DaveH
Team HuskerBoard
First, the offense. At time we saw glimpses of what Keller and his team mates are capable of. The offensive line played pretty well I thought. Run blocking was improved and I thought Keller, for the most part, had time to make plays.
Keller himself I thought played just OK. He did, however, ding the UT secondary more than a few times in the middle of the field. Twice for touchdowns. However, he needs to learn to either throw the ball away or tuck it when he feels pressure. He's lost more fumbles that way and usually at the worst times. He has gotten better at not trying to force plays that aren't there, creating more turnovers.
I thought the defense played well for the most part. In the 4th quarter, there were some well documented break downs. Both defenses were on the field for roughly the same amount of snaps. TOP was a push.
NU really brought everything and the kitchen sink for a lot of plays in the game. The corner blitz was used pretty effectively and tacking was more solid than it has been. Lots and LOTS of Cover 0 blitzing which showed real balls and some confidence that the defense would make a play when needed. We saw what can happen in when you are in cover 0 and lose containment. Maybe towards the last part of the game NU should have gone to a Cover 2 or 3. Who knows.
Special teams was just adequate. Henery continues to kick FG's flawlessly however kick-offs weren't as deep as we'd expect from Kunalic. There was some wind that made it more difficult. Titchner played pretty well and we had a few good cover punts to give UT less than desirable field position.
Overall, the offense needs to close the game out. This is something that NU has struggled with a lot in recent years. NU puts another touchdown and a field goal up in the 3rd and they might have pulled off the upset in Austin.
As for next week, I think that KU is a better team than Texas but their schedule isn't the toughest. Because of that, they are a top contender in the North. They have a good defense and execute pretty well on offense. The environment in Lawrence isn't the most intimidating ever, but the KU faithful should be pretty pumped for this game. The Huskers will have to bring the effort they showed at UT plus better second half performance to come out with a win in Lawrence.
Keller himself I thought played just OK. He did, however, ding the UT secondary more than a few times in the middle of the field. Twice for touchdowns. However, he needs to learn to either throw the ball away or tuck it when he feels pressure. He's lost more fumbles that way and usually at the worst times. He has gotten better at not trying to force plays that aren't there, creating more turnovers.
I thought the defense played well for the most part. In the 4th quarter, there were some well documented break downs. Both defenses were on the field for roughly the same amount of snaps. TOP was a push.
NU really brought everything and the kitchen sink for a lot of plays in the game. The corner blitz was used pretty effectively and tacking was more solid than it has been. Lots and LOTS of Cover 0 blitzing which showed real balls and some confidence that the defense would make a play when needed. We saw what can happen in when you are in cover 0 and lose containment. Maybe towards the last part of the game NU should have gone to a Cover 2 or 3. Who knows.
Special teams was just adequate. Henery continues to kick FG's flawlessly however kick-offs weren't as deep as we'd expect from Kunalic. There was some wind that made it more difficult. Titchner played pretty well and we had a few good cover punts to give UT less than desirable field position.
Overall, the offense needs to close the game out. This is something that NU has struggled with a lot in recent years. NU puts another touchdown and a field goal up in the 3rd and they might have pulled off the upset in Austin.
As for next week, I think that KU is a better team than Texas but their schedule isn't the toughest. Because of that, they are a top contender in the North. They have a good defense and execute pretty well on offense. The environment in Lawrence isn't the most intimidating ever, but the KU faithful should be pretty pumped for this game. The Huskers will have to bring the effort they showed at UT plus better second half performance to come out with a win in Lawrence.
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