What we learned today???

Okay, so I haven't read much of this thread yet - I will do so later - but I wanted to vent:

- That this team is no different then in previous years: world beaters one week and pooping the bed the next

- O-line still has a long ways to go (some consistency from week-to-week would be nice!)

- There's apparently only one person on the d-line who gives a crap (am I the only one who noticed that HUUUUGE push from Baker???)

- The early pass rush from the front four was a joke...it was obvious that they were playing for the QB rush and not trying to get after him instead

- The d-line and LBing corps need some real help for next season. Looking at what the team has, I don't think what we have will cut it if we want to win Championships (JUCOs maybe? Bo has picked some good ones so far....especially for defense)

- Learned that a THIRD string QB can burn us...where exactly does our depth at QB sit if Taylor goes down?

- Rex is human and looked beat up and worn down.......if only we had two or three other QBs that were athletic and fast

- Big 10 refs seem terribly confused all the time

- Anyone who questions Taylor's fight needs to get their head examined

- Crick may not have been putting up huge numbers, but his presence on the line is definitely missed

- A clear pattern is developing: Iowa St in '09, Texas in '10, Northwestern in '11. Losing to these teams at home is unacceptable and being outcoached and outplayed is even moreso

- The rest of the season will be pretty dull unless somehow Mich St loses a game. Since I don't see that happening...Insight Bowl here we come!

 
Thorrell gave up probably 150 of their passing yards. That is all I want to say. The number 23 is being added to number 42 as numbers that make me cringe when they step on the field.

 
That the Diamond formation would not work against Northwestern's alignment. I mean why else wouldn't we have tried it? If the coaches thought it would be effective wouldn't they have used it?. Also, we need more blue chippers on the O-line. Andrew may get there, and Tyler Moore is young. But the majority O-lineman from the 2008-2010 recruiting classes are not very good.

 
Oh, and on the positive side I learned today that T-mart is a better quarterback than he gets credit for. I was hard on him after Wisconsin, but was converted after the OSU comeback.

 
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chamrocck said:
1) The posts by Husker_x, The Duke, and BigWillie cover it all. I couldn't agree more.

2) Shortside option always kills us. STOP running this now. Replace how often you call this play with the Diamond Formation...trust me it will save your job.

3) Our D-Line can't get off a block/hold whatever. If we had some speed we couldn't get held. Please gets some guys who can make a play on the D-Line. No more giving the opposing QB half a minute to develop the play. Get some speed to get the QB on the ground. I'm ready to play 4 EMarts up front. Do we even know what a blitz is? Our D-Line has lived off of Suh's reputation last 2 years...it is embarrassing how many announcer crews actually think we have a good D-Line. If we don't return to a fast, attacking defense we cannot win big...we'll continue to have other teams move all over us as we can't get off blocks and try to arm tackle them. Not hard to get 3-4 yards every play on our style of defense.

4) TMart played a hell of a game. Week in and week out the guy has pressure in his face off the snap while the opposing QB sets up a picnic behind his O-Line. The contrast is dramatic every week.

5) Where the hell are the playmakers? Get them on the field. Teams like OU, LSU, Bama, and Oregon don't recruit playmakers to have them sit.

6) Clock management by our coaches flat out sucked.

7) Special teams...down the punt before it reaches the endzone...we whiffed big twice on that today.

8) Credit to Northwestern...I was surprised they didn't kick it to go up by six but they wanted it and knew they could move it on our weak defense.
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That was perfect

 
Almost forgot, learned that PJ Smith is really freaking slow. He had the angle on Colter and Colter burned him to the pylon. I thought safeties were supposed to be fast. PJ looked like he had cement shoes on.

 
strider77 said:
That the Diamond formation would not work against Northwestern's alignment. I mean why else wouldn't we have tried it? If the coaches thought it would be effective wouldn't they have used it?. Also, we need more blue chippers on the O-line. Andrew may get there, and Tyler Moore is young. But the majority O-lineman from the 2008-2010 recruiting classes are not very good.
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If so, he has a LONG ways to go. Pretty much every game the Guard/Center gaps have been destroyed/blown up big time.

Here are a couple of things that have been overlooked in my eyes, as Willie pretty much hit the nail on thehead with my other gripes.

1. Our special team coverage units are horrendous. Have been all year. Nothing sucks more than watching NU score and then getting jacked up for a defensive stop to have your kickoff unit allow a teams drive start anywhere from the 40 to midfield. The punt coverage team has hurt NU in the past as well. Something there really needs to be looked at and addressed.

2. Andrew Green may have locked up the CB spot opposite Zo. He played VERY good once again. I wouldn't mind seeing this and have JS-B replace Ciante Evans who has been a weak spot on the defense since day one(sans the tackle on Gabbert last year)

3. Chase ROme obviously pissed off the staff something fierce if Justin Jackson is getting PT and he is not. Whatever he did hurt this team. That was one less fresh body to rotate in this game.

