We won and we will learn from this.

True2tRA

True2tRA

Banned
We pulled it off. In no way did it go how we expected. Very much respect to Wyoming and those players. Those Wyoming players showed a lot of heart and a lot of effort and honestly appeared to be the better team tonight.

Bright side- Newby Cross and Abdullah look like one of the best 3 headed monsters we've had here as far as talent goes if only someone would block for then.

Dark side- I don't want to hear another f'ing word about this offensive line being dominant. Just don't.

Bright side- Taylor showed a bit more improvement again. More patience. Didn't force some throws.

Dark side- still a ways to go. That interception was stupid but can also be attributed to poor play calling.

Questions? Who is calling this defense? It appears Bo still is? What is Papuchis's role here? If Bo is calling the defense which I believe he clearly is then how does Wyoming run for 7.3'yards per carry?

602 total yards?

A win is a win?! Yay?!

 
There were a lot of teams that got scares or even got beat by lesser opponents this weekend. It wasn't pretty, not acceptable by any means, but give WY credit they had a great gameplan and we have a really young defense. Holding could have been called every play but that's whatever. There was some good plays tonight but they good was really good and the bad was really bad. Gotta learn and get better.

 
Agreed with the above. Our O is far from a juggernaut or anything close to the scoring explosion.

Beck's play calling is still a mystery.

Our talent appears to be good. Unfortunately, we do not seem to have a staff that can coach it.

We are in trouble. I realized there wood be growing pains trying to get Fresh and RSFresh up to speed, but anyone who defends Pelini's D scheme as relevant in todays game is sadly mistaken. Teams have got perfect schemes to negate it. Imagine when we get to teams with talent and depth........

Wyoming played great. Hats off

 
A win is a win. We are young and we WILL get better. I'm not so sure where all the defensive praise was coming from, but there wasn't a lot of experience coming in on that defense. A lot of guys hadn't even seen a snap. I knew we would have trouble once we started subbing in on the defensive line, because with inexperienced linebackers in there, the middle can be exposed with the run, let alone worrying about their QB scramble around. Their tempo was incredible and it definitely had us at a disadvantage with our young guys trying to figure things out.

What concerned me was when the momentum started going against us, our attitude fell flat. It started to feel exactly like the B1G championship game from last year. It felt like the food gates were starting to breach open. That's what had me the most frustrated.

 
If you lose tonight you completely throw your season away, the Huskers didn't lose. Alot can be learned from this game, don't let your opponent back in the game, end it.

 
I firmly believe this game was not as close as it looked. If Beck doesn't dial up an idiotic pass when we have a chance for a field goal, (IIRC) we take a 19-point lead when that defense was gassed. There were a few key strategic moments that absolutely baffled me. No doubt about it, we faced an NFL-caliber quarterback who was backed up by an excellent scheme. Our young defense needed this to happen. If nothing else, let it be a lesson to the young guys. Speed and strength are not everything.

I don't want to read too much into this game. We had multiple chances to put it away and the coaches made stupid decisions. Yes, it's execution, but playcalling in key moments is still a mystery box of horror.

 
Let me say this upfront: the defense was bad. No doubt, no excuses.

That said, there are a few things I think we should take into consideration before throwing in the towel:

Thing to take into consideration the first: The officiating was horrible. Wyoming had at least two scoring drives continued by phantom penalties (Gregory's "roughing the passer" (?) and the PI on Gerry), not to mention the holding that was consistently going on by their O-line. I think we will look better in the future assuming those things are not called consistently the same way this year. I hate the "blame the refs" excuse as much as anyone else, but look no further than the reviews - all three were easily overturned. This crew was pretty awful all night, which contributed to:

Thing to take into consideration the second: Smith played the game of his life. Yes, for a variety of reasons he had all day to throw, but give the kid some credit: he completed more than a few passes into VERY small windows, including a number of times when he was flushed from the pocket. Hundley, while a much better runner with better weapons to throw to, does not throw the ball that well on his best day. In fact, we may not see another QB all year who can make some of those passes. Hats off the kid - very impressed with every aspect of his game.

Thing to take into consideration the third: we knew this going in: we have a young, untested defense. What happens to defenses like that? Well, they get tested. I am encouraged by the fact that, when the chips were down with a minute left in the game and we needed a stop, those young guys, instead of living in their (many) mistakes of early in the game, were able to rally and make a game-saving stand on that last possession. I was not at all confident that they would do that and was very impressed with the poise we showed there. You can't simulate that kind of experience in practice, and I can only think being forced to step up in that situation now will have some value later in the season when/if we're in a similar position.

Thing to take into consideration the fourth: How many true freshman played tonight on D? I count 4 (Gerry, Banderas, Maurice, Collins), not to mention numerous RS Fr in McMullen, Valentine, Curry, Moss, and Afalava (I think, didn't hear him in on any tackles though...?) All of whom are in our front 7. Not only is that virtually unprecedented at a school like DONU, it was an awful matchup against an experienced offensive unit, with a talented QB, and pretty darn good play-caller/schemer in Christiansen. You could almost see each of the young guys get better as the game progressed and hopefully they will continue to make strides week to week.

Long story short: We are what we thought we were: the defense was bad, but there are a few reasons to think it will play better the next few weeks. Whether its improvement will be enough to keep us competitive, I don't know.

Hopefully the O can iron out the TOs and stupid O line penalties that continue to plague us and stay on the field a bit longer as well. That was almost as frustrating for me, personally. GBR.

 
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