Option attack/Spread
- Thread starter Jhollenbeck41
- Start date
Comparing TO and Clownahan is like comparing a Challenger RT to a Volkswagen.....
The one thing you need to keep in mind is that players have designs on making it to the next level, and utilizing an older offense like what TO used isn't going to have the panache (if you will) of the spread offenses. A large portion of NFL teams employ offenses that utilize spread concepts or at least implement some of those concepts. Frost knows that if you want to recruit talent, you have to have the type of offense that will effectively do so.
Fantastic point. I've actually been of the mindset that the future of the NFL will be decided in the next 1-3 years with the success or failures of guys like Baker and Kyler. I feel like spread will eventually take over, but how long or quick it takes depends on those guys.
Nebraska is going to end up winning 7 or 8 games in the regular season with a spread offense. Those that believe that this offense is going to morph into something close to what Osborne ran are just fooling themselves. If Frost wanted to run a predominantly power offense in the future, he would have done that from the jump. He had/ has full support from 99% of the fan base. What sense does it make to spend 3 years recruiting a bunch of speedy WR that weigh less than 180 lbs if you want to run something other than the offense he ran at Oregon and UCF?
Some of this under center stuff IMO is nothing more than damage control. If the offense he wants to run was working well then I’m not sure we would see much of anything come from under center.
What the heck are you talking about? Ohio State has run a spread offense for years and wins 10+ games every year. The reason our offense is struggling is our players just aren't very good right now. If you want to blame that on talent or coaching, it doesn't change that the scheme is just fine and we should be able to have a much better offense with better players.
Osborne's offense aside, that doesn't make sense. Literally Ohio State runs a version of what Frost runs and I think we can all agree they're doing just fine. My question was hypothetical. The spread works fine. I was just curious on people's thoughts.
I respectfully disagree Tuco.
I think HCSF has found that winning in the Big10 is a rough business and we simply "must" get a running game between tackles as soon as possible. A smash-mouth spread offense is fine with me!
Well Wisconsin basically runs their offense that way up front. They still want to maul you, play multiple tightends and fullbacks. They are not a zone blocking scheme.
You'll find nearly every team has at least some zone blocking in their running game, and Wisconsin has quite a bit.
Week in and week out in the league, does a Duck offense work? With a couple more Wandales on the roster sure. But he appropriate elite talent works for any type of offense that a team wants to run. But at the end of the day, NU will have to successfully run the ball against the Wisconsins, Iowas of the West, not to mention the upper echelon East schools. Those defenses are able to negate speed on the perimeter. In order to win the B1G, NU will have to be able to line up and consistently get 3-5 yards per run against the best of the league. Does a Duck/UCF offense offer to best chance to do that? Or will Frost has to eventually incorporate power elements?
We were hoping Mills would be that big back that could be the grocery money in the run game, but that hasn't panned out. Is that Mills, injuries to Mills, an iffy Oline, or a combo of these? That isn't Mo's game and Wandale goes down when the tackle is squared up.
Good questions. But a handful of plays under center against an opponent blowing Nebraska out, to me, isn’t a sign that Nebraska is switching offenses.
I see this as a formation that Nebraska will break out as a package but won’t be the main offense.
I think that is exactly right. It is a package and wrinkle that teams will have to scheme for. Watch the post-game press conf for Pat Fitzgerald. He talks about taking practice time and prep time to prepare for that package. We ran 3 of those new plays (2 under center and the direct snap) and also worked in the shovel pass that went big.
I don’t believe you have to lineup and power the ball at people to be successful in the big 10. Yes you have to run the ball effectively but it doesn’t have to be power run man on man, hat on hat, I am bigger and stronger than you. At both Oregon and UCF frost was able to game plan and design an offense that was able to run the ball without it being a power run game.
I have always been one that says in order for this offense to be elite, you have to have elite players. That is why I harp on recruiting.
In Hollywood terms Osborne was an Eastwood/Newman while Solich was a complete and utter D-lister. The nepotism that promoted Solich is what did us in and really that is on Osborne. It only worked when Osborne remained at the helm. Wasn’t there a Westside football coach who was hired on? Young? My memory is a little hazy but when the program was firing on all cylinders from the mid 80’s to the latter 90’s Nebraska could even pluck high school coaches and fit them into the staff. Different era I guess.. anyway, like many of you, I was excited to see the old school sets for our one meaningful drive in the Ohio game n if we don’t throw the int who knows? That said I think it’s imperative to implement some power play back into the fold as this is the cold-*** midwest and nuanced passing is AWESOME if you have a qb who can play in your system for YEARS, develop chemistry with his line and wr’s as with your Packers, Chiefs, Pats, Bears etc etc.. In college sure, by year 4 (maybe 3) your experienced Qb has it down but in my observation those qb’s are few and far between ESPECIALLY come November in the Midwest. I have faith in our O but this is going to take time to recruit the players we need, build depth and yes, implement nasty D play too.
Wow, I just decided to click on this thread and, frankly, I’m pleasantly surprised at civil discussion/debate and really very knowledgeable insights here. No name calling or insults? Cool!
OK, I think Tuco has a very good and if dots connected, spot-on point. Based on what’s been displayed so far, we should expect more of a Central Florida type offense vs. a reversion to an old-school Nebraska power game. Personally, that’s disappointing to me because I don’t think we’ll be a consistent top tier team in the BigTen with that strategy. I was so ready to witness a renaissance of Osbornesque style football with a dynamic Frost flair. Nope. Not even close.
