Dwayne Nov 02 08

At first I thought you said "salsa anyone?" The song that comes to mind after this game is Eminem's Eight Mile. It's descriptive in if you only get one opportunity, will you capture it, or let it slip away? NU let the first quarter slip away within the first 5 minutes. Game over even after OU pulled up during the second half. That's tough to stomach because I grew up with very few showings like this. Is it time for fans because of the new offensive systems to re-evaluate what a blowout or big loss is? I can't bring myself to do that. I like the call that Pelini did too Renny in keeping players away from the media. There isn't anything more I cringe at than a stupid question. Someone told me often that there are no stupid questions. Well if that's the case, maybe there are stupid media people who ask those questions.

Dwayne Nov 02 08

Honestly, I didn't even get to see the first quarter. I was listening to it on the radio in the car and I didn't see the game until just after OU scored the td to end the first quarter. It was the worst quarter I didn't see. It is this realization that NU is probably about 4 years away from REALLY contending for anything nationally. I think Bo has the right attitude with this. I thought Murray would have a huge game and NU would've probably gotten this guy in the 90's. I'm a pretty patient person and I think we'll fair well with the remaining teams. Even KU.

Greg Morrow Nov 02 08

Last year, watching Sam Keller and others struggle to account for the (at the time) shocking losses against SC, Missouri and Okie St. after the initial preseason expectations, was just brutal.
It's not the NFL. It's not like Bo's going to get fined. So, no doubt, I can go a week without watching player reactions.
I'm just glad to have gotten to watch 6 games in a row! Not something to take for granted.

It was nice to watch next year's quarterback in waiting most likely, Witt, get some garbage time. Love his size and he'll be a third year soph in this system, with the advantage of having been a spring semester enrollee. Wow though, it'd be great if the team can close the deal on Cody Green, for later seasons.

Helu looked tough, huh?

I kinda feel bad for the walkons having to provide core starting time and depth in the back 7, but, at least they're getting to play. Bottom line, Wortman, Koehler and O'Hanlon beat out the younger guys for playing time, when the system was new to everybody. They're walkons, but they're also physically mature men. So, there you go.

Now, for the 3 teams who really don't like Nebraska. And I'm not sure why....

Looking at the team after watching them play these last 6, I think inconsistency isn't as much a factor as matchups are. While I'm ready to pencil in the Manginos as another loss, the team may actually matchup well next week. Nebraska has Beck which could help somewhat and Joey is so much better and ready than last year around this time. For shootout purposes, anyway. Possibly similiar to '06's game and maybe the crowd will be nice and loud.

HuskerFan4Life Nov 02 08

I agree with Pelini...forget it and move on. Myself, I am having problems forgetting this one. The one thing that I did not want to see is Nebraska take a step back. Ganz really needs to settle down at the start of a big game. I really couldn't blame Ganz too much for the pick 6 to start the game off as the OU player just made a hell of a play. But after that, Ganz seemed completely off his game. He didn't really seem to settle down until the game was way out of reach.

Nebraska obviously could not put pressure on Bradford with a four man rush. How many times did we see OU in 3rd and 17??? Why in the hell would you not bring a blitz in these obvious passing situations??? OU seemed to convert all their 3rd and longs as Bradford had all day back there to find an open receiver.

Lastly, did Lucky get injured? I don't think I saw him in the game after the first quarter. I hope he is ready to go the rest of the season....I have a big problem with Castille. I personally do not like that guy, and I think Nebraska officially gave up after Q fumbled on the very first play after our D picked Bradford off. Q, always seems to leave his feet when he runs. Sure, backs tend to leave their feet in certain situations, but Q is supposed to be our power back. You have no power when your feet are off the ground. Hats off to Helu, I thought he played very well last night.

Any thoughts on my comments??? Am I way off base here???

Bill in Iowa Nov 02 08

If last night was supposed to give us a read where our program is at...forget about it. We had three turnovers within the 1st 4 minutes, all of which resulted in OU TD's. Really, what else is there to say?

