Pound the Rock!
Would it be fun to see an explosive Husker offense, like the one we used against Texas! Bill could take the wraps off and big play Oklahoma State to death. Unfortunately what's fun doesn't win a lot of football games. Ask yourself - what do you want to hear about - Husker wins along with whining from those Husker fans who didn't think the West Coast Offense included a heavy dose of a running, or Husker losses with a lot of passing?
We don't want to get into a shoot-out with Oklahoma State because they can score with big plays as easily as we can. We need to methodically move the ball on them, and that will mean running the ball with some short to intermediate passing mixed just to keep them honest. Oklahoma State has been good at getting upfield on defense, with plenty of sacks and tackles for loss. Around a 65/35% run pass ratio would be good.
Brandon Jackson has shown that he can explode when required. I didn't expect him to end up at the top of these four backs, but credit the Husker coaching staff with giving the backs opportunities to shine.
You Can't Stop Him, You can only hope to contain him!
Bobby Reid - don't let him run the Cowboy offense. Don't let him make big plays with either has arms or his feet. What we'd like to see from the Blackshirts is a game similar to what they played against Kansas State where they held the Wildcats to only 22 yards rushing and had a plus two in turnovers. The Huskers finished with two sacks, but certainly did their job well, giving up only three points.
The Husker front seven must shut down the Cowboy running game. We cannot afford to let Adarius Bowman out in the open because he or Woods will burn us deep.
Really, It's About Special Teams
Have I included a special teams component on a weekly basis? I hope so, because lack of good special teams play cost us the game last week against Texas. Kick coverage must get better. Just as bad or worse, Nebraska must do something about getting the ball deep on kickoffs. When you're consistently giving up 10 or 12 yards per kickoff it costs close games like (redundant?) last week against Texas.
Do we have a return team? Where are they? Get someone out there that will field the punts. How 'bout Marlon Lucky?
Nebraska 34, Oklahoma State 21
It's been a lousy week for updating the site. I finally got a decent Internet connection last night, and stayed in the French Quarter 'til, oh, about 3:00 am. 4:00 am? Nice little Irish pub called Fahy's. Then I had site problems most of the day - some of which I caused myself due to working on a customer's Internet lines. I rushed t to the airport to find out my flights are delayed - so I'm stuck here without an Internet connection, and will get home about 3:00 am. Bonus for me, eh?