Mavric

Huskers.com

Seventh Possession: MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 04:21. Second Quarter 1-10 MSU 25 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 2 yards to the MSU27 (Newby, Marcus). Slow-developing counter - nowhere to go 2-8 MSU 27 Terry, Damion pass incomplete to Lyles, Jamal (Gerry, Nate). Cover 2 type look - Cook throws behind the open receiver giving Gerry time to close and knock him out. 3-8 MSU 27 Cook, Connor pass complete to Price, Josiah for 16 yards to the MSU43, 1ST DOWN MSU (Gerry, Nate). Cover 2 - Cook has a lot of time to finally find an open guy 1-10 MSU 43 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Madaris, Monty. Pass rush very tired. Quarters coverage. Cook badly underthrows a wide open receiver 2-10 MSU 43 Cook, Connor sacked for loss of 3 yards to the MSU40 (Maurice, Kevin), PENALTY NEB holding (Gerry, Nate) 10 yards to the NEB47, 1ST DOWN MSU, NO PLAY. Gerry on the blitz and realizes the screen is coming so he grabs the TE. 1-10 NEB 47 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 13 yards to the NEB34, 1ST DOWN MSU (Jones, Chris). Great coverage by Jones but a great throw beats him. 1-10 NEB 34 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for 1 yard to the NEB33 (Young, Dedrick;Newby, Marcus). Slow-developing counter goes nowhere 2-9 NEB 33 Cook, Connor pass complete to Price, Josiah for 20 yards to the NEB13, out-of-bounds (Gerry, Nate), PENALTY MSU pass interference (Price, Josiah) 15 yards to the NEB48, NO PLAY. Still no pass rush - penalty bails us out 2-24 NEB 48 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 29 yards to the NEB19, 1ST DOWN MSU (Gerry, Nate). Quarters coverage - Cook has time to wait for the double-move route to develop 1-10 NEB 19 Holmes, Gerald rush over right end for 1 yard to the NEB18 (Gerry, Nate;Banderas, Josh). Slow counter goes nowhere 2-9 NEB 18 Holmes, Gerald rush over right end for no gain to the NEB18 (Collins, Maliek). Another slow counter. Odd playcalling with the half running out but it works out for them 3-9 NEB 18 Cook, Connor pass complete to Kings, M. for 18 yards to the NEB0, 1ST DOWN MSU, TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:17. Motion created confusion - Cockrell gave up way too much ground 1-G NEB 03 Geiger, Michael kick attempt good

Sixth Possession: NEBRASKA drive start at 07:25. Second Quarter 1-10 NEB 39 Cross, Imani rush over right tackle for 5 yards to the NEB44 (Heath, Joel). Jet sweep fake - tough run by Imani 2-5 NEB 44 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Moore, Alonzo. Moore open on the quick screen but TA misses him 3-5 NEB 44 Armstrong Jr. rush over right end for 17 yards to the MSU39, 1ST DOWN NEB (Miller, Grayson). Zone read - great run by TA 1-10 MSU 39 Reilly, Brandon rush over right end for 17 yards to the MSU22, 1ST DOWN NEB, out-of-bounds (Miller, Grayson). Jet sweep - nice run by Reilly 1-10 MSU 22 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Allen, Taariq for loss of 2 yards to the MSU24 (Harris, Darien). Should have been there but took awhile to get Allen the ball 2-12 MSU 24 Armstrong Jr. rush over right end for loss of 2 yards to the MSU26 (Reschke, J.). Option not executed well - if TA pitches we probably have something 3-14 MSU 26 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Allen, Taariq. TA has to get rid of it quickly and throws high 4-14 MSU 26 Brown, Drew field goal attempt from 43 GOOD, clock 04:21. We again follow two straight 10+ yard runs with a pass that derails the drive.

