[Husker] Final thoughts from Texas (a.k.a. beating a dead horse)

[Jeff Jussel]

Bowl Season Greetings from a Husker in Austin.

I have been on the list since the early days (Has it been 16+ years? Wow.).
But I rarely post as I don't have much 'inside' information to share -
except for maybe stories of Longhorn arrogance. As you might expect it has
been a tough couple of weeks for Husker fans in this part of the country. 

 

But since I finally got over the close loss enough to review my DVR copy of
the B12 Championship, I thought I could share a few comments on what turned
out to be the critical moments of that game. I also have a few questions
that maybe the experts on the list can answer.

 

On the Texas touchdown drive in the 2nd quarter:

 

-          I loved the shot of Suh taking down McCoy one-handed on a QB
keeper. Suh was being held by the Tx lineman and fought him off with one
hand while taking down McCoy with the other. What dominance!  (A holding
call would have been nice.)

-          On 3rd and long from the 19, the refs called Hagg for DPI in the
endzone. On the DVR replay you can see that Hagg never touches the receiver.
He also never turns to find the ball which is why he got called.  I once
heard that there is no penalty for 'face guarding' in college football.
Obviously the refs think there is.

-          On that call, the refs initially marked the ball at the 2, then
changed their minds and said the previous play started at the 19, and
assessed the 15 yard penalty to put it at the 4.   Bo went crazy asking why
it wasn't half-the-distance instead of 15 yards. Half the distance would
have put it just outside the 9. And the way the defense was playing there is
at least a decent chance UT is held to a FG.  Did the refs screw up? Or do
offensive penalties get assessed at 'full value' unless it puts them in the
end zone? (And then what? Put on the 2?)  If so, it seems an unfair
advantage when offensive penalties in the other direction are definitely
assessed half the distance.

-          2 plays later McCoy was given a touchdown.  They reviewed it and
confirmed the TD. However, a frame by frame review by DVR shows McCoy was
down with his shoulder and right arm on the ground and the ball clearly half
a yard short of the goal line. He then quickly moves the ball forward and in
the pile-up the refs missed it on review.  Funny thing is that the announcer
(Brent M.no fan of NU) saw the same thing I did.  Oh well,  3rd down from 2
feet out the odds aren't good for the defense anyway, but given the NU front
four I doubt even Mack Brown would want to have to do it again.

 

On the final Texas "drive" in the 4th quarter:

 

-          It's worth mentioning that not only did the kickoff give away
field position, let them field it at the goal-line and a few seconds would
have ticked off on that play as well (and as we know, one second would have
been enough to change things). It looks like Adi tried too hard and had some
extreme bad luck on the bounce. Still gotta love our kickers for the year
they have had.

-          It is annoying to hear Mack Brown refer to this as a "drive". It
was one positive play with a penalty tacked on. The Blackshirts were
amazing.all day.

-          Is anyone else tired of the horse collar penalty? It was put in
(rightly) to protect players from potentially dangerous tackles. But it is
now being called in cases where the defender tackles by the shirt, not the
pads, with no undue danger to the runner. Maybe it needs to be modified like
facemasks to have a 5 yd and a 15 yd version. 

-          On the same play as the horse collar, Suh was absolutely mugged.
One lineman got him high, the other low and he was tackled to the ground and
buried there.  If the refs had called holding as often as they called
questionable interference penalties the game goes the other way easily. 

 

Overall, it has been great watching the defense this year. I now call them
the 'scoring unit'. ;-)  The Blackshirts are back and I look forward to
seeing Suh (no doubt still the best player in CFB) play for NU one last
game. Hopefully the offense will open things up a bit and play for fun in
the Holiday Bowl. 

 

Thanks everyone for the great posts. This list is still a critical lifeline
for Husker ex-pats.

 

Jeff Jussel