Good Shatel article
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Ehh, I don't like it when the fans and media infer a lack of desire and effort from a lack of execution. Does the fact that Brandon Riley dropped a pass for a TD show that he lacked a "sense of urgency"? I mean, really, does it show that? Yet the negative bent of Shatel's article is premised precisely on that faulty inference, that Riley lacked a sense of urgency because he couldn't bring the ball in, that Tommy lacks a sense of urgency because he didn't throw it better, and that the coaches lack a sense of urgency because they couldn't will the desired outcome themselves or didn't coach the play with a sense of urgency.
These conclusions are lazy and simplistic (not to mention, impossible to refute). They may capture the feeling of Husker Nation, they may make for nice talking points, but that doesn't make them sound. Performance is not always indicative of effort, and absent reasons for thinking the effort is lacking, I don't want to go there. (Was effort lacking when we marched right up the field and almost tied the game late in the 4th)?
What I see is an offensive system predicated on efficiency in the passing game. As others have noted and complained about -- ad nauseum if you ask me -- this offense is not run first. That may not mesh well with our identity or tradition, but it is what it is. What I see is the offense struggling primarily due to a lack of efficiency in the passing game, the very thing it needs. When it comes to our bad passing downs that result in incomplete passes or worse, I see Tommy making sub par decisions, throwing inaccurate passes, or getting pressured about 60% of the time, I see receivers dropping the ball about 30% of the time, and I'll reserve 10% for poor play calling.
If you want to criticize the coaches for trying to fit a round peg into a square hole at this point in the season, I think there is an argument to be made for that. Tommy + these receivers + this offensive line = a passing percentage in the lower 50s. That's at least 10% lower than you'd like to see in this type of offense. Then again, we knew what the coaches were going to try to do when we hired them and it's not like they haven't tried to step outside of their system. The offense is working just well enough for us to stay competitive in all our games, but it's not working well enough for us to win games we should be winning. That is genuinely disappointing and has me pessimistic concerning the rest of our season, but I don't think it's due to a lack of effort or urgency.
These conclusions are lazy and simplistic (not to mention, impossible to refute). They may capture the feeling of Husker Nation, they may make for nice talking points, but that doesn't make them sound. Performance is not always indicative of effort, and absent reasons for thinking the effort is lacking, I don't want to go there. (Was effort lacking when we marched right up the field and almost tied the game late in the 4th)?
What I see is an offensive system predicated on efficiency in the passing game. As others have noted and complained about -- ad nauseum if you ask me -- this offense is not run first. That may not mesh well with our identity or tradition, but it is what it is. What I see is the offense struggling primarily due to a lack of efficiency in the passing game, the very thing it needs. When it comes to our bad passing downs that result in incomplete passes or worse, I see Tommy making sub par decisions, throwing inaccurate passes, or getting pressured about 60% of the time, I see receivers dropping the ball about 30% of the time, and I'll reserve 10% for poor play calling.
If you want to criticize the coaches for trying to fit a round peg into a square hole at this point in the season, I think there is an argument to be made for that. Tommy + these receivers + this offensive line = a passing percentage in the lower 50s. That's at least 10% lower than you'd like to see in this type of offense. Then again, we knew what the coaches were going to try to do when we hired them and it's not like they haven't tried to step outside of their system. The offense is working just well enough for us to stay competitive in all our games, but it's not working well enough for us to win games we should be winning. That is genuinely disappointing and has me pessimistic concerning the rest of our season, but I don't think it's due to a lack of effort or urgency.