[Husker] Preliminary Game Comments

[Steve Stone]

1) I attribute the Huskers' tendency to inertia in the second half to 
the extreme youth of the offensive line. Today NU again started one 
true freshman, three sophs, and one junior, and they began the game 
with the verve and enthusiasm of youth. However, boys simply don't 
have the stamina and endurance of older men hardened by four or five 
years' experience. The difference may be slight, but at the Big XII 
level a slight difference can make all the difference. To use an 
analogy for purposes of illustration, a three year old Arabian colt 
may look as ready for hard riding as a five year old and may perform 
as well for the first 20 miles, but at the 50 mile the five year old 
will be out of sight.

2) Which leads me to a second analogy directed at those HuskerListers 
who love to point out individual players' mistakes by name: The 
wisest horseman I knew once told me, "Any fool can fault a horse, but 
it takes an eye to spot a good one." For those who miss the point, 
please allow me to paraphrase: "Every horse has its faults, but a 
real horsemen discounts them and looks for the horse's strong 
points." Which is to say, those who think to show their gridiron 
expertise by pointing out players' mistakes by name display the 
opposite of expertise.

3) Perhaps after tonight the Big XII North doesn't look quite so much 
like a weak sister.

Steve Stone