Husker Z

How did Missouri do the last time they received respect nationally and were ranked #1? Did they have a let down at all while they were #1? I'm just wondering. I am completely undecided on this game... I'm guessing you know the answer to this, but MU beat #2 KU in Arrowhead in a highly emotional win, similar to last Saturday, then went on to get beat pretty soundly by OU in the championship game, 38-17. In a classic letdown game, MU got down a bit early, then ran dry and OU pounded them in the second half. Letdowns aren't just something the media talks about, they are 100% for real. That, combined with what I think is a better overall team, in Nebraska, equals a solid home win this weekend.

Other than the UT game, Steele has been pretty close on all of our games, let's hope this trend continues. He would have nailed last week's OU/MU game as well, if OU didn't sh*t down their leg in the first half.

#6 MISSOURI AT #14 NEBRASKA Rushing Passing Points TO’s ST MISSOURI 152 188 25 2.0 - NEBRASKA 214 223 28 2.4 • LAST 13 YEAR MATCHUPS Missouri is off to their first 7-0 start since 1960 and last week arguably had their biggest win in school history as they upset #1 Oklahoma by returning the opening KO 86 yds for a TD and also took advantage of 3 key Sooner TO’s. Nebraska is also off an impressive win as QB Martinez a week after being benched threw for a career high 323 pass yds and 5 TD’s in the 10 pt road win over Oklahoma St. Last year against Nebraska, Missouri was up 12-0 after 3Q’s but suffered a 4Q collapse as Nebraska scored 3 TD’s in just 11 plays. Gabbert was banged up in the game and this year despite not being 100% has avg 335 ypg (69%) with a 4-0 ratio the last two games. Nebraska had won 15 straight at home vs Missouri until the Tigers came into Lincoln two years ago and embarrassed them 52-17. This year will be a different story as Martinez’s new found passing game keeps the surprising Tiger defense guessing and the Huskers get a huge Big 12 North victory. PHIL’S FORECAST : NEBRASKA 34 MISSOURI 20

Good luck, hopefully you guys will leave Lincoln like you have 38 out of the last 39 times! Have fun and stay safe, if you are going!

Yeah, I get the same feeling. Seems like Watson has a new, rejuvenated confidence in this offense since the OSU game. Maybe that confidence is just the ticket for this offense to come out and play consistently well from here on out. Saturday can't get here quick enough! Yup. I sound like a broken record, but seriously, EXECUTE and they will win this game!

I know you say Texas has the best defense Nebraska will play, and that may well play out by the end of the season, but right now, I think you have a problem proving that with on the field play up until now. Missouri has proven itself to be much more formidable than Texas at this point, I guess we will see what play out on Saturday. Texas' D is lights out, they give up like 250 yards a game, WAY better than the #2 team in the conference (which I think is NU, but I could be mistaken). Their D isn't their problem, their offense coughing up the ball at a record rate is. Texas has 3 losses because of about 15 turnovers, it's not because of their D, their D is VERY, VERY good, the best in the league, by quite a distance. Their front 4 on D is unreal, best in the big 12 and maybe the best in the country. MU's D is talented and MUCH better than in years past, but it's no Texas'. They still give up a 60% completion rate and will surrender yards on the ground as well. BUT, they have been VERY good at keeping teams out of the endzone when they get in the 20's. We'll see how it plays out I guess, but from everything I can tell and from what I've seen, it should be a good game unless one team just coughs the ball up time and time again.

I've read a few little quotes from Watson this week that make me feel pretty good actually. I think he is excited that he was able to cut loose the training wheels last week, when the team needed the offense to step up and not only did his players step up, they freaking THRIVED! I have a great feeling about this week and I think Watson and NU will have an offensive gameplan that will have MU wondering what the hell hit them, by halftime. But, as I stated in my other thread, Watson can have the best gameplan in the world, one that the 1985 Bears couldn't stop, but if the players don't execute, it's pointless, which we saw a few weeks ago against UT. I don't lay ALL the UT game at the feet of the players though, the coaches, university, fans, media, etc, built that game up WAY TOO MUCH and the players played tight and the coaches coached tight. Watson called an okay gameplan, one that was enough to win and win handily if executed by the players. BUT, he was never comfortable calling the plays and the players were never comfortable running them. I have a feeling Watson is going to be VERY proud of himself and his guys on Saturday afternoon, when he's confident that his players will execute, he feels good about letting loose HIS offense, which can be VERY dangerous.

