Guy Chamberlin

Here's a serious coaching question, and I swear I'm not ripping on the two Pelinis but:

How different is this defense compared to the Cosgrove defense?

Because we're not just talking about position players in physical mismatches. We're talking about quarterbacks who have nothing but time to scan the field, and when they hit receivers there is not a Nebraska defender within 10 yards. If you blitzed a linebacker and a safety, you'd be leaving no bigger holes in the secondary than you already have with the guys in place. And as the game goes on, there is simply no adjustment I could determine. This was what Chase Daniel talked about last year....they couldn't believe Nebraska kept trotting out the same high school defensive alignment, and they realized they could basically do whatever they wanted. Cosgrove admitted he didn't want to confuse his kids with complicated schemes, as if they were too fragile and unsophisticated for the major college game.

I come into the games with tons of goodwill, forgiveness and optimism, but the part of my brain that really thinks can help but think there has been no step forward on defense, and that is the bare minimum of what I expected from Pelini.

I know this was Oklahoma. But knowing it's Oklahoma, you also gotta go for broke.

That being said, I smell a win against Kansas.

Uh.....is this the same ESPN that ranked the 1971 Huskers and the 1995 Huskers as two of the top three College Football teams of ALL TIME?

 

Nothing makes Nebraska fans look like witless cornheads more than whining about how ESPN doesn't like us.

As already stated. ESPN didn't "vote" for Nebraska, football fans did. And to think that ESPN doesn't play favorites is just being naive.

Indeed the fans voted.

But so did the ESPN staff. Here's what they came up with:

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/colfootball/teams/best.html

To determine bias, you'd have to watch ESPN without your own bias. You'd have to notice that they talk about the strengths and weaknesses of EVERY team and admit that you don't freak out when they dissect the weaknesses of teams not called Nebraska. Or publicize the arrest of Miami players. Or pump up underdogs a bit against traditional powerhouses like Nebraska used to be, because non-partisans (and especially broadcasters) are rooting for a good game.

You'd also have to add in the fact that beyond a 6 year run in the 1990s, Nebraska often came up short in big games and sometimes really tanked on national TV and you didn't need to be an ESPN broadcaster to notice that. You'd also have to notice that ESPN has treated Nebraska with the respect a legendary college football program deserves, and however many "what's up with Nebraska?" stories they might be running of late, they are at least as accurate and respectful as the carping that goes on in here by the very Nebraska fans who complain about people doubting Nebraska.

But then, if a professional college football analyst predicting another team might beat Nebraska qualifies as bias, then yes, you guys are so, so right.

You know what might change that bias? Hundreds of whiny e-mails to Kirk Herbstriet. Have at it.

p.s. Jack Arute IS a tool.

Why are we still talking about this? I've already made everything clear in my posts, which time will validate.

Meanwhile, enjoy Joe Ganz while you can.

Uh.....is this the same ESPN that ranked the 1971 Huskers and the 1995 Huskers as two of the top three College Football teams of ALL TIME?

Nothing makes Nebraska fans look like witless cornheads more than whining about how ESPN doesn't like us.

Just for the record, Matt Cassell, the current starting quarterback for the New England Patriots, never started a single game in college.

Know who had a strong arm?

Ryan Leaf.

Know who had a weak arm?

Joe Montana.

Listen, I know I don't have as many posts in here as some of you, but I think you'll agree that all my posts are correct. I'm uncanny that way. It's both a gift and a curse.

I'll chalk up any disagreement to jealousy. As a well-hung self-made billionaire, I'm used to it.

He won't start.

He might not get drafted.

But Ganz will get picked up by an NFL team and earn a bit of pocket money.

He's currently the 13th highest ranked passer in the NCAA and unlike some who create gaudy or misleading numbers, he's earned the ranking.

I'm not sure what games you guys are watching, but Ganz's arm is strong and his release is quick in precisely the way they need to be, including such favorites as Rolling Right and Thowing Left, and Bullet Across the Middle.

Accuracy? Guess I remember a simpler time in which 70 PERCENT COMPLETION was considered pretty damn good. Oh wait, that time is now.

Did he blow a screen pass? Guess I missed that one. But in the more demanding and valuable Timing Pattern in the End Zone department, he shows an excellent touch. You know who could really complete a screen pass? Jamaal Lord. Want him back?

Some pundits have made too much of "Happy Feet" to diminish quarterbacks who refuse to hang in the pocket and get coldcocked by defensive ends. Ganz does great when given the time (surprise!) but he also uses his feet extremely well to buy time in a collapsing pocket, which is handy when your pocket collapses a lot.

Ganz is allowed to call audibles as he sees fit. He sees fit just often enough, and is frequently correct in his call. This is what smart quarterbacks do.

You can point to any untimely interception you'd like (Brett Favre has dozens) but when Nebraska needs to go the length of the field in a short period of time, Joe Ganz takes the huddle like a guy who can do it, and there's not a defensive coordinator around who is going to take him lightly.

