[personal] RE: [Husker] Re: Status of the Huskers (My Opinion) (fwd)

[Pat Gaule]

Skylar Dodds wrote:

>
>Actually, had we completed a long pass to Swift down the middle of the
>field late in the game, we could be 2 plays away from 7-1.
>  
>
I've always said that if you're going to play the "what if..." game, you 
have to look at it both ways.  If Pittsburgh had made the game-winning 
kick, and if Nebraska had not been able to match Iowa State's touchdown 
in the first period of overtime (I seem to recall a pass that was almost 
picked off), we'd be looking at a 3-5 record.  The reality is that luck 
usually balances out over the course of a season and rarely does one 
team get all the breaks.  As a result, we are 5-3 which falls exactly in 
the middle of the 7-1 and 3-5 extremes.   Based on our play through 8 
games, 5 wins and 3 losses is probably the record that we deserve.

>This team is playing as good as I expected them too, maybe even a
>little better.  They are CLEARLY better than last year's team.  The
>offense is not great, but it is definately pretty good lately.
>  
>
"Pretty good" is probably a relative term, but I'm not sure to what.  
This year, the offense is averaging 24 points per game.  That's a full 
point lower than it was at the end of the 2004 season.  They're 
averaging a pitiful 319.63 yards per game, which is about 44 yards less 
the 363.2 they were able to average in 2004.  Even if we only include 
games following the victory over Pittsburgh, we're at 26.25 for scoring 
average and 348.6 for total yardage.  That's roughly on par with the 
averages for the entire 2004 season (scoring is a little higher and 
total yardage is a little lower

The offense has improved lately, but that's not saying much.  They've 
really just gone from comatose to anemic.  The reason for the improved 
record mostly has to do with improvement on the defensive side of the 
ball.  I suppose I should also credit the special teams since I think 
they're the most underrated part of this team.