Dear Shawn Watson,

[chamrocck]

I really didn't think we would win this game so it hurt that much more when I was given hope with the 17-0 lead. The other 3 quarters we were hanging on for dear life. I'm going to try lay things out as plain as I see them.

 

-The defense overall played very well and kept us in this game. As a unit I like our defense but there are issues.

-Rex is a gamer and I like the attitude he brings to our team.

-Henery is clutch. He is hands down the best kicker in the country.

-Kyler Reed and Mike McNeill made some impressive catches.

-Not enough pressure on Landry Jones to win this game...everytime Jones was pressured he couldn't make the play. When he had all day, he made big plays in the passing game. Our defensive line is the weakest part of our defense due to inability to bring pressure and also get blown back off the line. I have been harping this all season that we can't get pressure. It cost us tonight. Steinkuhler needs to improve.

-I didn't think Prince had a very good game...gave up one of the biggest plays of the night on 3rd and 24 (was it?) when he had the ball carrier stopped well short but tried to wrestle the ball out instead of making the tackle...instead of 4th and 6 it was now 4th and 1 and allowed OU to continue their drive.

-Cassidy had good coverage but was burned big. I am not really sure why he is out there? He looked slow on other plays.

-David is a liability in coverage and although I like his game, he must improve in coverage.

-Turnovers killed us...really surprised to see Roy continuing to fumble...is it in his head?

-TMart was not good at all and put the ball on the turf a ton. Don't get me wrong...I like TMart and have been a fan of his...no way we are winning unless he plays so I was OK with that. But you could tell he didn't have the burst needed to beat OU. His decision making was awful taking sacks when there was no need to do so. He locked in on one receiver everytime and made some bad throws...but this was also due to having OU all over him on the snap so he had no time to look at other options. The way the game was going, it would have been OK to change up the QB's tonight to keep OU off-balance.

-Maybe the most awful...the O-line. OU completely owned them. They could not pass protect whatsover. Caputo did not play well. Looking for new blood on the O-line because this unit is not getting it done.

-The offense overall...cannot perform against top defenses. I have never much weighed in on the Watson situation. If he can get it done, OK...but if we need new blood let's go find some innovative O-Coordinator that can work with our personnel.

-Some strikes against Watson...the zone read was not working...why did we continue with it? And why don't we have some plays out of the zone read so there are other options from that formation? OU busts out their diamond formation and moves the ball all over us. Why have we yet to come up with a formation with both Rex and Roy on the field? We better do this next year with Rex and Aaron Green!

-Why don't we have any safety valve release to throw to Rex or Roy? That would help when TMart is pressured so then at least he could dump it off.

-To Watson's credit, we have used the wildcat effectively and the 4th down pass to McNeill was a great call.

-I dunno...we have to be able to move the ball on offense if we are going to beat teams like OU or other tough opponents we will face. Everyone knew TMart was not breaking off an 80 yard run...so what's next? We have have to have other things we can go to that fit the situation.

-And we still need top flight WR's with speed...we have no WR with enough speed to make a double move to go deep plus we have no O-line to give our QB enough time! This makes for a huge problem where OU pushes the line of scrimmage and jumps slant routes knowing that's all we can throw. And our offense becomes one dimensional and anemeic like tonight and we pray we will break one zone read to keep us in the game...that is not an offense!

-We are overall a very solid team but not an elite program right now. I would say we have shown that we can be an elite defense. But our offense is very sporadic and cannot move the ball against tough defenses. If an offensive coaching shake-up is needed let's do it...we keep the zone read and wildcat but do more out of each of them. We come up with formations that utilize our best players on the field all at once.

[mmmtodd]

zoogies, once again, the defense made adjustments at halftime, came back out, and held OU to 2 field goals while having their back shoved against the wall the entire time. they gave the ball back to the offense not once, but twice with the clock under four minutes and the game winding down.

 

the offense on the other hand apparently adjusted their jock straps, came back out, and well..you saw the result.

 

 

this is a pattern.

[Count 'Bility]

2) Defense: you got owned.

 

 

We Husker fans actually EXPECT the defense to win the game for us because we know the offense can't. And when they don't completely dominate an opponent, they got owned?

