Husker Reorpt Card for Game1

[Bugeater23]

Offense Overall A

Offense Rushing A ...even though it wasnt a big night rushing, it was a great effort and the game plan called for more passing from what WM was set up for on D.

Offense Passing A ...Ganz did a good job moving around, and finding his guys..Swift and Holt looked very strong...

 

Defense Overall C

Pass Defense C ...some great effort and individual peformances, but still work to be done...too many holes..

Run Defense A ...the D line was a wall most of the night...i know this is an area with no a lot of depth, so we need to pray for health from the starters....i was impressed with Glen, and Dillard in the middle, I think these guys will get better every game....i cant wait to see them wrecking some ball carriers..

 

Special Teams Kicking A+ 4 for 4 field goals, most kick-offs were in the endzone, one even through the uprights...

Special Teams Returning A ...Paul looked great on kick-offs, and Swift has great hands on punts

Speical Teams Coverage C+ ...it seemed like every unit had the Bo Pelini effort, but there was confusion and probably missed assignments in every aspect of the game.....

 

 

A+ for physical effort.....the mental effort will improve moving forward....I cant wait to watch the San Jose State game...

[Axl_sued_me]

C means Average in standard grading.

 

I'd have to say that although the D looked sluggish in the second half, they did hold WMU's running game to just 8 yards. And there Running Back, Derek West #2 was a fast one.

 

 

I'd say B- for the D.

[MCAT800]

To much of this for me.

 

Not totally disagreeing with you on all points but I did not see the great effort you saw in the running game.

The O-line was totally over matched. UWM was in the backfield all night. There was so much penetration that the pulling lineman couldn't get to the outside to logroll the "D", and when they did they whiffed.

When they were required to lock on block they came off the line high and soft.

I never actually counted the number of tackles for loss but I know there were four when the IB got the ball he was drilled.

They have alot of work to do, but they now have a game on film and Coach Cotton will now have some coaching points to go on.

[IlliniHusker]

Not sure how you came to the conclusion that the NU running game was an A

 

With only about 130 yds rushing, NU's O-line had a very sub-par game of blocking for our backs. WMU's defensive ends were small and we could dominate them? When NU was safely ahead late in the game, we still couldn't (or didn't) run the ball to use up the clock. I'd rate the running game a "C" and hope it gets lots better. If it doesn't improve a lot, I think we are in trouble.

[huzkerbob]

All and all, I rate it an A-. Got alot of good things done, but far too many holes under or zone coverage. An opponent like MIZZ would have tore us to shreds.

 

Asante wasn't great in the early part of the game, seemed to settle down late. A few missed turnovers on D, that may be a point of emphasis, along with all the blown assignments.

 

Far to many dropped balls, especially by the backs late. (come on Q!) Far more shotgun than I expected. Holt looked quite good once he settled in. Took hits and kept his hands on the ball, very nice.

 

Still alot to work on, but the effort was there, and that's step one!

[melscott62]

my only complaints were with the o line, ganz and watson(only the 4th quarter) and some with the DB's.

 

it is important to note that the line and the DB's were missing key people.

[pctopeka]

The guys came in and played hard. They did some good things, and made some mistakes. They won the game!

 

The attitude seemed completely different. That is what is important.

[Red Storm Brewing]

I'm right there with IlliniHusker. There is no way you can give the running game that high of a grade. It was a Western Michigan team that ranked 6th vs the run in the MAC!! The size advantage we had should have produced a better total.

However, this unit I believe will look a lot better when a healthy Murtha and Burkes get back into the fray. We did have some young men making their first start(Jones, Hickman@center). Western did load up the box on us and that makes it difficult to be overly successful.

In all I am happy with the W but will hold judgement on the line until they are at full strength.

[robsker]

Offense Overall A

Offense Rushing A ...even though it wasnt a big night rushing, it was a great effort and the game plan called for more passing from what WM was set up for on D.

Offense Passing A ...Ganz did a good job moving around, and finding his guys..Swift and Holt looked very strong...

 

Defense Overall C

Pass Defense C ...some great effort and individual peformances, but still work to be done...too many holes..

Run Defense A ...the D line was a wall most of the night...i know this is an area with no a lot of depth, so we need to pray for health from the starters....i was impressed with Glen, and Dillard in the middle, I think these guys will get better every game....i cant wait to see them wrecking some ball carriers..

 

Special Teams Kicking A+ 4 for 4 field goals, most kick-offs were in the endzone, one even through the uprights...

Special Teams Returning A ...Paul looked great on kick-offs, and Swift has great hands on punts

Speical Teams Coverage C+ ...it seemed like every unit had the Bo Pelini effort, but there was confusion and probably missed assignments in every aspect of the game.....

 

 

A+ for physical effort.....the mental effort will improve moving forward....I cant wait to watch the San Jose State game...

 

 

I'd give offensive rushing no higher than a C and probably a C-. We played almost certainly a team with a weaker overall defense than any B12 team --- and yet struggled running the ball. This does not project well for the B12 schedule for NU. Also an evident reality is that the NU staff knows that they cannot run because even with a 20 point lead they were passing (and forcing interceptions) --- they knew that even against W. Michigan they could not pound the rock.

