I hate to see my team lose, but losing a really winnable game really hurts. Let’s assume the Saka sack fumble call is 50/50. Let’s assume if Porter gets the call on third down there is a better than even chance the Cats score, and at least a better than even combined chance that they either convert the 2 points or win a succeeding OT. Put together, they win the game more often than not. Unfortunately, they did not win.
The real point of this post, though, is the failures by the offense and its coordinator and whether the offense can grow to become effective if not excellent. I think before jumping to conclusions, it's important to factor in 3 things that contributed to the Friday night debacle. The most important of these is the style of defense that Manny Diaz’s teams employ: it is a chaos defense predicated on pressuring offenses by using multiple rush/cover schemes the utilize quick defenders. It is very disruptive. The second factor that worked into the night was the weather conditions, that created a degree of difficulty and uncertainty in countering the attacking mode of the Duke defense. The third factor was the inexperience of the offensive unit, and particularly of the QB and OC working together in game conditions to make adjustments as needed. In short, playing a Manny Diaz team in lousy conditions with a new OC/QB combo was an unfortunate draw. There were some hopeful things, to me. Postgame, Braun admitted he and Lujan made a bad call on 3rd down in the 2nd OT. Admitting error is a welcome event from the NU brain trust. Secondly, I thought the O Line, which I thought would be a weakness entering the season, more than held its own on average, and the left side was creating a lot of room for Porter. Porter looked the best he has since 2020. In retrospect, I am sure the coaches wish they had used the ability to get consistent gains on power runs. I imagine they will work on having Wright look for open tight ends over the middle earlier in his reads, and for the wide receivers to read and use the middle of the field when the defense vacates it like Duke did. Finally, Wright clearly is not a Heisman candidate, but he does have a set of talents that can be tamed and put to good use, I hope, even if they weren’t on Friday.
The net of all this is that NU does have some pieces to make the offense work: a decent power game and speed at key positions. The OC and QB were not ready for what was thrown at them Friday, but there is still a good chance for growth and some success.
The real point of this post, though, is the failures by the offense and its coordinator and whether the offense can grow to become effective if not excellent. I think before jumping to conclusions, it's important to factor in 3 things that contributed to the Friday night debacle. The most important of these is the style of defense that Manny Diaz’s teams employ: it is a chaos defense predicated on pressuring offenses by using multiple rush/cover schemes the utilize quick defenders. It is very disruptive. The second factor that worked into the night was the weather conditions, that created a degree of difficulty and uncertainty in countering the attacking mode of the Duke defense. The third factor was the inexperience of the offensive unit, and particularly of the QB and OC working together in game conditions to make adjustments as needed. In short, playing a Manny Diaz team in lousy conditions with a new OC/QB combo was an unfortunate draw. There were some hopeful things, to me. Postgame, Braun admitted he and Lujan made a bad call on 3rd down in the 2nd OT. Admitting error is a welcome event from the NU brain trust. Secondly, I thought the O Line, which I thought would be a weakness entering the season, more than held its own on average, and the left side was creating a lot of room for Porter. Porter looked the best he has since 2020. In retrospect, I am sure the coaches wish they had used the ability to get consistent gains on power runs. I imagine they will work on having Wright look for open tight ends over the middle earlier in his reads, and for the wide receivers to read and use the middle of the field when the defense vacates it like Duke did. Finally, Wright clearly is not a Heisman candidate, but he does have a set of talents that can be tamed and put to good use, I hope, even if they weren’t on Friday.
The net of all this is that NU does have some pieces to make the offense work: a decent power game and speed at key positions. The OC and QB were not ready for what was thrown at them Friday, but there is still a good chance for growth and some success.
