[Husker] Risky Business

Thu Jan 4 11:49:38 CST 2007

Well, buy me a ticket and send me to Vegas - I'll put a $1000 on red till  it 
loses - I just love the action!!!!  I agree with the end of Skylar's  post. 
And - I don't think the call was as horrible as this board has been  talking 
about.  If the play would have worked, the momentum would have been  
overwhelmingly in NE favor.  It was a play, just like any play, that has  possible 
implications.  Everyone is calling Peterson a genius, but if the  ball got dropped 
in the statue of liberty play or the ladder didn't hook- what  would people be 
saying?  Boise State came close but OK won like they should  have and that 
Boise offense was a weird hybrid. Now - people say they  should play Ohio State 
instead of Florida.  The Huskers were trying to make  things happen- just like 
Osborne did going for 2 against Miami.  As I said  when people were 
complaining about the previous trick plays - this shows a great  deal of confidence in 
his players and the abilities - not the opposite.   The players like them - 
look at the kids from Boise State.  I do not  believe (as some have said) that 
even if it worked, they would be  complaining.  It is all risk and reward- 
hopefully next year the ball  always bounces the right way!!

Steve  Kauf
A Husker fan deep in South Texas
NOT THE VICTORY BUT THE  ACTION
NOT THE GOAL BUT THE GAME
IN THE DEED THE  GLORY

In a message dated 1/4/2007 11:14:30 AM Central Standard Time,  
SLawson at uamail.albany.edu writes:

Skylar I  don't think fans or anyone on the list can truly justify "the 
call", I agree  with you that it was extremely ill-timed. The sun rose here on 
Tuesday  morning, so I am not as angry as I was immediately after the loss (not 
that it  matters what I think about the loss anyway), but I still say anyone who 
thinks  that call was 'gutsy' and not foolish belongs at a card table in 
Vegas and has  serious shortcomings with regard to judgment. Obviously there is 
ALWAYS at  least some chance of success with a 'risky' play, but if you asked 
100 coaches  if they would fake a punt in that situation you would likely get 
about 90 or  more who would say no way, especially considering NU was on their 
own  20-something yard line. I know people always say one play doesn't lose it, 
but  the way the defenses were playing that play could've easily changed the 
entire  complexion of the game- Auburn didn't just decide to get 17 points and 
sit on  a lead- perhaps if Nebraska didn't give away that touchdow!
n maybe Auburn  ends up with 10 points and today all their fans are blaming 
Tuberville for the  loss. Ifs and buts. Didn't Charlie Weis fake a punt last 
night deep in his own  territory as well? If I recall correctly it did not work, 
and LSU scored 2  plays later.

Scott in NY

-----Original Message-----
From:  husker-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:husker-bounces at tssi.com]On Behalf
Of Skylar  Dodds
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 11:48 AM
To: Husker  List
Subject: [Husker] Risky Business

Hello Husker  Fans,

I was thinking this over in my anger towards BC for that  fake-punt
play call we've all been dreading...

I was  going back through all the trick plays we've ran this year and
I  wanted to make sure I wasn't just being the typical fan saying,
"If  it works he's a genius, if it doesn't he's retarded".

First off,  let me say I still disagree with the call.  I don't mind
fake  punts, pooch kicks by the FG kicker, etc, but I didn't like the
timing.  We were pretty far into our territory, it was early,  it
just didn't seem to be a good time.  That being said,  there's one
point I can't get around for almost every 'risky' play  Callahan's
run:

Every time he's put his players in a  position to be successful.
Every time.  I just can't think of  an exception.  Here's a few
examples:

1) The fake  in the Cotton Bowl WAS setup well and had the pitch been
made  successfully, there was a lot of room to run.

2) All of the  trick plays vs Colorado were successful and each of
them resulted in  a fairly easy play.

3) The pass against UT where Nunn fumbled  was risky, but certainly
put his players in position to win if they  execute.

4) The fake against USC worked well.

5)  Congdon's pooch vs Auburn landed on the 1/2 yard line.  Didn't  he
do the same against OU (which I know, resulted in 99 yards  of
torment, but it ALMOST became a safety).

I'm going  through all the times in my head where Callahan made a
gutsy call  and I can't think of a time when his players weren't at
least put in  a position to make a play.  To me, anyway, that is the
ultimate  job of the coach. To get the right players and then put
them in  position to be successful.

Can anyone think of a 'risky' call  where there was no chance of
success?

--  
Go Skers,
Skylar                  mailto:Sklarbodds at cox.net

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Steve  Kauf
A Husker fan deep in South Texas
NOT THE VICTORY BUT THE  ACTION
NOT THE GOAL BUT THE GAME
IN THE DEED THE  GLORY