 

The offense overall grade should have been a B (considering the anemic running).

Also, pass rush was a C- or D. Again, the W.Michigan O-line is weaker than any on our B12 schedule and NU had little pressure.

[dlrn64]

B- Offense The passing game was good all night, but the running game wasn't the best. Good pass protection though. Ganz two interceptions were sort of "deja vu" from last year. Reminded me of the Colorado game. Memo from Joe's brain to his hands-don't throw the ball in situations where the guys are well covered and we have a comfortable lead. Better to go to the next play rather than trying to make something happen that isn't there. For some reason Ganz threw behind Todd Peterson alot. He was pretty on target with the other guys...just off on throws to Peterson...weird.

 

C+ Defense Yes, it looked like Bo dialed down the pressure in the 2nd half as did the players. I liked the energy and enthusiasm. Much surer tackling this game than last years Defense. I would have liked the front four to get more pressure on the QB. Also thought the safety play hurt more than in anything in the secondary (Cody Glenn not getting top help on that one bomb from Asante; the other safety caught flat footed on a fake and having to drop back into coverage too late to catch the WR are just two examples). Overall, a good effort. But we clearly are not at Blackshirt levels yet.

 

A Special Teams Making four 44 yrd FG's is huge for any team...pro or college. It is pretty hard to do that so hats off to the kicker and long snapper and FG holder who saved the one hike to him that was high so Henry could kick it in stride. GREAT EFFORT by those guys.

 

A Coaching...Solid coaching and good prep work apparently as the team adjusted to what was being done on both sides of the ball. The team started strong by not allowing any points in the 1st QTr 9which after last year was a nice way to begin). The team played together and seems to have the fundamentals down. I like that the defense looked back for the ball on pass coverages which allowed them several times to knock balls down instead of simply watching the opponents catch them while they had their eyes glued on them. That was one of the best differences I saw in coaching.

[junior4949]

Offense Overall A

Offense Rushing A ...even though it wasnt a big night rushing, it was a great effort and the game plan called for more passing from what WM was set up for on D.

Offense Passing A ...Ganz did a good job moving around, and finding his guys..Swift and Holt looked very strong...

 

Defense Overall C

Pass Defense C ...some great effort and individual peformances, but still work to be done...too many holes..

Run Defense A ...the D line was a wall most of the night...i know this is an area with no a lot of depth, so we need to pray for health from the starters....i was impressed with Glen, and Dillard in the middle, I think these guys will get better every game....i cant wait to see them wrecking some ball carriers..

 

Special Teams Kicking A+ 4 for 4 field goals, most kick-offs were in the endzone, one even through the uprights...

Special Teams Returning A ...Paul looked great on kick-offs, and Swift has great hands on punts

Speical Teams Coverage C+ ...it seemed like every unit had the Bo Pelini effort, but there was confusion and probably missed assignments in every aspect of the game.....

 

 

A+ for physical effort.....the mental effort will improve moving forward....I cant wait to watch the San Jose State game...

 

 

I'd give offensive rushing no higher than a C and probably a C-. We played almost certainly a team with a weaker overall defense than any B12 team --- and yet struggled running the ball. This does not project well for the B12 schedule for NU. Also an evident reality is that the NU staff knows that they cannot run because even with a 20 point lead they were passing (and forcing interceptions) --- they knew that even against W. Michigan they could not pound the rock.

 

The offense overall grade should have been a B (considering the anemic running).

Also, pass rush was a C- or D. Again, the W.Michigan O-line is weaker than any on our B12 schedule and NU had little pressure.

 

 

Considering we were supposed to have concentrated a lot more on the running game in the offseason, I'd have to give the offense a C- as well. Our OL needs to really step it up before the VT game as well as the start of the Big 12 season play, or this season will be a repeat of last year. I'm very disappointed in the running game. Anyone have the time of possession stats? I'd be surprised if we had the ball all that much more than they did. We have got to be able to run the ball, control the clock, and win the turnover battle to have any success at all in Big 12 play.

 

I thought the D played ok. I thought Barry Turner and Steinkuhler played pretty decent. Glenn seemed to be all over the field. I'm still not quite sure why he was covering 50 yards down the field, but it's good that he was or they'd have probably gotten a TD. We should get better and better with each games as far as the D is concerned.

[Igetbored216]

See the blog listed in my signature for my Week One Husker Report card, because it seems kind of silly to post it all on here...

[DeathCultArmaggedon]

Lot of kool-aid in this thread...

[Zero_Yards]

Personally, the running game deserves a B-

It wasnt good, but even so, it was essiantial & will be a building block for NU's rushing game.

[melscott62]

I promise you there are big 12 teams with a worst defense than that teams.... same with the o-line. these guys beat Iowa at Iowa. do you thin baylor could do that? how about A&M?(ark state is TERRIBLE) kstate? I would say iowa state, but for some reason they own iowa.

 

again I wouldn't say that our line did good job either... but you are not giving this team we played nearly enough credit. and I thought our pressure was not great but certainly an improvement. we had 4 sacks and 7 TFL.