Game Expectations vs Results.

S

shiftyness

Walk-on
I'm a new member, but have been lurking the forums for the last couple months in anticipation of the season. As a recently former student, I really wished I could have been at the game, but work got in the way. Anyways I would like to share how my expectations of the opener compared to the actual game results.

1st quarter: I was actually disappointed in the way we came out and played. Although we didn't play "bad" we did start out a bit slow. I would have liked to see Sam Keller given more passing plays (especially more deep passing routes to begin with).

2nd quarter: Not much to say about this, Nevada played good and Keller seemed like he was overwhelmed by the game speed atmosphere.

3rd quarter: It is hard to say whether Bill Callahan adjusted to Nevada's defense or we just flat out wore them out. Whichever was the case, I was impressed with both our offense and defense.

4th quarter: Scrub clean up duty, Culbert looked impressive as did Helu.

Sam Keller: Hard to judge as of right now. Started off slow and seemed a bit flustered... however eventually picked up steam and looked like he will be as good as advertised (even better if our line protects him half as well as they did today). I expected more out of him, but the receivers dropped a couple perfect balls.

Lucky: I was impressed by his numbers... (229 yards and 4 touchdowns), but I really think the line deserves most of the credit. He's fast and agile, but doesn't seem like he can break many tackles. While I didn't expect him to run for so many yards, I was expecting him to have better vision and better moves.

Castille: Hats off to this guy, very impressive for his first college game. He showed he could put a hat on people and he could make some moves. Can't wait to see this guy more.

Glenn: I like Glenn... but he looks like he lost some of his skill and was just average.

Culbert/Helu: Both of these guys looked good in clean up duty, these guys could do some damage in the future.

Offensive line: Wow... all I have to say is wow.. They created huge holes that resulted in 400+ rushing yards. Also they provided great pass protection. If I remember correctly, I only saw Keller get hit once the whole game. Way to go O-line, you are the heart and soul of the team. Definitely exceded my expectations.

Recievers: They had some butter fingers in the first half (Callahan please bench Hardy... he's too inconsistent), but caught Keller's balls eventually. No standout catches or runs after catch. Not too impressed... can't wait to see Purify get back in the lineup next week. I expected more out of them.

D-line: Looked good against a mediocre O-line. Nothing special, but they played well against the pistol formation. About how I expected them to play.

Linebackers: Octavian is a beast. In my opinion he is the best defensive player we have. He makes plays whenever he is on the field. Lets hope he stays healthy. Rest of the linebacking core did as I expected, solid play and they are all fast to the ball.

Defensive Backs: Honestly they look like they did last year. Luckily we were playing Nevada in the opener. Against a pass heavy team, I hope they step up more. It was nice to see nickle packages though. Safety play has definitely improved since last year. Overall I would say they played slightly lower than my expectations.

Special teams: Vastly improved. I was impressed with our special teams and they suprised me. Thank God we have Adi. Can't wait to see him in clutch situations and see how he performs. If he can handle the pressure, we have one of the best kickers in the nation.

 
Lucky's real strength is not in outright shaking people out of their shoes, it's his vision and ability to pick running lanes and hit holes fast. He did that exceedingly well today.

 
The one HUGE DIFFERENCE from last year - we came out and dominated the 3rd QUARTER! Last year we seemed to always be flat. Just hope the trend continues.

 
IlliniHusker said:
The one HUGE DIFFERENCE from last year - we came out and dominated the 3rd QUARTER! Last year we seemed to always be flat. Just hope the trend continues.
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So far Callahan's 1 for1 scoring in the 3rd qtr this year. I expect 70% this year. We did set out to make statement in the 2nd half. Let's hope the trend continues.

 
cound to me as if we are starting to assemply a nice stable of running backs,

i couldnt watch the game today, so could anyone give me any details of how our pass defense looked? no offensive td's but did we get lucky alot or what?

 
Callahan lined Castille up at fullback a few times today. That was great. It gives us an actual threat at fullback. For the most part, last season we only used the fullback to block and protect the QB.

 
I'd say the secondary did a decent job. They weren't outstanding, but they were also up against what I thought was a good QB when he actually had time to throw. The coverage was pretty decent, a fair number of times there was nowhere for the QB to really throw.

We did very well at putting pressure on their QB, which helped our pass defense a lot. He was running for his life during most of the game and having to rush throws. Obviously that helps our secondary out a lot.

I still say our secondary has a lot of room for improvement, but to me they looked better than last year.

Edit - I should also say I don't think Nevada had too many YAC's. When they did complete a pass, it seemed like our guys were usually right there to close them down, which is a good thing obviously.

 
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EbylHusker said:
Lucky's real strength is not in outright shaking people out of their shoes, it's his vision and ability to pick running lanes and hit holes fast. He did that exceedingly well today.
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One of my complaints about Lucky in the past was his lack of vision. Credit must be givne to the O line but Lucky showed great improvement today in his vision. He had "happy feet" the first quarter and missed holes but eventully found his groove. Best game for him year to date.

 
Welcome shifty! Despite some first half hiccups both the offense and D got their game legs in the second half. They faired better than poor ole Michigan :laughpound and even Texas is struggling with Arkansas State with it being 14-3 entering the 3rd quarter.

 
I like the fact that lucky pushed the pile and kept his feet chopping. he looked real good today, hitting the holes, and getting 5 plus yards most of the time. his one huge run was taken away by holding....oh well at least I caught a hot dog from da weiner shlinger :)

 
I think the team met my expectations no problem!!!! The first half was a little slow going and I'll admit I was worried, but we just absolutely slaughtered them in the 2nd half!!!!

 
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