10:21 p.m.: It's an exciting time to be an offensive coach at Nebraska. The same unit that struggled so often last year seems to be on track for considerable improvement this fall.
And it's because of a sudden overload of playmakers.
Taylor Martinez. Niles Paul. Brandon Kinnie. Mike McNeill. Rex Burkhead. Roy Helu.
There are plenty of options to choose from, which makes it difficult for defenses to focus in on one particular player. That's why NU coaches like assistant Tim Beck are smiling and grinning more frequently this fall.
“Anytime you score 49 points it's fun to be in an offensive staff room,” Beck said after practice Wednesday.
But the thing is, the Huskers believe they have the talent to maintain a dangerous offensive attack throughout the fall. The 49-10 win over Western Kentucky was simply a starting point.
“(We want to) let our athletes be athletes, get them the ball and let them do their thing,” Beck said.
We'll have more on this renewed offensive approach in Thursday's edition of The World-Herald. It's a philosophy more along the lines of what offensive coordinator Shawn Watson has always envisioned.
Last year, pages of Watson's playbook were ignored as NU relied on its defense and special teams to lead the way. The coaches believe they have enough talent to open things back up once again.
“We can get the ball to a lot of different people, a lot of different ways,” Beck said. “That's the nature of the tweaks we've made within the offense, to be able to take advantage of that.”
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