Rewatched Game- Defensive Thoughts

[suigeneris]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

And if Eve had never eaten that apple we'd still be running around naked in a forest, eating figs and having sex without shame.

Here's a quote from TWOS:

“What if” is a dangerous game to play, but since it’s still too early in the season to know anything, let’s do it. Say Martinez doesn’t throw that pick, and the Husker offense continues to march (that’s not unreasonable - the drive started on our 10 and ended on their 25). Terrell Newby crosses the goal line and the Huskers lead 44-21.

What if Smith hadn't thrown that pick to SJB (more uncharacteristic of Smith than Martinez)? Or we don't fall on Cross's fumble, or Wyo doesn't try to get cute with a trick pass, or the Wyo defender who scooped up Taylor's fumble isn't tripped up by an arm tackle? If any one of those things didn't happen, there's a good chance we lose. If none of those things happened, we lose by a couple of scores.

Would we do better if the other team caught bad breaks and we never did? Yeah. But the fact that we would have won more comfortably had the offense played a clean game doesn't change how our defense played when it got back on the field.

 

[HuskerFowler]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

Well, that didnt happen, the score was 37-34, we gave up 600+ yds, and dropped 4 spots in the polls, are sitting #113 in defense. 475 doesnt sound that great either. Anyway, I havent been a 'fire Bo' guy, but there are meltdowns and you never know when they are going to happen, like at the end of the year when one would've assumed progress. I predict 8-4 and a serious hotseat for Bo scenario at the end of the reg season. Not trying to be negative, not saying I want that to happen, because I don't, just the way it looks to me after the 1st game.

Your certainly entitled to your opinion. We go 10-2 easily. 11-1 if we get by UCLA. You would be a "star gazzer" thats fits your personality and posting to a T.

 

[clyde40]

What if my grandma had a three piece set? She would be my grandpa.

 

[NUinID]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

Good read, he is exactly right and I said it in an earlier post. This game really told us nothing about how the season will unfold and neither will the S. Miss game.

I watched the OSU/Cal game last year, I think it was the second game of the year and I said wow, OSU really doesn't look that good, but they kept winning. You just don't know.

Listening to BP talk about the game and the way he is talking has really put me in a better frame of mind about the game. He is almost talking like he knows something we don't. Damon Benning said almost as much if you listen to the USC pod cast.

 

[BOurNe sUpremacy]

And if Eve had never eaten that apple we'd still be running around naked in a forest, eating figs and having sex without shame.

Haha, my gf Eve and I were doing that just the other night--in pagan-like fashion, oh yea!

 

[admo]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

I follow you, Fowler. By now I'm sure some of the freaking out is slowly going on hold until UCLA prep. I know what you are getting at, and what could have been. I just think that the stuff that did happen is part of the game. Comebacks, quick strikes, turnovers, penalties, big plays, great plays, blown plays, bad weather, long drives, fumblerooskies, etc. I take it all in, good and bad. Even so, I can clearly see the athletic talent on this team. Hope it all works out for us

 

[BOurNe sUpremacy]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

Well, that didnt happen, the score was 37-34, we gave up 600+ yds, and dropped 4 spots in the polls, are sitting #113 in defense. 475 doesnt sound that great either. Anyway, I havent been a 'fire Bo' guy, but there are meltdowns and you never know when they are going to happen, like at the end of the year when one would've assumed progress. I predict 8-4 and a serious hotseat for Bo scenario at the end of the reg season. Not trying to be negative, not saying I want that to happen, because I don't, just the way it looks to me after the 1st game.

Your certainly entitled to your opinion. We go 10-2 easily. 11-1 if we get by UCLA. You would be a "star gazzer" thats fits your personality and posting to a T.

Keep making it personal and Knapp sends you to the Shed, k? I'm just stating facts about the 4 qtr outcome of the game. I think the prudent fan is now preparing him/her self, psychologically, for 8-4.

 

[admo]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

I know rewriting he chain of events to make us feel better, well, makes us feel better. But what if we give Wyoming a TD on SJB's INT? Then we're looking at a 21-3 Wyoming lead instead of 14-10.

It's a cute game, but ultimately pointless. And entirely nonsensical.

TMart could have been picked in first quarter. Their defender dropped a chest pass. A play or two later the Huskers scored TD. In the second quarter, their center snapped the ball over Smith's head on a designed comeback screen route that had the entire left side of the field uncovered, with blockers in front. Instead, they couldn't convert and missed a long field goal attempt on that drive. Early 4th quarter, Gerry disrupted the trick pass play and Evans made a great pick inside the redzone. More points were left off the scoreboard from that. With that said, I agree that it's important to take the game as it happened.

 

[HuskerFowler]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That's it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn't include our defense. Sure, we can't draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here's one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. "21 points and 475 yards isn't terrible. They've got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good." But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, "This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!"

