Corn Flakes: The Day After ISU

by JLew on Nov 7, 2010 10:29 AM CST

So barring a complete and epic meltdown Nebraska looks to have the North locked up. NU would have to lose 2 of the next 3, with 2 of those games against KU and CU the worse teams in the league. Yeah jinxes be damned.

It's time to accept that fact that Nebraska isn't going to play for the National Championship this year, barring complete and epic meltdowns to TCU, Boise St, Oregon, and Auburn. Auburn may lose, but I really don't see the other 3 losing. So style points mean nothing. Get to the Big 12 Championship game, and beat OSU/OU. The BCS dream is still alive.

I wonder though if the win over Oklahoma State looks better than the loss to Texas. If you switched the 2, having NU beat Texas (Yeah!), but lose to OSU on the road, would you think that NU was a better team than they are now? I like the win over OSU better, but again it's all academic at this point.

Sleepy_cay_medium

The Cats dream of the mice and the BCS

I see a lot of people defending Rhoads decision for the fake PAT, but I don't see anyone attacking it. Stop trying to create conflict. Reminds me of the Gabbert noise we heard about last week.

Don't be spoiled already Husker fans, think back a few years, enjoy the wins.

Anyway on to the Husker Win Links!

Husker Mike's Blasphemy: Huskers Survive A Cyclone in Ames

So Nebraska wins ugly. Big effin' deal. Nebraska was the only road team to win in the Big XII today in a day filled with surprises.

Mike has better perspective than me, writes better as well. At least I have the cats.

Chatelain: No flash but a lot of dash for reliable Rex - Omaha.com

Give Watson credit. He saw it coming Monday. Without a healthy Martinez or Zac Lee, Watson polished off the old Wildcat and added it to his game plan. Burkhead would take snaps, sometimes alone in the backfield, sometimes with Helu beside him.

Some people can't give Watson any credit. Then again I have a hard time giving Cotton any. Dang prejudice!

Report card: Nebraska vs. Iowa State

OVERALL (B) You had a feeling this was going to be one of those days where a victory by any margin would be welcome. No Taylor Martinez. A road game after a back-to-back wins against ranked teams. A history of tussles in Ames. The Huskers found a way, and now hope to heal up with a resurgent Kansas team coming to town.

I was surprised with the B.

Lots more links after the jump, Bowl predictions, backlash against Niles, and more analysis than you can handle.

Big 12 helmet stickers: Week 10 - Big 12 Blog - ESPN

Nebraska's running backs: With two hurt quarterbacks on a windy day in Ames, this one was on them. They delivered. Roy Helu Jr. and Rex Burkhead combined for 228 yards on 42 carries and three touchdowns, including Burkhead's go-ahead touchdown in overtime. Burkhead ran out of the Wildcat formation for much of the game, and helped the Huskers survive a rough day without Taylor Martinez with a 31-30 win in Ames.

From the sidelines: Pictures say a thousand words - Omaha.com

For the offensive unit, those photo boards can be used in place of the hand signals that the Huskers typically rely on between each snap. Instead of getting the play call from the gesturing backup quarterbacks, the Huskers can simply look at the pictures. And who, or what, are the pictures of? NU Assistant Athletic Director Jeff Jamrog, ESPN commentator Ed Cunningham and Zach Galifianakis from "The Hangover" to name just three. Each photo corresponds to a particular play, a certain snap count, a specific formation.

Will we soon have the Oregon offense as well?

Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Iowa State Cyclones - Recap - November 06, 2010 - ESPN

"I think about half the people on the team had just expected it to be some kind of fake. The coaches, they kind of prepared us. They knew that coming into this game that they'd have something up their sleeve," Nebraska defensive back Austin Cassidy said.

What a play.

Survive and Advance - Husker Football

On the Sunday morning following losses by nine teams ranked in the top 25, Husker fans can take a certain measure of solace and even pride in having survived the week without a loss.

