What Will The 2011 Huskers Look Like On Offense?

by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 12, 2011 12:08 AM CST

[Jon - I can only imagine how many times we're going to re-hash the offense this offseason. At least once a week? Hahahhaa. Well, we're starting somewhere!]

You knew the other shoe had to drop sometime. Now that we've all been encouraged by a look at the Huskers' possible defensive two-deep next year, it's time to examine the offense. Grab a stiff drink.

Again, the years are next year's classes, but the stats are this year's, and the awards are cumulative.

Quarterback:
Taylor Martinez, So., 13 Games, 12 Games Started, 1631 yds., 59.2% comp., 10 TD, 7 INT, 965 yds. rushing, 12 TD, Big 12 Offensive Freshman Of The Year

Cody Green, Jr., 9 G, 2 GS, 340 yds., 55% comp., 3 TD, 1 INT, 96 yds. rushing, 1 TD

Also in the mix: Brion Carnes, RFr., Jamal Turner, Fr., Bubba Starling, Fr./baseball

Gone: Zac Lee, LaTravis Washington

Comments: We all know what's going on here - which is to say, none of us have any idea what's going on here. I'm pretty sure Martinez will enter spring ball and fall practice as the presumptive returning starter, but didn't we all think that about Lee last year? My wild guesses: Martinez will begin the season as the starter, Green won't seriously challenge for the starting job but will hang around in a similar bailout backup role as this year, Starling will go pro, and the only one of the freshmen who make a real play for the job will be Carnes. Who knows, though.

Running backs:
I-Back:
Rex Burkhead, Jr., 14 G, 2 GS, 951 yds., 5.5 YPC, 7 TD, 15 recs, 148 yds, 35 passing yds., 3 TD, Honorable Mention All-Big 12
Aaron Green, Fr.

Fullback:
Tyler Legate, Jr., 13 G, 6 GS, 1 rec, 1 yd., 1 TD
C.J. Zimmerer, So.

Also in the mix: Austin Jones, Sr., Lester Ward, Jr., Collins Okafor, Jr., Braylon Heard, Possible Fr./So. (eligibility issues)

Gone: Roy Helu

Comments: Burkhead is more than ready to step into the featured back role, but the Husker offense also really needs that proverbial "home-run threat" back there alongside him, and Burkhead isn't it. Dontrayevous Robinson sure wasn't it, either, which is why he's transferring. The Husker coaching staff has got to be hoping Green (or maybe Heard, as a longshot) is good enough to play some of that role as a freshman, and given that RB is probably the easiest offensive position to pick up quickly, he might have a decent shot.

I like Jones as someone to give Burkhead a breather - he's a hard runner. I'm a bit concerned about who's going to be in on third downs, though, since Helu did most of the pass-blocking this year.

Receivers:
Wide Receiver (X): Brandon Kinnie, Sr., 14 G, 11 GS, 44 recs, 494 yds., 5 TD
Curenski Gilleylen, Sr.

Wide Receiver (Z): Tim Marlowe, Jr., 14 G, 1 GS, 14 yds. rushing
Kenny Bell, RFr.

Zebra: Kyler Reed, Jr., 14 G, 10 GS, 22 rec., 395 yds., 8 TD
Quincy Enunwa, So., 10 G, 0 GS, 1 rec., 10 yds.

Tight End: Ben Cotton, Jr., 14 G, 13 GS, 3 rec., 34 yds
Jake Long, So., 3 G, 0 GS, 1 rec., 17 yds.

Also in the mix: Stanley Jean-Baptiste, WR, RFr., Khiry Cooper, WR, Jr., Steven Osborne, WR, Jr.

Gone: Niles Paul, Mike McNeill, Will Henry, Dreu Young

Comments: Yikes. Seems like we're back to 2009 here - we've got a whole bunch of guys who have been around the program for a while, but have very little on the field to show for it. Kinnie is a solid, reliable receiver and Reed has been a surprisingly good big-play threat, but beyond that, we have a whole lot of meh.

I penciled in Reed as making the same position switch McNeill did last year - that's just my guess at the coaching staff's attempt to get both him and Cotton on the field as much as possible. The coaching staff loves Kenny Bell, so I'm sure he'll play some sort of role. The same may also go for Jean-Baptiste, to a lesser extent.

Offensive Line:
Left Tackle:
Jeremiah Sirles, So., 14 G, 14 GS
Jermarcus Hardrick, Sr., 14 G, 0 GS

Left Guard:
Andrew Rodriguez, So., 6 G, 0 GS
Nick Ash, So.

Center:
Mike Caputo, Sr., 14 G, 14 GS, Honorable Mention All-Big 12
Cole Pensick, So., 1 G, 0 GS

Right Guard:
Brent Qvale, So.
Jesse Coffey, So.

