Pelini says Huskers were soft...

[Husker_x]

While holding Florida Atlantic to three points had folks grinning in coffee shops across the state, as fans have come to expect and appreciate, the man in the head coaches’ office sees lots of room for improvement.

 

During the weekly Nebraska football news conference Tuesday, Bo Pelini said he felt Nebraska was “soft” in a season-opening 49-3 victory against Florida Atlantic.

 

He doesn’t want to paint a picture that the performance was perfect, Pelini said. The effort was there, but the passion and execution wasn’t all of the time.

 

“I wasn’t happy about how physical we played,” he said. “Overall, man-to-man, I thought we played soft. That’s an area we’ve got to get better.

 

“We played too high at times,” Pelini said when asked for an example. “We didn’t play the way we practice. We weren’t coming off the football. We didn’t attack blocks; we weren’t as crisp as we need to be. On defense, that’s the difference between taking on the block and destroying the block.”

 

Pelini was asked if giving up 358 yards was a concern.

 

“You better believe it,” he said.

 

He’s not alone in his feelings of how Nebraska played. A lot of players were not happy with how they performed, Pelini said, and he loved the attitude the players brought to Monday’s practice.

 

The Huskers play Arkansas State (1-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in a game that will be broadcast on pay-per-view. Arkansas State opened with a 61-0 victory against Mississippi Valley.

 

Linebacker Blake Lawrence is looking forward to playing Arkansas State, because it’s expected that the Red Wolves will run the ball more.

 

Arkansas State entered the season as one of the favorites in the Sun Belt Conference after a 6-6 record in 2008. Last year, the Red Wolves pulled off a victory at Texas A&M.

 

“They have a solid defense and have gone into some pretty impressive places and played well,” Husker QB Zac Lee said.

 

Against Florida Atlantic, NU’s Roy Helu rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns.

 

Helu said Tuesday he felt he was playing selfishly and “going through the motions” in the first half, but that changed in the second half, along with his success.

 

Helu also was impressed with how hard running back Rex Burkhead ran on his 8-yard TD run in the second half, and wants to make plays like that himself.

 

Nebraska had 259 yards rushing and 231 yards passing in Game 1. Lee was impressed with the young group of receivers. What showed up while watching film, Lee said, was how well the receivers blocked, noting blocks by Niles Paul and Curenski Gilleylen.

 

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[I See Red People]

Some of these things are to be expected early in the season. One more game to get out the defensive "softness", or VT will expose it.

[Twodocs]

At least he did not call them powder puffs or cream puffs. I guess they are the Soft Shirts not the Black Shirts

[Husker_x]

I heard Sipple talking about this and I have to agree, I think some of this is keeping the guys grounded. I don't think you can walk away from a 49-3 game thinking, "We're screwed." Are there things to get corrected? Sure. Were the yards given up a concern? Yeah, but the effort is going to slacken when you're up by 40.

 

I think Bo would be right to scare off any sense of complacency heading into Ark State and Va Tech. Particularly going into Blacksburg you need the eye of the tiger. It's going to take a phenomenal effort on both sides of the ball to wrestle a win out of them. They're fast, they're tough, and probably more talented across the board.

 

Still, listening to 1620 today you'd think by the analysis that Nebraska was about to go 3-9. We didn't play poorly on Saturday, either, we seem to forget. The only numbers that actually matter when the fourth quarter runs down are the two big ones on the scoreboard.

[Hunter94]

you can just tell, the intensity and "finishing the plays" was not there and that "100% on every play" is what it will take to win many games this season.

[Husker_x]

you can just tell, the intensity and "finishing the plays" was not there and that "100% on every play" is what it will take to win many games this season.

 

Undoubtedly, but I think it's stupid for people to get too high or too low based on a 49-3 win against Florida Atlantic.

[redout22]

Last year W Michigan had 350 yards so I am not that worried. They didn't have a Rusty Smith either.

They only did have 8 rushing yards though.

[Paul in WI]

Just as I said in the "How do we beat Missouri?" thread the other day, I think that NU has gone soft in recent years. Pop in a tape of any of the 90's teams, and you'll see exactly what I mean. I definitely think we've got the right guy to get us back to that level of D, but just as it took a few years to destroy, it is going to take a few to get back as well.

