Tag: stanley morgan

Concept Wednesday: Mesh

On By RKIn - Offense1 Comment

After a week off, I’m back in action with another Concept Wednesday.  This week it’s Nebraska’s Mesh concept.  Or as some like to call it and the name portends, those crossing routes.  Mesh has been a Riley/Langsdorf passing game staple since they arrived in Lincoln.  Oddly enough though, it hadn’t made many appearances in 2017.

With Tanner Lee struggling with his decision making early in the season, that changed against Illinois as the Husker coaches looked to get him easy, short throws.  Mesh came through in the clutch when Nebraska needed it against Illinois, and they also featured it against Wisconsin twice for 21 yards. Continue reading “Concept Wednesday: Mesh” →

Monday Recap: Domination v 4.0

On By RKIn - Offense4 Comments

Well that blew.  For almost three quarters, Nebraska looked like it belonged on the field with a top 10 team.  And then for one quarter, it was a flashback to several beatings the Badgers have handed out since the Huskers have been in the Big 10.  The teams have met 7 times in Big 10 play.  Wisconsin has won 4 of them by 21 points or more.

Is it the coaching staffs?  Tough to say.  Pelini got housed 3 of those times, including one to a five-loss Wisconsin team in the conference title game.  Riley ate that defeat pizza for the first time on Saturday.  On the other side, Wisconsin has had three coaches dole out that domination: Bret Bielema, Gary Andersen, and now Paul Chryst.  Despite changing faces, the results tend to stay the same.  Wisconsin either destroys Nebraska or it ends up being a barn burner.

So what is it that allows Wisconsin to thump the Huskers most of the time?  Institutional inertia, consistency of system, player development, take your pick.  When you watch Wisconsin play, you see a ruthless efficiency on both sides of the ball forged over years of running similar systems on both sides of the ball.  Paul Chryst has called his offense in Madison 10 out of the last 13 years.  On the other side, they’ve been running the 3-4 since 2013, when Dave Aranda took over, and they had two elite defensive coordinators running 4-3s before that.  Everything is meticulously recruited to fit both systems, and players know exactly how they’re supposed to do things on any given play.  Add it up and you get a Wisconsin team that frequently punches above its recruiting weight.  Very few missed steps and communication breakdowns, everyone working together to achieve the unit’s goal.

That’s what we saw on Saturday night, and unfortunately it’s all too common these days in the Huskers-Badgers match up.  In any event, let’s take a quick recap of some things that stood out to me.

Continue reading “Monday Recap: Domination v 4.0” →

Tuesday Recap: Team Schizophrenia

On By RKIn - Offense20 Comments

I thought the unique nature of Nebraska’s opener, featuring two special teams touchdowns, two safeties, two onside kicks, a touchdown celebration that starts at the 40-yard line, and 100 combined passes in a game wouldn’t be topped this year.  Sadly, I was wrong.  Way wrong.

Somehow, in one game, Nebraska’s offense managed a fumbled exchange, two Pick 6s, 7 drops, consecutive penalties putting them in 1st and 24, 3 sacks, and two QB rushing touchdowns from a guy who hadn’t scored a rushing TD since he was a high school senior in 2012.  It also featured three consecutive terrible punt return decisions from a senior who was once an All American in doing it.  Because, with the defense finally figuring things out against a weak offense, why the *^#$ not, right?

Fair warning.  If you’re expecting a post making you feel better about this season, it’s not coming so close the browser now.  If you’re forging ahead, we’ll take a look at how the entire Nebraska offense has come off the rails.

Continue reading “Tuesday Recap: Team Schizophrenia” →

Concept Wednesday: Slant Bubble RPO

On By RKIn - Offense4 Comments

Well, that sucked.  Nothing like going down four touchdowns at half, coming all the way back to within a touchdown in a two-minute situation, and then blowing a protection for your fourth interception of the day.  I’ve watched and watched and watched that game, and I’m still not sure how to characterize it.  So for this week, I may be taking a pass on a game recap post.

Instead, for Concept Wednesday, let’s take a look at something that kind of worked for the Huskers on Saturday: the Slant Bubble RPO.  This has been one of Nebraska’s core passing concepts the past two years, and it has produced some of Nebraska’s biggest plays.  Think De’Mornay Pierson-El’s 40-yard house call against Purdue last year, and you’ve got the Slant Bubble RPO.  Against Oregon, offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf dialed it up once early only to see Tanner Lee overthrow Pierson-El breaking open.  But Langsdorf was on it, and he came back to it immediately in the second half to get the rally started.  So Slant Bubble RPO it is today.
Continue reading “Concept Wednesday: Slant Bubble RPO” →

Wisconsin – Dusting Off a Couple of Old Friends

On By RKIn - Offense1 Comment

Wisconsin was the type of game on which you don’t usually do offensive write ups.  305 total yards, 3.5 yards per carry, and a 39% completion rate don’t exactly rate high on the excitement meter.  That said, I’ve got to write about something, and while the Blackshirts would be the obvious choice because of their stellar performance, there simply weren’t enough All 22 shots to make that viable this week.

So off we go with the offense.  The Wisconsin game saw us bring back a friendly play from the Taylor Martinez Era (oh boy), and it also saw us continually work from Bunch and Tight formations to take advantage of natural rubs in the passing game.  In this post, we’ll take a look at the repackaging of Nebraska’s Inverted Veer play, along with the Mesh and Spacing concepts we used to give Tommy Armstrong (allegedly) easy throws on key downs.

Continue reading “Wisconsin – Dusting Off a Couple of Old Friends” →