At the last minute my neighbor called and offered 4 tickets to the game. We took the girls to their second Nebraska game.
Here's my take. It's a summary I may add to as I think of more things.
The D came out solid in the first half and it looked like a winnable game. The O and special teams hung them out.
The D gave up 190 yards in the first half but A&M only had one drive of substance. The fumbled punt was a killer before half. It was a very even game.
Watson called the first quarter and was pulled from playcalling duties soon after. With him we ran reverses, misdirection and Castille at the goal line. Duh. You could tell when he was calling the plays because the would tell Ganz who would signal it in to Keller. Keller runs to the side when Callahan calls the plays. Callahan and Cosgrove spent most of their time working the defense together while Watson was calling the plays.
The second half, the first drive by A&M was easy. One 3rd and nine to stop them and McGee ran for 19. He ran 95 percent of the time, yet the linebackers took Lane on every play and would not force McGee to pitch. The 4-3-4 was ridiculous in the 3rd quarter. 5-3-3 with Octavian run blitzing the QB and safety support for run/TE would have made more sense after the first A&M scoring drive stuffed down our throats. I don't think McGee threw a pass on either 80 yard drive so 4 backs 5-15 yards from the line in coverage was beyond dumb. A&M had 3-4 plays all day. McGee keep 75-80%, Lane 5%, receiver in the flat 5%, incomplete pass 10-15%.
The Nebraska offensive play calling after Watson stopped was offensive to say the least. Anything remotely misdirection or creative disappeared. There are athletes on the team since we got almost the exact same yardage as A&M with the crap plays they called, but we blew chances to get into scoring position. Castille should have run the ball 30 times in the game. Starting when we were down by 9 in the second half. He made holes when they weren't there and punished people. He should have been the lead blocker for Helu on the pitch plays. Keller is under too much pressure and checks down to0 quickly. 3rd and 8 and they throw 3 yard patterns to the side line or to Lucky. Send someone down the middle on a post pattern on first down once and a while. Our deepest throws are always to the TE in coverage. A&M played close to the line of scrimmage and we should have put in 4 wides and beat them down field when we had the wind. Play action to Castille roll Keller right and a hitch and go pattern to Mr slant Purify with Nunn running a 10-15 yard crossing pattern from the left as the check down.
Overall, I'd give the Defense a C and the Offense a C. We made A&M punt several times when we needed to and the Offense moved the ball but choked when they need a basic play. The D still gave up 455 and 36 points, but the Offense didn't help them in the second half even with almost 475 yards total themselves. A couple of long drives and scores would have kept the game in reach until the D could step up again. If the O would have worked the D would have given up 24-30 and 350 yards. Winnable.
I thought Callahan's offense moved the ball and scored in the red zone much better in the past. This year it keeps getting worse. 5 - 4 downs from the 10 or less when going in to score in the last 2 weeks and only one score.
The talent is there on offense so next coaches will be able to move the ball. The Defense will take some time on the D-line (they need some bulk), but I think the backers and secondary can turn around quickly.
McKewon had a couple of good plays and a couple of hits. But he needs to sit. His arm talking, whiffing plays, and pushing instead of hitting was noticeable from the upper balcony.
My wife made me calm down. The kids loved it; but the 6 year old did ask why Nebraska stunk. Once the 6 and 9 year olds start questioning the playcalling you're done as a coach. My 9 year old asked why they didn't just tackle the QB for the other team since he always had the ball. My 6 year old wondered why they kept running that guy into the back of the other guys (Lucky up the middle).
I'll be interested in seeing who gets hired next.
