Oklahoma State's Passing Offense Will Get Shut Down This Week
by Billgrip on Oct 19, 2010 1:23 PM CDT
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PrintI've already seen quite a few articles about how Oklahoma State has a prolific passing offense that will not only challenge Nebraska's 1st ranked passing defense, but could succeed.
Don't get me wrong, Oklahoma State can pass the ball well, and their numbers are pretty impressive...but they haven't faced a defensive secondary that's even close to as good as Nebraska's. Here is the list of the opponents they've played and the rank of their passing defense. It's pretty incredible.
Washington State 102nd
Troy 109th
Tulsa 120th!!! (dead last)
Texas A&M 101st
Louisiana-Lafayette 113st
Texas Tech 117th
Granted these teams ranking is hurt a bit by their poor performance against Oklahoma State, but we are 7 weeks into the season...by now if these teams had a good passing defense their average would be much better than it is.
Now the question is whether or not Nebraska's 1st ranking passing defense is legitimate or not...
Western Kentucky 105
Idaho 4th
Washington 49th
Kansas State 102nd
Texas 74th
With the exception of Idaho, we haven't really played any great passing offenses either, but still overall the quality of opponents Nebraska has played to earn their top rated passing defense is much better than the quality of opponents Oklahoma State has played to earn their 3rd ranked passing offense. I also would like to point out that in games against teams that are known for passing, Nebraska's pass defense has played it's best. Nathan Enderle threw 5 interceptions, Jake Locker threw a couple of interceptions and went 4 for 20 passing, and Garrett Gilbert went 4 of 16 passing.
Nebraska shouldn't have much trouble shutting down Oklahoma State's passing game. Their best receiver (Justin Blackmon) will be on Amukamara Island all day (yes, I am comparing Amukamara's coverage with that of Darrelle Revis). The only problem with Oklahoma State is that we've got to worry about Kendall Hunter as well, one of the top rushers in the Big 12. I think Oklahoma State will score between 20-30 points on the blackshirts, but luckily they don't have a very good defense to go with their potent offense. If our offense plays mistake free, we should be able to outscore them.
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Jeez, I hope we don't have to resort to a shooting match
Because after last week, the confidence is a bit lacking. SDSU and Texas have drafted a proven blueprint every team will now follow to turn T-Magic to T-Meh.
And we have seen that the Big 12 officials will definitely not be our friends.
by UltimaRatioRegum on Oct 19, 2010 1:33 PM CDT reply actions
T-Meh - LOVE IT!
I think you’re right. Wats is going to have to conjure up some wrinkles for the remainder of the season, and if Martinez doesn’t get more accurate quickly we could see Lee more often and earlier.
"...when the devil says to you: do not drink, answer him: I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to."
— Martin Luther
I've said this before but..
I think Zac Lee and Martinez should both play every game. It would create so much confusion for defenses. When Lee’s out there, they’d be thinking it was going to be a pass…but Lee is also decent at running the zone read. When Martinez is under center they’d be thinking run, but Martinez can also pass the ball.
If Zac Lee is QB, you could still use Martinez as a slot receiver…I know receiver was a position they had him at last year on scout team, and he’s probably just as capable of catching a pass as our other receivers are…a least I hope he would be. If Zac Lee did a quick pass to the side to Martinez, and Martinez makes just one linebacker miss (which he’s been doing all season at QB) we know he has the speed to take it all the way. When he’s running through the middle of the field there is a lot more pressure on the O-line and everyone else to make the play work, but if he’s running up the sideline he only has to avoid a couple of guys rather than the whole defense.
It sounds like a crazy idea, but I just trust Zac Lee a lot more in passing the ball and we could still use Martinez’ speed and athletic ability.
Really?
If Zac Lee did a quick pass to the side to Martinez, and Martinez makes just one linebacker miss (which he’s been doing all season at QB)
Um, yeah against those Junior Varsity middle school teams. Seems to me not all season? I think SDSJ and Texas did a pretty good job of stopping him.
He's fast
My point is that if he was out on a sideline rather than running through the middle he wouldn’t have to make as many guys miss. When he’s running through the middle against teams that are loading the box, he has to beat a lot more guys…which he is capable of doing, but has struggled against Texas and South Dakota State, and part of that is on the shoulders of the blockers up front.
