Enhance

I hate it, but I have to agree. Nebraska shouldn't have been in that game. On a side note, Eric Crouch was very deserving of that Heisman. Everybody has been saying that Rex Grossman should have snagged it because made it to the NFL. I say bull s. I hate the combination of "Good Heisman winners make it in the NFL". Eric Crouch was the Nebraska team and we all know it, thanks to Solich's style of offense. Without Crouch, we wouldn't have won as many games as we did.

Suh is good but think about the ramifications of the Gator Bowl victory compared to having one player. 1) We had a 9 win season. Our second 9 win season in five years and a statistically better season (in wins and losses) than any season in the last 5 years. 2) Beating a good Clemson team in Florida opened up the eyes of plenty of recruits in Florida and recruits in the East. Playing a major state like that can hook you some great recruits, which is why everybody loves to play in Texas for bowl games. 3) Imagine how Nebraska would have felt finishing 8-5 and not capping a foundation season for the Huskers? Suh is good, but he's not worth the benefits of beating a team like Clemson.

Your idea sounds pretty thought out. I like it. Callahan was more concerned about the offense, no question. He turned the Huskers into a business rather than a passion filled college football program. Personally, I think Nebraska had one of the better showing's in the bowl games. Our offense is good but still has a lot of kinks, and the game between Clemson was predicted to be close. People tend to overlook that this is Pelini's first season. Getting to a bowl, being 9-4, and winning that bowl game is quite a year for a first year head coach. We can't forget that even though we had a nice year overall, we are still rebuilding. Just thought I'd throw that in. Also, kind of an interesting fact I realized today. Statistically speaking, Nebraska had it's best season this year in wins vs. losses than it has had in it's last 4. 2004 5-7 2005 8-5 2006 9-5 64% 2007 5-7 2008 9-4 69% Granted we had the extra game in 2006 but still, kind of interesting.

Obviously OP would love to have the Huskers in a BCS bowl. I believe he is just saying the broadcasting was horse sh#t and he would probably have preferred listening to it on the radio rather than watching it on FOX. The CBS announcers were horse poop. They ragged on Nebraska the entire game and did nothing brag about Clemson most of the game. My favorite part of the game, was when the announcer said something along the lines of "Nebraska has not been able to run the ball at all against Clemson all game." Next play, Castille broke one for a huge gain, and then did it again a few minutes later in the game.

I have no problem with implementing short passing attacks, but we do need to have a more vertical threat more often than once a game. If we could get a stronger power-running game, this would really open up the play action pass. It's tough to run the play action out of shotgun since most people are all ready expecting pass. Who's to say the power run game is kaput? Have you guys seen Georgia Tech this year? Granted they run a triple option, but they lit up quite a few teams this year running the ball. It's not dead. I predicted this on another thread a few weeks ago. Defenses are recruiting smaller, faster, more athletic guys to help compete against the spread offense. A team that recognizes this trend and revamps their offenses to smash mouth football will get way ahead of the curve. Can you imagine a power running game against a small but speedy defense? It would be devastating. The team may be able to fly to the ball, but powerful blocking and a big guy running you over negates your speed. Nebraska doesn't need to go back to the power run game, but they need to implement some formations into their game plans and practice power run more often, need a strong lead blocker though which is something we didn't have in 2008.

What?? Because he is white?? Time to get a few things straight. Cody Green is the only black quarterback on the depth chart, behind Witt, Lee, and Spano. Most starting quarterbacks in College Football are white. Just look at the Big 12. Robert Griffin of Baylor is the only black quarterback, and you could count Sam Bradford as not Caucasian because I believe he is Indian. Josh Freeman doesn't count anymore because he is going to the NFL, and the Iowa State quarterback situation is a giant toss-up with no real starter. Spano isn't getting attention because he's a young guy and less experienced than the rest. Yeah, he was tearing up the Scout team, but it's the Scout team. People constantly talk about how great Spano is and how he will have a shot next year, but the coaches have admittedly said the battle will most likely come down to Witt and Lee. When asked about Spano, all they say is that he did a great job on Scout team and has potential. If Spano were a serious threat, they would say he was. I'm not getting angry at you BuzzardBilly, but calling out a form of racism isn't very smart on HuskerBoard, considering most of us don't believe in the "it's cause I'm black" or "it's cause I'm white" bs. After all, Nebraska just shot down affirmative action, so we're not fans of special treatment or mistreatment based on race.

