Week 9 Husker Report Card: Oklahoma

by Husker Mike on Nov 2, 2008 10:20 PM CST in Football

OK, we all knew Oklahoma was really good. Scary good. But we had hope. We wondered if the Huskers could play keep-away like they did in Lubbock three weeks ago, could they pull off the signature upset?

Six minutes into the game, that hope was extinguished as three Husker turnovers resulted in a 28-0 lead for the Sooners, and the game was essentially over.

Offensive Line: D Not a lot of running room, not a lot of protection for Joe Ganz. Before he went out of the game with an injury, Lydon Murtha had two bad whiffs in a row where he didn't even get touch the guy he allegedly was supposed to block.

Running Backs: C- Marlon Lucky left early with an injury. Quentin Castille had yet another fumble and was ineffective, forcing Roy Helu, Jr. to be summoned from the doghouse. Helu responded with a solid performance: 157 yards on the ground plus 19 more on two catches. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. Roy Helu is Nebraska's best I-back.

Quarterback: D+ A shaky start for Ganz, to be sure. The second pick was a particularly bad decision, overthrowing a well-covered Marlon Lucky. That's inviting disaster.

Wide Receivers: D+ Nate Swift had a nice long touchdown reception to open the second half, but Swift was slow to react to Dominqu Franks break on the opening play.

Defensive Line: C- The bright spot on defense, or perhaps the "least dim". Early on, DeMarco Murray wasn't finding much running room. But they still couldn't generate any pass rush on Sam Bradford.

Linebackers: D- Nebraska really, really, really missed Phillip Dillard last night.

Secondary: F What else is there to say. Bleah.

Coaching: D I'm not sure whether there was anything Nebraska's defense could have done last night against Oklahoma's potent offense. Nobody else has stopped this season. But watch that opening Franks pick-6 again if you can stomach it; Franks was breaking on the route even before Ganz threw the pass. Stoops had identified that route so well off of film, that Franks was able to jump on that route so fast, he was in the end zone before anybody knew what had just happened.

Overall: D- It was an ugly, ugly night.

Elsewhere in College Football

Texas Tech: A+ Hard to believe that Nebraska took that team to overtime three weeks ago in that same stadium

Kansas State: F The Jayhawk defense had given up 108 points the last couple of weeks. We knew your defense was a sieve, but my goodness.

Missouri: C- Your fans thought Nebraska's 12 point victory over Baylor was rather funny last week. I don't think you were laughing in the fourth quarter on Saturday.

Florida: A Playing about as well as anybody else the last few weeks.

Poll

Is Oklahoma that good, or is Nebraska that bad?

Oklahoma is THAT good.

16 votes

Oklahom is pretty darn good, but Nebraska didn't do themselves any favors either.

81 votes

Oklahoma is pretty good, but Nebraska played really bad.

53 votes

Nebrska is THAT bad.

20 votes

170 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 7 comments |

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Comments

I think your grades are to high for Nebraska!

The defense gave up 62 points, I don’t think you can give anything but an F for that effort, across the board.

The offense had one job, keep it close so they had a chance in the end, similar to T-Tech. They failed so miserably at that I think they deserve and F also. They did play better after the first five minutes but at that point the game was already over with our defense playing the way it was. I gave the whole team F’s across the board, offense, defense, special teams, and coaching. I don’t mean to be a downer but it is what it is.

I will give OU credit though, they were well prepared and ready to play. When it counted they made the plays and we didn’t.

by Huzkerfan on Nov 3, 2008 9:27 AM CST 0 recs

so

you’re not giving any credit for the “after the first six minutes it was an even game” excuse that I’ve seen a lot of people making.

I wouldn’t either.

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Nov 3, 2008 11:51 AM CST up 0 recs

21 points

can be credited to the offense. The first 21 to be exact. Interception for td (cant be blamed on defense). Interception returned to the 6? (cant be blamed on defense). fumble down on our end (dont remember where for sure but it was deep) (cant be blamed on defense). Now they have given up 41 points to one of the best, if not THE best, offenses in the country. Hardly deserving of an F.

by taflorom on Nov 3, 2008 12:33 PM CST up 0 recs

Oh

and dont forget Qs fumble at the 20. Now the d has given up on 34 points. How many other scores were because of melt downs in kick coverage that allowed OU to start on our end of the field. Opening kick off comes to mind.

by taflorom on Nov 3, 2008 12:35 PM CST up 0 recs

still gave up touchdowns

I would give them a better grade if they would have forced a field goal or turnover after the offensive mistakes early in the game. They didn’t, they gave up touchdowns usually very quickly three to six plays. I wonder what grade they would give themselves? I imagine that Pelini would say no excuses, you have a job do it.

by Huzkerfan on Nov 3, 2008 2:26 PM CST 0 recs

Oklahoma is #2 in the country in scoring offense...

They are averaging nearly 50 points a game this season. They’ve scored on EVERYBODY this year. It’s not a good performance, to be sure.

by Husker Mike on Nov 3, 2008 8:17 PM CST up 0 recs

Very true Mike they have scored a lot this year.

And stopping them was a tall order. We did pick a terrible time to have our worst game. Fact was nobody played well, heck even a guy riding the bench got tossed out (wouldn’t want to be that guy this week in practice). I think Bo and the boys will go back and try to fix it. One thing is, I don’t think they will quit and that refreshing to see after the Callahan era. So bring on the Jayhawks and lets see what happens. Go Huskers!!!!

by Huzkerfan on Nov 3, 2008 10:58 PM CST 0 recs