Game 3 "Expert" Picks: UCLA vs. Nebraska

[gbr93]

He's watching the same one. Just a different name for the routes. Drag routes are crossing routes.

BRB was talking about crossing routes in the UCLA/Nevada game this year. I was talking about our Wyoming game this year. But he seemed to be talking about our UCLA game last year. I wasn't sure which.

Now I'm confused. In the words of Lee Corso, "ah f*ck it"

 

[BigRedBuster]

He's watching the same one. Just a different name for the routes. Drag routes are crossing routes.

BRB was talking about crossing routes in the UCLA/Nevada game this year. I was talking about our Wyoming game this year. But he seemed to be talking about our UCLA game last year. I wasn't sure which.

Now I'm confused. In the words of Lee Corso, "ah f*ck it"

I'm confused too.

I made my comments after watching the highlights of the UCLA game against Nevada. I also have now watched the low lights of our game against UCLA last year. I also remember the Wyoming game.

All of them had varying success with crossing routes (Drag routes if you want to call them that). We need to defend these well or we will get killed again by them.

UCLA seems to live and die with the short passing game. That is partly because Hundley isn't very accurate with the long ball. Crossing/drag routes are a very effective way of getting a play maker in space and separation from the defender.

We can not allow that to happen.

 

[Baron Humongous]

Watching those highlights, Hundley's reads are SIMPLE. 8yrd curls routes, drag routes, hb swings, and 1 or two drags. And then if he saw bump and run man coverage, he would audible Shaq Evans into a streak and try and float on over him, which were some ugly throws, btw. If Hundley trys to do those curls on SJB or Ciante, it will get deflected or picked every time as they just pick up on that route so quick it's crazy. SJB and his long arms are who I want to have on Shaq if we go man because that guys got one of the quickest release from press I've seen in a while. If we can contain those routes and have our LB's keep those swings and out and ups from the halfbacks covered, I think we win and win big. I didn't see anything special from Hundley's passing game and I can't imagine they get crazy with him this game either.

UCLA can play vanilla against an overmatched opponent like Nebraska did against So Miss. It's also one game, so we'll see if Hundley's timing on long throws was first game rust or a longer-term issue. But overall it was a pretty pedestrian game for Brett, and he made it look effortless - he'll obviously have to play better against Nebraska.

 

[NUance]

Nebraska 23, UCLA 21: If this game were in LA, I would go with the young Bruins, but my hunch is Bo Pelini's team will respond with a big performance.
LINK

cbssports.com's Bruce Feldman makes a bunch of picks with a sentence or two blurb about each pick.

 

[Army_Allen]

From these highlights, a few things stick out to me.

1) Their tackles are beatable. We will have much better rush ends. I think we can get to him. When we get to him, we NEED to tackle him and contain him in the pocket.

2) They killed Nevada with short passing and especially the crossing route. We HAVE GOT to defend this well.

3) He isn't very accurate with the long ball. So, if we can commit to defending the crossing route and short game and force him to throw long, we are forcing him to do something he isn't as good at. This also allows our pass rush more time to get to him.

I'll shoot all of this over to Bo and JP so they can start putting together a game plan.

1 - Gregory is really good and is a HUGE upgrade from what we've had the last few years. Ankrah is decent at best - hasn't made any plays when he's had a chance. I hope Moss or McMullen keep improving.

2 - Wyoming also hurt us with crossing routes. Not as bad as Northwestern a couple years ago because we at least made the tackle without any YAC. Against So. Miss we made a change to line up inside their slot receivers to be in better position to defend crossing routes and switched better. Hopefully we are in better shape on this.

I'm still really worried about our safeties. Cooper has made a couple plays but has also failed to step up and make a tackle on quite a few occasions. Harvey Jackson really hasn't done anything of note. The only thing I remember about Green is how he got run over by the Wyoming receiver. Looks to me like we are still lacking a play-maker back there. Hopefully we aren't also still lacking player to just make the routine plays.

I must not have seen the crossing routes where he actually threw to them. He hit Fuller many times on drag routes that went for a lot of yards though. You're right about the lack of safety playmakers though. It makes me wonder where CJax is and why they switched Gerry out(beside the fact that he's been really good at lb).

Which game are you talking about here?

He's watching the same one. Just a different name for the routes. Drag routes are crossing routes.

