Big 12 Championship Post-Mortem
19 comments so far
December 7, 2009 by
After the ending we witnessed on Saturday night, a part of me is wishing that Bo Pelini will pull a "Mack Brown" and put an asterisk on the 2009 football season. Regardless of the outcome, the attitude that we belong to the class of team that should have a right to act with such snobbery is a great sign of the type of year the Huskers have had. Not only did our performance land us in the Holiday Bowl, it upped our rankings by a spot in the two major polls. Even better, major media outlets were calling the game "an SEC type battle", which is a huge compliment in media-speak. I prefer to call it the future of the Big 12; a future where 7 DBs aren't just for hail mary passes and a coach can drop three defensive linemen into coverage whenever he wants.
After the last second ticked away, Bo Pelini gave a sort of flip or wave of his hand in disgust, as if to say, I'm through with you, game and regular season. When questioned about the officiating at the end, a resounding "No comment" was followed up with a statement that makes reporters move on. Well, we can comment, and that's what the little "Comments" box below this story is for. Knock yourself out.
This game was our season in a nutshell:
- Questionable officiating against Bo Pelini (not Nebraska)
- The Best Defense in the Country, led by the Best Defensive Lineman, ever
- A Historically bad NU offense that consistently made mistakes and underperformed
- One play away from changing the whole season
Before the game, I was informing friends and family that I knew what our offense was, and that to win, we would have to win the special teams battle, the defensive battle, and the turnover battle. In fact I specifically said +2 in turnovers would win the game. What I didn't realize is that even +1 might have won us the game, depending on where one more pick or a fumble could have occurred. Such an event could have set us up with field position for one more field goal, or better yet, have been a score by itself.
The defense came up strong to give the Husker offense a couple of golden opportunities to score a touchdown. It doesn't seem too much to ask when expecting more than 5 first downs and better than 2 for 16 on third down conversions. That's in the realm of teams that rank in the bottom half of their respective conferences. It reminds me of the Frank Solich offenses that were simply Run, Run, Pass, Punt as the equation of choice. But I would even be salivating over a Solich offense at Nebraska right now. It seems like we've regressed the longer the season has gone on. Instead of marching and getting onto the scoreboard with a "statement" touchdown, the offense would turn as bad as the defense was dominant.
Our front four LIVED in the Texas backfield the whole game. The Blackshirts more than doubled the Longhorn's previous allowed sack total this season by forcing QB Colt McCoy into a sack NINE times. To get 18 tackles for loss is just unbelievable. It seems like tougher the opponents, the better we play. And to top it off, the UT offensive line just started the game on the wrong foot, making our D-line madder then I've ever seen a line be in my whole life. It's like the whole Texas line just shot the dogs of our defensive line after that first chop block attempt on Ndamukong Suh was called. It was the defining moment to set up our anger for the rest of the day.
After this game was over, I sat down and printed out the play by play, and wrote notes in the margins about each of the mistakes, errors in play calling, penalties, stats, and other relevant parts of the game. I had enough material to cover about 3 or 4 articles worth on this site. There's just so much that this season has gone through, that I can't wait to start thinking about how Bo Pelini's going to fix things to bring the offense up to his level of standards. It will just be interesting to witness the changes this team undergoes with an extra month of practice thrown in to prepare this team. The Stoops v. Pelini fight will be a spectacle to see.
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iggy Dec 07 09
That chop was inexcuseable. the second time it happened (same guy i think) he should have been ejected.
tom Dec 07 09
I was shocked it happened on the FIRST PLAY OF THE GAME. In my mind, the Big 12 needs to look into it. The only way an O-lineman does that is if a coach tells him "take him out of the game". Suh better get used to dodging those. The NFL trenches are even more full of cheap shots and cheaters.
PSW Dec 07 09
So true...that game was a microcosm of our entire year. I hope your right Tom that Bo takes apart this offense in the off season and puts it back together the way it should be. As it stands now it would rank in the lower half of all the high school offenses in the country and it REGRESSED! ugh...
The chops were unbelievable. I lost every shred of respect for Mack Brownnoseupthebig12'scollectiveass. His snake oil sales pitch afterward made me throw up in my mouth. Payback in Lincoln next year is going to be uuuuuuuugly.
