to produce a long TD. There were several other examples in the game of WR's executing great downfield blocking. If you get a chance to see the game on cable--it is a textbook example of how you want WR's to block in the opposing seconday.

Posted by: Mountainman@ on August 12, 2010 5:20PM CST I would like to see the Huskers run that Nevada pistol with their talent on offense. A couple days ago I could not pass up watching a replay of that 2007 Boise State-Nevada game. No one gave Nevada a snowballs chance because they had a freshman QB in his very first start going up against the #3 defense in the country. Boise State also had an advantage because they knew all about that freshman QB, because he had attended their summer camps. But someone goofed. They did not offer him a scholarship and the young QB wound up at Nevada. So if you ever want to see the Nevada Pistol in action, watch that game if they show it again on cable. It was the wildest game I ever saw. Boise State finally sacked the freshman QB in the 4th overtime on a two point conversion attempt to escape with a win on the Blue Turf, 69-67.

Posted by: flyrodder on August 12, 2010 5:47PM CST So Bo shuts down the media today. Big surprise. If the non-LJS media members would stop asking the QB question every 3 minutes........

Posted by: big red 1 on August 12, 2010 6:37PM CST Parity: What a joke. Sorry for this but we have the talent at backup QB to play smash mouth football again and all I hear is well we take what the defence gives us. What a crock of bull. What has happened to us is we have forgot to play physical ball. Oh I pass for three and out is very old. TAKE WHAT YOU WANT NOT TAKE WHAT THEY WILL GIVE YOU!!!

Posted by: Busiekcreek on August 19, 2010 3:35AM CST avatar test