Why Nebraska lost...

E

Eric the Red

Team HuskerBoard
"I thought (Brad) Smith was outstanding," said Nebraska coach Bill Callahan. "He is what he is -- an excellent football player and certainly, he made a number of plays that were the difference in the football game."
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[SIZE=14pt]Brad Smith....that's why Nebraska lost.[/SIZE]

 
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First let me say I was encouraged by the game yesterday. Of course I was disappointed, but I saw some great things as well. Namely a certain QB named Mr Taylor. Wow was that a gutty performance. Give that kid some protection & WRs that can consistently catch balls that hit them in the #'s, and we have a shot in most every game. He is just a flat gamer guys. Only made one blatantly bad decision that I noticed, and seemed to maintain his composure very well throughout, despite getting tatooed on almost every play.

Im sure many of you have already discussed these key points, but IMO these were the bottom lines to the game:

#1A) Brad Smith is on another level. His level of play & stats are up there with Crouch. If Vince Young isnt playing in the Big 12 it's Smith-Leinart-Bush-Young for the Heisman race.

The rest of these are in no particular order. The one directly above, is.

*We made waay too many mental mistakes to hope to win any football game in a major conference. Let alone one with a player on the level of Smith.

*MU's defense played out of their shoes, on the same day our O-line looked like my youth soccer team when they stop in the middle of a play to play with a grasshopper. That combo will also never result in a win. Or Shakeys pizza & ice cream parties.

*We had a couple very untimely turnovers, which on another given day might not occur.

*Our WR's had SEVERAL key drops. Many of which would have resulted in 1st downs and kept our defense off the field, which looked like they were breathing 4th Q Boulder air.

*Matt Herian, Matt Herian and Matt Herian

*Cosgrove made good adjustments, but then seemed to overthink himself right back outta them. After the first couple big MU plays, we seemed to begin containing Smith very nicely. Our guys were staying home and in their lanes, and Smith wasnt able to burn us on the back-track like he loves to do. The 4th Q schemes were a replica of the 1st. The 2nd Q worked, why change?

Yes you can point to similar things in most any loss and say "if that didnt.." and "if only.." we woulda won. But IMO, just like 2 yrs ago in Columbia, there were a few very key swings that couldve gone either way which completely shifted the ebb & flow and turned the tide against us. And lets face it guys, we're just due for some balls to bounce in the other teams favor these days - especially in Columbia.

So lets tip our hats to the better team yesterday, acknowledge our weaknesses, and work to get better.

We will be back fellow Huskers. Keep the faith.

 
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First let me say I was encouraged by the game yesterday. Of course I was disappointed, but I saw some great things as well. Namely a certain QB named Mr Taylor. Wow was that a gutty performance. Give that kid some protection & WRs that can consistently catch balls that hit them in the #'s, and we have a shot in most every game. He is just a flat gamer guys. Only made one blatantly bad decision that I noticed, and seemed to maintain his composure very well throughout, despite getting tatooed on almost every play.
Im sure many of you have already discussed these key points, but IMO these were the bottom lines to the game:

#1A) Brad Smith is on another level. His level of play & stats are up there with Crouch. If Vince Young isnt playing in the Big 12 it's Smith-Leinart-Bush-Young for the Heisman race.

The rest of these are in no particular order. The one directly above, is.

*We made waay too many mental mistakes to hope to win any football game in a major conference. Let alone one with a player on the level of Smith.

*MU's defense played out of their shoes, on the same day our O-line looked like my youth soccer team when they stop in the middle of a play to play with a grasshopper. That combo will also never result in a win. Or Shakeys pizza & ice cream parties.

*We had a couple very untimely turnovers, which on another given day might not occur.

*Our WR's had SEVERAL key drops. Many of which would have resulted in 1st downs and kept our defense off the field, which looked like they were breathing 4th Q Boulder air.

*Matt Herian, Matt Herian and Matt Herian

*Cosgrove made good adjustments, but then seemed to overthink himself right back outta them. After the first couple big MU plays, we seemed to begin containing Smith very nicely. Our guys were staying home and in their lanes, and Smith wasnt able to burn us on the back-track like he loves to do. The 4th Q schemes were a replica of the 1st. The 2nd Q worked, why change?

Yes you can point to similar things in most any loss and say "if that didnt.." and "if only.." we woulda won. But IMO, just like 2 yrs ago in Columbia, there were a few very key swings that couldve gone either way which completely shifted the ebb & flow and turned the tide against us. And lets face it guys, we're just due for some balls to bounce in the other teams favor these days - especially in Columbia.