 

Ridiculous.

 

1st-10, NEB49 11:10 L. Jones passed to K. Stills down the middle for 49 yard touchdown. J. Stevens made PAT

 

1st-10, NEB31 1:58 L. Jones passed to K. Stills to the left for 30 yard gain

 

3rd-24, OKLA40 10:47 L. Jones passed to C. Kenney to the left for 23 yard gain (4th and 1 converted afterwards)

 

455 yards. Jason, we will have to agree to disagree if you think your last sentence still applies. This wasn't failing to completely dominate, this was a game where the O grabbed a 17-yard lead, and the defense let them back in it. The turnover is no help, but neither is allowing an easy 30-yard completion to the 1-yard line. Miscues led to OU putting a lot of points on the board. Credit to their O, too, but they earned those points by beating the D tonight. Maybe my expectations for the D are too high, but I think there's reason to be. When your D is one of the top units in the country, and when the O has a gimpy QB and is missing its top WR, I think most expected the D to help win the game.

 

It was a team loss. I am not blaming the loss on the D. But the performance fell far short of expectations.

 

I just can agree with hammering the D. Just like a year ago, a sh**ty offensive performance wins the game by 2 td's

[irishhusker]

I think Taylor is more of a liability to us then anything. Watson formed his whole offensive scheme around him this year. We did well for a while.But when he got hurt we went back in a shell. So sad cause our D hit a stride in the last 4 games. Should have 2 more wins then we do now.

[General Blackshirt]

there are a lot of things to question in this game, but here's what made me pretty angry. 3 minutes to go, ball at the 50 yard line (which it shouldn't have been because Martinez should have thrown it away). Oklahoma gets called for being off sides so now we are at the 45. it may seem ridiculous, but why not kick the 62 yard field goal? Alex made the 53 yarder by a mile. i'm all for trusting the defense to get a 3 and out with 3 minutes left, which they did. but did the coaches really think the offense would push us back into field goal range? i say put the ball in the hands (or on the foot) of the teams MVP Alex Henery and let him show the world that he is the best kicker in NCAA history.

[huskerSoldier321]

Why is every bashing on Martinez yes the kid made a few mistakes in this game. It goes with being a freshman quarterback under pressure. He wasnt getting the blocks, hes was 90% at the most coming into the game. But im not just talking about the bashing following this gamesI am talking about the negative comments before this game. Him being a prema donna, his dad callin all his shots, him screwin cheerleaders? IDK?, him quiting Nebraska, theBS rumors. STOP THIS CRAP.he is a player on our football team he deserves our respect as fans. I just cant believe that most of you that are calling for his head are the same fans who were braggin about him after the Kansas state game. Yes he threw an INT and fumble a few times. was he the only One? NO. If you want to blame someone. Blame Watson for calling that damn Zone read mutiple times causing a loss of yards on each time. Blame his crapy play calling. I predict Martinez is gonna be a great QB in the next couple years. But jeeze give the kid your suport. Also if you didnt think he cared after the game ended. watch the tape again you could see tears in his eyes. No one comes out of a game like that not caring.

Scott Frost all over again. Hate him now You will love him later.

[zoogs]

zoogies, once again, the defense made adjustments at halftime, came back out, and held OU to 2 field goals while having their back shoved against the wall the entire time. they gave the ball back to the offense not once, but twice with the clock under four minutes and the game winding down.

 

the offense on the other hand apparently adjusted their jock straps, came back out, and well..you saw the result.

 

 

this is a pattern.

 

Won't argue that Taylor crapped the bed after his interception and pretty much never came back to form. Well, except for the FG drive at the end of the half - that was impressive, but then Q3 happened.

 

I don't want this to be an offense vs defense argument, I am just trying to highlight a spot that I'm surprised people aren't more critical of.

 

The defense was on and off, I would still say. They played extremely well to start. They laid the wood to Landry a few times in the second half and did give us the ball back. But at a few critical times, they were picked apart, including allow OU to get out of 3rd and 24.

 

(EDIT) - I thought OU's FG drives were long, but I misread TOP as End Time. they weren't long, my mistake.

