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huskerstag

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  1. I'll say I got a chuckle watching Gabbert jawing with someone on the Husker sideline, late in the fourth, after he threw the ball away. What could he have been saying at that point?
  2. Maybe I'm uneducated - but what's the difference between throwing the ball out of the endzone and just falling down on it. Wouldn't it have been a safety either way?
  3. I'll say that i don't know how a defensive lineman would choose to play for anyone but Pelini. Looking at the improvement Suh has made over the past year is remarkable. The play of the d-line was fantastic this year, and that's without a former freshman all-American in Barry Turner and without much depth to keep those guys fresh. In my opinion, the transformation of Nebraska's defensive line was the key to the entire season. I hope some of those recruits took notice.
  4. If Nebraska plays Miami in the Gator Bowl, I'd honestly be surprised if there were more Miami fans than Husker fans in the stands. Jacksonville is a long way from south Florida, and Miami doesn't fill up its own stadium. I'd love to see the Huskers in the Gator Bowl. funny side note, I live in KC and on my way to work this morning, i heard a KU fan call in and relate a story about some Gator Bowl 'officials' telling him on Saturday that they really like the idea of having KU play in their bowl this year. Not to make fun of KU's program, but someone was either really trashed or really delusional.
  5. At one time, before his first job at Stanford, Willingham was considered the next 'it' guy in football. I'm not sure why he couldn't succeed at Notre Dame or Washington, but some have speculated that his approach of quiet intensity didn't mesh well with college kids, especially as a head coach in the PAC-10. I have no doubt he'll be a valued assistant in either the college game or, perhaps more likely, in the pros. I don't know if he would be a good fit for Nebraska though. It seems like it would conflict with the 'blue collar' approach the program appears to be taking right now, and I don't know if there's a place where he would really fit in, as both the offensive and defensive staffs seem pretty at this point. Heck, even the O-Line seems to be improving as the season progresses.
  6. That's too bad. He was one of my favorite players. I want to feel sorry for him, but I doubt he was suspended without cause. My respect for Pelini just went up a notch.
  7. I'm as excited about Green as everyone else, but we've all fallen into this trap before. Curt Dukes, Joe Dailey, Harrison Beck, Sam Keller... Green could very well be a great player, and I don't want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm, but much like Keller and Ganz last year, everyone's fallen in love with a player because A) they assume he is the greatest player ever, and B) they assume that no one currently playing that position on the team is any good. Personally, I hope Green redshirts. Its true that many programs have started true freshmen and been successful, but those programs also didn't have any other alternative. They also had all the other pieces of a productive offense in place. Texas had to start McCoy because VY left early and Perriloux reneged on his commitment at the last second. Bradford had to start at Oklahoma because Rhett Bomar got kicked off the team and their WR turned QB (Thompsen?) graduated. Even the great Tim Tebow didn't start as a freshman and basically came in as a third running back in short yardage situations. In short, those teams mostly succeeded in spite of their young qb, not because of him. Nebraska has options at qb and doesn't need to put a true freshman into the fire. If Green is head and shoulders better than anyone else, then great, put him on the field. But if he's just even with the 2nd string guy, or even the starter, then I'd rather see him redshirt and build for the future.
  8. I understand the excitement about Green, but these comments about Witt and Lee are just like the comments folks made about Ganz a year and a half ago. We have no idea what kind of qb Witt, Lee or Green will be.
  9. In a new system, with a new coaching staff, there are going to be mistakes all year long. Even though this was the 9th game of the season, every week is different, especially in the Big XII. Oklahoma's fast paced, no huddle offense leaves its opponents with little to no time to diagnose the offense's formation and make the appropriate adjustments. That's a big reason why NU had several blown coverages. But NU's defense isn't exactly the only one to get torched by OU. No one's really stopped that offense this year. The other element is that good talent and athletic ability can compensate for a misread play. If you have the speed to run down a receiver then you can afford to take a second look into the backfield, etc. When you're unfamiliar with the system and the game is moving at warp speed you're going to find yourself out of position. When that happens, you commit penalties, miss tackles, etc. This is especially true in the secondary. One second of hesitation and you're 5 yards behind the receiver. Honestly, all of those issues are a byproduct of working with a new staff and a new system. Look at Alabama last year, their first year under Nick Saban. They had a good midseason run and beat Tennesse and Ole Miss, but then they went out and got beat by Louisiana - Monroe towards the end of the year. This year they're at the top of the BCS. I'm not saying that's where Nebraska will be next year. But, I am saying that it takes at least a full season before the entire team (minus the incoming freshmen) is really comfortable with the schemes and individual packages.