Rupes Dec 07 09
Except the second chop-block he missed hitting Suh entirely. You could argue that he was going for the low block and then changed his mind "mid-jump" when he noticed Suh was getting blocked high. I don't think an ejection was warranted there. As for the final play, everybody has had that "I wish we had one more play" after seeing 1-3 seconds on the clock when the ball/knee hit the ground or when trying to call timeout. Do you video replay to see exactly when the coach put his hands together? The rulebook states the clock stops when the referee signals a dead ball - is it reasonable for this to take 1 second past the time the ball hits the ground... absolutely. Is that the spirit of the rulebook... no. The Big 12 could have gone either way (I think it would have been an easier argument if they called the game then) and argued that they were right either way. How bad would it have looked if they said "Oops, sorry Nebraska". Plus, being that it was an end-game scenario it could almost hit the courts. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Still, there were a lot of penalties against NU that weren't called, and we all were very thankful when they called that kickoff return man down (very bad call - let it play out and then say he was down on the one - that allows for replay). Also, I think Nebraska is playing the "we should have" won the game card too much. We were out-yarded 2:1.
And as for Texas last year, how pathetic. Neither Texas, Oklahoma, nor Texas Tech DESERVED to go to the big-12 championship game, but they had to send one. Don't complain when you're a 1-loss team when another 1-loss team goes instead. Same goes for championship berths. And finally, think of what situations could present themselves if Texas' rule was implemented. We could have had #2 OU, #12 TX, and #14 TT in a 3-way tie. OU and TX are highest ranked, and TX won the game, so TX goes to the big-12 championship and we have BCS-chaos as nobody wants another conference non-winner in the championship (a la 2001 NU). The big 12 would want OU to win the tiebreaker if at all possible (and they would probably be CLOSER to deserving it).
tom Dec 07 09
Yeah, I had a little bit of a problem with the final "play" of the game, but my problem was how many other opportunities we wasted. I counted something like 20 things that would have likely won it for us if any of them had gone right. I ALWAYS say in these close games, it always comes down to more than one play.
Travis Dec 07 09
I look at things in a similar fashion as Tom in that I see way to many missed opportunities...
Nebraska's defense and special teams put the Nebraska offense on the field 4 times inside the Texas 40 once on the 10 yard line and we came away with three field goals and an interception on another badly floated/underthrown Zac Less pass...Texas' D is certain one of the better D's in the country but when you take your 1st and 10 snap on the 10 yard and three snaps later you're kicking a field goal from the 9 yard line that's not going to win you games against a quality opponent...
The extra second, bad Kunalic kick and Asante horsecollar all hurt of course but there were way to many wasted opportunities on the way to that point.
Pelini needs to start deciding what identity he wants this offense to have and if Watson can work with those expectations great give him one more year to make it work otherwise it's time to go...The defense and special teams should continue to improve next year even with the senior class losses and it will be a boarder line crime to have an inept offense drag another season down into the gutter...
James Moore Dec 07 09
"I was shocked it happened on the FIRST PLAY OF THE GAME. In my mind, the Big 12 needs to look into it. The only way an O-lineman does that is if a coach tells him "take him out of the game".
Tom no doubt about it, that wasn't an accident. . .
"The chops were unbelievable. I lost every shred of respect for Mack Brownnoseupthebig12'scollectiveass. His snake oil sales pitch afterward made me throw up in my mouth. Payback in Lincoln next year is going to be uuuuuuuugly."
Absolutely PSW, well stated brother. . .
This offseason Coach Pelini should put :01 on the clock every practice to remind the guys that you have to play the full 60 minutes. . .
Sure is sad in one way that we get only one more game before the offseason starts and we're in Siberia until spring, and then next fall camp. . .
GO BIG RED!!!
Isaac Dec 07 09
I agree completely that this was a representation of our entire season. The defense makes play after play, while the offense just can't do enough against any decent team. After the Va Tech game, we were upset with the "mistakes" the offense made and how we should have won that if we cashed in on any of our missed opportunities. Well, this game I wasn't really so upset because I KNEW what our offense was going into it -- terrible.
I still have issues with some of the specific plays called (all options and QB draws), but clearly there was a conservative game plan and there was never a need to go away from it. Overall, it worked -- just one play or one second away from winning.
Joni Jordan Dec 07 09
As if anybody needs more of a reason to hate "plays a weak schedule every year" Texas... my heart goes out to all Corn Husker fans - Texas gets ranked with weak scheduling and R-E-F help, not X and O's.
WyHuskerFan Dec 07 09
This game was definately a microcosm of the entire year. One less penalty and we likely beat VT, one less fumble and we lkely beat ISU, and one less boneheaded play AGAIN! and we likely beat Texas while still looking completely inept on offense.
Stan Dec 07 09
The chop block call was horrible. Looks like he missed the defensive lineman altogether.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUZWpfs-O6A
bobfiscella Dec 09 09
From a Longhorn - Nebraska's defense played a heck-of-a-game and Ndamukong Suh has my vote for the Heisman. He's that good! However, the two chop block calls were horrible calls. They never happened. Read the rule (below) on what a chop block is. If you look at the replay of the two calls, neither was a chop block in the fact that two players were never engaging Suh (you can clearly see the guard pulling while the center tried to cut out his legs, which is legal in college football).