Better Off Red | Nebraska @ Iowa State: Survivorman

While most of this lays directly at the feet of Niles, the coaching staff needs to be held accountable as well. There is no explanation that Gilmore, Bo, or Watson could give that could possibly be good enough to justify him playing another snap. He needs to be left to rot on the bench for the remainder of the year and his playing time donated to someone that’s worth a shit. In short, I’m finished with Niles Paul. I can’t wait till he graduates. Especially after the stunt he pulled at OSU to the Nebraska fans in attendance down there. Whatever crap he gets from the fans from here on out is utterly deserved and warranted.

I don't like calling out players. But there are a lot of fans that feel this way. Right after the game I got invited to a facebook group "Nile Paul Should be Benched". Like all facebook groups I ignored it, but it's out there. So yeah what's your approach to Niles?

The Wiz of Odds: Undefeated TCU, Boise State Out of BCS Title Party?

BCS title game: Oregon vs. Auburn Rose Bowl: TCU vs. Wisconsin Sugar Bowl: LSU vs. Ohio State Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska vs. Pittsburgh

What Pitt? I guess we'd get to play "against" SP, but ugh.

Curt McKeever: Huskers find tricks, treats in uneven performance

Handicapped by the absence of starting quarterback Taylor Martinez, missing cornerback Alfonzo Dennard's calming presence and stung by a special-teams turnover that gift-wrapped a game-tying touchdown, time stood still for NU in overtime.

Ugh the KO return, reading it makes me start to get uneasy again, let's move along.

Barfknecht: Rhoads is resourceful and resilient - Omaha.com

Better watch out ISU, the last coach Barfknecht had a crush on was Ron Prince.

Tweet Comment 24 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I missed it

What did Paul do to Nebraska fans at the OkSU game?

http://victorypolka.blogspot.com/

by KC_HAWKEYE on Nov 7, 2010 10:40 AM CST reply actions

I have no idea what that guy is talking about...

…but considering that I don’t think Nebraska beats Okie State without Paul’s big day, I think I can pretty much disregard his entire argument.

by Husker Mike on Nov 7, 2010 10:51 AM CST up reply actions

The only "problem" I have with Paul is the Texas game.

Even then I don’t really hold anything against him. He got better the following game. Just a shame he wasn’t able to do that during the Texas game.

by Aaron Gonzales on Nov 7, 2010 11:08 AM CST up reply actions

I have no idea

but I can tell you that after the ISU game, Paul went up the ramp (which is typically lined with kids) and gave his gloves away to some kids.

I don’t think Paul is a jerk by any means – he seems to have a pretty level head – but man….. he sure can drive us completely crazy, can’t he?

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!
Twitter!
cornnation@gmail.com

by Jon Johnston on Nov 7, 2010 8:52 PM CST up reply actions

to me paul is like cody green

lots of talent that just never translates onto the field

by huskermic on Nov 7, 2010 11:04 AM CST reply actions

FFS

Cody Green is a freakin sophomore

by PopeSoria on Nov 7, 2010 1:18 PM CST up reply actions

Martinez is a "freshman."

Just saying.

by Aaron Gonzales on Nov 7, 2010 1:34 PM CST up reply actions

Its to bad

that Niles can be such a liability He has the ability to make big plays. But Im not sure he will ever get over the hump, and be consistent.

by BigRedMachine1984 on Nov 7, 2010 11:07 AM CST reply actions

Does anyone

agree that Watson was very predictable vs ISU except with the wildcat which he went away from even though ISU couldnt stop it?

by BigRedMachine1984 on Nov 7, 2010 11:13 AM CST reply actions

No.

Third string quarterback in the game, and while the Wildcat was very effective, you couldn’t just go to it full-time.

by Husker Mike on Nov 7, 2010 1:30 PM CST up reply actions

Paul is fine, and he does have speed and blocks well...

but he does have massive laspes of focus. The fumble doesn’t bother me nearly as much (it does bother me, though) as the poor decision to take the ball out of the endzone in the first place. That is just very bad decision making.

