WizardOfOsbourne

So Bo-haters will point out how one injury in one game could have helped him but won't consider how close to 10 injuries throughout an entire season could have hurt him.

So much for our internet mustaches. Better try a beard next time

Just out of curiosity, have there ever been any good head coaches who never worked as coordinators? I kinda feel like guys like Callahan, and even Pelini unfortunately, are great as coordinators but then come up short as coaches because they lack solid leadership qualities. I admit Brown might not have great coordinator qualities, but he does seem to have excellent leadership qualities. As head coach he could surround himself with good coordinators, nullifying the fact that he himself isn't a DC or OC

I'm not saying Ron Brown would be any better than Pelini. Nor am I saying Pelini should leave the Husker program. I just wanted to know what people think. He's been at Nebraska almost forever and embodies what a Nebraska head coach should be much in the same ways Osborne did. He seems to have a really cool head in stressful situations and doesn't let emotions dictate his actions. He comes across as having a pleasant personality, which would be great for both recruiting and attracting better position coaches. He has done a great job as the running backs coach and would possibly, no guarantee, return Nebraska to a more power, physical running scheme. Again I'm not saying Pelini should be fired or Brown should be the head clach next year. Just something to tak about though

Totally agree about Rose. I think Pelini made a goodadjustment by switching Santos and Rose. I'm also a bit excited to see what Banderas will do

I thought Valentine really showed up well today. That guy's just big and seems like in the coming years he'll be able to push guys around easily. Randy Gregory ofcourse too shows a lot of potential on the line. He seems sometimes like a linebacker on theline with his speed and agility. If he gets a bit more size while keeping his speed he could be pretty good too. My question is do you guys think Gregory or Valentine will be a bigger presence next year and then down the line?

I think the right answer is: They'd both be called for pass interference on an uncatchable pass, resulting in an automatic turnover.

If the Huskers get ahead in this game and have the ball at the end let him suit up and come out for a very victory kneel at the end of the game. Would that be possible?

They were down by 14 with about 7 minutes left going against a ball control offense. Beck was definitely not pass happy this game with Armstrong at qb and I think for the most part he called good plays

I have a strong feeling our D at home will fare better against the Spartans than did the Wolverine's D against the Spartans on the road. I'd say 21 points is the max the Spartans can get, but that could be enough for them to win the game. At any rate, a blowout isnt likely on either side of the ball.

Let's also bench both Armstrong and Kellog the first half to let the phenomenal Ryker Fife for a full half. With Fife out there we'll be forced to run it. Then when MSU is really beat up let's let Kenny Bell start the second half at QB. MUWAHAHA I'm not making fun of you. Just having some fun ^^

1.Consistency from the defense 2. For Beck to call fewer than 20 passes 3. Atleast 250 yards rushing from our offense 4. For the Huskers to commit no more than 3 penalties 5. For the Huskers to force 3 turnovers, but give up at most only one 6. Constant pressure on the Michigan QB. It seems like this D plays incredibly better when it's blitzing

Some left over residue from the Callahan days. I gotta go wash my eyes now >.<

Nice point. Haha. It's a mix of two movie references I guess. Wizard of Oz and Bourne Identity

Cross has been one of my favorite players since last year and I think he has loads of potential. However, it seems to me that ever since giving up a safety a few games back, Cross has been shaken and hesitant when out on the field. Of course that safety came because he took (way) too much time in the back field before running forward. I think lately now he's been overcompensating by running full speed as soon as he gets the ball. When his job is to get touch downs or first downs (as it usually is,) this is fine. But when his job is to run from 1st and 10 or give Ameer Abdullah (the AA battery) a breather (as it sometimes is,) this presents a problem. Why? Because he's giving absolutely no one time to set up blocks, leaving himself to be tackled and the offense to be in 2nd and 9 rather than 2nd and 5 or 4. The bigger reason why it could be an issue is because like I said earlier, Cross seems to have a lot of potential. If he gave blockers just a bit more time to do their work on first downs, defenders would end up having to take different angles to him. These different angles could be the difference between him bulldozing a guy over (as he's supposed to do on any down) and getting stuffed in on the line of scrimmage (in embarassing fashion.) The double A battery is playing great and passion, I just think if we had some running backs behind him though churning out atleast 50 yards a piece this offense will have a better chance in November, especially against Michigan state. I mentioned Abdullah's nearest backup, Cross, not waiting for his blocks to establish, but I'm sure you guys have some other ideas why he's seemed under par lately. Let me know what you all think down below~

It is possible there are rotating snaps right now because when Martinez comes back they will rotate him with Armstrong. Overusing Martinez right after his injury could lead him right to getting a bigger injury. Knowing thi this, the coaches may be trying out a rotation QB system right now to see how it works. The other reason they may be trying out a rotation system right now with TA in the mix is because they plan to do something to that effect next year with Armstrong and Stanton. I could be completely wrong on both these ideas, but just thought I'd throw them out there

So basically we don't practice live tackling? What was up with Pelini saying before the UCLA game he had players make tackles to the ground? I presumed he was talking about tackling other players to the ground. Perhaps he was talking about tackling stuffed animals instead

I think you're right on with your first sentence. To me, andI think many others, this game was different and worse than the other big losses because for the first half we were in it and even, ironically, appeared to be close to blowing UCLA out. That's what makes this game hard. Unlike in the Wisconsin catastrophe last year, people must have thought in this game that things had finally turned around. Of course then that wasn't the case, making the loss all that more terrible and disappointing. It's as if something was really toying with our emotions and hopes in this game. It reminds of the 1 second game against Texas a few years back. The game ends and you ask yourself 'What just happened?' While by the end of it this game against UCLA wasn't close, it truly was just one single bizzare quarter in which they blew us out. It almost would have been better had the whole game gone UCLA's way. Then I feel like the loss would still suck, but be much less disappointing and leave fewer questions of "Why?"

In three games Abdullah has been pretty weak on his runs. He has only been able to get near 100 yards in his three games due to overruse. In the UCLA game he wasn't really executing, so why they continued to put him out there when you got capable players such as Cross and Newby didn't really make sense to me. There's no promise that Cross or Newby wouldve done any better, but you gotta at least give them a chance. A big reason that our offense got shut out in the second half was due to being one dimensional. UCLA knew that each play we were going to pass it. We were one dimensional because our running game couldn't get going. Our running game didn't get going because for one Beck wasn't trying to call successive running plays and perhaps this was because if the starter doesn't run well this team gets into a passing panic rather than trying to use other guys at the run. Not running the ball well, we let the opposing defense know what we're doing, pass our ways through repeated 3 and outs, and our defense in return gets no chance for a breather, starts missing tackles due to falling energy, and the game is over. The defensive system could actually be pretty good but our game plan as a whole leads to these big, not small, losses. So in the end.. put Cross out there

We'll have the wind to our backs for the last quarter. Dont worry too much

Nice tackle by Foltz. We could've used him in this game last year

Prediction time - Will Tommy Armstrong see a drive in this game? Do you want him to?

Hey there. Just wondered your guys' opinions. What would be the better game plan for Beck to choose against UCLA in terms of passing and running? Running - power up the gut / speed to the edges (choose one) Passing - underneath to our backs / deep to our receivers (choose one)

NEB 38 UCLA 34 Rush 230 Pass 180