[NU Sports] 'Cats-Huskers

[Beamsley, Jeff]

Dennis,
 
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to write about stuff that I believe in.
 
On being wrong:
All of us are wrong most of the time, that's what makes this fun.  Very few us us claim to be otherwise.
 
Quality of NU's win:
Nebraska did not play badly, as you pointed out.  Martinez had a career passing day.  There were no fluke plays that resulted in scores. There were no special teams scores.  If anything UNL had more questionable calls go their way than NU.  UNL won the turnover battle.  NU had more starters go down than UNL.  Total offense was about the same.  What really jumps out from the stats is time of possession in the second half - NU - 19  UNL - 11.  That's where the game was won.  
 
This is the same UNL team that beat MSU 24-3 the week before in Lincoln.  In that game they shut down MSU's "talented" running game and forced MSU to throw the ball.  On offense, Burkhead scored twice and carried the ball 35 times because MSU couldn't stop him.
 
NU won yesterday because we DID stop the UNL run, and because UNL COULDN'T stop our "only three stars" running game.
 
At this point in the season every team knows the other team's strengths and weaknesses.  The teams that win are the teams the execute.  NU imposed its will on UNL and made them play our game.  That's not a fluke.
 
On talent:
UNL has certainly had better recruiting classes than NU dating probably back to Otto Graham.  They also almost certainly have more "multi-star" athletes on their side of the ball than NU does.  But potential doesn't mean squat once the game starts.
 
Here are a few examples from yesterday.
 
Ebert (ranked the 185th best receiver in the country out of high school) outran three UNL defenders who each had more stars on their recruiting sheets than he did.  Their "stars" did not help them catch him.
 
Coulter (ranked in 49th QB in the country out of HS) outran two UNL linebackers (David four stars) to gain the corner, leap into the air from the four yard line, transfer the ball from his right hand to his left hand, and hit the pylon as he was going out of bounds for the score.  That's talent.
 
Our linebacker and secondary crew tackled Burkhead (four stars) one on one in the open field for loses or short gains all day holding him to 50 yards - his worst game of the season.  
 
On coaching:
Who did a better job managing the clock in the second half. Fitz or Pelini?
 
Who did a better job of making adjustments both on defense and offense DURING the game, Fitz or Pelini?
 
Who did a better job motivating his players to compete for 60 minutes and overcome turnovers and injuries, Fitz or Pelini?
 
You (and others) were ready to give up this team for dead and questioned whether Fitz and his staff had lost their mojo.  Fitz and his coaching staff, however, didn't give up.  They believed.  Yesterday, you saw what happens when a whole team shares that belief - they can beat anyone.  
 
Belief has been the hallmark of EVERY successful NU team, and now this team has it too.  
 
I DO have faith that it is this BELIEF that sets NU football apart from the rest.  I agree that, as a result, it DOES take great faith to be an NU fan.  Fortunately when that faith is rewarded, as it was yesterday, we of GREAT FAITH experience greater joy than those whose faith is only in the stars.
 
Jeff

________________________________

From: Dennis W. Brandt [mailto:tbng at comcast.net]
Sent: Sun 11/6/2011 11:01 AM
To: Beamsley, Jeff; Tom Maycock; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] 'Cats-Huskers



BEAMSLEY: I just couldn't resist your claim of rarely being wrong.
BRANDT:  When it comes to sports, everyone is wrong at times.  On other
matters, formulating a cogent argument is not a claim of perfection, but it
does often silence the opposition, as it certainly has in this case.

BEAMSLEY: What I can say is that the win in Lincoln wasn't a fluke.  NU won
an old fashioned smash mouth toe to toe BT football game.  That last seven
minute TD drive would have brought a tear to Woody Hayes' eye.
BRANDT:  That is true.  They did play the best defensive game of the season,
and they way they moved the ball at crunch time was a marvel to watch.

BEAMSLEY: NU had every opportunity to pack it in, but showed heart and
character playing on the road against a top-10 team.  They overcame every
obstacle and more importantly every nay sayer who felt that they weren't
talented enough or well coached enough to be on the same field with
Nebraska.
BRANDT:  Also true.  But whatever the polls may state, Nebraska obviously
was not a top ten team going into yesterday's game and certainly did not
play like one.

BEAMSLEY: There is no talent deficit on this team.
BRANDT:  Sorry, oh ye of great faith, but that is dead wrong.  We have but
three stars on offense, but we have built a good offense around them.  We
have no stars on defense at this point, which is why we are ranked among the
worst defenses in the nation.  One win, glorious as it is, does not suddenly
grant halfway decent players all-conference status.  Again yesterday there
were zero sacks and a still-porous pass defense.  We clearly eschewed the
pass yesterday to concentrate on the run.  We should thank the Nebraska
coaching staff for concentrating on the run in the first half.  They scored
all their TDs in the second half AFTER they started passing more often.  Had
they passed the entire game, it is highly unlikely that we would have won
the game because we have yet to stop anyone from passing.

BEAMSLEY: There is no coaching deficit on this team.
BRANDT: Define "deficit."  Fitz's enthusiasm spreads throughout the team,
and that is superb.  But there again were some questionable, overly
conservative play-calls.  And the continued us of a double quarterback
system when you have, if healthy, one of the finest quarterbacks in the
nation is, as the king of Siam once said, "a puzzlement."  On a positive
note, we don't have Jerry Sandusky on staff.  I hope.