Lack of Execution Dooms Huskers
13 comments so far
October 17, 2009 by
If you were told the Huskers would hold Texas Tech to 258 total yards this week, you'd think that would mean a victory for Nebraska. You'd be wrong.
The Husker defense played an adequate game. They committed too many penalties and yielded untimely conversions on third and long that led to Red Raider points.
The special teams were no picnic either. There were short punts, a big kick return given up, and a missed field goal.
But by far the most frustrating aspect of the game was the performance of the Husker offense. The misplayed lateral that gave Texas Tech a cheap touchdown put the Huskers in a deep hole early. The missed passes. The holding calls. The false starts. The dropped passes. Seemingly nothing went right until the game was pretty much academic. Even then, Cody Green threw a red zone interception to kill a late drive.
Without a doubt, the talk this week will be around who the starting quarterback ought to be and who it will be. I'm probably in the minority in believing that the coaches wouldn't be necessarily wrong in continuing to start Lee. His experience in Shawn Watson's offense has some value. But you also see why starting the Cody Green era early is inviting. He can break tackles and make plays that Lee simply can't. You just wish he was more familiar with the offense.
The coaches aren't blameless either. In particular, you wondered what Bo Pelini hoped to achieve by going after the referees so vigorously after Tech's last touchdown. Is it worth making these guys mad? They're Big 12 officials, so you'll see them again. They did him a favor in not giving him a 15-yard penalty. It was the only favor they did him today. It's hard to recall a game with more booing of the officiating (or more flags to boo). The flag on Ricky Henry late in the game in particular seemed like one you'd never expect in that situation.
The Husker defense probably wasn't as bad as they seemed. But the rest of the team probably was. A very regrettable outing that really puts pressure on the team from this point forward. Thank goodness next week's opponent will be Iowa State.
Did you enjoy this article?
Get Husker news by email
Follow us on Twitter
Related Stories: Texas Tech
Post a comment
Kyle Oct 17 09
I rather have a QB in our system for all 4 years then to keep doing these 2 year QB's. Green is a better player overall. Even if he doesn't know the whole system yet I rather have better athlete.
Pager Oct 17 09
Offensive line is poor and cannot hold the pocket. DJ Jones got beat on consecutive plays for sacks. We did not try to establish a run game. Lee takes too long to deliver. We don't use the tight ends enough. Henery punts were uncharacteristically bad. Mistakes and bad penalities killed field position. Dropped passes. Defense was on the field too much. Changing QB's might not matter if the Huskers cannot fix the basics.
Robert Oct 17 09
On a side note: Lets go Colorado!
BigWhit Oct 17 09
Some of the blog (non)contributors have a hard time with adulthood moments.
Dywane Oct 17 09
The offensive line needs to pick up thier game and start firing off the ball and getting downfield. We cannot have a multiple attack the way their are playing football. This game's offense poor performance is on Cotton.
Robert Oct 17 09
Good thing CU came along to bail us out by knocking off KU.
dick358 Oct 17 09
Execution, penalties & play calling all contributed to the loss today. The O-line should be farther along this point in the season.
I wonder how they do in practice against the defense? Not well I bet. Made the Tech defense
look pretty darn good today. Back to work boys! You can still win the north & play for the Big 12 tittle.
AustinHusker Oct 18 09
Lee or Green? Should be an interesting week. Green has shown me nothing that leads me to believe he is better right now than Lee. I know Lee did not play well but how many times did the TT WR bail out their QB with a great catch. Can you say the same thing about ours. No our WR dropped countless passes, fumbles,etc. If you want someone replaced look no further than the O-line and WR.
And I dont buy the, start a guy for 4 years. Yes it looks good if you are Colt, but the TT QB has started all of 2 weeks and he hasnt looked too bad.
James Moore Oct 18 09
This is a bad, bad, bad offensive football team. The truth is besides loading the box to stop Helu our WR's can't win one-on-one matchups, period. Whether it is separating, catching, or making plays this is a very subpar WR corps (at best). We have ONE playmaker on offense. Not having Burkhead hurt yesterday. Helu is breaking down, and I will tell you this. IF he goes down we are in a good bit of trouble. What's behind at the moment will instill fear in nobody. We will be very scheme prone, and with the way we make mental mistakes we will have a hard time beating a decent team. I watch a lot of football (as I'm sure most people do as well) and I don't see a team commits more mental errors offensively than us. We're the only team I've seen (twice now) that starts with a 1st & goal and have to in one case punt, and in yesterday's kick a 52-yd FG. Even worse This bunch can't finish in the red zone. Either they're not too smart or they've been asked to do too much. It was very disappointing to see this bunch not come to play. . .
Coach Watson, what is our identity? What do you want to see these kids doing well as a unit? Multiple is nice. Being able to take what is given to you is a luxury you can afford to have when you do ONE thing particularly well. Find something that all 11 guys do well making one play work. The Coach Watson at Colorado was a physical unit attacking the box with power. The one we have seems to be in a world of intracacies and ideas. Theories are grey but real life is green. I hope that this was just a bad weekend, but there are some serious strategic flaws offensively. How they get addressed, I don't know. Again this offensive unit is either not too bright, or they are being overloaded with too much and are poorly prepared. . .
