HQW 6: Are we playing down to our competition??

[Blackshirt]

ARE THE HUSKERS PLAYING "DOWN" TO THEIR LEVEL OF COMPETITION???

 

Why Western Illinois was the worst thing that could've happened to the team....

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AR Husker Fan, HuskerBoard.com feature writer, with contributions from Blackshirt

Sept 27, 2004

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Well, we' ve seen the Huskers three times now, and it seems that a pattern is developing - one that's going to come back to bite us in the ass....

 

What's Working?

 

We can sum this up in one word - Blackshirts. The defense has performed brilliantly, and they' ve been consistent. And that' s what' s lacking for the rest of the team - consistency.

 

And the reason, I believe, can be traced to Western Illinois ....

 

The Huskers came out on fire against Western Illinois - with the exception of the kicking game, every facet performed at or above expectations. And that's when the problems started....

 

All summer long, the players have been hearing and reading the same things we have -

 

-that the West Coast offense was a radical change that would take at least a season or two to master;

-that we didn' t have the players to run it;

-that Joe Dailey isn' t a West Coast offense kind of quarterback.

 

Folks, I don' t care who you are - that kind of talk has to take a toll on your confidence.

 

So, my theory is this.......

 

....when the Huskers dominated the first half of the Western Illinois game, the team - at least the offense - began to think they were better than they actually were. Now I' m not saying that the offense is not good - I' m saying that the offense isn' t so good that it can expect to steamroll any opponent. But I think that' s the mindset that arose after the first half - that' s when the offense started making ridiculous mistakes; that' s when Joe started forcing the ball and not following his progressions on his reads.

 

Concentration / Hard-work...

 

Put another way - the Huskers may have won the WIU game, but they lost something else in the 2nd half which may not have fully returned - CONCENTRATION. And when they don' t concentrate, they lose fundamentals. And when they lose fundamentals, they lose consistency. And the offense is not so physically superior that it can coast on athleticism alone....

 

The symptoms that reinforces this theory are the kind of mistakes we' re seeing, and what happens the following week.

 

Take a look at the Southern Miss game, and then think about the mistakes that we saw in the Western Illinois game. For the most part, we didn' t see those same mistakes - the kicking game, while not brilliant, was much improved. Joe was making good reads and working through his progressions. In other words, the coaching staff corrected the mistakes - for the most part - that occurred in the first game. BUT - we were killed by turnovers against Southern Miss.

 

Now, take a look at what happened against Pitt. We came out and dominated the first half - we may not have taken advantage of every scoring opportunity we had, but we dominated. But the second half? We' re making the same mistakes we made in the second half of the Western Illinois game!!!

 

Why? Glad you asked...voice in my head. It happened because the team got overconfident - and when they did, they stopped "working for it". Hell, the ABC announcers even made note of it - they commented extensively that the Huskers appeared to be lifeless when they took the field. The announcers were right - the team thought they were going to dominate - and they lost their concentration.

 

And that' s why we see the same damn mistakes we saw in the Western Illinois game! They forgot their coaching!

 

So what does all of this tell me? Three things to be exact.....

 

1)The coaching staff IS recognizing the errors and correcting them.

2)This team has to concentrate every moment of every game - when they don' t, they forget the First brilliant point I just made, and they can' t execute.

3)To tie the other two together - its obvious that concentration is even more critical within the WCO than most other offenses.

 

So if it's that simple, why are we still having problems??

 

A few words can answer that... An Elementary understanding of a Pro-Level concept.

 

Lets face it folks - the WCO ain't only hard to pronounce while holding your tongue... (I know you just tried it) this thing is just plain HARD. Our guys have been trying to drink from a firehose since Callahan's arrival on the crime scene. And they are just plain unfamiliar with too many of the intricacies associated with the WCO - which only exacerbates our other problems. Because guess what unfamiliarity breeds? No not baby momma drama.. but good guess. Thats right, a home loss to a team we should have beat 8 ways till Sunday. So with this element of unfamiliarity coupled with the increased level of complexity the WCO fosters, creates the inconsistent pattern known as the 2004 Husker football season.

 

Complacency...

