LINCOLN — Say this about the progress of the beleaguered Nebraska offense: The Huskers, in a turnabout from this time last month, no longer need an offensive identity.

In fact, they've got two.

Short term, this part-power, part-finesse formula gives NU its best opportunity to win 10 games this season — a phenomenal accomplishment considering the turmoil of October. It may also pose problems for the opposition, puzzled by how to defend these Huskers, who switch often between power sets and the finesse alignments of the spread and West Coast.

Long term, though, it's not the answer.

The Huskers need a stable system. The two-headed offense puts too much stress on NU coaches to identify players with a diverse set of skills. While the multi-system approach may work for six games as a stopgap, future offensive success for Nebraska demands the Huskers pick one.

Two tight ends and a fullback? Or four wide receivers and a pro-style quarterback?

“The big thing is that the style of play is very different,” tight ends coach Ron Brown said. “The mentality is very different.”

To change midstream, Brown said, the Huskers had to “transition players' minds.”

“But that's what good coaches do,” said Brown, who was instrumental in helping the Huskers introduce the power mindset after losses last month to Texas Tech and Iowa State. “You find a way.”

The Huskers found a way, all right, winning the Big 12 North with victories against Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas and Kansas State in which NU threw 75 passes in 243 offensive plays. That's a 70-30 split in favor of running calls.

Coach Bo Pelini again on Monday praised the Huskers' run-pass balance.

Brown, who coached the Nebraska receivers during the school's glory days of power football, talked last week as if he'd been reunited with a lost love.

“You're beating people up,” Brown said. “You're getting to the next level. It's like a swarm moving down. People are getting chopped and knocked down on the back side. That's the style of play that it is.”

Then late in games, Brown said, defenders walk slowly back to their positions and run without any bounce. Soon, safeties can't recover in time to defend the play-action pass.

“It's just about convincing our players, not only the upfront guys, but the wide receivers that they've got to do heavy-duty, physical damage,” Brown said. “At some point, that's going to turn into some big plays for you.”

It has for Nebraska. Five completions of 35 yards or longer in the past two victories came via the play action.

Put Brown in a room of Nebraska fans — he'll speak this morning at the Big Red Breakfast in Omaha — and the veteran coach will whip them into a frenzy with his talk about the power game.

And many of the Huskers are right there with Brown.

Guard Ricky Henry said he was “drooling at the mouth” to get physical when Nebraska struggled last month to operate the zone-read running game and finesse-oriented, lateral pass plays.

“Pretty much all of us were,” he said.

And now?

“I think we've definitely got a new mojo on the offensive side of the ball,” Henry said.

So what does Shawn Watson think?

Well, Watson said he likes the Huskers' progress and production out of the power sets.

“There's no secret to what we're trying to do,” said Watson, the third-year offensive coordinator. “I think the kids have embraced that. They've taken pride in the physical aspect of it.”

These past few physical games, Watson said Monday, will help allow Nebraska to “get back to the kind of football that we'd like to envision ourselves being.”

What does he envision?

“It would be a team like we were last year,” Watson said. “But we're going to have to grow into that at quarterback. To be honest with you, we're going to have to grow into that at receiver.”

Basically, Watson indicated, he wants to shelve some of the power approach.

“I think there's elements of it that we want to keep,” he said.

In particular, he likes the big sets to bolster the run game in the red zone.

This debate figures to rage through the offseason alongside a sure-to-be-heated quarterback discussion.

The Huskers don't appear close to settling on the future style of their offense. From the outside looking in, a philosophical divide appears to persist.

More important than even the system, though, remains one simple truth about the power vs. finesse talk: Nebraska cannot prosper at both.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1031, mitch.sherman@owh.com

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