[Husker] Initial Impressions

[Duane Feldman]

Steve,
Again, you have made some points that I fully agree with -- others not quite so much.

1. Southern Hospitality - sorry, it was the Northern contingency that did everything they could to give points to the Southerners.  They hit hard on D and CJ Spiller was deadly on returns, but otherwise, they were pretty inept on O.  Still they didn't give us much.  Those TD passes happened because Ganz threaded the needle with his passes, and were certainly not gifts.

2. I try not to disparage the announcers much, but yes, it was pretty funny that every time they made a prediction, it was certainly proven wrong.  The funniest was the comment "Nebraska just can't run on Clemson" as Ganz was handing off to Castille for his 58 yard gallop.  The "This is turning into a rout was also less than prophetic" even while I was getting upset and worried myself.  Still, that comment might cause viewers to switch channels and is in stark contrast to other announcers who often go the other way.

3. Winter conditioning -- not to stay on this soap box, but I think you will see significant changes as Pelini continues to implement his long-range plans.  Speed and agility are paramount.

4. Play calling - Generally the accepted wisdom is that when a play works, keep using it until the defense stops it.  Given our lack of productive plays up to that point, repeating our only successful running play seemed to make sense to me.

6. QB Development -- this is my greatest area of agreement.  Why not have the younger players getting more PT?  We don't need style points since we aren't in contention for a national title.  Ganz isn't going to change is draft position based on a few more passes.  Yet next season might be significantly more successful with more (a) seasoned QB replacement(s).

7-8.Blank -- You obviously knew I wouldn't agree with you on these points and wisely erased them [g].

9. Gameness -- we used to call this strength and conditioning [g].  But it is good to know that just because NU is trailing at half-time, we aren't guaranteed a loss as we had seen the previous four years.

Thanks for the comments,

Duane Feldman




________________________________
From: Steve Stone <sstone at pvtnetworks.net>
To: husker-tssi.com <husker at tssi.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 1, 2009 9:41:54 PM
Subject: [Husker] Initial Impressions

Without having had a chance to review the game tape, here are a few 
early comments:

1) The Huskers did their level best to give the ballgame to Clemson, 
but the "home team" showed that ol' Southern hospitality by refusing 
to accept.

2) CBS can save a buck by hiring a trained chimpanzee to replace 
Fouts and company. AND improve the announcing.

3) Winter conditioning for the Husker offensive linemen will more 
than likely  concentrate on strength and quickness, if today's effort 
against the Tigers' D-line can be accepted as evidence of their level 
of training. Fortunately many O-liners are underclassmen and can move 
up the scale, so to speak.

4) For much of the game, Shaun Watson's playcalling seemed either 
incompetent or insane - - or both. One has to wonder if a twelve year 
old got hold of his mic every now and then. Example: after Q's 58 
yard dash, the next play went to Q, who seemed still wobbly, for 
zilch.

5) This was the first game in which I saw some questionable on-field 
tactial coaching. Example: Roy Helu was hurt early in the game and 
tapped his helmet as a signal to the bench to replace him but was 
ignored for two more plays.

6) Today we saw how the NFL philosophy of using quarterbacks to the 
full extent of their endurance doesn't work well at the collegiate 
level. When Ganz went out late in the game, his replacement had 
played only enough to have thrown a total of eight passes in a total 
of 12 preceding games. That his near-fumble didn't result in a 
Clemson TD and victory can be attributed only to "instant review" and 
Divine Intervention. The blame here does NOT lie with the RS freshman 
quarterback.

9) Half a century ago, true gameness (refusal to be beaten no matter 
what) was a highly prized masculine characteristic, but that virtue 
has been all but sidelined for the past several decades. Today, 
however, we got a glimpse of gameness. No greater compliment can be 
given a college football team.

Steve Stone



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