*Unofficial Good, Bad, Ugly Thread: Ark. St.*

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

I wanted to start this last week, but it completely slipped my mind. So, since I'm bored and doing nothing on a Saturday night, I figured why not start it this week.

 

I figured it would be a fun little topic every week... or it might not be so fun. Only one way to find out...

 

 

The Good: Zac Lee. Some of the throws he made were redonkulous. I don't see him losing the starting job any time soon.

 

The Bad: Running game. Helu couldn't seem to get in a rhythm. Probably because we were pretty content with just throwing all game.

 

The Ugly: Penalties. Mainly the holding call that negated a TD, the unsportsmanlike conduct on the kick-off, and the facemask that kept an ASU drive alive and allowed them to score.

 

 

Bonus:

 

Ugliest: Okie St.'s "new and improved" defense.

 

 

Feel free to post your own or discuss mine. Whatever floats your boat. NOW YOU GO!

[Husker_x]

All told the running game went over a hundred yards, so it's not meltdown bad or anything. But Helu did look flat today, probably because he was too busy watching our receivers and TEs score touchdowns to get in a rhythm. Nebraska may be a team that has to pass to set up the run, which is all right. But what I want to understand is why we seem almost incapable of running from under center and on short yardage situations. Is it the O-line or the blocking schemes?

[EbylHusker]

Don't forget the shovel passes. Helu looked better on those. I'm not saying he had a great game, but that was where he looked his best today.

[BigRedNV]

Here's my spin:

 

The Good: Huskers roll to a 24-6 halftime lead with Lee gaining confidence and stats along the way. Team looks pretty sharp for the most part.

 

The Bad: The team came out flat in the second half - offense sputtered, defense didn't look sharp, etc. etc. I can't say whether it was boredom or shock during the second half, but it wasn't the same team from the 1st half.

 

The Ugly: We didn't exactly "put em away" with this being one of the primer games going in to VA Tech. A full on @ss whoopin would have eased the nerves for next week's game.

 

Bonus: I'm feeling a little more at ease for the MU game after their not-so-spectacular showing against BG...I'll get a first hand look at them when they come out here to play Reno, so I'm hoping for more of the same (except with an "L" following that one).

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

Right. I think Helu ended up with over 100 yds of total offense. So I'm not trying to pin it all on him. Just pointing out that he couldn't seem to find a rhythm.

 

Just expected a little more effectiveness in the run game.

[nebraskapit]

Right. I think Helu ended up with over 100 yds of total offense. So I'm not trying to pin it all on him. Just pointing out that he couldn't seem to find a rhythm.

 

Just expected a little more effectiveness in the run game.

 

Agreed. The first half seemed to be alright as we were rolling, but I expected to pound the ball more in the second half. Not quite the same feeling coming out of the first game nor the best going into Va Tech. But, maybe that is a good thing? This might give us more motivation to correct things while also avoiding tapping into the keg of kool-aid.

[Eric the Red]

I wanted to start this last week, but it completely slipped my mind. So, since I'm bored and doing nothing on a Saturday night, I figured why not start it this week.

 

I figured it would be a fun little topic every week... or it might not be so fun. Only one way to find out...

 

 

The Good: Zac Lee. Some of the throws he made were redonkulous. I don't see him losing the starting job any time soon.

 

The Bad: Running game. Helu couldn't seem to get in a rhythm. Probably because we were pretty content with just throwing all game.

 

The Ugly: Penalties. Mainly the holding call that negated a TD, the unsportsmanlike conduct on the kick-off, and the facemask that kept an ASU drive alive and allowed them to score.

 

 

Bonus:

 

Ugliest: Okie St.'s "new and improved" defense.

 

 

Feel free to post your own or discuss mine. Whatever floats your boat. NOW YOU GO!

 

 

How about the great.....we have proven that we can win running the ball and throwing the ball. Not to bad at all.

[arkstfan]

 

The Bad: Running game. Helu couldn't seem to get in a rhythm. Probably because we were pretty content with just throwing all game.

 

 

That is why teams struggle to find balance and it is a point the blathering heads on TV miss constantly. It is very hard to get in a groove both passing and running. Pass first spread teams tend to need to get their runs without relying on a blast ahead create a lane style of running because it is hard for the line to swap mindset and it is hard for primary run teams to pass effectively because they are protecting rather than attacking.

 

Getting into a groove in both attacks is difficult to do

[macroboy]

I like the theme so I'm in.

 

Good: Zac Lee is a stud, can make all the throws.

 

Bad: D-line

 

Ugly: CU and K-state (ugly doesn't have to be us does it?)

