NamelessHusker
Banned
I know i am going to be hammered by several people for because of my observations, but i consider myself still am optimist then a pessimist. Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Callahan II
Game plan
Everyone knows Bill Callahan scripts his first 10 offensive plays. That's no surprise to anyone. Now the mainstream is to go with what works and logically our rushing attack was just not there yesterday. Last year, Nebraska racked up 365 yards rushing against Western Illinois, compared to 121 yards against Maine. Last year Nebraska rushed 39 times, compared to 42 rushes against Maine. Last year we attempted 31 passes and connected on 16 passes and 4 interceptions. This game, NU passed 36 times and connected on 15 of those passes for 2 interceptions. If we look at last years 10 scripted plays, we passed 4 times and rushed 6 times for a total of 31 yards passing and 67 yards rushing. This year, 7 rushes for 23 yards and 3 passes for 22 yards. This is the result of 1 year worth of film that Maine had the advantage of looking over. Simply put, our offensive production on the ground was not there. If you can't open up the ground attack, you can't open up the air attack. As the game went on, the rushing output become worse and worse and our passing became a little better.
Offensive line
I was sadly mislead. In the glimmer of hopes that our returning OL players would be the best part of this team because of the production they showed last year, they raised more questions then answers. The offensive line play was inexcusable. rush blocking was horrible compared to a somewhat improved pass blocking. Still, the OL allowed Zac to be flushed out of the pocket to many times and that caused a breakdown in the WR route timing. This line has to improve, plain and simple. If it doesn't and they continue to play like they did, it will be another losing season.
QB
I have to give props to Zac Taylor. He did a great job for a new starter. He did make a few mental mistakes and that cost us a touchdown on 1 of them. 85% of his passes were on the money, 5% were the result of bad timing by either him or the WR's and another 10 percent were just way off. If you did not see it, well Callahan hammered him on the sideline after his shovel pass interception. I will tell you this from my personal observation. The playbook was NOT open. I do not know why it wasn't. I doubt it's because Zac doesn't know the playbook. I saw the SAME play run in different set and formations numerous times. It could be that the coaches do not want to open up the playbook yet or simply the WR's playing only knew so much formations at this time. This is something we will never get an answer to and Callahan isn't stupid enough to reveal the reason. Not knowing what the WR's and TE's know about the playbook, i can't say the playbook should have been opened. We know Nunn and Mulkey probably know the offense better, but we saw what kind of production those 2 players gave us. I will get to the WR breakdown in a moment.
RB
As a fan of Cory Ross (as you can tell), i was disappointed in Ross. Last year, despite a nagging turf toe injury, he had an outstanding performance in the season opener. I can't lay all the blame on him, i have to point the finger at the offensive line again and say that his results depended on how good our line was and it just wasn't there. Last year, Ross rushed 13 times for 125 yards. This game, he rushed 20 times for 80 yards (and that's when he is 100%). Obviously the problem isn't Cory Ross. Brandon Jackson also fell victim to a poor OL but Marlon Lucky is the only guy who simply took advantage of it. I saw from him flashes of Lawrence Phillips. He is going to be a great back soon and will overtake Brandon Jackson on the depth chart. One guy i would have loved to see is Cody Glenn.
WR/TE
Frantz managed to help open up the passing game a little bit. 7 receptions for 150 yards just makes your face light up, but the smile is suddenly turned to a frown when you take into account the production of tight ends Sievers and Phillips (19 yards combined) and grant mulkey (12 yards). Basically, we only had 1 main option to pass to on the field (Frantz) and suddenly he became the main focus of Maine's defensive backs. Frantz did drop a few passes he should have easily caught but overall, for a first time starter, he showed that he is someone to keep an eye out for. I personally can't wait for Brooks to become his second option for Zac Taylor after Frantz Hardy. You get Herian back in a couple of weeks and you have 3 main threats. This is what makes me still optimistic. We WILL be getting those players back soon.
Special Teams
FINALLY, a unit that actually returns punts. I can not say this enough. Bill Busch did a tremendous job with special teams. There is nothing i can harp on when it comes to the special teams. With that said, note to grixby. PLEASE YELL OUT "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY" next time so we don't get a turnover again. He should have known better then that. Guys blocking for you can't see you waving to get out of the way, you need to YELL IT.
DEFENSE
Major thumbs up to John Blake, Kevin Cosgrove for knowing when to blitz and Bill Busch for a great LB performance from his unit. I am still not sold on the defensive backfield. Grixby needs to be benched, play and simple. I have been saying it all along and will continue to say it. HE IS SMALL and is going to cost us to many yards. His performance was horrible in the backfield. It was horrific that he had to be pulled and Bryan Wilson came in and guess what? Maine saw that and took advantage of Bryan Wilson and scored. Maine simply said "look, if grixby is their best corner, and they brought in the backup, lets take advantage of it" and they did. Green should have stayed in and Bowman should have replaced Grixby instead of having Bowman on 1 side and Bryan wilson on the other side. Was the coaching staff simply trying to just burn some eligibility? Who knows, but overall, the defense looked good (against a DIV-AA) team, but i am not ready to say the blackshirts are back. I will give my opinion after we play our first 6 games.
