Sunday Morning Observations from the KSU Game
9 comments so far
November 16, 2008 by
Here are a few observations from yesterday's Husker win over Kansas State. These coffee-fueled musing are kind of all over the map, but are by no means all inclusive. So feel free to offer your own thoughts in the comments if you like.
Crowd
For the first time in a while, I didn't make the trip down to Manhattan. From the looks of the crown on TV, there was a substantial Husker contingent. There also appeared to be a lot of empty seats. I don't think either fact is too surprising, considering the coaching situation. Not too much can be asked of a fan base that failed to sell out Bill Snyder's last home game, I guess.
Halftime News Breakers
Speaking of Bill Snyder...did anybody else catch Osborne breaking some serious news during his little halftime talk in the booth? When asked about his involvement with NU, part of his answer was "Well, I was talking with Bill Snyder a little bit ago, and there are lots of people trying to talk him in to being the coach again down here..."
Apparently those Snyder-returning-to-KSU rumors have quite a bit of traction, since Bill is mentioning it to Tom. Stay tuned, I guess.
Another interesting halftime observation - I could see Javario Burkes limp off the field while Pelini was doing his halftime interview. As tight lipped as coaches are about injury information, this is just about the only way to know who is hurt any more. Burkes did not return to game action.
Defense
I realize that KSU isn't the best team in America. But, I came away impressed by the Husker defense. The front four really played well. It was a group effort for that unit. I love how Pierre Allen has stepped up this year. The NU linebackers played very capably. Walk-ons like Wortman and Koehler played well and collected tackles. I was pleased to see Blake Lawrence flash some of his ability at linebacker too. He's one to watch for next year.
And, with the exception of one or two plays, the NU secondary played very well. Even though he was beaten on the deep ball, Anthony West played lights out in coverage much of the day. Larry Asante came down hill and filled on the run very well, like a strong safety should. Little by little the defense is coming around.
Freeman 0-3
I don't know if Freeman will return next year to play for another coach. Frankly, I'd bet he doesn't know yet either. But, for the record, the kid is now 0-3 against Nebraska. Maybe the reply to the infamous "I'm not coming. Don't call." text message should have been "Good. I won't."
Hanging them Out to Dry?
I'd like to hear from a KSU fan about this, because I'm not sure what is going on. But, it appeared to me that Prince sort of left his team out to dry on Saturday. He chose not to get points at the end of the half. Any other coach kicks a field goal there. Then, in the second half, he went on multiple 4th downs, even when KSU was on their own half of the field. Part of that could just be his "bold and daring" coming out, since he has nothing to lose. Part of it could be wanton disregard for his team. It could have been much, much uglier than 56-28, and that is not fair to his team.
Props for Consistency
How much has NU relied on the consistency of Nate Swift and Todd Peterson this year? They make the catches that matter on third down. Those two will be tough to replace. Though, I'm seeing Mike McNeil really emerge as a quality tight end, and he's just a sophomore. Fellow sophomore Niles Paul got in the mix more on offense Saturday, too.
Backup Chatter
Hey, we saw the backup quarterbacks a little bit on Saturday. It wasn't enough time for either Patrick Witt or Zach Lee to do much evaluation, really. Though, one thing was obvious - Lee is more of a runner. On all of his plays, they ran the zone read option. Twice, he kept it and gained a total of 17 yards.
The other big story with the backups is that running back Marcus Mendoza is fast. What a "change of pace" weapon for the Husker to have. He's the kind of player who will benefit most from the bowl preparation practices and could emerge to give NU another three-headed running attack next year. I know the rotation bothers a lot of fans, but the stat lines for each of the NU runners looks pretty balanced again this week.
Some Rest and Bowl Speculation
I'm glad NU gets a week off to get healthy before taking on Colorado. It will be nice to get some players back to full speed.
Elsewhere in America, Notre Dame held off Navy yesterday. So, the odds of the Husker going to the Gator Bowl are hurt considerably. If the Irish get another win, the Gator folks would likely select them. I'll continue to hope, though. Short of that, it looks like the Sun Bowl for the Huskers.
