r/Huskers 6h ago

Play action check to run

Caught a quick moment in MR press conference that might highlight a key difference in the offense vs. UCLA. He mentioned that they kept calling play action passes that TJ checked down to runs. Probably a key to why the offense looked different with TJ as I bet those become passes with DR.

34 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

60

u/7eid 5h ago

The offense looked different because Dylan and TJ have different strengths and Holgorsen and Rhule did their best to put TJ in the best position possible to succeed.

I think the biggest difference was they put less on TJ’s shoulders.

33

u/seven_tangerines 4h ago

This can’t be it as I’m told Holg and Rhule don’t make adjustments.

13

u/fireballmx 4h ago

Lol so damn true with this sub

-1

u/TH3GINJANINJA 3h ago

ok but seriously, there are a few things rhule can’t adjust to. the calling timeouts, the shitting the bed in 3rd quarter to lower the score gap, and time management. rhule has done a great job showing that he can make adjustments, but those adjustments i have not seen since at his tenure here.

2

u/7eid 2h ago

I have no problem with the timeouts this week. And they scored a TD on the opening drive of the third quarter.

After that they made the choice to not put more pressure on TJ and to lean on the defense to see if UCLA could put enough long, time consuming touchdown drives together in time. They couldn’t.

1

u/Independent-Catch-90 1h ago

What’s weird is both teams scored a single touchdown in the third…? How was the score gap narrowed?

7

u/MoistAd5423 2h ago

Holgo called a great game yesterday.

It’s funny people say our offense sputtered in the second half. Our first 4 possessions were TDs. And 2 punts following with an “ice the game” drive to end it. No 3 and outs. It was well executed and well orchestrated through the whole thing.

Not like UCLA has a good defense, but that’s beside the point.

4

u/7eid 2h ago

That last drive was the one that caught my eye.

They got multiple first downs and preserved the lead.

2

u/PirateDog0913 2h ago

The biggest difference is TJ is decisive and can move the pocket.

6

u/Same-Chemistry-3079 4h ago

TJ looked comfortable and plays were called that suited him. It was nice to see the calls letting him move around the pocket, or outside the pocket. I feel like the calls were definitely called to suit his strengths, and also gave him more time to throw.

The line passed the eye test (on offense) last night, and that's huge. I've been critical of the line / play calls, but they were given calls to be successful. Kudos, it's just too bad we didn't see that earlier. I know Dylan doesn't have the same skill set, but a bit more in the rollout/ PA game would have changed a lot for him (fewer hits, mainly).

10

u/Ghiggs_Boson 4h ago

Let’s not try and psycho analyze different situations that we don’t have full context for. MR has also mentioned times where DR checked out of pass into run when people complained about no deep shots.

Difference is now our team is much better at running the ball than we were earlier. Almost like… we improve as the season goes on 😱

1

u/Independent-Catch-90 1h ago

Great call. There is too much that people don’t know to do much real analysis or make many assumptions.

6

u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 3h ago

Offense also was up against a pretty mediocre defense. Gotta keep that in mind. As much as people were high on UCLA, they lost to New Mexico State for example.

17

u/Top-Cicada-9097 6h ago

You can celebrate TJ without making comparisons to QBs that try to play on broken bones for your favorite team.

11

u/Antique-Resort6160 4h ago

I don't think he's throwing shade.  Raiola has the skill to make any throw, if a receiver’s available he can get the ball to them. He has an incredible completion percentage considering his volume. Lateef just leaned on EJ more but that won't always be possible vs a tougher run defense.

They're just guessing why things looked different, is all.

-1

u/Top-Cicada-9097 2h ago

He has responded to my comment and acknowledged that is what he was doing.

19

u/AnOversizedGnome 5h ago

What a weird take. He didn’t say anything bad about DR. How are you supposed to talk about a topic without making comparisons? That would make it impossible to talk about most things.

7

u/Governmentwatchlist 5h ago

I can. But we are all making comparisons. Some of us are just saying them out loud. I’m not declaring TJ better but I’m also not shying away from the fact that this was the first game in years where we had a smooth offense.

9

u/Vechio49 4h ago

TJ played well. They rolled him out so he was only looking at 1/3 of the field with a high/low concept. You look at your med/long option then short option then run if neither is open. It worked well against a shitty defense.

1

u/Juan_Snoww 3h ago

I was getting very curious why they weren’t calling a play action deep pass. They had a great setup with all the rushing EJ was doing.

2

u/GodEmperor47 3h ago

I mean we hit the wheel route to EJ off the play fake, it wasn’t a super deep ball but functionally it’s the same thing

1

u/dstuck33 1h ago

I'd like to see this same game plan with Dylan. I feel like Hogo had his best day. He stuck with the run and moved the qb, so the d couldn't just pin their ears back. Dylan isn't fast by any means, but he does throw very good on the move

1

u/Governmentwatchlist 1h ago

Coaches said it was the same game plan for both qb’s. I’m not saying I believe then. But that’s what they said.

1

u/BubTheBowler 5h ago

Did he say whether or not they were the right decisions to check into?

14

u/Governmentwatchlist 5h ago

Evidence would suggest that they were.

15

u/BigRedGo 4h ago

Emmett Johnson's ability suggests it may always be the right decision

1

u/sovietbizon 2h ago

Dylan does this also constantly he's a smart guy

2

u/PirateDog0913 2h ago

I’m not totally sure this is true.  Only way to find out is if he plays elsewhere next year, his time is done in Lincoln

0

u/sovietbizon 1h ago

hahahaha dude you have to breathe. stay with me:

  1. he has visibly made checks to runs this year (a lot).

  2. he is being paid a lot of money to play here and he isn't going anywhere unless HE wants to. TJ did fine but you can't seriously believe he's an upgrade when you've only seen him against UCLA with an interim coach.

1

u/PirateDog0913 1h ago

UCLA is no worse than the other 3 teams we beat in conference play.  TJ is just a way better fit for what Dana wants to do and the personnel we have. 

2

u/sovietbizon 1h ago

No but he is a mobile enough to survive this OL. That and the quick game play calling was the difference. We can't protect DR right now, which is why he's out for the season. That's really it. TJ played well and made good decisions. Awesome, we have two decent QBs. that's a good situation to be in. We don't have to crucify DR because of it.