What did we learn: Ohio State

I learned I'm horrible at predicting the outcome of games which is why I don't gamble. And for being 2-7 I'm not really upset and have very good feeling things are going in the right direction pronto.

Even though it was a loss I was proud of the way the team played and fought to the end. Maybe not next year, but in the not too distant future, HCSF is going have them in the conf. champ. game on a fairly consistent basis I'm confident.

The offense is already lethal and as they continue to add skill players that fit the system and beef up the OL I only see it soaring higher.

Defense has taken huge strides since the first few games. Still a long way to go but it is so nice to see improvement as the year progresses. I still think we are down on talent in at several, if not most, positions and lack depth most everywhere, not just on D.

Whatever it takes they have to get the special teams fixed in the off season. Even playing just average ST play would look great right now. This will continue to be a source that contributes to losses until fixed. I'm sure HCSF will formulate a plan to fix this huge weak spot.

 
Mavric said:
I actually have no issue with that kick going OOB.

First, it was about as much bad luck as anything.  Usually those kicks bounce end-over-end and hop down the field.  That one happened to lay over so it rolled much farther than would usually be expected.

Second, I actually said before he even kicked it that we should just kick it out of bounds and not even take a chance with them returning it.  There were only 15 seconds left in the half.  Even getting the ball at the 35 they only had 2-3 plays to get into field goal range.  I'd take those odds much better than trusting our coverage (this year).
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I would suggest that he should have kicked it out of the end zone to remove all doubt re: the return and not draw a flag. 

Plus this was the next kick right after the failed surprise onside that’s been making the rounds on the Internet now...so unless Frost was reacting to how quickly Caleb’s failed kick spread across the Internet...his kickoff wasn’t what the coach asked for. And not doing what the coach asked for is what got Caleb removed off punting duty in the first place. 

 
VectorVictor said:
I would suggest that he should have kicked it out of the end zone to remove all doubt re: the return and not draw a flag. 

Plus this was the next kick right after the failed surprise onside that’s been making the rounds on the Internet now...so unless Frost was reacting to how quickly Caleb’s failed kick spread across the Internet...his kickoff wasn’t what the coach asked for. And not doing what the coach asked for is what got Caleb removed off punting duty in the first place. 
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If we had a kicker who was routinely kicking it out the back of the end zone, that would be great.  But we don't.

Why would you doubt he was supposed to squib it?  That's what most teams would do in that situation.  And it wasn't the first kickoff after the failed onside kick.  We also kicked off after a TD with 4:45 to go in the half.  It landed on the 3, so that's why we couldn't assume he'd kick it deep into the end zone.  

The squib kick was the correct call, especially with how our coverage teams have been this year.  Lightbourn attempted exactly the type of kicks that Frost wanted.  They just didn't work out as planned.

 
Mavric said:
If we had a kicker who was routinely kicking it out the back of the end zone, that would be great.  But we don't.

Why would you doubt he was supposed to squib it?  That's what most teams would do in that situation.  And it wasn't the first kickoff after the failed onside kick.  We also kicked off after a TD with 4:45 to go in the half.  It landed on the 3, so that's why we couldn't assume he'd kick it deep into the end zone.  

The squib kick was the correct call, especially with how our coverage teams have been this year.  Lightbourn attempted exactly the type of kicks that Frost wanted.  They just didn't work out as planned.
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I'm not saying squib wasn't the correct call, as you're trying to kill clock on the kickoff and make the kickoff difficult to return. But that requires the kick to stay inbound, which Caleb did not accomplish. And yes, I get that we don't have a kicker who can routinely kick it out of the back of the end zone. But we also have a kicker that can't do a squib kick without penalty, nor can they do an onside kick (albeit a surprise one).

I guess my point got off target--IMO, it goes back to asking why we have Caleb still on Special Teams? Do we not have another kicker that could do his job effectively somewhere in the roster? We already replaced Caleb once because he wasn't able to do as the coach asked--why would this time different?

 
VectorVictor said:
I guess my point got off target--IMO, it goes back to asking why we have Caleb still on Special Teams? Do we not have another kicker that could do his job effectively somewhere in the roster? We already replaced Caleb once because he wasn't able to do as the coach asked--why would this time different?
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I haven't found the touchback stats to comment on how well he's doing overall on kickoffs, but I would guess we do not have another kicker who can consistently kick off into the end zone which is our goal on most kickoffs. Maybe we have a better guy for an onside kick, but that would be a bit of a clue to our intentions if we send out a new kicker randomly. He's able to do what the coaches ask most of the time on kickoffs, and I don't find it hard to believe our other options can't - nobody else seems to have an exceptionally strong leg. 

 
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Husker in WI said:
I haven't found the touchback stats, but I would guess we do not have another kicker who can consistently kick off into the end zone, which is our goal on most kickoffs. Maybe we have a better guy for an onside kick, but that would be a bit of a clue to our intentions if we send out a new kicker randomly. He's able to do what the coaches ask most of the time on kickoffs, and I don't find it hard to believe our other options can't - nobody else seems to have an exceptionally strong leg. 
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Fair enough. Here's hoping we're looking to recruit a couple of kickers/punters this go around then. 

 
What I learned: 

Once upon a time, we were feared, respected, had a very high sense of pride with strong values. I can say we are surly improving day by day,  week by week. Yes; we still need to weed out, a few issues here and there, and most of us recognize the process isn’t done yet, but one thing appears to be a solid bet, and that is the progress will continue. 

Oh, wait, that was my perspective on some of our fans and thier comments to this weeks, and every other performance!

The team will be just fine  :D

 
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Glad we aren’t tying or breaking records in futility for a change. Lightborne seems to be trying hard though. His kickoff has to be the shortest in Nebraska history.

 
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I learned that a 1st year Cornhusker coach, Scott Frost with a true freshman QB and patchwork line can go into Columbus against a 3 time national champion urban liar, with 5 years worth of top ten recruiting classes, and very nearly come out with a W.  

 
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