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Do you guys think Nebraska has been holding back for Oregon?

Was Nebraska holding back for Oregon?

  • Yes

    Votes: 66 49.6%
  • No

    Votes: 67 50.4%

  • Total voters
    133
Nov 18, 2013
1,204
358
83
I mean this in any way.

Formations, plays, personnel combinations, etc

I don't think it is wise to hold much back out of the gates because you always risk losing an early game. At the same time, those early games are a good way to build depth, test players, plays, formations, and set up false tendencies for the other team to key on. (Lets run a certain running play out of a formation a few times so the other team can recognize it from film, but instead of doing the run we go PA)

So it is a poll but if you answer yes or no, explain why.
 
No....people think this every year and it is never true. Somehow we are calling plays in week one or not calling blitzes in week two based on our week 3 opponent....I think it is garbage.

Now, do I think that they will do something different this week than in the previous two weeks?....of course. Just like next week....we will have something new then too. Each and every week our team will do something new and special for each specific opponent. That is the nature of the game and what you get with highly paid coordinators. We are not "holding back" more like....we have special and specific plans each week based on the opponent.
 
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I also believe there is a special package/formation/blitzes that the team has been working on but they haven't shown yet.

It's not always a s obvious to us as fans, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were plays out of a certain formation in the first two games that did one thing that will give a new look against Oregon. Those are tendency things to set up an opposing coaching staff.
 
Yeah, they actually have some new face mask melting offense and concussion producing new defense that they saved just for this game.
 
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No....people think this every year and it is never true. Somehow we are calling plays in week one or not calling blitzes in week two based on our week 3 opponent....I think it is garbage.

Now, do I think that they will do something different this week than in the previous two weeks?....of course. Just like next week....we will have something new then too. Each and every week our team will do something new and special for each specific opponent. That is the nature of the game and what you get with highly paid coordinators. We are not "holding back" more like....we have special and specific plans each week based on the opponent.


Yes, the good old "we played vanilla for 9 weeks just for this game". Hasn't happened yet. I'm sure we will have a few different defensive players to match some speed issues but, I think, it has always been line up...do what you do, do it well and make them stop you.
 
I'd say yes they held back to some extent. I don't see what so unbelievable about that. We all know they went vanilla against Fresno State, they stated such. As for Wyoming, they stepped it up a bit but I bet they have more they didn't feel the need to use.
 
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I don't think they have held anything back. You had Zach run a fake. We have seen the run heavy offense, the pass heavy offense, the jet sweep. Did we see the fullback trap? not sure about that. We have seen the screens, the weird swinging gate formation for extra points. Oh yeah, we have even seen a few bombs (we should do this more). What more is there to show? On Defense, they may not have played every coverage scheme available, but I doubt there are really any surprises on that side of the ball. If anything, Oregon has to prepare for all of it.
 
I don't think they have held anything back. You had Zach run a fake. We have seen the run heavy offense, the pass heavy offense, the jet sweep. Did we see the fullback trap? not sure about that. We have seen the screens, the weird swinging gate formation for extra points. Oh yeah, we have even seen a few bombs (we should do this more). What more is there to show? On Defense, they may not have played every coverage scheme available, but I doubt there are really any surprises on that side of the ball. If anything, Oregon has to prepare for all of it.
I'm not suggesting a full different play than what we've seen. I'm suggesting subtle things like when Nebraska lines up with trips to the right, the tendency has been a bubble screen and instead we run a post.

Yes we've run a post before but I think how we set it up might be different.
 
I'm not suggesting a full different play than what we've seen. I'm suggesting subtle things like when Nebraska lines up with trips to the right, the tendency has been a bubble screen and instead we run a post.

Yes we've run a post before but I think how we set it up might be different.
I think you're 100% correct.
 
I'm not suggesting a full different play than what we've seen. I'm suggesting subtle things like when Nebraska lines up with trips to the right, the tendency has been a bubble screen and instead we run a post.

