[Husker] USC fallout

[Kaufsss at aol.com]

I agree with most of what you say here - USC IS GOOD.... REAL GOOD.   They 
had heard all week that people were waiting to see how good they were after  the 
LSU win of last week.  They had something to prove, and Lincoln was a  great 
place for it to happen.  
 
The only thing that really concerned me was how flat we looked.  You  would 
think the biggest game of these kids lives they could get up for and  really be 
flying around.  I love Callahan as our coach - I think he is good  for the 
program, but he needs to get them up for a game like this (maybe we were  to 
up?). I've never coached - but I don't think we were outcoached, we were  
outmanned.  It would have been closer if we could tackle, but we still  would have 
lost.  
 
 
 
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 9/17/2007 9:10:17 AM Central Daylight Time,  
SLawson at uamail.albany.edu writes:

After  reading through almost 100 emails about this game, it occurred to me 
that many  members of the list are simply unwilling to accept the fact that 
sometimes one  team is a lot better than the other, especially in college 
football. Why is it  so difficult to give credit where credit is due here and realize 
that the sun  did in fact come up Sunday in Lincoln (at least I think it did, 
but I am 1000  miles away so I will have to assume it did)?

Yes, Nebraska was out  manned in just about every aspect of the game Saturday 
night, unless you count  broken larynx's (sorry I couldn't resist the jab). 
Yes, Nebraska was out  coached and believe it or not may be out coached a few 
more times this season,  who knows maybe even by lowly Ball State. Yes, fans 
left before the game  ended. Yes, Brent Musberger got ANOTHER open container 
ticket in downtown  Lincoln on the way to the game (well no he didn't but that 
would be really  funny wouldn't it?)

Folks, USC would've rolled over any team in America  Saturday night, perhaps 
even the Falcons in Atlanta, it's as simple as that.  Now obviously there are 
glaring weaknesses that need to be addressed both in  the players AND the 
coaches, and who knows if these weaknesses will be  addressed in time to salvage a 
9-10 win season or not, but believe me, USC is  head and shoulders above most 
if not all the teams in CFB today (with perhaps  the exception of LSU, 
Florida and maybe OU).

We seem to have short  memories- remember when Florida looked like a high 
school team against Frazier  et al in 1996? Well, now that we see a game where 
the tables are turned, no  one can believe their eyes. Yes, I was surprised at 
the way USC handled  Nebraska, particularly up front on both sides of the ball, 
but how come it was  easy to understand when the manhandled Florida but 
everyone is in disbelief  over USC doing the same? Simply put, sometimes the guy 
lining up over you is A  LOT better at football than you, period. Watching the 
game for a second time  on tape you will notice that several of the USC players 
were considerably  stronger than their Nebraska counterparts, and when you 
have such a strength  advantage up front (on both sides of the ball) you are 
likely to be in for a  long night. Did anyone notice how easily #49 on USC was 
pushing the Husker  center around? Good grief. All the coaching in the world 
sometimes will not  change that fact like it or not. Now, there are certainly 
concerns about this  coaching staff's ability to adjust, particularly on defense, 
and those  questions will need to be addressed if Nebraska is to have a 
successful  conference run. Sometimes the other team is just better in too many 
facets of  the game, and there isn't a whole heck of a lot you can do about it. 
We all  knew if these two teams played well that USC would walk, so I'm not 
sure why  so many folks are in disbelief after this game. Yes play calling on 
both sides  of the ball needs to improve, there is no doubt about that, but I'm 
not sure  anything would've mattered in this game regarding adjustments/play 
calling  unless Callahan called Tomlinson and Favre out of the locker room at  
halftime.

Some posts mentioned Nebraska's last couple scores and how  they may be seen 
as cheapies, but I for one think it was good to see the  players finishing 
this game regardless of who was in for USC at that point.  What were they 
supposed to do, put in a freshman QB who never played before  and give up 30 MORE 
points (ala Texas Tech)? Despite the huge gap in talent  and lopsided score, I 
like this outcome a bit better, thank you. Plus, there  were probably more than 
a few voters who didn't see this game (because they  were still celebrating 
Notre Dame's whacking) who saw 49-31 and thought maybe  it was closer than it 
was (although we all know the truth).

Now, if  Nebraska tanks against Missouri, good grief the sky may fall. No one 
in the  conference looks especially strong to this point with the exception 
of OU  (Texas is far less scary than I imagined after 3 games) so I am not 
worried  about this team just yet. The USC game, while exposing some major 
weaknesses  in the defense and overall play calling will simply serve as a 
springboard to  a Big 12 north title and - gasp- a shot at the Sooners when they are 
peaking  in December. And you all thought this was a nightmare...

Scott in  NY




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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



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