I hate to be the bearer of bad news for all the Husker faithful, but it seems we might have to be prepared for another stagnant season. Remember last year? Uh oh.
Given that our offensive line looked a little improved during the game during the first half of play does not excuse the overall play of our boys. The first half was plagued with missed opportunities and the second half wasn't even that good. On the bright side, Taylor was making mostly good decisions on the field, which is a level of play that we have been missing at that position for several years.
Yet, the D-line, which has been brightly lauded all year, let us down on several occasions, allowing a bigger game on the ground then we have let up all year. This worries me when we play Oklahoma, a team that smells like rotten fish, ready for the taking from any team that is capable of containing Peterson. I'm not so sure if we are that team. The rest of the Big 12 will be having their way with us all year, and it will begin next week against Iowa State.
After watching them manhandle Iowa, they are ready to stain their vicious talons with the blood of our beloved Herbie. They will be able to contain Ross and pick off Taylor, if not simply sack him on every attempt to pass. This fault, I do not believe, rests solely on the heads of our players.
Callahan, as talented as I believe he is in a Pro football coaching position, does not belong at the college level, nor does he belong at Nebraska. I thank him for what he has done for the recruiting department, but he isn't a personable head coach, which is almost a necessity at the college level, nor can he adequately teach children all of the necessary skills in order to succeed in this complicated system. Our team was called for more illegal formation penalties than I have seen in an entire year for the entire NCAA, and once even twice in a row. The routes that Callahan was calling were too complex and time consuming to work, especially with the offensive line that is hardly capable of creating the necessary pocket for a regular college receiver route to open, and the running plays were poorly timed and executed, with Cory Ross running straight into a mass of action when open green was available for him to explore had he been coached to improvise when the occasion called for it. These are coaching mistakes, and come to rest squarely on the shoulders of head coach Callahan.
People lauded his desire to transform this offense no matter what last year, saying that he was a good coach for sticking to his principals and the style of offense that he wanted to play. I say that this is a bunch of bullocks! Nebraska deserves to win, and the potential is there for our offense to play very well in a slightly simpler system. Callahan has to realize that the transformation should be gradual. You are never going to be able to completely revamp the playing style of any university program overnight.
Simplifying the system only slightly could, I think, spark this team into producing successful offense drives, and, in turn, could result in even our team even becoming a leader of the Big 12. Yet, at the rate we are improving, and due to the stubbornness of coach Callahan, we are not going to be able to make anything of this year, and will have to be satisfied with a lot of performances like today, or worse. So, Husker faithful, hold onto hope and happiness of our 3-0 start for one more week, until the tapestry all starts to unravel.
Given that our offensive line looked a little improved during the game during the first half of play does not excuse the overall play of our boys. The first half was plagued with missed opportunities and the second half wasn't even that good. On the bright side, Taylor was making mostly good decisions on the field, which is a level of play that we have been missing at that position for several years.
Yet, the D-line, which has been brightly lauded all year, let us down on several occasions, allowing a bigger game on the ground then we have let up all year. This worries me when we play Oklahoma, a team that smells like rotten fish, ready for the taking from any team that is capable of containing Peterson. I'm not so sure if we are that team. The rest of the Big 12 will be having their way with us all year, and it will begin next week against Iowa State.
After watching them manhandle Iowa, they are ready to stain their vicious talons with the blood of our beloved Herbie. They will be able to contain Ross and pick off Taylor, if not simply sack him on every attempt to pass. This fault, I do not believe, rests solely on the heads of our players.
Callahan, as talented as I believe he is in a Pro football coaching position, does not belong at the college level, nor does he belong at Nebraska. I thank him for what he has done for the recruiting department, but he isn't a personable head coach, which is almost a necessity at the college level, nor can he adequately teach children all of the necessary skills in order to succeed in this complicated system. Our team was called for more illegal formation penalties than I have seen in an entire year for the entire NCAA, and once even twice in a row. The routes that Callahan was calling were too complex and time consuming to work, especially with the offensive line that is hardly capable of creating the necessary pocket for a regular college receiver route to open, and the running plays were poorly timed and executed, with Cory Ross running straight into a mass of action when open green was available for him to explore had he been coached to improvise when the occasion called for it. These are coaching mistakes, and come to rest squarely on the shoulders of head coach Callahan.
People lauded his desire to transform this offense no matter what last year, saying that he was a good coach for sticking to his principals and the style of offense that he wanted to play. I say that this is a bunch of bullocks! Nebraska deserves to win, and the potential is there for our offense to play very well in a slightly simpler system. Callahan has to realize that the transformation should be gradual. You are never going to be able to completely revamp the playing style of any university program overnight.
Simplifying the system only slightly could, I think, spark this team into producing successful offense drives, and, in turn, could result in even our team even becoming a leader of the Big 12. Yet, at the rate we are improving, and due to the stubbornness of coach Callahan, we are not going to be able to make anything of this year, and will have to be satisfied with a lot of performances like today, or worse. So, Husker faithful, hold onto hope and happiness of our 3-0 start for one more week, until the tapestry all starts to unravel.