Yes we've run a post before but I think how we set it up might be different.
Oh I agree with that.. there are nuances that they will come up with specifically for Oregon, but like some others, I am not categorizing that as holding something back. I think if anything, we are the opposite of that. We are making them prepare for all of it. :)
 
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No....people think this every year and it is never true. Somehow we are calling plays in week one or not calling blitzes in week two based on our week 3 opponent....I think it is garbage.

Now, do I think that they will do something different this week than in the previous two weeks?....of course. Just like next week....we will have something new then too. Each and every week our team will do something new and special for each specific opponent. That is the nature of the game and what you get with highly paid coordinators. We are not "holding back" more like....we have special and specific plans each week based on the opponent.

Agreed. Every year when we don't look like championship material right out of the gate, this idea crops up. It's a busted myth.
 
Agreed. Every year when we don't look like championship material right out of the gate, this idea crops up. It's a busted myth.
I think with Fresno State Riley wanted to play smash mouth and see how the players reacted. I honestly think that was a lot of that game plane. Plus it also helps keep other stuff off film.
 
There's a guy on another board who gets to attend practice regularly. He said we pulled a little bit of the run-pass option out for Wyoming (the long TD to the slot receiver over the middle was one example) that we would have like to held back. Also says some of the funkier blitz combinations haven't been used.

I would not expect any sort of radical transformation into a dominant team by any stretch, but we probably have a few tricks left.
 
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Interesting point last night on Big Red Wrap up concerning the upcoming officiating. It will be a Pac 10 crew that is used to seeing this hurry up offense. Problem is they don't call Oregon for not being set etc. Just cuz Oregon has gotten by with non stop motion constantly does not make it correct. This will be a disadvantage to Huskers.
 
Interesting point last night on Big Red Wrap up concerning the upcoming officiating. It will be a Pac 10 crew that is used to seeing this hurry up offense. Problem is they don't call Oregon for not being set etc. Just cuz Oregon has gotten by with non stop motion constantly does not make it correct. This will be a disadvantage to Huskers.

Riley is probably the best coach to deal with these contingencies.
 
I remember hearing about holding back every year. However I quit believing it. I mainly believed as we always seemed to struggle early with some teams that we shouldn't struggle with...so it was more hope than anything.

I really do hope they have held back a little, we had two tune up games and we could not pull away until late in the game.
 
This all depends on your definition. First, teams know everything a coach has ever done no matter where they have been. Just because they don't show something in games one and two doesn't mean it wasnt a point in the film study. Teams make adjustments all the time. A hundred years ago when I was in high school we adjusted our blocking based on how the team lined up on D. People asked if it was a new play, old play different blocking. I have been part of changing high school teams changing blocking schemes at half time. Plays are plays, not much new under the sun but how you set them up and block them is different. On D the blitz packages everyone talks about are not that significant. The O has to look out for corners tipping or safeties crowding. That becomes a line call or QB call.

So yes, teams don't show everything right away but that doesnt mean the other team doesn't have film of those. Every team makes weekly adjustment based on what they think will be available. There are not many secrets in the football world.
 
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Held back? No.

Now,there's always certain plays and packages that will be used for certain types of teams, so technically yes.

I'm sure you'll see some more play types and blitzes, but it's not like they were hiding them.
 
Well, I agree that you don't plan for the first two games based on what you think you might do against Oregon (especially since you haven't even seen Oregon's present team before the first weekend). But coaches do add this or that all year, which may give you a wider set of choices as time goes by. That is more building than holding back though. Individuals are able to learn more as the season goes on too. If you watched Bryant's time in the Wyoming game, it looked like we used the same formation pretty much every play he was in, I assume because he has a more limited set of plays at this point.
 
There's a guy on another board who gets to attend practice regularly. He said we pulled a little bit of the run-pass option out for Wyoming (the long TD to the slot receiver over the middle was one example) that we would have like to held back. Also says some of the funkier blitz combinations haven't been used.

