What did we learn? - Game 1 - Colorado

On a more serious note I'll reiterate what I posted in a different thread. 

Today I saw a very talented team make a bunch of sloppy mistakes that you often see in the first game of the season. Did anyone watch Atlanta vs Philadelphia on Thursday? That was the first game of the season for most of those players and it was one of the sloppiest games I've watched in awhile. Those are NFL players and you think that it won't happen to college players? Watch the NFL games tomorrow and then compare them to the next week and you should notice how much more fine-tuned the teams are. You can practice as much as you want, nothing compares to in-game reps. Nebraska was robbed of getting game reps in an easier win, Colorado wasn't. It showed. 

I think we need to face facts for this season - we weren't contending for the playoffs. The absolute ceiling was to contend for the Big Ten West which wouldn't have changed no matter the result of this game. I stated before the season even began that the barometer of success for this team won't be in how many games they win, but rather how they looked in those games. We're coming off 3 years where this team looked lifeless, where it was steamrolled on both sides of the ball, where pass coverage and tackling was non-existent.

Today, I saw fire. I saw passion. I saw guys flying to the ball. I saw a push up front on offense and constant pressure on the QB on defense. The defense sacked Montez 7 times today and pressured him on several other occasions. This same line managed 14 sacks all of last year. At one point, Nebraska sacked Montez 3 straight times on 3rd down. Tell me that's not improvement. The offense produced two 100+ yard rushers. That never happened under the previous coaching staff. Tell me that's not improvement. The offense produced nearly 600 yards on offense. That rarely happened the last 3 years. Tell me that's not improvement. Colorado had to earn about every single one of their points. The TD passes from Montez to Shenault were well placed passes that even Alabama would have a hard time defending. There were no gimmies and I suspect there won't be many gimmies all year. 

Without a doubt, I saw the sloppiness, I saw the mistakes. Choosing to focus purely on that ignores the larger picture: this is a good team in very good hands. The results will come. Be patient and enjoy the ride. 

 
Just to add to what I said about looking better - if you don't see an improvement on defense you can't have been paying attention, and if you don't see that we have a lot of potential for an explosive offense, you can't have been paying attention. We didn't make more mistakes than last year, and unlike last year we looked like we could be really good on both defense and offense.

 
Moiraine said:
Just to add to what I said about looking better - if you don't see an improvement on defense you can't have been paying attention, and if you don't see that we have a lot of potential for an explosive offense, you can't have been paying attention. We didn't make more mistakes than last year, and unlike last year we looked like we could be really good on both defense and offense.
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And unlike last year - those mistakes didn't automatically result in a blowout loss. 

 
Moiraine said:
Just to add to what I said about looking better - if you don't see an improvement on defense you can't have been paying attention, and if you don't see that we have a lot of potential for an explosive offense, you can't have been paying attention. We didn't make more mistakes than last year, and unlike last year we looked like we could be really good on both defense and offense.
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I saw at least 2 DBs turnaround to track the ball and break up a pass. That’s all I needed to see to know there is improvement

 
Red Five said:
Learned that while Bell is a serviceable RB, he doesn’t have that extra gear that can turn a turn a 40 yard run into a 80 yard run.
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Yep. Definitely hoping someone overtakes him on the depth chart by next fall. Not saying he's bad but that run he had up the middle could have been a TD if he was faster.

 
Moiraine said:
Yep. Definitely hoping someone overtakes him on the depth chart by next fall. Not saying he's bad but that run he had up the middle could have been a TD if he was faster.
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It wasn’t just one run...he had two that should have been housed where he got caught from behind

 
Caliborn72 said:
CoIorado was a really tough OOC opponent and we outplayed them most of the game. Hats off to them for the win, but I leave this game very optimistic, even if we have to wait a year for big time results.
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I live on the west coast and watch a lot of Pac 12 football.  No one is scared of CU, they are a good opponent but not a really tough opponent.  This is what has me a bit concerned.  Yes it was a quality opponent but we need to have this win.  There were some good things today but ultimately more bad than good and it cost us this game.  This one stings so will be interesting to see our improvement over the season.  

 
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