NEBRASKA FOOTBALL: Lone Star Letdown

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

NE Statepaper

 

NEBRASKA FOOTBALL: Lone Star Letdown

Commentary: NU-UT may have less national appeal after Saturday, but the Huskers' task just got harder

by Samuel McKewon

 

October 02, 2010

 

If you’re a Nebraska fan, Saturday’s Oklahoma-Texas game couldn’t have played out any worse than it did. In the span of fours hours, the Longhorns shifted from a marquee, fat-on-its reputation foe on Oct. 16 to a ticked-off, wronged animal caught in a hunter’s trap. And that’s after facing meat-and-potatoes Kansas State.

 

UT lost ugly to the Sooners. And by that, I don’t mean the 28-20 margin. Texas - with some help from the zeebs, who always seem to put their two cents into the Red River Rivalry - beat itself with dumb penalties, an initial lack of aggression and basic defensive communication errors that made OU look better on offense than it actually played.

 

And then, when Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops reopened the door with one of his risky fake field goal tries, Texas slammed it back shut with Aaron Williams‘ fumble on a punt. Not this Saturday for the burnt orange. But Husker fans better be ready in two weeks for a team that just may have flushed every stupid thing it could do out of its system.

 

Oklahoma grabbed a 14-0 lead thanks to two cheap flags and Texas’ sheer inability to line up its defense. The Sooners did nothing fancy, folks. Bubble screens and outside zone plays are basic staples of any team not named Air Force, Navy or Georgia Tech. I think they come with the “You Too Can Be A College Coach!” manual that LSU’s Les Miles still needs to buy.

 

But the Horns steadied themselves, and I was impressed. OU is terrific frontrunner. Get down two touchdowns to the Sooners, and get ready for the reaper. Yet early in the fourth quarter, Texas trailed just 21-10 and carried momentum.

 

So, naturally, UT freshman defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat came through with a freshman error: A pointless personal foul on a 3rd-and-long that extended OU’s final touchdown drive.

 

OU led 28-10, and still managed to almost blow it, giving up 10 points over the final five minutes. What was Stoops doing calling a fake field goal with an 11-point lead? Punt the football! Why was Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones skipping about in the open field on a broken play, carrying the ball like a loaf of bread? Jones fumbled inside his own 20 and just was lucky enough to bat the ball out of bounds before Texas recovered it.

 

The Longhorns will smart over this one. Between the two teams, Texas might have been better Saturday. Key flags gave OU the advantage. It was as if UT’s football team had to pay some penance for the behavior of its administration over the summer. A two-game losing streak in Austin is not necessarily a cause for panic among Longhorn faithful. It’s a cause of apathy. Austin is too cool of a city, and Texas fans are too rich, to care that much about football.

 

So Nebraska’s about to receive an angrier opponent than it expected. With potentially more to prove, quite surprisingly, than the Huskers, who will be a favorite in a game that will receive less publicity than we presumed. Missouri is likely to have a better record when it visits Lincoln. Oklahoma State suddenly looms as the higher-ranked foe.

 

But what I saw of Texas Saturday should worry NU fans considerably. Its defensive line is excellent, and it did its job when it lined up correctly - and since Nebraska doesn’t run a no-huddle attack, I don’t think alignment will be a concern. Oklahoma ran the ball 52 times - for 124 yards. And that was on a day when the Horns didn’t tackle particularly well.

 

UT’s offense is a stinker, but it’s also on the upswing after head coach Mack Brown gave up the fantasy of developing a running game. The Longhorns are back, for the most part, in the Colt McCoy offense. The Brothers Pelini did a number on it last season, of course. But Texas is no longer trying to pound squares into smaller circles.

 

Quarterback Garrett Gilbert isn’t great - yet. But he’s closer than his numbers suggest. UT found its rhythm Saturday, returning to familiar patterns, attacking open spots on the field. Texas took baby steps that I suspect will be a full gait by the end of the year.

 

Since its last undefeated October in 2001, NU is 17-16 during the month. That’s three different head coaches and about five different offenses. The month doesn’t gauge total improvement - that’s November - or even necessarily overall talent, which often reveals itself best in September, before injuries.

 

October gauges survival instincts and concentration.

 

As I look at NU’s October slate - KSU, UT, OSU and Mizzou - I see four teams Nebraska should beat. Yes, even with UT’s ample motivation after Saturday. But it’s going to take every phase of the Huskers’ team and the best coaching job of Bo Pelini and Shawn Watson’s tenure in Lincoln.

 

Nebraska is the frontrunner now. We take our shots at Texas and Oklahoma for a sloppy, inconsistent game on Saturday. But let’s see how the Huskers handle life at the top.

[sd'sker]

But Husker fans better be ready in two weeks for a team that just may have flushed every stupid thing it could do out of its system.

 

they are scary because they will have a lot of motivation not to lose three straight and they have a bye week. we will find out if they are a good team that suffered from inexperience and got off to a slow start, or if they are just a bad team.

 

i wonder how much the bye week will help them. at least they have mack brown as their head coach, that is in our favor. the defense will be in lock-down mode, and BO will create a great game plan with schemes that mack will not be able to make adjustments for. if is a good thing they cannot run.

 

now, we just need our offense to execute, sustain drives (give the defense a break), and put plenty of points on the board. it should be a good game. just get through ksu, and they utilize the extra time to prepare for a hungry and wounded ut.

