I must disagree with your opinion, although I will not be as harsh as others. :koolaid2:placing too much emphasis on one game played in a monsoon isn't wise. MU handled NU for 3 quarters and a rookie hurt qb cost them momentum and smarter playcalling would have helped. If we want to play that game we can go back to Lincoln in 08 but then that would destroy your fun. Worst thing in that game IMO was the many drive killing penalties called by a just bad officiating crew on the Olinemen, some were penalties some not, that truly changed the game for first half. It could have been as ugly as 08 in Lincoln.
Next year is next year, we shall see how NU does post Suh and Asante and see if blaine learns anything from last year as far as picking up secondary targets and how all those big, very fast wr's take over the offense and does the poor playcalling improve. That's the thing about college football, personell changes so much every year, takes a while to see what you have. As always it's entertaining.
MU did not handle NU. Both teams were just handling each other defensively. 9 of your total points came off of a bad special teams snap and a faulty spot on a touchdown run. Blaine Gabbert did hurt you, which will make next years game more exciting with his experience. Everybody had been bragging about how he hadn't thrown a pick yet, but he also hadn't faced a defense with a pulse.
When you talk about drive killing penalties, I hope you mean for both teams. We had 12-108 yards and you had 10-100 yards. Penalties were a factor for both teams, so that is not a reliable reason to blame anything on. Just like the both teams had to fight through the weather, both teams had to fight through penalties. And don't forget, Nebraska had their fair share of bad calls. Suh got called for a horse-collar when it was clear as day that all he had in his hand was jersey.
Lastly, I'm not worried about personnel changes as much as some. I remember many-a-Missouri fan saying on Tigerboard that the MU offense would reload and be great this year, yet they obviously faultered in some areas. It just surprises me that some opposing fans don't think we can reload the defense, when they in turn have so much confidence in reloading their teams.