What did we learn???

[irieboy8]

when we had a killer shut down defense we all wanted a killer offense to match.. now we have some young great weapons on offense and now it seems poof the d sucks.......

 

 

the irony!

[knapplc]

I laughed at the "punch a kitten line." I think there's a 2:1 ratio with Taylor - for every two good plays he has, he has one mind-numbingly bad play. I'm hoping that has a lot to do with him being a sophomore and with the Line being such a mess, but who knows. Willie, if you want to actually punch a kitten, I have one that's really annoying me. You just can't break her.

 

I think we learned that this defense is very overrated. This is the third "weak" opponent we've played this year, and and we've made them look at least partially competent. That's a huge problem. There is no gang-tackling, no "fire" as BW put it. It's like they're sleepwalking through these games, and I don't get why this is happening. It's almost like we gave reps and instruction to ONLY Amukamara, Hagg, Gomes and the other dearly departed graduates, and the young guys are completely, absolutely clueless. They do not play with trust or with confidence. Knowing the Pelini reputation for being such a good teacher, this is completely baffling.

 

Our O Line had another iffy game. They didn't stick with blocks and they messed up a lot. There were also flashes of brilliance where they blew open huge holes or sealed the edge, but it's almost a 1:1 ratio with good/bad with these guys. I don't get it. Where's the O Line depth?

[zoogs]

I think the biggest problem with the D we are seeing is overall, lack of fire. Lack of swag. Lack of just believing in themselves yet. And that is a concern more than individual shortcomings of certain players.

 

Am I correct that A-Rod was in for quite a few snaps as part of the OG rotation this game? That is a bit silly. He needs to sit for a while while Choi and Long start, and Thompson and maybe Cotton get rotated in.

 

knapp - I think you have that ratio reversed. It is 1:2 or even worse with Taylor just because of his various limitations or areas where he is only adequate. The only thing is...when he hits that "1", he really breaks open the defense and it is a huge result.

[beanman]

Few things (or many things now that I read back over it) ..

 

Taylor makes me want to punch a kitten at times. At this point, I get it. He is never going to be a good passer. But at the very least, when receivers are running WIDE OPEN, I expect him to get them the ball (Legate). At the very least, I expect him to put his passes in a catchable spot for the receiver and not all over the place (Cooper, Bell, Turner, etc.,).

 

One thing I mentioned last year that Taylor needed to do is get out of the way of unnecessary contact. So far this year, he has done it with his sliding and how he is absorbing contact. I do see him running a bit more timid, but at the very least he is protecting himself for later in the season.

 

Burkhead is a beast, no other way to put it.

 

Enunwa and his stiff arm is just filthy. That kid is a monster and I wish we could find a way to get him the ball more.

 

Same with Kyler. He is an absolute matchup nightmare for any LB to even attempt to cover. We are doing ourselves a disservice by not getting him the ball more and exploiting the huge advantage he gives us.

 

Andrew Rodriguez is horrid. I laughed on the goal line in the 1st half watching this kid try to block. Honestly, his play doesn't even warrant him in any substitution patterns either to give our guards a rest.

 

Choi played very well again. Props to him, and especially to him for being one of the few backups who stepped up when called upon to help shore up a position.

 

And the defense ..

 

The entire defense as a whole needs to find a fire. I don't care about the score, I don't care about the stats, and I especially don't care about this game 'not being as close as the score shows.' I want to see a team tackling well and not allowing multiple players from multiple teams break tackles so easily. I want to see a team flying to the ball rather than going at it like it's a walkthrough. I want to see a team that is making plays behind the LOS forcing havoc against opposing teams.

 

But as positions go individually ..

 

At the end positions, someone is going to have to step up. Cam is playing through an injury, so I give him a bit of a break. But someone from Ankrah, Carter, Williams, Martin, or anyone else is going to have to step up and give us some sort of pass rush from that end. Today, at the very least, Joe Carter gave us as many tackles from that end position as Ankrah had given us in the first 3 games combined.

 

I thought up the middle we looked stronger in the run game than we had in the past. Randle and Moore showed flashes, but didn't play well the entire game. Still good to see we have some sort of depth we can rely at. Still wish Baker could get stronger so he could thrive in this scheme, because he still gets pushed around more than he should because of it.

