[Husker] Beck's Genesis

[David Elfering]

All the chatter about refs, man coverage, whether TM would make third
string at Bama, or how far out of bounds an intentional late hit is. These
are all interesting complaints. If one of them is your's then that's cool
polish it, feed it and let us know what sprouts by spring :)

Of more interest to my eye at the moment is to ponder what appears to be a
change in the offense and establishing of an identity. During the reign of
he who shall not be named I never felt there was a personality behind the
offense, and more than anything this was probably my main "complaint".

Even in the relatively dark days of Dr. Tom's circa 1989-1991 "can't come
from behind" "the option is dead" era (other people's words not mine) you
knew in your gut what the offense was all about. Not that it was easy to
figure out, it was actually a complex ballet of sorts.

Before the season began I had the opportunity to see Tim Beck break down
film and talk essentials of his philosophy. What I've concluded is that
Beck is a pretty straight forward guy but has always had a vision for what
he wanted to do. That's not unique, even some very bad strategic plans have
had someone who thought it was their "vision".  To my eye, despite
occasional self inflicted shots in the foot, the offense is developing into
something interesting and fun to watch. There have been some lucky breaks
but the saying goes that luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

Breaking a 300 yard rushing game against MSU isn't something done by
chance, the last team to come close was Alabama after the 2010 season
(please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

All of this hints to something that may or may not finish coming to
fruition in my opinion, but what we see in those slivers makes this
must-watch-tv. It could all still implode or explode at any moment with all
the heart palpitations and elation that goes with it.

Hopefully the best case happens, the offense continues to excel and defense
jel. The season has been filled with special moments, but should things
come together it may be a special season on the whole - in large part due
to what Tim Beck has managed to pull together.

Don't be surprised to see him mentioned for head coaching gigs after this
year, and if he is lost it will (in my opinion) be a big set back to the
program.

---
David Elfering
aroundomaha at gmail.com