Huskers/Hawkeyes

Nebraska’s loss to Iowa left me with a wide variety of feelings.  I was angry that The Huskers let the freaking Iowa Hawkeyes walk into our house and push us around.  I was bummed that Iowa was now on the board in this “rivalry.”  I was worried about the potential fallout of such a loss.  I was sad for the seniors who, in my estimation, deserved better than an 8-4 campaign.  Most of all I was frustrated by a string of errors that clipped The Huskers collective wings on Friday.  Nebraska simply made too many mistakes to win.  Whether it was the 3 turnovers, the punt return gaffes or the completely inexplicable fake punt, The Huskers continually shot themselves in the foot.  You just cant make that many mistakes and expect to win.  The result is an overall feeling like my teeth had just been kicked in.

The Nebraska Offense was extremely frustrating on Saturday.  Senior Ron Kellogg made his first career start and was underwhelming to say the least.  On the day Kellogg was 19/37 for 199 yards a TD and 2 picks.  The picks were particularly costly.  Kellogg was harassed, hounded, and pounded by Hawkeye defenders.  Nebraska couldn’t seem to pick up the blitz and nearly every time Iowa called one, it got home.  Finally, the injuries on the Offensive Line bit NU in the ass.  The Hawkeye Defense keyed on Ameer Abdullah from the beginning and limited him to just 85 yards on the day, breaking his 8 game 100 yard performance streak.  At times Nebraska had success using Abdullah as a decoy and running plays off of him.  But overall there were too many penalties and various miscues to expect to be successful against a good Hawkeye team.

The Nebraska Defense is going to get a raw deal for this game.  Joe Schmoe is going to look at this score and say that The Nebraska Defense was the reason for the defeat.  But consider, of the 5 Tds Iowa scored, none was on a drive of more than 41 yards.  The Defense was not perfect, but time after time they were given a shit sandwich.  The 3 turnovers by the Offense, The aforementioned, boneheaded, fake punt and a couple turnovers on downs all put the Defense behind the 8 ball.  Iowa’s power run game did a good job neutralized the Nebraska pass rush for the most part and Iowa’s Jake Ruddock was able to sit back and be effective inside the pocket.  I have to give Ruddock credit.  He is much better than I thought.  On Friday he was extremely accurate.  Specifically the TD pass to CJ Fiedorwicz was about as pin point as a pass can be.  Still, The NU Defense was not perfect, and at times helped Iowa out with penalties or missed tackles.  Overall the Defense was put in crappy situations but despite that fought their asses off.  They don’t deserve the blame for this loss.

Something has been stuck in my craw for a while now.  I have been quiet for too long.  The Special Teams are horrid.  It seems that Nebraska rarely gets a positive play from this phase of the game.  Saturday the punt return unit twice, put Nebraska in miserable position.  First Jordan Westercamp lets the ball bounce at the 20 and it rolls to the 1.  Then he calls a fair catch on the 3.  I went ballistic.  I wish this were an isolated incident, but it is a trend.  The Huskers are 119th in the nation in punt return average at 3.1 yards per return.  Every game The Offense is put in terrible situations due to gaffes on the punt team.  The fake punt today was an absolute abomination.  Why try that there?  Lets say it was successful,  The Huskers would have a 1st down near their own 35.  It just doesn’t make sens from a risk/reward standpoint.  This unit must be better in subsequent years than it has this season.  I’m not sure it could get much worse.

This loss ends a very disappointing season.  I am on record that I thought NU would win its division and once again play for a Big 10 title.  Those were my expectations coming in.  So obviously this season is fairly disappointing.  That said I believe the right course of action is to retain Bo Pelini UNLESS ANOTHER TOP FLIGHT COACH AGREES TO TAKE THE JOB.  In situations like these there are always back channel talks and negotiations.  If Chris Peterson, Art Briles, Mark Richt, or some other A list coach wants the job, then go ahead and fire Bo.  If not, the best move is to stay the course.  I do not believe the faction that simply says anyone would do a better job.  That is stupid.  I’ll say it again, stupid.  That said, I would like to see a staff shakeup to take some responsibilities off of Bo’s plate.  He should be more of a CEO, than a Defensive Coordinator acting as a head coach.  I wont name names at this time but certain individuals should be demoted or kicked to the curb altogether.  Will these things happen?  We shall see.  For now, I have a sinking feeling following a frustrating season.