I tend to want to put my money on Lee and here is why. From what I have read, Lee is a bit more mobile (please correct me if I am wrong) which fits perfectly into Watson's scheme. You need to have a fast quarterback to help sell the zone read. Second, Lee has more starting experience than any of them considering he is a transfer from a JUCO program. Granted, it's Juco, but starting experience is starting experience. Witt, however, seems to have more qualities of a starting quarterback. As the roster shows from the beginning of the season, Witt is 225 lbs. and 6'4". He is built like a starting quarterback. Witt is also very agile as you can see from his touchdown run against Oklahoma. Idk. My money is on Lee but I think Witt might get it. The biggest problem with Witt is that he seems a bit jittery in the pocket and hasn't really impressed anybody when he has been put in. Granted, our games this year didn't have a whole lot of opportunity for younger players to get playing time and coming in to start is probably pretty nerve-wracking and intense once the starter goes down/out, but still. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

LOL

Maybe Steve Pederson will become GM

The only team I have seen that is overly successful with the WR screen is the Missouri Tigers. They had Maclin and Daniels running it like it was the easiest play in the world this year, but even Northwestern was able to shut that play down. Isn't it strange nearly a year after our 5-7 debacle, I'm now more worried about how the offense is going to score points and less about how the defense will play?

OP Here. Read my post carefully. I didn't say that we "need to go back to the power run game", I said I would like to see more power running formations. Those of you who criticized didn't read my post correctly. Yes, I did say I'd like to see less spread and less reliance on it, but I didn't say we needed to go straight back to power run game.

Clemson's passing attack is nothing to brag about. Davis and Spiller were supposed to be why we would lose yesterday, and they played only a small factor (except for Spiller on Special Teams). Clemson's defense was also supposed to be why we would lose this game. Inexperienced quarterbacks display certain tendencies under pressure, and that must have been one of his tendencies to only roll out to the right. Nebraska seemed to have noticed this, because most of the pressure they brought came from the right side of Clemson's offensive line. This was very noticeable in the last sack of the game from Eric Hagg, because he blitzed from the right (either tackle or tight end) spot.

I'm sorry but where is Steinkuhler in all of the posts saying that Suh should get the game's MVP? Steinkuhler had a way better first half then Suh did, and Suh didn't really come alive until the second half. Also, quarterbacks get the mvp because they are the quarterback. If you are another player, you have to have a ridiculously good game to steal the show from the quarterback. Even mediocre play out of your quarterback will get him the MVP. And don't forget, Ganz was responsible for the only two touchdowns we got the entire game. The only other points we had were 4 field goals. Steinkuhler has been mentioned in multiple posts (starting with mine 3rd on the page). In fact he is mentioned in the post just before yours. Reading Is Fundamental. Also as it has been mentioned. Stein had a huge game in the first half because Suh was getting doubled and tripled. Then when Ty was all over the place, they had to make sure he was accounted for. After all that Ty did...Suh still ended up with more tackles, sacks, tackles for loss and the blocked kick. The complete "Blackshirts" may not be back...but the front line is. I didn't call out every post, just specifically the posts on the page that didn't say ANYTHING about Stein, which is why I specifically quoted the one I did.

lol where did you buy this at? Well if you live in Omaha, I bought it at the Husker store (I think it's called Red Zone) at Oakview Mall on Center St. If you don't live in Omaha, just go to this exact link http://huskernation.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=80 If the link doesn't work, just go to huskernation.com and search for it there. It costs $120.00 though

LOL I think you might be on to something.