Go ahead and begin disecting this
Game plan
Everyone knows Bill Callahan scripts his first 10 offensive plays. That's no surprise to anyone. Now the mainstream is to go with what works and logically our rushing attack was just not there yesterday. Last year, Nebraska racked up 365 yards rushing against Western Illinois, compared to 121 yards against Maine. Last year Nebraska rushed 39 times, compared to 42 rushes against Maine. Last year we attempted 31 passes and connected on 16 passes and 4 interceptions. This game, NU passed 36 times and connected on 15 of those passes for 2 interceptions. If we look at last years 10 scripted plays, we passed 4 times and rushed 6 times for a total of 31 yards passing and 67 yards rushing. This year, 7 rushes for 23 yards and 3 passes for 22 yards. This is the result of 1 year worth of film that Maine had the advantage of looking over. Simply put, our offensive production on the ground was not there. If you can't open up the ground attack, you can't open up the air attack. As the game went on, the rushing output become worse and worse and our passing became a little better.
Offensive line
I was sadly mislead. In the glimmer of hopes that our returning OL players would be the best part of this team because of the production they showed last year, they raised more questions then answers. The offensive line play was inexcusable. rush blocking was horrible compared to a somewhat improved pass blocking. Still, the OL allowed Zac to be flushed out of the pocket to many times and that caused a breakdown in the WR route timing. This line has to improve, plain and simple. If it doesn't and they continue to play like they did, it will be another losing season.
QB
I have to give props to Zac Taylor. He did a great job for a new starter. He did make a few mental mistakes and that cost us a touchdown on 1 of them. 85% of his passes were on the money, 5% were the result of bad timing by either him or the WR's and another 10 percent were just way off. If you did not see it, well Callahan hammered him on the sideline after his shovel pass interception. I will tell you this from my personal observation. The playbook was NOT open. I do not know why it wasn't. I doubt it's because Zac doesn't know the playbook. I saw the SAME play run in different set and formations numerous times. It could be that the coaches do not want to open up the playbook yet or simply the WR's playing only knew so much formations at this time. This is something we will never get an answer to and Callahan isn't stupid enough to reveal the reason. Not knowing what the WR's and TE's know about the playbook, i can't say the playbook should have been opened. We know Nunn and Mulkey probably know the offense better, but we saw what kind of production those 2 players gave us. I will get to the WR breakdown in a moment.
RB
As a fan of Cory Ross (as you can tell), i was disappointed in Ross. Last year, despite a nagging turf toe injury, he had an outstanding performance in the season opener. I can't lay all the blame on him, i have to point the finger at the offensive line again and say that his results depended on how good our line was and it just wasn't there. Last year, Ross rushed 13 times for 125 yards. This game, he rushed 20 times for 80 yards (and that's when he is 100%). Obviously the problem isn't Cory Ross. Brandon Jackson also fell victim to a poor OL but Marlon Lucky is the only guy who simply took advantage of it. I saw from him flashes of Lawrence Phillips. He is going to be a great back soon and will overtake Brandon Jackson on the depth chart. One guy i would have loved to see is Cody Glenn.
WR/TE
Frantz managed to help open up the passing game a little bit. 7 receptions for 150 yards just makes your face light up, but the smile is suddenly turned to a frown when you take into account the production of tight ends Sievers and Phillips (19 yards combined) and grant mulkey (12 yards). Basically, we only had 1 main option to pass to on the field (Frantz) and suddenly he became the main focus of Maine's defensive backs. Frantz did drop a few passes he should have easily caught but overall, for a first time starter, he showed that he is someone to keep an eye out for. I personally can't wait for Brooks to become his second option for Zac Taylor after Frantz Hardy. You get Herian back in a couple of weeks and you have 3 main threats. This is what makes me still optimistic. We WILL be getting those players back soon.
Special Teams
FINALLY, a unit that actually returns punts. I can not say this enough. Bill Busch did a tremendous job with special teams. There is nothing i can harp on when it comes to the special teams. With that said, note to grixby. PLEASE YELL OUT "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY" next time so we don't get a turnover again. He should have known better then that. Guys blocking for you can't see you waving to get out of the way, you need to YELL IT.
DEFENSE
Major thumbs up to John Blake, Kevin Cosgrove for knowing when to blitz and Bill Busch for a great LB performance from his unit. I am still not sold on the defensive backfield. Grixby needs to be benched, play and simple. I have been saying it all along and will continue to say it. HE IS SMALL and is going to cost us to many yards. His performance was horrible in the backfield. It was horrific that he had to be pulled and Bryan Wilson came in and guess what? Maine saw that and took advantage of Bryan Wilson and scored. Maine simply said "look, if grixby is their best corner, and they brought in the backup, lets take advantage of it" and they did. Green should have stayed in and Bowman should have replaced Grixby instead of having Bowman on 1 side and Bryan wilson on the other side. Was the coaching staff simply trying to just burn some eligibility? Who knows, but overall, the defense looked good (against a DIV-AA) team, but i am not ready to say the blackshirts are back. I will give my opinion after we play our first 6 games.
Go ahead and begin disecting this
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