The comparison between college and pro teams doesn't hold water. There is much less consistency in the college game from week to week verses the relative amount of talent on each professional team.
Over time what works for a while seems to be gone and never to return. Single wing, I , veer, wishbone, spread, west coast, read option, single back, power I, and the current read option spread sets. It would appear that given time what once was dominate isn't after a while. I would ask why some of these styles of play are not seen much on a national level. There is a reason we don't see the bone in wholesale around the country.
Since there is more inconsistency in the college game verses the pro game you are going to seem major changes in how a team plays D. If I were playing against Nebraska I would focus on stopping our running game starting with the I Back first and the QB second. You take your lumps with Jano but you don't let Armstrongs legs beat you. Then you force a slightly over 50% passer into something that is not his area of comfort. Whereas most pro teams are by design balanced and able to take advantage of what a D will give. Pro D's aren't as likely to throw the sell-out to stop the other team because even poorer teams have someone that can advantage of that.
I believe this staff would like a balanced approach. However, when you look at the team it is apparent that our strength is in the passing game when you take all of the parts into play. Could we be a dominate running team? Evidently not with this O-line. Armstrong has to do enough to keep teams off balance with his legs. Now the opposing D doesn't care and is having more and more confident in stopping our run and forcing him to throw.
So they are stuck with trying to take advantage of what the D gives. They run 9 in the box and we throw the ball as we should. They back off with deep LB drops then you go underneath. They run cover two you go to the sidelines, cover three and you find the underneath seams. The play call is simple but our execution is awful at best. Yes it is take what the D gives but you still have to execute thus the many open receivers and the dropped passes what could have turned this season around. The margin of error is slim.
I know people will disagree but the days of being one dimensional are over at least on a widespread basis. Evidence would back that up I think.
That being said there is a base you have to build on. It isn't an either or meaning run or pass. You need to be good at both - successful teams are. If you can't do it well, then you don't try anymore. It takes a while to get the talent and the technique you want developed.
