Inconclusive Evidence - Carlfense, Punting and the Impressive E.A.

5 comments so far September 24, 2008 by Brandon Vogel

Q: What do you do as a writer/blogger when you have a number of assorted ideas none of which is meaty enough to warrant an entire column/post?

A: You come up with a vaguely witty (or not) name based on some snippet of football terminology that probably doesn't accurately describe the body to follow but it does say to the reader: "Hey! We've got random thoughts happening here. Just try to stay with me because I'm all over the place."

That's me this week. We'll call it "inconclusive evidence" not because I'm going to give an "overturned" or "stands as called" assessment of the random bits to follow, but rather because I quite like that phrase. I doubt that even the brainy-brawny student athletes at Princeton or Rutgers thought you'd hear it used on a football field when they started bludgeoning the crap out of each other 139 years ago in a melee that we now call football.

Thank you, television.

--Thank you, Carl Pelini, for agreeing to lampoon the absolutely horrifying slate of t-shirts that heralded the arrival of Bo Pelini. Bofense? That doesn't work on two fronts: a) It's stupid, b) it sounds like offense. Just because the new coach's name is short, easy to say and fits well with catchphrases doesn't make it okay.

But Carlfense? Carl Big Red? That's funny and in terms of comedic acumen, I'd take Carl's "that's ridiculous" over anything Michael Phelps did on SNL two weeks ago.

--Heard a couple of people talking about whether or not Nebraska will be ranked if they beat Virginia Tech. The answer is yes (at least in the Coaches poll) and it has nothing to do with the current stature of the Hokies. Rather, it's about who's in front of the Cornhuskers.

Heading in to Week 4 Nebraska sits 30th in the AP poll and 27th in the Coaches. Of the bottom five teams in either poll, two are big underdogs: Illinois (+14) at Penn St. and TCU (+17.5) at Oklahoma. It would take a close game to keep either in the polls regardless of what Nebraska does, but couple a loss with Nebraska's first "realistic resistance" win and I don't think there's any way a 4-0 team remains on the outside looking in.

--The more I look at Virginia Tech's offensive numbers the more I think Dan Titchener might be the key to this game.

Through three games the senior punter has been short of his yard per punt averages of 2007 and 2006. Not drastically short, but still short. Of course this being Virginia Tech, point number one for any punter is to catch the snap and hope your kick isn't immediately swallowed up by some guy's midsection, but the reason special teams have become the lifeblood of Hokie football is because they're so ordinary offensively. Special teams and defense is the offense.

As much as field position is important in any game, I think it's the baseline for Nebraska's defensive success here. If Titchener can consistently put VT 65-70 yards away from the end zone and make the Hokies have sustained success to score the Huskers should be in control. On the season, Tech has started 23 drives inside their own 30 and only four have resulted in scores (17.3%), two field goals and two TDs. By comparison, Nebraska has started 18 drives inside their own 30 and converted six of them into points(33.3%), all touchdowns.

--Records and rankings aside, how do you know this is a big game on Saturday? Because, for the first time this season, I'm going to be there in person. All the way from Boston.

Other people say it's a big game because Erin Andrews will be there. Sure she passes the eye test but let me ask you this: Have you ever read a not-so-creatively titled news and notes blog from Erin Andrews?

Didn't think so. Carl Big Red.

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