Shatel online is up

Dundermifflinite · August 31, 2008

I knew I recognized the voice from the retrospective vid...anyway, carry on...

Tom's Take

Published Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008

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Hold off: No Blackshirts. Not yet. The Nebraska defense played hard, with energy, and hit Western Michigan players (particularly quarterback Tim Hiller) like punching bags. It played well. But there were more than a few busts and missed tackles. Hold off on the black. Keep 'em hungry.

More movement: Coordinator Shawn Watson had quarterback Joe Ganz moving out of the pocket to make plays. One of my favorites was Ganz's 61-yard touchdown pass to Nate Swift. It was a play-action pass off a zone read fake. That's a nice touch by Watson. The zone read freezes everyone on defense.

Letdown: So much for the "big" Virginia Tech game on Sept. 27. A lot of the air went out of that game with the Hokies' upset loss to East Carolina. Frank Beamer's boys had control of the game with special teams and turnovers, then got beat on special teams. You have to wonder if Beamer will lift the redshirt off sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor by the Hokies' trip to Lincoln. You also have to wonder if the Tech-NU game will be televised. The Hokies still have Georgia Tech and a trip to North Carolina before they go to Lincoln.

Questionable: Just wondering: Why did Western Michigan opt for a field goal on fourth and goal at the 1 just before halftime? Was that a show of respect for the Husker defense?

Hat tip: Cody Glenn had a nice debut at linebacker. He was all over the place. Too bad he doesn't have another year or two left.

Remember them?: What do Steve Pederson and Bill Byrne have in common besides being former Nebraska athletic directors? Headaches this morning.

* * *

A night of thrills and spills

LINCOLN - Can a video board get goose bumps?

The evening began with the voice of god. No, not that God. I'm talking about the unmistakable, legendary voice of John Facenda, the late, great voice of NFL Films. The "Frozen Tundra" guy.

Somewhere along the way, Facenda had narrated a film about Nebraska football. Several minutes before the 2008 season opener, the lights went down on the big screen. And then you heard Facenda saying the word "Nebraska."

And then all of these old film clips appeared. Rodgers juking. Devaney barking. Tagge diving up over the top. And it moved onto the next era of heroes. Gill. Rozier. Osborne. Frazier. On and on.

We've seen them before, but never like this. With Facenda calling the plays. With the Beatles' "Get Back" playing in the background. Get back to where you once belonged.

And then they came out. Bo Pelini and the Huskers. The stadium was rocking by then. Milt Tenopir and Charlie McBride followed the team out. Mike Rozier and Irving Fryar stood together on the sideline.

It was a surreal moment of nostalgia meeting passion, past colliding with present. This was one of the great moments in a stadium that collects them like a museum.

The game wasn't so bad itself.

Pelini's official head coaching debut was a success because, well, it was a win. Nebraska beat Western Michigan 47-24. Please excuse those who feared this could be a loss. After Ball State, and some of the others, you just never know anymore.

This one was never in doubt. The Huskers rode the opening emotional wave and took control. They made plays. They had penalties. They held on. They didn't inspire visions of a Big 12 North title. But there was plenty of reassurance that this campaign could be a lot of fun, too.

By now, we know better than to read too much into a Nebraska debut. In 1973, Tom Osborne beat UCLA 40-13 en route to a 9-2-1 year. Frank Solich beat Louisiana Tech 56-27 to christen 1998 - a 9-4 year with rough spots. In 2004, Bill Callahan beat Western Illinois 56-17 - the first of five wins that season.

All were memorable only in the fact that the head coach finally got a good night's sleep afterward. Ask Rich Rodriguez and Mike Sherman how many winks they got last night.

Likewise, it would be a mistake to buy or sell stock based on Pelini's first outing.

Here's what we know: Joe Ganz is a playmaker. But the Huskers can't, or won't, run the ball as promised.

On defense, Pelini's troops play hard and hit like a ton of bricks. But oh, those busted assignments.

There were five Nebraska penalties by halftime. Only one in the second half. Good adjustment.

The Huskers can also kick field goals from 44 yards. Alex Henery was 4 for 4 from that range.

They might need that leg, at least early until tackles Lydon Murtha and Jaivorio Burkes move up into projected starting roles.

That's not to say that was the problem with the AWOL Husker running game, the one that didn't dent 100 yards until late in the game. Where was this three-headed rushing monster we expected? Roy Helu Jr. (52 yards, seven carries), Marlon Lucky (43 yards, 12 carries) and Quentin Castille (5 yards, six carries) were not given the pill.

The "Or" in the "Or backs" must stand for "or pass if it's there."

This first-game development was curious, not necessarily troublesome. It's hard to say why offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, who has talked of pounding the proverbial rock, backed off. It could be the game plan called to show off NU's ability to pass and catch. It could be something Western Michigan's defense was loading up on.

But here's the thing: Nebraska kept passing late, even when it looked like a good time to run clock. If NU is afraid to go after Western Michigan's middle, what's going to happen in the Big 12? WMU ranked sixth in rushing defense in the MAC last year. Not to disparage the MAC, but it's the MAC.

We'll keep an eye on this one and see if things open up with the emergence of Burkes and Murtha.

Meanwhile, this guy named Joe is pretty good.

He threw for 345 yards and four touchdowns. He played with energy and confidence. He threw strikes on the run. He threw some passes into double coverage. His receivers made plays. There's a magic to that.

Ganz's play suggested he will be the primary playmaker on offense. If he keeps this up, there will be suggestions that he should have played more before the last four games.

They might be saying the same thing about Cody Glenn at linebacker.

The former running back led the defense with 12 tackles, including 2.5 for losses, a forced fumble and three pass breakups. He was all over the place and made some nice tackles. He was the star on defense.

The defense wasn't necessarily a star. There is clearly a difference in energy, purpose and all that jazz. The Nebraska defense - we can't call them the Blackshirts yet, remember - hit everyone in white jerseys hard. Quarterback Tim Hiller was sacked four times and was leveled several times as he released the ball.

But there were just enough big busts and big plays (and 74 offensive plays) by the Broncos to make one shudder at the thought of the Missouri scoring machine coming to town in a month.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This was a night to remember. As Facenda might have said, it was just what the doctor, as in Tom, ordered.