knapplc

The only completions they could have made were highlight-reel catches on pinpoint throws. Despite heavy pressure all day, despite six sacks, despite blanket coverage, Gabbert still completed 18 passes for 199 and a score. Granted, his completion percentage was 43%, but the throws he made against our defense were incredible. Frankly, I'm glad we don't have to face him anymore. And I'm sure he's glad he doesn't have to face us, too.

Nuance, that's a good point, but if Sagarin did that (made a human decision to move Nebraska ahead of Missouri) then he'd eliminate the integrity of his rankings. He has to follow his formula no matter what, or it loses meaning.

I don't know if they were trying to get Roy the record. I do know they kept feeding him the ball even though Missouri knew that's what we were going to do, and that it was effective, every single time. Eighteen of our final 22 meaningful plays went to Helu (minus the three kneel-downs.) He earned 83 yards on those 18 carries, despite a stacked box.

Gabbert ran for 16 on second down. On intentional grounding, unlike other penalties, you don't get to replay the down. On other penalties the penalized team gets to redo the down. Had there been holding on that play it would have been 1st and 20 at the ten. Instead, it was 2nd and 17 at the 13, where Gabbert threw the ball. Intentional grounding is essentially a sack. You get the down plus the yardage. The next play was 2nd and 17 and Gabbert ran for 16 yards. On third and one, Moore ran for the first down. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I don't think it's anything about an injury or a doghouse situation, it's just the simple fact that Roy was so very effective. I would have to go back through the games and look at the number of rushes, but it seems like the coaches were limiting Roy's runs early, giving the ball to Burkhead more, early in the season. We're seeing the results of that - a fresh, agile, fast Helu late in the season against the meat of our schedule.

I think most of the visiting MU fans are done with us. I very much doubt we'll hear from them again unless we lose a game and they vault back into the Big XII Championship game. Then they'll come back to discuss that.

Sagarin's rankings get better as the year progresses. It's rare you see these kinds of aberrations in his numbers, but they happen, and they're purely formula based. One of the great things about Jeff Sagarin is, if you have a question and he's not too busy, he'll answer your email. I exchanged an email or two with him last year. Can't quite remember what it was about, but he was helpful and cordial, even though I'm an insect compared to his mathematic acumen.

I got a kick out of the announcers on Saturday saying how they didn't think the rest of the Big XII knew about Roy's true speed, so this was coming as a shock to Missouri. I kept thinking, what is it about the runs he had against Washington and Kansas State that make people think he's not fast? Helu turned on the jets in both games and blew away from DBs. Seriously, if they're watching film and they don't know how fast Helu is, that's exceedingly poor preparation on their part (the announcers, I mean).

Voted.

I watched the game on DVR last night and they didn't show the official coming out and announcing that Gabbert's forward progress had been stopped, third down. They did announce it, the TV coverage just missed it, and inexplicably didn't comment on it.

Exactly right. His first two throws were off target, but, geez, he made three throws and the third one was clutch. Lee was on target against Texas. Iowa State has a terrible defense. Worst thing we could do is turn the ball over. We don't know how badly Martinez is hurt, only that the X-rays were negative so it's not a long-term thing. If he can't go this week, we go with the senior who has starting experience and has shown ball security. And all that while playing less than a full game so far this season. Yeah, Lee did just fine. His runs on the Zone Read, while not pretty, were damned effective. And on top of that, there is no way to overstate the magnitude of the final two drives Lee generaled. Missouri had just ran two drives totaling 27 plays, where the Blackshirts were on the field for 9:23, with the intervening Husker drive lasting two plays and 0:45 seconds (Helu's third long-distance TD), the defense was understandably gassed. They absolutely needed a competent QB to come in and kill the clock - Missouri had scored ten points on those two possessions, and the game was not in the bag yet. So what does Lee do? He engineers two drives, one going for 6:06 and the other 8:40, the latter eating up more than half the fourth quarter. After those two Missouri drives resulting in ten points, the defense played three snaps. Roy Helu understandably deserves a huge amount of credit for those drives, but you cannot discount Lee's presence and command in the huddle. This team knew what it had to do and did it behind a competent QB. Anyone dogging Lee needs to find another team to root for. This is the kind of crap you'd expect to see from Kansas State fans. Get real, people.