So I guess it's obvious our gameplan will involve running the ball I like the confidence our OC exudes with this comment. But, I worry sometimes he'll try to force the run even if it proves ineffective (see: offense vs Texas). I truly hope that Bo had a long sit down with Watson after that UT game regarding forcing a square peg into a round hole. If you're going to go out there and jump up and down telling everyone how "multiple" you are, DO IT!!!! If Watson continues to keep that playbook open and continues to call games like he did saturday, we won't lose another game. Our offense, when called like that and EXECUTED like that is too good for the remainder of our teams.

I don't know if we have the best athletes, but I'd put our team speed up against anyone in the country, we are REALLY, REALLY fast all over the field, which is KEY to beating a team like MU.

I have been reading the same thing and while I think the posters have a point, I think QB pressure is second on our D's list of priorities this weekend. MU's offense is timing based, Gabbert takes on step and makes his decision where he's going. When that target is covered, his feet get nervous, when the second target isn't there, he really gets antsy. While a good, solid pressure would be nice all day long, if our DB's can throw off the timing of the routes just enough to allow a little push and close that pocket up, Gabbert will throw balls that can be picked. We don't need a ton of sacks to win this game. I LOVE the matchup between Dennard, Prince, Hagg, Gomes against your WR's, they are ball hawks and MU's offense is what these guys are trained to stop. I have a feeling the back 7 will do enough at the point of attack to allow the front 4 to work their way into the backfield, at least enough to get Gabbert's feet happy and have him throwing into spaces he really doesn't want to. MU's offense isn't the best we've seen and MU's D isn't the best we've seen, while NU's offense MIGHT be the best MU's seen and our D could very well be the best they've seen as well (all statistically speaking), so who knows. I'm betting it'll be a good game either way.

That's what WR's are supposed to do! QB's aren't always going to serve it up on a platter for you, it's his job to get it in your area and it's the WR job to catch it! Seems our WR's are better when the ball isn't perfectly thrown.

One thing that sticks out about Martinez is how easily he gets out of the pocket when he wants to, no DL ever get a hand on him and there is a 0% chance any DL is going to catch him from behind. There were a couple of times on Saturday when he scrambled a bit and most QB's would have been grabbed from behind from the DE, but his first step is SO FREAKING FAST, they just have no shot. He's fun to watch, let's hope his confidence keeps growing this weekend. I've seen Smith run down WR and RB from behind. Not saying he can catch TM, but he does have some deceptive speed. Hopefully he is near fully healed by Saturday. While Aldon Smith is an outstanding player and will probably give every team you guys play fits, if his arm doesn't reach Martinez, he's not catching him, one step and he's full speed. Smith is a fabulous player, but he's not running down Martinez from behind at any point.

As bad as the Cowboys are, I bet tickets are falling from the sky down there right now!

One thing that sticks out about Martinez is how easily he gets out of the pocket when he wants to, no DL ever get a hand on him and there is a 0% chance any DL is going to catch him from behind. There were a couple of times on Saturday when he scrambled a bit and most QB's would have been grabbed from behind from the DE, but his first step is SO FREAKING FAST, they just have no shot. He's fun to watch, let's hope his confidence keeps growing this weekend.

Good for you Gabbert, now eat sh*t!

If Clownahan can come back on Saturday and give us 51 points on offense, I'll welcome him with open arms!

Don't forget Asante, Dillard, and O'Hanlon to graduation as well as injuries to Fisher and Compton (still not back 100%). Our defense also tends to start slow. I have a feeling we will have a good defensive showing on Saturday. I get this feeling too, mostly because of how well we played in the 2nd half vs OSU. Had we kept giving up all those yards and points in the 2nd half, then I'd say our D's confidence would be wavering quite a bit, which would spell disaster vs Mizzou. But, that's not the case. The Blackshirts stepped up in a big way against arguably the best offense in the conference, so there's no reason they shouldn't hit the ground running against the Tigers. OSU's offense >>>>> MU's offense and our D is WAY better suited to defend MU's D than OSU's.

Herein lies the big difference between our defense and that of Oklahoma, which was not able to stop these quick-strike-between-the-hashes Mizzou pass plays. Along with the incredible play we get on the outside and deep from our DBs and safeties, we have some of the best defensive playmakers in the B12 - Gomes, Hagg, David - when it comes to between-the-hashes defense and coverage of short, quick patterns across the 2nd tier. We need a huge game from our entire secondary no doubt, but I think the game will be decided by the playmaking abilities of these three Blackshirts. I completely agree. MU won't see slow footed LB's out there chasing slot receivers and backs across the middle like OU did. Everyone keeps talking about getting pressure on Gabbert, which I also think is important, but it's the second priority if you ask me. First priority is to knock the WR's off their routes just enough to throw off their timing based offense. You can see when Gabbert looks for his WR's, if the timing is off, he starts to panic a bit and starts getting happy feet. They key after throwing off the timing is getting at least a push into the backfield to make it seem like there is more pressure than there really is. Gabbert is prone to panic and throw bad balls when the play breaks down a bit. We are the best team MU has played all year, just play our game, execute the plan and we'll be fine.