  10. I personally put a lot of stock in the Sagarin Rankings (not that my endorsement means much). Its the most comprehensive analysis of college football teams that I'm aware of. Because it includes margin of victory its one of the more accurate rankings out there.
  11. Agreed, apparently when Baylor took their timeout down by the goal line it was because Griffin was woozy after being hit by Dillard. He's one of the players I'm happiest for this year. It seemed like he never got a fair shot with Cos.
  12. Is it me, or are people completely overreacting to NU's offense after watching 2 GAMES under a new staff? This team doesn't exist in a vacuum. The players are left from the Callahan era and his style of coaching. I'm not saying it was good or bad coaching, and I'm not saying they are good or bad players - but it has to be acknowledged that they've spent their entire collegiate career being coached to be something other than a dominant running team. Looking at Watson's track record, he's not the kind of OC who will spread the field and throw 50 times a game. He prefers to run the ball and run the clock. However, Watson isn't an idiot. If putting the ball in Ganz's hands gives NU the best chance to win the game - then why wouldn't Watson do that? Because of some misguided allegiance to a style of football the team isn't equipped to play? Because that's "how NU used to do it"? Saying "We used to run against 9 or 10 man fronts all the time back in the 90's" proves nothing. Yeah, it's true, but we also had all-American linemen, running backs, fullbacks and quarterbacks back then. Oh yeah, the program also had one of the greatest coaching staffs ever assembled. If anyone thinks this program has that kind of talent across the board then they're delusional. So why would anyone want this coaching staff to pretend they have the the talent to run into a wall of humanity every down? Because that style of football is more entertaining? That's only true if you're actually winning the game, and Nebraska isn't equipped to do that right now. In my humble opinion the Western Michigan game was a testament to Watson's ability to adjust his game plan (something Callahan was roundly criticized for) and the offense's ability to execute. If the safeties are playing 5 yards off the line of scrimmage then why would anyone choose not to throw the ball over their heads for a few touchdowns? If you have the personnel and ability to do that, then why would anyone just run the ball and punt over and over instead? Are the rules of the game different at Nebraska? Is it more important to play "the way the game used to be played" than it is to score touchdowns? Is the winner determined by who runs the most time off the clock? Because if it's not, then running the ball into a 9 or 10 man front with this team is complete foolishness. I can't believe its been 2 FREAKING GAMES and people are already bawling about how we'll never be back on top and we might as well accept our place as the Baylor of the North. If it's really that depressing for you then stop freaking watching.
  13. I can't find the link, but I'm pretty sure I read in one of the numerous post-game articles that Watson told Pelini at halftime that they'd run the ball more in the second half and Pelini's response was to just play football. Without reading too much into it, it sounds like Pelini wasn't too concerned with protecting the defense - he just wanted the offense to score points. If Western Michigan was giving up open looks downfield by bringing the safeties up so they were even with the linebackers - then why run into an 9 man front when you can just throw over them. I agree that in the heydays of the 90's we ran against 9 and 10 man fronts and had success - but the team has changed and the offensive philosophy has changed. I think we would all agree Joe Ganz is a good enough passer and decision maker to complete a pass when he needs to. In my humble opinion - I agree with Pelini and Watson - why pound the ball for 3 yards when you can just as easily throw it for 10? That's the beauty of the offensive system we're using now.
  14. Running the ball isn't always as simple as knocking someone over. Given that it was the first game of the season, we started a redshirt freshman (Jones) at tackle and three regulars barely played or didn't play at all (Burkes, Murtha, Smith) I'll withold judgement of the running game. Its like everything else - it takes a game or two to get in rhythm with the other linemen and the backs. Besides - why run your backs into a 10 man wall when you can just toss it over their heads? Watson's words may sound cliche' - but the ease with which the offense threw the football leads me to believe its more than just coachspeak.
  15. As a general rule i'll cheer for other Big XII teams when they're not playing Nebraska or a team with strong Nebraska ties (Buffalo). The only exception to this rule is Colorado. I refuse to cheer for Colorado ever.
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