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Bill in Iowa Nov 16 08
I was impressed my the physical domination on both sides of the ball. K-Sate guys were laying hurt on the field and limping hurt off the field. It reminded me of the Huskers of old. Was it just me or did the newly christened blackshirts seem to have a little more swagger?
Yes, this was just K-State, but the absolute beating that incurred tells me NU just keeps getting better. They are looking like the vision that was promised to Husker fans at the beginning of the season. When the D-line and O-line dominates physically, it makes everyone elses job that much easier.
Replacing Ganz and Swift will be very important for next years offense. I think either Holt or Paul are both capable but they have not had a lot of opportunity to shine since Peterson and Swift are getting more reps. Maybe someone like Brooks, Gilleyan, or Cooper will emerge?
I guess we will have to wait for the spring game to really evaluate the QB position. But it seems like we have capable players. What I really like is both Lee and Witt have had a few years to develop and learn the system (just like Ganz). We no longer have to scramble around for a JUCO or transfer to find a talented QB. I am not saying Tayor and Keller were bad QB's, but by growing are own they can come in and run the full offensive package and feel comfortable and confident.
The Count Nov 17 08
there was a substantial Husker contingent. There also appeared to be a lot of empty seats. It was a late arriving crowd but the stadium was more filled then I figured it would be. Much of that because Of Nebraska fans. The announced attendance of 48,000+ sounds about kosher from what I could see BUT...
The Kansas State fans were bitter and negative from the begging and not towards us but towards Kansas State. Many left after after NU went up 28-14 and the few that stayed really got hostile when Prince seemingly through in the towel in the second half and started running the clock out. I would imagine that the Kansas State crowd at the game Saturday must have resembled what the Nebraska crowd must have looked and sounded like last year during say the Oklahoma State game.
The Count Nov 17 08
About Prince's play calling. The K-State fans I saw were not pleased he didn't kick a field goal at the end of the half. As for his calls to go for it late in the game There were only about 25 K-State fans in the stands by that point and I am not even sure they cared by then.
In Prince's defense K-State couldn't stop Nebraska no matter what. The only time Nebraska was stopped was when Nebraska stopped themselves.
Ty Nov 17 08
It is too early to talka bout next year? :) During the second half a friend and I watching the game because talking about Lee and Witt. Would Pelini ever run a dual QB system? Or will one emerge over the off-season. I really like Witt's intelligence and frame, but I can't deny how many times this year Ganz's feet have kept drives going. Witt doesn't appear to have that ability; Lee does. We'll just have to see more of them before we make a decision.
bnahusker Nov 17 08
Did Bo give Blackshirts to the starters on offense too? They were hitting just as hard and knocking out more people than Defense!
GBR!
Bob
Scott Nov 17 08
This was a nice win. This was the type of game that could have given NU problems, especially with the way it started. I've never really gotten into the Freeman bashing because I could have given a crap where he signed. I only care about who wears the N on the helmet. If someone doesn't want to come here, I say good luck to them and leave it at that. This team has shown signs of improvement, especially on defense.
WyoHuskerFan Nov 17 08
Good analysis of the game. On West getting beat deep, I believe he played his man perfectly pushing him to the middle and didn't get the over the top help he was expecting from Asante who broke too late (he does this too often!). I also didn't get a satisfactory explanation when the refs awarded (after further review) KSU the TD after two refs blow the whistle and mark the ball short. Our defense quits playing while their QB keeps squirming, and they get the TD, bad officiating.
HuskerDeck Nov 17 08
Congrats to Joey for Big 12 player of the week and the whole Husker team for their win.
JBLING22 Nov 17 08
Wholy Crap two consecutive weeks with a Cornhusker as one of the Players of the Week in the Big Twelve Conference..... :), but more importantly it wasn't just that player that decided to show up and play... Pelini has been getting alot out of guys that no one even heard of til halfway through the year... May ??? He's Back .... as in back in nebraska, and back as in Linebacker? who would have thought...