And if Eve had never eaten that apple we'd still be running around naked in a forest, eating figs and having sex without shame.

Here's a quote from TWOS:

"What if" is a dangerous game to play, but since it's still too early in the season to know anything, let's do it. Say Martinez doesn't throw that pick, and the Husker offense continues to march (that's not unreasonable - the drive started on our 10 and ended on their 25). Terrell Newby crosses the goal line and the Huskers lead 44-21.

What if Smith hadn't thrown that pick to SJB (more uncharacteristic of Smith than Martinez)? Or we don't fall on Cross's fumble, or Wyo doesn't try to get cute with a trick pass, or the Wyo defender who scooped up Taylor's fumble isn't tripped up by an arm tackle? If any one of those things didn't happen, there's a good chance we lose. If none of those things happened, we lose by a couple of scores.

Would we do better if the other team caught bad breaks and we never did? Yeah. But the fact that we would have won more comfortably had the offense played a clean game doesn't change how our defense played when it got back on the field.

It goes both ways. Cross was down BTW, despite what the refs called. It would have been reviewed and overturned had WYO recovered.

The main point of the article isnt about the "what could have beens" The point is we cant freak out about one game, good or bad. Last year we were so high after beating S Miss we go to UCLA and get punched in the mouth. Turns out S miss went 0-12 and they were terrible. Maybe Wyoming will have a decent year and prove to be half way decent? Maybe we are as bad on D as the big plays and last 5 minutes indicated? But in no way should the fan base be having a melt down, when the game could have been much, much different by only by a play or two. Even if SJB doenst pick it off and its a TD and go down, do your really think we just go into ball control run the ball 23-25 times to end the game. Dont think so. I would say no matter what happened, short of us turning the ball over 5 times, we do what it takes on O to win.

UCLA is not that great (niether are we) they played a pretty close game as well despite what the score indicates, it was pretty close at half. Its going to be a hell of game imo

 

[TheSker]

Listening to BP talk about the game and the way he is talking has really put me in a better frame of mind about the game. He is almost talking like he knows something we don't. Damon Benning said almost as much if you listen to the USC pod cast.

Even with the busts, I think what we can take away is the ability and athleticism. Two specific examples.......the first is Gregory actually getting to the quarterback. Yes, it was technically a penalty and not a sack, but he got there. Sacks from the DE spot have been horribly absent the past couple of seasons. The other is Gerry disrupting that pass. Gerry had the speed to get there and just as importantly, didn't whiff. The past couple of seasons, we whiffed a lot or couldn't get off blocks. It will also be nice to have DTs who don't get blown 3 yards off the LOS.

 

[HuskerFowler]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

Well, that didnt happen, the score was 37-34, we gave up 600+ yds, and dropped 4 spots in the polls, are sitting #113 in defense. 475 doesnt sound that great either. Anyway, I havent been a 'fire Bo' guy, but there are meltdowns and you never know when they are going to happen, like at the end of the year when one would've assumed progress. I predict 8-4 and a serious hotseat for Bo scenario at the end of the reg season. Not trying to be negative, not saying I want that to happen, because I don't, just the way it looks to me after the 1st game.

Your certainly entitled to your opinion. We go 10-2 easily. 11-1 if we get by UCLA. You would be a "star gazzer" thats fits your personality and posting to a T.

Keep making it personal and Knapp sends you to the Shed, k? I'm just stating facts about the 4 qtr outcome of the game. I think the prudent fan is now preparing him/her self, psychologically, for 8-4.

Wasnt making it personal, you said above "im a star guy" And that makes sense to me, your a stat and star guy. Why is that a bad thing to point out? It's who you are after all.

 

[HuskerFowler]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

I follow you, Fowler. By now I'm sure some of the freaking out is slowly going on hold until UCLA prep. I know what you are getting at, and what could have been. I just think that the stuff that did happen is part of the game. Comebacks, quick strikes, turnovers, penalties, big plays, great plays, blown plays, bad weather, long drives, fumblerooskies, etc. I take it all in, good and bad. Even so, I can clearly see the athletic talent on this team. Hope it all works out for us

 

[admo]

I agree. The talent is there. Lots of it. Young guys and inexperienced. Just need game reps and each week should be an improvement. Play fast and physical, react without over thinking.

 

[admo]

http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com/

Its almost like I wrote this....Smart dude

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

I follow you, Fowler. By now I'm sure some of the freaking out is slowly going on hold until UCLA prep. I know what you are getting at, and what could have been. I just think that the stuff that did happen is part of the game. Comebacks, quick strikes, turnovers, penalties, big plays, great plays, blown plays, bad weather, long drives, fumblerooskies, etc. I take it all in, good and bad. Even so, I can clearly see the athletic talent on this team. Hope it all works out for us

 

[The Dude]

Cross was down BTW, despite what the refs called. It would have been reviewed and overturned had WYO recovered.

I noticed this too. But I'll take the free 5 yards.