Prolly, back when I was playing like five years ago, crossing routes were when it was two crossing posts where the 1st read would be under and the deeper route would throw a block after the catch. I always thought drags were 5 yards or less dragging across the line of scrimmage. My bad.

 

[Army_Allen]

He's watching the same one. Just a different name for the routes. Drag routes are crossing routes.

BRB was talking about crossing routes in the UCLA/Nevada game this year. I was talking about our Wyoming game this year. But he seemed to be talking about our UCLA game last year. I wasn't sure which.

Now I'm confused. In the words of Lee Corso, "ah f*ck it"

I'm confused too.

I made my comments after watching the highlights of the UCLA game against Nevada. I also have now watched the low lights of our game against UCLA last year. I also remember the Wyoming game.

All of them had varying success with crossing routes (Drag routes if you want to call them that). We need to defend these well or we will get killed again by them.

UCLA seems to live and die with the short passing game. That is partly because Hundley isn't very accurate with the long ball. Crossing/drag routes are a very effective way of getting a play maker in space and separation from the defender.

We can not allow that to happen.

Same, I was referring to the UCLA Nevada game.

 

[ADS]

It's a possibility, but I don't think this years defense will be a top 10 like 2010. I said they eventually could be, not saying they never will be.

 

[Mike Mcdee]

I really hope Bo & Co have been planning for this game since spring. When he has a time to plan for teams, he hasn't disappointed very often. I've been sporting the "Cautiously Optimistic" t-shirt all summer long. I'm not an expert but I'm picking the good guys by 5-7pts.

 

[gbr93]

Army_Allen, You're not wrong by not calling them crossing routes. The only time I've used the word drag is in regards to the TE. Either way is correct in my eyes though. Regardless, I knew what you were saying.

 

[NUance]

I stick with my original statement. UCLA has more good players this year at every position. On top of that all of the young players who started against Nebraska last year have a one more year of experience. Yes, we lost Fauria and Franklin but I think the newcomers who did not play last year will make up for the loss. There is more depth in the OL, the DL, the LB corps, and the WR corps. Most importantly, Hundley has a year of experience behind him.

The two question marks at the start of this year were the running backs and the secondary. In the Nevada game both groups played well. I can't predict with certainty that they will do that again this Saturday - obviously Nevada is not Nebraska. But I do believe that UCLA has more talent than Nebraska. Especially more overall team speed. Whether that translates to a Bruin win I do not know. I certainly hope so.

There is no way that UCLA is worse than last year.

I stick with my assessment that Nebraska has more good players this year at every position on defense and returns all but 2 on one of the top offenses in the nation. On top of that, all of the young players who started last year against UCLA have one more year of experience. Yes, we lost Rex Burkhead and 2 tight ends, but I think the newcomers who did not play last year will make up for the loss. There is more depth in the OL and the DL...the LB Corps and the WR Corps...Most importantly, our QB has 4 years of experience behind him.

The two question marks at the start of this year were the DL and Special Teams. In the previous two games, both groups played fairly well. I can't predict with certainty that they will do that again this Saturday - obviously, S. Miss and Wyoming are not UCLA. But I do believe that Nebraska has more talent than UCLA...especially more overall team speed. Whether that translates to a Husker win I do not know. I certainly hope so.

There is no way that Nebraska is worse than last year.

They must not be *that* much better. For either UCLA or Nebraska. Or they would have been starting last year.

/ well, except for the true frosh

 

[HuskerFowler]

Just watched UCLAs charter land in Omaha. Don't think I will be able to get any pics thou.

 

[Army_Allen]

Just watched UCLAs charter land in Omaha. Don't think I will be able to get any pics thou.

you want me to tweet them and ask how it went?

I got Priest on speed dial.

 

[Landlord]

Just watched UCLAs charter land in Omaha. Don't think I will be able to get any pics thou.

Really? UCLA fans are quoting tweets from their players about corn everywhere timed around 1:30pm

 

[HuskerFowler]

nevermind i just went over and found out it was a booster charter. A 747 and 3 charter buses full of boosters. Was told Players flew into lincoln today.

 

[Landlord]

Eddie Vanderdoes ‏@E_VanderdoesIV 39m

Ayyyye! Me n the 3 Amigos out here walking the field before tomorrow's game #TheCrew @K_Fitts93 @KCBoutThatLife pic.twitter.com/ZuqmjX8D7d