So lets tip our hats to the better team yesterday, acknowledge our weaknesses, and work to get better.

We will be back fellow Huskers. Keep the faith.
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:yeah

And, After sleeping on it...

1) I had a bad feeling about this game. I picked a NU win, but was very worried.

2) This loss makes the Baylor win much bigger. There is a world of difference between 5-2 and 4-3.

3) The kids played hard, but not well.

4) Coz strikes again! He tried to outthink himself, and came up with some crazy scheme that did not work AT ALL. If he would have stayed with what had been working this season, NU may have competed better. I haven't lost total faith in Coz, but he was a complete idiot yesterday. No linebackers? Smith reads it and runs 80 yards for a TD... Coz can be brainless, and he showed it yesterday. Remember though, he is still the same coach we were lauding a few weeks ago. And these are the same Blackshirts.

5) Zac Taylor is a stud. He made a couple of mistakes, but all in all he tried to put this team on his shoulders. He was successful in the second and early third. If Nunn doesn't fubmble, this is a different game, no matter how badly NU played.

6) I can't believe we are still lining up wrong in the 7th game of the season.

7) Why is the OL this pathetic so late in the year? Why is Thomas the worst lineman NU has ever had starting? I thought they actually practiced the biltz this week...at least that's what Callahan told the media...apparently he was either lying or had no idea how to coach against this type of blitzing.

8) After calling pretty good games the past 3...Callahan's play calling was suspect. Abandoned the run. While the pass was working pretty well (except the sacks and drops) when NU did run, it weemed to work ok. If NU would have run more, it may have slowed down the blitzing. Callahan's stubbonness may keep him from being an upper-echilon coach. The jury is still out.

9) The season is not over. We'll see if NU falls apart, or comes together. With this easy of a schedule, NU should win 3 of their last 4.

10) This season is eerily similar to Fearless' last year...the Missouri score is even the exact same...win against the bad teams, lose against the decent ones...we'll see if this plays out like that...OU is pretty bad, NU should win by at least 2 TD's. Again, it wasn't the effort yesterday, it was the coaching and execution.

This is still a young team learning how to win...GO BIG RED!!!

11) NU 20

OU 10

 
7) Why is the OL this pathetic so late in the year? Why is Thomas the worst lineman NU has ever had starting? I thought they actually practiced the biltz this week...at least that's what Callahan told the media...apparently he was either lying  or had no idea how to coach against this type of blitzing.
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Wagner coaches the line. Thomas is pretty awful. He was taken on the same spin move no fewer than 4 times. You can really see the loss of Christiansen.

8) After calling pretty good games the past 3...Callahan's play calling was suspect. Abandoned the run. While the pass was working pretty well (except the sacks and drops) when NU did run, it weemed to work ok. If NU would have run more, it may have slowed down the blitzing. Callahan's stubbonness may keep him from being an upper-echilon coach. The jury is still out.
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I don't agree at all. We moved the ball down the field but kept killing ourselves with penalties and mental mistakes. Once the clock really started to bear down in the second half, the only way to get back in it is to score and score now. You can't really do that with the run game save a big break by a RB. I thought the plays were there, but balls were dropped, mental errors galore in the 2nd half.

I think Cos could have called a better game, but even Ruud said in post game that there were a ton of blown coverages and people not doing the simple things that they do well otherwise.

10) This season is eerily similar to Fearless' last year...the Missouri score is even the exact same...win against the bad teams, lose against the decent ones...we'll see if this plays out like that...OU is pretty bad, NU should win by at least 2 TD's. Again, it wasn't the effort yesterday, it was the coaching and execution.
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Good effort leads to good execution. We tried, but blown coverages on defense and blown blocking on the offensive side gave Brad Smith what he wanted and didn't give Taylor enough time with Missou defenders breathing down his back only 2-3 seconds after the snap.

 
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You guys hit it on the head.

I mean really, if you watch the post game reports from the PLAYERS, they know what they did wrong. They didn't even seem down about losing (IMO), which is good. They recognized their errors, commented on watching tape during this week and will carry on with the season.

I really think these guys are a heck of a lot more focused than last years team.

GBR! :thumbs

 
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He reminds me of a "Vick" or two.

I think that if he was on a team that had more media coverage and a better supporting cast he'd been a contender for the Heisman.