Sixth Possession: MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 09:22. Second Quarter 1-10 MSU 29 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for 6 yards to the MSU35 (Banderas, Josh;Newby, Marcus). Tough run by Holmes 2-4 MSU 35 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for no gain to the MSU35 (Maurice, Kevin;Newby, Marcus), PENALTY NEB face mask (Maurice, Kevin) 15 yards to the 50 yardline, 1ST DOWN MSU. Tough run D 1-10 MSU 50 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for loss of 2 yards to the MSU48 (Maurice, Kevin;Young, Dedrick). Slow developing and doesn't have a chance. 2-12 MSU 48 Cook, Connor pass intercepted by Rose, Jonathan at the NEB27, Rose, Jonathan return 12 yards to the NEB39 (Kings, M.). Nice play by Rose - terrible throw by Cook

Fifth Possession: NEBRASKA drive start at 11:27. Second Quarter 1-10 NEB 48 Janovich, Andy rush up middle for 12 yards to the MSU40, 1ST DOWN NEB (Nicholson, M.;Bullough, Riley). Outside trap look catches MSU off guard 1-10 MSU 40 Moore, Alonzo rush over left end for 13 yards to the MSU27, 1ST DOWN NEB (Colquhoun, A.). Interesting that the Jet Sweep to Moore and Reilly works well but not DPE 1-10 MSU 27 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Moore, Alonzo, PENALTY NEB holding (Utter, Dylan) 10 yards to the MSU37, NO PLAY. 1-20 MSU 37 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the MSU35 (Knox, Damon;Reschke, J.). Draw play still not working 2-18 MSU 35 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Allen, Taariq. TA does a nice job to avoid two sacks then basically throws it away. 3-18 MSU 35 Armstrong Jr. pass intercepted by Cox, Demetrious at the MSU15, Cox, Demetrious return 14 yards to the MSU29 (Nicholson, M.). Horrible - back foot, fading away into double coverage. Two 10+ yard runs to start the drive then a holding call on a pass play kills the drive.

Fifth Possession: MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 14:19. Second Quarter 1-10 MSU 43 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J.. Open but dropped 2-10 MSU 43 Scott, LJ rush up middle for 2 yards to the MSU45 (Gerry, Nate). No room to run - Gerry closes fast 3-8 MSU 45 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 15 yards to the NEB40, 1ST DOWN MSU (Rose, Jonathan). Cover 2 look - this should have been a stop but the deflected pass works perfectly for MSU 1-10 NEB 40 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 4 yards to the NEB36 (Gerry, Nate;Kalu, Joshua). Quick curl 2-6 NEB 36 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 2 yards to the NEB34 (Rose-Ivey, M.). Big blitz 3-4 NEB 34 Cook, Connor pass complete to Kings, M. for 34 yards to the NEB0, 1ST DOWN MSU, TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:35. Big blitz bites us as we bring 6 but don't get there. Blatent OPI isn't called. 1-G NEB 03 Geiger, Michael kick attempt good, PENALTY NEB offside defense declined. MSU got a couple nice breaks on this drive

Fourth Possession: NEBRASKA drive start at 00:21. First Quarter 1-10 NEB 36 PENALTY NEB false start (Lewis, Alex) 5 yards to the NEB31. Was going to be a quick screen to Westy and it was there. 1-15 NEB 31 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB33 (Colquhoun, A.). Another draw that doesn't work 2-13 NEB 33 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Moore, Alonzo, PENALTY NEB pass interference off-setting, PENALTY MSU pass interference off-setting, NO PLAY. Really not sure I've ever seen offsetting PIs like this. 2-13 NEB 33 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Westerkamp, J. for 5 yards to the NEB38 (Harris, Darien). Straight drop. Really high throw that Westy somehow comes down with but gets hurt. 3-8 NEB 38 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Morgan Jr., S. (Colquhoun, A.). Lucky this wasn't picked - CB was sitting on that route. 4-8 NEB 38 Foltz, Sam punt 19 yards to the MSU43, out-of-bounds.

