**** What did we learn - Sparty edition ****

[tschu]

Do we have anything to get Abdullah the ball in space when games are going like this?

 

We tried; Tommy missed 5 times

[zoogs]

We tried and did that a good amount.

 

Couldn't get the ground game going, but Ameer was doing work all night in pass pro, out on pass patterns both in the flats and I believe downfield once or twice. Not a lot of connections.

 

never mind that thing about being outmatched for three and a half quarters"

 

And I don't know how many more injuries to people like Bell or Ar,strong to show that we are behind in S&C so badly it's depressing.

Games are 4 full quarters, kimosabe.

 

Not sure I can argue on S&C. Injuries happen.

[BigRedPowerWagon]

Polo you seem kinda like the kinda who needs a nebraska win to feel good about himself.

[dutch91701]

Going for two is NEVER the right decision and WILL come back to bite you.

[JTrain]

Beck's passing chart:

[Hammerhead]

We folded like a cheap lawn chair???

 

Either you didn't watch the whole game, or you picked up that analogy somewhere and have been waiting all season to finally use it. Anyhow, no one came close to folding or giving up.

No, I didn't watch the whole game. So sue me, I wanted quality time with my girlfriend and decided that was more important than watching the rest of a game that Nebraska showed no signs of being capable of winning up until that point. I know what the final score is, and that tells the only part of the story anyone will remember.

 

How do you explain the first 3 quarters of the game? They looked like the exact same team we've seen against almost every top-10 team Nebraska has faced for more than a decade. If I'd been saving that phrase, it's because it was bound to happen again.

[True2tRA]

 

Do we have anything to get Abdullah the ball in space when games are going like this?

 

We tried; Tommy missed 5 times

 

You're right....( i mean that too, I just kind of forgot about some of them. we tried, and Tommy missed.)

[NUpolo8]

Polo you seem kinda like the kinda who needs a nebraska win to feel good about himself.

 

Nope, but it'd be nice if the guy who's made 8 figures off the University actually got his team ready toplay for four quarters against a team with a pulse seven years in.

[Husker_x]

I feel like we're climbing. Almost fell there for three and 1/2ish quarters, but hung on. People asked to avoid blowouts in big games. Now the narrative is we almost blew past Sparty in their house after playing god awful horribly.

 

Keep working on the run game. Resist all urges to abandon it. Commit to mastering it, however long it takes. I'm fascinated to know what moves are on the table concerning the O-line. How panicked is Bo by this outing?

 

We're hurt. Everywhere.

 

We'll enjoy a talent-injection next season. This loss is not a recruiting disaster.

 

Pierson-El: lightning.

[HuskerCarter]

Hopefully some learned that passing the ball isn't "Beck getting cute" or "Beck out thinking himself"

 

It's a friggen part of modern day football.

 

Beck didn't call a bad game. We didn't execute the passing game early in the game when we needed it to loosen up thd run defense. The plays were there. Make the pass and catch and we extend drives and possibly score.

 

But, the idiotic thought that when the running game isn't working all we have to do is stick with it and wear them down is just plain going against common sense.

 

I give Beck a grade of B minus on playcalling. Probably a C minus for preparation. Tommy said it best "We were scrambling. We just didn’t know what we were doing."

 

We said it all week, it would be important for Nebraska to establish the run game. They didn't. Should've known they were gonna stack the box. Should've known they would do anything to stop the run. But Nebraska stuck with its offense identity, run the ball to setup the play action pass. Its clearly what Beck was trying to call in the first half, when it wasn't working, he tried calling some short passes to spread the box and gain yards. Which I admit worked. Tommy was completing the short passes of 5 - 10 yds a catch to the outside. It was getting us first downs and moving the ball. But he got away from it and went back to the run, which the Spartans didn't abandon just yet.

 

When the 2nd half started, he tried picking up where he left off during the first quarter, run the ball first and try and setup the pass. Then it became apparent he was passing to try and setup the run. And with Tommy's arm, it was a smart move, since the run game wasn't working.

 

I think what happened in the first half was when the offense realized they couldn't run the ball, they didn't know what to do.

[chamrocck]

Not surprised Sparty won as I predicted they would. At this time, they are better than us.

When it was obvious our running game was not working, we needed to mix in some vertical passing. Worked in the end but was too late. Losing Kenny Bell hurt as we needed him in the passing game.

Sparty's D killed our OL and allowed Tommy no time and no holes for Ameer. It was very ugly. We need to recruit OL, especially tackles as all the pressure came from the edge giving Tommy no protection.

We didn't have our A game which you must to beat Sparty's defense. Tommy's INT's, Ameer's fumble was huge, Westy dropped big gain play, OL getting murdered.

We get turnovers in Sparty territory but then get no points is inexcuseable...we get points off those and we win the game. I give Sparty's defense credit as they played aggressive and downhill.

I liked our defense for the most part. Kept us in it but they still got too much yardage after initial contact. Tackling without your arms has got to go and our corner play is still shaky.

Really liked how we kept fighting and never gave up.

It is just one loss and we still can reach the BIG championship.

[tschu]

Basically Polo is right, this game was not surprising if you aren't blinded by the red goggles, it was not nearly as close as the score indicated, we were embarrassed for 3.5 quarters in a big game yet again. If you aren't nervous about traveling to Wisconsin you're deluded. "All our goals are still ahead of us yadayadayada" ...look, we're shaping up to have the same season we've had the past 6 years. Wake me up when it ends.

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

***Don't even mention putting Stanton in over Fyfe

***Tommie is a great leader but needs to grow at his position

***Anything with Cotton or Pelini on a jersey needs to ride the pine

***Ameer may not win the Heisman thanks to his O-Line but he will bring home some hardware at the end of the season

***The Blackshirts will carry us, they played great in a bad situation tonight

 

***We still have a shot at Indy #Rematch

[Hayseed]

I learned that Michigan State is not as good as I thought they were. It looked like they could've beat us by 50, but here we were about 9 inches from catching a pass in the endzone and winning the game.

It's hard to believe the coaches can watch Trevor Roach play all these games and have him behind someone on the depth chart, sure makes me wonder.

Tommy's still just a rookie and he let his nerves get to him and basically fell apart, rushing throws, locking on receivers, ....I think he'll watch this game and make a big jump when he sees the way he played.

Our rookie secondary players aren't comfortable and because of that they're always looking the other way so they don't let the receiver get away. Many times they didn't turn around for an easy interception. A couple times the receiver reached over our guy to get the pass.

Westercamp is our best receiver, has Spiderman hands, if he had more speed he'd be scary.

I learned that we may not be getting the most out of Pierson-El and now teams will avoid him like the plague. I realize he's a freshman but why would you not put the ball in his hands?

I learned that Beck reads the message boards during the game to determine which plays to call, but apparently they haven't practiced any of them much because they always seem to have the right play executed terribly.

We do actually have a fullback and he caught a pass....this is not one of those Sasquatch things, I saw him with my own eyes.

[BigRedPowerWagon]

 

Polo you seem kinda like the kinda who needs a nebraska win to feel good about himself.

Nope, but it'd be nice if the guy who's made 8 figures off the University actually got his team ready toplay for four quarters against a team with a pulse seven years in.

 

Lots of teams crap the bed, not saying its perfect but its not all gloom and doom like some of you guys throw out there every dam time we lose.