84HuskerLaw

As I have said since mid summer, we have a chance in every game, including the Buckys, but only about 1 in 10 for them. We can have a heck of good season record this year IF they play their best and keep on striving every week to be better and we avoid serious injuries. Those are GIGANTIC qualifiers and we will needs plenty of luck and maybe a few more friendly officials.

I will predict we end up number 22 - just a gut hunch but seems about right for now. We got to find a way to keep winning. One tough game at a time. God is still a Husker in heart and spirit! Jesus told me so!

Maybe but you don't change field position and score many points with fair catches. You have to take a little risk in order to get the big plays out of the special teams. Punt returns can change games just as a fumbled or muffed punt can as well. But, you put your 'best hands' guys back there IF they can really run and make people miss. Your punt returner has to be able to dance a little sidestep to make the first 3 defenders miss. Once he gets by them, then he needs to head up field in overdrive but using and setting up a couple blocks along the way. Unlike a kick off returner who ,must 'crash the gate' to break through the on coming wall of tacklers. You need to be a ';slasher' not a dancer in kick offs. We are making progress finally. There are signs.

I am wondering if Sam F was somehow 'assisting' Caleb today in the punting as he did a hell of a job. Our new punter appeared to finally get some confidence and put his foot into the ball. He was certainly the special teams MVP today! Arguably he may have been the game's MVP as he quietly did his job well. Go Big Red! Give him an honorary blackshirt or something!

I think that statistically speaking, the odds of making the kick for one point are about 95% or more versus the chances of making the two point conversion of something around 35%. Just based on the 'odds', it makes sense to kick because over time you will score more points. However, if your are one the nation's best offenses, as Oregon has been in recent years, then your odds of successfully getting in the end zone from 2 yards or so are much better than 'average'. Based on that, I would say, it seems very logical that Oregon SHOULD go for two on all extra points versus 'below average' opponents as their odds probably increase from 35% to 75%. I would say that Oregon probably averaged nearly 5 yards per carry just running the ball against us. And average per play much above 2 so logic indicates they should be successful, over a large number of tries, to convert more than half and therefore score more this way. I also believe that Oregon's coaches most likely were very concerned that they would NOT score at will against our defense and therefore it seemed wise to attempt to score as many points as possible once in the red zone.

This was without question the best win for the Huskers in several years. Not so much because we defeated an elite program or knocked off a top ranked team. We didn't really. But, it was a key win in the first half of the season for several critical reasons: 1. We needed the confidence boost to defeat a 'name' program. 2. This kept the season going clearly in the right direction. Had we lost, then we'd be, yet again, the 'also ran' (other) program that maybe gets a footnote of attention by the national media types. 3. This team did not play 'great' by any means and in my view showed that we can play well for most of a game and still compete with a top twenty five level opponent. There is plenty of upside left in this team and we are getting better but the best part of that is we can get much better yet this year. 4. The offensive line is starting to gel and I suspect is gaining confidence day by day, week by week. Last year's line got much better by the end of the year. This line is showing signs with series of plays where we are controlling the line of scrimmage again a higher quality opponent, not just the bottom dwellers.

Last week, I attended the game and hadn't been able to for couple years as living out of state. The announced 'attendance' was about 89 thousand and some odd. I don't know how they total this up but it could not be accurate. The stadium may hold max capacity seating of about 93,000 or so. There were many, many many empty seats all over the place. I would estimate about 10,000 or so. The TV cameras won't show this as people nicely spaced themselves out but I have been to nearly all the home games from 1972 to 2014. This was about as empty as I remember it ever being even on a lousy weather day. We had one when we played OU and Calvin Jones ran wild in the 'ice bowl' (the entire place was one big ice castle and everyone, including the players, should have been wearing skates. But that was understandable. It was an absolutely gorgeous out and attendance was terrible in my view. Tickets sold for around $15 or so outside.

