Didn't like the lack of intensity

[Paul in WI]

We're getting our panties in a bunch over nothing (see last year's Game 1). Just remember that yesterday could have been worse: We could have played like Florida or Oklahoma.

[Power-I]

Is everybody forgeting we had similar performance against FAU last year. Then we came out and dominated on defense pretty much the rest of year. David looks solid, Whaley started his first college game ever, Meredith got dinged up a little.

 

Also, a number of teams struggled yesterday in their openers... i.e. Florida and Oklahoma. After watching the Florida game I think we are a better football team than them right now.

 

Freakin Washington lost Byu, no way we lose that game. Byu is not gonna be as good as last year.

 

I'll say exactly what Pelini would say: "I don't care about what other teams did out there. What did we do?"

 

49-10 is a good score from the outside, and we may even jump Oklahoma in the AP, but if anyone here is feeling good about how the team played from moment to moment, take a step back and see what it could have been, without a few lucky breaks. It's 42-17 if the refs don't call that 46 yard run through a gaping hole a fumble, which, after watching replays it could have just as easily been called a TD and stood up.

 

The first quarter was a great display of how good we can be. But i didn't like some stuff in the final 3 quarters, and I'm not alone.

I dont give a crap what Pelini said.... Im just saying everybody is freakin out about the first game of the year and all the mistakes that were made. Their was probably more than the average fan realizes. I dont care whether it was 49-10, 49-17, 56-3, we all know theirs plenty of things to work on. As a team we are not their yet. Those who think we are.....

 

FYI that was clearing a fumble it came out at the one yard line.

 

Uh, ok. So just as easily as you say "well whatever, it was the first game", I can say I expect more. Just depends on how you want to view it I guess.

 

I have no problems with the typical opening day problems (LBers out of positions, WR dropping balls etc.). My problem is with the intensity level, and letting up way too early, and just plain acting like the game didn't matter. Do people not know how to separate the two?

[huskerscott]

Is everybody forgeting we had similar performance against FAU last year. Then we came out and dominated on defense pretty much the rest of year. David looks solid, Whaley started his first college game ever, Meredith got dinged up a little.

 

Also, a number of teams struggled yesterday in their openers... i.e. Florida and Oklahoma. After watching the Florida game I think we are a better football team than them right now.

 

Freakin Washington lost Byu, no way we lose that game. Byu is not gonna be as good as last year.

 

I'll say exactly what Pelini would say: "I don't care about what other teams did out there. What did we do?"

 

49-10 is a good score from the outside, and we may even jump Oklahoma in the AP, but if anyone here is feeling good about how the team played from moment to moment, take a step back and see what it could have been, without a few lucky breaks. It's 42-17 if the refs don't call that 46 yard run through a gaping hole a fumble, which, after watching replays it could have just as easily been called a TD and stood up.

 

The first quarter was a great display of how good we can be. But i didn't like some stuff in the final 3 quarters, and I'm not alone.

I dont give a crap what Pelini said.... Im just saying everybody is freakin out about the first game of the year and all the mistakes that were made. Their was probably more than the average fan realizes. I dont care whether it was 49-10, 49-17, 56-3, we all know theirs plenty of things to work on. As a team we are not their yet. Those who think we are.....

 

FYI that was clearing a fumble it came out at the one yard line.

 

Uh, ok. So just as easily as you say "well whatever, it was the first game", I can say I expect more. Just depends on how you want to view it I guess.

 

I have no problems with the typical opening day problems (LBers out of positions, WR dropping balls etc.). My problem is with the intensity level, and letting up way too early, and just plain acting like the game didn't matter. Do people not know how to separate the two?

 

I do expect alot. But we went out and put away a weaker opponent early. Not alot teams can say that.. cough cough Florida, OU, Kansas,Texas.

 

Im trying find reason to complain..... searching, searching..... nope cant find it.

[WCHusker]

Typical first game

 

next

[Power-I]

Typical first game

 

next

 

Yep, typical first game for teams who want to go 9-3, and really fight hard but lose in the conference title game.

 

Next.

[NshawU]

Is everybody forgeting we had similar performance against FAU last year. Then we came out and dominated on defense pretty much the rest of year. David looks solid, Whaley started his first college game ever, Meredith got dinged up a little.

 

Also, a number of teams struggled yesterday in their openers... i.e. Florida and Oklahoma. After watching the Florida game I think we are a better football team than them right now.

 

Freakin Washington lost Byu, no way we lose that game. Byu is not gonna be as good as last year.

 

I'll say exactly what Pelini would say: "I don't care about what other teams did out there. What did we do?"

 

49-10 is a good score from the outside, and we may even jump Oklahoma in the AP, but if anyone here is feeling good about how the team played from moment to moment, take a step back and see what it could have been, without a few lucky breaks. It's 49-17 if the refs don't call that 46 yard run through a gaping hole a fumble, which, after watching replays it could have just as easily been called a TD and stood up.

 

The first quarter was a great display of how good we can be. But i didn't like some stuff in the final 3 quarters, and I'm not alone.

 

What if Niles doesn't fumble that first down conversion? What if we don't fumble that interception at the 5 yard line. That game goes both ways.

[Power-I]

Back to the original point of my thread, I don't care if we had 700 fumbles. This isn't an argument about the score or X's and O's or mis-plays. I just hope the defensive attitude changes next week, because one quarter of greatness doesn't make up for 3 quarters of running around with a bag over your head.

