Oklahoma: What did we learn?

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Farms said:
That second field goal shouldn’t have been attempted anyway. Kicking a 50+ yarder with a struggling kicker when it’s 4th and 4. In a game where you’re trying to upset the #3 team in the country, you go for it there in my opinion. Overall I thought Frost called a great game bought that was a poor decision I bet Frost would like to have that one back.
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 then he shouldnt have kicked the first, it was 50 yds.

 
BigRedBuster said:
Pardon me if I'm having a brain fart, but....what is EPA?
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I had to google it:

"Expected Points Added, commonly referred to as EPA, is a measure of how well a team performs relative to expectation. For example, if a team starts a drive on the 50-yard line, its expected points to start the drive would be about 2.5."

To add to this, I've noticed already that there's a large positive impact from kicking the ball into the end zone on kickoffs. No more of this crap of letting teams start drives on their own 35 - 40 because we kicked it shallow and then couldn't get them down well inside their own half of the field.

This has to be helping our defensive points allowed stats significantly also.

 
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Toe said:
They held Oklahoma to their lowest point total since 2016, and you reaction is 'could be better'?
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Be careful, complacency is an instrument of the devil.
 

The D played well, but the missed tackles were maddening and led to extended drives. They beed to be rectified if we want to earn a bowl birth. 

 
desertshox said:
 then he shouldnt have kicked the first, it was 50 yds.
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 It all depends on distance and field position.  If you are 4th and 8 and in the middle of the field-  that's different than 4th and 4 from the hash. 

Our kicker is really struggling- at this point anything close probably need to go for it. Our punting has improved- but not inside the 20 kicks. 

 
It's been a couple days since the OU game and I have done a lot of reading online from fans, pundits, etc...  Here are some thoughts:

  • The OU game was a very fun one to watch, and it was exciting to see Nebraska go toe to toe with a top-ranked team
  • With that said, the same mistakes that cost Nebraska close games from 2018 to 2020 are still present.  
  • Some believe Nebraska's performance against OU is a sign that Frost and the program have turned the corner.  I think it's too early to make that judgment as there is a tough schedule left, and Nebraska needs to finish 5-3 to have its first winning season under Frost.  Winning the next 2 games are a near must if Nebraska does want to finally have its first winning season since 2016.
  • Adrian has had a couple amazing games in a row, and the way he is playing now reminds me of how he played his freshman season.  I still think it's too early to say AM's past issues are behind him  as he was a big reason we lost the Illinois game to start the season.  But, I am hopeful we will continue to see excellent decision making and results that most programs would expect from a 4-year starter.
  • Chinander has been the most consistent coach on this staff.  We saw the defense turn the corner the 2nd half of last season and their effort has continued to be consistent this season. 
 
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Caveman said:
Be careful, complacency is an instrument of the devil.
 

The D played well, but the missed tackles were maddening and led to extended drives. They beed to be rectified if we want to earn a bowl birth. 
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IMO missed tackles isn't very high on the list of things that's going to keep Nebraska out of a bowl game this season, so this statement feels like a significant stretch.

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the expectations of the teams we root for while unintentionally disregarding or ignoring the talent of the opposition. NU's defense could certainly be better, but OU's offense is pretty loaded talent wise. Lincoln Riley is one of the best offensive minds in the sport. We knew they would force NU's defense to make mistakes. I'd still argue that Nebraska's lack of a consistent pass rush is probably their great Achilles Heel at the moment.

 
Caveman said:
Be careful, complacency is an instrument of the devil.
 

The D played well, but the missed tackles were maddening and led to extended drives. They beed to be rectified if we want to earn a bowl birth. 
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Yes it was frustrating some times.  I would like to see us do better next game.  I think we will.  But, we also have to give OU credit for some of that.  They have a lot of quick, fast, physical players.  Extremely talented skill position players.

 
Toe said:
Everyone keeps saying that special teams sucked, but wasn't it mostly just the FG/PAT kicking in this game? I don't recall any major mistakes on kickoffs or punts. (Well, there was the kickoff that was probably going out of bounds that OU picked up anyway.)
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Mavric said:
Yeah, it sure seems like it mostly the place kicking.  But people like to exaggerate.
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Maybe it's just a matter of semantics and superlatives, but I think ST is a mixed bag and I think you have to look at the severity of the mistakes in comparison to the successes.

- Nebraska's FG/PAT unit left six points on the field and spotted OU two points directly... that's objectively a failing grade.

- Punts were overall quite good.

- The kickoff game was pretty good, though they did almost send one out of bounds. OU may have bailed them out but that's still a Nebraska screw up IMO.

- There was one kick return where they didn't fair catch and only got the ball out to the 10-15 yard line.

So if you're going to grade out "special teams" as a whole unit then you're probably only giving a C or D grade. If you want to go by individual unit, FG/PAT gets an F, punting probably an A, kickoff probably a B and kick returning probably a B.

 
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