#33

[NoKoolAidForME]

I have also read the comment from a few that he should have let him score.

Please truly think about that. What message are you teaching the player that you should concede points on the board in this situation or that? That is a terrible habit for a player and as fans we shouldn't want that on the team either. The kid messed up yes but he tried his a** off to get down there and prevent a score in a game they were winning. Under the Coach Clown years he might have stopped running once the ball was caught.

[Husker Runner]

The first two downs after the big pass play started to make it look like catching him was going to be a game saver.

[lilred]

Saw this on another site:

 

"I travelled over 1,000 miles to go to the game against Va Tech. I had pumped this game up in my mind so much and I was destroyed when we let that receiver get behind us that late in the game. I couldn't stop thinking, 'How could this happen?'. On my way out, I decided to wait for the players

getting on the bus to see how they would react. When I saw Matt come out of the locker room, he walked straight over to his wife and hugged her and started crying because he felt terrible. After that I remembered how much heart and effort these kids pour into the program."

 

I was very upset as well with the game and to me it was one of the most

disappointing losses I've seen. It pays to remember that these are 18-22

year old kids who are doing nothing but pouring their heart into the program

and however I feel after a game like this, most of the time they feel worse.

Wow...

I hope everyone has read the recent article about Matt. He has truly poured his life into this program. Shame on anyone who would bad mouth him. Compared to how sick I feel about it, I can only imagine how the players feel. Without the play of the defense, I don't think we would have ever been in the game. Still, I can't help but feel that all these last minute, heart breaking losses are some kind of cruel, cruel joke.

[In the Deed the Glory]

This was cover two and he defiantly messed up his assignment. In almost ever cover two situation your assignment as the two safeties is:

On Pass - deep halves no one behind

On Run - Late support fill the alley between the CB and LB to your side.

 

Even though the corner allowed Coale to release free to the outside, (which goes against cover 2 principle and opposite of what Prince is doing on the other side) O'Hanlon's eyes are on Tyrod the whole time. He doesn't even realize Coale is streaking down the sideline until he is at the NU forty. He opened up to the right side back to the threat and bite about as hard on the pump fake as Suh did.

 

 

We were always taught to push the receiver to the sideline in cover 2 because it acts like an invisible receiver. Especially with a QB like Taylor who is inaccurate that comes into play quite frequently.

 

However, we never ran cover 2 at the end of a game. When the opponent has to go 87 yards to score with no TO and under 2 minutes left, why you would only have 2 deep baffles me. I wonder if that was an incorrect call made on the field. I just can't believe Bo called cover 2 in that situation.

[ticks]

My take...

 

If O'Hanlon followed the deep man and a long play was completed over the middle, only the ignorant would be blaming him. As a safety, it is your responsibility to never let the play get behind you.

 

I believe O'Hanlon is the weak link on this defense, but it has nothing to do with blown assignments. He consistently takes atrocious angles to the play (which is why he didn't even lay a finger on Williams on the 46-yard run) and I would think that alone would disqualify someone from playing the position. That said, this is a new and inexplicable mistake and one I personally would never have expected O'Hanlon to make.

 

A short story...

 

I played high school football in Florida. During my junior year, we played a jamboree game (a half-game exhibition) to kick off the season against a team we were expected to trounce. We were up 14-0 with less than ten seconds left in the half. One of our safeties committed the same error that O'Hanlon made on Saturday. We won 14-7, but that was essentially a loss for us. Our position coach went nuts in the locker room. He did not single out the individual, but he blew a gasket while chewing out the entire team for that one play. That player did not show up for the next practice and quit the team without a word.

 

I expect to see O'Hanlon out there on Saturday and I expect to see him turn quite a few 10-yard gains into big plays over the course of the season. I don't expect to see him commit another major brain malfunction as was the case on that play against VT.

[NoKoolAidForME]

 

We were always taught to push the receiver to the sideline in cover 2 because it acts like an invisible receiver. Especially with a QB like Taylor who is inaccurate that comes into play quite frequently.

 

However, we never ran cover 2 at the end of a game. When the opponent has to go 87 yards to score with no TO and under 2 minutes left, why you would only have 2 deep baffles me. I wonder if that was an incorrect call made on the field. I just can't believe Bo called cover 2 in that situation.

Was that in man or Zone.

Only reason I ask is if your are jamming out of bound in cover 2 zone your then turn your back and if that person vacates your zone your are late to any other route that might come into your zone. Not talking down football has all kind of variations, but my observation was that there should be an inside release.

 

I as well think that the choice to go cover 2 was a bad one. I was watching and saying why are they so short underneath and they never got deep obviously

[father5]

Saw this on another site:

 

"I travelled over 1,000 miles to go to the game against Va Tech. I had pumped this game up in my mind so much and I was destroyed when we let that receiver get behind us that late in the game. I couldn't stop thinking, 'How could this happen?'. On my way out, I decided to wait for the players

getting on the bus to see how they would react. When I saw Matt come out of the locker room, he walked straight over to his wife and hugged her and started crying because he felt terrible. After that I remembered how much heart and effort these kids pour into the program."

 

I was very upset as well with the game and to me it was one of the most

disappointing losses I've seen. It pays to remember that these are 18-22

year old kids who are doing nothing but pouring their heart into the program

and however I feel after a game like this, most of the time they feel worse.

 

 

Ughhhhhh.... fine. I'm sure he is an outstanding young man, and if he were my son I would feel terrible for him and console him the best I could. It happened. Time to put the play and the game behind us and find a way to get better. GBR! Matt, all is well, you still bleed crimson like the rest of us.

