[Husker] Why Nebraska needs to run the ball

[rczeranko at juno.com]

There's an old adage in football that states, defenses win championships. A corollary to this is that a team needs a good running and defense to be successful.
 
A good running attack does several things. First, it allows a team to control the clock and the pace of the game. Secondly, it opens up the play offensive play book. As the defense begins to crowd the line of scrimmage, the offense can 1) throw to deep routes off play action; 2) get the perimeter on an option; 3) throw slants and quick outs to get a running back into space. And finally, a good running attack will demoralize and wear out a defense. Even if there isn't a lot of yardage gained early in the game, the running game will begin to wear down a defense. And notice, that while an option play may be a running play it still needs to be set up by running right at the defense to make the line backers cheat up to the line of scrimmage. If you have an exceptional line, QB, and RB then you may get away with running the option right away, but most times it won't work.
 
 Remember that Nebraska crushed Florida in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl by taking away the running game and making Florida one dimensional. Being one dimensional on offense allows the defense to 'know' what is going to happen on the other side of ball. 
 
One of the things that hurt Nebraska's running game against Missouri was that no one accounted for the LB early on. Once the FB was the lead blocker, the RB was able to get free and run in space. This was big difference between Nebraska's running attack in the game and later.
 
These are my opinions, comment as ye see fit.
 
Here's to a Husker win on Saturday!
 
Go Big Red!
 
Rob Czeranko
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