3 question marks going into Saturday

[Pedro Guerrero]

Here are three things that I hope get answered this weekend:

 

1. Is Zac Lee the real deal and after 2 solid performances against Sun Belt opponents how will he perform on the “Big Stage” against a “Big Time” program? I personally think he will do fine just as long as he sticks to the plays and doesn’t try to force anything. Shawn Watson has proven that he will put the players in positions to make plays it is just up to the kids. Joey’s bad turnovers against these guys last year really did us in so as long as Lee takes care of the ball he should be fine.

 

2. Are the young LB’s as good as advertised? As of right now after their first 2 games you would be hard pressed to convince me that Fisher and Compton are the up and coming stars that the media/coaches made them out to be in the preseason. They can’t shed blocks and at times appear vastly overmatched. That being said it is their first game action so mistakes should be expected, however those need to be corrected going into Saturday.

 

3. Does the OL finally step it up and push the other team around? Against Florida Atlantic the line showed flashes of how good it can be by opening up holes for Helu and protecting Lee. This last weekend they took a step backwards in my opinion. They were getting beat at the point of attack, Marcel Jones had that bad holding penalty that took away a 70 yard TD, Helu had no room to run and Lee was being pressured quite a bit. I’m still not sold on Smith at LT, Meyer at LG or Barney Cotton as OL coach. These 3 things could change but as of right now my concerns about Barney that I have had since 2003 are still lingering. Hopefully when Williams comes back things will click. Ricky Henry has been a bright spot and Hickman is steady as ever but if we are going to make the leap that we would like then we need all 5 guys playing up to their potential.

 

 

These are just the 3 things off the top of my head that I hope get answered this weekend and I’m sure everyone else on here has some questions marks going into the first “Real Test” of the season. Like I said I am pretty certain Zac Lee will be fine and hopefully the LB’s play is due to youth but the line being beat at the point of attack by Arkansas State is very troubling in my opinion. Will see come Saturday.

[Igetbored216]

The d-line is just as much in question as the o-line. The coaches have been pumping up the d-line all preseason, so I expected something pretty special. So far, I haven't seen much. Sure, they got some sacks on a QB that "fell" everytime he was about to get hit.

 

But what about all those runs through HUGE holes created by an ASU o-line. The biggest question in my mind is: will we be able to contain the running attack of VT's o-line/Taylor/Williams? If we do that, we have a good shot at winning, but I after seeing this last game, I do not have an easy feeling about it.

[MOD_CHAMPION]

LB troubles should be expected. Going into the Arkansas St. game we had a collective 5 games experience from the 3 starting LB's. Not exactly a recipe for success.

 

As for OL penalties that was a problem all last year and so far has remained this year. I'm really hoping that the coaching staff can start whipping these guys into shape and get them to quit with the stupid penalties. No excuses for the pre-snap penalties and the holding calls are almost always because they got beat. Sometimes these guys are going to have to let them get through, but preferably they'd be able to stop them and not get beat in the first place. (especially against Sun Belt Conference opponents)

[holvy83]

all good question marks going in to the game. i do think if Watson keeps it simple and does not get fancy i think we should move the ball just fine. The D does need to step up and constantly get in the backfield to harass Taylor.

[skerfan1705]

Here are three things that I hope get answered this weekend:

 

1. Is Zac Lee the real deal and after 2 solid performances against Sun Belt opponents how will he perform on the “Big Stage” against a “Big Time” program? I personally think he will do fine just as long as he sticks to the plays and doesn’t try to force anything. Shawn Watson has proven that he will put the players in positions to make plays it is just up to the kids. Joey’s bad turnovers against these guys last year really did us in so as long as Lee takes care of the ball he should be fine.

 

2. Are the young LB’s as good as advertised? As of right now after their first 2 games you would be hard pressed to convince me that Fisher and Compton are the up and coming stars that the media/coaches made them out to be in the preseason. They can’t shed blocks and at times appear vastly overmatched. That being said it is their first game action so mistakes should be expected, however those need to be corrected going into Saturday.

