What did we learn: Ohio State

[Husker03]

3 minutes ago, Nebfanatic said:

I don't mean play design, I mean asking a player who has struggled at executing in games to execute a difficult and unusual play. Basically its not all Lightbornes fault he messed up an easy to mess up play. 

Yes and no. He didn’t just mess it up.  Messing it up is it going out of bounds or not making it 10 yards. He’s a scholarship kicker that didn’t even get the ball heading downfield. That’s pretty much on him. Nobody is even talking about him at all if it was just a failed onside kick. It’s the manner in which it failed that makes him culpable. 

[suh_fan93]

 

[Jeepy]

I learned something I wouldln't accept much before yesterday's game:  We are improving, really, and Frost's regime is excellent.  I do take a bit of shine off that with the DC, but I did learn that the improving talk is for real, big time.  Top ten team down to the wire with a 2-6 team.. right down to the last minute. 

 

This time I really saw it.. previous games I was of the mind that "well, yeah.. okay.. right.. but not near enough."  Now it's more like, look out Big 10;  next year.. and the years to come. 

[Cdog923]

11 hours ago, krc1995 said:

I guess I see it different.  I do expect them to win every game they play, and when they don't, I try to figure out why they didn't. I wouldn't be a Husker fan anymore if I turned on the tv and said to myself "Self, I just hope we don't get embarrassed today"  or "Self, I hope everyone does the best they can"  I don't care about the spread or the opponent at all. I am not blind.  Today's team is not the same team that played Colorado or even Michigan, they're much better, but they are still not good enough- yet. I don't blame Frost at all-and in fact his discipline in coaching is starting to show- but just like the Nebraska team that played Colorado is not the same one that played Ohio State today, Coach Frost is not the same coach- he's evolved too. But I do find that I don't trust his decisions in the last few minutes of a game because he hasn't had much success in those situations- and in fact- he's had no success- yet.  He's a warrior, he'll figure it out and until he does. I'm going to be skeptical of the last few minutes of close games.  

 

Frost coached circles around Urban today. 

[grandpasknee]

I am not a technical observer, but it seems the offense has been expanded quite a bit since the first game.  I feel like that is a sign of very good coaching.... bringing your team along as they are able rather than throwing everything out there in desperation.

[Nebfanatic]

53 minutes ago, Husker03 said:

Yes and no. He didn’t just mess it up.  Messing it up is it going out of bounds or not making it 10 yards. He’s a scholarship kicker that didn’t even get the ball heading downfield. That’s pretty much on him. Nobody is even talking about him at all if it was just a failed onside kick. It’s the manner in which it failed that makes him culpable. 

I disagree. Its a surprise onside and he has to pretend to actually kick it first. Its not a super easy play to pull off and honestly I would imagine the outcome that ended up happening is one of the more probable things to go wrong.

[Husker03]

5 minutes ago, Nebfanatic said:

I disagree. Its a surprise onside and he has to pretend to actually kick it first. Its not a super easy play to pull off and honestly I would imagine the outcome that ended up happening is one of the more probable things to go wrong.

Obviously I’ve never had to try to kick one, so can’t directly speak to how easy it hard it is to pull off. That said.  I’ve seen hundreds of attempts over the years and have NEVER seen one go the way yesterday’s went. I honestly do not think getting the kick executed in a forward manner is that difficult. Now, the perfect angle and bounce? Ya, that’s a different story. 

[ColoradoHusk]

11 hours ago, krc1995 said:

I guess I see it different.  I do expect them to win every game they play, and when they don't, I try to figure out why they didn't. I wouldn't be a Husker fan anymore if I turned on the tv and said to myself "Self, I just hope we don't get embarrassed today"  or "Self, I hope everyone does the best they can"  I don't care about the spread or the opponent at all. I am not blind.  Today's team is not the same team that played Colorado or even Michigan, they're much better, but they are still not good enough- yet. I don't blame Frost at all-and in fact his discipline in coaching is starting to show- but just like the Nebraska team that played Colorado is not the same one that played Ohio State today, Coach Frost is not the same coach- he's evolved too. But I do find that I don't trust his decisions in the last few minutes of a game because he hasn't had much success in those situations- and in fact- he's had no success- yet.  He's a warrior, he'll figure it out and until he does. I'm going to be skeptical of the last few minutes of close games.  

Expecting NU to win every game and then picking apart every loss sounds like a miserable experience. I may have done that in the past, during the 80s and 90s, but I was also a dumb kid back then.

[4skers89]

7 minutes ago, ColoradoHusk said:

Expecting NU to win every game and then picking apart every loss sounds like a miserable experience. I may have done that in the past, during the 80s and 90s, but I was also a dumb kid back then.

You didn’t have many losses to pick apart and be miserable about- the way a childhood should be.

[Nebfanatic]

20 minutes ago, Husker03 said:

Obviously I’ve never had to try to kick one, so can’t directly speak to how easy it hard it is to pull off. That said.  I’ve seen hundreds of attempts over the years and have NEVER seen one go the way yesterday’s went. I honestly do not think getting the kick executed in a forward manner is that difficult. Now, the perfect angle and bounce? Ya, that’s a different story. 

You've seen hundreds of surprise onside attempts? Thats weird I've only seen 3 and the ither 2 were performed by super bowl and NCAA champions in the title game. If he lined up for a normal onside kick I would agree with you, but the way he had to approach it to get the return team to bite makes that a hard kick to get your foot on the right way. Just my opinion. 

[HuskerNBigD]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the botched onside kick didn't even hurt us, didn't Ohio State go for it on 4th down and come up short?

[olddominionhusker]

Just now, HuskerNBigD said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the botched onside kick didn't even hurt us, didn't Ohio State go for it on 4th down and come up short?

It didn’t directly hurt us no. It did flip the field against us and we had the punt blocked for a safety the next series tho. I know that’s a lot of what ifs but field position does have some value

[HuskerNBigD]

Just now, olddominionhusker said:

It didn’t directly hurt us no. It did flip the field against us and we had the punt blocked for a safety the next series tho. I know that’s a lot of what ifs but field position does have some value

Oh yeah, couldn't remember exactly when the blocked punt occurred. I just remember thinking right after the 4th down we got away with something there.

[TherealTomOsborne]

19 hours ago, Pasadena Husker said:

2-7

Wish I could downvote you not once, but twice.

[Undone]

This probably would have been the biggest upset in Husker football history. When you weight the grade in that context, this was our defense's best game of the season so far. There is no more "quit" for our defense and the coaches on that side of the ball have obviously been motivating a lot of competition for starting roles, and that pays off big time. 

 

For me, there are a lot of "what ifs" with respect to Spielman not extending out to catch that huge first down pass later in the game. If he catches that ball, he might actually get 10+ yards after the catch...and maybe he actually takes it in for six points. I also think you could argue that Ozigbo got held attempting to make a reception on our last drive. That one getting called and allowing us to put up seven points still has us down by two...but that kind of just shows how close we were to winning this game.

We had a lot fewer penalties. I'm a believer at this point in Greg Austin; this guy is coaching this offensive line and that unit has seen steady improvement. I challenge anyone to disagree with that assessment.