Letting missouri drive towards the end of the game

[godd2]

i know it may be nit picky but why did we let them drive so easily in the last 15 minutes or whatever. I realize that it was unlikely they could score and get the ball back to score again with the lead we had but i am concerned of the momentum that was being allowed to be built. I am still not confident that BC understands how much importance momentum plays in the college game. In the NFL they seem to play more of a chess match often but in my opinion in the college game things can happen quickly and when momentum is allowed to mount things can go wrong quickly. Overall BC is getting it done i think but there are just some minor things i am curious why he seems to do what he does or more to the point allows cosgrov to do what he does...what you all think

[FriscoTXHusker]

... and why did we "let" them have the ball via the Phillips dropped pass and by not getting our drive going? Why did our D stop them on some plays and then "let" them have the first downs? Maybe our coaches don't want their opponents to feel too bad. They want to feel loved.

 

Our secondary has been suspect all season. It's not surprising MO was able to put together a desperation drive. NU had a chance to pound the nail in the coffin on Phillips dropped pass ... but hey, everyone makes mistakes, sometimes big ones. Fortunately, that one didn't kill us.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

... and why did we "let" them have the ball via the Phillips dropped pass and by not getting our drive going? Why did our D stop them on some plays and then "let" them have the first downs? Maybe our coaches don't want their opponents to feel too bad. They want to feel loved.

 

Our secondary has been suspect all season. It's not surprising MO was able to put together a desperation drive. NU had a chance to pound the nail in the coffin on Phillips dropped pass ... but hey, everyone makes mistakes, sometimes big ones. Fortunately, that one didn't kill us.

 

I think if we catch that pass on 4th down it changes the whole second half of the game. We only scored 7 points in the second half and that's a little bit of concern to me. We seem to go into cruise control after a great first half. If we came out and played the second halves like we do the first halves we would absolutely blow people out of the water!!!!

[Touchdown Tommie]

I honestly think it is the mentality of BC from being the NFL. In the NFL if you have a decent lead, you play to keep it. Maybe it is the players that go into cruise control after having a good lead. Missery does have a good offense when they are clicking. In the first half, the Blackshirts came out firing and I don't think Missery expected that...at least the way they did. As long as we are winning, I am happy with whatever the scores are.

[DaveH]

We didn't "let" them. You gotta give the guys with the ball some credit at some point. They are playing to win as well.

[Syzygyone]

We didn't "let" them. You gotta give the guys with the ball some credit at some point. They are playing to win as well.

You can't stop every play. You just have to stop them when you need to and the Huskers did that. And, even if the opponent makes a mistake that ultiamtely stops the drive, it's still a part of playing aggressive defense. Aggressive defense is risky business. It does give up some yards, especially against a talented opponent. But, it does cause mistakes and that's where defense stops the drive.

 

 

[Nalow]

We didn't "let" them. You gotta give the guys with the ball some credit at some point. They are playing to win as well.

 

Exactly!!

Not every drive can be stopped every single time against every opponent.

 

Granted I too thought that Mizzou was getting a little momentum in the 2nd half, but we did what we had to do to win.

 

What if Bjax hadn't fumbled inside their 30? What if JB caught that pass? We could have had nearly 50 points.

[ttheKid1*18]

... and why did we "let" them have the ball via the Phillips dropped pass and by not getting our drive going? Why did our D stop them on some plays and then "let" them have the first downs? Maybe our coaches don't want their opponents to feel too bad. They want to feel loved.

 

Our secondary has been suspect all season. It's not surprising MO was able to put together a desperation drive. NU had a chance to pound the nail in the coffin on Phillips dropped pass ... but hey, everyone makes mistakes, sometimes big ones. Fortunately, that one didn't kill us.

 

I think if we catch that pass on 4th down it changes the whole second half of the game. We only scored 7 points in the second half and that's a little bit of concern to me. We seem to go into cruise control after a great first half. If we came out and played the second halves like we do the first halves we would absolutely blow people out of the water!!!!

I agree. Had JB not dropped that pass, we would have won by a lot more.

[godd2]

i agree you cant stop every things...but if you look at the tendency of this defensive staff in the 2nd half with a lead they stop putting pressure on the QB and start to play zone and such to preserve the lead instead of keeping the pressure on them. it worked this time but what about against KU and OSU...you telling me that KU has a jagurnaut offence and could just over power our D....I sat in the 19th row on the 50 yrd line and watched our defense drop 10yrds off the receivers and just let them have that yardage which started to help them get momentum and the next thing you know, they are catching up and we are in OT....the players are doing a good job just i think the mind set has to be changed from the top that this is not the NFL and momentum is everything...you stop MU or atleast go after them hard they will quit...but instead it started to get interesting since they started to get confidence...we werent ever in trouble but other teams may and have come back....

[EbylHusker]

It doesn't have anything to do with an NFL mindset, at least against Missouri. It has to do with playing to win with a depleted, weak secondary. Missouri was off track in the first half, but that wasn't only because of us. They just looked bad as a team that half.

 

Most teams will come out in the second half and play much better, especially if there is a lot on the line. Missouri did just that. When you've got the lead, your secondary has been weak all season, and you're playing against a team that is KNOWN for 40+ yard passes and quick strike scores, you start forcing them to play shorter passes and not give them the long ones. Why? Because your offense was putting up 5-6 minutes drives and their offense was being forced to chew up 3-4 minutes per drive as well.

 

You don't give them the long stuff and force them to eat up clock moving the ball on the shorter stuff. You give your defense more chances to get a turnover or force Missouri to make a mistake the more plays they have to run, rather than letting them score in 3 plays against your weak secondary. The latter is EXACTLY what Missouri wanted us to allow and it's exactly what we did not allow them to do.

 

And we won because of it.

[Glendower]

i know it may be nit picky but why did we let them drive so easily in the last 15 minutes or whatever. I realize that it was unlikely they could score and get the ball back to score again with the lead we had but i am concerned of the momentum that was being allowed to be built. I am still not confident that BC understands how much importance momentum plays in the college game. In the NFL they seem to play more of a chess match often but in my opinion in the college game things can happen quickly and when momentum is allowed to mount things can go wrong quickly. Overall BC is getting it done i think but there are just some minor things i am curious why he seems to do what he does or more to the point allows cosgrov to do what he does...what you all think

 

First half their QB looked nervous-- he couldn't complete anything even to wide open receivers. 2nd half he seemed more focused and I was getting a little nervous even though we were up by 2 TDs and so were the people in the stadium around me. Very few people were clearing out early, know why? Because we've proven that we can choke with a crazy quickness.

[Syzygyone]

Most teams will come out in the second half and play much better, especially if there is a lot on the line.

 

Then why doesn't Nebraska?