Drive Chartin' - Nebraska vs San Jose State

by Jon Johnston on Sep 8, 2008 7:29 AM CDT in Nebraska Husker Football

One thing I haven't seen mentioned anywhere - TE Hunter Teafatiller started this game. He played one play, left the game and then I never saw him again. His return could be key, as you can see the number of times that Mike McNeill had miscues.

Here is a run down on Nebraska's offensive drives, including notes on blocking. Overall, a sloppy game (thank you Captain Obvious).

Start Time	Time Possesion	Field Position	# Plays	Yards Gained	Result
1Q - 15:00	2:35	Nebraska 35	5	-10	Punt
Lucky, 7 run. Ganz to Swift, 3 yards on a screen. Ganz sacked (TE Mike McNeill badly missed block on right side) Penalty - false start (LG Mike Huff early start on pull for option play) Ganz incompletion (drop by Holt) Ganz sacked (C Hickman, RG Slauson did not properly pick up DL twist)
9:48	4:32	Nebraska 28	9	71	TD
Drive starts at 14 after block in back penalty. Castille minus one yard (Mike McNeil missed block) Ganz incompletion Ganz to Swift completion for 12 Ganz option for four yards Ganz complete to Peterson for 12 Penalty - SJSU offsides Ganz complete checkdown to Helu - 27 yards Helu rush up middle 17 Helu rush four left (TD if TE Dreu Young holds his block longer) Penalty - SJSU (no clue why they called personal foul) Castille 2 yard TD run (LG Mike Huff slow on finding block on pull, Castile powered into the end zone anyway)
3:45	:36	SJSU 0	0	0	Touchdown
Ndamukong Suh interception return for touchdown. What a wonderful play!
2Q - 14:56	2:21	Nebraska 25	5	15	Punt
Lucky for 6 up middle (nice hole, nice blocking) Ganz to Swift, play-action for 23 yards Lucky for 3 yards right (Lucky strung out to sideline instead of heading upfield) Lucky minus two (LG Keith Williams missed block) Three false start penalties in a row. (Niles Paul, Mike McNeill, Menelik Holt) Ganz to Henry (DB outplayed WR Henry for body position, nearly intercepted)
7:09	1:40	Nebraska 13	3	8	Punt
Helu rush -2 (run blitz, too many guys to block) Ganz sacked (poor blitz pick up by Helu, Ganz scrambled, cannot escape) Ganz complete to Paul (good protection, Paul ran route short of first down on 3rd and 15)
1:34	:09	Nebraska 9	1	0	INT
Interception by Ganz (protection good, poor choice by Ganz)
3Q - 13:45	3:40	Nebraska 10	7	29	Punt
Lucky 0 rush (run blitz, Mike McNeill doubled on DT instead of looking to block blitzer) Ganz incomplete (too low for McNeill) Ganz scramble for 10 yards Penalty - SJSU offsides Ganz complete to Swift eight yards on WR screen Castille middle for 2 (eight guys in box, no push on left side, Slauson slow on trap) Castille right for 0 (Burkes missed block - badly) Ganz complete to Holt for 4
6:30	2:10	Nebraska 22	4	-2	Punt
Helu middle for 2 yards (Castille missed block, Mike Huff missed block on LB that made tackle) Helu pitch left (LT Mike Smith missed block) Penalty - (Mike McNeill cut block penalty for -13 yards), Ganz complete to Helu for 5 Ganz rush for 1 (snap early or line missed count)
1:30	1:10	Nebraska 14	4	37	Fumble
Ganz complete to Swift for 12 - WR screen (great blocking Peterson) same play to Swift for 12 (again, great blocking Peterson) Helu right for 12 (Keith Williams misses block on LB at second level, Helu avoids tackle in middle, nice vision on run) Castille fumble on option (blocked well, this is a TD if not fumbled)
4Q - 12:17	:10	SJSU 0	0	0	TD
Niles Paul kick off return for TD. Beautiful. Good blocking downfield by #15 Dennard
11:28	2:23	SJSU 35	5	35	TD
Shanked punt by SJSU. Ganz roll out complete to Holt for 20. Helu left for 7 (nice cut by Helu), Helu middle for 2 (eight in box, DB come up to make tackle) Castille for 2 picks up first down Penalty - holding (Slauson takedown) Helu 14 yards for TD (going off-tackle, FB Lawson misses block, Helu cuts outside, excellent cut by Helu)
7:40	4:37	Nebraska 26	10	74	TD
Zach Potter interception to stop SJSU drive. Ganz complete to Peterson for five yards Ganz checkdown complete to FB Lawson for four yards Lucky middle for 7 (Lucky pushes pile forward) Ganz incomplete (Mike McNeill started blocking on Ganz scramble, never looked for ball) Ganz complete to Paul for 15 (screen, Slauson misses second level block) Ganz complete to Peterson for 21 (great block by Swift, gets second knockdown) Ganz incomplete - misses Peterson Penalty - false start - 5 yards (Burkes) Penalty - holding - 10 yards (Hickman) Ganz incomplete - misses Lucky on screen Ganz complete to Peterson for 21 yards (great protection) SJSU pass interference penalty Lucky pitch right for two yards touchdown (easy run, decent blocking)
1:45	1:45	Nebraska 38	4	12	End Game

The wide receiver screen proved to be a great weapon against a defense that was stacking against the run. Swift and Peterson complimented each other extremely well, both excelled at blocking and receiving.

The false starts can be corrected. What's troublesome is how slow the offensive line is in coming off the ball and getting into the defenders. Not only were they slow, but they weren't physical. They don't have the attitude or the swagger that an offensive line should have.

Far too many missed assignments. You can forgive McNeill and Dreu Young somewhat, they're fairly inexperienced. You can't forgive Mike Huff or Mike Slauson, they simply have to play better.

Nice thing - the 2007 team would have lost this game. They wouldn't have pulled themselves together, but this team did that in the fourth quarter. You'll notice that in the two TD drives, they overcame mistakes (penalties) and got the job done.

Below is the animated drive chart for the game.

Full Screen Version

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2007 team would have lost

Not sure I believe that, when they essentially did win this game in the form of Ball State. I think there was actually a lot more adversity to overcome in that game than this one…Multiple times trailing and even trailing by 2 scores late.

by PopeSoria on Sep 8, 2008 11:11 PM CDT reply actions