[Husker] cupcake games / schedule

[Nick Chevance]

On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 10:39 AM, William E. Laughlin
<weldoc52 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks to Pat Gaule for his detailed analysis and research!  I appreciate
> it, and it solidly demos his opinion that scheduling these weaker teams is a
> more recent trend.

I too really appreciate all that hard work, Pat.  Good job.  Though I
could quibble with how some teams are listed as cupcakes and others
not from major conferences (I specifically remember some pretty good
Sonny Lubick teams at Colorado State that were far from cupcakes even
though they played in the WAC), overall the work is excellent and does
demonstrate how the non-conference schedule has lost its punch.

> NU certainly has its work cut out for the team, this year. I'd be
> tremendously thrilled with 7-5.
>
> Bill Laughlin
> Wichita, KS

You know, I remember a somewhat spirited debate on this list earlier
this year, sparked by something our
one-member-who-is-no-longer-with-us kept saying, about why would we
expect things to be better just because Pelini is the coach.  I
remember saying something silly like I'd just be happy if we were seen
as competing in each game, rather than pretty much giving up as it
appeared we did last year (or at least the lack of defensive
adjustments sure looked like giving up).  What I saw this week were
adjustments, not at the half, but after the first defensive series.
That first series knocked us back on our heels.  They really weren't
able to do that again until late in the game against 2nd and 3rd
teamers.  That's what didn't happen in that Ball State game last year,
as an example.  That's what I call competing in a game - showing
effort, making changes, finding things that work, discarding what
doesn't.  I saw all of that on Saturday.

Now, does that improve our chances against VaTech?  You bet it does.
The mobility of their QB scares the pants off me, but you can't coach
speed, so the Pelini brothers will have to come up with different ways
to combat that.  Take away his other tools.  He's not likely to be
able to beat us with speed alone if we limit him and his improvising.
I expect to see several adjustments as the game goes on.

Does that improve our chances against Missouri?  To beat them, we'll
have to play way better than we have so far.  But I don't see us
giving up 62 or 59.  If we give up 42, I suspect we can put up at
least 35 on them.  That's an improvement over last year.  And I, for
one, would feel a certain amount of satisfaction with that.

If we continue to show that style of play, and style of coaching,
throughout the rest of the year, I too would be plenty happy with a
7-5 record, but I'm not so certain that 8 wins isn't doable.

Nick
-- 
"In India, "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come
into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish
between weather which will melt a brass doorknob and weather which
will only make it mushy."
Mark Twain