My point? What if we played a perfect ball control game, would we have kept it a lot closer? Of course. Probably within two touchdowns...maybe less. Yes, OU is a terrific team and they have more talent than we do right now. But the score did not really reflect the difference in the two teams. Look how Texas Tech dominated Texas last night. We played T Tech just as close as Texas did last night and Texas beat OU. Does that mean we are just as good as Texas and OU? No, but I think I could argue that when we play penalty free football and limit turnovers we will be a contender in every game we play.

What have we learned. Exactly what Coach Bo has been telling us, this team HAS to limit their mistakes. I don't know what it is going to take for Bo to reach this team and get them playing football to perfection, but in time they will get there.

Kansas looked good last night. It will be another good test. Mistake free football, thats all we need and we will make it a game.

bnahusker Nov 02 08

Ouch!

We knew going in that there were going to be growing pains. We also know that this was a known loss at the beginning of the season. As the snowball rolled and grew all I could do was wonder if this is a case of not having the mental tools or the physical tools to compete with the Big Boys. What I don't have to worry about is heart and attitude. Big Red kept plugging, and I didn't see any finger pointing or quitting on this team. Kudos to Bo for shutting off the media. This team will not gain anything by answering to anyone other than their coaches, their teammates, and themselves.

Patience, fellow Children of the Corn!

The Power of Red is not disconnected.

GBR Forever!

Bob

James Moore Nov 02 08

Well congratulations to Oklahoma. They truly have a tremendous football team with an enormous amount of talent that appears to be coming very close to playing it's best football of the year. I have to also say that Coach Stoops and the Oklahoma football team treated us with respect. To me it felt like the German Army invading Russia. If the Oklahoma Coaching Staff had been Nazi-like with their playcalling they could've had 100 points easy. We beat them 73-21 & 69-7 in back-to-back years. Things come full circle in life. We'll be OK in the long run. It appears there is a deep, and profound respect on behalf of Oklahoma towards Husker Nation. OU7Times, good luck with Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. I hope that you guys get a shot at playing in the National Championship Game. You are still the best program in the conference, period. And please take your bowl game seriously this year!!! Change the bowl preps, I hate seeing talent get misused like yall did against West Virginia and Boise State. . .

Move on, no doubt. You have to. You aren't defined on one game. We have to understand that this is a 2, perhaps 3 year project. We obviously have a daunting task ahead of us trying to catch up with Oklahoma & Texas, but patience, and perserverence are required for this journey. What I came away with is the following. Helu is our best IB, period. The guy gets upfield, has good vision, good speed, stays low, and simply put makes plays. HE is the IDEAL complement to the THREAT of play-action. Helu will protect the offensive line by making plays in the ground game, buy time for Swift, Peterson, Holt, Paul, and McNeil to separate, while ultimately making things easier for Ganz. It will be interesting to see how he is utilized in the following games. He is our TRUE playmaker on offense. On Lucky's first carry he just didn't have the vision to bounce it. It's like a basketball PG who dribbles with his head down. You can't see the game. I get the very real impression that Lucky does not have the vision or the feel between the tackles. . .

Oklahoma watched Texas back in the late-60's and said to themselves, that "hey, we need to try this wishbone." I believe that we need to take a careful look at what Oklahoma does offensively. We should really think about doing what they do. Personnel packages are similar, the physical element is certainly there, and it is a player friendly offense. They are a power team that does not compromise balance or the very real threat of the aggressive, vertical passing game. While being able to have big play potential with the wideouts they also get the additonal benefit being able to have a decidely HUGE advantage on outside blocking with the size they have out there. Think now if they had a mobile QB (no doubt Bradford is tremendous and perfect for them). If they could throw in the occasional belly/zone read they would be unstoppable (hey James, aren't they already?). Cody Green would be tremendous with that system. We should think very seriously about doing what they're doing in Norman. THAT should be what we try to do. No huddle, power based, balanced, with the very real threat of big, fast Receiving Corps that can get vertical. . .