[74Hunter]

I've been worried about this game, as I have been about all of our games. After SDSU, I am REALLY worried about our team. I hope that SDSU was an abberrition.

 

But Tex@$$ is hurting, and they want a pound of flesh. Mix in them having 2 weeks to prepare, it could be bad, real bad.

[suh_fan93]

But Husker fans better be ready in two weeks for a team that just may have flushed every stupid thing it could do out of its system.

I'm glad that he thinks it only took one game to 'flush every stupid thing it could' out of their system. The writer must have been on vacation when they played U.C.L.A. I love how he says how impressed he was with Texas because they were only down 21-10 in the 4th quarter and in the 4th they 'carried momentum' but then the next line starts off with 'OU (then) led 28-10'....

 

I hate it when writers have to drum up their only little fantasy storyline just to have something to put into print.

[sd'sker]

I've been worried about this game, as I have been about all of our games. After SDSU, I am REALLY worried about our team. I hope that SDSU was an abberrition.

 

But Tex@$$ is hurting, and they want a pound of flesh. Mix in them having 2 weeks to prepare, it could be bad, real bad.

you know, that team that played like garbage against sdsu is the same team that dismantled washington. you have to decide, which game is the aberration.

[roundegotrip]

Wow, Texas really is in the head of Nebraska fans (and sports writers). No, they're probably not as bad as their record indicates, but we'll be favored in this game and we should be. Don't be afraid of the big, bad Texas.

[74Hunter]

I've been worried about this game, as I have been about all of our games. After SDSU, I am REALLY worried about our team. I hope that SDSU was an abberrition.

 

But Tex@$$ is hurting, and they want a pound of flesh. Mix in them having 2 weeks to prepare, it could be bad, real bad.

you know, that team that played like garbage against sdsu is the same team that dismantled washington. you have to decide, which game is the aberration.

I HOPE that it is SDSU, but it is really hard to ignore the fact that a 1AA team had our backs against the ropes at our house. We should have been able to win that game by 5 tds even if we were sleep walking. And if we were sleep walking, we should have been able to impose our will when we woke up.

 

I, for one, will remain cautious.

[sd'sker]

I've been worried about this game, as I have been about all of our games. After SDSU, I am REALLY worried about our team. I hope that SDSU was an abberrition.

 

But Tex@$$ is hurting, and they want a pound of flesh. Mix in them having 2 weeks to prepare, it could be bad, real bad.

you know, that team that played like garbage against sdsu is the same team that dismantled washington. you have to decide, which game is the aberration.

I HOPE that it is SDSU, but it is really hard to ignore the fact that a 1AA team had our backs against the ropes at our house. We should have been able to win that game by 5 tds even if we were sleep walking. And if we were sleep walking, we should have been able to impose our will when we woke up.

 

I, for one, will remain cautious.

i do too, and i agree with you. we know the team's potential for success and failure, hopefully from here on out they consistently play at a very high level. the offense still needs experience and confidence, the o-line needs to figure it out, and the defensive front four needs to figure it out. but i think we should be ok.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

I've been worried about this game, as I have been about all of our games. After SDSU, I am REALLY worried about our team. I hope that SDSU was an abberrition.

 

But Tex@$$ is hurting, and they want a pound of flesh. Mix in them having 2 weeks to prepare, it could be bad, real bad.

you know, that team that played like garbage against sdsu is the same team that dismantled washington. you have to decide, which game is the aberration.

I HOPE that it is SDSU, but it is really hard to ignore the fact that a 1AA team had our backs against the ropes at our house. We should have been able to win that game by 5 tds even if we were sleep walking. And if we were sleep walking, we should have been able to impose our will when we woke up.

 

I, for one, will remain cautious.

i do too, and i agree with you. we know the team's potential for success and failure, hopefully from here on out they consistently play at a very high level. the offense still needs experience and confidence, the o-line needs to figure it out, and the defensive front four needs to figure it out. but i think we should be ok.

I'm thinking the SDSU game was the very thing this team needed to be brought back down to reality. I think the players (and maybe the coaches to some degree) bought into all the hype that was being rained down them and they took the SDSU game for granted. Hopefully that was the smack in the face from reality this team needed.

[Never Skerd']

ignorant of him,

We havnt even played a Big12 game yet.

Just quit your job.

[bleedNUred]

I don't care how we beat Texas just as long as we beat them, a blowout by multiple possessions would be GREAT though

[JOEY]

I don't care how we beat Texas just as long as we beat them, a blowout by multiple possessions would be GREAT though

Do you know anything about the 2nd string Qb for texas? Maybe if we start blowing them out by enough we can see the backup for texas.

[Hercules]

Honestly would not be that surprised to see a blowout. Especially if Nebraska jumps on them early, I think Texas will fold. Don't know what McKewon is talking about. Texas isn't used to playing for pride, they're used to playing for big 12 championships and national championships. If they had beaten Oklahoma, they'd still be in the race for both (or they would have thought they were). I don't think the game got easier, but I don't think it got harder either.

[junior4949]

I don't care how we beat Texas just as long as we beat them, a blowout by multiple possessions would be GREAT though

Do you know anything about the 2nd string Qb for texas? Maybe if we start blowing them out by enough we can see the backup for texas.

 

Isn't their 2nd stringer Cold McCoy's younger brother?

[papersun87]

Isn't their 2nd stringer Cold McCoy's younger brother?

Oh, please let this be true.