 

What really worries me, though, is this - I think part of the problem at Pitt was that the Huskers didn' t view them as a "quality" opponent. That contributed to the second-half let down; it' s one of the reasons they lost their concentration.

 

That' s a dangerous way to play the game, and that' s what I mean about playing down to the level of the competition....

 

Of course, it means that when we play an Oklahoma , for example, we should see maximum concentration throughout the game - we may not win, but the effort should be there. But what about every other opponent? And what happens if the team comes out complacent for a first half? Can it recover?

 

You can' t simply turn it on and off - there' s too much parity in college football anymore. But I fear that' s what' s happening with the Huskers. They dominate - either in scoring or in marching up and down the field - and they begin to think the game is in the bag. They slack off - they don' t stick to what they' ve been coached to do - and mistakes start to abound.

 

I don' t see anything inherently wrong with the offense - while a couple of stud receivers would help, that' s about all that' s lacking. The line' s performed well; we didn' t have a sack until the third game of the season - and folks, that Southern Miss defense is pretty salty. The running game has performed well - we continue to gain yards and to be able to dominate in that respect. When Joe concentrates, he' s making good decisions and stepping through his reads. *When* the receivers concentrate, they' re making the catch. And that' s the problem! They don' t always concentrate. That' s what led to the turnovers against Pitt. We' re damned lucky to have won that one - and it' s thanks to the fact that the offense actually concentrated in the first half.

 

You know, it may have wounded our pride a bit, but I almost wish that the Western Illinois game had been closer and more difficult for us to win. Had it, we might see this team living up to its potential now - and less likely to get snake-bit somewhere down the road.

 

Outlook...

 

The good news is that this doesn' t have to continue - and I have a sneaking suspicion that we' ll see a different team for the fourth game. I suspect that what worries me worries Callahan and company also. We have already seen the coaching staff demonstrate the ability to quickly correct mistakes - the key is, can they motivate the players to keep the necessary concentration for entire games?

 

I think they can. When it happens - and it will - we' ll see two things. A complete game, and the kind of domination that is expected of the Huskers.

 

Let' s just hope to reach that point we don' t have to suffer through another home loss.. or worse yet another coaching overhaul....ya hear Steve? So back away from your Acme "Coaching Reconstruction" button, and get a fantasy football team or somethin - because THIS is OUR Big Red reality - we're just letting you live here.

 

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Written by:

 

AR Husker Fan

With contributions from Blackshirt

[RedCountry]

Again very nice article guys. Solid read, interesting commentary. Wish I had some to add... thanks!!

[Benard]

Don't think you have to worry about steve firing callahan. This is his baby and they are butt buddies. Only way Callahan gets fired is if Pederson gets fired.

[HuskerBob]

yeh, i wud agre with some of the key points in here, but Im jus not so sure it isnt the coaches that are losing concentration. i see them correcting probs but then they seem to resurface again or another prob pops up b/c it seems they overcompensated for the first prob.. kinda like whack a mole ya know. ..

 

one thing we have to relize is that theres a learning curve for the coaches too, especially when trying to coordinate all of these new personalities and egos.

[BigRedJohnson]

Interesting concept, and IMO a valid one. This happens in all sports - just look at the NFL - teams can get beat by ANY other team ANY week - why? well mainly b/c they are overpriviliged pretentious spoiled POS's - which causes them to be easily unmotivated, and drop their game from week to week. I dont think our guys are quite there yet... but if they do Callahan will just have to drop the "we have to be the stupidest team in America" line...that will get them back in line!!

[DaveH]

I would agree to a point, but I also think we are having to dumb down new offensive scheme because Dailey just isn't getting it done. I used to have faith that he would pick it up quickly, but after the Kansas game I have all but given up. Now when he gets the ball I find my self doing what I did when Lord got the ball. "Just don't screw up too bad!"

 

Good writeup.

[Redout]

Outlook...

 

The good news is that this doesn' t have to continue - and I have a sneaking suspicion that we' ll see a different team for the fourth game. I suspect that what worries me worries Callahan and company also. We have already seen the coaching staff demonstrate the ability to quickly correct mistakes - the key is, can they motivate the players to keep the necessary concentration for entire games?

 

 

Man still didn't get it done this week.

 

It is what it is.