[Husker] Several Game Comments

[Mike Jaixen]

I don't have the benefit of DVR or even a video tape,
but my immediate reaction on Monday morning that the
fake punt was blown up right from the start.  It took
a couple of replays later in the day to show me that
the play might have worked if Auburn hadn't stopped it
at the pitch.

I kind of had that same impression of the second half
playcalling.  Auburn's speed on defense was going to
work against Nebraska trying anything fancy, but the
lack of size would leave them vulnerable to some
old-fashioned smash mouth football.  That's what we
gave them in the first half, and didn't in the second.
 Fans like to criticize Callahan for not making
adjustments, but in this situation, it looks like
adjustments were made at half-time, and unfortunately,
they were counterproductive.


--- Steve Stone <sstone at pvtnetworks.net> wrote:

> 1. I've been waiting in vain for someone to analyze
> the actual 
> components the the failed fake punt play, but since
> no one has come 
> forward to do so I'll give the results of my
> super-slow motion DVR 
> replay: the center pass from Brett Byford to
> fullback Dane Todd was 
> high, just above his helmet. He caught it well, but
> the height of the 
> center pass made the ball visible to the Auburn
> defense. Todd ran to 
> his left with the ball while an Auburn defender (I
> couldn't see the 
> number) leaped over and through the center-leftguard
> spot and wrapped 
> his arms around Todd just as he was preparing to
> toss the ball to 
> Andrew Shanle. The impact of the Auburn defender
> caused Dane misguide 
> his toss to Shanle who could not catch and control
> it properly, and 
> it fell to the turf. Thus, according to my way of
> thinking, the 
> failure of the play derived - - ironically - - to
> the erratic center 
> pass from Alabama native Brett Byford.
> 
> 2. It seems to me that Nebraska's offense suffered
> primarily from a 
> strategic faiure rather than a tactical one. The
> Huskers had a bigger 
> and stronger team while Auburn had a quicker and
> faster team. In the 
> first half, NU used a lot of straightforward
> quick-developing plays 
> through tackle and guard with success, causing he TV
> announcers to 
> comment on the size of holes the O-line was making
> in the Auburn. 
> However, in the second half, for reasons not
> immediately apparent, NU 
> switched to a series of slow-developing plays which
> the Auburn 
> defense had little problem handling.



Mike Jaixen
Blog: http://huskermike.blogspot.com

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