[I See Red People]

I have to agree with those saying that the defensive intensity wasn't there as the game went on. However, I was happy to be disappointed with the defense (that doesn't sound right). What I mean is that defensively, I am confident Bo and Carl will button things up. Much more confident than if the offense looked lost, but offensively, the Huskers blew me away.

[Paul in WI]

Let's go back to our last national championship team in 1997. It was the second game of the year AT HOME, and we were down 17 - 14 at the half to Central Florida. (We won 38 - 24.)

 

The point is that you can have a national championship team, and while you might expect them to come out firing on all cylinders each and every game, you'll often be disappointed with the reality of the situation. 18 to 21 year-old kids, regardless of their talent level, are subject to emotional ups and downs that affect their play. These aren't NFL professionals.

 

I'd venture a guess that you can pick any championship team's season and you'll find games in which you would think that they should have performed a lot better than what they did.

[Power-I]

I have to agree with those saying that the defensive intensity wasn't there as the game went on. However, I was happy to be disappointed with the defense (that doesn't sound right). What I mean is that defensively, I am confident Bo and Carl will button things up. Much more confident than if the offense looked lost, but offensively, the Huskers blew me away.

 

That's all I'm saying. I think alot of people got defensive for no reason in this thread.

 

I have all the confidence in the world in the Brothers Pelini. Maybe its actually a good thing they lacked intensity in this game, as it will get fixed real quick before we start conference play.

[GMoose]

What concerns me is that we don't seem to be making progress as a team. Start of 08, we were OK, good by season's end. Start of 09, we were good, great by seasons end. Last night was a fair performance, but we did NOT look like an elite defense and certainly not a #8 teams.

 

That being said, we don't know anything about our team yet. The defense did look mediocre, but its still under wraps I'm guessing. I won't be passing judgement until after UW.

[Paul in WI]

How good did we look last year in our first game when we gave up 22 first downs and about 400 yards to a Florida Atlantic team? I still have that game on tape, and I can assure you that our D looked a lot better last night than last year's first game.

 

You simply cannot expect the team that beat the snot out of Arizona in the bowl to show up in Game 1 of next year's season. I measure progress by comparing the team's performance to that of the prior year at the same time. By my measure, our team is progressing quite nicely.

[huskerscott]

How good did we look last year in our first game when we gave up 22 first downs and about 400 yards to a Florida Atlantic team? I still have that game on tape, and I can assure you that our D looked a lot better last night than last year's first game.

 

You simply cannot expect the team that beat the snot out of Arizona in the bowl to show up in Game 1 of next year's season. I measure progress by comparing the team's performance to that of the prior year at the same time. By my measure, our team is progressing quite nicely.

Yep..... how many new starters did we have last night.... Steinkhuler, Whaley, David, Thearnse(IR last year), and PJ Smith. Plus Meredith got dinged up and Williams played for him. Im sure those guys had some jitters and the chemistry isnt their yet. Its gonna take a few games for these guys to gel. Ohanlon and Asante werent the best last year at the start, but were deadly at the end of the year.

 

Western Kentucky had a new coach and new offensive system, their was probably some things they werent prepared for. I know the commentators said that Rainey(WKU RB) hadnt carried the ball 25 times one game, even though he was a 1,000 rusher last year.

[Enhance]

Is everybody forgeting we had similar performance against FAU last year. Then we came out and dominated on defense pretty much the rest of year. David looks solid, Whaley started his first college game ever, Meredith got dinged up a little.

 

Also, a number of teams struggled yesterday in their openers... i.e. Florida and Oklahoma. After watching the Florida game I think we are a better football team than them right now.

 

Freakin Washington lost Byu, no way we lose that game. Byu is not gonna be as good as last year.

 

I'll say exactly what Pelini would say: "I don't care about what other teams did out there. What did we do?"

 

49-10 is a good score from the outside, and we may even jump Oklahoma in the AP, but if anyone here is feeling good about how the team played from moment to moment, take a step back and see what it could have been, without a few lucky breaks. It's 49-17 if the refs don't call that 46 yard run through a gaping hole a fumble, which, after watching replays it could have just as easily been called a TD and stood up.

 

The first quarter was a great display of how good we can be. But i didn't like some stuff in the final 3 quarters, and I'm not alone.

 

What if Niles doesn't fumble that first down conversion? What if we don't fumble that interception at the 5 yard line. That game goes both ways.

Exactly. Good post.

 

Honestly, a 49-10 win is a great win. We're all realistic and we all know what went wrong, but a lot of things went right as well. For example:

 

1) All the quarterbacks played phenomenally, for the most part.

2) No major injuries.

3) Burkhead and Helu played fast and explosively, given their limited role.

4) Our offensive line played really well as a collective unit. Martinez's athleticism helped out, but he had giant holes to run through for many of his 7 touches. That's what you like to see when you are playing an out matched defensive line.

 

Our defense suffered last night because of the linebacking corp, imho. David had 13 tackles, yes, but he was also responsible for the calls made last night. Pelini even hinted towards his insufficiencies.

 

It's week one, though. No need to get overly critical when our guys were 99% sure they were going to win the game after our second drive against a team that hasn't won a game in two seasons.

[shyndy]

Typical first game

 

next

 

Yep, typical first game for teams who want to go 9-3, and really fight hard but lose in the conference title game.

 

Next.

 

Really? Do I really need to go find examples of less than 3 loss teams that had subpar games against terrible opponents? Hell I wouldn't even have to use other teams to find many examples, I vaguely remember many of such games during our most dominant era.