 
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First let me say I was encouraged by the game yesterday. Of course I was disappointed, but I saw some great things as well. Namely a certain QB named Mr Taylor. Wow was that a gutty performance. Give that kid some protection & WRs that can consistently catch balls that hit them in the #'s, and we have a shot in most every game.  He is just a flat gamer guys.  Only made one blatantly bad decision that I noticed, and seemed to maintain his composure very well throughout, despite getting tatooed on almost every play. 
Im sure many of you have already discussed these key points, but IMO these were the bottom lines to the game:

#1A) Brad Smith is on another level.  His level of play & stats are up there with Crouch. If Vince Young isnt playing in the Big 12 it's Smith-Leinart-Bush-Young for the Heisman race.

The rest of these are in no particular order. The one directly above, is.

*We made waay too many mental mistakes to hope to win any football game in a major conference. Let alone one with a player on the level of Smith.

*MU's defense played out of their shoes, on the same day our O-line looked like my youth soccer team when they stop in the middle of a play to play with a grasshopper. That combo will also never result in a win. Or Shakeys pizza & ice cream parties.

*We had a couple very untimely turnovers, which on another given day might not occur. 

*Our WR's had SEVERAL key drops. Many of which would have resulted in 1st downs and kept our defense off the field, which looked like they were breathing 4th Q Boulder air.

*Matt Herian, Matt Herian and Matt Herian

*Cosgrove made good adjustments, but then seemed to overthink himself right back outta them. After the first couple big MU plays, we seemed to begin containing Smith very nicely. Our guys were staying home and in their lanes, and Smith wasnt able to burn us on the back-track like he loves to do. The 4th Q schemes were a replica of the 1st. The 2nd Q worked, why change?

Yes you can point to similar things in most any loss and say "if that didnt.." and "if only.." we woulda won.  But IMO, just like 2 yrs ago in Columbia, there were a few very key swings that couldve gone either way which completely shifted the ebb & flow and turned the tide against us. And lets face it guys, we're just due for some balls to bounce in the other teams favor these days - especially in Columbia.

So lets tip our hats to the better team yesterday, acknowledge our weaknesses, and work to get better.

We will be back fellow Huskers. Keep the faith.
Click to expand...
:yeah

And, After sleeping on it...

1) I had a bad feeling about this game. I picked a NU win, but was very worried.

2) This loss makes the Baylor win much bigger. There is a world of difference between 5-2 and 4-3.

3) The kids played hard, but not well.

4) Coz strikes again! He tried to outthink himself, and came up with some crazy scheme that did not work AT ALL. If he would have stayed with what had been working this season, NU may have competed better. I haven't lost total faith in Coz, but he was a complete idiot yesterday. No linebackers? Smith reads it and runs 80 yards for a TD... Coz can be brainless, and he showed it yesterday. Remember though, he is still the same coach we were lauding a few weeks ago. And these are the same Blackshirts.

5) Zac Taylor is a stud. He made a couple of mistakes, but all in all he tried to put this team on his shoulders. He was successful in the second and early third. If Nunn doesn't fubmble, this is a different game, no matter how badly NU played.

6) I can't believe we are still lining up wrong in the 7th game of the season.

7) Why is the OL this pathetic so late in the year? Why is Thomas the worst lineman NU has ever had starting? I thought they actually practiced the biltz this week...at least that's what Callahan told the media...apparently he was either lying or had no idea how to coach against this type of blitzing.

8) After calling pretty good games the past 3...Callahan's play calling was suspect. Abandoned the run. While the pass was working pretty well (except the sacks and drops) when NU did run, it weemed to work ok. If NU would have run more, it may have slowed down the blitzing. Callahan's stubbonness may keep him from being an upper-echilon coach. The jury is still out.

9) The season is not over. We'll see if NU falls apart, or comes together. With this easy of a schedule, NU should win 3 of their last 4.

10) This season is eerily similar to Fearless' last year...the Missouri score is even the exact same...win against the bad teams, lose against the decent ones...we'll see if this plays out like that...OU is pretty bad, NU should win by at least 2 TD's. Again, it wasn't the effort yesterday, it was the coaching and execution.

This is still a young team learning how to win...GO BIG RED!!!

11) NU 20

OU 10
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:WTH Cosgrove

:WTH Thomas OL

:WTH Mental Mistakes

:WTH Fumbles

 
Does anyone else think that if Smith played for a team like Miami or Michigan he'd already have a couple Heisman's?
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All that I know is at times he is inconsistant. If he could have put the good games together throughout the season he could have definently won alot of hardware. He looked like a man posessed out there Saturday. That level of play will get him a very nice career in the Pros.