 

I just can agree with hammering the D. Just like a year ago, a sh**ty offensive performance wins the game by 2 td's

 

2 years ago, we could have won a game or two with even a decent performance on D, though. I'm not slamming on the D. Just saying they had their part in this loss too.

[Scratchtown]

Terrible display of offensive football. Where is Scott Frost?

[Ratt Mhule]

Terrible display of offensive football. Where is Scott Frost?

 

Coaching arguably the best offense in the nation

[Mort Blort]

Why is every bashing on Martinez yes the kid made a few mistakes in this game. It goes with being a freshman quarterback under pressure. He wasnt getting the blocks, hes was 90% at the most coming into the game. But im not just talking about the bashing following this gamesI am talking about the negative comments before this game. Him being a prema donna, his dad callin all his shots, him screwin cheerleaders? IDK?, him quiting Nebraska, theBS rumors. STOP THIS CRAP.he is a player on our football team he deserves our respect as fans. I just cant believe that most of you that are calling for his head are the same fans who were braggin about him after the Kansas state game. Yes he threw an INT and fumble a few times. was he the only One? NO. If you want to blame someone. Blame Watson for calling that damn Zone read mutiple times causing a loss of yards on each time. Blame his crapy play calling. I predict Martinez is gonna be a great QB in the next couple years. But jeeze give the kid your suport. Also if you didnt think he cared after the game ended. watch the tape again you could see tears in his eyes. No one comes out of a game like that not caring.

Scott Frost all over again. Hate him now You will love him later.

 

Yup. The kid's quiet, people fill the silence with their own insecurities and project that on him. OTOH, his dad needs to take a little more distance and let his son grow up a little more on his own.

[huskerSoldier321]

ZONE READ + 10 = NE - 60. If a play doesnt work try another one. WATSON A kid playing NCAA 2010 on xbox could of called better plays.

[Hercules]

there are a lot of things to question in this game, but here's what made me pretty angry. 3 minutes to go, ball at the 50 yard line (which it shouldn't have been because Martinez should have thrown it away). Oklahoma gets called for being off sides so now we are at the 45. it may seem ridiculous, but why not kick the 62 yard field goal? Alex made the 53 yarder by a mile. i'm all for trusting the defense to get a 3 and out with 3 minutes left, which they did. but did the coaches really think the offense would push us back into field goal range? i say put the ball in the hands (or on the foot) of the teams MVP Alex Henery and let him show the world that he is the best kicker in NCAA history.

 

Bo said that he thought about it, but thought he could get the ball back, and didn't want to give OU the field position. Can't argue with his thinking at the time. We punted, stopped them, got the ball back, and just couldn't do anything with it. I mean, in hindsight, it would have been smart just to kick a field goal every time after we crossed the 50 yard line, but it's hard to blame Bo for not doing that...

[bshirt]

zoogies, once again, the defense made adjustments at halftime, came back out, and held OU to 2 field goals while having their back shoved against the wall the entire time. they gave the ball back to the offense not once, but twice with the clock under four minutes and the game winding down.

 

the offense on the other hand apparently adjusted their jock straps, came back out, and well..you saw the result.

 

 

this is a pattern.

 

Bingo.

 

It was vintage SW, that's all. Something starts working (wildcat), ditch it and go with what doesn't because being "multiple" is 10,000 more important than being productive.

 

Just another loss to a team with a decent defense. Imho, we'll NEVER play or win an NC with SW. We can't hack it with a great defense and the best FG kicker in the history of cfb the last two years. Alex is gone after this year and the problem will just be worse. Add to that a much tougher schedule next year and Bo has to sack up and decide what's more important, his buddy SW or success for NU?

[Lincolnite]

Does anyone else think Taylor looked uncomfortable? It's like he knew the other players didn't want him on the team and it was affecting him. He didn't look confident in his abilities. Before Taylor got hurt during the A&M game I kept thinking he was going to pull something amazing and help the team win. There was no magic tonight.

[KingBlank]

You know what I think put Zac %^*&^%$#%^&*#&^%$#%^&*( Lee in. My god give someone a god damn chance. Remember MU last year, dude can lead a comeback. Just give him a freaking chance, I mean *&(*&*&$$*#^^^*(&^*#&.