I've read a lot of the posts here, both before and after the game. Here's the perspective of a Bruin fan.
1. The Bruins defense benefited from the matchup with the Nebraska offense. The strength of the Bruin defense is the linebacker corps, especially their speed. That speed seemed to negate the biggest threat from Martinez and that was his running. I do not think that the Bruin coaching staff was afraid of Martinez as a passer. It seemed as if the Bruin defensive approach was to make Martinez pass. And a 3-4 defense with very fast linebackers can do that very well.
2. Yes, coaching is important, but I honestly think the Bruins were noticeably faster than Nebraska. Better coaching would have made the final score closer but I think the speed difference would have ended in a Bruin victory more often than not. After the Bruins got clobbered by Baylor in last year's bowl game Mora acknowledged that the team needed to get faster. He got those faster athletes and many of them are playing as true freshmen with good results.
3. I agree that the Nebraska coaching staff needs a wake-up call. But isn't it likely that Nebraska will still win 9 games this year? If so, would the adminstration be willing to fire a coach after a 9-win season? That would be rare, wouldn't it?
4. This is a great football forum site. I had a lot of fun reading the posts here. Some of the posters here are very, very witty and some are very hip about college football.
5. How bad is the Big 10 this year? Can you imagine the outcry if Michigan had lost to Akron, which they almost did? Is there a really good team in the Big 10 other than Ohio State?
6. It's unlikey that the Bruins will go undefeated. They have to play Stanford and Oregan away and on consecutive weekends. That will be tough. Arizona State is also good. So is Washington. Who knows about USC? In that rivalry game anything can happen.
7. If I were Pelini I would not look to do anything drastic. Usually small changes can reap huge benefits. I would run Taylor more and have him pass less. I would blitz more. I think firing a DC or OC midseason is more of a public-relations move to keep big boosters in the fold than it is an effective adjustment to make a team better. Look at Texas.
8. Bruin fans basically had a 13-year run of bad teams, during which only one team had a decent record (10-2 in 2005, mostly due to Drew Olson at QB and Maurice Jones-Drew at RB), so we know what misery is. It is part of the natural cycle of college football for teams to be up and down. Look at Kansas State. Before Bill Snyder KSU was the doormat of college football. If a "down" year for Nebraska is a 9 or 8-win season then Nebraska fans are very fortunate.
9. Hundley is going to make a lot of defenses look bad. The Bruin season hinges on how well they can defend against the really good teams (Stanford and Oregon).
1. The Bruins defense benefited from the matchup with the Nebraska offense. The strength of the Bruin defense is the linebacker corps, especially their speed. That speed seemed to negate the biggest threat from Martinez and that was his running. I do not think that the Bruin coaching staff was afraid of Martinez as a passer. It seemed as if the Bruin defensive approach was to make Martinez pass. And a 3-4 defense with very fast linebackers can do that very well.
2. Yes, coaching is important, but I honestly think the Bruins were noticeably faster than Nebraska. Better coaching would have made the final score closer but I think the speed difference would have ended in a Bruin victory more often than not. After the Bruins got clobbered by Baylor in last year's bowl game Mora acknowledged that the team needed to get faster. He got those faster athletes and many of them are playing as true freshmen with good results.
3. I agree that the Nebraska coaching staff needs a wake-up call. But isn't it likely that Nebraska will still win 9 games this year? If so, would the adminstration be willing to fire a coach after a 9-win season? That would be rare, wouldn't it?
4. This is a great football forum site. I had a lot of fun reading the posts here. Some of the posters here are very, very witty and some are very hip about college football.
5. How bad is the Big 10 this year? Can you imagine the outcry if Michigan had lost to Akron, which they almost did? Is there a really good team in the Big 10 other than Ohio State?
6. It's unlikey that the Bruins will go undefeated. They have to play Stanford and Oregan away and on consecutive weekends. That will be tough. Arizona State is also good. So is Washington. Who knows about USC? In that rivalry game anything can happen.
7. If I were Pelini I would not look to do anything drastic. Usually small changes can reap huge benefits. I would run Taylor more and have him pass less. I would blitz more. I think firing a DC or OC midseason is more of a public-relations move to keep big boosters in the fold than it is an effective adjustment to make a team better. Look at Texas.
8. Bruin fans basically had a 13-year run of bad teams, during which only one team had a decent record (10-2 in 2005, mostly due to Drew Olson at QB and Maurice Jones-Drew at RB), so we know what misery is. It is part of the natural cycle of college football for teams to be up and down. Look at Kansas State. Before Bill Snyder KSU was the doormat of college football. If a "down" year for Nebraska is a 9 or 8-win season then Nebraska fans are very fortunate.
9. Hundley is going to make a lot of defenses look bad. The Bruin season hinges on how well they can defend against the really good teams (Stanford and Oregon).
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