Winning Formulas
In the option era, Nebraska had a pretty simple offensive formula – rush for 300+ yards and win the game. Usually there might be another 100 or so yards passing, but that was mainly to keep the defense honest and occasionally move the chains in 3rd and long situations. Most of the rushing yards came from the I-backs until the drop-off in offensive line play forced the Huskers to rely on the quarterbacks more.
Three hundred yards rushing is no longer the objective when the Huskers take the field. In fact, some would think that the West Coast offense would mean a complete flip-flop to where 300 passing yards would be the goal with maybe 100 rushing yards to keep defenses honest and to run out the clock. However, if you were to ask NU head coach Bill Callahan what his ideal breakdown would be I suspect he would say something more along the lines of 200 yards rushing and 200 more passing. Defenses would pick their poison. If opponents bring their safeties up to stop the run, it’s bombs away. If they keep their safeties back they’d get gashed by the I-backs.
In the option days, you could often tell very early in a contest how the offense would fare. If the I-backs were having success running straight-ahead between the tackles, you knew the Husker offense would have a big day. The same is probably true for 2006. The 100 or so rushing yards that went to the quarterback, fullback, and the occasional receiver have been replaced with passes to the fullback and greater production from the receivers. But the remaining 200 rushing yards or so would all go to the I-backs. In the old days, if the I-backs struggled so did the NU offense. The quarterback and fullback might have helped move the ball some but the Huskers were not going to score 40+ points. The same is probably true today. With the running game now almost entirely coming from the I-backs, the quarterback would have to have a huge day (300 or 400 yards passing) to compensate. That’s a lot to expect on a week-in and week-out basis.
Considering how hard it has been for the Huskers to run the ball in recent seasons, I’d expect averages more around 150 yards rushing and 250 yards passing. With Nebraska’s schedule as tough as it is, there will be too many games where the I-backs are contained. They might get some of that production back catching passes, but the Huskers will probably still have to throw the ball more than they would like to. Rushing for 150 yards per game would still be a big improvement from a year ago and the Huskers only topped 400 total yards on two occasions last year (both wins). Probably any formula that produces 400 yards of offense each week is going to mean a big improvement in the Huskers in 2006.
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