As someone else chimed in, with this O in order to win, you have to have better players at the “skilled” positions then you’re opponent, and that’s a tall order with Ohio States of the world’s recruiting acumen.
Didn’t Scott Frost talk about getting back to the “Nebraska way”? I do think as time goes on the offense has to and will become more power oriented. Maybe wishful thinking, and maybe Scott proves me wrong by simply getting his players in place some day and kickin’ some serious BigTen butt. GBR.
Why don't you ask yourself why Clownahan & Smiling Mike never won anything of significance (a HUGE under-statement) after all those years of fluff-ball.
What does Callahan and Riley offenses have to do with Scott Frost’s offense? And what does either have to do with Georgia Tech winning anything at all under Paul Johnson and his triple option offense?
You really need to find something else to blame things on. Your only answer to why things aren’t going as anticipated is Callahan, Riley and fluff ball.
the ideal offense is one that you can win primarily running the ball against inferior opponents because you have a distinct advantage with your offensive line - but to be elite you are going to have to be able to spread things out and be balanced or throw primarily with enough running to keep things honest when you are facing other elite opponents.
Every offense regardless of scheme benefits from a dominant offensive line - OSU runs the spread and I'm not sure they would have needed to throw more than 5 passes against us to win - but they are going to have to throw the ball and run the full complement of spread concepts when/if they go against Wisconsin or are in the CF playoffs.
What is a bit disappointing this year is Frost's offense and the spread should be able to function at least reasonably well when you have down years along the offensive line - see last year. There are concepts that don't require you to be physically superior or even the equal of your opponent that should allow you to move the ball. UCFs offensive line certainly didn't match up well with Auburn but the offense doesn't depend on your having this type of Oline.
Every offense regardless of scheme benefits from a dominant offensive line - OSU runs the spread and I'm not sure they would have needed to throw more than 5 passes against us to win - but they are going to have to throw the ball and run the full complement of spread concepts when/if they go against Wisconsin or are in the CF playoffs.
What is a bit disappointing this year is Frost's offense and the spread should be able to function at least reasonably well when you have down years along the offensive line - see last year. There are concepts that don't require you to be physically superior or even the equal of your opponent that should allow you to move the ball. UCFs offensive line certainly didn't match up well with Auburn but the offense doesn't depend on your having this type of Oline.
Last edited:
You're pathetic....nobody here is comparing him to TO. You brought up Solich in the same breath as TO. You need to come to the realization that Solich sucked, as did Pelini. The other coaches were extremely bad too, but the entire downward spiral of Nebraska football lies squarely on the shoulders of TO. He's the one that started the mess anointing an incompetent coach as his successor.
Plus we had trouble recruiting difference makers for the option since the recruits want to go to a passing/spread offense to give them a chance to go to the big leagues.
Agree, jib, when you can't get snaps back to the QB in shotgun, offense can't open holes or stop the stupid penalties, you're gonna struggle. Throw in injuries to key players and you have what we got - an anemic offense.
Well, without doubt T. Gill was an awesome option qb......you're quite correct!
I'm just going with my memory. I do recall easily that SF was superb at pitching the ball on option plays. I don't honestly think anyone was any better at that. But of course it's just an opinion that cannot be "proved".
Everything is good.
Well duh.....they both guided NU to become CFB's Charmin Ultra Soft & threw away our smash-mouth tradition. You don't like that? Well then, that's tough kazenski for you and your partner down yonder!
Then why is it fixed yet? If it’s just a coaching problem. I tried to tell you when Frost was hired that this was the type of offense he was going to run. You were convinced that he was going to turn this team into a power run team. I told you that establish the run is not the same as run the ball 65% of the time. His offense works best when it is balanced and keeping defenses guessing not trying to shove it down the defenses throat.
"Then why is it fixed yet?" Please forgive me Tuco, I just don't quite understand that. Maybe you meant "why isn't it fixed yet?" I don't know for sure but everything is ok!
Well, about the last thing I've seen so far is NU "establishing" it's run game. My bet is that HCSF knows full well how desperately we need a massively better run game and it's priority #1 for him by a country mile. But after (you know who) destroyed the pipeline it's a brutal task to bring it back.
Oh geesh, I've heard how NU will be offensively "balanced" for years and years. But it looks to me like it always results in being marginal at everything & excelling at nothing.
I say his offense will work way, wayyyyyyyy better when we can with success run the ball between tackles. If I could, I'd bet the ranch that HCSF wants that very, VERY badly. Haha.....I know you hate that but we'll see partner!
Lastly, if I'm right......you owe me a beer!!
IMO that is all on the AD rather than the coaches themselves. They’re the ones who hire coaches and let them come in and chop up the football program. They could’ve just as easily hired coaches who could’ve come in and maintained the football program that was already in place.
Sometimes things just don’t need much rearranging..
Yes, Pedeyshine was a monster sized disaster to say the very least. Very good point barney44, I forgot about that nimrod.......thank you sir!
you already owe me beer from when you said Nebraska will run 60/40 in year 1 under Frost. No offense but you have welched on that so fool me once, fool me tw..... meh there won’t be a second time.
the “pipeline” was gone long before 2015.
as I have tried to tell you for 2 plus years, establish the run does not mean run first. You don’t have to pound the ball between the tackles to East a lush a run game between the tackles. In Frost’s offense the passing game is used to get LBs out of position so it is easier to run the ball.
We have had this same conversation multiple time over the last 21 months, but rest assured Frost will not be changing his offense to have a QB under center, and have a full back on the field.