Week 12 Husker Report Card: Colorado
by Husker Mike
on Nov 29, 2008 7:45 AM CST
in Football
2 comments
With a 57 yard field goal, Alex Henery pulled victory from the jaws of defeat, set off seismographs on the UNL campus, and got Bo Pelini off the hook for the dumbest coaching decision this decade (yes, dumber than Bill Callahan's Cotton Bowl fake punt). So while we celebrate a victory over the Colorado Buffaloes, the report card is a little more sobering.
Offensive Line: B If it was just run blocking, it would be an A. The running game almost consistently churned out 4 or 5 yards every snap. Pass protection was a little rough though, giving up 4 sacks.
Running Backs: A Where would Nebraska be today if not for Roy Helu? 166 yards rushing, 5 catches for 49 yards (leading rusher). Helu more than made up for the absence of Marlon Lucky, who missed the game with his turf toe.
Wide Receivers: C- Nate Swift made a nice catch of an overthrown pass for Nebraska's opening score. Mike McNeill is becoming an explosive weapon at tight end. But this group was rather quiet today.
Quarterback: D+ The stat sheet looks good today; 19 for 26 passing for 229 yards. But there was a fumble in the red zone and a near disasterous sack that nearly took the Huskers out of field goal range with two minutes left in the game. Definitely not one of Joe Ganz's finest games.
Defensive Line: A+ Zach Potter swats down two passes today, including the game clincher that Ndamakong Suh returns over and through Cody Hawkins to pad the margin of victory. Ty Steinkuhler was rather disruptive in the middle as well.
Linebacker: C+ Tyler Wortman had an interception for this green bunch. Hopefully Phillip Dillard will be ready to play in the bowl game.
Secondary: D Rickey Thenarse led the team in tackles today, but some blown coverages in the opening minutes of the games put Nebraska in a 14 point hole.
Coaching: D Bo Pelini is a man and admits that the fake field goal call was "boneheaded." But Pelini deserves credit for pulling the defense aside and making the necessary adjustments. CU offense the first 5 minutes: 148 yards. Last 55 minutes: 143 yards.
Overall: C- It's a win, and one for the memory banks. But too close for comfort.
Elsewhere in College Football
Hey...that's the problem with these Friday games. Not much else to compare to. Rather than hold things until the end of the weekend...
Texas Fans: D 38-33. 65-21. Those count too. And in the case, that 65-21 says a heck of a lot more than 45-35. Glad to see that Tech fans are going to fly their own rebuttal over Stillwater. Here's the big question these rich Texans have failed to consider: will anybody be able to read these banners in the dark night sky?
MAC defenses: F 108 points in the Central Michigan/Eastern Michigan game?
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Really?
I usually agree with the report card, but I must object to the A+ by the D-Line. Everyone seems to remember Suh running in the TD to seal the game, but what about the rest of the game. The sacks at the end were great, but it was after the entire life of the CU team was sucked out of them by an improbable 57 yd FG. There was no will to play any longer after that kick. I was very dissapointed by the play of the D-Line. I expected pressure on Hawkins all game long, but he had some time to throw the ball more often then not. I need to rewatch the game again, but my initial impression was the D-Line deserves a B+.
My other thought is this…what are we going to do when Swift & Ganz can’t carry the team. CU seemed to have had a D End spying Ganz all game long – keeping him from running when the pass wasn’t there. The also had Swift doubled up all game long. If it weren’t for Helu, the offense wouldn’t have looked very good (except Holt shining – that was good to see). When we play a decent team at the bowl game – we will be a bit more hard pressed to run all over them. I’m sure adjustments will be made, but I didn’t realize how much Swift really carried the morale of the Offense.
Great Game and after the FG – the stadium went NUTS! It made the drive all the way from New Mexico worth it (it is worth it everytime, but the drive home is MUCH easier now) GO BIG RED!
by VarangianGuard on
Nov 30, 2008 8:12 PM CST
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Again...body of work...
…I wouldn’t say it was a perfect game by the d-line, but they were pressuring Hawkins quite a bit from my perspective. Potter and Steinkuhler were rather disruptive as well.
We’ll miss Ganz and Swift next year, but we also saw the future at running back, and we’ll be much improved at that position simply by giving Roy Helu more touches.
by Husker Mike on
Nov 30, 2008 8:59 PM CST
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