Most coaches impose discipline by way of extra work outs (stairs, wind sprints, laps, chores, etc. or if need be then penalize the player with loss of playing time, etc, and finally with dismissal from the team. Alex Lewis probably had more mindnumbing penalties than any player in recent times (maybe ever that I recall). I would have benched him as he was getting false start penalties almost every game it seemed as a multi-year starter and senior. Hell, I recall he had his usual one at a key moment in the UCLA bowl game. I don't think an NFL team would tolerate this. It can happen to anyone now and then, but not regular as clockwork. This is a lack of attentiveness and siimply not caring about the team and its success. Many of these penalties are simply not focusing on your task at hand. There needs to be internal penalties. The players need to discipline each other as it is impacting the success of the team as a whole. The "Unity Council" or whatever the players' union or org is called needs to step in and say enough is enough and enforce the penalty box.

The fundamental problem with all the global warming (now termed 'climate change') data is that nearly all of it is just 'estimates' and approximations and guesses. There is simply no truly reliable way to calculate global temperatures even just a few hundred years ago, much less tens of millions of years ago, etc. I believe it is accepted that modern man's first visits to the North and South poles in any kind of scientific expedition were in the past 150 years, for example. Much of the world's oceans are barely mapped, let alone carefully and accurately measured for exact temperatures, etc. We may be able to determine that the planet has experienced significant rises and falls in global temperatures as evidenced by the so called ice ages and so on. The many theories, reasons, etc for the warming and cooling of the planet are reasonable guesses for what happened but it is much more difficult to determine with certainty why. The climate is influenced in many ways by many events, conditions, and activities from the activities and impacts of mankind to those of each and every other species of plant and animal from the past, the present and the future. The environmental systems which are in a constant state of change and evolution influence temperatures and many other factors which in turn impact temperatures. Solar energy is the primary source of heating of the planet - nearly all can agree on this. The sun and its energy emissions change in intensity and duration. Volcanoes, earthquakes, impacts of meteors and asteroids, etc. The release of the so called greenhouse gases and myriad other conditions create circumstances whereby local, regional and global temperatures and climate as a result will vary. We don't know which have how much influence at any given time over the millions and millions of years of the Earth's existence.

huskers - 35 Ducks 31 Rush yards 178 Pass yards 202

Huskers will overpower the Cowboys much as they did Fresno but we will pass more. Look for the score to end up around 45-17, as the team plays 'better' in a general sense with a reduction of some of those items that Riley has most concern about in his post game presser.

Yes, agree with a the gist of what you say, Guy, but: The dam Yankees have won way more than their fair share of the titles - because, I think most would agree - they have the best players that unlimited money can buy. Ever since we were all just kids playing 'sandlot' football on the school playground or on a Saturday afternoon in the fall, we all know that when the teams are 'picked', the best players are chosen first. The worst are always left for last. Recruiting is a vital/essential/critical/key factor in the success of a program. If the Bamas and Ohio States and the rest of the big name programs didn't believe in recruiting so hard because they could just coach up and train most anybody off the street, then they sure wouldn't go to the effort and expense. Building an elite level program requires - facilities, coaches, recruiting, programs, academics, promotion and branding, money, administration, etc, etc etc. You can never be too good at any of them and you need to build the right culture, attitude, confidence, etc. Never underestimate the value and importance of image and publicity. Harbaugh goes to Michigan and ESPN, BTN, etc. and etc just rant and rave. Really, is he the 'proven' as a supreme coach? I dare say NOT but he is given the attention of a superstar. This certainly helps. Hard work is the single most important ingredient in the success of almost any endeavor. But I could work harder and be trained and coached by to top twenty football coaches of all time as measured by anyone's standards, and could NEVER be good enough to start and play QB at Nebraska. I am not big, strong or fast enough and certainly am too old, etc. LOL I lack the 'talent' and skill and athletic ability and aptitude and any other term you may want to plug in to describe my capability to be a great football player. I may understand the game and and position as well as anyone every, but I am not athlete enough to be a great player. It takes the whole package.