What we've learned about this bunch this year is that they have taken some big steps from last year. They don't lay down, and they fight much more than at ANY point last year. We've learned that they are quite capable of playing a top-10 team on the road, with the ability to execute, and be in the position to win. We have to get playmakers, everywhere. We have to get speed, and most importantly we have to stay patient. They have a shot to finish their season at 7-5, maybe 8-4, and we all know that we will take that for year one of the Pelini era. Maybe the "signature win" comes next year. Maybe the year after. We will have a very good sign of knowing we're close to where we need to be when we don't have a walk-on matched up with a Maclin on a jailbreak screen or a walk-on Mike matched up one-on-one with a Murray in the flat. . .

I really think that we should think hard and try to implement EXACTLY what they do on offense. I'll finish it with that. . .

GO BIG RED!!!

OU7Times, again you have a fine, fine, fine football team and after what you went through in the 1990's you deserve your re-establishment on the national scene as the prominent player that you are. Good luck with the remaining games left on the schedule. . .

James Moore Nov 02 08

Man I had to throw this out there too. I've been running some pretty sweet dynasty squads on NCAA Football (well ever since they put that feature on there) and I NEVER had an X-Box video game start like last night. . .

We didn't take a step backwards last night. We had the horrible misfortune of coming out against an extremely talented and dynamic team, on the road, at night, when they played their absolute best game of the year while we had EVERYTHING go wrong. Last night is NOT an accurate indication of what we are or how far we have come. To accurately surmise Oklahoma:

"They are who we thought they were"

Bill in Iowa Nov 03 08

I definately liked Bo's call after the game. Bo now knows embarassing losses...and he is protecting his players from further embarrassment by not having them have to come face to face with the cameras. Bo is not used to losing and this is got to be very painful for him. I wonder if Bo would have signed on if he knew what a project he was taking on?

Never fear, I think most of us accepted the fact this was going to be a 7-5 year at best. I like a lot of what I see from the coaches and up and coming players. So, from the jaws of defeat, here are a few upbeat things to consider:

We have not seen much of Patrick Witt this year, but from the OU game, I liked the little bit of what I saw from him. I don't know if he, Zach, or one of the Cody's will start for us, but I think we will have a capable albeit inexperienced young man taking the helm.

You got to LOVE Helu! I think he and Mendozza will add a huge spark to our running game next year. Holt, Paul, Gilleyan, and Cooper will provide some fireworks at the receiver position. And the tight end position is solid.

Unfortunately, the offense really let us down in this game. We needed them to carry the load, instead they made terminal mistakes. I think composure and confidence is the key word here. Ganz's early throws were very eradic. I think his nerves got the best of him. I sense that once Ganz and the offense did settle down, they started moving the ball a little. Of course, it was 5 minutes into the game and too late.

I realize the OU 2nd team was playing in the 4th, but on paper, statistically are offense did not have a bad game (except for the turnovers)

FIRST DOWNS................... 15 21
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 35-204 40-193
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 214 315
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 28-16-2 30-21-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 63-418 70-508

Its no surprise that OU walked all over our defense. However, look what happened early in the game, the first kick-off was returned nearly to our red-zone. Then there was the interception for a touchdown, the fumble on the 40, and the interception. OU had a short field three times in a row against our D. But after that rampage, the defense still was fighting and managed to get a three and out.

I thought the D-line stood up well against probably the best O-line in the country. In fact, I thought we played reasonably well against the OU run game. However, they certainly took advantage of our secondary. We struggled matching their size and speed at receiver. And our D-line did not manage to put much pressure at all on Bradford.

Next year, this defense will have a year of Bo-education under their belt. And hopefully some smarter and faster recruits in the secondary. I think the D-line will be as solid next year as they are this year and hopefully have Turner's services at a rush end. The LB position should be much better off with young and fast talent, namely Fisher, Lawrence, Holt and Compton.

