I've tried so hard to get on board with this West Coast offense thing, but man it's been really hard. We are now in year 4 of this experiment and I can't help but think back to what might have been if Frankie might have been given a chance for his changes to work. Let's face it, Frank Solich definitely messed up the talent pool at NU, but he was trying to make a change in the right direction. Most importantly, he had hired a pretty damned good DC in Bo Pelini. I realize Sooner fans welcomed his leaving, but a quick look at LSU defense the last several years should squash his ability to lead a defense.
Flashback to 4 years ago. Solich is sacked and I am initially excited. He had somehow diluted the NU offense to a glimmer of its former self. Then, I started to worry because NU was one of the nation's leaders in turnovers/interceptions (I think they lead in one of those categories). Despite getting blown out in a few games, they did manage to scrap together 9 wins. I held out hope that Pelini would get hired. He didn't. Then I held out hope that he'd be retained. He wasn't. Then I held out hope that Callahan would hire a decent DC. He didn't.
You see, it's mainly Steve Pederson's (our AD) fault for throwing down the gauntlet. He said that he wouldn't stand by while NU gravitates towards mediocrity. It is now year four of the experiment and it looks pretty freaking mediocre to me.
Badger fans rejoiced at the Cosgrove hiring at NU. They had suffered for years under mediocre defenses. I continually tell a friend at work that's a Badger fan, "You're welcome" for getting rid of Cosgrove for him.
Today, NU was burned for 600 yards. They have up 400 yards passing to one person, over 200 yards to a receiver and over 100 yards to a running back. Any bets on when that last happened? How about never. Under Cosgrove, he's taken the once proud name and Blackshirts and turned them in the Blackholes, because anything that contacts it, is guaranteed an extra 5 to 10 yards of offense due to the misaligned players and piss poor tackling.
This season was supposed to be a break out year. In fact, it could still be a good year. NU's recruiting is nearly wrapped up and stands to be another good one, so talent shouldn't be a problem for a while. What is a problem is a large list.
I'll start with the Defense.
- - Stupid read/react crap defense run by Cosgrove is neither frightening to teams, but is pretty generous. Under Cosgrove, NU has been averaging in the top 40 (near 50 I think) for yards given up a game. This season alone, NU has given up an astounding 29 points a game and 396 yards per game.
- Cosgrove's system is too complicated. Believe it or not, the players have so much to read, that they do more time thinking than playing, which explains the tentativeness on defense. They had been starting the slower, smarter players rather than the younger, not as bright, but more talented players. This obviously is changing because he's finally noticing that the supposed smart players are making tons of mistakes in the game.
- They don't use full contact during the week of practice between games. This is finally catching up to them as players are not used to contact and are afraid to tackle.
- Cosgrove adjusts his defense like a turtle runs a race. Watching the USC game was like seeing my own mother getting raped while been tied up helpless to help her. You could see what was coming from USC a mile a way. USC would run motion, our players would move out of position, and they'd bust a long run. This happened over and over with hardly a change in defensive strategy.
On to the offense. These are points that I've been bitching about for years on this board.
- - Offensive is way too complicated. While he's finally seeing success with it (more yards and points), it's still not up to snuff. An alarm should ring if you can't get the better receivers on the field in favor of shorter, smarter players. Rather than simplify the offense or run a lot of plays that the team runs well, Callahan insists on his two 4-inch binder play books. What's even sadder is that he installs new plays on a weekly basis. That's good Callahan. Let's be mediocre at every play instead of great.
- Offensive line is taught not to pancake. This used to be a stat NU fans loved to see. Pancake blocks (knocking defenders on their asses) were a big source of pride. Now they don't do that. I've heard that the coaches feel it could cause injuries to linemen near by and that it could clog a zone blocking lane. See USC tear apart NU last Saturday for a lot of pancake blocks done against NU.
- Offensive playbook lacks any basic plays that yield a lot of yards (save for a running back screen). Remember the counter sweep? How about a cutback run? What about an ISO play? Who's that guy that never gets the ball? What's he called, a fullback? I watch teams like West Virginia run these plays and I ache for the old days.
- The team doesn't hit during the season (see defensive rant).
- Better linemen have taken too long to develop (see complex offense)
- Needless shifting before snap. It's interesting that he ditches this when the game is close. What should that tell you? That it's useless? Bingo!
- Progressions, what are those? Every snap under Osborne had a fake to the full back. This was done to lull the defense until they were no longer watching, then he'd bust up the middle for a long run. Osborne also knew that if he could increase his offensive yards per carry from quarter 1 to quarter 4, he could blow the game wide open. Callahan's progressions are like a Pi-polar patient drew them up. We have receivers the motion for no reason at all because it doesn't seem to set up a play during the game. Callahan will have plays that are successful early in games and then he inexplicably goes away from them without the defense actually adjusting to them. It's as if he's over thinking himself. Or he'll run plays with great success, but then continue to run them without adjustment when the defense adjusts to shut them down.
- Callahan has had pisspoor decision making at certain talent positions. It is now year 4 and we have yet to see a QB that he's groomed. Year one had the god-awful Joe Dailey. Year two saw Zac Taylor come from Juco (and Harrison Beck burning his redshirt for one game). Beck then can't hit a broad side of a barn, so he leaves before year three. During that same year, NU loses Josh Freeman to KState (another recruiting debacle). Finally, they are seeing some decent prospects, but the fact that Keller had to come in year 4 to save his ass should tell people something. See tightend and receiver position decision making, too for failures in recruiting/grooming.
My wife and I feel like throwing in the towel. I am seriously considering becoming a Wisconsin fan. After all, they wear red, they play tough defense, the run the ball well and their AD is a former Husker.
Is it wrong that I hope that this season implodes so some changes occur? I'm not recommending Callahan to leave yet, but by God, if he doesn't make any changes in how he does certain things, then we'll be mediocre for as long as he's here. At least we'll have those recruiting victories to talk about...