I would not expect any sort of radical transformation into a dominant team by any stretch, but we probably have a few tricks left.

This
 
Everything we will do is on tape from last year but we haven't run with wrs much this year...I expect 5-10 wr runs this week.
 
Everything we will do is on tape from last year but we haven't run with wrs much this year...I expect 5-10 wr runs this week.

I guess I don't really pay attention that closely but it seems most WR runs are pretty straight forward. Jet sweep basically.

The trickiest "non RB" run was probably the Cethan Carter TE end around thing he did.
 
Does anyone think that Oregon has been holding back for Nebraska? Or have they thrown everything out there so Riley and company has to prepare for everything?
 
Everything we will do is on tape from last year but we haven't run with wrs much this year...I expect 5-10 wr runs this week.
OT: Stayed at Sand Pebbles a few weeks ago. What a wonderful location. Went to Belly Up, played tennis at a beautiful park, rode the coaster to Carlsbad, won at Delmar, and went to the beach just north of town. Already put an exchange request to come back next August.
 
I think "putting it on film" is a term that a lot of people use differently.

High school coaches (crazy ones) will go back 3-4 games worth of film. By then you have basically seen everything you are going to see.

College coaches go back and have every play/formation that an opponent has run in the last year...There are not a ton of surprises.

So, is there a trick play? Sure, probably.

But is there a huge difference in formations and groupings...usually not
 
Does anyone think that Oregon has been holding back for Nebraska? Or have they thrown everything out there so Riley and company has to prepare for everything?
Good question. The answer is that in each second half Oregon has play third and fourth string players just for the experience. There were no special or trick plays and there was no need for them. I expect that come Saturday both teams will have the first string players, and their substitutes, in the game until it is decided.
Hi.
 
Good question. The answer is that in each second half Oregon has play third and fourth string players just for the experience. There were no special or trick plays and there was no need for them. I expect that come Saturday both teams will have the first string players, and their substitutes, in the game until it is decided.
Hi.


I don't think you have watched Oregon's games. I think their backup QB has one snap in two games. Not much, if any, experience for their third and fourth stringers yet.
 
I have heard that Riley purposely held back certain plays the last 7 times he played the Ducks just to use them all this weekend.

It actually goes much further than that.

1. Nebraska has been tanking it since 2000 to give Oregon a false sense of security.

2. Scott Frost has been pretending to be at odds with Nebraska while secretly sending them insider Oregon info.

3. Our players have been hiding a good part of their abilities since Pee Wee football days. Like TA is actually the best drop back passer since, well, of all time.

4. Players like Kevin Williams, Greg McMullen, Randy Gregory, etc really didn't leave the program. They have been hiding out in the shadows secretly preparing themselves for this game.

5.And our super secret weapon is that BO wasn't fired at the end of the 2014 season. He actually reassigned himself to 'Super Secret Special Defensive Coordinator Consultant' just so he could work on a super-duper super-secret ultimate-mega-supreme-ninja defense that will be revealed this weekend on the second series of the game from his super secret underground bunker in super secret Youngstown, Ohio. This is all super secret, of course.

And then there was this insider cable guy for the airport that was beginning to tell me something about how I wouldn't believe what TO has been up to for the last year, but then he mysteriously suffered a fatal heart attack before he could finish that sentence....
 
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I don't think you have watched Oregon's games. I think their backup QB has one snap in two games. Not much, if any, experience for their third and fourth stringers yet.
Yes, the backup QB played one meaningless snap. I'm talking about the rest of the players, especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters. We have so many freshmen that it is important to get them going.
 
its game 3 guys, you want to call it holding back fine, but nobodys playbook is as open in game 3 as it is in game 9, simply because they havent had the time to work it in yet. you could return all 11 starters and it would be the same story
 
Run the ball like we did against UCLA.
Pretty sure we've held back as how many plays has DPE, Westy, Cethan been in?
... Not many for a reason.
Time of possession wins!
 
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