Fourth Possession: MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 02:03. First Quarter 1-10 MSU 30 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 25 yards to the NEB45, 1ST DOWN MSU (Gerry, Nate). Counter look and our LBs get caught up in traffic 1-10 NEB 45 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J., PENALTY NEB pass interference (Cockrell, B.) 15 yards to the NEB30, 1ST DOWN MSU, NO PLAY. Quarters coverage Cockrell was beat 1-10 NEB 30 Cook, Connor rush over right end for 4 yards to the NEB26 (Akinmoladun, F.). Zone read look. More curious play-calling from MSU 2-6 NEB 26 Shelton, R.J. rush over left end for loss of 2 yards to the NEB28, out-of-bounds (Jones,Chris). End around that we had completely covered. Another odd call 3-8 NEB 28 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J.. Quarters coverage - late safety blitz. Cook again badly overthrows an open receiver. 4-8 NEB 28 Geiger, Michael field goal attempt from 46 GOOD, clock 00:30. Now five out of six incompletions were Cook missing an open receiver.

Third Possession: NEBRASKA drive start at 05:35. First Quarter 1-10 NEB 20 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Moore, Alonzo for 9 yards to the NEB29 (Smith,Tyson;Miller, Grayson). Called run but TA throws to an uncovered Moore with a blocker in front. 2-1 NEB 29 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Reilly, Brandon for 22 yards to the MSU49, 1ST DOWN NEB (Cox, Demetrious). Great play by Reilly - tough catch, broke several tackles 1-10 MSU 49 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 6 yards to the MSU43 (Bullough, Riley;Harris, Darien). Nifty move by Cross to find a hole 2-4 MSU 43 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Westerkamp, J. for no gain to the MSU43 (Harris, Darien). Terrible throw by TA almost gets Westy killed. No idea how he hung on to this 3-4 MSU 43 Armstrong Jr. rush over left tackle for 3 yards to the MSU40 (Frey, Chris). Play action, TA has lots of time but has to scramble 4-1 MSU 40 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 2 yards to the MSU38, 1ST DOWN NEB (McDowell, M.;Harris, Darien). Imani Smash 1-10 MSU 38 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Westerkamp, J. for 38 yards to the MSU0, 1ST DOWN NEB, TOUCHDOWN, clock 02:07, PENALTY MSU holding declined. Nice play action rollout - Westy backs into the end zone. 1-G MSU 03 Brown, Drew kick attempt good.

And it was a pretty sweet catch to boot.

So apparently Zach Miller is a former Husker that I didn't even know existed. Just caught a TD for the Bears on Monday Night Football. Graduate of Wahoo Bishop Neumann walked on for the Huskers in 2004 as a quarterback before transferring to UNO where he played QB before switching to TE. Spent three years in Jacksonville before being out of the league with injuries for three years before the Bears picked him up this year. Pretty cool.

We told him we'd take two RBs (knowing we just got a RB commit). Looking to visit LSU this weekend and will also visit Mississippi and return to Michigan. Decision after all that.

LJS

Third Possession: MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 07:05. First Quarter 1-10 MSU 33 Scott, LJ rush up middle for 5 yards to the MSU38 (Kalu, Joshua;Banderas, Josh). McMullen plays the counter well but they get 5 2-5 MSU 38 Cook, Connor pass complete to Shelton, R.J. for 2 yards to the MSU40 (Cockrell, B.). Had a zone blitz on here 3-3 MSU 40 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Burbridge, A.. Quarters coverage - Cook throws high. 4-3 MSU 40 Hartbarger, J. punt 60 yards to the NEB0, touchback.