If you got him outside away from a majority of defenders, then he would have more space to use his speed. I’m obviously not the coach though and they’ve said Martinez is our QB, so you’ll probably never see my theory happen.
Yeah you're right
Hey you might want to think about this…….move him outside….don’t ya think, just think for a second….those guys out there are fast too?
I tend to agree
But this feels like an awfully overconfident headline after Saturday’s game. Nebraska’s secondary has given me no reason for concern whatsoever, but let’s not forget that Oklahoma State’s pass offense is the best it’s faced all year, just as last week Texas’ defense was the best we had faced all year.
Good point
It will be a good test. But I will be very surprised if we don’t come away from that game with a couple picks. Notice the last sentence- “If our offense plays mistake free, we should be able to outscore them.” That’s the key. That means no first quarter turnovers (in fact no turnovers would be best), and a lot fewer dropped passes. Their offense reminds me of Texas Tech’s offense the past few years…and last year we just came out flat against them and we were down 14-0 fast. We just can’t afford to come out flat again. I hope we get the ball first and score first. This team obviously doesn’t play well from behind.
They play just fine from behind.
OSU has gone into half time behind 3 times this season, and came out in the second half strong.
1 2 3 4 T
TROY 3 24 3 8 38
OKST 3 17 14 7 41
1 2 3 4 T
TA&M 14 7 0 14 35
OKST 0 7 21 10 38
He was talking about Nebraska!
OSU is clearly “ok” with playing from behind. They’ve let half their schedule lead them at the half and they’re 6-0.
by HuskerINtheArmy on Oct 21, 2010 9:27 AM CDT up reply actions
Yes, I was talking about Nebraska
We’ve only been behind once all season…the entire game against Texas. Yuck!
I'm far more concerned about Kendall Hunter
Than our pass defense. But we shut down Thomas, I think we’ll be able to contain Hunter. As long as we don’t come out and lay an absolute egg, we’ll be fine. Martinez will run wild again as their defense isn’t very good.
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
I watched their game against LL
they were trying to run with hunter to no avail, then the QB would basically throw it as far as he could down the sidelines and that freak blackmon would come up with it..that’s how they opened up with Hunter…so if we can stop blackmon in single coverage with Amukamera, I really like our chances this game…
I think they may give Amukamara safety help over the top
Which is fine, because Dennard can handle their other WR by himself, no problem.
by Cheeseandcorn on Oct 19, 2010 3:37 PM CDT up reply actions
OSU Offense
With all the bells and whistles and all due respect, is a tad overrated. From the games I’ve watch of OSU (A&M, ULL) I’ve seen a lot of screens, crossing routes, and dink-n-dunk patterns. They get the opposing defense’s safeties to come up, then Weeden throws a jump ball to Blackmon. Against good sideline to sideline speed (A&M) Weedon had trouble, he makes poor decisions when his initial read isn’t open, and holds the ball too long.
Blackmon is a beast, he’s uses his body well, and attacks the ball at it’s highest point. I suspect we’ll see a lot of cover one from the blackshirts with Thenarse playing the deep zone (I hope because I don’t want to see him trying to tackle anyone in front of him, I’d rather have him be a ball hawk this game). I like Lavonte David’s speed in this one but his play recognition needs work. The thing that concerns ms most this game is our D-line; we need to be able to get to Weeden and occupy his underneath passing lanes.
I foresee our offense having a good day. I’d really like to see Taylor throw the ball 20 times in order to build the confidence of the receivers and Taylor’s confidence in his receivers.
by HuskerINtheArmy on Oct 19, 2010 5:01 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
The problem is that OSU is running the exact same system as TT use to
they have the old TT OC and several other TT castoffs. The dink and dunk and screen patterns have shown to be very effective in that offense.
What always hurt TT was a lack of talent on D and a true dynamic back. OSU had both before they put in the Air Raid O.
Of all of the pass offenses Big Red will see the rest of the way this will be the one hardest to match up with. The teams that have had success slowing this type of attack down can generally go 6 deep in the secondary. The problem is that Hunter is a legit enough back that if there are that many DB’s in the game he will begin to bruise and dominate on the ground.
I expect Nebraska to win, but I think it will be in a shoot out variety not a dominating defensive effort.
