ISU preview (cough, from huskers)

[Wingback]

"Triple-option" simply means that the quarterback has the option to pitch, run themselves, or pass. So you are correct, Nebraska quarterbacks didn't pass.

Turner Gill could certainly throw the football, and Frazier, when he had to, had a pretty decent arm.

[swarthmoreCY]

Turner Gill could certainly throw the football, and Frazier, when he had to, had a pretty decent arm.

Relatively, it still holds.

[Wingback]

Relatively, it still holds.

I guess the issue is, why throw the football all over the place when you are rushing for 300 to 350 yards per game (400 yards per game during Gill's senior season)?

Gill was a nearly 55% career passer and threw for over 1500 yards during his senior season. Although he was only around 50% as a career passer, Frazier's completion percentage was 56% as a senior with nearly 1400 yards.

Yes, the pass was their least used option, but they still were able to do it successfully when necessary.

[swarthmoreCY]

I guess the issue is, why throw the football all over the place when you are rushing for 300 to 350 yards per game (400 yards per game during Gill's senior season)?

Gill was a nearly 55% career passer and threw for over 1500 yards during his senior season. Although he was only around 50% as a career passer, Frazier's completion percentage was 56% as a senior with nearly 1400 yards.

Yes, the pass was their least used option, but they still were able to do it successfully when necessary.

Well, those guys were before my time, but from what I remember of late Osborne and Solich, one of the biggest issues was when NU was behind and needed to pass, it was ineffective relative to traditional offenses. Since 1980, Gill's first year, ISU has had 14 seasons of QB's completing at least 55%, and there was a lot of bad football in that span. Brett Meyer could run for a traditional passer, but relative to an option QB he was below average.

[Wingback]

Well, those guys were before my time, but from what I remember of late Osborne and Solich, one of the biggest issues was when NU was behind and needed to pass, it was ineffective relative to traditional offenses. Since 1980, Gill's first year, ISU has had 14 seasons of QB's completing at least 55%, and there was a lot of bad football in that span. Brett Meyer could run for a traditional passer, but relative to an option QB he was below average.

The "talking heads" certainly made a big deal about that issue, swarthmoreCY, and who knows, maybe some of it was deserved. But let's be brutally honest, if your team is down a couple of scores with 10-minutes to go in the ball game and the defense knows darned good and well that you are going to throw the football, does anybody really have consistently good success at completing passes (unless your name is John Elway)?

[swarthmoreCY]

The "talking heads" certainly made a big deal about that issue, swarthmoreCY, and who knows, maybe some of it was deserved. But let's be brutally honest, if your team is down a couple of scores with 10-minutes to go in the ball game and the defense knows darned good and well that you are going to throw the football, does anybody really have consistently good success at completing passes (unless your name is John Elway)?

…makes ISU’s numbers look outstanding.
You have a point, but it could also be said when teams have to put 9 in the box to stop the run, and you can pick and choose when to pass, it may equally distort the numbers. Also, I think most value the ability to pass, or at least say "a team can pass well" when in reference to being able to pass when needed.
IMO some of the "cannot pass" was deserved, but there were probably instances this was not true. As with anything in the media it is often prevalent to employ exaggeration, and the notion of NU not having the ability to pass was not immune.