Second Possession: NEBRASKA drive start at 11:11. First Quarter 1-10 NEB 35 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 6 yards to the NEB41 (Cox, Demetrious;Harris, Darien). Jet Sweep fake, nice hole over left guard 2-4 NEB 41 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB43. Draw - Cross trips over Sterup who got pushed back 3-2 NEB 43 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Moore, Alonzo for 13 yards to the MSU44, 1ST DOWN NEB P1 (Harris, Darien). Moore is wide open, TA throws low but complete 1-10 MSU 44 Armstrong Jr. pass complete to Westerkamp, J. for 7 yards to the MSU37 (Harris, Darien). Play-action quick screen 2-3 MSU 37 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 8 yards to the MSU29, 1ST DOWN NEB (Cox, R2 Demetrious;Bullough, Riley). Nice hole off left tackle 1-10 MSU 29 Janovich, Andy rush up middle for 6 yards to the MSU23 (Cox, Demetrious). Jet sweep fake - Jano on the trap has nowhere to go up the middle but bounces it outside 2-4 MSU 23 Armstrong Jr. rush up middle for loss of 4 yards to the MSU27 (Evans, Craig). QB Draw - There looked to be room straight ahead but TA goes outside 3-8 MSU 27 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Westerkamp, J.. Westy was open but TA misses outside 4-8 MSU 27 Brown, Drew field goal attempt from 44 GOOD, clock 07:10. Three runs for 13 yards to start the game but Langs throws on 3rd & 2. But we converted so it's good. Passed on all three third downs so far. I don't remember running this many draw plays previously and they aren't clicking.

Second Possession: MICHIGAN STATE drive start at 11:34. First Quarter 1-10 MSU 28 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Madaris, Monty. Quarters - Play-action draws the safety up - Cook misses a wide open receiver over the top 2-10 MSU 28 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Scott, LJ. Cook misses a wide open RB on the swing pass 3-10 MSU 28 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Burbridge, A. (Rose, Jonathan). JRose with great coverage down the field 4-10 MSU 28 Hartbarger, J. punt 37 yards to the NEB35, fair catch by Westerkamp, J.. On three out of the four incompletions, Cook missed a wide open receiver. We were fortunate he was off early.

Curious how much we were mixing up our coverages First Possession: 1-10 MSU 25 Cook, Connor pass incomplete to Shelton, R.J.. Quarters Coverage - Play action draws the LBs and Gerry - Cook misses a wide open slot on the out 2-10 MSU 25 Holmes, Gerald rush over left tackle for 43 yards to the NEB32, 1ST DOWN MSU (Cockrell, B.). We walked Gerry up on the outside and two LBs overran the play - no one left because of our alignment 1-10 NEB 32 Cook, Connor pass complete to Burbridge, A. for 6 yards to the NEB26 (Kalu, Joshua). Cover 2 - Kalu able to make the tackle immediately because of the coverage; in Quarters, he would have run off and the WR would have more yards. 2-4 NEB 26 Holmes, Gerald rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB24 (Young, Dedrick;Banderas, Josh). Not sure how Gerry didn't get credit here - he filled hard and got the first hit on Holmes. 3-2 NEB 24 Cook, Connor pass complete to Holmes, Gerald for 1 yard to the NEB23 (Rose,Jonathan;Gerry, Nate). Cover 2 look - Back out of the backfield - Young whiffs, they should have gotten a first down. 4-1 NEB 23 Scott, LJ rush up middle for loss of 2 yards to the NEB25 (McMullen, Greg;Newby, Marcus). Line shifts and VV blows it up

Curious to see when we ran it, where we ran it an how effective it was. My contention is not only did we run it more, but we ran a much wider variety of plays than we have in a lot of games and that led to much better success from the running game. First Possession: NEBRASKA drive start at 12:31 First Quarter 1-10 NEB 25 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Westerkamp, J.. Play-action rollout left - Westy was wide open but TA underthrew him 2-10 NEB 25 Cross, Imani rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB30 (Bullough, Riley;Heath, Joel). Straight ahead run but MSU only had six in the box so we could get some push 3-5 NEB 30 Armstrong Jr. pass incomplete to Carter, Cethan. Straight drop, Carter gets jammed and the throw is low and away. 4-5 NEB 30 Foltz, Sam punt 51 yards to the MSU19, Kings, M. return 9 yards to the MSU28 (Janovich, Andy;Weber, Chris). One run for five yards between two incompletions. Running game good. Passing game ... not so much.