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Upbeat Huskers Move Past Tech to Tigers
Missouri poses serious challenge, Pelini says
by Samuel McKewon
September 29, 2008
After Nebraska’s 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech, linebackers coach Mike Ekeler offered one of those rare mea culpas to NU players and fans that went beyond the typical boilerplate.
Resolute in taking the blame for his unit’s poor play, Ekeler was headed to the film room right away, he said, to see where his coaching went awry.
And so it made sense for reporters to return, Monday, to the page in Ekeler’s book where they stopped reading Saturday night.
After a few questions reviewing the Tech game, Ekeler promptly started a new chapter.
“You talkin about Missouri?” Ekeler asked a reporter.
“I’m talking about Virginia Tech,” the reporter said.
“Who’s that?” Ekeler said.
So it was for a lot of Huskers, who just don’t have time to reminisce on missed chances. Not with the No. 4 Tigers coming to Lincoln for a nationally televised 8 p.m. contest on ESPN.
“This is a huge game,” Ekeler said. “You know what? You prepare as hard as you can. And you give everything you got. Our kids play their tails off. They play their hearts out. You do that all the time. That’s not a sometime thing.”
Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini agreed, highly praising Missouri’s offense, which is ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring and total offense.
“You got to forget about it,” Pelini said. “It’s over. We have to learn from what happened.”
The 3-1 Huskers don’t have a ton a time to correct a whole slew of problems that cropped up in the first 2 ½ quarters of the Tech game, including:
*A running game that only gained 55 yards on 25 carries against the Hokies, whom, according to tackle Jaivorio Burkes “didn’t do anything we weren’t prepared for.”
“We have to be more physical than the other team,” he said. “It’s not a certain amount of runs we have to do or an amount of plays we have to do.”
*Missed tackles and bad pursuit angles taken by the kickoff and punt coverage units, which now must contend with Mizzou receiver Jeremy Maclin, who already has 340 returns yards and a touchdown for the season
*A porous pass defense that allowed VT quarterback Tyrod Taylor to comfortably complete passes downfield without a threat of interception.
“We dropped some coverages,” Pelini said. “We didn't execute. We played undisciplined football. We had too many missed assignments. It's pretty easy to complete balls when that happens. It's happened a couple times over the first month of the season, a number of times, too many times. Sometimes it hurt us, and sometimes it didn't. It hurt us the other night.”
Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel, who has completed 76 percent of his passes for 1,412 yards and 12 touchdowns, can inflict significantly more damage.
“No one’s really stopped them,” Pelini said. “You just hope to slow them down…it’s gonna be a heckuva test of us. They do a lot of good things all over the field, and they’re talented. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Burkes said the coaches had notably positive after the Tech games, and kept the vibe going through Monday’s practice.
“We’re not really hanging our heads on this loss,” he said.
Was Pelini and Co. more upbeat than Bill Callahan and his crew after a loss to Southern California in 2007?
“I’d have to say so,” Burkes said. “…It makes us real good to know that your teammates and the people you’re playing for really have your back.”
Note: Pelini said safety Larry Asante is “day-to-day” and guard Andy Christensen is out with “medical issues.” True freshman Justin Rogers, who joined the team late, is working in at running back and cornerback.
Upbeat Huskers Move Past Tech to Tigers
Missouri poses serious challenge, Pelini says
by Samuel McKewon
September 29, 2008
After Nebraska’s 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech, linebackers coach Mike Ekeler offered one of those rare mea culpas to NU players and fans that went beyond the typical boilerplate.
Resolute in taking the blame for his unit’s poor play, Ekeler was headed to the film room right away, he said, to see where his coaching went awry.
And so it made sense for reporters to return, Monday, to the page in Ekeler’s book where they stopped reading Saturday night.
After a few questions reviewing the Tech game, Ekeler promptly started a new chapter.
“You talkin about Missouri?” Ekeler asked a reporter.
“I’m talking about Virginia Tech,” the reporter said.
“Who’s that?” Ekeler said.
So it was for a lot of Huskers, who just don’t have time to reminisce on missed chances. Not with the No. 4 Tigers coming to Lincoln for a nationally televised 8 p.m. contest on ESPN.
“This is a huge game,” Ekeler said. “You know what? You prepare as hard as you can. And you give everything you got. Our kids play their tails off. They play their hearts out. You do that all the time. That’s not a sometime thing.”
Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini agreed, highly praising Missouri’s offense, which is ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring and total offense.
“You got to forget about it,” Pelini said. “It’s over. We have to learn from what happened.”
The 3-1 Huskers don’t have a ton a time to correct a whole slew of problems that cropped up in the first 2 ½ quarters of the Tech game, including:
*A running game that only gained 55 yards on 25 carries against the Hokies, whom, according to tackle Jaivorio Burkes “didn’t do anything we weren’t prepared for.”
“We have to be more physical than the other team,” he said. “It’s not a certain amount of runs we have to do or an amount of plays we have to do.”
*Missed tackles and bad pursuit angles taken by the kickoff and punt coverage units, which now must contend with Mizzou receiver Jeremy Maclin, who already has 340 returns yards and a touchdown for the season
*A porous pass defense that allowed VT quarterback Tyrod Taylor to comfortably complete passes downfield without a threat of interception.
“We dropped some coverages,” Pelini said. “We didn't execute. We played undisciplined football. We had too many missed assignments. It's pretty easy to complete balls when that happens. It's happened a couple times over the first month of the season, a number of times, too many times. Sometimes it hurt us, and sometimes it didn't. It hurt us the other night.”
Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel, who has completed 76 percent of his passes for 1,412 yards and 12 touchdowns, can inflict significantly more damage.
“No one’s really stopped them,” Pelini said. “You just hope to slow them down…it’s gonna be a heckuva test of us. They do a lot of good things all over the field, and they’re talented. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Burkes said the coaches had notably positive after the Tech games, and kept the vibe going through Monday’s practice.
“We’re not really hanging our heads on this loss,” he said.
Was Pelini and Co. more upbeat than Bill Callahan and his crew after a loss to Southern California in 2007?
“I’d have to say so,” Burkes said. “…It makes us real good to know that your teammates and the people you’re playing for really have your back.”
Note: Pelini said safety Larry Asante is “day-to-day” and guard Andy Christensen is out with “medical issues.” True freshman Justin Rogers, who joined the team late, is working in at running back and cornerback.