Why Nebraska lost...

The last three posts make the most sense. If you noticed in the second quarter to most of the third, we contained Smith pretty well. It reminded me of the TTU game at that point. But after that Nunn fumble, the defense started to run out of gas. The Blackshirts were on the field way too long. Missouri wore us down plain and simple.

Don't get me wrong. Smith had a great game and he is a great athlete. But if our offense would have taken care of business, especially the OL, our defense would have been fresher in the fourth quarter and would have done a better job of defending Smith and his offense, and the game would had gone down to the wire like TTU. MU's defense if what really won it for them Saturday.

 
I'm not ready to give Mizzou's defense that much credit yet. It appears that their defense was pretty good, but I tend to believe that it was just really poor offensive line play by us. If we don't see another game like that then maybe their defense deserves the credit, but as of right now I think more blame goes on our O-line.

 
I'm not ready to give Mizzou's defense that much credit yet. It appears that their defense was pretty good, but I tend to believe that it was just really poor offensive line play by us. If we don't see another game like that then maybe their defense deserves the credit, but as of right now I think more blame goes on our O-line.
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:yeah

That was the chess match that we all anticipated. Our offense ranked near the bottom in D1, and Mizzou's defense ranked even lower towards the bottom in D1. We knew we had a good D and they had a good O. We just didn't know if our poor O could put points up on their poor D. We now know the answer to the question.

My only question on D is this: did anyone else notice how slow Brandenburg (sp) looked out there? I haven't seen him play a lot at the LB spot this year, but he was supposed to be a great recruit we snagged two years ago out of Kansas. He looked too big and too slow more like a fullback back there trying to play LB and cover a receiver.

Here's a question for all you Husker Hitstory Buffs: When was the last time NU was held under 10 yards rushing for an entire game? Also, is the Rucker that played WR for Mizzou related to the Rucker that played DE for NU? I think I once read where he was Mike Rucker's brother and chose to stay at NU after Solich was fired. Is this correct?

On the bright side of things, we will not see another QB like BS the rest of the year unless we make the Big 12 Title Game.

 
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.
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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. 
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I see your point to an extent. But we are 5-2. We played a poor game but did you honestly think after a 5-6 season that we were going to conquer the world this year. That is unrealistic in my eyes. To question the passion of a fan that is not upset about our record is unrealistic as well. I love this team us much as anything. I take crap year round for my conviction to my team living where i live. I dont mind it a bit. Screw um. Thats my opinion. 5-2 at this point is perfectly fine with me. We will only get better and better my friend. Then we will be serving the a$$ whippings on the regular.

 
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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
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You're kidding, right? Yes, the offense gets a share of the blame, but did you think the Defense actually played alright? :rollin

Brad Smith is a terrific athlete...But Iowa St. didn't seem to have much trouble stopping him. Yes, he got knocked out, but ISU was up 10 when he went out. He had 85 yards through about 3 quarters! He had that after the first quarter against the vaunted blackshirts! Against NU he puts up all kinds of records. Yeah, the defense was awesome...it was the scheme!

Cory McKeon asked to cover a WR? On purpose? When all logic says he should be the "spy"? You gotta be kidding. Are you sure you watched this game?

Did you watch the same game I did? Of course Smith ran 80 yards for a TD...there were NO LINEBACKERS playing inside.

Why blitz 6 when it obviously isn't working?

Coz went back to the his regular defense in the second and part of the third, (4-3)and then went back to what DIDN'T work in the first half (3-4), and NU gets blown out. It would have been worse if Smith hadn't missed wide open recievers on two different occasions! NU had one great play against Smith, the fumble. One of NU's TD's came off of that...the other came off of a blocked punt! Have you actually LOOKED at the statistics? Smith made the NU defense look silly, man.

I'm sorry, but defending Cosgrove in this situation is flat out mind-numbing. Mizzou's QB puts up record numbers...and you say don't blame the defense?

Coz completely changes the scheme, goes with a 3-4 instead of the regular 4-3, and you say it wasn't the scheme? What was it then?

You say--

So if we lost this game by 3 for example, Coz would have been less of a idiot right?

WE DIDN'T!!! NU lost by 17, and it could have been much, much worse!!!! I did review the tape, and I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. The NU defense was doing pretty well, and Coz changed schemes.

You say--

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

The defense was tired in the first quarter when Mizzou was up 21-3?

I don't get it.

