As promised, for today’s Concept Wednesday we look at the second option variant run by Scott Frost in Lincoln. It’s only fitting that one of Nebraska’s last great option QBs is now calling them for the Huskers. Last week we looked at the Triple option from split backs. This week we look at the Speed option from shotgun and a fake inside zone variant Frost likes to run that I call Bluff option.
Outside of the fullback trap and the fumblerooski, there is no football concept Husker fans love more than the option. Even today, when you walk up to an out-of-stater and start talking Nebraska in the glory days, they’re likely to mention the option before anything else. Scott Frost did away with the fullback and the NCAA did away with the fumblerooski, but the option lives on forever in Lincoln. For the next two Concept Wednesdays, we’ll talk about three variations of option that Scott Frost runs.
For now, let’s focus on the grand prize of them all: the triple option out of split backs. The concept itself is nothing new. Oregon was running it during the Chip Kelly era, and several other teams have had it in the playbook after Chip’s initial success. And no, Tom Osborne didn’t run the triple option. But what makes it work for his protege Frost and how he’s different from Kelly is how Frost (a) uses a hybrid player as the second back and (b) marries the concept with a variety of different motions to avoid tipping the play. Today, we’ll look at a few of those variations for Concept Wednesday #2 of this season.
Continue reading “Concept Wednesday: Triple Motherf*%&^#$ OPTION!”
It’s that time of the year where we hear the old tale about “not opening up the playbook” for the non-conference schedule. Well, with a game washed out and a Power 5 opponent on deck, new head coach Scott Frost didn’t have that option. Against Colorado, he unleashed a ton of stuff en route to 329 rushing yards and 565 total yards. Ultimately, untimely turnovers kept him from getting his first coaching win in Lincoln, but the full arsenal was there. Unbalanced formations. Triple option. Multiple pulling concepts. QB runs. Various motions. Double screens. And one hell of a true freshman QB managing all of the noise that comes with a first career start.
In its return, Concept Wednesday this week takes a look at QB Wrap/Dart, one of Frost’s core run concepts that he brought from UCF and one which molds perfectly to Adrian Martinez’s game.
For the first Concept Wednesday of the Scott Frost era, we’re going to look at one of Frost’s favorite vertical passing concepts: Saints. Saints is yet another play in the Frost playbook that can be traced directly to Chip Kelly. It was Kelly’s preferred vertical concept in Philadelphia and San Francisco, and I expect it will feature heavily in UCLA’s offense as long as Kelly is in Los Angeles. Saints is also responsible for several of UCF’s explosive plays in 2016 and 2017, as Frost used his speed at the skill positions to kill defenses down the field with one-on-one matchups.
For now, let’s take a look at the core Saints concept and then a variation Frost ran in the Spring Game that led to Jaevon McQuitty’s first touchdown in a Husker uniform. Continue reading “Concept Wednesday: Saints Play Action”
Nebraska fans got their first look at the Scott Frost offense in Husker red yesterday during the 2018 Red-White Spring Game. Although Frost called the game “vanilla” from a scheme perspective, we got to see several of Frost’s running game concepts along with a nice mix of passing plays. We’ll take a look at individual schemes over the summer, but for now let’s focus on how Frost protects the back side of his running plays, a couple of which featured heavily in the Red-White Game. Continue reading “The Frost Effect: Protecting the Backside on Runs”
In Part 1, we nibbled around the corners of the Scott Frost offense. Now it’s time to take a deep dive into it, examining not only the Oregon parts that will always be present, but also the additional wrinkles he’s thrown in since leaving Eugene. This is a lot of film, and I can’t embed it all into one post without locking up your mobile devices.
Accordingly, I’ve linked a lot of what I’m going to discuss, so when you see a hyperlink, it’ll open up a new tab showing you the concept I’m discussing. In other words, this is probably a post you want to view on a computer rather than a mobile device. If not, it’s going to take a while to load and you’re forever going to be opening and closing new tabs. You’ve be warned, so let’s get to it. Continue reading “Talking Scott Frost . . . Part II”
I promised last week I’d get something up during the bye week on Scott Frost’s UCF offense, so here we go. A couple of disclaimers first. One, I’m not advocating for a coaching change at this point. If we do make one, though, Frost wouldn’t be in my first tier of coaches. Doesn’t mean I don’t like him a lot, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want him at Nebraska if we struck out at the first tier level. But after a 15-year freeze on the program, it’s time to start acting like a blue blood in how we hire head coaches. Shoot for the moon. The Big 10 has given us 51 million reasons to try and hire an established head coach with a half decade or more of relevant success. If we miss, then Frost would be in my second tier, and I’d certainly be optimistic he could succeed in Lincoln IF GIVEN THE APPROPRIATE TIME to do so. I capitalize that last part because any coach in 2018, whether Mike Riley, Scott Frost, or anyone in between, will need time to turn over this roster before we can come close to consistently competing with the Ohio States of the world.
The second disclaimer is that I’m assuming Frost would run the same, or a substantially similar offense, in Lincoln. I think that’s a pretty fair assumption given that coaches rarely make a sea change in their offense or defense during their careers, but then again Frost did play under a head coach in Lincoln who did very much that over his 29 years calling plays in Lincoln. Perhaps Frost would do the same, but for now, we’ll take a look at what he’s running down in UCF and assume it’s pretty close to what we’d see in Lincoln.
Because this is a hot topic right now, I’m going to make this a two-part series on UCF. Here is Part I. Continue reading “Let’s Talk Scott Frost . . .”
After a week off, I’m back in action with another Concept Wednesday. This week it’s Nebraska’s Mesh concept. Or as some like to call it and the name portends, those crossing routes. Mesh has been a Riley/Langsdorf passing game staple since they arrived in Lincoln. Oddly enough though, it hadn’t made many appearances in 2017.
With Tanner Lee struggling with his decision making early in the season, that changed against Illinois as the Husker coaches looked to get him easy, short throws. Mesh came through in the clutch when Nebraska needed it against Illinois, and they also featured it against Wisconsin twice for 21 yards. Continue reading “Concept Wednesday: Mesh”
The Ohio State game was such an ass beating that there really is no need for a recap because the short version is the defense sucked and the offense couldn’t run the ball. The end.
So with that, let’s get to something a little less macabre. Charting Checkup at the 7-game mark. Again, standard disclaimer. When you play two games being down 4 touchdowns a substantial majority of the second half, things are going to get distorted. With that, let’s go. Continue reading “Charting Checkup – Halfway Through +1”
For Concept Wednesday this week, we get our second guest post on Husker Chalk Talk. This is one is brought to you by an offensive line coach/offensive coordinator extraordinaire from the great state of Kansas. He’ll be talking Duo, the Huskers’ go to running concept when they need to pick up yards in the fourth quarter. It may be the single best post we’ve had up on Husker Chalk Talk and it’s got lots of stuff for you to digest, so I’ll let him take it away.
___________________________________________________