[Husker] A breakdown of the NU vs MU debacle

[Scott R Lawson]

I thought I'd add my take on some of these observations- I left the offense alone because to me there are differences between the "problems" on either side of the ball here. Take it for what it's worth.


-----Original Message-----
From: husker-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:husker-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Skylar Dodds
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 11:19 AM
To: husker at tssi.com
Subject: [Husker] A breakdown of the NU vs MU debacle

Here’s a pretty good breakdown I read online (on a message board).  I got permission from the author to post it here for you all to read.

Keep in mind 2 things:

1) He admits he’s not a football genius, but I think it’s still pretty darn good
2) It’s very long ☺

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I don't pretend to be an X and Os type, but I have TIVO and I have been to a Holiday Inn. 

DEFENSE

>>>>>>>>>>>Dillard was the lone LB most of the night.

This was PAINFULLY obvious.
 
>>>>>>>>>>>>Thorell was following Coffman all night

As was this.

>>>>>>>>>After watching the defense, I now see what rKay and others have been noticing about our safety play. Our safeties are not playing at the level necessary to deal with this sort of opponent. Don't know if it is talent or coaching, or just maturity of understanding the defense. It could be any of these things. But there were ways in which our safeties were generally two steps behind the rest of the defense.

Can you say, "nail of the head"? By the way, Pelini was a safety in college, so you can pretty much rule out coaching being the problem here- do the math. Ever notice who he almost always seems to be "chatting" with after defensive series end? Usually one of the safeties. 


>>>>>>>>The rest of the success of the MO offense -- I would attribute the rest to the high quality of their play. Operating the system they run at their level of quality forces game planning like leaving Dillard to run down the read option, and that is putting an enormous pressure on playmaking for 4 quarters, even a guy with Dillard's talent.

I realize Bob Stoops is a pretty good coach but wait until Missouri plays OU in the Big 12 title game...you will then understand the difference between great players and decent players, as Missouri's offense will look average at best.

The talent is simply not there yet on defense at several key positions that a team like Missouri could easily exploit (and did). 

Yes, we are 2 years away from seeing an infusion of Bo-type players in Lincoln, that's all there is to it. And some earlier posts I made (after several ales after the game) may have come across as "crying" as one list member put it, and that is a fair assessment, but I can assure folks I would NEVER give up on the team, in fact I feel I have somewhat of a right to "cry" like that after all I've invested as a fan over the years. I have missed weddings (and even funerals) for Nebraska games on television, and have traveled to Kansas (saw Calvin Jones' big game in '91 there) of all places to watch them in person- I even went to a bar in Florida next to the Orange Bowl one year because I couldn't get a ticket and watched on television there, and lost a girlfriend over that one, talk about a dope...

It's just tough (as I'm sure many can attest) to see teams walk all over Nebraska AT HOME no less, no matter what the circumstances. Heck even Baylor and Iowa State seem to have a shot now.

Scott in NY