 

3. Does the OL finally step it up and push the other team around? Against Florida Atlantic the line showed flashes of how good it can be by opening up holes for Helu and protecting Lee. This last weekend they took a step backwards in my opinion. They were getting beat at the point of attack, Marcel Jones had that bad holding penalty that took away a 70 yard TD, Helu had no room to run and Lee was being pressured quite a bit. I’m still not sold on Smith at LT, Meyer at LG or Barney Cotton as OL coach. These 3 things could change but as of right now my concerns about Barney that I have had since 2003 are still lingering. Hopefully when Williams comes back things will click. Ricky Henry has been a bright spot and Hickman is steady as ever but if we are going to make the leap that we would like then we need all 5 guys playing up to their potential.

 

 

These are just the 3 things off the top of my head that I hope get answered this weekend and I’m sure everyone else on here has some questions marks going into the first “Real Test” of the season. Like I said I am pretty certain Zac Lee will be fine and hopefully the LB’s play is due to youth but the line being beat at the point of attack by Arkansas State is very troubling in my opinion. Will see come Saturday.

 

 

Looks to be pretty accurate..but Like the other replies...I want to see a little more dominance out of the defensive line....I dont necessarily mean getting QB pressure on every play...but Come on....we can't let those HUGE running lanes develope or Va Tech is really going to put the hurt on us...

 

I know the coaches see it too...it should be a focus this week in practice.

 

 

GO BIG RED!

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

One big question for me is: attitude. They seemed to be up and down with being aggresive. FAU game was pretty good but I expected to see more against ASU after comments Pelini made about the D being "soft". Players on both sides of the ball need to be more aggressive. One comment I've read several times is "the run wasn't there so we decided to throw it". It shouldn't be that way. We should impose our will, not take what they give us.

[DJR313]

I completely agree with all 3 areas. I think Zac Lee is already showing more discipline than Ganz ever did, which leads me to believe he will be just fine, but he is still relatively untested from a solid D. The linebacker play has been putrid. We read all sorts of jerk off pieces on Sean Fisher over the offseason, but he has yet to show anything close. The way Compton has played is nowhere near what we have seen from Dillard, which begs the question: why is he not even sniffing the field? Apparently he has worked hard enough to get back in the coaches good graces, or at least that's what they are telling the media. Compton and Fisher may be the future, but they appear to be way overmatched. The offensive line is going to have to get real physical so that Helu can get some running room. The running game is going to be huge in dictating the pace of the game. I think the Huskers have the players to beat VT, but it is a matter of execution.

[rkhufu7]

OL is not gonna push VA-Tech around!!! If they do, then give NU the Big 12 title!!! Watson will be in 3 wides, maybe 4 and empty quite a bit and #5 might be running more on passing downs cause VT will bring the heat.

[junior4949]

Maybe we just need Dez Bryant to bat the ball in the air for us to see whether or not VT can intercept it and run it in for a TD?

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Maybe we just need Dez Bryant to bat the ball in the air for us to see whether or not VT can intercept it and run it in for a TD?

Oh snap!

[junior4949]

Sorry, couldn't contain myself. It's the first post that I didn't see Dez Bryant or Okie State named.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Sorry, couldn't contain myself. It's the first post that I didn't see Dez Bryant or Okie State named.

Or Cody Green.....crap!!!....I just said his name

[knapplc]

Sorry, couldn't contain myself. It's the first post that I didn't see Dez Bryant or Okie State named.

Or Cody Green.....crap!!!....I just said his name

Or redshirt. Oops!!! !

[irieboy8]

# 2 is the one i'll be tripping out on.. and i think is the one that can hurt us the most..... and the one VT i think will try to exploit ilke an ACORN worker advising a pimp and ho south america prostitiuion duo.......

[The Maudfather]

Maybe we just need Dez Bryant to bat the ball in the air for us to see whether or not VT can intercept it and run it in for a TD?

LoL. Or we could hire Bill Young for the weekend, because he put on a defensive clinic against Houston