Pre game NU/Iowa thoughts

This wild, crazy season comes to a close this afternoon as Iowa comes to Lincoln to take on The Huskers.  Ron Kellogg will get the start today.  If you would have told me that The Huskers would start 3 QB’s this season I would have laughed.  Lets not count the number of injuries on the Offensive Line.  That is not an excuse for this disappointing season.  But it is a reason.  I am not sure I have ever seen a Husker team this banged up.

Bo’s job security has been a question for the last couple of months.  After a lot of thought, and I am not being a sarcastic asshole, I think Bo should stay regardless.  Firing a 9 win coach was wrong a decade ago and it is wrong today.  This team has shown tremendous resolve and improvement in the seasons second half.  This team, and specifically this Defense, could be awesome next season.  I don’t typically like to play that angle, but it should hold true.

What I would like to see is a staff shake up.  It appears to me that Bo has too much on his plate.  His staff should be making life easier on him, not harder.  John Papuchis is in over his head, I think that is clear.  Ross Els, the LB and special teams coach, should also be replaced.  Nebraska’s “special teams” have been driving me nuts all year.  Someone competent needs to head that unit.  Perhaps other changes would be considered as well.  Strength and Conditioning? Hopefully Bo agrees.

The game today should be interesting.  Mark Weisman will be the key.  NU must shut down the stretch play.  That play is the straw that stirs Iowa’s Offensive drink.  If that is working, then play action becomes possible.  I am not concerned with Iowa’s WR’s but I do have concern about the big TE C.J Fiedorwicz could be a matchup nightmare for the Huskers.  Offensively, I like matchup of NU WRs against Iowa DBs.  Kenny Bell and Quincy Enunwa could have big games.  The weather should cooperate.  It is Ron Kellogg’s big day.  Lets hope for a W.  GO BIG RED

Huskers/ Lions

My wonderful wife has been on me about my swearing.  So I am trying to clean it up, for our daughters sake.  Here goes:

Well good.  Thank fudging goodness.  I am so, gosh darn, happy that the phantom unnecessary roughness penalty on Ameer Abdullah’s long run didn’t cost Nebraska such a pivotal  game in it’s history.  That could have been one of the biggest what if’s in Nebraska Football history.  As it stands, it is no more than a, dog piss terrible, call on the road to crucial victory.  The Nebraska Cornhuskers played an imperfect, sloppy, hard nosed, gritty, game that seemed in doubt for quite some time.  This game was won by a razors edge.  Each unit seemed to do just enough for The Big Red to prevail.  Finally, NU got a lift from it’s special teams, who have been awful so far this year.  This one was tight.  But that is life in this Conference.  Big 10 football is about close games, in huge stadiums.  NU got a big dose of that Saturday.

Nebraska came out of the gate sluggish Offensively.  The Huskers lined up with big personnel and found little running room against The Lions excellent front 4.  Then Ron Kellogg came in, for an apparently injured Tommy Armstrong, and provided a calming influence.  The results were not great, not pretty, but somewhat productive.  On the day Kellogg was 20/34 for 191 yards and a score.  Lord knows there were some times when I cussed him out, drawing the ire of my wife.  But overall the Senior Kellogg was a steady hand, leading 4 scoring drives in regulation.  I cant talk about this unit without singing the praises of Ameer Abdullah who was again fantastic.  Abdullah ran for148 yards on the day.  The sledding was not easy for Ameer.  The PSU Defense was all over him.  It was another workman like effort for the Junior.  He did have a critical fumble into the end zone in the first half.  That caused some 4 letter words as you can imagine.  But once again he was the bell cow for an Offense that did just enough.  Considering the conditions, the injuries and the opponent I will take a flippin W when I can get it.

Saturday Nebraska’s Defense was good, but not great.  Penn State came out and challenged the Huskers manhood with a rugged running game.  Nittany Lion RB Zach Zwinak would carry the ball, wait for NU defenders to fill the hole, then make his own cut.  This was both very wise, and effective.  Zwinak ended up with 149 yards on 35 carries on the day.  The PSU running game neutralized Nebraska’s normally stout pass rush.  As a result, Christian Hackenberg threw for 217 yards and 2 scores.  He was not sacked.  The Defense did get something of a raw deal at times Saturday.  The Huskers were left with a short field twice due to a Kellogg fumble and some poor punt coverage.  Penn State was able to move the ball all day long.  But The Husker Defense was able to make critical plays at critical moments.  PSU was only 2 of 14 on 3rd downs on the day.  That is excellent.  In the end,  this unit was just good enough for The Huskers to win the game.  Thank freakin goodness.

