Missing Q

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Missing Q

Posted by: Brian Rosenthal on August 27, 2009 at 2:28PM CST

I've heard a lot of talk this week about how much Nebraska will -- or won't -- miss Quentin Castille in third-and-short situations.
A look at Q's production last year on short-yardage plays is telling.

On plays of third- or fourth-down and 2 yards or fewer to go, Castille converted on 14 of 16 opportunities (all runs) for an average of 5.7 yards on those plays. On one of those plays where he didn't convert, Castille gained 37 yards on the ensuing fourth-down play.

That's not to say Roy Helu or Rex Burkhead or Ndamukong Suh can't gain a couple yards in those situations. But Q did prove dependable last season, for sure.
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http://my.journalstar.com/post/Husker_Extr.../missing_q.html

 
It's really going to hurt us against Virginia Tech. Against stronger front sevens, Q was a huge asset for us (see Clemson). And sustaining long drives in a hostile road game is incredibly important. Not saying it's impossible with Helu but it would have been great to have them both.

 
Puts us thin at experienced depth.

On the other hand lets the young men on our roster get some quality PT.

 
BTW, all the posters saying Q wasn't a good short yardage back in that thread are proved pretty plainly wrong with this statistic. Averaging 5.7 yards in 3rd and 4th down short yardage is pretty amazing, and converting 14 of 16 is even more amazing.

 
JTrain said:
It's really going to hurt us against Virginia Tech. Against stronger front sevens, Q was a huge asset for us (see Clemson). And sustaining long drives in a hostile road game is incredibly important. Not saying it's impossible with Helu but it would have been great to have them both.
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Where was Q at in the OU game? :dunno

 
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The Maudfather said:
JTrain said:
It's really going to hurt us against Virginia Tech. Against stronger front sevens, Q was a huge asset for us (see Clemson). And sustaining long drives in a hostile road game is incredibly important. Not saying it's impossible with Helu but it would have been great to have them both.
Click to expand...
Where was Q at in the OU game? :dunno
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Yeah I know, he stunk in that game. But I would think the Clemson game was probably a better measure of how he might have performed this season, just due to chronology. But either way, his overall stats show he was valuable in short yardage. And Helu was occasionally banged up and had stamina issues, only the former of which may be helped by his extra muscle this season.

 
Typically, I'm not much of a sunshine pumper. However, I'll make an exception this time. When LP was suspended, I was worried. In comes Ahman, and we don't skip a beat. I believe this is how LP got his chance when Baldwin went mental. I firmly believe someone steps up to fill the vacancy. Whether it's Helu becoming more of a short yardage back or one of the young guns, I don't know. I just have faith someone will more than fill the gap like it's been done in the past.

 
Sure, it would have been nice to have Q, but he's gone and we need to move on.

Somebody will need to step up, which is why there's 100+ names on the roster. All teams experience injuries, suspensions, etc. The successful ones find somebody to step up and fill the void.

No use sitting around bemoaning whether or not we're better off with or without Q. The fact is he's gone, get over it.

 
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