 

I agree with Eric. Last week was run week. This week was pass week- by design I think. It looks like we can do both pretty well.

 

That penalty on the long Niles Paul TD was a 13 point swing. I think that would've made a big difference in our impressions.

[huKSer]

Here's my spin:

 

The Good: Huskers roll to a 24-6 halftime lead with Lee gaining confidence and stats along the way. Team looks pretty sharp for the most part.

 

The Bad: The team came out flat in the second half - offense sputtered, defense didn't look sharp, etc. etc. I can't say whether it was boredom or shock during the second half, but it wasn't the same team from the 1st half.

 

The Ugly: We didn't exactly "put em away" with this being one of the primer games going in to VA Tech. A full on @ss whoopin would have eased the nerves for next week's game.

 

Bonus: I'm feeling a little more at ease for the MU game after their not-so-spectacular showing against BG...I'll get a first hand look at them when they come out here to play Reno, so I'm hoping for more of the same (except with an "L" following that one).

Remember, they were game planning all week for NU and spent 5 minutes Friday night on BG (Well, that's what they will say, along with a win is still a win)

[Glendower]

I don't know if this is bad or ugly, but my friend and I both noted (as did the announcers eventually) that we were playing Arkansas State and they were getting some pretty big plays off.

 

AK ST. doesn't have the recruiting power of NU or Va Tech or any team in our conference, make one of those break away players a couple of steps faster than the AK state player, make the line a little bigger/stronger/faster (not much) and this game would have been much worse. E.g. Our safety was the #1 tackler... that should make you raise an eyebrow.

 

I might go so far as to say NU was outcoached; it was the speed and talent of our players that let them clamp down on broken plays, correct for poor defenses (like those GIANT holes on the bootlegs), etc. I don't think that BP is a bad coach at all! So I'm definitely not going there, I just think that there is a lot of work left to do if NU is going to earn their rank and keep moving up. Work that I believe can and will get done-- but looking at what AK state could do with inferior players must have had Va Tech salivating.

 

 

Bad and Ugly.

[Enhance]

The Good: Without question Zac Lee. Had one of the best individual QB performances we have seen.

 

The Bad: The running game. It seems to me that they think if Helu isn't getting over 100 yards in less than 15 carries then they are going to slow him down and hold back on his touches. You simply can't do that. I don't care if they are worried about him being injured. Some games you have to give your play maker 20-25 touches. It doesn't have to be a consistent thing, always giving him those touches, but I'm sure with a few more carries he could have had some explosive runs. The O-line just wasn't blocking well yesterday.

 

The Ugly Run defense and penalties. Our D-line seems to be going solid, but it's more or less the line backers not reading and plugging the right holes which has a lot to do with youth and inexperience. NU has still shown a lot of vanilla stuff defensively, so that has something to do with it, but we still need to execute our easier defensive plays.

 

And penalties, we had 3 for 40 yards. Two personal foul penalties and a holding call. Honestly, those are two of the easiest penalties to not get if you just play smart.

[redout22]

The Good- First 3 possesions

 

The Bad- Running game

 

The Ugly- Dropped passes

[Glendower]

The Good: Without question Zac Lee. Had one of the best individual QB performances we have seen.

 

The Bad: The running game. It seems to me that they think if Helu isn't getting over 100 yards in less than 15 carries then they are going to slow him down and hold back on his touches. You simply can't do that. I don't care if they are worried about him being injured. Some games you have to give your play maker 20-25 touches. It doesn't have to be a consistent thing, always giving him those touches, but I'm sure with a few more carries he could have had some explosive runs. The O-line just wasn't blocking well yesterday.

 

The Ugly Run defense and penalties. Our D-line seems to be going solid, but it's more or less the line backers not reading and plugging the right holes which has a lot to do with youth and inexperience. NU has still shown a lot of vanilla stuff defensively, so that has something to do with it, but we still need to execute our easier defensive plays.

 

And penalties, we had 3 for 40 yards. Two personal foul penalties and a holding call. Honestly, those are two of the easiest penalties to not get if you just play smart.

 

I thought that holding call was bogus, anyway. Our lineman mushed their guy into the ground and then fell on top of him when he collapsed. You could see he was off balance and his feet were up off the ground while he was using his hands on the turf to try to right himself. I think it was mostly unavoidable.

[RedDenver]

For everybody saying the running game was bad:

Team: 28 attempts 136 yards 4.9 ypc 7 first downs

Helu: 14 for 60 with 4.3 ypc

Burkhead: 3 for 18 with 6.0 ypc

 

That's not a bad outing, especially considering that ASU's strength was the run defense. And they were loading the box all game.