[Husker] Re: pinning the loss on Kunalic...really?

Fri Dec 11 19:25:11 CST 2009

> From: David Strong <gbrlist at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Husker] Re: pinning the loss on Kunalic...really?
> To: bradalan at aol.com
> Date: Friday, December 11, 2009, 8:24 PM
>
> Hi Brad and thanks for the
> note.  Whew! You said a mouthful.  All good stuff
> and all well thought out and well written.  Good post.
> 
> That post I put up was snide and cynical and worthless and
> I wish I hadn't done it.  It wasn't worthy of your
> response which was really good.
> 
> You're jumping too much to the idea that I blame the loss
> on Kunalic.  I don't, there were lots of reasons that
> we lost.  Kunalic was one of them, and not a small one,
> but it was certainly not a "one man loss" (for lack of a
> better term.)  Regardless of all that had happened in
> the game before, the game situation was what it was. 
> 1:44 left and ahead by 2.  And the Kickoff Specialist
> shanks it out of bounds!  It was amazing.  I was
> at the game and the deflation and disbelief felt by the
> Husker crowd was palpable.  That is all this guy
> does...this one thing.  The one thing he does isn't
> even contested or defended, no one is doing anything to him
> while he kicks off.  And your point that he had kicked
> off successfully so many times only makes it worse. 
> Because it was only when everything was on the line did he
> screw it up.  It is by very definition a huge choke
> job.  When the pressure was on, and everything on the
> line, he blew it.  
> 
> Now I'm far from an expert on statistics and
> probability.  There is a really good poster on the list
> that works with that stuff.  But I do know that when
> Kunalic shanked the ball out of bounds, giving Texas the
> ball at the 40 only needing a field goal, our odds of losing
> the game when up and not just by a little bit.  Anyone
> that says different is wrong.  I don't blame Kunalic
> for the loss, but neither is he blameless.  He cracked
> under pressure, he choked, and that's the way it is.  
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
> --- On Fri, 12/11/09, bradalan at aol.com
> <bradalan at aol.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > From: bradalan at aol.com
> <bradalan at aol.com>
> > Subject: [Husker] Re: pinning the loss on
> Kunalic...really?
> > To: husker at tssi.com
> > Date: Friday, December 11, 2009, 6:52 PM
> > 
> > Dave that is just wrong.  Kunalic has been really
> good
> > on  kickoffs.  The 
> > stats I saw right after the game were that the
> kickoff
> > out  of bounds was his 
> > first in about 68 attempts this year, and only his
> second
> > in  over 200.  A 
> > football is a funny thing, and sometimes it takes
> > funny  bounces, which as 
> > we have seen too many times this season, don't always
> go
> > the  way we would 
> > like.
> >  
> > While football is a team game, with three supposedly
> equal
> > phases, I  think 
> > this years contributions have been about 50% Defense,
> 40%
> > Special Teams,  
> > and 10% offense.  D and Special Teams played
> extremely
> > well all  season.  
> > With even average performances in those phases the
> Huskers
> > would  likely have 
> > lost 7 or even 8 games this season, instead of 4, and
> been
> > nowhere  near the 
> > Big XII championship game.  D made the difference
> > against OU, with  an INT 
> > return to the 1.  ST made the difference against
> > Colorado and Baylor  with a 
> > punt return and blocked punt return for TDs.  We
> very
> > well could  have lost 
> > to Baylor without that jump-start by the ST guys.
> >  
> > With even a marginally average offense, the Huskers
> could
> > have beaten  Va 
> > Tech, Iowa State, and Texas, and even Texas Tech would
> have
> > been a different  
> > game.  D and Special Teams kept them in those first
> > three games.  Yes,  you 
> > can blame one blown play for the Va Tech loss, and one
> bad
> > kickoff and a  
> > horsecollar tackle for the Texas loss, but that is
> very
> > shortsighted.  A  
> > single touchdown by the offense in either of those
> games,
> > or one less turnover  
> > by the offense against Iowa State, and those are
> > wins.  If the Husker  
> > offense manages to drive 10 yards for a TD against
> Texas,
> > that kickoff doesn't  
> > matter so much.
> >  
> > I think it is wrong to blame a close loss on any one
> > player, and this  year 
> > on any defensive or ST player in particular.  I
> don't
> > know Kunalic, or  
> > Larry Asante, or anyone else who made a costly mistake
> this
> > year, but no  
> > mistake, particularly an isolated one, warrants the
> > suggestion of yanking a  
> > scholarship.  I was sick when that kickoff went out
> of
> > bounds, but I am  sure 
> > not a single person on this list feels anywhere near
> as bad
> > as Kunalic does  
> > about it.
> >  
> > I am as disappointed in the loss to Texas as I was in
> the
> > loss to  Miami 
> > when Dr. Tom went for two and didn't get it. 
> However,
> > I am also very  proud 
> > of the effort of the team all year long, to fight for
> a top
> > 20 season when  
> > by all rights they could have been 4-8.  I feel
> better
> > about the TX loss  
> > than about any Husker loss in a long time.  The
> > offense will get fixed, and  
> > the D and ST will remain at a high level, even with
> Suh and
> > company  
> > departing.  The future is bright.
> >  
> > GO BIG RED!!!
> >  
> > Brad Bredenkamp
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > ------------------------------
> > 
> > Message: 9
> > Date: Fri,  11 Dec 2009 12:47:21 -0800 (PST)
> > From: David Strong  <gbrlist at yahoo.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Husker] Still looking for a QB
> > To:  Jon Johnston <jon.johnston at gmail.com>,
> > Aaron Wolfson
> > <awolfson0 at gmail.com>, 
> > Husker List <husker at tssi.com>,
> > Mark  Landin
> > <marklandin at gmail.com>
> > Message-ID:  <12009.97007.qm at web111006.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain;  charset=us-ascii
> > 
> > 
> > > From: Mark Landin  <marklandin at gmail.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [Husker] Still looking for a  QB
> > 
> > > How many QB's would satisfy you, and
> > > from which other  positions should
> > > those extra schollies come from?
> > 
> > One good qb  would be a start, and a solid backup
> > would be good as well.  
> > We don't have  either that we have seen play.
> > 
> > Need a scholarship?  Give Kunalic's  to someone
> > else.
> > 
> > Dave
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> > 
> 
> 
> 
>