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the cowboy info thread
- Thread starter whyoh
- Start date
knapplc
Well-known member
Tell me about your offense. I know it's a version of the Spread, but there are about a million versions of the Spread. Is it run-heavy, pass-heavy, what?
What kind of RBs do you have? Game-breakers, back-breakers, speed guys?
What's your QB look like? Is he a scrambler, pocket passer, runner?
What kind of RBs do you have? Game-breakers, back-breakers, speed guys?
What's your QB look like? Is he a scrambler, pocket passer, runner?
PokePride.com
Well-known member
knapplc said:
Nebraska coaches trying to get inside info.. BEWARE!!! :winky:
PokeNer
Well-known member
So far this year, we've been almost perfectly balance run/pass - something like 700 yds/800 yds. The first couple of years under DC, we didn't have the receivers to really open up the passing game and relied on the run game, but so far we have opened it up a bit more and it's been pretty 50/50.
We have three RB's that rotate and get even carries.
Alexander - starter the previous two years, quick/speedy back, not real shifty but when he finds the hole, he can disappear in a hurry. He had a 90+ yard run last year. He's been integral in the passing game so far this year.
Muhammad - converted linebacker, bigger in stature, and technically a power back, but he has had a couple of big runs already this year.
Miller - previous walk-on, smallest of the three. Runs hard and typically doesn't go down on first contact, has that walk-on determination/attitude.
QB is true frosh Brett Smith. Extremely poised for a freshman. Is damn accurate throwing the short ball, the long ball could use some work. He's a pretty balanced QB, has passed for almost 800 yds in 3 games and is third on the team in rushing with ~180 yds.
We have three RB's that rotate and get even carries.
Alexander - starter the previous two years, quick/speedy back, not real shifty but when he finds the hole, he can disappear in a hurry. He had a 90+ yard run last year. He's been integral in the passing game so far this year.
Muhammad - converted linebacker, bigger in stature, and technically a power back, but he has had a couple of big runs already this year.
Miller - previous walk-on, smallest of the three. Runs hard and typically doesn't go down on first contact, has that walk-on determination/attitude.
QB is true frosh Brett Smith. Extremely poised for a freshman. Is damn accurate throwing the short ball, the long ball could use some work. He's a pretty balanced QB, has passed for almost 800 yds in 3 games and is third on the team in rushing with ~180 yds.
whyoh
Well-known member
as you probably know, our HC was the mizzou OC and the architect of their spread ofenseknapplc said:
we have 3 rb's ...yes, yes, and yes
our QB is a true freshman...i don't think any of us have seen enough of him to really know which way he leans....i do know that he is toward the top of the league in passing
Asmodeanreborn
Well-known member
Essentially the Pokes offense this season has been a pleasant surprise in that it not only balances passing and running in an extremely even manner, but they also don't really have to rely on any go to guys.
When running the ball, we have 4 guys with over 130 yards rushing, one of which is the true freshman QB. The three runningbacks all have vastly different styles of running.
Ghaali Muhammad is a converted linebacker who obviously uses a fair amount of power. He's in his first season with the offense and has got 198 yards on 26 carries so far, which looks like a pretty decent average. He doesn't have much in the way of shifty moves, but he's quite fast for a 225 lbs guy, so when he hits the hole, you better have some quick safeties.
The "experienced" back we have is Alvester Alexander, a junior from Houston who has got some great wheels. He's got a nose for the endzone and is also a big receiving threat (137 yards rushing on 34 carries, 115 yards receiving on 8 receptions). He currently owns the Cowboy record for touchdowns in a single game, after his 5 TD effort last season against CSU.
Brandon Miller (SO) is the third guy, and I'm not sure what to say about him. He somehow just gets those extra yards. He's pretty tough to bring down and is also comfortable with catching the ball downfield. He had a pretty rough game against Bowling Green, so I'm not sure what that says about him...