The X factor is going to be the secondary, once again. It's obvious Bo and staff are trying to recruit speed at LB and in the secondary. But we also need some smarts, guys that are NOT going to blow their assignment every other play. Will this year's in-experienced secondary translate to better play next year in the secondary or will some starters this year get up-ended by some of the younger recruits?

I know its a little pre-mature to think about next year, but I need a little therapuetic optimism after this weekends dreadful performance. I know it looked like a pro team playing a high school team this weekend, but I know we are better than that. I really think we are closer than we realize to performing at a high level.

AustinHusker Nov 03 08

I honestly didnt know if we would get blown out by 50 or lose in overtime by 6. But this is truly one of those games that everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. It could have been 70-10 like it was against TT a couple of years ago and yet it wasnt and I dont think Stoops told his guys to go easy on Bo. 62-28 is nothing to write home about, but 35-0; but 27-28 after that first quarter is at least completive.

Lets see how we bounce back, if we go 3-0 everyone will be dreaming of next year. If we go 2-1, well 7-5 is at least a stepping stone. If we go 3-0 like last year, well.....

Keep your heads up guys, it was an over time lost to the #1 team in the nation and a blow out to the number #4 team. We arent there but I think there is progress. How many other teams have 3 walk on starters and many others that played.

I hope the bounce back is good this week.

James Moore Nov 03 08

Could you imagine us running our old offensive system BUT with the no-huddle? How cool and violent would that look? It would be like a never-ending rugby scrum making it's way down the field or watching a human tornado go from one end of the field to the other. . .

HuskerDeck Nov 03 08

I looked to me like we had 10 men on defense and the Sooners had 12 men on offense.

jeff Nov 03 08

When Pelini was hired everyone to a T thought that blow outs would be a thing of the past.

How wrong we all were.

That being said, Pelini's competence as a HC HAS to be brought into question. I don't care what talent and psychological issues the team has but no Nebraska coach worth his grain of salt should get 62 points hung on him (35 points in the 1st. qtr alone!). That's downright despicable.

Is any real progress being made with this team?

omarhuskerfan Nov 04 08

Renny,
I agree about Bo. In fact lets look at it this way even if Bo isn't a good coach what are we going to do? Cry and wine about it for 3 years?

Bo inheritied one of the slowest teams in recent history of NU and we just have to live with the bad recruiting jobs of BC. But if we make it to a bowl game I say that is improvement over years past.

Bill in Iowa Nov 04 08

I cannot believe the Bo bashing has started already??? Bo has taken a psychologically defeated team and has made them believe in themselves. But he also tells it like it is...how many times have we heard him say "we are making progress, but we are not there yet."

Bo Knows...the talent shelves are 1/2 empty. Bo Knows...this team on O and D are making too many mistakes. How many times in the press have you heard him say "we have to start limiting our mistakes" or "we are our own worse enemy".

With Bo you can tell this team is developing, making progress, and performing better than last year, considering the lack of pure talent (especailly on D) and considering we basically have a 1st year QB who makes mistakes sometimes. Are we making progress? The season isn't over yet, but I think this team is much better than last years team. And I think most would agree.

One person who agrees is Mangino, this is what he said this week:

Mangino said this year's Nebraska team "has improved greatly" over the Husker squad the Jayhawks hammered 76-39 last year in Lawrence, Kan.

"As you watch video tape of them, you just see them playing more disciplined football," Mangino said. "You can see that they're getting better each and every week and we need to be ready for this challenge."

WOW Nov 07 08

Bill in Iowa,
Whether or not I agree that 'Bo needs bashed' is somewhat irrelevant.
I read your quoting Bo as 'We this' and 'We that' but you seem to have left out the near equal number of times he has said "This was my fault" or "I am responsible for what happened out there"
When a man makes those kinds of statements what is wrong with agreeing with him?

Renny,
I heard MANY fans screaming about how the walk on program was 'abandoned' under the last administration and I don't know if you were one of them or not.
That said, what I heard you say of the program amounted to this 'No honey you're not fat. You're just not skinny'

JR