What's Made the 2009 NU Offense so Offensive?

7 comments so far December 21, 2009 by Steve Hanway

Bemoaning the Husker offense in 2009 has become as popular as criticizing the NU defense was in 2007. It's easy to look at games where the defense played brilliantly only to see the offense fall flat and wonder what might have happened with more offensive production. But beyond just wanting a "better" offense, what specifically will it take to get there and how much can it improve in the time between the Big 12 championship game and the Holiday Bowl. And is the offense really as bad as it's looked?

In all four losses this season (as well as some of the victories) you could point to offensive problems that put Nebraska in a bad position. On the whole though, people might be genearlly pleased with the running backs, the receivers, and the tight ends. That leaves just the quarterbacks and offensive line to shoulder most of the blame. But is that fair?

In the games against Virginia Tech and Texas the offense handed a narrow lead to the defense and in each case the opposing put together game-winning (and clock-killing) dirves. If NU's safeties and kicker do a better job in those games, then the Husker offense was just good enough to get Nebraska to 11-2. Niles Paul's fumbles against Iowa State and Texas Tech were devastating. Correct those (along with the aforementioned defensive lapses) and Nebraska is 12-1 without really getting anything different from the quarterbacks or the offensive line.

But to point the finger away from the quarterbacks and the line isn't entirely fair either. Missed assignments and penalties by the o-line have doomed drives (most memorably against Virginia Tech but also against Texas Tech). There were too many turnovers and off-target throws from the quarterbacks to simply dismiss. The greater impact of those plays beyond the obvious fallout for the drives and games in which they occurred, is that they made the Huskers reluctant to call pass plays which made the offense easier to defend.

This is where you can question the coaches, and it's Bo Pelini as much as Shawn Watson. Call it the field goal mentality. That is, when Nebraska gets into field goal range, they don't aggressively go after first downs and touchdowns. True, a sack or interception can cost three points and some critical momentum. But conceding a touchdown can cost four points and leaves a smaller margin for error for your special teams and defense. The old book in college football is certain to run the ball with the lead, particularly when you have a strong defense. But there's also something to be said for staying aggressive offensively with a lead to give yourself a cushion. That strategy has certainly served Mike Leach well over the years. Former Miami Hurricane and Dallas Cowboy coach Jimmy Johnson believed in it as well.

Thinking ahead to the Holiday Bowl though, how do you fix it? The offensive penalties seem to have been somewhat corrected. Likewise, you'd expect the running backs to be healthier than we've seen in a while and that might help their production and diminish the likelihood that they'd fumble. The quarterbacks are a curiousity in part because of what we saw early in the year against the Sun Belt teams and in the fourth quarter against Missouri. Was that a mirage? Or did something happen to cause the quarterbacks to diminish so dramatically? Is it just mental? Or is there really little reason to hope they'll produce against the better teams on the schedule? Can they find some mojo with the extra bowl practices?

Whether they do or not, do you take the field goal mentality into the Arizona game? Or do you get aggressive and let the chips fall where they may? No easy answers, but that's why Bo gets the big bucks.

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