Then there's the true freshman QB Brett Smith. I'm not sure if it's our O-Line who's made him look good or not, but he seems to know when to run, and when to just toss the ball away. I expected nothing at all out of him this season, but he's been an extremely pleasant surprise. He's pretty shifty as a runner, and I think that's one of the main reason he's managed to avoid sacks so well (don't think that'll be the case this week, but still). He's averaging just over 51 yards of rushing per game, along with about 265 yards of passing.
That brings me to the receivers... which I'm not going to cover 1 by 1. Last season we essentially hard two weapons among the receivers, so they had a majority of the receptions. As of right now, we have 5 receivers over 100 yards, and 11 different players who have caught a pass. Needless to say, the ball gets spread around and Smith has managed to go to his 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th options when the cover dictated it.
I think Robert Herron needs to be mentioned as he's the leading receiver with 17 receptions for 176 yards. He's a speedy guy and one of only two guys on the team who can be considered VERY fast (i.e. < 4.35 40 times). (The other guy is Luke Anderson, a somewhat undersized safety, who has run under 4.25 multiple times, and also runs a very fast 100 meter dash - don't remember exact times). Herron played RB last season, but it was decided he worked much better as a receiver, and I'd have to agree. Only problem is that Smith still has to learn how fast he is, as there's been at least two times where a very badly thrown ball led to incompletion instead of touchdown for Herron.
Hope that helps... I'm sure by the time I post this, somebody else has already posted a better summary.
When running the ball, we have 4 guys with over 130 yards rushing, one of which is the true freshman QB. The three runningbacks all have vastly different styles of running.
Ghaali Muhammad is a converted linebacker who obviously uses a fair amount of power. He's in his first season with the offense and has got 198 yards on 26 carries so far, which looks like a pretty decent average. He doesn't have much in the way of shifty moves, but he's quite fast for a 225 lbs guy, so when he hits the hole, you better have some quick safeties.
The "experienced" back we have is Alvester Alexander, a junior from Houston who has got some great wheels. He's got a nose for the endzone and is also a big receiving threat (137 yards rushing on 34 carries, 115 yards receiving on 8 receptions). He currently owns the Cowboy record for touchdowns in a single game, after his 5 TD effort last season against CSU.
Brandon Miller (SO) is the third guy, and I'm not sure what to say about him. He somehow just gets those extra yards. He's pretty tough to bring down and is also comfortable with catching the ball downfield. He had a pretty rough game against Bowling Green, so I'm not sure what that says about him...
Then there's the true freshman QB Brett Smith. I'm not sure if it's our O-Line who's made him look good or not, but he seems to know when to run, and when to just toss the ball away. I expected nothing at all out of him this season, but he's been an extremely pleasant surprise. He's pretty shifty as a runner, and I think that's one of the main reason he's managed to avoid sacks so well (don't think that'll be the case this week, but still). He's averaging just over 51 yards of rushing per game, along with about 265 yards of passing.
That brings me to the receivers... which I'm not going to cover 1 by 1. Last season we essentially hard two weapons among the receivers, so they had a majority of the receptions. As of right now, we have 5 receivers over 100 yards, and 11 different players who have caught a pass. Needless to say, the ball gets spread around and Smith has managed to go to his 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th options when the cover dictated it.
I think Robert Herron needs to be mentioned as he's the leading receiver with 17 receptions for 176 yards. He's a speedy guy and one of only two guys on the team who can be considered VERY fast (i.e. < 4.35 40 times). (The other guy is Luke Anderson, a somewhat undersized safety, who has run under 4.25 multiple times, and also runs a very fast 100 meter dash - don't remember exact times). Herron played RB last season, but it was decided he worked much better as a receiver, and I'd have to agree. Only problem is that Smith still has to learn how fast he is, as there's been at least two times where a very badly thrown ball led to incompletion instead of touchdown for Herron.