 
This won't be a very popular post, but here goes. I think this team has problems. Mainly on offense. Granted there has been improvement from our stellar 7-6 thrashing of Pitt and our overtime classic at home against ISU, but the offense still has major issues. All year the defense and special teams have bailed the team out by making huge plays to score or give the offense a short field. Even in the big loss to Mizzou, two of our scores were due to the fumble and the blocked punt. If they don't make those plays, it really turns into a blowout. This offense simply doesn't move up and down the field consistently enough to win against tougher defenses. Our total offense is like 90th in the country or something like that. I hate to break it to everyone, but the teams left on our schedule all have tougher defenses than Missouri. Unless our defense plays out of their minds and comes up with 4-5 takeaways each game, I think we definitely lose to Oklahoma and Colorado. The other two games are tossups. I will be here to recieve my verbal thrashing if this turns out not to be the case.

 
In the second quarter, just like the TTU game, we started to figure out how to stop Smith and his offense. Much of the third quarter was the same until Nunn fumbled away his big reception. Then the defense started to run out of gas. Hardly anybody talks about the fact that the Blackshirts held them pretty well during that time frame. Why is that? It was similar to the TTU game until that Nunn fumble. Again why is that? How can it be a sheme problem, except maybe the first quarter, when Coz's plan worked in the second quarter and much of the third? Unlike TTU, Missouri wore us out. Our defense was on the field too long.

The only thing I wonder is why again did we start so slow on defense in the first quarter?

 
In the second quarter, just like the TTU game, we started to figure out how to stop Smith and his offense. Much of the third quarter was the same until Nunn fumbled away his big reception. Then the defense started to run out of gas. Hardly anybody talks about the fact that the Blackshirts held them pretty well during that time frame. Why is that? It was similar to the TTU game until that Nunn fumble. Again why is that? How can it be a sheme problem, except maybe the first quarter, when Coz's plan worked in the second quarter and much of the third? Unlike TTU, Missouri wore us out. Our defense was on the field too long.
The only thing I wonder is why again did we start so slow on defense in the first quarter?
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Coz switched to a 4-3 after Smith ran from Columbia to Lincoln and back...he switched back to the 3-4 in the third.

Agreed, the defense did wear down in the late 3rd and 4th, but this explains 21-3 how?

Don't forget, Smith missed a sure TD pass before Mizzou kicked a FG to give them 24 points...tired by the 2nd quarter? I think not...

The players are saying in the paper they think the scheme was sound...what else are they gonna say? "We used a defense we haven't used much before, and it didn't work. Coach screwed up."

I think not.

This loss goes on the Blackshirts, mainly Coz. Sure they held Mizzou in the second and early third, but switching back to something that didn't work doomed them.

Now, I SAID (maybe someone should re-read my post)this is the same Coz we were lauding earlier this year, as well as the same Blackshirts.

I never said they were going in the tank, nor did I say I thought Coz was an idiot.

He had a bad gameplan, IMO. The stats back up the fact the defense played as badly as they could. No arguement can say differently.

My post also said I thought the Huskers will recover to beat OU. I just wish some people would read posts before jumping on me. My post was a pretty positive one, and people are taking it that I was being negative. Sheesh. Coz called one bad game. I am willing to give him a break this year for that. He did it against TT last year. Next year, the breaks are over.

 
I think our defense looked a lot worse than it really was because they were on the field so much in the second half. I know they destroyed us on those first couple drives, but after that coz made good adjustments and we really slowed them down for a while. This is very similar to what happend all of last year. I don't expect this to happen any more this season. Remember earlier in the year whe McKeon said the offense would have to bail out the defense at some point this year? They had their chance and just couldn't do it. This game just shows that our offense is still a work in progress. But I like the progress we've made after a year. Things will only get beter.

 
I think a reason we lost is...not running the ball. I know we got in a lot of 3rd and long spots but...only 13 rushes?

We have Cory Ross, Cody Glenn, and Marlon Lucky...how can you not rush?

 
I think a reason we lost is...not running the ball. I know we got in a lot of 3rd and long spots but...only 13 rushes?
We have Cory Ross, Cody Glenn, and Marlon Lucky...how can you not rush?
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When you can't block and are running out of time.

 
IMO the huskers lost because mizzou seemed to come out in the second half with a game plan, and really implemented well. smith really seemed to start to come back to life in the second half, i noticed that mizzou was getting offensive calls in kinda late almost, as if they were waiting to see how the D lined up so they could make the call instead of smith. i think you really just have to give a win to the mizzou offensive staff and brad smith for playing a hell of a game. something else i noticed that i found kinda odd was that they kept having the backs block ends and linebackers, linebackers i can see, but ends thats pretty demanding for any back espicially ross, hes not the biggest guy and all, i just kinda thought they would put someone else in there with a little more size if they were having to keep a back in that much for protection. maybe had something to do with blocking schemes not being understood as well by the others or something. well there are still some more tough games ahead, hopefully they can bounce back and improve on last years record by a couple at least, and hopefully have a little bit better rushing attack from this game for sure.

 
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