Chop Block (Rule 2-3-3). The definition of the chop block has been simplified to assist in the understanding of this rule and to encourage more consistent officiating. A chop block is now defined as a high-low or low-high combination block by any two players against an opponent (other than the runner) anywhere on the field, with or without a delay between contacts. The “low” component is at the opponent’s thigh or below. A dangerous action that can lead to serious injury, the chop block is a personal foul that carries a 15-yard penalty.
bobbyf Dec 09 09
From a Longhorn - Nebraska's defense played a heck-of-a-game and Ndamukong Suh has my vote for the Heisman. He's that good! However, the two chop block calls were horrible calls. They never happened. Read the rule (below) on what a chop block is. If you look at the replay of the two calls, neither was a chop block in the fact that two players were never engaging Suh (you can clearly see the guard pulling while the center tried to cut out his legs, which is legal in college football).
Chop Block (Rule 2-3-3). The definition of the chop block has been simplified to assist in the understanding of this rule and to encourage more consistent officiating. A chop block is now defined as a high-low or low-high combination block by any two players against an opponent (other than the runner) anywhere on the field, with or without a delay between contacts. The “low” component is at the opponent’s thigh or below. A dangerous action that can lead to serious injury, the chop block is a personal foul that carries a 15-yard penalty.
bobbyf Dec 09 09
From a Longhorn - Nebraska's defense played a heck-of-a-game and Ndamukong Suh has my vote for the Heisman. He's that good! However, the two chop block calls were horrible calls. They never happened. Read the rule (below) on what a chop block is. If you look at the replay of the two calls, neither was a chop block in the fact that two players were never engaging Suh (you can clearly see the guard pulling while the center tried to cut out his legs, which is legal in college football).
Chop Block (Rule 2-3-3). The definition of the chop block has been simplified to assist in the understanding of this rule and to encourage more consistent officiating. A chop block is now defined as a high-low or low-high combination block by any two players against an opponent (other than the runner) anywhere on the field, with or without a delay between contacts. The “low” component is at the opponent’s thigh or below. A dangerous action that can lead to serious injury, the chop block is a personal foul that carries a 15-yard penalty.
tom Dec 09 09
Glad you think that those were horrible calls. If they were bad calls by the refs, it doesn't even make up for the handful of jersey your offensive line had all night on Suh. Not that it mattered, since he ran through your guys like they were 150-lbs weaklings.
bobbyf Dec 09 09
Tom - I'm just going by the book on a chop block. Was Texas offensive line holding on other plays? I'm sure they were. More so than any other team holds? Can't answer that question. And as you say, since it didn't matter, so be it.
Pellini's done a heck-of-a-job with that defense in a short period of time, when the offense catches up, Nebraska is gonna be a force again.
tom Dec 09 09
I went back and looked at them. The first block looked like an attempt at a chop block. Which is unfortunate, because officials should not be penalizing for "intent". The second one was a complete whiff, so it was questionable.
As far as the non called holding, I expect Suh and the front four to be held at least a dozen times a game, but usually see at least one call early by the refs so that the players know what's going to be called. I counted 8 that could have been called against the Longhorns. The only teams that didn't get a holding call against them in the Big 12 against Nebraska were Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech, and I usually expect 1 or 2 calls. Those were the games where Suh was double teamed and held for most of the game. Except for Texas, his numbers were some of his lowest of the year in those games.
OU7times Dec 09 09
I pretty much missed the player who I thought would take the cheap shots.
As it turned out, Nebraska wasn't the team who needed the edge.
To consciously try to mess up a players legs has no place in athletics no matter what level and has to be looked at as to whether it was ordered or not.
James Jack Dec 23 09
iggy and tom...why would you be surprised concerning the texas chop blocks? YOUR COACH had obviously briefed the refs on the "possibilty" that Texas' offensive line might just, as Brent Musberger so clearly stated, "take Suh out". But Mack Brown DOES have more class than that. The SAME official that threw BOTH FLAGS either does not have the grasp of the rules, or was simply a Nebraska alum...there was no high/low combo block on Suh at any point in the game. In fact, if anything, Brown was a dunce for NEVER having Suh double teamed !!! I have produced and posted the "phantom chop blocks" on YOUTUBE. Do a simple search and watch. If you want to see a REAL chop block, Auburn is known for CHOPPING. Simply search Auburn Chop Block and watch the real McCoy (no pun intended).