Hope that helps... I'm sure by the time I post this, somebody else has already posted a better summary.
zappinpoke
Well-known member
I have a question. I watched a replay of your teams last game and was wondering how much your program has to spend to pay off game officials? Those 2 punt interference calls were atrocious. ( I ask in jest of course). Leave that crew back in Lincoln please.
knapplc
Well-known member
zappinpoke said:
From what I've been told, they are the "best" Big Ten officiating crew from the past few years. Take that for what it's worth.
I think they made a LOT of shaky calls. There were many calls not made that should have been made, including holding on their O Line a LOT, but as far as I can remember they only called holding once on Washington. They called holding on us when we punted the ball to them, and since there was very clearly no holding near the punter, the only place it could have been called is downfield. When's the last time you saw a punting team called for holding? It's a really, really rare call.
Similarly, I don't think I've ever watched a game with two Kick Catch Interference calls, let alone a game with THREE.
The first call, the one that ended the first half, was very questionable. Most likely a blown call, like 90/10 a blown call. From what I understand, the judge determined that Washington's #18 impeded our returner's ability to field the ball by running too close to him. Our returner actually physically bumped into our own guy, but their guy was close as well. Regardless, that call should not have been made.
The other two KCI were legit, and right on. The Pac-12's head of officiating agrees - there's an article in the Seattle paper where he says only the first call was "questionable." He said the other two were spot-on, and I agree. Close calls, but correct calls.
I could go on and on about the officiating in that game. There were several punches thrown that I could see from my seats that didn't draw a flag, one of which was quite flagrant and happened right in front of the side judge. There was pass interference that should have been called on Nebraska several times, offensive push-offs by their WRs that should have been called, on and on. Just a bad game for the zebras all around.
zappinpoke said:
amen. I believe there was actually 3 kick catch intereference calls. All wrong and all cost Washington dearly. There is no halo rule in College!! The first one Washington recovered the fumble inside the redzone which means they were going to score, instead Nebraska scores. That's a 14 point blown call. There is 100% no doubt in my mind that those officials WERE intentionally helping nebraska.
knapplc
Well-known member
About Nebraska...
You all know Bo, our head coach these last three years. He's a lot more calm on the sidelines this year so far, and while he's often characterized as an overly-intense guy, he is very much loved by the team. Ignore that outburst you saw at A&M last year - that was the ultimate screw-job on several levels, and that is not who Bo is. It's not really far off, but he's better than that.
At QB we have Taylor Martinez, who has the wheels to blaze up and down the field on pretty much every team in D1. He's very fast, but he's still just a Sophomore, so he makes mistakes, too. So far this year we're seeing mistakes like throwing INTs right to the opponent, missing open receivers, overthrows, etc. But his overall game management is better, and he's obviously matured from last year. The team is 100% behind him this year, something we couldn't say last year.
At RB our #1 guy is Rex Burkhead, a guy I think the Texas schools really wish they had back. He can bull his way for a first down or dance around a DB equally well. We ran basic power football with Rex to finish out the game last week, and they had a hell of a time stopping him. He is a legit #1 back.
Behind Rex we have three very talented Freshmen RBs, all of whom should see some action Saturday. Braylon Heard is out of Bo Pelini's hometown - Cardinal Mooney High School, too - and is both quick and shifty. Aaron Green was considered the #2 RB from Texas last year, and although he's probably been used the least of the three Freshmen, he's a game-breaker as well. Coaches say he needs to learn patience, but he's got legit skills regardless of his learning curve. Perhaps the best of the three is the guy who got the least attention during recruiting - Ameer Abdullah out of Alabama. Both Auburn and Alabama badly missed on this guy. At the moment Ameer is #2 in the country in Kickoff Returns, and he's taken one to the house (against Fresno) and he was very close to taking another one home last week (against Washington). He has electric speed - but, he's also the guy you're least likely to see of the three Freshmen, because he tweaked his ankle last week on the run-back he nearly broke (it went for 66 yards). If he's back there, I'd recommend kicking it to someone else. He's a sight to see back there.