Yeah you should have heard Herbstreit and all those other analysts during the USC vs. Penn State game. They just couldn't shut up about how the Pac 10 was 5-0 in bowl games this year and how they are a very underrated conference. They also couldn't pull their love from USC away for more than 10 seconds. The Pac 10 played no interesting and formidable bowl game short of the Rose Bowl. For crying out loud, Oregon St. only beat Pitt 3-0! That is ridiculously horrible. The Big 12, on the other hand, has 8 teams in bowl games, two in BCS bowls, and is undefeated in the North. The Pac 10, as a whole, is still one of the weaker conferences.

Mendoza didn't get reps because of his inexperience and running power in the Gator Bowl. Helu couldn't get anything going because of his size, and Castille was the only back who seemed to do anything productive in the run game. You don't want to put another running back in when Castille is getting comfortable and making big plays. If Castille could get rid of his fumbilitis (which he did yesterday) I think he should be the premier back. He's got enormous size, strength, and speed. He would have had T.O. jumping like a small kid on Christmas back in the 90's. Also, Mendoza hasn't really blown us away with his time on the field this year. He's no true Freshman like Ahman Green was. The coaches have talked more about using him at slot receiver due to his size because right now he's not a very formidable ball carrier.

"Thunder and Lightning" did not have a good game in the back field on New Year's Day against the Blackshirts. "Lightning" aka Spiller, however, made us look like bumbling idiots on special teams, a part of the game we have struggled in most of the year.

I'm sorry but where is Steinkuhler in all of the posts saying that Suh should get the game's MVP? Steinkuhler had a way better first half then Suh did, and Suh didn't really come alive until the second half. Also, quarterbacks get the mvp because they are the quarterback. If you are another player, you have to have a ridiculously good game to steal the show from the quarterback. Even mediocre play out of your quarterback will get him the MVP. And don't forget, Ganz was responsible for the only two touchdowns we got the entire game. The only other points we had were 4 field goals.

Arguably the most sound, best defensive performance in my eyes the entire season. Forget the 14 points they gave up, that wouldn't have happened had it not been for the offense creating turnovers for Clemson. No turnovers and smart offensive play, this game would have been a shut out or very low scoring game for Clemson.

I got the entire 1995 National Championship Season on DVD, free of commercial breaks, timeout breaks, and everything else. Just every play and all the commentary and extra dvd features you could want. I plan on watching a game every saturday to get me through the pain of off season.

College Football passion is so much more evident than in the NFL. In College, you play for your education and you play for pride. In the NFL, you are playing for a company and a paycheck.

So Nebraska pulled out the win today, but I gotta tell you that I'm frustrated with the way our play-calling unfolds every game. We seem to give out very little vertical threat, and rely a lot on zone-read options and horizontal passing. I think Nebraska had plenty of chances to get more points if they spent less time running. I'm frustrated with our offensive lines inability to open holes for the running game, and I'm tired of seeing the zone read go for little if anything against quality defenses. I would love to see less spread, less zone-read option, and less blocking scheme screw ups. Barney Cotton coached a strong running team in 2003, so I'm confident he can work out the kinks. I would like to see more power formations, more devastating vertical passing threats, and more powerful running from Castille. I know Helu had a statistically better year, but I think Castille is the future at Nebraska. He is everything that would have had Tom Osborne jumping like a giddy school boy in the 90's. Thoughts and opinions? I want thoughts on what you guys want to see/look forward to for future years.

Here is what he said word for word.. "OK, guys. It's time to stop letting Clemson look good. We can't start looking fantastic yet until next year, because people will flip sh#t if we dominate because it's my first year of coaching. Keep the game close, make it look like we struggle at times, but then win like you know we will ."

In all fairness, take a look at the change Watson made after half time. We had 20 points in the 3rd quarter. The thing that separates us from the big time though, is our play calling. Watson seems to fall back on zone-read, short horizontal passes and that's not how the big boys do it. I hope you guys caught some of the Penn State vs. USC game. USC is a staple of how the passing game should be done, as is Oklahoma and Texas. We need more vertical, hard nosed football and less of the attack we saw this season. I hope Bo has some tricks up his sleeve as far as the offense goes for the coming years, because I don't see this "Spest Coast Offense" going very far. (Spest Coast is just a combo of spread and west for those confused).