Fowler's take

[TheSker]

This game the O seemed to use basic run plays (many times over and over the same play) and didn't throw a pass more than 15 yards down field. Why?

Pelini and Beck both said they probably should have went downfield more......but Beck also answered this question with two last names.....Cross and Newby. I don't think many Husker fans will complain about an effective run game.

 

[Chaddyboxer]

The offense was not aggressive at all........

If anyone can't see that....well, I don't know what to tell you. NEB didn't show much on offense and didn't utilize their weapons to the best of the their ability in game 1. Do I know why? No.......but I am not worried about the offense. The defense....I am giving it the wait and see approach....the front 4 got a push all game, rewatch how many times Smith was forced out of the pocket...and he was forced fairly quickly too. I still have plenty of optimism for this season. No sky is falling for me....

 

[RedDenver]

This game the O seemed to use basic run plays (many times over and over the same play) and didn't throw a pass more than 15 yards down field. Why?

Pelini and Beck both said they probably should have went downfield more......but Beck also answered this question with two last names.....Cross and Newby. I don't think many Husker fans will complain about an effective run game.

Pelini and Beck basically confirmed that the O was too conservative. My question is: why are the coaches so conservative against these "cupcake" schools? Seems like we have this discussion after the first few games every year.

 

[MichiganDad3]

I'll add in mine:

1 - I actually feel (a little) better after watching the game a second time. Most of the big defensive lapses were when we were so terribly mis-aligned that they couldn't help but run for a lot of yards. That is (hopefully) very fixable. Also, it still took way too long but we did adjust to how we were covering the motion out of the backfield that fixed it for the most part. That's why we had them slowed down - at least not scoring - from early in the second to late in the third. Probably my biggest gripe about Bo was that we wouldn't change our scheme if it wasn't working. Not that it fixed everything but we did make adjustments that helped. The other play they hurt us on was the dig route which they ran and completed often. However, we were covering the route fairly well as they didn't get basically any YAC - a vast improvement (albeit, possibly a drop is skill level) from Northwestern a couple years ago. Again, hopefully an alignment change will help prevent them from getting over the middle quite so easily.

2 - Jake Cotton really struggled. Moudy didn't get a lot of snaps but I didn't see him missing so much but wasn't dominant either. Many of the running plays that didn't work well were because Cotton missed blocks.

3 - Jake Long wasn't much better. We really miss Ben Cotton's blocking. Carter and Foster also struggled blocking but that's probably more expected from them. I'll cut Long some slack for now as he really only practiced this week but much of what we like to do is based on good edge blocking and we didn't get that.

4 - Mo Seisay isn't going to get there. Slowed by injuries last year but was looking for a breakout this year. Gerry was MUCH better. He still made some mistakes but also made several plays. I'd rather have some mistakes out of a Freshman than a Senior. Gerry should be on the field as much as possible - and he basically was, playing well over half the defensive snaps and on basically every special team.

5 - SJB was awesome. Coaches weren't lying on this one when they said he had been playing great.

6 - I have no problem admitting I was wrong about Cross. Really nice feet and just enough speed to really contribute. And still has power. Very nice.

7 - Valentine looked really good. Didn't make a lot of plays but was a force in the middle. Got a good push, even facing a lot of double-teams. Didn't notice during the game but watching it again he also made a great play sniffing out a bubble screen and making the receiver adjust enough for everyone else to close in and make the play. That was great.

8 - Disappointed in Santos. IIRC, the coaches said he was playing better because he was reacting and not thinking. Spent way too much time thinking. He was trying to play both runners on the zone read and then couldn't recover in time. They rarely blocked him, he just didn't get there. If he would have simply attacked hard at the running going to his side, he would have stuffed several more runs for no gain or a loss. Has to attack and let others do their jobs the other way. Perhaps that's why he's a more natural OLB where he has a little more time to diagnose they play.

9 - Would someone please kick off to Terrell Newby!

The NU defense has been running aroung trying to aligned prior to the snap for 3 years now.

Outside of Ben C., the tight ends have been terrible at blocking. Reed repeatedly missed blocks last year.

 

[MichiganDad3]

They certainly didn't expect the ugliness level we saw but it's evident they were prepared to compromise on effectiveness and accept some ugliness as not to show anything. With the practice-visitor ban I wonder how much they could be working on that they don't want anyone to see.

This is what baffles me. Opposing OCs have enough film now that they know how to destroy the NU defense (3 consecutive 600 yard games), and yet Bo is afraid to put anything new on film. Was he afraid to show something against Wisconsin? Was he saving something for the Rose Bowl?

 

[TheSker]

The NU defense has been running aroung trying to aligned prior to the snap for 3 years now.

This is in part due to the pre-snap motions OCs are utilizing now.

 

[TheSker]

(3 consecutive 300 yard games), and yet Bo is afraid to put anything new on film. Was he afraid to show something against Wisconsin? Was he saving something for the Rose Bowl?