Our O Line is a bit of a project right now. We made wholesale changes from week two to week three, and last week saw a starting five featuring three Walk-Ons - Mike Caputo, (SR) Center; Spencer Long (SO) Right Guard; and Seung Hoon Choi (JR) Left Guard. All three played very well, and of course Caputo has been our starting Center for a while now. We also started Tyler Moore at Right Tackle, the only true Freshman to ever start a season-opener on the O Line for Nebraska, and Yoshi Hardrick (SR) at Left Tackle. Yoshi is an absolutely immense human being, and Moore isn't much smaller. The Line wasn't stable for the first two games, and they had a lot of mistakes. They really gelled last week against a Washington team that returned four starters on their D Line, though, so that's pretty encouraging. When we needed to just line up and pound the ball at them, there were big holes open.
For reference, this is the same Washington D Line that held us to 91 total yards rushing in the Holiday Bowl last December. Last week we had 309 last week, including Burkhead's 120 yards on 22 carries. The O Line really played well last week, and I'm hoping they continue to build on that.
At TE we have two pretty good guys, Ben Cotton and Kyler Reed, both Juniors. These are very different players. Both can block, but Cotton is by far the better blocker. He's an eraser, capable of taking out LBs as well as defensive linemen. Receiving is not his strong suit - he's more of a blocker - but he can catch the ball. Kyler Reed is the opposite - he's a capable blocker, but he's deadly as a receiver. He creates matchup problems for any LB trying to cover him because of his speed. Reed is fast, especially for a TE.
We're still trying to figure out our Wide Receivers. We definitely have talent, but we don't have experience. Our most experienced WR is Brandon Kinnie, but Kinnie is having a terrible year with only one reception so far and at least six drops, if not more. He's not right between the ears. Our most productive WR is Quincy Enunwa, a big, physical WR with good hands and decent speed, but he is a chore to bring down. Freshman Kenny Bell (google him to see his awesome afro) has speed to burn, and has been a nice field-stretcher for us so far. You cannot let Bell get behind you or he's gone. Same goes for Freshman Jamal Turner, who is not just fast but fluid. We'll try to get Turner the ball in space and let him run around, because tackling him is like trying to corral mercury. We really like what Turner brings to the table.
That's the offense. I'll write about the defense later, but I gotta get some stuff done around the house.
You all know Bo, our head coach these last three years. He's a lot more calm on the sidelines this year so far, and while he's often characterized as an overly-intense guy, he is very much loved by the team. Ignore that outburst you saw at A&M last year - that was the ultimate screw-job on several levels, and that is not who Bo is. It's not really far off, but he's better than that.
At QB we have Taylor Martinez, who has the wheels to blaze up and down the field on pretty much every team in D1. He's very fast, but he's still just a Sophomore, so he makes mistakes, too. So far this year we're seeing mistakes like throwing INTs right to the opponent, missing open receivers, overthrows, etc. But his overall game management is better, and he's obviously matured from last year. The team is 100% behind him this year, something we couldn't say last year.
At RB our #1 guy is Rex Burkhead, a guy I think the Texas schools really wish they had back. He can bull his way for a first down or dance around a DB equally well. We ran basic power football with Rex to finish out the game last week, and they had a hell of a time stopping him. He is a legit #1 back.
Behind Rex we have three very talented Freshmen RBs, all of whom should see some action Saturday. Braylon Heard is out of Bo Pelini's hometown - Cardinal Mooney High School, too - and is both quick and shifty. Aaron Green was considered the #2 RB from Texas last year, and although he's probably been used the least of the three Freshmen, he's a game-breaker as well. Coaches say he needs to learn patience, but he's got legit skills regardless of his learning curve. Perhaps the best of the three is the guy who got the least attention during recruiting - Ameer Abdullah out of Alabama. Both Auburn and Alabama badly missed on this guy. At the moment Ameer is #2 in the country in Kickoff Returns, and he's taken one to the house (against Fresno) and he was very close to taking another one home last week (against Washington). He has electric speed - but, he's also the guy you're least likely to see of the three Freshmen, because he tweaked his ankle last week on the run-back he nearly broke (it went for 66 yards). If he's back there, I'd recommend kicking it to someone else. He's a sight to see back there.
