What did we learn-Game 1 Arky State

84HuskerLaw said:
I think most are not all that upset by the offense and will give it some time to get to running on all eight cylinders, but the glaring lack of success on the defense was beyond alarming!  Yes, the defense didn't give up the punt return TD nor the safety.   But the defense gave up nearly 500 yards of offense which is at least 150 too many and to a team that at best can be compared to the weakest in the Big Ten (which may be the Huskers as we played well enough to lose deservedly).  I honestly have to say that in this game, the best team lost.  That is the most disconcerting thing of all.    Ark State walked out of ourt stadium heads held high and proud while our guys should have felt exactly the opposite.   

Thanks God for the good punts and field goals and all but one kick off.  But we had way too many penalties and miscues.  Those can be chalked up to first game mistakes except that we had a full week of extra practice and we were at home.  The mistakes and miscues continued well into the second half.  The jitters and deer in headlights looks were well over with by then too.   We played very few guys whose names were unfamiliar and would simply be not ready for prime time player status.   '
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I think there are 2-3 teams in the Big Ten Arky State could beat. 

 
skers83 said:
I think there are 2-3 teams in the Big Ten Arky State could beat. 
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Honestly, ask yourself the question:   if we played them again, do you think we would do better or would they do better?    I would say that we probably played about as well as we can play and that wasn't good enough to deserve to win.   If we played again, it would likely be just as difficult to win.  This was no fluke on Ark State's part.  They played well and we played "well" as we could apparently.  There are just no excuses that you can really find to hang your hat on.    It seems to me, NU may have gotten the better of it in terms of the officiating calls.  They had a TD taken away and we got the goody on a couple of ify penalties as well.  

Who do you think is worse than NU in the big ten at this point, based solely on first week game performance?

 
84HuskerLaw said:
Honestly, ask yourself the question:   if we played them again, do you think we would do better or would they do better?    I would say that we probably played about as well as we can play and that wasn't good enough to deserve to win.   If we played again, it would likely be just as difficult to win.  This was no fluke on Ark State's part.  They played well and we played "well" as we could apparently.  There are just no excuses that you can really find to hang your hat on.    It seems to me, NU may have gotten the better of it in terms of the officiating calls.  They had a TD taken away and we got the goody on a couple of ify penalties as well.  

Who do you think is worse than NU in the big ten at this point, based solely on first week game performance?
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Can I answer that next week? 

 
84HuskerLaw said:
I think most are not all that upset by the offense and will give it some time to get to running on all eight cylinders, but the glaring lack of success on the defense was beyond alarming!  Yes, the defense didn't give up the punt return TD nor the safety.   But the defense gave up nearly 500 yards of offense which is at least 150 too many and to a team that at best can be compared to the weakest in the Big Ten (which may be the Huskers as we played well enough to lose deservedly).  I honestly have to say that in this game, the best team lost.  That is the most disconcerting thing of all.    Ark State walked out of ourt stadium heads held high and proud while our guys should have felt exactly the opposite.   

Thanks God for the good punts and field goals and all but one kick off.  But we had way too many penalties and miscues.  Those can be chalked up to first game mistakes except that we had a full week of extra practice and we were at home.  The mistakes and miscues continued well into the second half.  The jitters and deer in headlights looks were well over with by then too.   We played very few guys whose names were unfamiliar and would simply be not ready for prime time player status.   '
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I don't know where Arky St. ranks or who they can be compared to in the Big.  I find that line of thinking irrelevant since over the course of a season playing bigger, stronger, faster players would wear them down and likely lead to key starters missing games. This was one game in which they were at full strength and had a lot of motivation to pull off an upset so the more interesting "what if" question for me is, if they played like they played Saturday how many Big teams could Arky St have beat opening night?  Unless you consider N to be the worst Big team this season, it's reasonable to suggest Arky St. may have beat 3, 4, maybe 5 other Big teams opening night with a similar performance.

What I do know is, their QB put the ball on the money sideline to sideline with zip and down the field too a lot more times than not.  Their receivers did a great job blocking out on the edge isolating the ball carrier(after the catch) to a usually one on one open field battle.   That's a powerful equalizer vs any defense.  Their offense was quick, clean, and well orchestrated for a first game.  The play action threat was real and had to be accounted for and we kept them under 100 on the ground.

 
What I learned:

That some people can't handle their liquor before football games.  That some people leave after the 1st qtr and don't return.  That Sam McKweon is a blimp.  That some people didn't get the clear bag memo.  That some girl left her panties on the corner of 15th & Vine.  That the person that won the HyVee $250 tailgate gift card didn't need the $250 to use towards their next tailgate.  That the old timer next to me was in the Air Force and seemed disappointed that I was never in the service.  That when people leave games early the drive back to Omaha goes a lot quicker.  That Nebraska won and still has a lot of stuff to work on.

 
SECHusker said:
What I learned is that folks need to chill out, and we are still in position to win EVERY GAME ON OUR SCHEDULE.  This was the first game against a team that was decent regardless of their name.  A team that went 8-5 last year.  A team that thumped Troy, who last year came within 6 of beating Clemson.  Yes, we have things to work on, but so does every other team.  At times the offense looked stellar. There was a guy on that D-line that will get drafted and there was hardly any mention of him.  Of course I would like to see Langs run the ball more when up late, but I can't fault him for his aggressive playcalling.

Folks need to realize that was the first time any of the defensive staff coached together, and there were definitely communication issues with the defense.  That is something that can get shored up, and I fully expect it to be. 

From what I saw the defense had superior athletes to Ark State., and Deontrae Thomas is going to be a beast. Lamar Jackson redeemed himself in my eyes last night and Kalu played a good second half.  The D-line was playing extremely well, and getting a moderate pressure with just a three man front.  

***Side Note- No one should fault Diaco for not wanting to speak after the game.  If the name demands perfection regardless of the circumstances he should feel ashamed, and use that energy to get better for next week.
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I just looked at the last seven games on our sched.  I could see 2-3wins.  And going to have to fight for those.

 
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That our fans that go to the game are awful and leave with us only up 8 points, or 14 or still leaving during their last drive.  It's absolutely ridiculous.  If you were a recruit and looked and said, this game is not over but half the stadium has already left, why in the world would I play for fans that don't support the team in close games.  This has to stop at some point.  There were only 100 people left in the rich seats under the press box at the end.  I'm sorry but it's unacceptable, you can't be there best fans in the country if only half the stadium watchs the whole game.  That's what I learned, and it's only getting worse.  I get told to sit down during the game but then that same person is smashing themselves into isle with 8 minutes left in the third quarter.  That's what I learned.  

 
The fans leaving early definitely does not look good for recruits. However, people go to games to be entertained and when flag were being thrown every other play, refs were stopping and discussing every play amongst themselves, taking time to review multiple plays, and Diaco's defense was allowing the same play to be ran over and over again..... it was not very entertaining and was like watching paint dry. The game dragged on way too long and the OC shoulda capitalized on the lead and closed it out convincingly. 

 
Bad2theBONES said:
The fans leaving early definitely does not look good for recruits. However, people go to games to be entertained and when flag were being thrown every other play, refs were stopping and discussing every play amongst themselves, taking time to review multiple plays, and Diaco's defense was allowing the same play to be ran over and over again..... it was not very entertaining and was like watching paint dry. The game dragged on way too long and the OC shoulda capitalized on the lead and closed it out convincingly. 
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You still don't leave when the game is an 8 point game, it crowds the isles and basically is a huge middle finger to the players and the coaches.  And when a coach commented on it, he was somehow vilified even though he was absolutely correct.

 
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