What does running the ball on VaTech mean for Big 12?

[The Maudfather]

Ok so I agree with rkhufu7? What just happened?

[Yellowjacketfan]

I think it means VT is soft. You need to watch VT the rest of the season to see how they stop other running games before seeing how it reflects on Nebraska.

[junior4949]

Va Tech hasnt shown that they can stop anyone who car run the ball.

Ill wait until we see if we can run When we get into confrence play.

 

 

What other teams out there in 3 weeks have played a top 5 team and a top 25 team? 3 of their first 4 opponents are ranked in the top 25. How do you suppose some other teams D would look playing so many tough teams thus far in the season? Foster and Beamer didn't forget how to coach, and their talent level didn't fall off a cliff either. At the end of the season, I'd be willing to bet VT's rush D looks much better than Mizzou's and KU's!

[parkvilletiger]

That was the first I've seen of Helu. He looks like an excellent back that will be a handful to deal w/. If I were a Neb fan I would feel good about that and the rushing offense in general as it performed quite well.

 

Z.Lee on the other hand was a mixed bag. He is a question mark at this point I think but it was only one game and it was a very good opponent. Time will tell.

 

Lee also sustained an injury late sometime in the first half. But I chalk up his bad performance to the Tech D and stupid penalties. If they had been able to punch it in on first and goal, the teams psyche might have stayed high and we might have been able to even get another score or two, but that drive really deflated the team.

 

Depending on the extent of the inj that might explain what happened in the second half.

 

That was a wierd game man. It felt like Neb was in control the whole game and then all of a sudden you have broken coverage and boom they don't win. That final drive started for Tech and I didn't think there was any way they were going to score. And ofcourse they wouldn't have if not for the big play. It reminded me of our game at Arrowhead w/ KU last year - not in terms of the way we lost as the games were very different but as far as how gut wrenching it was.

 

MU will present a much different type of challenge defensively for Neb then Vatech did. I could see it going a number of ways.

[huskers1]

We'll get a perfect chance to see how Va Tech's d line holds up this week against Miami. I've said this before and I'll say it again, the last 5-7 (I think one could make an argument it goes back to 02') years we have had trouble against teams that are fast and athletic on D. They either got in the backfield at ease on run plays or our receivers weren't fast enough to get open, or strong enough to get off jams. In this game we were able to do all those things, and we did them very well. Except for a handful of times Lee actually had a nice pocket to step up in but he got nervous and ran out of the pocket. Which most of those times he made a play whether it was to Currenski, which he should have scored, or if they were dump off's to Burkhead, Helu, or Paul. Also going back quite a ways, we have had trouble with running qbs. We were able to SHUT DOWN Taylor until two plays out of the last minute in the game. I find it hard to believe that the Hokies line is soft in any way. They had their best d lineman returning and it's the same coaches they've had for a damn long time. I really don't think Foster would even put a guy out there if he wasn't ready to rip someones head off. For me the loss stung worse than any loss ever. Even more than the TT loss in 05' and the UT loss in 06', but it showed me that we are ready to compete with the upper tier teams in the nation.

[Ohio Pete]

Alabama had 268yds rushing vs VaTech. We had 207.

NU averaged 5.8 ypc. Alabama averaged 5.9 ypc.

NU played at VT. Alabama played VT at a neutral site (Atlanta).

 

I'd say NU rushed the ball about as well as Alabama.

Pretty good to mentioned in the same sentence as Alabama at this point.

 

Va Tech had the #14 rushing defense in the country last year (and #7 total D). And that's with nearly 300 yards rushing given up to Georgia Tech.

 

Of course game situations dictate how much running a team will do. Texas had the #3 run defense in the country last year. Are they that stout or did most teams abandon the run once they were down 3 TDs?

 

Anyway 207 is much better than the 55 managed last year.

[CENTEXHUSKER]

...the loss stung worse than any loss ever. Even more than the TT loss in 05' and the UT loss in 06', but it showed me that we are ready to compete with the upper tier teams in the nation.