This game epitomizes what I love about being in this Conference.  Playing in these huge stadiums, with these rowdy fans, in adverse conditions.  It was wonderful.  These games are so much fun.  Nebraska has now won 8 straight games decided by 7 points or less.  That is an unbelievable statistic.  This team deserves a boat load of credit for battling everything that Beaver Stadium had to offer.  The elements, the opponent, the terrible call, the injuries, not to mention the rumors (which we will not dignify by expounding upon).  NU could have easily folded, and said it wasn’t their day.  Instead these boys came out and fought like crazy.  That demands your God Dang respect.

Huskers/Boilermakers

I understand this 44-7 shellacking of the Purdue Boilermakers has some Husker fans feeling really good about themselves.  Well allow me to be the fingernail in the cobb salad.  Consider these facts about the team that was blasted on Saturday.  Purdue came into Saturday 1-4, their only win was against Indiana State, The Boilermakers defeated Indiana St. by 6 points a week after Indiana hung 73 on them, Northern Illinois at one point led the Boilers 41-10, Purdue ranks 81st in passing yards, 116th in rushing,114th in points scored, and 112th in points against.  In short, this team stinks to high hell.  There is a good chance that this is one of the 2 worst teams NU will play this season.  Nevertheless this was a good, solid, but not perfect, win over a conference opponent.  When you play one of the muts the Big 10 provides, you have to beat the pants off of them.  To Nebraska’s credit, that was done on Saturday.

Offensively The Huskers rolled out Tommy Armstrong for his 3rd career start.  Purdue had easily the best Defense that he had faced.  Armstrong struggled in this one.  There was some miscommunication, a few errant passes, and some poor choices.  On the day Armstrong was 6 for 18 for 43 yards and 3 interceptions.  In short he played like a Freshman, imagine that.  Ron Kellogg looked much more comfortable out there.  Kellogg throws interior passes with tremendous accuracy, much like his QB coach Joe Ganz.  Kellogg is clearly a film room junkie.  The myriad of blitzes that Purdue brought did not confuse Kellogg.  The result was a more efficient attack under Kellogg.  This was not the Offensive machine we saw against Illinois.  There was a lack of rhythm all day long, regardless of who was under center.  The Huskers had problems getting a consistent push due to the Purdue Defensive front.  You wouldn’t know it by looking at some of the stats, but if you saw the game you could clearly see that the Nebraska O-line struggled.  Some of that was the Purdue front 7 who is pretty damn physical.  Those guys will hit you.  Time after time Ameer Abdullah and the Husker RBs were being hounded by Purdue defenders.  I cant help but think losing Spencer Long early affected Nebraska’s ability to get a consistent push.  Replacing Long will be a chore, for sure, and could have a major impact on how the season turns out.  Overall this was a decent outing by the Nebraska Offense.  Nothing spectacular, a ho-hum day at the office.

The Nebraska Defense played easily, far and away, its best game of the season.  If not for a 55 yard TD pass with :39 remaining, the Huskers would have had their first shut out in nearly 4 years.  As Ive mentioned, Purdue does have a pathetic, dog piss terrible, Offense.  Additionally, they were starting a first time QB is Danny Etling.  Etling was harassed all day long by a Nebraska Defensive Line that smelled blood in the water.  It was beautiful.  Randy Gregory, Jason Ankrah, Avery Moss, and about 5 other guys I could mention, all combined to hound Etling into a miserable performance he would like to forget.  Take out the long TD at the end, and the Boilers amassed a paltry 161 yards.  I don’t care how piss poor an Offense is, to hold them to 161 means you did something right.  Once Nebraska established a commanding lead, the Defense turned up the pressure with blitzes from all angles to further frustrate the Purdue Offense.  The Nebraska Defensive backs also pressured and smothered the Purdue receivers.  This too was effective as Etling was unable to throw to his receivers on hot routes.   Saturday was a very good day for The Husker Defense, especially when you consider where this unit was a month ago.  My one gripe on this feel good day is with the tackling.  Too often, particularly in the run game, a Nebraska defender will get a body on the ball carrier and not bring him down.  There will be opponents who consistently run the ball right into the teeth of the NU Defense and the Huskers will be forced to be sure tacklers.  I’m sure this is not lost on the staff.  I would be willing to bet that is a point of emphasis in the bye week.