Coach Pelini said a while back when evaluating the team what he thought. He said that we are a long ways from playing a complete football game. That still holds VERY true today. This whole issue with the penalties has got to be dealt with. It is killing us. It cost us a 19-10 lead at Virginia Tech that would've put that game away in all probability. It killed us yesterday as well. Nobody in the Big 12 is committing mental errors at the clip we do. THAT'S JUST NOT NEBRASKA FOOTBALL. . .
Brad Oct 18 09
When you stick to 7 formations, 6 of which are four wide receivers with the QB in the shotgun, you are going to limit your team. The defense never loses sight of the ball, and the ends know immediately what the play is going to do.
You take away the ability to hold defense, and give the offensive line the advantage. You take away an effective play action pass, counter and even the cut back. Instead of the back hitting the line less than one second after the ball is snapped, it takes about 1.5 to 2 seconds; which is too much time. Think how far a safety and linebacker can move in one second, especially if he never loses sight of the ball.
The first four games the offense played so many different formations, and style of plays it kept the defense guessing. The linebackers weren't able to clog up the lanes, and the receivers could get some separation.
The plan is simple... quit using the same basic formation 80% of the time. Go back to using many formations so you can effectively balance the offense and give the offensive line the advantage.
Rick Oct 19 09
Don’t under estimate ISU this year Huskers. ISU has played a lot better this year than the two previous years and they were only blown out of the water once this season to non conference and still undefeated division one team, Iowa. Their defense is getting better every game as well as their running oriented offense. Paul Rhodes has done lot for the program so far, winning their first game after ten straight losses, ending their road game losing streak, as well getting their first conference game win since 2007. They are 4-3 and two games wins away from making a bowl game. With recent loss to Texas Tech proves that Nebraska is not as strong as they once thought and their offense and QB situation is going down the crapper fast. Your defense and your fan support will be your two biggest strengths coming into this weeks game. In normal Big 12 season I would say you guys would beat ISU hands down anytime you play them at Lincoln, no matter how good or bad they are that year. This year is different for your team, ISU, and the Big 12. Seems like planet stop rotating and the gravity has failed in the Big 12 leaving everything a mess. The North Division title is up in the air with no clear front runner. The South is compared to recent years is weak and unpredictable. There now only 3 ranked teams in the Big 12 as of week 8 only one, Texas, in the top ten. Back to the point, I think this coming Husker –Cyclone game up in the air, even with it being in your guy’s home court. ISU got 5 games left in the season, Texas Tech, Missouri, and Colorado could be easy wins for ISU if they continue to play as well as they have been. Oklahoma State I would say Cyclone loss but they are not doing so hot either. With this game I say anything goes.
Rick Oct 19 09
Don’t under estimate ISU this year Huskers. ISU has played a lot better this year than the two previous years and they were only blown out of the water once this season to non conference and still undefeated division one team, Iowa. Their defense is getting better every game as well as their running oriented offense. Paul Rhodes has done lot for the program so far, winning their first game after ten straight losses, ending their road game losing streak, as well getting their first conference game win since 2007. They are 4-3 and two games wins away from making a bowl game. With recent loss to Texas Tech proves that Nebraska is not as strong as they once thought and their offense and QB situation is going down the crapper fast. Your defense and your fan support will be your two biggest strengths coming into this weeks game. In normal Big 12 season I would say you guys would beat ISU hands down anytime you play them at Lincoln, no matter how good or bad they are that year. This year is different for your team, ISU, and the Big 12. Seems like planet stop rotating and the gravity has failed in the Big 12 leaving everything a mess. The North Division title is up in the air with no clear front runner. The South is compared to recent years is weak and unpredictable. There now only 3 ranked teams in the Big 12 as of week 8 only one, Texas, in the top ten. Back to the point, I think this coming Husker –Cyclone game up in the air, even with it being in your guy’s home court. ISU got 5 games left in the season, Texas Tech, Missouri, and Colorado could be easy wins for ISU if they continue to play as well as they have been. Oklahoma State I would say Cyclone loss but they are not doing so hot either. With this game I say anything goes.
Rick Oct 19 09
Don’t under estimate ISU this year Huskers. ISU has played a lot better this year than the two previous years and they were only blown out of the water once this season to non conference and still undefeated division one team, Iowa. Their defense is getting better every game as well as their running oriented offense. Paul Rhodes has done lot for the program so far, winning their first game after ten straight losses, ending their road game losing streak, as well getting their first conference game win since 2007. They are 4-3 and two games wins away from making a bowl game. With recent loss to Texas Tech proves that Nebraska is not as strong as they once thought and their offense and QB situation is going down the crapper fast. Your defense and your fan support will be your two biggest strengths coming into this weeks game. In normal Big 12 season I would say you guys would beat ISU hands down anytime you play them at Lincoln, no matter how good or bad they are that year. This year is different for your team, ISU, and the Big 12. Seems like planet stop rotating and the gravity has failed in the Big 12 leaving everything a mess. The North Division title is up in the air with no clear front runner. The South is compared to recent years is weak and unpredictable. There now only 3 ranked teams in the Big 12 as of week 8 only one, Texas, in the top ten. Back to the point, I think this coming Husker –Cyclone game up in the air, even with it being in your guy’s home court. ISU got 5 games left in the season, Texas Tech, Missouri, and Colorado could be easy wins for ISU if they continue to play as well as they have been. Oklahoma State I would say Cyclone loss but they are not doing so hot either. With this game I say anything goes.