For comparison's sake (not including yesterday's games): McCoy: Sacks: 0.0 Tackles: 13 FF: 1 INT: 0 Suh: Sacks: 6.5 Tackles: 27 FF: 0 INT: 1

I doubt I will ever forget Todd McShay's attempts to make a name for himself by pimping Gerald McCoy over Suh last year. For old time's sake:

Yes, this is the drawback with computers. Sometimes you put the numbers in and the results don't make sense.

There is a difference between Helmet to Helmet, and leading with the crown of your helmet. There was helmet to helmet contact, but he didn't lead with the crown. It was a correct no call. But they absolutely f'd up with fumble call. We'll see what happens Wednesday. I will not be surprised if Smith sits out the ISU game.

We noticed this in the stadium, too. Some others have asked about it as well. I would like to know if it was on a quarter-hour mark, when they typically go to commercial. I know there were a LOT of media timeouts this game. The second quarter seemed to drag on forever.

This is due to our lower SOS. Sagarin takes that into account. Also our low score against SDSU hurts.

You have to wonder why they didn't throw the flag on Osborne. It was helmet-to-helmet. There are two possible reasons: 1) They saw that Gabbert ducked into the hit, making the helmet contact incidental. 2) They know that if the play is not penalized on the field, a player may be suspended at a later time. The second option is more nefarious, of course. We'll see if Osborne is suspended. That would make the second straight week that a referee looked directly at the player that was hit but didn't throw a flag, yet later the league office suspended our guy.

Anything is possible. We have to get past ISU and Paul Rhoads, plus A&M. We make it past those to possible losses and we're golden. Kansas and Colorado are going to be parties. I can't wait to give Turner a standing ovation. Probably be the highlight of the whole game.

Wow. 14th to 7th in one week. Mizzouri goes from 6th to 12th.

OK, just saw him make that TFL against Martinez, who had been cracked in the helmet by the end on the other side the previous series (no call, no mention by the announcers). Martinez looked noticeably slower this game. Maybe that's Missouri's defense, which is good and fast, but he didn't seem to have that extra gear, even before the hit that took him out. So I guess Smith did play. It's weird that Huskermax doesn't have any stats for him. But for as great of a player as he is, to have neutralized him so effectively 99% of this game, speaks volumes about how our O Line played.

It's weird that HM doesn't have him listed. They usually take that info straight from the official numbers, don't they?

This is why I love the kid. I'm not sure how familiar you are with his story, Knapp, but when he came here he had a pretty lousy attitude, very "me" focused (this is coming from his mouth directly). By the grace of God I suppose he got involved in Campus Crusade and ended up committing his life to Jesus and turning into the amazing man we're seeing today. I can't ever, ever, recall seeing a more humble player at Nebraska. Maybe a few that were equal, but never someone that surpasses Roy's serving mindset. I've read all about those stories. He's had a big turnaround, very much for the better.

Did Smith play in this game? I can't find anything on his stats at all. HuskerMax doesn't even have him on the participation list.

Agree 100%. It's very reactionary, and it reacts to hysteria. In the meantime, I'm almost through the first quarter watching the game, and I just saw a play that very much resembles Martin's hit against OSU. With about 2:40 to go in the first quarter Gabbert scrambles from pressure and ends up with that long run that was called back due to a facemask on Wes Kemp. On the pursuit Moore was focusing on Gabbert and got absolutely decleated by a Missouri player. Couldn't catch his number, but Moore was as "defenseless" as Andrew Hudson was on that play, and was very clearly targeted by the Missouri player. Again, Mr. Beebe - your move. Not comparable. Zero helmet to helmet contact, and the defenseless player clause only applies when contact is above the shoulders. This hit was right at chest/shoulder level. It's close. I'm pretty sure helmets didn't collide.