And finally 4. We as fans have proved once again how quick we will heap praises on people one minute and crap on them the next. That is passion. This game of football is frustrating and today proved it well.

 
PaulCrewe said:
strider77 said:
That the Diamond formation would not work against Northwestern's alignment. I mean why else wouldn't we have tried it? If the coaches thought it would be effective wouldn't they have used it?. Also, we need more blue chippers on the O-line. Andrew may get there, and Tyler Moore is young. But the majority O-lineman from the 2008-2010 recruiting classes are not very good.
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If so, he has a LONG ways to go. Pretty much every game the Guard/Center gaps have been destroyed/blown up big time.

Here are a couple of things that have been overlooked in my eyes, as Willie pretty much hit the nail on thehead with my other gripes.

1. Our special team coverage units are horrendous. Have been all year. Nothing sucks more than watching NU score and then getting jacked up for a defensive stop to have your kickoff unit allow a teams drive start anywhere from the 40 to midfield. The punt coverage team has hurt NU in the past as well. Something there really needs to be looked at and addressed.

2. Andrew Green may have locked up the CB spot opposite Zo. He played VERY good once again. I wouldn't mind seeing this and have JS-B replace Ciante Evans who has been a weak spot on the defense since day one(sans the tackle on Gabbert last year)

3. Chase ROme obviously pissed off the staff something fierce if Justin Jackson is getting PT and he is not. Whatever he did hurt this team. That was one less fresh body to rotate in this game.

And finally 4. We as fans have proved once again how quick we will heap praises on people one minute and crap on them the next. That is passion. This game of football is frustrating and today proved it well.
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Well said.

 
Not really sure I understand how the coaches handle this team

Chase Rome went from starter to zero playing time. Same with SJB. Same with Josh Mitchell. Same with Jamal Turner (although his absence has been addressed by the coaches)

All of these guys looked pretty good when on the field so there is obviously something else going on.

Martin played well against MSU and had a decent game today. So from what I gather, we won't see him on the field for a while.

 
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Rome and SJB are injured. Not sure about Josh (he was one of those CBs that got in some kind of trouble, wasn't he?) and Turner, no clue what the deal is there.

 
Also learned that anyone can beat anyone in this league. Iowa loses to Minnesota last week and then beats Michigan. Michigan State struggles against Minnesota. We get beat at home against an average Northwestern team.

I really thought we would win this game. What a let down......I suppose we will play well against Penn State next week and be all giddy again only to fall on our faces against Michigan. We just can't seem to get everything working on all 8 cylinders. Definitely a coaching issue there. I guess in the end it will be another 10-3 or 9-4 season. If we are lucky!

 
Does anyone remember the thread after last week talking about getting TM and Rex out of the game for those last series? We talked about what would happen if one of them got hurt. Well Rex looked awfully dinged up today after his 35 carry game last week and I think it was a huge factor. There's been a lot of talk about how the OL has gotten better lately, but how much of that perceived improvement is Rex seemingly always making the first guy miss and often turning a probable loss into something positive. Today, it just didn't seem to be there for him, he just didn't look like himself. We have three guys, Rex, TM and LaVonte, that to me, we have to have healthy at all costs.

I learned (and continue to learn) that TM seems to be getting better all the time. Not perfect (still not a down the line option QB), but a QB who I think now can win you games in other ways than just busting the ZR.

I also learned that we continue to be the single most stubbornly coached defensive team I've ever seen. Maybe I'm missing something out there, but we just seem to refuse to adjust in game and try to do something different when what we have going isn't working.

 
BIG ERN said:
Use our playmakers instead of thinking 50 touches from Burkhead is gonna get it done. Turner? Abdullah? Heard? Green?
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Exactly. Watching the Bama/LSU game made me cringe.... FR and Sophs's all over...... while NU puts them in the oven to bake and mature. Sad sad indeed. What a HUGE waste of talent.

What the hell are we doing making a guy like AGreen stand on the sidelines?

 
AustinHuskr said:
BIG ERN said:
Use our playmakers instead of thinking 50 touches from Burkhead is gonna get it done. Turner? Abdullah? Heard? Green?
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Exactly. Watching the Bama/LSU game made me cringe.... FR and Sophs's all over...... while NU puts them in the oven to bake and mature. Sad sad indeed. What a HUGE waste of talent.

What the hell are we doing making a guy like AGreen stand on the sidelines?
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My goodness, was watching that game a refresher course in defensive football. So solid fundamentally. They fly to the ball, and make and finish the play when they get there. Those two teams are in a different league than everyone else.

 
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