 

Our LBs seemed non-existent to me. David was one of our leading tacklers, but I guess I just expect more from him after last year. I guess I miss that Lavonte that ran like a bat out of hell through would be blockers to make tackles behind the LOS. This year, he's just lacking. Fisher and Compton - LOL. I saw more from Roach in game 1 than I have from either of those two. IMO, I would go with Roach over Fisher.

 

I want to know who made the decision to put Cooper at CB. Whoever made that decision or wanted to 'experiment' with that idea needs pay docked this week because they didn't do their job for crap. The single #1 reason why Cooper has not seen the field to this point is his ability to cover. He has consistently had trouble turning and running because he plays WAYYY to high in his back peddle. But yet we take a safety who has trouble covering and decide we want to put him at CB? Are you freakin' kidding me?

 

I also want to know who had made the decision to not allow Josh Mitchell on the travel squad this week while allowing Lance Thorell to travel. I get it, Thorell is a good ST player and has an important role there. But after Mitchell having a solid game last week in his 1st action, the very next week we decide to not allow him to dress and gives his PT to Thorell, a player who has constantly blown chance after chance to carve his spot as a regular on our defense? This should have been a week to give Mitchell even more PT to get more acclimated in playing, but we passed up the chance for whatever reason.

 

And lastly, the safety play. PJ was PJ. Solid play and he should have his spot locked up for the near future. But we need some athleticism out of that opposite safety spot. Cassidy knows this defense better than anyone and helps guide the younger guys out on the field, but facts are facts when the kid struggles, especially when they line him up man over on another play. It's a bit of a double-edged sword since we have so many younger guys in our secondary that need that guidance, but it hurts because Cassidy has some physical limitations.

 

Honestly, people just need to step up on our defense. Too many questions and not enough answers on that side of the ball.

 

We better get it worked out before next week or we are going to have a repeat of Mizzou '08 on our hands. High hopes, and a huge game, but an extremely talented team takes us out behind the woodshed on national TV.

 

And trust me, that's not an overreaction. Paul Chryst, Montee Ball, James White, Russell Wilson and that massive line are going to test what our defense is REALLY made out of. If the the defense continues as it has, they are going to get gashed next week, and that's just a fact.

 

Great post, BigWillie.

 

Sadly, I agree that the odds of our defense stuffing Wisconsin is a mathematical and statistical zero. I think Bo is a truly awesome defensive mind but this year it's just not coming together. Why we play five to ten yds off their wrs on every 3rd down is just over my head. Going with only three Dlinemen was a disaster every time.

 

I really, really wish Bo would return to an attacking defense and scap the 2 gap stuff. Sure, we might give up more big plays but we'd massively cut down opponent's endless drives with six or more 1st downs. Just imagine what points our offense would score if they got the ball a LOT more.

 

Oh, I'm just ranting.....the bottom line is points allowed and the defense did fine with that but it's not fun watching Washington, Fresno St & Wyoming run over us. My ego just can't hack it.

 

Part of me thinks this is why we don't seem to have much fire on D. Would you be more fired up plugging the gaps or playing balls out and tearing the opposing QB's head off like we used to do? I didn't get to see anything but the last 8 minutes, but this is what has been frustrating to me. I have a hard time getting excited about our defense. It would be nice to see a little more blitzing. Maybe we get burned once in awhile, but getting a couple big hits on the QB is enough to get in their head and screw up their timing.

[HuskerCarter]

I learned that Dennard is the only CB willing to jam the receiver while the rest of them tend to play 10 yds off the their guy.

[chamrocck]

We are 4-0 despite some very inconsistent play.

Game ball to Rex.

We still like to put the ball on the turf.

Surprised to see C. Cooper playing CB.

Cassidy is on the field still way too much.

Thought T. Moore filled in nicely...would like to see Crick and T. Moore as the DT's.

Why do we use Marlowe and not Turner on the misdirection...does anyone really think we are ever going to hand it off to Marlowe?

I like K. Bell on the field. Same with K. Reed.

Choi made some nice blocks and Qvale pushed some people around late.

Maher made a FG that the refs missed.

Other than TMart, Rex, Crick, Cam, Lavonte, and Maher I feel like we are having open auditions at a lot of positions. It feels like we are desperate to have players step up.

Sadly though, I think Wisconsin is going to destroy us by 3+ TD's...our offense is already "miscue-ing" and will be off in an extremely noisy hostile environment...defense is not very good this year with the loss of several playmakers that made our D awesome last couple of years...Wilson is the best QB we have faced, Ball is the best RB we have faced, Wiscy O-Line is best we have faced...this all equals a not so enjoyable game next Saturday.