Right Tackle:
Marcel Jones, Sr., 4 G, 0 GS
Mike Moudy, RFr.

Also in the mix: Brandon Thompson, Jr., Ryan Klachko, Fr., Tyler Moore, Fr., Ryne Reeves, Fr., Zach Sterup, Fr.

Gone: Ricky Henry, D.J. Jones, Mike Smith, Keith Williams

Comments: Other than Caputo, Sirles, and Hardrick, there's hardly any experience in this group, but based on what we've been hearing, a decent amount of talent. Now's the time for that 2009 recruiting class - Ash, Coffey, Qvale, Sirles - to produce. If they don't, it's going to be a very, very long season.

The incoming recruiting class has several highly touted guys, too, (especially Moore and Reeves) and I'm guessing one or two will push for starting jobs and see some time on the field as true freshmen.

Well, that doesn't make me any more optimistic for this year - we're losing a considerable amount of talent from a meh offense, and replacing it with loads of question marks. If this were the situation on defense, I'd just assume we're going to have a couple Lavonte David types explode out of nowhere. This being the offense, though, I don't have my hopes up. I don't think it'll be 2009 bad, but it the view sure isn't good from here.

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Talent is definitely there

I’m pretty sure Taylor Martinez will be the starting QB again, and I think he’ll be “T-magic” again during the weak non-conference schedule (I hope he pounds Washington in the re-match), and I think he’ll be less “deer in the headlights Martinez” during conference play. I hope Aaron Green can live up to his hype, and Braylon Heard shows up. If so, we should be more than fine at that position.

For the offensive line, like you said…talent is there, experience isn’t. But at the same time I’m excited to see some new guys get in there…maybe the new group won’t be as inconsistent. Who knows. That also comes down to coaching though…and as we all know that hasn’t changed.

I think that next year’s offensive will be a little more consistent, mostly because Watson isn’t going to completely change the offensive scheme again and start over at the drawing board. If anything, the offense will have a bit more identity. I think this year the big mistake was at first being the jack of all trades and master of none, and then once it became clear that wasn’t working, the play calling became too predictable. Next year hopefully we’ll see a few more wrinkles to the zone read, and probably more power running/blocking with a little less West Coast offense. I’m being optimistic of course. But that seems to be the direction Pelini wants to go, and it seems to be the direction that makes the most sense right now.

by Billgrip on Jan 11, 2011 2:59 PM CST reply actions

We keep hearing the word talent

But until coaching comes thru than its same old same old.

by huskermic on Jan 12, 2011 1:55 AM CST via mobile reply actions 1 recs

From what I've read

It seems like Turner will be a fierce competitor for the starting job next year. That is if he doesn’t get a redshift. I imagine Bubba to go pro, considering he is the projected 16th overall pick for baseball. And if Turner pushes hard, so will Martinez, I would hope.

by TexasHusker on Jan 12, 2011 8:56 AM CST via mobile reply actions

I hope you're right

I just wonder if, after seeing Green and Martinez struggle under pressure as freshmen the last two years, Pelini is willing to hand over the reigns to a freshman quarterback yet again, let alone a true freshman like Turner.

I hope Turner makes a good push for the job, but in the end, I think Bo & Co. will opt for the stability of a second-year starter, especially going into a new conference.

by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 12, 2011 10:38 AM CST up reply actions

Is Kody Spano done?

If so, what tough luck – kid just couldn’t get a break from the injury bug.

I think Rex will be fine on 3rd downs – in fact, he’s precisely the kind of smart, vertical player you need in clutch positions. The game-breaker is indeed what we’re missing, along with an offense that knows how to utilize talent.

The big question for me is identity and poise. Whatever the issue is with Wats, Pelini, Gilmore, Cotton et al, they need to get on the same page and with the highest of expectations, regardless of talent. The great teams extract every ounce of ability out of their players and use it wisely and well: the travesty that was Mike McNeill’s season this year tells me we’re still figuring out how to maximize what we’ve got in the stable. Here’s hoping we can get it done next year.

"Wer viel Bier trinkt, schläft gut. Wer gut schläft, sündigt nicht. Und wer nicht sündigt, kommt in den Himmel!" Martin Luther

by Go Big Rev on Jan 12, 2011 9:06 AM CST reply actions

Exactly

With what’s coming back, figuring out how to maximize that talent is a particularly daunting task next year. (But that’s why they get paid the big bucks, etc., etc.)

We have kind of a Frankenstein’s monster of offensive parts, created at least in part because of the schizophrenic approach we’ve taken to the offense over the past few years. We have a pure zone read spread option QB, a hard-running, between-the-tackles RB (though he can run the zone read some, too), a receiving corps that can block OK but struggle to get open and can’t stretch the field if their lives depend on it, and a young, inexperienced offensive line.

