10 Keys to Tonight

[Danny Bateman]

First of all, Samuel McKewon's Five Keys from NE Statepaper.com:

 

Five Keys: Texas

UT has the players - can Nebraska seize momentum?

by Samuel McKewon

 

December 04, 2009

 

No fancy stuff. No preamble. Let's get to the meat. Five keys, Texas, for the Big 12 title.

 

Right break, right time: Not unlike its 10-3 win over Oklahoma, Nebraska needs to get some fortune in the first quarter. A shanked field goal try. A muffed punt. A blown coverage. A fumble. A couple personal foul penalties. Something that either takes points away from UT or gives points to Nebraska. I don't think it'll be enough for the Cornhuskers to merely play the Longhorns to an early stalemate. It has to be aggressive, pursue turnovers and take calculated risks. Nebraska doesn't need two touchdowns, but it does need the Cowboys Stadium to settle down a little bit and potentially get quirt over a Texas mistake.

 

Beyond the Comfort Zone: NU and UT's offense both need to take a step back from the bread-and-butter tray to sample something else on the table.

 

Texas likes to ease quarterback Colt McCoy into the game with quick screens, short slants and 10-yard hook routes. But that plays right into Nebraska's wheelhouse. Look at Missouri, Oklahoma and Baylor. None of them got an inch of breathing room from the Huskers' secondary, and they paid for it with poor offensive performances. As spread offenses evolve, you'll see fewer and fewer, I'd argue, of these predictable horizontal passes that are no less risky than some of the deeper routes (as Niles Paul's fumble in the Texas Tech game would attest).

 

UT must challenge safeties Matt O'Hanlon and Larry Asante to cover the deep corner routes. And the Longhorns may need to pick on nickel corner Eric Hagg, who is a terrific athlete struggling in deep cover situations. Texas Tech is the only team that really committed to the strategy -and it worked. If Texas sticks to its quick game, I think Nebraska stays in the game longer and gains more confidence. If, on the other hand, McCoy hits some early bombs – checkmate. The minute you get NU's defense to back up just a hair, the shorter lanes open up.

 

Meanwhile, Nebraska's offense has every intention of running the ball. Fine. Hope it works. But NU may want consider a more daring plan that involves Zac Lee combining risk and reward for the best possible outcome. First-down passes, misdirection out of the shotgun, some Wildcat – offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and Lee have to get creative when Plan B is inevitably invoked.

 

I don't foresee the spread zone running game working very well. Texas is too good in ball pursuit. Heavy packages can work, but only if NU, like Texas A&M, varies the formations and sprinkles in the playaction game.

 

Stop Shipley: Nebraska has to mark UT wide receiver Jordan Shipley, tackle him on the spot and punish him when roams the middle. That's where Asante comes in, of course.

 

Shipley isn't the Big 12's best receiver. But he plays like he is, with sharp routes and good hands. What he does after the catch, however, is Shipley's calling card. Shipley will get touches in which he's not particularly open; McCoy thinks his roomie has earned the right to be option No. 1 in a pinch. The rest of the receiving corps are good, but not as shifty or canny after the catch as Shipley. Nebraska must find hm and get very loud about who has coverage. A catch-n-run from this guy is one of the more deflating moments for a defense. You get tired, after all, of chasing a guitar-strumming jackrabbit around the turf.

 

 

On punt returns, Shipley is equally talented, but we'll count on Alex Henery to do his job, spraying punts accordingly.

 

The Stage: Good for Bo Pelini to take his team to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium first. The more acclimated NU can get, the better.

 

Not trying overplay the big, blue bauble in Arlington angle. Honest. Nebraska's pretty together and resilient on the road. But this moment is much bigger than the 2006 Big 12 title game, with a much more hostile crowd in store for NU in JerryDome. Texas, accustomed over the years to the attention, the crowds and the high-line bowl games, will pride itself on being cool on Saturday. While Nebraska needs a little edge to help combat UT's talent advantage, that excitement can't bleed over into nerves. We'll get an early gauge on Lee, who's struggled with confidences and jitters at Virginia Tech and Missouri.