[miamihrrcns2001]

the Killer instinct comes from the top and when we get the ball on the three yard like with a minute left, and bo doesn't go for the kill shot, the players feel it.

 

i literally almost threw the tv out the window when we didn't go for the score. It seems all too often this season Bo has turned into a telletubby in the fourth quarter. The team won't learn how to finish if they're never allowed to. Chattanooga, Washington, Wyoming (Fresno not so much) but really, finish the game solidly please so you can do it when it counts.

[miamihrrcns2001]

oh and austin cassidy is worse than andrew green and dennard's side of the field was quiet tonight, yay.

[knapplc]

the Killer instinct comes from the top and when we get the ball on the three yard like with a minute left, and bo doesn't go for the kill shot, the players feel it.

 

Kill shot? We were up by 24 points with less than a minute to go. How much more dead could Wyoming's chances have been?

[miamihrrcns2001]

the Killer instinct comes from the top and when we get the ball on the three yard like with a minute left, and bo doesn't go for the kill shot, the players feel it.

 

Kill shot? We were up by 24 points with less than a minute to go. How much more dead could Wyoming's chances have been?

 

kill shot might have been extreme but for the fourth straight week we're seeing headlines and story leads about nebraska "battling" past another weak opponent. 45-14 looks a helluva lot better than 38-14, and its all about the mentality. tiger woods perfected it for a decade.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

1) I think you all are not giving Taylor enough credit and are being too critical on him. Where he excels in his being able to run the ball really well. He is not and probably never will be a great passer of the football. And he is most certainly not going to play a perfect game or even a near perfect game until his senior year. But what I've noticed is that he runs this offense really really well. I think he has command out on the field and that is something i didn't even come close to seeing at all last year. He made about one bad decision tonight, maybe two. The first one being not throwing the ball to Legate, the other being throwing the ball into double coverage in the first half. The other times he made great decisions, but just didn't execute. But he's not a passing QB, so those things will happen.

 

Martinez's stats this year:

 

vs. Chattanooga: 11/22, 116 yards, 0TD, 0INT; 19 att, 135 yards, 3TD

vs. Fresno State: 10/21, 219 yards, 1TD, 2INT: 15 att, 166 yards, 2TD

vs. Washington: 10/21, 155 yards, 2TD, 0INT; 17 att, 83 yards, 1TD

@ Wyoming: 12/21, 157 yards, 1TD, 0INT; 12 att, 37 yards, 1TD

 

Total: 43/85, 647 yards, 4TD, 2INT; 63 att, 321 yards, 7TD

 

Through non-conference last year:

 

vs. Western Kentucky: 9/15, 136 yards, 0TD, 0INT; 7 att, 127 yards, 3TD

vs. Idaho: 12/17, 106 yards, 0TD, 1INT; 14 att, 157 yards, 2TD

@ Washington: 7/11, 150 yards, 1TD, 0INT; 19 att, 137 yards, 3TD

vs. SDSU: 6/14, 140 yards, 1TD, 2INT; 13 att, 75 yards, 0TD

 

Total: 34/57, 532 yards, 2TD, 3INT; 53 att, 496 yards, 8TD

 

He's being asked to do more through the air and is showing that he can be a threat passing the ball, which is what I think Beck and Co want so that they can use him as a weapon on the ground. I think he's not getting enough credit for running this offense correctly.

 

2) Rex Burkhead is a straight up beast. He is a man and he deserves to get the ball more even though he got it something like 16 times tonight. Also, the freshman 3 (Abdullah, Green, and Heard) can all run the ball extremely well. I'm excited for our future with these guys.

 

3) The receivers are great. Bell, Enunwa, Kinnie, and Turner are a good group of receivers. Enough to make opposing defenses to actually care about our passing game. Excited for our future with these guys as well.

 

4) The O-Line can block that toss play really well. Blocking overall I though was well done. I can't recall if Taylor took a sack or not, but will watch the replay and see. It will be interesting to see how we match up against Wisconsin's front 4. My thoughts: I think it will be a lot closer than most people think.

 

5) What I don't understand is how we can't tackle the opposing team's QB. Countless times, we got straight through the offensive fronts, which is scary good to see, but then we don't get to the QB. I hope to see that changed, but for now I think mobile QBs will give us some problems.