[HuskerGBR]

I know Carl Pelini said it was the right play to call, but I am still wondering a little bit...why not do a 3 safety or a cover 2 man or something like that? I don't blame Matty for messing up with one play...the team had their chances to put the game away and didn't do it. So to me, yeah that play sticks out to everyone, but we can't blame one guy when this a team game.

 

I still think we should have been playing a 3 safeties covering back or something along those lines, because they had 90 yards to go on that play with no timeouts. So to me I really want to say it was the wrong playcall on defense. Just don't blame Matty on one play when we had so many opportunities to put the game away. Which makes me also say why not punch the ball in when we were like 4 yards away? This is the problem with Watson's offense at times in my opinion...why pass when we are running so well? Let's line up and knock them back and let Legate or some other big guy just punch it down their throats. I understand you sometimes have to fool them with a pass, but when you are 4 yards out...we should be able to knock it in on anyone with the ground game.

[BlackShirt1340]

I know Carl Pelini said it was the right play to call, but I am still wondering a little bit...why not do a 3 safety or a cover 2 man or something like that? I don't blame Matty for messing up with one play...the team had their chances to put the game away and didn't do it. So to me, yeah that play sticks out to everyone, but we can't blame one guy when this a team game.

 

I still think we should have been playing a 3 safeties covering back or something along those lines, because they had 90 yards to go on that play with no timeouts. So to me I really want to say it was the wrong playcall on defense. Just don't blame Matty on one play when we had so many opportunities to put the game away. Which makes me also say why not punch the ball in when we were like 4 yards away? This is the problem with Watson's offense at times in my opinion...why pass when we are running so well? Let's line up and knock them back and let Legate or some other big guy just punch it down their throats. I understand you sometimes have to fool them with a pass, but when you are 4 yards out...we should be able to knock it in on anyone with the ground game.

I completely agree. I love Watson's offense and I am so glad that he came in with Callahan considering he is the only good thing we got out of the deal. But I agree with you that he seems to pass when it isn't needed. When we were jamming the ball down VTs throat in the third and early part of the fourth, why stop? I think sometimes, he sort of "callahan"s game, in the way that he is so set on balanced offense, rather than just going with what works. Like... he gets so set on setting up a big passing play with running, rather than just realizing that the running game is working like a charm and when it is you run the ball UNTIL THEY STOP YOU! Don't give them a chance to rest, go at them until they have no energy left and it's game over.

[Husker Runner]

 

A short story...

 

I played high school football in Florida. During my junior year, we played a jamboree game (a half-game exhibition) to kick off the season against a team we were expected to trounce. We were up 14-0 with less than ten seconds left in the half. One of our safeties committed the same error that O'Hanlon made on Saturday. We won 14-7, but that was essentially a loss for us. Our position coach went nuts in the locker room. He did not single out the individual, but he blew a gasket while chewing out the entire team for that one play. That player did not show up for the next practice and quit the team without a word.

 

So this position coach basically drove a high school kid out of the sport because of one mistake made during an exhibition game? Sounds like a colossal di**head that shouldn't be coaching kids.

[BigRedfxtoy]

I'm not even going to read all this crap.... sorry if it offends anyone. But, this kid, at times, is one of the fastest players we have. He plays with more heart than most of us have. He made a mistake and it was off of a defensive call made by a 1st year starter that has had issues communicating. Other than that one play, the DB's played the best game I've seen in years. The defensive scheme seemed to be... the d line was not to get overly agressive because that QB can run. That left the DB's out on a limb all day. I'd say, for the most part, they handled their business very well. The QB had allllllll day on MANY occasions. Our linebacker crew needs the most improvement imo. There were missed tackles by one of them and that has been an issue with him all year or he arm tackles and get drug 3 yards (consistently). Thank god for Dillard! There are alot of things that can contribute to this. This is not an excuse, just food for thought. Watch the film again (the whole game), I think you will see the DB's did a very good job, for the most of the game.

 

NOBODY was chastizing #33 when he saved the bowl game for us???? I'm as frustrated as I can remember, but, I'm sure not going to throw this kid under the bus. When I read the title of this thread, my only thought was WTH.......

[Travis9]

saved the bowl game for us? seriously? He made a pick because the ball was underthrown, had the pass been good he was beat and we arent saying he "saved" the game

[knapplc]

saved the bowl game for us? seriously? He made a pick because the ball was underthrown, had the pass been good he was beat and we arent saying he "saved" the game

 

One wonders which bowl game you're talking about. In Nebraska's bowl game, O'Hanlon defensed what would have been the go-ahead TD with about 90 seconds to play.

[funhusker]

saved the bowl game for us? seriously? He made a pick because the ball was underthrown, had the pass been good he was beat and we arent saying he "saved" the game

 

This has been mentioned previously in the thread, but it is getting rather long. O'Hanlon made an outstanding play on the ball against CJ Spiller when Clemson was deep in our territory. That play decided the game, and he made it.

 

That is how he saved the bowl game.

[Vince from ShamWOW]

saved the bowl game for us? seriously? He made a pick because the ball was underthrown, had the pass been good he was beat and we arent saying he "saved" the game

 

This has been mentioned previously in the thread, but it is getting rather long. O'Hanlon made an outstanding play on the ball against CJ Spiller when Clemson was deep in our territory. That play decided the game, and he made it.

 

That is how he saved the bowl game.

 

 

That's 100% true.