 
When we lost to Texas Tech, some of you said that we really didn't lose the game...one person even made the stupid comment that the coaches should tell the players we're still undefeated. Well, let me quote former NFL Coach Buddy Ryan..."That there my friends was an old fashioned butt-kickin, and we provided the butt." 17 pt loss on the road, I thought we were making progress. Some on this site even thought we should have been in the Top 25. I have read threads related to this game that said that we couldn't hold on to the ball, 3rd down was a problem for us, and the offenseive line struggled. Most of the comments here have been that Brad Smith was the reason we lost. One guy beat a team that is making progress. Last time I checked there were 11 men on both sides of the ball. Missouri is not 17 pts better than Nebraska, maybe even competition. You know, I live in California and don't get to hear or watch the game...all I get is the score and the stats, it simply tells me we haven't made as much progress as we think. I am embarrased by this performance...I know this will upset some, but come on...if you honestly think this is good progress, and your happy about the state of things in Lincoln, I question your passion for this team. Somebody told me the Missouri fans rushed the field after the win, HOW STUPID...rushing the field after beating a team not ranked any more. After this performance, Oklahoma doesn't scare me...KU scares me.

 
Coz strikes again! He tried to outthink himself, and came up with some crazy scheme that did not work AT ALL. If he would have stayed with what had been working this season, NU may have competed better
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So if we lost this game by 3 for example, Coz would have been less of a idiot right? <_<

Get real man, it's Coz's schemes that kept us in the game. In case you didn't notice, it was tied 24-24 up untill 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. His schemes were working just fine, and are not the reason they cost us the game. I reviewed the game film again, and everyone bitching about the 3 man rush has no clue what they are talking about. If you don't believe me, then go watch the game again and then come back here and tell me it wasn't working.

In all reality, the 2 long touchdown runs that Brad Smith scored on (the 70 yarder in the first Q and the 40 yarder in the third Q) were the result of us blitzing 6 people at the time and that left the middle of the field empty because our 2 CB's and 2 Safties were covering their 5 WR's, and guess what happened? Yes he scored on both occasions. I started having nightmares thinking what Smith would do if we blitzed 5 or 6 guys on every drive they had. He would have lit us up for 4 or 5 more touchdowns.

The only reason people think the 3 man rush wasn't working was b/c we lost. Plain and simple. The only reason we lost this game was because Missouri blitzed and a$$ raped our offensive line and that got us into to many 3rd and long situation we could not recover from and that caused to many 3 and outs, leaving the defense on the field longer that it could handle. Missouri did to us what we did to other teams when Crouch was our QB. They wore us down trying to chase Brad Smith. Plain and simple

 
Coz strikes again! He tried to outthink himself, and came up with some crazy scheme that did not work AT ALL. If he would have stayed with what had been working this season, NU may have competed better
Click to expand...
So if we lost this game by 3 for example, Coz would have been less of a idiot right? <_<

Get real man, it's Coz's schemes that kept us in the game. In case you didn't notice, it was tied 24-24 up untill 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. His schemes were working just fine, and are not the reason they cost us the game. I reviewed the game film again, and everyone bitching about the 3 man rush has no clue what they are talking about. If you don't believe me, then go watch the game again and then come back here and tell me it wasn't working.

In all reality, the 2 long touchdown runs that Brad Smith scored on (the 70 yarder in the first Q and the 40 yarder in the third Q) were the result of us blitzing 6 people at the time and that left the middle of the field empty because our 2 CB's and 2 Safties were covering their 5 WR's, and guess what happened? Yes he scored on both occasions. I started having nightmares thinking what Smith would do if we blitzed 5 or 6 guys on every drive they had. He would have lit us up for 4 or 5 more touchdowns.

The only reason people think the 3 man rush wasn't working was b/c we lost. Plain and simple. The only reason we lost this game was because Missouri blitzed and a$$ raped our offensive line and that got us into to many 3rd and long situation we could not recover from and that caused to many 3 and outs, leaving the defense on the field longer that it could handle. Missouri did to us what we did to other teams when Crouch was our QB. They wore us down trying to chase Brad Smith. Plain and simple
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:yeah

They also ran a lot of no huddle just like TT did to start that game out. We couldn't get new people in and out like we are accustomed to, and well it showed in the 4th quarter when the D was dragging a$$!

 
Another good point Junior. The no huddle in the 4th quarter prevented us from pulling guys out who were tired and putting in fresh guys to blitz and pressure.

 
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