 

6) LB play was average throughout. David performed like David knows how to. Hope to see some improvement.

 

7) I don't think our secondary is playing into the game plan quite yet. I thought, now please correct me if I'm wrong (defense isn't my specialty, I'm an offensive guy) but didn't our CBs use to jam the WRs for the first 5 yards? It seems like Bo and Carl don't have Ciante, Green or (place CB name here) jamming the wideouts at the moment. We're playing very lax and soft coverage and I think we see that change come next week. Jamming Abberderis and Toon (who will be covered by Dennard) will help us get the pressure on Wilson on passing plays.

 

8) Dennard makes a dramatic difference on the opposing team's game plan. And it makes a dramatic difference on the score. Glad to see him out there. Crick will also make a dramatic impact on the D Line upon his return.

 

And finally....

 

9) Maher should still be perfect on the season. He got robbed of that one.

[Blackshirt316]

Good stats Bye Bye.

 

It should also be noted that one of those inteceptions this year was a hail mary on the last play of the half when Bo decided not to kick a very long FG against Fresno State.

 

Even Peyton Manning generally throws a pick in that situation.

 

BTW. This game puts Martinez's completion percentage at 50.6% on the year.

[Husker Richard]

I learned that Dennard is the only CB willing to jam the receiver while the rest of them tend to play 10 yds off the their guy.

 

SERIOUSLY. Even in short-yardage situations, they're 8-10 yards off their guy. I specifically remember a 3rd and 3 play, Wyoming in the shotgun as usual, our CBs (minus Fonz) are giving a HUGE cushion. WR runs a quick out past the marker and its an easy first down catch. I get the whole 'bend but don't break' approach, but come on. It's really frustrating.

 

Enunwa is a monster. Another huge stiff arm. Hard to tackle when he's got the ball. Great down field blocking. He is so ridiculously physical.

 

Legate is also a great blocker. He had some huge blocks last night.

 

Choi is a mauler. He had another play near the goal line where he drove his guy 5-7 yards down the field and out of the play. He has been a huge bright spot on the O-line.

 

Thorrell, Blatchford, Cassidy: get off the field. You are physically and athletically outmatched. I don't care how smart you are or how well you know the defense, if you aren't fast enough to get in the position you need to be in, then what good does that knowledge do you? They have no business playing against D1 competition. Especially considering that they're matched up against WRs, some of the speediest and most athletic players on opposing teams.

 

For some reason this whole game seemed like a secondary experiment on defense. Cooper at CB, Stafford at nickel, Thorrell getting playing time, etc. Josh Mitchell's absence last night was inexcusable. He's better than Thorrell, Blatchford, and Green so get him more playing time because he'll only get better with experience.

[NoLongerN]

I learned that Dennard is the only CB willing to jam the receiver while the rest of them tend to play 10 yds off the their guy.

 

SERIOUSLY. Even in short-yardage situations, they're 8-10 yards off their guy. I specifically remember a 3rd and 3 play, Wyoming in the shotgun as usual, our CBs (minus Fonz) are giving a HUGE cushion. WR runs a quick out past the marker and its an easy first down catch. I get the whole 'bend but don't break' approach, but come on. It's really frustrating.

 

Enunwa is a monster. Another huge stiff arm. Hard to tackle when he's got the ball. Great down field blocking. He is so ridiculously physical.

 

Legate is also a great blocker. He had some huge blocks last night.

 

Choi is a mauler. He had another play near the goal line where he drove his guy 5-7 yards down the field and out of the play. He has been a huge bright spot on the O-line.

 

Thorrell, Blatchford, Cassidy: get off the field. You are physically and athletically outmatched. I don't care how smart you are or how well you know the defense, if you aren't fast enough to get in the position you need to be in, then what good does that knowledge do you? They have no business playing against D1 competition. Especially considering that they're matched up against WRs, some of the speediest and most athletic players on opposing teams.

 

For some reason this whole game seemed like a secondary experiment on defense. Cooper at CB, Stafford at nickel, Thorrell getting playing time, etc. Josh Mitchell's absence last night was inexcusable. He's better than Thorrell, Blatchford, and Green so get him more playing time because he'll only get better with experience.

 

Husker Richard ... very salty. I liked what you said and how you said it.

[da skers]

Few things (or many things now that I read back over it) ..