 

Heisman Boys: McCoy and Ndamukong Suh both enter Saturday's game as two of the most decorated players in recent memory. Suh, with a big performance, can sew up a slew of awards, and maybe even get himself an invite to New York. McCoy, meanwhile, wraps up the Heisman outright with his own big showing. The stakes for the teams are high. The personal ones are even higher.

 

 

And now, five keys I found in a post by HuskerinSunDiego over on Huskerpedia. A couple of them made me laugh pretty hard. Put a big old smile on my face:

 

Sam McKewon is Wrong . . . The real 5 keys to victory

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Jut got finished reading Sam McKewon's' five keys to victory article. Normally, Sam is my favorite Nebraska writer. However, his five keys article on the Texas game was weak. Let me sum up Sam's article: This is going to be scary. Hogwash.

 

We are "this" close away from being 11-1. As for T-Tech, it is what is was. Be that as it may, our D only gave up 24 points to the high flying Red Raiders - - the same as Texas. Yes, our Offensive laid an egg, but we have improved steadily since that day. Also, we have Rex back and Ricky Henry is suddenly turning into a bulldozer.

 

So, what are the keys victory?

 

Key number one: Hit McCoy and Shipley in the mouth -- hard - - early. Reminds me of Super Bowl XXIII, the 49ers v. the Bengals. Prior to that game, the Bengals's running back, Ickey Woods, was having a phenomenal playoffs. Ronnie Lott said, "I realized that early in that game I had to lay a hit on him like no one had hit him before." True to form, early in the game, Woods caught a little swing pass and Lott absolutely obliterated him. Woods was never the same after that play. In one fell swoop, Lott defined what the attitude of the game would be. The Huskers need to do the same. Asante or Suh or somebody on the D needs to put a ferocious hit on somebody. Nothing illegal, just a bone-jarring, fair hit. It wil absolutely change the attitude of the game.

 

Key number two: Have zero respect for Colt McCoy. This attitude must pervade our team. Guys who "respect" opposing players tend to play timidly. We need to go after McCoy like he stole a Twinkie out of our lunch box. We can respect him when the game is over.

 

Key number three: On the very first play from scrimmage, Suh needs to show complete domination. Think about Mike Tyson in his prime, when he would literally charge across the ring at his opponent, giving him no time to ease his way into the fight. Texas has been reading about Suh all season long. If, on the first play, Suh absolutely blows up his opponent, don't think for a minute that seeds of doubt won't instantly be sewn in Texas's minds - - they will. And let's not kid ourselves: Texas has always been a very fragile team when it comes to big games. They are the nervous nellies of college football. Yes, they've beaten us in close games the last several years, but we have SUCKED during those years and had no business being in those games. The fact that we were in those games attests to the fact that Texas doesn't play with the chutzpah of some other big time college programs, like Florida or USC. Texas has always heavily depended upon its superiour athletes to win games, not grit and determination.

 

Key number four: On offense, play the hot hand at running back. If Rex is moving the chains, then he's the man. Forget about seniority. This is all about winning a football game.

 

Key number five: Score first. We need to do everything in our power to get on the board first. If we can get the lead first, then Texas will be chasing us for the entire game. Our defense with the lead is kinda like the angry, old bulldog who has taken the ham bone and retreated to his corner. Good luck trying to get it away from him without getting your hand torn off.

 

This game is precisely why you play football. We have a formidable opponent, but a path to victory. Heart is what will make the difference. I have yet to see a team that has our heart. Heart will win out in Dallas tomorrow. NU 20 Texas 13.

[Burnt Orangeman]

Is a nearly muffed punt a close shave?

[HuskerTrucker]

I can reduce it down to ONE key to tonights game...

 

Score more points than Texas does.