I’m fine with Paul, but coaches have to get it in his head that lack of locus via drops and poor decisions cannot happen.

by meatybob on Nov 7, 2010 11:22 AM CST reply actions

Missouri is a sinking ship

Pinkel better pull that team together quick or things could start to snowball quickly. Hopefully this loss doesn’t deflate ISU to much. They can still have a good season.

by Aaron Musfeldt on Nov 7, 2010 11:22 AM CST reply actions

I really felt like the coaches were almost trying to outsmart themselves with their game plan yesterday. Any news on Zac Lee?

by Aaron Musfeldt on Nov 7, 2010 11:23 AM CST up reply actions

Hand was not broken, just swelling

Lee and Martinez are expected to be back for KU.

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane
Big Red Kool-aid Drinker @ Corn Nation

by JLew on Nov 7, 2010 11:38 AM CST up reply actions

I guess my questioning of Watson

is why did we go away from what was working? In the third quarter I can understand using Cody Green – we had the wind and CG actually had some nice touch on his passes. However, we were not a threat to run a zone read style play with CG at QB because the defense wasn’t respecting him as a running threat (or he would try to pull the ball from the RB 5 seconds too late).

I honestly think that if we run Burkhead in the wildcat for most of the day we would have continued to run all over ISU. I’m not sure if I can remember a time that Burkhead running the wildcat resulted in less than a 4-5 yard gain. ISU knew exactly what was coming but predictability doesn’t matter when they cant stop it. I think that by running the wildcat in OT, when the game was truly on the line, the coaches basically acknowledged what they thought to be the most effective offense all day; I’m not sure why they went away from it.

by George W. Beadle on Nov 7, 2010 12:10 PM CST reply actions

I agree with this

Other than maybe giving Green some snaps? They really didn’t seem like they wanted Green to do too much.

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane
Big Red Kool-aid Drinker @ Corn Nation

by JLew on Nov 7, 2010 12:22 PM CST up reply actions

Why give him a chance

when he’s proven in the past all he does it drop the ball, fumble, or fall backwards?

by Aaron Gonzales on Nov 7, 2010 12:26 PM CST up reply actions

Oops,

I saw a highlight of Burkhead’s TD in OT and it appears that Green was actually the quarterback on that play, my mistake.

I also read somewhere that Burkhead was experiencing hamstring cramps throughout the game necessitating a move away from that game plan.

by George W. Beadle on Nov 7, 2010 3:42 PM CST up reply actions

The ESPN recap from the AP is just horribly written

On one hand, they say Nebraska was waiting for it (paragraph 2). On the other hand, they say Franklin was open (paragraph 15) (which I thought he was too)…

Maybe somebody can help me with this, but if a team “knows its coming”, how come there was a guy that “was open”? It doesn’t seem like you can have it both ways.

I’m not talking about what I think happened, or anyone’s opinions with it here. I’m talking about reconciling the two arguments. Just doesn’t seem to make any sense lol

Clone Chronicles

by Mark Kieffer on Nov 7, 2010 5:39 PM CST reply actions

From my view

Something of a combination of the two. If Nebraska had totally sold out for the block, there wouldn’t have been any coverage. But the ISU receiver was definitely open and a decently thrown ball would have caused the play to be successful. NU’s defense was without a doubt out of position and a well thrown ball would have led to an uncontested catch.

"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne

by jdhusker on Nov 7, 2010 5:59 PM CST up reply actions

All I know is,

I was jumping on my couch from shear excitement. My jaw dropped the second I saw it was a fake.

by Aaron Gonzales on Nov 7, 2010 6:04 PM CST up reply actions

I still think

Between the stiff wind he was throwing into and the speed with which Hagg was closing, a “decent throw” may have been a lot to ask of the holder on that play.

After watching the play a few more times, it seems to me he was trying to lob the ball up towards the corner, which would normally be the smart move (watch the receiver cut back – he was obviously headed toward the outside). But with the wind blowing against it, the ball just died in the air and hung there for Hagg to pick.

But if the holder would have tried to throw a bullet instead, his accuracy would have had to have been just about perfect to keep the wind from knocking it down and to get it there before Hagg got there to tip it away.

All of which is to say, I think what would normally take a decent throw instead took an outstanding throw in that situation.