LINCOLN — If Shawn Watson was hoping for a couple of relaxing nights of stress-less sleep, he picked a bad week.

The Nebraska offensive coordinator sweated it out on the sidelines for 60 minutes Saturday as quarterback Cody Green, in typical true freshman style, survived an up-and-down debut in the 20-10 win over Baylor.

And now for Watson, the days following Green's start will be critical in his development. There's a lot for Green to learn, and it starts with the film-room-style replay of Saturday's game, narrated by Watson.

“It'll give him a chance to see what he experienced and see it from a different perspective — through film, which is always a great teacher,” Watson said. “When the bullets are flying, you're listening, but sometimes those wires aren't hitting right.”

The not-so-hidden mistakes that Green made during a 12-for-21 day weren't unlike those one would expect from a typical inexperienced signal caller.

He ran the play clock down a few times. Nebraska called timeout after its fourth offensive play from scrimmage.

As he surveyed the defense in the third quarter, Green didn't see the Bears dropping out of a pre-snap blitz look and threw an interception.

He lost a fumble when the offense was just outside of the red zone, needing just one score to seal the win.

But Watson put the NU offense in Green's hands, expecting to see some of those rookie errors surface.

So he kept things simple. Really simple.

“Coach Watson set up a great game plan for me to go out there and just show off what I have,” said Green, who passed for 128 yards and ran for 43 more. “I've got to give (credit) to Wats, he made a heck of a game plan.”

The idea was to utilize Green's athleticism in the run game, though Watson said Baylor's defense took that element away early on. He'd like Green to run upward of 12 times each game.

As a passer, Green was limited to just three progressions as he scanned the Bears' secondary. The third option was always the reliable check down.

“It wasn't a real complicated passing scheme,” Watson said. “He was comfortable with it.”

The scaled-down offensive approach may not be as effective this weekend, when Nebraska hosts Oklahoma, though.

OU ranks 11th nationally in total defense (277.3 yards per game) and eighth in scoring defense (12.6 points per game). The Sooners are backfield regulars, too. Their average of 3.4 sacks per game is fifth best in the country.

For now, the plan is to build from Saturday's game, Watson said. He wants to identify ways to make things easy on Green, then open up the playbook.

But it could take time.

“He's got to grow into a lot of things, but he's got a lot of talent,” Watson said. “We've just got to keep finding the things that he does well, what he's comfortable with.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com

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