JD’s like, "you want some fucking pitching? Here’s all the pitching you can stand. Now choke on it, bitches!"- RCCook
Blackmon and Hunter...
are superior to Murray and Broyles from OU, IMHO. Holgerson knows what he is doing. Bill Young may finally be making some headway with their D. My wife is a Poke…she hates OU more than me.
Hey, the system is not perfect. But, it's better than the one we had. Um, really? Joe Paterno led 4 undefeated teams under the old system that were not National Champions. With this "better" system, we've only had to endure a BCS controversy OR an inconclusive end to the following seasons: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
Oklahoma State’s Passing Offense Will Get Shut Down This Week
Well, if 2 out of the last 3 weeks are any indication, they better keep them to a touchdown or less.
Test Day
So, I’ve been thinking. Do you think the husker fans put too much pressure on the guys at home? Maybe it feels like they are walking into a test day whenever they are playing at memorial stadium, almost like they want to please the fans, so they get tight and it leads to things like, say, dropped passes? Away from home I think they take a “its fun”/“who cares about anything but the game” type of attitude. So this week I think they will say who cares about anything but killing this opponent. Am I wrong? What do you think?
no.
The expectations are no different than at any other “big time” program. These teams are, in fact, expected to win their home games, and if they are letting the fans get to them that much, the coaches and players need to man-up.
Expectations and big-game pressures only get worse once you reach the next level (NFL)
by HerpieHusker on Oct 19, 2010 10:46 PM CDT up reply actions
Not so fast
This is an interesting match up between Amukamara and Blackmon, but despite how good each player has been this is going to be clash between the best. To sit there and say that Amukamara is going to shut down Blackmon alone is absurd. Amukamara has never faced a receiver like Blackmon. Nebraska has played some ok teams, but they haven’t traveled to a hostile field against one of the top offenses in the nation, a defense that is just now gettin healthy and held Tech to 17 in Lubbock, and Kendall Hunter. Nebraska has one guy to watch out for, Oklahoma State can hurt you with 6 or 7. I don’t think Nebraska is going to win this one, not in Stillwater. The Cowboys are on a roll and getting better. And don’t think our other receivers can’t catch a ball or this game will get ugly fast.
You could very well be right,
but as we learned this past week, there can be such a thing as inflated expectations. Or your team can come out flat for a big game. Or maybe your team just isn’t as good as you think they are. Trust me – it happens.
I’m betting this one goes to the Huskers at the end of a very tight game. I don’t think it will be a shootout – the Huskers just don’t allow a lot of points, and OSU’s defense might be good enough to slow down Martinez, especially since Texas provided a pretty good blueprint on how to do it last week. Only Saturday will tell who’s right on this one.
"...when the devil says to you: do not drink, answer him: I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to."
— Martin Luther
Blackmon is good, but this isn't Amukamera's first rodeo
He’s consistently shut down every team’s best receiver. He held Jermaine Kearse (623 yards 9 TD’s this season) to 2 receptions for 51 yards…in a game where Washington had to air it out because they were behind…and one of those receptions was a 45 yard TD that came on a busted coverage play when Nebraska already had a comfortable lead. I think that’s the best receiver he’s faced all year, and like I said- he shut him down.
I guess maybe I’m assuming a lot to say that Blackmon will get completely shut down, but I think he’ll have a quiet day (for him that’s maybe 70 yards and a TD). But no way he’s going to get much over 100 yards against Amukamera. There’s a reason Amukamera is the viewed by many as the top corner in the country.
would
not Missouri’s Danario Alexander count as a receiver that’s similar to Blackmon?
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by Jon Johnston on Oct 20, 2010 5:29 PM CDT up reply actions
I was thinking the same thing.
And he only had 6 catches for 43 yards last year against the Huskers last year.
by HuskerINtheArmy on Oct 20, 2010 5:42 PM CDT up reply actions
From the Redundancy Department of Redundancy…
@GochFaceKiller on Twitter
by Screwface on Oct 20, 2010 10:15 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Its amazing
How well Amukamera did shutting down Alexander, especially considering that there was perfect weather in Columbia and there wasn’t a monster — disguised as a defensive tackle — chasing a one-legged Gabbert around the field half the game.
Wait, what's that?
Do I smell…excuses?
by Cheeseandcorn on Oct 23, 2010 1:43 PM CDT up reply actions
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