**** What Did We Learn ****

[sd'sker]

for the defense: we have improved, but there is still a lot of improvement to be had.

for the offense: we have a salty run game. we left a lot of points on the field. the offense can be as good as everyone said it will be, i just do not think we have seen it yet. taII and rkIII are very competent back ups and the future is bright with ta.

[TheSker]

Ankrah should have been a tight end. Suprisingly, he got the quarterback on the ground once today. But apparently he's better at catching the ball than tackling. MLB still a concern. Moss looks good and McMullen is coming along nicely. Our offense looks much more fluid with Armstrong running it.

[Thanks_Tom RR]

I learned that when Husker fans say its not losing that bothers me, its the way we lose, its a big crock of sh#t.  Unless this team plays an absolutely perfect game, no turnovers, no penalties, less than 200 yards of total offense given up and offense scoring at least 50 points, a lot of people will never be happy. And when we do play well, its because the other team sucks...

Good game defense.  You're going to give up points, its football.  But when we needed big stops you provided them.

+1. This. As fans, we should love today's win, a win from start to finish. The team will hopefully keep growing, but they got it done in all aspects today.

[JJ Husker]

1- overall pleased. Didn't go through a period of pooping the bed so most complete game in awhile.

2- defense made some critical stops, got/caused some turnovers, and showed signs of being more aggressive. However, the mental mistakes, poor tackling, and performance against the rush of a mediocre team are disturbing.

3- we've got a stable full of impressive ballers on offense. Kenny, Ameer, and Q had an awesome day and our O line play was impressive.

4- Beck is headacratchingly jekyl & hyde. Brilliant at times and the stupidest bs at others.

5- Paps looks like a nice guy but he needs to go. Bo needs to take the reins of this D and own his system. No more hiding behind the Paps scapegoat. Make it work or change it but no more execution excuses.

[huskerfan99]

Paps is still trying too master the basics..like substitutions?

Hurts but its the truth!

[Haspula]

As much as i hate to say this, we need someone to step up at MLB. David Santos is not the answer

[sd'sker]

As much as i hate to say this, we need someone to step up at MLB. David Santos is not the answer

i'll do it.

[HUSKER FREAK]

Santos can't cover the flats....well I guess Bando can't either

[HUSKER FREAK]

Also Michael Rose seemed to be the only LB that was able to stand his ground.

[Chaddyboxer]

At least Bando is faster IMO

[Hayseed]

I learned that Michael Rose is a pretty darned good player, Abdullah is as good as I thought he could be (and with no catches out of the backfield it's like he did it with one hand tied behind his back), Armstrong is the QB I want in the game the majority of the time, the O-line is still the best Husker line I've seen in at least 12 years, and the backup defensive players they tried to play near the end of the game are about as clueless as they come.

[NUance]

Not one snap count penalty on our O-linemen today, right? Seems like we must be learning something in that dept.

[knapplc]

I learned from reading this thread that we have a lot of fans who are utterly determined to look at the defense as a glass-half-empty unit. This was an OBVIOUS step forward for the defense, and while it was not yet a complete game, they held a pretty potent Illinois offense to half their typical production.

 

But rather than look at that, people feel it's more important (cooler? more "realistic?") to point out the flaws. Our championship defenses had flaws. The 2009 defense had flaws.

 

Celebrate the successes when you have them, even the minor ones. This is a fickle game and success can be quite fleeting.

[Ulty]

I learned from reading this thread that we have a lot of fans who are utterly determined to look at the defense as a glass-half-empty unit. This was an OBVIOUS step forward for the defense, and while it was not yet a complete game, they held a pretty potent Illinois offense to half their typical production.

 

But rather than look at that, people feel it's more important (cooler? more "realistic?") to point out the flaws. Our championship defenses had flaws. The 2009 defense had flaws.

 

Celebrate the successes when you have them, even the minor ones. This is a fickle game and success can be quite fleeting.

 

Yep. After everything else we've seen this season, I don't know how anyone can look at today's defensive performance and not be at least somewhat more encouraged than we have been since the end of August.

[QMany]

Starters in on the last Illinois drive?