Our O Line is a bit of a project right now. We made wholesale changes from week two to week three, and last week saw a starting five featuring three Walk-Ons - Mike Caputo, (SR) Center; Spencer Long (SO) Right Guard; and Seung Hoon Choi (JR) Left Guard. All three played very well, and of course Caputo has been our starting Center for a while now. We also started Tyler Moore at Right Tackle, the only true Freshman to ever start a season-opener on the O Line for Nebraska, and Yoshi Hardrick (SR) at Left Tackle. Yoshi is an absolutely immense human being, and Moore isn't much smaller. The Line wasn't stable for the first two games, and they had a lot of mistakes. They really gelled last week against a Washington team that returned four starters on their D Line, though, so that's pretty encouraging. When we needed to just line up and pound the ball at them, there were big holes open.
For reference, this is the same Washington D Line that held us to 91 total yards rushing in the Holiday Bowl last December. Last week we had 309 last week, including Burkhead's 120 yards on 22 carries. The O Line really played well last week, and I'm hoping they continue to build on that.
At TE we have two pretty good guys, Ben Cotton and Kyler Reed, both Juniors. These are very different players. Both can block, but Cotton is by far the better blocker. He's an eraser, capable of taking out LBs as well as defensive linemen. Receiving is not his strong suit - he's more of a blocker - but he can catch the ball. Kyler Reed is the opposite - he's a capable blocker, but he's deadly as a receiver. He creates matchup problems for any LB trying to cover him because of his speed. Reed is fast, especially for a TE.
We're still trying to figure out our Wide Receivers. We definitely have talent, but we don't have experience. Our most experienced WR is Brandon Kinnie, but Kinnie is having a terrible year with only one reception so far and at least six drops, if not more. He's not right between the ears. Our most productive WR is Quincy Enunwa, a big, physical WR with good hands and decent speed, but he is a chore to bring down. Freshman Kenny Bell (google him to see his awesome afro) has speed to burn, and has been a nice field-stretcher for us so far. You cannot let Bell get behind you or he's gone. Same goes for Freshman Jamal Turner, who is not just fast but fluid. We'll try to get Turner the ball in space and let him run around, because tackling him is like trying to corral mercury. We really like what Turner brings to the table.
That's the offense. I'll write about the defense later, but I gotta get some stuff done around the house.
knapplc said:
The first one is simply an unquestionable inside job on a fumble that washington recovered inside your 20. The 2nd and 3rd should have been no-calls also and usually are. In 30 years of watching, playing, and coaching highschool and college football, I've never seen those calls made. There was no contact and they call kick catch interference? Keep in mind, they called kick catch interference on a kickoff!! There is no halo rule in college. Anyone with half a football brain knows those refs were intentionally helping nebraska, it was not just those 3 calls. A holding on a punt means nothing. It means repunt. It is the way officials make the total number of penalties even out. In other words its how they hide the inside job that they are doing. It's the same idea as calling holding when the team lost 4 yards on their run anyway.. no big deal. But call holding on a TD pass is a big deal. These refs aren't stupid. They know how to coverup. Tom Brady's Tuck Rule call was correct too. Never was called before, and has it been called since?
knapplc said:
Pokener is like 75% of the idiot Wyoming message board fans you'll find. They have a SERIOUS inferiority complex and cowher to almost anybody, any team, all the time. They are just happy that we are still fielding a D1 team and have very little football knowledge whatsover. And if anybody says anything negative about the team, they cry and have a bad week.
