SOOO...Which is BETTER?!?!

[junior4949]

It is so hard to keep myself still from playing the "what if" game. I think any win is better than a loss, but it really is great to see that we can compete with one of the better teams in the Big 12. This was not the case in our 10-3 season. It's also nice to have a team that runs an offense that can actually come back from a decent deficit. Not as nice as having a team that never gets into a decent deficit, but it's nice nonetheless.

I don't necessarily agree with any win being better than a loss in terms of seeing progress from this team. I think this loss will do a lot more for our team than the win against Pitt did for them. We should have gained a tremendous amount of confidence after playing TT the way we did. Just turning the ball over half the amount we did, we won the game.

 

The defense played awesome the last 3 quarters. The offense played extremely well in the 2nd half. I was glad to see BC run the ball instead of airing it out as I felt he would after spotting TT 21 points. The run does still work. I was glad to see us utilizing Glenn this game. My only problem is that I think we need to try some play action when he comes into the game. If we run him every time he comes in, teams will simply line up 8 in the box. This offense does open things up so that we can catch teams off guard. I wish Lucky would have gotten to play more, but for the most part I was proud of the way this team played in each 3 phases of the game.

 

We played our best game of the season Saturday. I hope we haven't leaned on home field advantage too much, but we'll know more about this next Saturday when we play Baylor. If we play the way we played Saturday the rest of the season except for the turnovers, we'll be in each and every game. The only game we may come up short will be CU. It has taken way too long IMO, but I think BC if finally beginning to "get it"!

[Husker_fan_in_KC]

I have a quick question, this drives me insane in both college and the pros.

 

The blackshirts got burned from the get go on the defense, however they finially figured out that they can't just play cover and then began stopping Tech by playing aggressive.

 

Why, oh why did they go back to cover defense on the majority of that last Tech drive? If something is working why do you go to something else once you take the lead. I was screaming at my TV on that last drive when I kept seeing 3 rushing and everyone else in coverage.

 

This is always my biggest bone of contention when I see a team lose that was leading and fall into this pattern. I just don't know why the hell people do it.

[NU fan in Denver]

I agree, I would have liked to see some pressure or a zone blitz on the last play of the game. The only way they made that completion is because the qb had 7 or 8 seconds for the receiver to run his route and continue it all the way across the field. Bring some pressure so the qb only has 3-4 seconds to find the receiver.

[BigRedSmitty]

I am happy to hear someone say they hate this loss. So far this season and even last year, all I heard people say was "Be patient, we are rebuilding." To me it sounds like Husker fans were saying loosing, and loosing hard was OK. I remember a couple of years ago, when Husker Fan thought loosing hurt, or didn't even know what a loss felt like...now it seems like second nature, and people are saying it's OK...be patient. I live on the West Coast so I don't get much Husker action, except scoring updates on ESPNRadio. When I heard 21-0, I thought this team has no heart. They don't seem to care that they are being embarassed. Then I heard the final score. Let me make a couple of comments. This loss hurts. We were in a position to win, we had the lead with :12 seconds left, and had the team backed in a corner on 4th and 2. With that much time left, all they could really do was pass, so no surprise there. But :12 seconds and 4th and 2. I am depressed about this loss...please don't say this is a good loss, there is no such thing as a good loss. I don't believe the players are walking out of the locker room saying, "Hey we played better, we didn't give up 70 pts." This is the type of loss where you could see players crying...and as a matter of fact maybe they should, to show us that they wanted this game, it mattered, that they are making progress, and starting to understand the system. Ok maybe they are making progress, but it is still a loss, and it hurts.

[Roy CO HSKR]

From rojo:

We wanted to see "improvement" this year....

 

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

 

We’ve seen improvement across the board: special teams, offense, defense. But here’s a look at just one area.

 

Zac Taylor’s now 5 games into Division I-A football. Check out…

 

I. Zac Taylor’s Game-by-Game Improvement:

 

A. Percentage of Passes Completed:

 

--vrs. Maine: 42%

--vrs. Wake Forest: 42%

--vrs. Pitt: 50%

--vrs. Iowa State: 65%

--vrs. Texas Tech: 60% (Despite Zac’s starting 3-10-1)

 

B. Pass Efficiency Rating:

 

--vrs. Maine: 75

--vrs. Wake Forest: 75

--vrs. Pitt: 89

--vrs. Iowa State: 143

--vrs. Texas Tech: 122

.

 

II. As the pass defenses got tougher, our passing’s got better.

 

Pass Defense Efficiency: (current rankings)

 

--Wake Forest: #62

--Pittsburgh: #23

--Iowa State: #38

--Texas Tech: #14

.

 

III. A corner’s been turned for our passing game.

 

It sure looks like it. Credit Zac, Norvell, our O-line, receivers, whatever.... But it has happened.

.

 

IV. Passing game inventory:

 

--Lost: Veteran receivers---Herian (and Pilkington)

 

--Lost: Incoming receivers---Spain, Franklin, Hunter.

 

--Injury questions: Hardy and Fluellen.

 

--Stepping up: Terrence Nunn. Grant Mulkey, Nathan Swift & Mark LeFlore. J.B. Phillips.

 

There are a number of questions to be answered in Waco. But the graphline has been upward. This is a team that is still "becoming." Taylor and passing game progress are just part of it.

_____

Another way to look at it:

 

A year ago after 5 games....

 

Joe Dailey:

 

--46% completions

--12 Interceptions

--Pass Efficiency: 107

 

Today after 5 games....

 

Zac Taylor:

 

--54% completions

--5 Interceptions

--Pass Efficiency: 107

 

 

Joe's graphline was erratic and not making progress at that time. It never really did.

 

Zac is showing genuine progress and adaptation.

 

Baylor has the best pass defense we'll see.

_____

Pass Efficiency Defense: (current ranking)

 

--Baylor: #7 in the nation.