Last week the word I used to describe Nebraska’s performance was “improvement.”  In most areas we saw more of that Saturday.  The Huskers need to improve each and every week from this point forward to achieve its season long goals.  Today was a good step.  Now comes a bye week.  Time to clean up some of the sloppiness, figure out who is going to replace Spencer Long, and assess the health of Taylor Martinez.  This division is even more wide open with losses by both Michigan and Northwestern.    Everything is in front of this club, its Bo Pelini’s job to get this squad ready for a Monster November.

NU/South Dakota St. recap

Let me set the scene for you.  The score is 17-14, Jack Rabbits.  This guy is pacing the floor.  Every play Im cussing out the TV.  My wife is continually telling me to knock off the swearing.  South Dakota State is knocking the Huskers off the ball time and time again.  They look like the more physical, better conditioned team.  I must admit this was about the most helpless moment I can remember as a Husker fan.  I sent a text to a close friend of mine that the Big Red was doomed.  It wasn’t an over reaction, I meant it.  Nebraska was being dominated by the South Dakota State Offense.  From that point on The Huskers outscored The Jackrabbits 45-3.  You could not have convinced me, in a million years, that this was possible at that moment.  Yet it did.  This is the life of a Husker fan in 2013.

Defensively, it was ugly early for the Big Red.  Zach Zenner was running all over the porous Nebraska Defense.  Zenner ran for over 200 yards on the day.  The Jack Rabbits balanced attack had the Huskers on their heels.  Before you could blink they had 17 points.  I was worried, very worried.  The Huskers adjusted by bringing pressure.  Soon, Zaire Anderson, David Santos, and Corey Cooper began appearing in the Jackrabbits backfield.  Corners, Safeties, and Linebackers were being sent at various times to pressure the South Dakota State Offense.  There were 2 interceptions and 5 sacks along with countless hurries that frustrated the South Dakota State Offense.  As a Husker fan tired of the same old, same old, this was very, very refreshing.  Randy Greggory, Avery Moss, and others were getting pressure by pinning their ears back in obvious passing downs.  The coverage also adjusted by tightening up on South Dakota State receivers.  The result was a Defense that was not impenetrable, but rather was physical enough to get pressure on the QB and limit the run.  Once the Jacks were made one dimensional the Husker Defense could bring out the wolves.  It was a sight for sore eyes.  Ive been critical of John Papuchis and Bo Pelini in recent weeks, so I must give them credit for making the appropriate adjustments to slow down the opposing Offense.

Offensively the Huskers were just too much for the Jacks.  It was apparent early and often that the South Dakota State Defense could not keep up with the Huskers skill position players.  The Husker Offense put an enormous amount of pressure on South Dakota State to keep up as the game wore on.  By the 3rd quarter the game was a roster test as to who was catching the ball.  11 different Huskers caught a pass in this game.  11, That is mind blowing.  The big story will be the dual QB system the Huskers employed with the injury to Taylor Martinez.  Both Ron Kellogg III and Tommy Armstrong Jr. were very good, considering the mismatches the skill position players created.  Kellogg was 8/9 for136 and a TD and Armstrong was 12/15 for 169 and a TD.  Armstrong looked more explosive than Kellogg particularly in the run game, while Kellogg was more heady.  To me Kellogg looks a lot like Joe Ganz with his air tight throws to the seam and timely runs in the middle.  If it were up to me I would play Kellogg over Armstrong, but neither over a 100% Taylor Martinez.  The Huskers amassed 335 yards rushing, including 139 from Ameer Abdullah, and 60 from Imani Cross.  Overall I have absolutely no complaints about the Offense.  On this day it did what it couldnt do in recent weeks.  That is carry the torch for the team and put pressure on the opposing Offense.  I think Tim Beck did a fine job of slimming down the playbook and then playing to each QB’s strength.  Saturday was clearly his best job calling plays on the season.

Husker fans lets not break out the champagne over this one.  Ill admit there were nervous times but that doesn’t mean we should go overboard over this win.  This is a damn fine team for what it is, a lower division opponent.  The Jacks deserve credit for coming into Lincoln and playing their asses off.  They were not here to simply collect a check.  For that they have my respect.  That said, its still not an apples to apples comparison when it comes to talent.  So save the Gatorade bathes and congratulations for another day.