Arizona won't be a walk in the park

[98memories]

Before I begin, congrats on a good season Huskers! We're pumped for a rematch against you guys. We're still a little bummed about being 1 play away from being in the Rose Bowl, but next year is supposed to be OUR year anyways so the Holiday Bowl is a great get for us this year.

 

Before you guys start predicting a dominating performance by your Nebraska team over Arizona, you might want to take an objective look at how the two teams really match up, who they played and beat this year, and both teams strengths and weaknesses.

 

 

First off: For all of you who think that you will crush us and that we are a weaker opponent than Oregon State or Stanford, you must remember 2 things: 1) Your offense is absolutely terrible. You will be playing the 20th best Defense in the country with the best Secondary in the Pac 10 and top 10 in the nation. We have the conference's sack leader on our team with 11.5 sacks, and a front 4 that constantly pressures quarterbacks with very little blitzing. Zach Lee will be throwing against 7 or 8 defenders covering 3 or 4 receivers on almost every play. Not easy. We also beat Standford and Oregon State; two teams you think are superior to Arizona.

 

Secondly: Arizona will be an offense very similar to Texas Tech's. We are not a smash mouth team, nor a pro-style offense like Texas (which you guys perform better against on D). Our spread offense will minimize the effect Suh has on the game because our all-Conference QB Foles gets rid of the ball very quickly on WR screen's, hitches, outs, and slants.

 

Finally: Arizona beat USC at their place, we beat Oregon State at their place, and beat Stanford at home. Not to mention 2 fluke plays that cost us two close losses. And taking Oregon to double overtime. We also crushed a 1 loss highly ranked Central Michigan team. All of this in the top-ranked conference in the country. We have the nation's 9th toughest schedule and won 8 of those games.

 

If I were you, I would take Arizona a little more seriously than it sounds like you are.

 

Good luck and safe travels to the Holiday Bowl.

[HuskerMoon]

Definately not a team to take lightly. There is a 10 win season to play for. I hope they play their butts off!

[roundegotrip]

I for one am not taking Arizona lightly. Much like the Huskers they were a team that was thisclose to getting over the hump this season.

 

As for how the teams match up, I don't think it favors you as much as you think. It's nice that you have a great pass defense, but it won't do you much good when your opponent passes on a third of their snaps or less. To stop Nebraska, you're going to be stopping the run.

 

Nebraska's D has been excellent at taking away the short passing game this season. If you want to have real success passing against Nebraska, you're going to have to send guys across the middle and take shots down field.

 

I do think this game is going to be a good one. Arizona is a really good team. Can't wait!

[Igetbored216]

Not taking Arizona lightly...you can't when you have a terrible offense. However, I am not as excited as I was for a Fiesta Bowl or Holiday Bowl against an opponent like USC.

 

It just became a very uninteresting game. I'm sure they will try to get interest by selling the Pelini/Stoops angle, but really, that has been done before and isn't too thrilling.

[captain obvious]

I don't think anybody has taken a single game for granted since the ISU sh#tstorm in October.

[Street Novelist]

No one on this board is taking Arizona lightly. But playing Arizona is a huge disappointment and, to be blunt, it's going to be hard getting excited to play Arizona when we were 1 second away from the Fiesta Bowl.

[knapplc]

My goodness - who is taking Arizona lightly? We just eked out 106 yards of offense on national television! We can't take anyone lightly, as a team or a fan base.

 

I would imagine everyone in Nebraska is expecting a four-quarter slugfest, much like the CCG we just played.

[Husker Richard]

First off: For all of you who think that you will crush us and that we are a weaker opponent than Oregon State or Stanford, you must remember 2 things: 1) Your offense is absolutely terrible. You will be playing the 20th best Defense in the country with the best Secondary in the Pac 10 and top 10 in the nation. We have the conference's sack leader on our team with 11.5 sacks, and a front 4 that constantly pressures quarterbacks with very little blitzing. Zach Lee will be throwing against 7 or 8 defenders covering 3 or 4 receivers on almost every play. Not easy. We also beat Standford and Oregon State; two teams you think are superior to Arizona.

 

i am not taking arizona lightly, but your case is weak.

 

your secondary does not matter. we will not pass the ball. and if we do, the ineffectiveness of our passing game will have little to do with your secondary.

 

i hope to god you put 7-8 defenders in pass coverage because we will run all over you.

 

our defense is better than yours (we have some guy named Suh, i never heard of him until the big 12 CCG, but i guess he's ok).

 

 

that is all.

[irafreak]

Yeah give us another few days at least to recover from our heartbreak before you start telling us to focus on you. And I'm not meaning to be rude...but this holiday bowl is about as thrilling to me as the last one in 98....Nothing to gain everything to lose....sorry....people say arizona all I think about is Mike stoops struggle to survive. Here's to a good game though.

[Igetbored216]

I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one who has a tough time getting excited about this game. I thought I was just being a downer due to the hangover that was the Big 12 Championship game.

[carlfense]

No one is taking Arizona lightly. We haven't even thought about the bowl game yet.

 

That said . . . your QB is pretty much a pure passer correct? If so, I like our chances. Texas Tech gave us so much trouble because Sheffield was amazing at completing passes on the run. I know this is overly simplistic, but the only offenses that have given us trouble this year are teams with dual threat QB's.

[TITANIC VS LUSITANIA]

No one is taking Arizona lightly. We haven't even thought about the bowl game yet.

 

That said . . . your QB is pretty much a pure passer correct? If so, I like our chances. Texas Tech gave us so much trouble because Sheffield was amazing at completing passes on the run. I know this is overly simplistic, but the only offenses that have given us trouble this year are teams with dual threat QB's.

 

well, except VT. we lost, but he was not a "dual threat"....so i guess you are right. my bad.

[knapplc]

If their QB is a pocket passer he'll be in for a long game. I don't know much about Arizona. I don't think I've watched a single game of theirs this year.

 

Anyone have any insight?

[JTrain]

I hope Watson and the whole offense are completely loose going into this game. There isn't much on the line, so they don't need to go into the shell. Take some chances and make some plays. Has anyone noticed how we are actually half-way decent on offense when we're desperate to move the ball? Suddenly we have more than three pass patterns and our receivers start looking decent. Look at the pass to Kinnie on our final drive. Where was that the rest of the game? Or the rest of the season, for that matter? I just think the mentality has as much to do with it as playcalling and talent.

[Husker Richard]

No one is taking Arizona lightly. We haven't even thought about the bowl game yet.

 

That said . . . your QB is pretty much a pure passer correct? If so, I like our chances. Texas Tech gave us so much trouble because Sheffield was amazing at completing passes on the run. I know this is overly simplistic, but the only offenses that have given us trouble this year are teams with dual threat QB's.

 

well, except VT. we lost, but he was not a "dual threat"....so i guess you are right. my bad.

 

 

colt mccoy was tagged as a "dual threat." we all saw what Suh and co. did to him.