What did we Learn? (The NIU Huskies Edition)

Great win.

The "blowout" was needed

Back up QB is always a fan fave (he did look smooth)

D played great.  I like the rotation of guys (except JoJo-keep him in)

Mills finally got it going

Mo needs to bulk up to try to hit between the tackles

Play calling baffles me still

Martinez played much better, but still looks off 

ST''s- crazy night

Nice to see Noa get the TD and a catch

OL needs to improve before conference play-I'd rotate the young guys through

Hope our injured guys get back quick

Much better evening with the W than the loss

 
We needed a blowout win.

But we don't look sound enough to get the wins over the tough teams on our schedule.

We miss our kicker and Kade Warner.  Warner is the possession WR we don't have on the field but AMart needs.

AMart looked better but he was under duress again from a weak OL.  OL is the glaring weakness.  Inside blocking is the problem.  That is why you are seeing AMart rushed at through the interior of the line and why we can't run between the tackles.

The OL is going to cost us a game we should not lose.

The defense may be dangerous enough to sneak us a win we shouldn't get.

Our best players are all outside perimeter guys good in space...MoWash, JD, and Wandale.  To beat an elite team we are going to have to play fast and try to get some defense and special teams points.  

I wish the offense was coming together as a unit as it seems the defense is.  Surprises me to say that the defense looks ahead of the offense in terms of what I was expecting this season. The defense is performing around what I expected but I expected the offense to be much better than what they have shown and be the unit that drove this team to victories.  

 
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FTW said:
That even with a 44-8 win and not allowing an offensive TD, this fan base still finds ways to nitpick and b!^@h about the team versus enjoying the win. I swear, we're the most self absorbed fan base in CFB.
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There’s nothing wrong with having concerns about how we’ll look against tougher competition. Especially when some of the same problems we had against South Alabama and Colorado showed up against Northern Illinois. The offensive line hasn’t looked like they’ll be good against the decent B1G teams. Hopefully this game and the Illinois game will be enough for them to get better. 

 
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Packerhuskerfan said:
The kicking game is going to cost us some games. You'd think there would be some decent high school kickers on campus that would at least be more serviceable than what we have.
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The quality of kicking tonight wasn't an issue. The issue was that somehow we forgot or didn't try or were unable to block the rush. That's got nothing to do with the kicker unless Armstrong is somehow taking a notable amount of time longer to go through the kicking motion, which didn't seem like the case to my amateur eyes at least.

BigRedBuster said:
300 yards of offense, three TDs, no turn overs.....and you want him to sit. 
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I don't want AM to sit, but I don't give a s#!t about the stats - I agree he is still off. He doesn't look right, or the same. Almost every throw he does a double clutch, he's got happy feet, when he runs he doesn't seem particularly decisive, etc. He's second guessing himself quite a lot, but he's still got an immense amount of talent to put up good numbers against a poor team.

FTW said:
That even with a 44-8 win and not allowing an offensive TD, this fan base still finds ways to nitpick and b!^@h about the team versus enjoying the win. I swear, we're the most self absorbed fan base in CFB.
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I'm enjoying the win plenty. Had a great time tonight and felt so much better to have a typical game against a creampuff. Loved it.

Even then, we didn't look particularly good. Truthfully that might be one of the least impressive 32 point scoring differential performance I've ever seen, if that makes sense. Defense played great, honestly no real complaints there of any kind, and man they have been an optimistic bright spot. That late 4th and goal was awesome. But the offense gave up a needless safety, we had THREE kicks blocked which is just unfathomable, so on and so forth.

But, we made some good progress, we played clean with only one penalty which is wildly optimistic, and I very much enjoyed the win.

Oh, also, this is the first September game in 3 years and 4 days where we've had the second string in.

 
-Aside from Ohio state, the b1g doesn’t look very impressive so far this year.  

-IMO, Martinez really seems to struggle most when throwing on rollout passes/when he’s on the run, which is what everyone’s been clamoring for.  Something still seems off but he looked a lot better this game once he settled in a bit.  

 
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Moiraine said:
Too early to tell I think. We had so many close losses last year that 6-6 might not really be a better team. Not saying I think we'll go 6-6. I hope we are better and think we'll go 8-4 or something similar.
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On defense, I feel we’re a LOT better than last season. And that may be enough playing NW, Minny, Indiana, and Purdue, even with our O-line as it is.

 
Landlord said:
don't want AM to sit, but I don't give a s#!t about the stats - I agree he is still off. He doesn't look right, or the same. Almost every throw he does a double clutch, he's got happy feet, when he runs he doesn't seem particularly decisive, etc. He's second guessing himself quite a lot, but he's still got an immense amount of talent to put up good numbers against a poor team.
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The stats only ell part of the story and I agree, he doesn’t look like the player I expected to start the year. But, he had a good game and the poster I quoted said he wants him to sit. 

 
1. I have restored hope in Dedrick Mills

2. It won't matter who the kicker is if we continue to allow the defense to run straight through the middle of the line and block kicks. I'm sure coach Dewitt will get that cleaned up immediately. 

3. We're going to have to throw the ball around the yard this year. Our run game is either 0 yards or 60

4. When's the last time we blocked a punt?! Freaking awesome! 

5. Lamar Jackson deserves a TON of praise. I thought after the Purdue game last year when he got benched that he was going to transfer. He stuck it out and is playing at an elite level so far this year. 

6. Run defense this year has been stout AF, and that's going to be huge in conference play. 

7. I really hope Cam Taylor-Britt isn't hurt badly. He's a great player and a guy you can build a defense around

 
Stone Cold said:
Something is wrong with Martinez.  I dont care what frost or anyone says, hes getting high, hes got gf issues, hes debating coming out of the closed, hes afraid of his roomate, hes got turf toe, his hair tickles his ear every time he throws, hes debating on turning in his publishers clearing house card, he became allergic to the color white, i dont know but its something.  If he cant get his head clear he needs to sit.  He thinks hes the guy, but he sure as hell hasnt shown that hes the guy.
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I could not agree more. You can see it with how he handles himself back there. I wish SF would set his butt out and let our back up play. He looked like the better guy last night.

 
A win is always good, especially when it is a blowout, but the fact is this was against Northern Illinois, a team whose only win this season was over Illinois State and was blown out by Utah last week. 

NIU stinks at running the ball, Utah held them to 2.7 yd/rush and IS held them to 2.6 yd/rush.  

Liked the explosiveness that showed up at times.  

Defense looks good most of the time.  

Only one turnover

NIU had the ball nearly two times as much as Nebraska did even with their incompetent running game.  Against opponents the quality of Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa, this could be a huge issue as the defense is left on the field all game.  

The Offensive line is still a work in progress, which is the result of the Riley years, will be another two years to get that cleaned up and have depth.  

Vedral looked good at the end of the game, nice having depth at the QB position unlike last season.  

Illinois should be a better test even though they will likely end up in last place.  

 
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