Michigan St Game: What Did We Learn?

[Thanks_Tom RR]

1) Riley and his staff might be able to take this team to the promise land. That was an excellent coached game.

2) There is a lot of quality character in the locker room

3) The OL had its best game by far, potentially the best in years.

4) Imani ran extremely well and finished his runs. I've always liked him.

5) Tommy, Westy, and Reilly are incredible. So proud to have these guys.

6) The only glaring negative on the night was the lack of pass rush. Credit MSU's line for protecting well, but Cook wasn't hurried all night, and that makes it tough on our secondary who continues to improve.

7) Gerry played really well.

Probably the best OL performance since Miami last year. Nebraska catch Cook on an off night and did get pressure, though inconsistently.

 

[xkbubo]

MSU was maybe a little overrated.

 

[Mierin]

MSU was maybe a little overrated.

I've always hated this type of bullsh#t. Usually it's been from other teams' fans. Said team beats a highly ranked team, then said team's fans chant "Overrated." Takes away from the win, doesn't it? If said team was able to beat them, they must have sucked anyway. So said team probably sucks too.
Sorry, but that's idiotic. We beat a good top ten team. They were #7. Behind several undefeated teams. They were likely where they should have been. Nebraska did a good job by beating them.

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

The announcers are terrible. When #92 Joel Heath got injured, they said Nick Gates gave a dirt hit "well after the play was over" that the refs missed. When I went back and watched the game, Nick Gates blocked him to and through the whistle and stopped immediately afterward. Good effort from Gates, not a dirt play. Crappy announcers.

 

[Bowfin]

Nebraska can win big games under Mike Riley.

What was the other one?

 

[Mierin]

The announcers are terrible. When #92 Joel Heath got injured, they said Nick Gates gave a dirt hit "well after the play was over" that the refs missed. When I went back and watched the game, Nick Gates blocked him to and through the whistle and stopped immediately afterward. Good effort from Gates, not a dirt play. Crappy announcers.

I cracked up once because right after Cook threw an incomplete pass they talked about what amazing QB he was.

 

[brophog]

MSU was maybe a little overrated.

I've always hated this type of bullsh#t. Usually it's been from other teams' fans. Said team beats a highly ranked team, then said team's fans chant "Overrated." Takes away from the win, doesn't it? If said team was able to beat them, they must have sucked anyway. So said team probably sucks too.Sorry, but that's idiotic. We beat a good top ten team. They were #7. Behind several undefeated teams. They were likely where they should have been. Nebraska did a good job by beating them.

Said teams fans says they were overrated weeks and weeks before the game. Other rankings say team overrated. Stats say team overrated. Vegas comes out before game, surprise said fans, say team not supposed to be big bully said team thinks they are. Said team wins, fans can't accept these things. Base too much on belief of other team. Can't appreciate plays made without.

 

[zoogs]

Any of the talent talk I have said is garbage. Just hasn't been utilized 100 percent correctly till it was better tonight.

See cross and sterup

Talent is tricky, right? The coaches need to scheme to the talent of their players to have success. Roster management is a HUGE factor in determining if a team "looks" to have talent.

Yeah, this.

And also, if this season were the 8th year under a head coach, he would be excoriated for all of the roster issues. I like this team, love the players and will root hard for them, but let's be honest: this roster is not where you want to be, not if you intend to compete for championships. It's not a 3-9 roster, either, to be sure.

It will take time for this roster to get to where it needs to be to match expectations. It is an open-ended question if Riley can get it there, in fairness. The fact that it is not there already has a lot more to do with what he inherited, than the type of team management chops he will display in his tenure in Lincoln.

And even where there's talent, there's an adjustment period. No coach can run things the exact same way as a previous staff; you can only accommodate so far while also trying to teach your own way. Some players will benefit, some will get caught up in the transition. A team running low on numbers (did I read that right? One article said we dipped below 60 available scholarship players this week...) is going to be a lot more vulnerable to this.

 

[jschmidt]

A young oc struggling with his own tendency. First and goal. Two cute designed plays. Timeout. Insert 230 full back. 220 tailback. Qb sweep.

These guys are fighting themselves in someways. Bravo for timeout and braking the trend.

 

[zoogs]

A young oc struggling with his own tendency. First and goal. Two cute designed plays. Timeout. Insert 230 full back. 220 tailback. Qb sweep.

These guys are fighting themselves in someways. Bravo for timeout and braking the trend.

The two runs that got stuffed?

 

[jschmidt]

Add when did you see Newby in a power set or power run?

Feel like every time he was in in the second half it was misdirection or a pass

 

[teachercd]

I don't think that MSU was overrated...I think that they started the season where they should have and never really gave people a reason to rank them lower.

 

[Saunders]

A young oc struggling with his own tendency. First and goal. Two cute designed plays. Timeout. Insert 230 full back. 220 tailback. Qb sweep.

These guys are fighting themselves in someways. Bravo for timeout and braking the trend.

The two runs that got stuffed?

The two stupid passes from the 4 yard line. That sweep has been near a lock this year.

 

[Mavric]

Having a competent offensive game plan is enough to beat a Top 10 team.

Imagine if we added a competent defensive game plan to that......

 

[zoogs]

A young oc struggling with his own tendency. First and goal. Two cute designed plays. Timeout. Insert 230 full back. 220 tailback. Qb sweep.

These guys are fighting themselves in someways. Bravo for timeout and braking the trend.

The two runs that got stuffed?

The two stupid passes from the 4 yard line. That sweep has been near a lock this year.

Nebraska has and can score by throwing from the 4-yard line, both this year and in recent years past. It's an important tool in the arsenal. Of course, you can't throw a terrible interception. Not throwing a terrible interception is what gives you a chance to run a 3rd down play that might work.

Which is the same thing that happened on the drive where the sweep was set up on 3rd down, after two failed 1st & 2nd down plays. That sweep wasn't automatic, either. You have to earn it, do it right, and they did it. Thankfully.

TA didn't score those two times because of the playcall, he scored because they all executed the play well *and* it was a good call. A little bit poorer, or a little bit better from the MSU defense and it would have come down to a 4th down play. If that doesn't go in, NU loses the game and nobody complains about the failed 1st & 2nd down plays because a) they were run plays? or b) we understand that a team has to try a number of different things at the goalline and sometimes it doesn't work.

* All this aside, I am a fan of the QB sweep in this situation. It just can't be the only thing you do.