 

Even with it being the first game of the year, I saw some MASSIVE improvements compared to last year. The problem is that it was the inconsistency in intensity that bugged me. There were flashes of brilliance one minute, and then it was like the defense decided to sit back on its laurels and not pursue. It's like we lost the last connection to the players that had that work ethic and pride in the 'N' on their helmets, and it is proving awfully tough for Pelini to rebuild that connection once it was lost. Playing hard on 8 of 10 plays, while better, just doesn't cut it at NU.

 

They're a young group though, and that bodes well for us. As a die-hard fan, I have to keep telling myself that this is going to be an evolution (as much as I want it to be a revolution).

[TheCheshireCat]

This is why I love Pelini. He is in constant pursuit of perfection. No matter how good we play, he wants and expects more, and thus so too do the players. We are going to see our teams get progressively better and better.

[Husker_x]

Just as I said in the "How do we beat Missouri?" thread the other day, I think that NU has gone soft in recent years. Pop in a tape of any of the 90's teams, and you'll see exactly what I mean. I definitely think we've got the right guy to get us back to that level of D, but just as it took a few years to destroy, it is going to take a few to get back as well.

 

Even with it being the first game of the year, I saw some MASSIVE improvements compared to last year. The problem is that it was the inconsistency in intensity that bugged me. There were flashes of brilliance one minute, and then it was like the defense decided to sit back on its laurels and not pursue. It's like we lost the last connection to the players that had that work ethic and pride in the 'N' on their helmets, and it is proving awfully tough for Pelini to rebuild that connection once it was lost. Playing hard on 8 of 10 plays, while better, just doesn't cut it at NU.

 

They're a young group though, and that bodes well for us. As a die-hard fan, I have to keep telling myself that this is going to be an evolution (as much as I want it to be a revolution).

 

I don't disagree with you fundamentally, but the 90s teams? C'mon man. You could say that about every team in Husker history if that's the absolute standard. We'll be soft forever at that rate. What Nebraska achieved in the 90s is virtually impossible to duplicate. It was the perfect college football storm, so to speak. The good news is we have an AD and a head coach that understands where we're headed. We're lightyears ahead of where we were a few years ago, and not quite where we want to be.

 

I think optimism is what should be taken from Saturday. We've got a lot more speed this year, and a chance to have a great defense. It'll take some time, some lumps and learning, but we're going the right way.

[Paul in WI]

Just as I said in the "How do we beat Missouri?" thread the other day, I think that NU has gone soft in recent years. Pop in a tape of any of the 90's teams, and you'll see exactly what I mean. I definitely think we've got the right guy to get us back to that level of D, but just as it took a few years to destroy, it is going to take a few to get back as well.

 

Even with it being the first game of the year, I saw some MASSIVE improvements compared to last year. The problem is that it was the inconsistency in intensity that bugged me. There were flashes of brilliance one minute, and then it was like the defense decided to sit back on its laurels and not pursue. It's like we lost the last connection to the players that had that work ethic and pride in the 'N' on their helmets, and it is proving awfully tough for Pelini to rebuild that connection once it was lost. Playing hard on 8 of 10 plays, while better, just doesn't cut it at NU.

 

They're a young group though, and that bodes well for us. As a die-hard fan, I have to keep telling myself that this is going to be an evolution (as much as I want it to be a revolution).

 

I don't disagree with you fundamentally, but the 90s teams? C'mon man. You could say that about every team in Husker history if that's the absolute standard. We'll be soft forever at that rate. What Nebraska achieved in the 90s is virtually impossible to duplicate. It was the perfect college football storm, so to speak. The good news is we have an AD and a head coach that understands where we're headed. We're lightyears ahead of where we were a few years ago, and not quite where we want to be.

 

I think optimism is what should be taken from Saturday. We've got a lot more speed this year, and a chance to have a great defense. It'll take some time, some lumps and learning, but we're going the right way.

 

I agree with everything that you said. Those teams were the gold standard and it is asking a lot. Fortunately, we've got a coach that asks a lot. I STILL think it can be done or at least be close to that. I don't think for a second that we're going to get there overnight though. It is going to take a long time to get back to that.

 

I really didn't want to come off sounding too critical. That wasn't my intent. After the debacle of the last few years, I'm tickled pink with where the D and the program in general is at right now. I have a gut feeling about this coach and where the program is going under his direction and pray to God that some other school like Ohio State doesn't poach him from us.