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What Will The 2009 Nebraska Offense Look Like?

I keep trying to get a handle on what this year's Husker offense might look like.  It's troublesome because the assets that we have - running backs and tight ends - lead one to believe that we should move into double tight end sets and run the ball. Putting the offense into this type of formation also requires that you have a great offensive line that can run the ball when they need to. 

And that's the other quandary. I mean no offense to our current group of  linemen, the fact is that Nebraska's offensive line is nowhere near the powerhouse lines we had in the Osborne era. (Well, the fact is that no one has the offensive lines that Osborne had, largely because the defensive players have gotten that much better just like the six million dollar man - stronger and faster.) 

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Barney Cotton is still looking for someone to fill the right guard position, and losing both Lydon Murtha and Jaivorio Burkes at the right tackle position leaves that right side suspect. It doesn't give much confidence that we can rely on a  tight set-based run game, but then there are the tight ends, Mike McNeillDreu YoungBen Cotton and Kyler Reed. Surely there's a boost of confidence with such good depth and athleticism. Maybe get the running game going and then play-action to them like in the old days.  McNeill and Reed have the speed to get behind defenses, while Young and Cotton have the size and strength to muscle up for the ball. 

That's it, right? That's the offense we can expect to see. Right? Right? 

Unfortunately, tight sets are diametrically opposed to the one theme that's made offenses in the Big 12 as explosive as they are right now - the spread formations. Regardless of the offensive philosophy - spread to run or pass -  it seems that an offense must incorporate some elements of the spread to be successful. 

If we spread to pass, we'll have to find more than one playmaker amongst our group of receivers. If we spread to run, will Shawn Watson allow Zac Lee to keep the ball knowing full well that if Lee is injured the next two quarterbacks have never taken a snap in a college game? 

One of last year's bread and butter plays was the wide receiver screen because Todd Peterson and Nate Swift complemented each other so well. With both of them gone, will we see much of the play this season? Can Menelik Holt and Niles Paul complement each other in the same way? 

I'm curious as to what other Husker fans have to say about our offense this season. What will this year's offense look like? What do you think will work? What will be the bread and butter plays off which we feast? 

So many questions. Husker football fans are the best football geeks I know, so what say ye? 

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Does NU pass to set up the run?

West coast offense style?

NU started last year in a lot of double TE sets, if I remember correctly, and after the Mizzou game they moved to a spread look. Do you think NU will start much like it did last year?

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
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by JLew on Aug 14, 2009 12:16 PM CDT reply actions  

Mizzou ran a spread with double tight ends...

Remember Martin Rucker and Chase Coffman?

Jay Norvell once said that the West Coast offense is flexible and adapts to any personnel grouping. And as I recall from the Bill Walsh days, the West Coast offense is a hell of a lot more flexible than Bill Callahan ever was.

Another thing to keep in mind is that one of the reasons why Nebraska had always been so successful is that they WEREN’T doing what everybody else was doing. If you have to prepare for the spread week after week, you get better and better at it. So do something different than everybody else, and make defensive coordinators have to stop and prepare something different than they’ve been doing the rest of the season.

by Husker Mike on Aug 14, 2009 9:01 PM CDT up reply actions  

that lends itself

to the heavier set offense with a strong running game. I’m not sure we have the offensive line to pull that off. I guess I already said that. I wouldn’t mind seeing that at all.

It’s not that I don’t like the spread formations, but I do think that if we can pound on all these Big 12 defenses that are geared to stop the spread that we could demoralize and crush them. Not necessarily pounding at them until they’re done like in the Osborne era (too much depth across teams for that anymore), but run the ball when we want to.

Good point about Missouri – they spread to pass, though, and they had the QB and TE’s to do it. Perhaps we’ll see a lot of that this season – McNeill and Kyler Reed may be fast enough to move outside without changing personnel (shift before snap).

I went back and collected some shots of formations out of which TE’s scored last year, maybe I’ll do something with that in a bit.

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by Jon Johnston on Aug 15, 2009 7:59 AM CDT up reply actions  

Georgia Tech....

and Paul Johnson’s triple option attack seemed to catch everyone by surprise last year. I am really interested to see how they do this year and if successful how many go back to it. I don’t think people took them to seriously last year until it was too late in the fourth quarter and they couldn’t get the ball back and score because the Tech controlled the clock. I really enjoyed watching them it was kind of like watching Nebraska years ago. As for our offense this year I don’t think we, the fans, will have a clue till Lee and the boys get out on the field. I imagine it will be similar to last year take what they give you and exploit it.

by Huzkerfan on Aug 16, 2009 12:58 PM CDT reply actions  

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