My 1st half thoughts

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

-Offense looks confused. Lots of miscues, missed blocks, dropped passes. They did look better when they went more up tempo so maybe that's the key. The O-line needs to start blocking better or Pelini will need to look for a new O-line coach

 

-Defense looks good but the LB corp doesn't seen as productive as last years. D-line looks great and I hope Cam is able to come back soon. He's playing phenomenal right now

 

-Receivers. Kinnie needs to learn to catch or ride the pine.

 

-Kicking game. Henery who? I think Maher is going to be just fine. That was a great 50yd field goal.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Hope the offense gets better.....they don't look good right now.

[Karsaire]

Our pass coverage is a little shaky at times. Some blown coverages. Looks like some youth and miscommunication As I type this crick and merideth make the pick 8)

[Husker66]

heading to tablerock and listening on serius...sounds a lot like last year..well maybe not quite as bad....excellent kicking game, good defense, offense is not composed and confident. i know its first game and their up big, but it seems real shaky...

[zoogs]

The option is not being run smoothly at all right now. After the mountains of flak thrown at the offense last season for running those slow-developing lateral plays so much late in the season...it is interesting that this slow-developing lateral option has been hailed as such a welcome return.

 

I'm all for variety, but the timing issues and other little intricacies that are required to run it smoothly...I am a skeptic, so far. Will it be worth the opportunity cost of installing it and running it to perfection? I am again all for having the option, if we keep it to the kind of frequency of an end-around reverse.

 

 

--

 

I think Mauro Bondi had his redshirt burned today doing a kickoff too? Or did the announcers make a mistake there. Seems like Maher is doing KO's mostly, but I saw Bondi's name called once.

 

--

 

Kinnie does not have catching problems. We'll have to find the highlights because I think Hercules disagreed, but to me, that was just a bad throw. Would've had to be an outstanding catch. Which is a far cry from Kinnie, our most dependable receiver, having hands issues.

 

--

 

OL looks on and off, but there are some young guys on this unit, including a true freshman. Remember we started Tyler Moore and Spencer Who? The D has looked spectacular at times...overall, I think this unit will grow and get pretty good. The defensive front looks to be more stout and nasty than it was last year.

 

Dennard's injury is a blessing because we'll get to develop some other guys while he is out.

[Karsaire]

Seems like we've had people in their backfield all day which is pretty nice to see

[brophog]

Hope the offense gets better.....they don't look good right now.

 

I think I counted one play in the first half that was run clean. I had relatively low expectations, but I was disappointed overall.

[zoogs]

Hope the offense gets better.....they don't look good right now.

 

I think I counted one play in the first half that was run clean. I had relatively low expectations, but I was disappointed overall.

 

Yeah, I think that number wouldn't surprise me too much. We are showing some flashes now, but had some odd struggles in the first half, particularly against the competition.

[deep_breath]

Maybe not as solid as we would all want but no reason to worry yet. We have a great schedule to get our act together and we definitely have the talent. We need to be ready for Wisconsin and Fresno, Washington and Wyoming will have us ready for that game. I can guarantee you that coach will have the mistakes made today corrected.

[Bigred_inSD]

Could be worse, we could be Notre Dame right now...

[brophog]

 

Yeah, I think that number wouldn't surprise me too much. We are showing some flashes now, but had some odd struggles in the first half, particularly against the competition.

 

A lot of it is at the micro level still. We had one post route in the first half that was a sure TD that Taylor threw behind the receiver and he dropped it. The middle of the field was open on that play. A nice playcall in the context of what we were showing to that point.

 

The play Rex ran into Taylor on the WR screen pass........Rex never should have had protection responsibilities to that side. That has to be a protection call to protect that playside with a slide protection and let Rex take backside. It doesn't really even matter if that backside gets blocked, as long as you get the hands down on the playside.

 

The blocking schemes on those option plays. A good option offense has to have several blocking schemes to handle that playside Safety coming down in the box. You can't give up force to the playside backer and let that Safety run free, or as we saw you don't get numbers in the option game and we spent most of the first half in that kind of situation. We made one adjustment on that here in the second half on Taylor's long run by bringing motion back towards the formation, which was nice.

 

It's little things on most plays, but it is a lot of little things and it is at every position right now. I think what upsets me most of all, though, is that we're not winning more one on one battles.

[zoogs]

Ah. Good insight, brophog. Quick question on that play with Rex. Who is that on? Is that a poor play design, a mistaken playcall, or a bad adjustment call at the line by Taylor?

[NUance]

All in all, yeah we looked a little sloppy today. But we got a new offensive coordinator, a bunch of freshman playing, and a rag tag group of O-linemen. Some sloppiness is to be expected. We got time to work through it.

[hayjay2000]

In the secondary's defense, They were without Dennard, who's pretty much the leader of that secondary. Once Dennard comes back, I think you'll see the secondary play MUCH better.

[flatwaterfan]

 

Yeah, I think that number wouldn't surprise me too much. We are showing some flashes now, but had some odd struggles in the first half, particularly against the competition.

 

A lot of it is at the micro level still. We had one post route in the first half that was a sure TD that Taylor threw behind the receiver and he dropped it. The middle of the field was open on that play. A nice playcall in the context of what we were showing to that point.

 

The play Rex ran into Taylor on the WR screen pass........Rex never should have had protection responsibilities to that side. That has to be a protection call to protect that playside with a slide protection and let Rex take backside. It doesn't really even matter if that backside gets blocked, as long as you get the hands down on the playside.

 

The blocking schemes on those option plays. A good option offense has to have several blocking schemes to handle that playside Safety coming down in the box. You can't give up force to the playside backer and let that Safety run free, or as we saw you don't get numbers in the option game and we spent most of the first half in that kind of situation. We made one adjustment on that here in the second half on Taylor's long run by bringing motion back towards the formation, which was nice.

 

It's little things on most plays, but it is a lot of little things and it is at every position right now. I think what upsets me most of all, though, is that we're not winning more one on one battles.

Yikes. That's way above me. Thanks for the info. Glad to hear about the adjustment.