I just want to get by MU. We lose this weekend, there is a 0% chance we go to Dallas. This week is a playoff game for us, lose and you're done. But, to answer your question/poll, I'd like OU, it'd be a fitting end to a once great conference.

If there was ever a week where offensive and defensive execution is key, this is it. MU's d is MUCH improved, but they will still give up yards, but they really stiffen inside the 20. This will be KEY this weekend. We've had a nice trend of scoring outside the 20's, but you can't always bank on that. NU's offense has too many playmakers for MU to shut down all day if we execute our offense. Points will come at a premium this weekend, so drops, broken plays, fumbles, missed blocking assignments will all need to be kept at a minimum. UT game is a prime example. UT's defense is, statistically, much better than MU's across the board. We struggled to get much going on offense that game, BUT, had we simply executed the few plays that WERE there, we win that game by 2-3 TD's and are probably a top 2-3 team in the country right now. I said it yesterday as well, but when Watson takes the training wheels off this offense and Martinez gets comfortable, you can't stop it, no chance. When a D keys on the pass, we have three backs that will flat out gash you, if you start walking up help from the secondary, there is a group of 4-5 WR's that will burn you over the top. BUT, you have to execute when those plays happen, can't afford not to in a game like this, or you'll lose, see UT! Same goes on the defensive side of the ball. I'm sure most of you have gone back and watched the OSU game, or at least highlights. OSU got SO MANY yards on plays where we had the play played perfectly, only to put our heads down and miss a tackle and Hunter goes for 20+ yards, when it should have been dead in the backfield. The long pass plays don't concern me as a long term problem, Prince had most of them played very well, but it was just a big time player making a big time play, underthrown balls are one of the toughest in the game to defend against without drawing a penalty. My concern on D was missed tackles and a handful of missed assignments, again, those can't happen this week or they'll get burnt. This D was built from day one to stop this Missouri offense, there is no way around that. This will be the best D MU has faced as far as stopping their offense. All that crap that The Pelinis have said about keeping everything in front of you and not allowing the big play ALL POINTS TO THIS GAME. MU won't test us deep, they don't have the WR's to do so and that's not what they are good at. They will throw the ball 8-12 yards on quick plays all day long, based on timing. The D needs to disrupt that timing, either up front or by the DB's playing physical and picking the right time to jump a route, trust your instincts, trust your coaches! I expect a great game on Saturday, but, if NU comes out and executes and does the little things right, they will win this game. NU has better athletes all over the field that MU does. We match up very well against them and are the favored team for a reason. BUT, you have to execute, you have to trust your coaches, trust what you saw on film and have faith in your own abilities out there. Don't think, just trust!!

If we execute the offense that Watson called Saturday, they won't lose another game all season. ALL of our issues this year have come down to lack of focus. Missed tackles, penalties, dropped passes, etc. When this team focuses and executes, they are VERY, VERY good. Let's hope we don't come out tight like we did against UT ever again!!

i know they let us down a little over a week ago, but i still have a lot of confidence in our receiver corp. a lot of talent and play makers. I completely agree, nice to see them bounce back and gain confidence again. There are some serious mismatches when we have Paul, Kinne,McNeil, Reed and either Helu/Burkhead on the field. Especially if Martinez continues to settle in running this offense.

The thing I like about this game is the matchups, we matchup VERY well against MU. This whole D has been assembled to stop the spread, flat out. It'll be tough for MU to get up to a very high level two weeks in a row, it's tough to do. Also, MU's D has been great at keeping opponents out of the endzone, but they have given up plenty of yards and our offense excels at scoring from outside the red zone. If Watson doesn't get in the way of himself in calling the game this weekend, I think MU will have a VERY hard time stopping our O and I like our chances against their short passing game and their tendency to abandon the run when down, it plays right into our strengths. Should be a very good game, but I REALLY like the matchups in this game.

Dude, those two are matchup nightmares right now, lets hope we keep using them. Reed is fast man!

Yeah, it's crazy how exciting he can be at times, then all of a sudden he's using a two handed chest pass to Paul, who is 3 feet from him. I said it at the beginning of the year, get ready for a roller coaster, you just hope the good out weighs the bad when you roll with a RS Frosh QB and so far, it has.