Even for those at the top that actually did not take care of the issue It's not as bad as an actual molestation, not even close. That's like saying if you smoke a joint, the terrorists win. And what are you talking about? He reported it. How do you cover up something when you actually report it? And do I really have to explain what a in quotation "that didn't happen back then" means? That it is not literal and not in reference to when the actual crime took place. It means that roughly prior to late 60's those things were not talked about, or were swept under the table, hence were treated as they did not exist. That was the culture and if you like you can blame all of America for bringing up it's young men and women in that environment. Seriously I shouldn't have to explain this as those are know social criticism's of the era's. Now, one can disagree with me that that is not important, fine I believe it is, but damn at least understand the argument. I believe it's not he's job to be the detective after reporting the issue and that he was a product of the old generation, after all there was nothing to gain for him by creating some masterful deception to protect a pedophile. Did he get money? Fame? No, he got a easily replaceable coach. Now I get that there are differing points of view and thats fine and this thread can just go on in infinity with same exact things being repeated(unfortunately with just a few who can do so coherently without the hyperbole), he's satan, pitchfork, hate Penn state, think of all the children of the world, he's Satan pedo, pitchfork. It's not going to change my mind to keep repeating the same thing and I'm not going to change anyone's mind who believes otherwise. So maybe it's best to just cut and paste all our reply's over and over, save some time? He did not need to be Sherlock Holmes to 'detect' the creep's actions. How can anyone condone or look the other way while this 'coach' was taking little boys in the locker room showers, taking them on team road trips and into his motel rooms over night, etc etc etc. Nobody with any sense of right and wrong can tolerate anything like this from one of his 'friends/employees/fellow coaches'. This went on for decades and with many children. It is absolutely outrageous. Paterno and any other adult anywhere near or around this kind of crap has a moral and arguably legal obligation to act to prevent the on-going abuse and prevent future abuse. To simply say "he reported it to someone" and then forever he may wash his hands of the criminality is just plain incomprehensible. In fact, as I have said already, anyone who knowingly ignores and or tolerates this crime spree (Sandusky was a pedophile - a serial child rapist) for decades right in front of his (huge) nose, is a guilty as the rapist himself. You are either completely repulsed and disgusted by this kind of crime or you approve of it. Anyone who approves of this sort of action is disgusting as well. There is no debate on this one people.

You are spot on with this. If anyone else lied to the FBI they would be locked up. How is she even allowed to run for POTUS except for the fact that she appears to be above the law. What if most striking is the difference in how elected party members respond to significant stories like this. When Trump screws up (such as with the Khan situation), you will see leading party officials come out and criticize him, whether its Rubio, Kasich, Bush, or others in Congress. Meanwhile, when there is evidence Hillary has lied again, what do we hear from elected Democrats...crickets. They need to be calling her out rather than standing by her in silence. Please point me to where she lied to the FBI. Specifically. She lied many times about 'not remembering' basically everything she has stated publicly unequivocally she did and did not do. She has lied so many times on so many things, I don't feel like listing her entire statements. She lied about: not having multiple devices. This is NOT something one 'forgets' (reports are she used a dozen different phones, pads, computers, etc. She claimed she used ONLY one! This is absolutely a LIE! This is NOT a mistake, an error, an accident, a 'slip up', a 'fib', a failure of memory or any other rationalization by anybody trying to defend the indefensible. She is a compulsive liar. It appears she cannot help herself and often lies about things she has no need to lie for in an effort to cover up her criminal activities.

People remember who was coaching the defense when the wheels fell off the program. No doubt he has learned a great deal more about coaching the game but Bohl would not be a great answer for Nebraska's return to greatness. I think its time to give Riley and Company our full support and see how well they can do. We know you can't work any harder than these coaches are working and there are positives happening. It takes time folks. It will not happen in a couple years but we will see real progress this year. Be positive. We all need to support this year's team and staff and work together. A unified message from the Husker Nation and all those intimately involved is vital in my view. Go Huskers!

Gang tackling - you never want to see many solo tackles in the heart of the defense and you like to have multiple defenders assisting as the tackle is finished off. The sign of a great defense is gang tackling. For the CBs and Safeties and smaller LBs, tackling low is the best and sometimes only way to bring down a bigger and stronger player. Big DTs and so on with size comparability or superiority can move up and stop the player in his tracks. But you don't want to ever push the ball carrier forward in the process of tackling. I see that too often when the defender actually drives the player down field and extends the gain made in the tackling process. Bring them down ASAP and once the hit and grab hold is under control, the assisting tacklers (the gang members) need to be stripping the ball. Creating turnovers requires the mindset of going for the ball AFTER the tackle has reached the point of gaining control of the forward progress / momentum etc. Gang tackling leads to fumbles and solid hits in the chest down to the thighs gives a better chance of knocking the ball loose from the receiver/runner.

