Did Huskers Deliver on High Expectations?
7 comments so far
August 31, 2008 by
It's hard to walk out of a game that your team won 47-24 after the kind of season the Huskers had in 2007 and feel too badly, even if you'd hoped for a more dominant performance. Nevertheless, the sky-high expectations among the NU faithful may or may not have been met depending on what you thought you'd see.
Probably most fans thought they'd see the Huskers rush for 200+ yards, especially after taking a 34-10 halftime lead. You probably also wanted to see Western Michigan held below 24 points on the day and would not have wanted to see them complete over 60% of their passes or average 7 yards per pass attempt.
But let's understand what this team is and what it wants to be. Bo Pelini makes no bones about wanting his defense to stop the run first. By holding the opponent to 8 yards rushing, you'd call that mission accomplished. How often in the Osborne era were we unhappy with a defensive performance because teams seemed to move the ball too easily through the air? Many, many times. If your goal is to make a team one dimensional, you can't be too upset when they have some success in that one dimension.
Frank Solich's debut saw Tim Rattay of Louisiana Tech pass for over 600+ yards in a 56-27 NU win. The Huskers had their problems in 1998, but generally speaking defense wasn't the major one. In fact, that unit kept the Huskers in every game. Western Michigan's total was a far cry from Tech's 600.
As for the offensive line, yes only 4 yards per rush is not that exciting. But these linemen were recruited for a pro-style offense. Pro teams are generally happy to rush for 138 yards and pass for 340 more. The rushing game did it's job in accounting for 7 first downs and setting up some big plays off of play action. The difference in this game was the Huskers ability to establish a credible run game and taking away their opponents. NU ran the ball, stopped the run, and won the game. No they didn't pile up 200-300 yards in the process. They also didn't allow a single sack (the opponent surrended 4 sacks on the day and 4 more hurries). That's how pro football teams win games.
Nebraska averaged 7 yards per play, which is what a vintage Osborne team would do. The Huskers controlled this game pretty much from the outset. Even as Western Michigan showed heart in the second half and NU made some mistakes, it never truly became a ball game. Maybe that's as it should be against this kind of opponent. And maybe the Huskers didn't exceed expectations, but in my eyes they didn't fall short of them either.
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J Mo Aug 31 08
Some encouraging things I noticed in the paper today. Murillo didn't play until late in the game due to an injury and Thenarse was knocked out in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. That means our cornerbacks in particular consisted of Amukamara, Hagg and West, three sophomores with limited game time experience. Hopefully with a healthy Murillo and Thenarse our secondary can play much better. But our defense is going to have another long year if we can't establish the run game and keep it off the field. That probably worries me more than anything else.
Brandon Aug 31 08
Good point, J Mo. Thenarse seems like a Pelini sort of player, a guy who could really make the defense go.
Bill in Iowa Aug 31 08
Steve, I love your level headed perspective! On other boards fans are full of doom and gloom about how the O Line sucks. And Tom Shatel's article for the OWH didn't help...he sounded like a little kid whining because his parents promised him ice cream and instead he got candy.
I for one thought that Watson called a brilliant game and did EXACTLY what he said he would do "take what the Defense gives him." They were loading the box daring us to pass to their talented secondary and pass we did!
There is no doubt Watson wants to pound the rock, but its obvious he is going to let Defenses choose their poison.
I too thought the pass protection was amazing! And we started a young tackle against a veteran end with NFL potential. Sheeesh...game 1, what do Husker fans really want? Give the O Line and Watson's play calling the benefit of the doubt. It's going to be a fun season watching this offense perfom with Gantz at the wheel!
Mase Aug 31 08
How about Cody Glenn? Talk about exceeding expectations! That guy is set to have a monster year. Don't forget we were matched up with a really good tight end and and an experienced core of receivers and a returning QB. No doubt our secondary is learning a lot of new things under Sanders and we have a lot of inexperience there (especially with those injuries to Murillo and Thenarse). They tighten the screws over the next couple of games and I think we could have a very salty defense by the time VT rolls into town (who apparently has no offense).
As far as the running game, it was clear to me that Western Michigan was loading up the box and daring us to pass. I think we gotta feel good that we were able to deliver and somewhat light up what's not the best defense, but arguably the most experienced defense in the nation (11 returning starters, who has that?). I think teams will be more hesitant to load up the box like they did, without the experienced D and seeing that we have a good passing game. Thus we'll see more success on the ground as we move along. Don't forget, WMU had to have seen and heard all the hoopla about us running the ball more and figured they'd gamble on that. A gamble that didn't pay off.
Greg Morrow Aug 31 08
Listening to the announcers, which is what I'm stuck with until the Hokies show up, I got a sense of the energy and intensity from the players. I got that sense, by the sudden descriptions of balls being batted down or offensive fumbles being quickly recovered and a defense stiffening up, when the field got short. Not a gimme, last year.
Joey's press conference description of mistakes being made at 100 mph is sooo much more acceptable than confusion at a pedestrian's pace.
If a normal Nebraska team is one that hovers near the top ten, this one isn't that. This though, is one that could be growing into those boots.
Ganz is still the intriquing "X" factor. He's going to be surprised by schemes, in some of these games. But, that's where Watson comes in, from his perch on high.
This is Watson's big year too, along with Ganz. A possible year long audition to other programs, soon to have a vacancy. It sounds like the offense was fun to watch. Obviously productive and as Steve points out, a serviceable running game. Though one that needs to be set up with passes.
Maybe, San Jose St. gets a dose of the run game, like Nevada got last year. That game was kinda funny, with the Corn just sorta pushing the Wolfpack back, while Keller was trying to decipher and spit out each play call.
Another encouraging note, it looks like there was only one false start from a lineman. This being the first game, that could signal a huge improvement leap. That's only been the story of this offense- drive killing procedure and false start penalties. Not to mention delay of game, with quaterbacks reading a playbook velcroed to their wrists.
HuskerDeck Aug 31 08
Bill in Iowa, I would like all the naysayers to note the Texas A&M-Arkansas State score and the Bowling Green-Pitt score and just realize that a win is a win. Yes I was a little disappointed in the 2 interceptions in the 2nd half and the two long pass plays against the defense in the 2nd half, but like said earlier we should be thankful for a win. I did have a little problem with Watson's calling pass plays later in the game, when I thought we should have been burning time, but he gets paid to coach and I don't.
Bill in Iowa Sep 03 08
I read an article and is sounded as if the winded defensive secondary was hoping Watson would eat up the clock running as well. As far as the defense goes, it sounds like they are confident that most of the problems were due to mental mistakes, confusion, and communication, and much of it was attributed to the new 45 second play call and late package substitutions by W. Michigans offense. Get Murillo and Thenarse back and cut down on mental mistakes and this secondary is going to get a lot better.