PJ Smith talks about Wisconsin blowout

[Hoosker]

There's an entire other half to 2012 Big Ten CCG that I don't think is being discussed in this thread and that is what Wisconsin did.

You guys can identify shortcomings of that Husker team and either blame or excuse them but that's only one part of that game. As much as the Huskers might have failed to execute the Badgers did execute. I was deployed that season and didn't get to watch every game though I tried and I don't remember every detail but I think the general strategy was to play vanilla games, conserve strength and focus and not really fight because hey "we're going to the CG anyhow". That Wisconsin team lost four out of five of those losses by a field goal and the other game by only a TD...three games in OT. They were a much better team than the 7-5 record indicated.

I know I'm rambiling but I think that game was really the story of two teams:

Nebraska:A talented yet overconfident team that caught several breaks earlier in the season..

Wisconsin: A talented yet frustrated team that finally got to a game that mattered and blew its load.

Yea, Nebraska may have failed to execute or the coaches may have failed to motivate or whatever but there's a whole other half.

+1

 

[NUpolo8]

Bo's defenses are assignment football? EVERY DEFENSE AT THIS LEVEL IS ASSIGNMENT FOOTBALL. Like i said. This aint junior high anymore. Your one or two studs dont just dont fly all over the field making plays. At this level if those one ore two guys gets arrogantly out of position and doesnt do their job, we see what we saw in Indy that night.

So by all means keep them in and let them be arrogant and let them get 70 dropped on them? That's the part I don't get. If that debacle is directly attributed to a few guys being out of position, get them the freaking hell away from the field, or heaven forbid, coach them.

I don't disagree, but who else was going to play? He put the best guys out there, they said they'd play within the system, then they decided to freelance.

I don't think it's unreasonable to think, once it got to say, 28 points, that they had their chance to play within the system.

 

[Warrior10]

Why are we still talking about this game?

 

[QMany]

Bo sucks.
Discuss.

His coaching methods are such that a team that got through a run of constantly having to come back to win teams they were head and shoulders more talented then, got creamed in their out of conference schedule by a first year head coach, and blasted by Ohio st inexplicably thought they could half a$$ their way to a victory over a team they had to frantically come from behind to barely beat.

And he didn't notice that attitude taking form before the game.

 

[Branno]

Why are we still talking about this game?

Because it somehow affects the current team with no players from that years starting defense?

 

[NUpolo8]

Bo sucks.
Discuss.

His coaching methods are such that a team that got through a run of constantly having to come back to win teams they were head and shoulders more talented then, got creamed in their out of conference schedule by a first year head coach, and blasted by Ohio st inexplicably thought they could half a$$ their way to a victory over a team they had to frantically come from behind to barely beat.

And he didn't notice that attitude taking form before the game.

UCLA

 

[zoogs]

You guys can identify shortcomings of that Husker team and either blame or excuse them but that's only one part of that game. As much as the Huskers might have failed to execute the Badgers did execute. (...)

Nebraska:A talented yet overconfident team that caught several breaks earlier in the season.

Wisconsin: A talented yet frustrated team that finally got to a game that mattered and blew its load.

Yea, Nebraska may have failed to execute or the coaches may have failed to motivate or whatever but there's a whole other half.

Wisconsin definitely showed up and played big time. That's what you expect any well-coached and -prepared team to do though, win or lose, regardless of how sharp the opponent is that day. No team's immune to a lapse, but Nebraska's been having them since 2010. That's a long time!

Personnel -- yeah, I don't think we realized our potential in this dept. especially recently. It's not like we're fielding a team of scrubs either, though. In how many losses did we really come away, after the fact, thinking the talent gap was simply too much to overcome? Not since 2008 IMO.

I'd disagree strongly with Benning that players lose blowouts, coaches lose close games. Actually, I'd say the opposite. Coaches prepare and put a team in position to win, but it's up to the players to do it, and sometimes you'll get that dropped pass, that untimely miscue, etc, etc. When a talented team gets blown out of the water, that's a more encompassing issue. There's also the persistence.

 

[zoogs]

Also, this Russell Wilson talk has me thinking. Jeezus, that Wisconsin team had beaten the Huskers by 31 the year before. How can you take that group lightly?

 

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Bucky this is off topic but should Nebraska be scared of Tanner McEvoy this coming season? He looked better than Stave, and has more athleticism.

 

[Stumpy1]

Bo sucks.
Discuss.

