5 Things Nebraska Cornhuskers Must Do During the Bye Week

Nebraska has started the season 5-1 and ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press and Coaches Polls. Not too bad, right? The coaches, players and the fans all agree there is a lot of work to be done.

Nebraska’s off week has come at the perfect time of the season. If Nebraska had lost to Ohio State, Nebraska would have found themselves in panic mode and possibly making drastic changes to their offense and defense this week. Since Nebraska was able to overcome their largest deficit in school history to beat Ohio State, the Cornhuskers can make small changes which could propel them to the Big Ten Championship game.

Here are five things I think Nebraska needs to focus on during their bye week in order to prepare for the second half of the 2011 season.

Find an identity for the Offense

Nebraska needs to find an identity on offense and stick with it. It is obvious that Nebraska wants to run the pistol offense. That is fine. Nebraska must stick to the pistol offense even when they fall behind in games.

Nebraska begins every game running the option out of the pistol offense, but as soon as the Cornhuskers get behind, they turn to the pass. Passing the ball is not the strength of this team. Nebraska must focus on what they do best and run it until the opposing defense cannot take it anymore.

I believe if Nebraska ran the option with fakes to the fullback up the middle, along with pitches to running back Rex Burkhead, this offense would be hard to stop.

Nebraska’s quarterback Taylor Martinez has a hard time throwing accurate passes. When Nebraska runs the option pass, where Martinez bootlegs the option, stops and then looks down the field for receivers, he usually finds his receivers wide open. Nebraska needs this kind of offense to allow Martinez to have open receivers in the game.

This is the first year Nebraska’s offensive coordinator, Tim Beck, has called plays for the Cornhuskers. He has shown that he can make adjustments at halftime and put a productive team on the field in the second half of the game. If Beck can find an identity for this offense and stick to it, Nebraska could be a force offensively in the second half of the season.

Find a combination of lineman that work together

Nebraska has started many different combinations of players on the offensive line this year. Some of these combinations have worked, and some have not. It is important that Nebraska finds the right combination of lineman during the bye week so that this unit becomes a strength of the Cornhuskers offense and not a liability.

The only player on Nebraska’s offensive line that has not been rotated for different players is center Mike Caputo. Caputo has proven to be a solid player for the Cornhuskers. Now Nebraska must find the other four players to work as a team with Caputo.

A combination that has worked well for the Cornhuskers is Andrew Rodriguez and Seung Hoon Choi at the guard positions, Marcel Jones and Jeremiah Sirles at the tackle positions and Mike Caputo in the center.

Nebraska has lost guard Jake Cotton to a knee injury. Cotton was playing well at the guard position and could have been in the mix if he had not been injured.

Nebraska could go with many different combinations on the offensive line because so many players have received playing time. The important thing is that Nebraska finds a combination that syncs and let them work together.

Work On Decreasing Turnovers

Before the season, Nebraska fans were told that a new, more mature Taylor Martinez would be quarterbacking the team. So far he has not shown up.

Martinez continues to be inaccurate with his passes and fumbles the ball too many times. The good news is that Martinez has become very good at recovering his own fumbles. His luck will run out sooner rather than later if he continues to put the ball on the ground.

One way to eliminate Martinez’s turnovers is to give him fewer options during the game. It seems as though whenever Martinez has to make a decision in the game he gets rattled and makes a bad play. Sometimes this is when he is running the option and must decide whether to keep the ball or pitch it, or when he is looking down the field for open receivers.

Nebraska could create plays where Martinez drops back to pass and looks at two different targets. If both targets are covered, he should run the ball. This will limit Nebraska’s offense but it will keep Martinez from being rattled in the pocked and making poor decisions. Once he proves he can master this part of the offense, more decision making can be added.

When Martinez runs the option the decision to pitch the ball or hold on to it should not be difficult. If the end comes after Martinez he should be looking to pitch the ball. If the end goes to cover the running back he should hold on to it. This is not rocket science but sometimes Martinez makes it look like it is.

Find a Combination of Players for the Secondary

The weakness for the Cornhuskers in 2011 has been the play of their secondary.

Nebraska has been rotating players in and out of their secondary all season. The only thing that remains the same is that no matter who they put into the game, the players continue to allow big plays to opposing offenses.

I think Nebraska finally hit on something in the second half of the Ohio State game. Nebraska put Stanley Jean-Baptiste in as the cornerback opposite to Alfonso Dennard. Jean-Bapiste began the season as a wide receiver and three weeks ago was moved to the cornerback position. With only three weeks of practice, Jean-Baptiste looked better than any other cornerback the Cornhuskers have used this season.

With Jean-Baptiste and Alfonso Dennard at the cornerback positions, and Daimion Stafford and Austin Cassidy at the safety positions, Nebraska may have a unit that can stop the opposing offense. I would even consider moving cornerback Ciante Evans to safety to replace Cassidy.

Nebraska has this week and next game against Minnesota to figure out how to get some production from their secondary. The second half of Nebraska’s schedule finds the Cornhuskers playing teams that can pass the ball and Nebraska needs a strong secondary if they plan on winning those games.

Tackling

Linebacker Lavonte David once again leads Nebraska’s team in tackles. The reason David leads the Cornhuskers in tackles is because he is their best player on defense and because he is the only player that knows how to tackle.

Before Bo Pelini arrived at Nebraska, tackling was an issue. The past three years Nebraska has had one of the best defenses in the country because of their ability to make tackles. For some reason the 2011 team continues to miss tackles and allow ball carries to go for extra yards.

The Omaha World Herald newspaper has reported that Nebraska will be practicing in full pads this week with the starting offense going against the starting defense. By practicing in pads, Nebraska can work on tackling.

If Nebraska can make the tackle when the ball carrier is initially contacted, Nebraska’s defense would improve drastically. Hopefully we will see a Blackshirts defense that is more disciplined and able to make tackles when the Cornhuskers travel to Minneapolis on October 22nd.