What kind of an offense do you design for that? Last year, the staff tried to solve the problem by just doing as many things as possible once Martinez got injured, and we all know how that worked. So if they try to pick an identity and stick with it, each option has real issues in maximizing talent.

Zone read? That puts Burkhead mostly outside the tackles, which isn’t his strong suit. And I don’t think our blockers are good enough to handle fast defenses.

Power running? Sure plays Burkhead’s strengths, but then Martinez is kind of wasted – not to mention Kyler Reed, since we’d need a blocking tight end like Cotton almost exclusively.

More of a pro-style offense with running between the tackles, short passing and rollouts for Martinez? We don’t have the receivers to make that work, and Martinez’s passing ability and the O-line’s pass-blocking are big question marks, too.

There are some offensive geniuses out there who could form a single, coherent identity that effectively uses the mishmashed spare parts that are our offense, but I agree with you – I’m not sure that our offensive staff are those geniuses.

by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 12, 2011 10:59 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs

If they

don’t get Martinez to settle down in the face of pressure then our offense will struggle to get to mediocrity every week. I refuse to be fooled again by a fast start at the beginning of the year. The last two seasons our offense has looked good against its first 2 or 3 opponents only to end up looking like a second rate Texas high school offense by the end of the year. The excuses are injuries, awfully young, and the refs. I am tired of hearing all about that. The fact is the offense the last two seasons has been HORRIBLE. Bo says it all the time it starts with him and the coaches. He is responsible for the offense as the HEAD COACH. He is the one who signs off on the game plan. It is apparent that whatever that plan was the players weren’t able to execute it. So what about next year? I look for the same result we had this year 8-6 to 10-4 . Because of our offense continued terrible play and a really good defense again saving the season. Martinez without a doubt has the physical tools to be great but so far he has proved he doesn’t have what it takes mentally. He went backwards as an overall QB as the year progressed (sack after sack after taking us out of field goal range sack) which doesn’t say good things about who is coaching him. The line didn’t improve as the year went on either (penalty after penalty after drive stalling penalty) nor did the receivers and running backs improve (fumble after fumble after fumble after fumble after fumble). So what gives We are coming back with the same coaches and probably philosphy at every position hoping and praying for a different result. Well, I hope I am way wrong but I don’t expect a better offense next season. Unless some wholesale changes are made in game plan attack, coaching philosphy, and offensive preparation (i.e. learning how to line up, stay set, hold on to the football, and learning when to throw it away) we can expect more of the same.

by Huzkerfan on Jan 12, 2011 11:25 AM CST reply actions 1 recs

If Watson is here next year...

it doesn’t matter who is playing. We will look good the first 4 games, then after that we will try the same plays over and over with the Defense needing to save us.

by VarangianGuard on Jan 12, 2011 12:27 PM CST reply actions

Yep

by Billgrip on Jan 12, 2011 1:16 PM CST up reply actions

amen brother

by Huzkerfan on Jan 12, 2011 2:14 PM CST up reply actions

Talent Is Only Part Of the Equation

Whether the talent is there or not, at Nebraska it has always been about matching strategy and tactics to what we have and using that lethal combination to beat the crap out of opponents. Bo gets it on defense. He is able to take middle of the pack recruits and coach them up into an upper tier unit. When he gets a Suh, look out.

On offense, I don’t see any of that…none at all. What I see is talent gets buried in a lack of fire, a lack of aggression, a lack of strategy that exploits their strengths. Continuously making the excuse of ‘not executing’ is just a thin indictment of the players to excuse bad coaching. It is up to the coach to create the environment in which they can execute, and to coach them up to being able to execute.

And like huskermic points out, the coaching has not changed, so I expect more of the same next year. A mid season adjustment (again). Us asking the same questions at seasons end that we are asking at Spring practice. No identity. A mishmash of plug-the-hole-in-the-dike play calling.

All the stuff that coaching should address but hasn’t been able to in three years, why would it be different next season? Watson will try yet again to pound the square peg of what he wants to do into the round hole of what actually works. The Cotton coached O line will again be apathetically mediocre. Receivers that may or may not catch or hold onto the ball. Fumbles all around. We supposedly had the talent, health, and experience this year, and see what the coaches were able to do with that?

by UltimaRatioRegum on Jan 12, 2011 12:42 PM CST reply actions

offensive line

It doesn’t matter who starts at QB if the line doesn’t improve. A change has to be made in the offensive coaching staff, if Bo doesn’t make changes we will be having the same complaints next year at this time.

by Poncahusker on Jan 12, 2011 6:02 PM CST reply actions