[Husker] Pride

[George Rapp]

Just to echo the "Pride" theme ...

I just got back from Blacksburg - was able to attend as a guest of a friend
who's a VT alum.  Lane Stadium is very much like Memorial Stadium in that
respect -- very accommodating to the visitors -- although I don't get into
booing when the opponent comes out like they do. It is also very loud, just
like Memorial.

What I noticed the most about yesterday is that, despite the noise, our guys
played with a lot of confidence and poise.  The first series was shaky, and
the last series was desperate (obviously), but in between, they only had two
(?) false start penalties - not optimal, but still, not too bad for the
third game of the year.  The defense let the first touchdown in after the
long kickoff return, then buckled down and played well until *almost* the
very end ... 8^)

Also, Zac Lee is really good at managing the play clock. He sometimes called
for the snap immediately, but more often, he'd come to the line with 11-12
seconds left, call out adjustments, then get the snap with under 3 seconds
left. It seemed to keep the defense out of rhythm, and it contributed to the
final total of 0 sacks by VT.

I'm not sure how much of the poor offensive showing by VT was due to our
defense, and how much was due to a bad performance by Tyrod Taylor, at least
until the end of the 4th quarter.  The VT fans stated that the VT QB coach
and offensive coordinator were trying to change Taylor's role from a mobile
QB to a drop-back passer, to increase his draft value.  The transformation
is not yet complete - I could tell that there were times Taylor wanted to
scramble, but he backed up and tossed the ball instead.  (They also don't
have a quality backup, again per the VT fans, so the coaches may have been
trying to keep Taylor healthy.)

Agree with all the posters who said this game will help a lot more than the
loss hurts.  There are things to work on, both offensively and defensively,
but if this is how Bo's teams will react in a hostile situation against a
ranked opponent, the future looks very bright indeed.

George
-- 
George Rapp  (Pataskala, OH) Home: george.rapp -- at -- gmail.com
Work: george.rapp -- at -- eds.com (or) george.rapp.ctr -- at -- dfas.mil
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape
   finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.  - Marcus Aurelius