His coaching methods are such that a team that got through a run of constantly having to come back to win teams they were head and shoulders more talented then, got creamed in their out of conference schedule by a first year head coach, and blasted by Ohio st inexplicably thought they could half a$$ their way to a victory over a team they had to frantically come from behind to barely beat.

And he didn't notice that attitude taking form before the game.

UCLA

Sorry Polo but Mora is NOT and WAS NOT a first year coach when we played them.

 

[TheSker]

The NFL draft agrees that we have been significantly more talented than our opponents the past 3 seasons.

 

[Excel]

Bucky this is off topic but should Nebraska be scared of Tanner McEvoy this coming season? He looked better than Stave, and has more athleticism.

It's hard to say and I'm not sure who I want to win out either.

McEvoy:

Pros:

- More Athletic: faster, poses more of a rushing threat than Stave though not an awe inspiring one

- Higher Football IQ: Just my speculation but he redshirted in the SEC in 2011, was a JUCO QB in 2012 and was a starting safety last year so I imagine he's got a pretty good handle of the game...from both sides

Cons:

- Character Issues: Ok kind of...but not really. He was arrested for speeding and driving after consuming alcohol (not a DUI). Is he a morally corrupt person? Nah probably not but the arrest still happened and with some people that kind of taints a person.

- Experience: Has yet to play QB in a game for an FBS school.

- Injury history: Fully recovered from that wrist injury by now but I'm sick of injury prone QB's (Stave, Phillips)

- Is from New Jersey

Stave:

Pros:

- Game Experience: Two years. Not a great two years but still two years. I don't like having a revolving door at QB, it's come back to bite us in the past.

- Familiarity: This will be his fourth year on the team and he should get it by now, god willing. Being QB in our system is not that difficult and we don't ask as much as other places.

- At least he's a Wisconsin native

Cons:

- Game Performance: Probably a case of Russell-Wilson-hangover but the kid is underwhelming at best.

- Injury Prone: Two years at starter, two serious injuries. Still recovering from one to the shoulder at the moment.

Obviously the coaches will make the call they feel is right and both should compete but I'd kind of like to see Stave given the LSU game and move forward from there. Tanner has potential but I didn't feel he really displayed it in the Spring "game" and it's hard to compare because Stave didn't play.

Do I think that Tanner would pose more of a threat to Nebraska than Stave? Yes probably, I think so. But only because I think you guys would do better against Stave's style than Tanner's...but I'm not convinced that McEvoy starting the entire season puts us in a better position than Stave. It's not as if I'm not sold on Stave, I'm just saying I don't know.

Could Stave still beat Nebraska? Yes, after all a Curt Philips QB'd Badger team destroyed Nebraska but I still think that you guys are better geared to defend against pro-style QB's which Stave is more than McEvoy. So McEvoy is more of a threat, but not a RW level threat...and a Stave QB'd team is still a threat...but not because of Stave, almost in spite of him. Should Nebraska fans be "scared" of Tanner? No, not at this point. Is that a complicated enough answer for you?

Of course this is all just pointless talk because Clement and Gordon will be putting on clinics and then DJ Gillins will take the reigns and win us three Rose Bowls.

Bookmark it.

 

[jsneb83]

Bo sucks.
Discuss.

His coaching methods are such that a team that got through a run of constantly having to come back to win teams they were head and shoulders more talented then, got creamed in their out of conference schedule by a first year head coach, and blasted by Ohio st inexplicably thought they could half a$$ their way to a victory over a team they had to frantically come from behind to barely beat.

And he didn't notice that attitude taking form before the game.

UCLA

Sorry Polo but Mora is NOT and WAS NOT a first year coach when we played them.

And since when was losing by 6 considered getting creamed?

 

[jsneb83]

How is it decided that several of Pelini's senior veterans playing outside of Pelini's system is no fault of Pelini's?

How is it not his responsibility to, ya' know, coach the team?

Probably because a majority of those seniors Bo didn't recruit. They would have been from the 2008 class that Bo was just trying to keep together and not actually recruiting for.

 

[H2h]

Not to derail this topic, but did nobody else listen to the segments where PJ was very critical of Taylor? He said that the team already trusts Tommy more than they did Taylor. I believe that was said towards the end of segment 2 and discussed more at the beginning of the 3rd segment, but I'm going off of memory on that. And there was more he said in other segments.