Joe Ganz does what good quarterbacks do. He's overshadowed in a conference with several quarterbacks playing out of their minds, but that doesn't mean he's gone unnoticed.

Bookmark this one and call me crazy 365 days from now. Joe Ganz gets his shot.

And we sure as hell should appreciate the best quarterback we've had in years while we've still got him.

Baylor was a good win.

It's hard to watch our secondary get picked apart, but kinda fun to have a quarterback who can do the same when we get the ball.

And I think it's time to point out that while there are many facets to the Huskers that keep them from elite status, Shawn Watson calls a helluva good game.

My advice to the Huskers - and this is totally free - tell Quentin Castille not to fumble any more. And don't run into the punter after your defense has just held tough.

Quentin Castille looks a lot stronger against weaker defenses.

Someone is going to have to step up and make a claim for Featured Running Back '09.

I'd like to see a freshman get some reps right now. Because come the end of their senior years, I don't think either Castille or Helu will be starting.

Those of you who don't think Nebraska can run the table should quit being so grumpy and hug a unicorn.

If Nebraska beats Oklahoma.....that would be great.

I prefer to look at us at the #2 team in the Big 12 North.

I think the team - and the first string - really needed that last decisive drive for a score, even if the game was in hand.

But it is concerning that no back-up QB will be getting any experience this season. We are all anticipating improvement in Bo's second season, but the drop off in quarterback is going to be huge.

Even when we start pounding the sh!t out of people again, and we will, we will still be hearing this same kind of nonsense.

No. No we won't. You shut people up by winning.

The only reason Nebraska's woes rank as a story is because of Nebraska's long, rich history of winning. Which the sports media has been more than happy to champion.

And yeah, Notre Dame's abyssmal season last year was a very big story. And I'm guessing Nebraska fans weren't angrily demanding ESPN back off Charlie Weiss and the young men in his struggling program.

Okay. Here's a fun one:

Would you trade a win over TT, Oklahoma or Kansas for a loss to Iowa State?

Cause that kinda psycho mood swing thing happens several times a season with lower echelon teams.

Not to mention every Sunday in the NFL.

While most of us have been counseling patience - that Bo can't be expected to turn this around in a year (while we secretly hoped he just might) - I don't think anyone would have accepted that Pelini and his hand-picked staff wouldn't get better results out of Callahan's players.

The descent into doormat (San Jose State chose Memorial Stadium when it needed a break) has gone rapidly over the cliff, and I don't think it's easily explained.

Unless someone made a deal with the Devil.

I'm looking in your direction, Kirk Herbstreit.

That being said: TT 48 - NU 31. I think it might be interesting for awhile.

That Ball State win last season is starting to feel pretty good.

I actually think it will help this team to go on the road. They could use a chip on their shoulder and might as well go hell-deep into the pit of adversity.

Of course they could also use a creative gameplan on both sides of the ball. That's what good coaches do, and they do it with the talent they're given. Another blowout is simply unacceptable. I'd settle for the game still competitive in the third quarter.

Tom Osborne teams - for the first 20 years at least - often had a hard time accepting that the bread and butter plays that worked so well against weaker teams weren't working against ranked opponents. They made more 4th quarter adjustments than halftime adjustments, and sometimes that was too late.

I miss winning as much as the next guy.

But I'd still rather watch Joe Ganz complete 65% of his passes than watch Jamal Lord rush for 1,200 yards.

Really? "Goofball" earns you a warning? Even when the supposed offendee has been dabbling in ad homs of his own?

Let me get this straight:

Last year we lose in Columbia 41 - 6. It's embarassing. We blame Callahan.

This year at home the offense scores four more points (I'll skip that last touchdown as well) and the defense gives up 11 more points (and Mizzou could easly have had 59) and everyone is blaming the playcallilng of the offensive coordinator?

Every Saturday a couple of teams will craft a strategy and dig deep to beat a team with considerably better talent.

I think Nebraksa needs to be that team at least once this season.

I liked Zac Taylor a lot, but I think you may be viewing him with the warm haze of remembrance that comes from a team that could occasionally run the ball, stop an opponent on third down and win a key game.

So.....uhm.....nobody thinks the defense is a bigger problem than the offense?

Is this just because people are venting but don't want to vent at Bo? Yet?

I suppose Watson could give the ball to Lucky, Castille and Helu more often and determine which one had the better 2.6 yard gain. Or he could take what Ganz gives him, which is 290 yards in 38 attempts.

This is the same offense that marched right back against Missouri with a surgical drive to tie the score, the same defense that forced the offense to play catch-up, the same team that committed way too many penalties in a game where there was no margin of error.

None of this suckage and disappointment can be laid at the feet of the offensive play calling.

Curious that with Missouri scorching the Nebraska defense for more points than last year, the finger-pointing is aimed at the offensive coordinator. It was the defense that had no where to go but up, and the head coach was brought in as a defensive genius. And from where I was sitting — in a motel with a hooker on my lap — it looked like the defense simply made no adjustments. And just like last year, Mizzou soon realized it could do whatever it wanted.