I hope we see Fresno have a winning season and that will help to comfort me some. I was about as optimistic as anyone on the team's prospects for this year. I felt quite confident the team would pretty much take off from where we left off in the 4th quarter of the UCLA. In ways, we did just that. The run game was quite similar and the pass coverage issues remain. The pass rush was about the same as well. The run defense was about the same. But there was one glaring absence - our pass offense was almost non-existent. That is a little disconcerting to me.

I agree Norhusker. Now I played lots of football and have now been a dedicated fan for over 40 years. Can someone with major college first hand experience or knowledge please explain how the teams go about practicing such things as punt returns, punts, etc? It has been a long long time since I remember the Huskers putting great return teams on the field. I don't know if there are specific statistics kept on such things but we must be well below average in the % of punts that are actually fielded by the return man and of those we are most likely very low in the rankings of those who actually attempt returns vs. fair catches made. Back in the day, Osborne's teams (most of them as I recall at least) rarely used the fair catch unless the conditions / circumstances demanded extreme caution. I don't know if they even have the 'halo' rule or something like it anymore but it seems to me that a team that is struggling to win games (Nebraska for example) would be inclined to attempt as many punt returns as possible as they are game changers and can lead to dramatic shifts in field position. Field position battles are key to winning close games with opponents of comparable strength/talent (like most teams we play anymore basically). DPE has been reportedly 'ready' to play for a time and I thought was considered pretty sure handed in making the catches and if all we are doing is letting the punts bounce and hope or just calling a fair catch, we are better off to put another man up near the line of scrimmage to guard against the fake punts attempts and to give a man advantage in the block schemes.

I would have been even closer on the final score but for the blocked punt (maybe/probably). LOL

We should not be ranked until we are 3-0, then maybe number 22 or so. We get to 5-0 then maybe upto 18. We stay within 25 of the Buckeyes, then maybe upto 14th. That is about as high as we go with the team we put on the field last night. Maybe we will see dramatic improvement in next couple games. We improved by year end last year but we should have been nearly where we were in the bowl game to start with in my view.

Did anyone else have the uncomfortable feeling that there were times that we kind of needed to complete a couple passes but were afraid to try them? Maybe it was just me. I could only listen to the game via the Husker radio broadcast crew and you often don't get a very true picture or sense of things. The good thing is we seemed to run the ball very effectively with nice big chunks of yards against an inferior opponent but much like the UCLA game. There were far too many big penalties, the punting was poor, the punt returns were NONE (why can't we at least catch the ball? - let's put two guys back or something), and there were some times when the pass coverage was the time tested "chase and tackle" scheme. It seemed to help when their QB missed his receivers by a bunch and or they dropped them. LOL I suspect and tend to want to think we lacked some key starters that will really help things this next game. I was most disappointed (I had been very optimistic before the game) that we regressed so far from the bowl game and had a lot of deja vu (2015) which I really thought we would have finally 'passed' like a bad meal after the spring and fall camps. It just seems to me we don't scrimmage and game prep in live, real time mode. I know the injury fears but we are just not well organized and using the non-conference games as 'preseason" or throw aways is not Husker football.

Think I heard that Minnesota got hit with three targeting penalties in their game. About a dozen or more around the country I heard,. Crazy!

Well, I am disappointed but there were still some good things to take away from the game. But for the hideous punt return (none btw) game and terrible first game jitters for the new punter (let's hope!), the final score might have been close to what I predicted at 52-7. We could have easily had another TD and held them to one score or couple field goals. Way too many penalties AGAIN. Poorly prepared to play. Looked like the first game last year. We should have been at least second or third game 'ready' already. Not nearly enough full contact and scrimmaging in practice. Not prepared to throw the ball well. How can we not throw some basic passes better?

They are going to get to bringing more guys to stop us and then the passing will be wide open.

doubtful this one will happen now as it has been published. too risky to do it when the opponent can plan accordingly.