 

Taylor makes me want to punch a kitten at times. At this point, I get it. He is never going to be a good passer. But at the very least, when receivers are running WIDE OPEN, I expect him to get them the ball (Legate). At the very least, I expect him to put his passes in a catchable spot for the receiver and not all over the place (Cooper, Bell, Turner, etc.,).

 

One thing I mentioned last year that Taylor needed to do is get out of the way of unnecessary contact. So far this year, he has done it with his sliding and how he is absorbing contact. I do see him running a bit more timid, but at the very least he is protecting himself for later in the season.

 

Burkhead is a beast, no other way to put it.

 

Enunwa and his stiff arm is just filthy. That kid is a monster and I wish we could find a way to get him the ball more.

 

Same with Kyler. He is an absolute matchup nightmare for any LB to even attempt to cover. We are doing ourselves a disservice by not getting him the ball more and exploiting the huge advantage he gives us.

 

Andrew Rodriguez is horrid. I laughed on the goal line in the 1st half watching this kid try to block. Honestly, his play doesn't even warrant him in any substitution patterns either to give our guards a rest.

 

Choi played very well again. Props to him, and especially to him for being one of the few backups who stepped up when called upon to help shore up a position.

 

And the defense ..

 

The entire defense as a whole needs to find a fire. I don't care about the score, I don't care about the stats, and I especially don't care about this game 'not being as close as the score shows.' I want to see a team tackling well and not allowing multiple players from multiple teams break tackles so easily. I want to see a team flying to the ball rather than going at it like it's a walkthrough. I want to see a team that is making plays behind the LOS forcing havoc against opposing teams.

 

But as positions go individually ..

 

At the end positions, someone is going to have to step up. Cam is playing through an injury, so I give him a bit of a break. But someone from Ankrah, Carter, Williams, Martin, or anyone else is going to have to step up and give us some sort of pass rush from that end. Today, at the very least, Joe Carter gave us as many tackles from that end position as Ankrah had given us in the first 3 games combined.

 

I thought up the middle we looked stronger in the run game than we had in the past. Randle and Moore showed flashes, but didn't play well the entire game. Still good to see we have some sort of depth we can rely at. Still wish Baker could get stronger so he could thrive in this scheme, because he still gets pushed around more than he should because of it.

 

Our LBs seemed non-existent to me. David was one of our leading tacklers, but I guess I just expect more from him after last year. I guess I miss that Lavonte that ran like a bat out of hell through would be blockers to make tackles behind the LOS. This year, he's just lacking. Fisher and Compton - LOL. I saw more from Roach in game 1 than I have from either of those two. IMO, I would go with Roach over Fisher.

 

I want to know who made the decision to put Cooper at CB. Whoever made that decision or wanted to 'experiment' with that idea needs pay docked this week because they didn't do their job for crap. The single #1 reason why Cooper has not seen the field to this point is his ability to cover. He has consistently had trouble turning and running because he plays WAYYY to high in his back peddle. But yet we take a safety who has trouble covering and decide we want to put him at CB? Are you freakin' kidding me?

 

I also want to know who had made the decision to not allow Josh Mitchell on the travel squad this week while allowing Lance Thorell to travel. I get it, Thorell is a good ST player and has an important role there. But after Mitchell having a solid game last week in his 1st action, the very next week we decide to not allow him to dress and gives his PT to Thorell, a player who has constantly blown chance after chance to carve his spot as a regular on our defense? This should have been a week to give Mitchell even more PT to get more acclimated in playing, but we passed up the chance for whatever reason.

 

And lastly, the safety play. PJ was PJ. Solid play and he should have his spot locked up for the near future. But we need some athleticism out of that opposite safety spot. Cassidy knows this defense better than anyone and helps guide the younger guys out on the field, but facts are facts when the kid struggles, especially when they line him up man over on another play. It's a bit of a double-edged sword since we have so many younger guys in our secondary that need that guidance, but it hurts because Cassidy has some physical limitations.

 

Honestly, people just need to step up on our defense. Too many questions and not enough answers on that side of the ball.

 

We better get it worked out before next week or we are going to have a repeat of Mizzou '08 on our hands. High hopes, and a huge game, but an extremely talented team takes us out behind the woodshed on national TV.

 

And trust me, that's not an overreaction. Paul Chryst, Montee Ball, James White, Russell Wilson and that massive line are going to test what our defense is REALLY made out of. If the the defense continues as it has, they are going to get gashed next week, and that's just a fact.

Mitchell not traveling this week was all on him. Disciplinary reasons.