A tale of two games

P

Power-I

Four-Star Recruit
recaps from ESPN have always been biased, but I'm getting pretty sick of it.

Notre Dame wins 35-0 and allows 307 yards, and ESPN doesn't think to mention all the yardage they gave up in the game, and the main comment on the stat of the game is, as written by ESPN: "0. Notre Dame's improved defense made a statement, posting its first shutout of the Charlie Weis era."

http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=292480087

Now, Nebraska wins even more decisively, 49-3, allowing 358 yards, and the main comment on the stat of the game is, as written by ESPN: "Stat of the game... 358. Nebraska's once vaunted defense allowed the Owls to rack up 358 yards of offense, including 236 in the air."

http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=292480158

Listen, I get ESPN has unquantifiable amounts of love for Notre Dame, whether they go 2-9 or 11-0. But I'm just getting sick with the biased, crap recaps that ESPN writes, and no one calling their B.S.

I don't need people to constantly be glad handing and fawning over Nebraska as they do ND, but what I do need is unbiased commentary from a NEWS SOURCE. I think it's about time ESPN stopped calling themselves a source of news, and went more with a tone of just plain entertainment for anyone who likes a selection of Florida, ND or USC.

 
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Honestly, I don't see an issue with it.

ND sucked hardcore last season, and for them to shut someone out is a big deal, even if they give up 300+ yards. That they won and looked fairly decent doing it is the main point.

NU didn't suck last season and everyone is expecting our defense to improved from last season. We gave up 350+ yards to FAU so that goes against what was expected by many.

 
Yeah, that was not a dominant defensive performance by any means, but statline of the game? Come on. We shut 'em down, even if there was some bending.

 
I'd gladly give up 600 yards a game if the opposing team only scored 3 points!? Not that it's possible, but I'm just saying. :)

 
EbylHusker said:
Honestly, I don't see an issue with it.

ND sucked hardcore last season, and for them to shut someone out is a big deal, even if they give up 300+ yards. That they won and looked fairly decent doing it is the main point.

NU didn't suck last season and everyone is expecting our defense to improved from last season. We gave up 350+ yards to FAU so that goes against what was expected by many.
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Yeah but thats our statline of the game? Not 158 yards and 3 TD's on 16 carries from Helu? Not 490 yards of offense? Cmon. Generally when a team wins by 46 points against anyone, their better stats are featured.

 
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BIGREDIOWAN said:
I'd gladly give up 600 yards a game if the opposing team only scored 3 points!? Not that it's possible, but I'm just saying. :)
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So would I.

But my point is that I think the writing is done based on what is expected. ND has been major suck lately but people have expected them to be improved this season. They posted a shutout, and even though they gave up 300+ yards, it's a big deal for them. I think many people expected us to shut down FAU far better than allowing 350+ yards, hence that stat is a big deal for us.

 
Power-I said:
EbylHusker said:
Honestly, I don't see an issue with it.

ND sucked hardcore last season, and for them to shut someone out is a big deal, even if they give up 300+ yards. That they won and looked fairly decent doing it is the main point.

NU didn't suck last season and everyone is expecting our defense to improved from last season. We gave up 350+ yards to FAU so that goes against what was expected by many.
Click to expand...

Yeah but thats our statline of the game? Not 158 yards and 3 TD's on 16 carries from Helu? Not 490 yards of offense? Cmon. Generally when a team wins by 46 points against anyone, their better stats are featured.
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I think you're looking for bias where there isn't any, but whatever.

 
I think you're trying to be balanced to the point of deferential.

Whoever put that up was clearly not paying any attention to the game, or to Nebraska, for that matter. We're a year removed from some godawful defenses. Bo's got the defense on the upswing, and we were a FAR cry from "vaunted" last year. With the defense we've been playing, a 3-turnover, 3-point effort - while not outstanding - surely merits more than a snide remark like that.

 
zoogies said:
I think you're trying to be balanced to the point of deferential.

Whoever put that up was clearly not paying any attention to the game, or to Nebraska, for that matter. We're a year removed from some godawful defenses. Bo's got the defense on the upswing, and we were a FAR cry from "vaunted" last year. With the defense we've been playing, a 3-turnover, 3-point effort - while not outstanding - surely merits more than a snide remark like that.
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Actually, if the remark had been made last season, I'd agree with you. But this season, I think people expect more from us than dropping 350+ to FAU, hence the remark.

 
we should have had two more picks that would have sliced 80 or 90 yards off the total. fau also had about another 100 yards on plays that they got off before we even had our defense in. not to discredit fau for that, they were heads up plays by rusty griswald or whatever his name was, but not a lot the defense could do about it because they were all out of position. those yards need to get credited to the coaching staff. the vaunted "first pro playerto be" from fau was largely ineffective. the bulk of the damage was done by the #2 guy, who did a fine job of managing the offense and was MUCH more mobile. had these two teams faced off a little later in the season, i think you would have seen a considerably smaller opponent yardage total. fau couldn't do jack sh*t anywhere near the red zone.

 
I guess if you want another example, how about the beloved Florida Gators, giving up nearly as many yards as we did, except they were playing a FCS school that doesn't even belong on the same field as teams in our division. No matter though. Florida is another of ESPN's beloved schools. Only good things to say here, except the blurb at the end where they allow Meyer to make excuse after excuse for their poor play.

You can't really argue that ESPN wasn't expecting a good D out of Florida.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=292480057

 
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I did wish the defense allowed less yards tonight, but in the end you have to be happy with the biggest score. 3. Keep in mind last year's opening games, how much the opposing teams scored, and how well we progressed over the season. If we can improve that much this season, we've got good things coming our way.

 
Power-I said:
I guess if you want another example, how about the beloved Florida Gators, giving up nearly as many yards as we did, except they were playing a FCS school that doesn't even belong on the same field as teams in our division. No matter though. Florida is another of ESPN's beloved schools. Only good things to say here, except the blurb at the end where they allow Meyer to make excuse after excuse for their poor play.

You can't really argue that ESPN wasn't expecting a good D out of Florida.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=292480057
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Anyway, I think I'm done with this thread if you're going to flip over a single line in a recap that is otherwise very, very positive. If you come up with anything better to post, I'll consider continuing the discussion.

 
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