I thought it was 600? A lot of the play calling was due to the effectiveness of Cross and Newby. If Martinez doesn't commit turnovers, we're not even having this discussion.

 

[MichiganDad3]

Speaking of "throwing the playbook open"....

have we ever faked a punt, FG, double pass, reverse pass, unexpected onside, etc in Bo's tenure? I ask thinking we probably have, but i really cannot recall too much if any, of those plays.

I personally think we surely HAVE to be practicing them, right? So, do we save them for a huge game in a huge moment to totally take someone by surprise? Or do we do 1-3 of them per game in OOC (and like Fowler said, "to make them practice for everything)?

I'm not some jackwagon thinking we need to run these with regularity, hell...i'd like us to run the ball for 6ypc every game only pass on distinct playaction scenarios and stick to Husker power football. But it seems like Snyder, Miles, Stoops, Osborne, etc always has a few tricks up their sleeve that just leave fans thinking, "man this guy is ballsy and will do anything to keep teams off balance." It is true that if we even did that once or twice a SEASON it makes the opposition a little tepid and more responsible.

I liked the write up a lot and after watching the game again, i'm really high on this team. Like has been stated in this thread: i'm not worried about the O really at all, save for simply a more aggressive approach on the Line. I really thought Bando, Gerry, VV, Gregory, Collins, and SJB, and Evans looked better than what we've had out there for a while; just licking my chops til they gel and feel comfortable on game days.

Maybe this is what has Bo so scared. Remember the fake FG where the holder throws the ball over his shoulder to the kicker? This went for a TD the 1st time Bo tried it. The 2nd time it also went for a TD - for the opposition.

 

[MichiganDad3]

As long as you aren't blaming Tmart for either of those as one was the wr breaking the wrong way and the other play shouldn't have been called and should have been blown dead.

They go on TMart in the stat book. I agree with what EZ-E posted.....Cross should have carried that ball on the 4th and 1. Here's what I will say about TMart.....if I had my preference, I'd rather someone else had the ball. At this point I don't care who's "fault" it is, but TMart has a knack for the ball leaving his hands and ending up in the hands of the opponent more times than we need it to.

TM also runs straight up. On 4th and 1 you need someone who can drop his head and get under the mass of people.

 

[MichiganDad3]

We almost lost this game trying to be too secretive. It's going to cost Bo his job if he does this much more. It's just plain stupid.

If we almost lost this game from anything it was turnovers that cost us points and gave possession back to Wyoming. Pelini is not in danger of losing his job, nor should we want that to happen. We came close to running off Osborne and running off Solich cost us a bowl streak.....and a whole lot more.

It costed us/ended a dynasty. But I'll save that argument for another time.

I'm with you on this one.

 

[junior4949]

We almost lost this game trying to be too secretive. It's going to cost Bo his job if he does this much more. It's just plain stupid.

If we almost lost this game from anything it was turnovers that cost us points and gave possession back to Wyoming. Pelini is not in danger of losing his job, nor should we want that to happen. We came close to running off Osborne and running off Solich cost us a bowl streak.....and a whole lot more.

Basically, we saw a continuation of the 2012 season. 2012 was plagued with terrible defense and lots of turnovers. The most concerning thing to me was how flat we came out and played. It was the home opener for crying out loud!

 

[TheSker]

Basically, we saw a continuation of the 2012 season. 2012 was plagued with terrible defense and lots of turnovers.

Well, except in 2013 we won the game where we gave up 600 yards. And we needed more speed and better athletes on the field on the defensive side of the ball. Pelini and staff have done a good job of taking care of that in one offseason. I'm with you on the turnovers. Those have to stop.

 

[Blackshirts007]

Most of you forget Wyoming has been making a game plan for us since the beginning of fall camp, hell probably spring. Christensen is also very familiar with us from being at Missouri. They also opened up there entire playbook. They ran so many different plays it was crazy. They took advantage of a young defense that most have never played a snap here in their life. The numbers were inflated too, if the offense didn't do such dumb mistakes the D wouldn't have been out there half the time. I'm not worried, and Bo is definitely not worried, so why should we? Y'all will be drinking the kool aid next week when these players wake up and take everything out of southern miss. I bet they don't score. So after we win 63-3 then we can see how everyone feels

 

[junior4949]

I also found it a little concerning when I heard on the radio when Martinez hurt his shoulder that Kellogg was warming up. What happened to Armstrong? I'll feel a lot better about this team if we take care of business on Sept. 14th.

 

[Enhance]

It would only be a continuation if the players on the field were the exact same players. Since you and I both know that isn't true...then the game has changed and what happened last year lays with last years' squad.

I think you would agree with what he's saying to a certain extent, though. We've changed many variables but maintained similar discrepancies, regardless of the reason. That's a continuation in my book of problems in my book even if there's different numbers and names out there.