What did we learn: Ohio State

This probably would have been the biggest upset in Husker football history. When you weight the grade in that context, this was our defense's best game of the season so far. There is no more "quit" for our defense and the coaches on that side of the ball have obviously been motivating a lot of competition for starting roles, and that pays off big time. 

For me, there are a lot of "what ifs" with respect to Spielman not extending out to catch that huge first down pass later in the game. If he catches that ball, he might actually get 10+ yards after the catch...and maybe he actually takes it in for six points. I also think you could argue that Ozigbo got held attempting to make a reception on our last drive. That one getting called and allowing us to put up seven points still has us down by two...but that kind of just shows how close we were to winning this game.

We had a lot fewer penalties. I'm a believer at this point in Greg Austin; this guy is coaching this offensive line and that unit has seen steady improvement. I challenge anyone to disagree with that assessment. 

 
VectorVictor said:
To be fair, Caleb also kicked the last squibb kickoff before the half out of bounds. 

And no, it doesn’t appear intentional, if the immediate ScoFro reaction shots are to be believed. 
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The squib was bad. Reason why you shouldn't trust him to pull off a surprise onside. If he was actually trying to kick it deep then he shouldn't ve doing KO anymore but I find that highly unlikely. He was trying to onside it. But honestly it doesn't matter that much. Unless he was trying to kick deep that is lol

 
It was more than the botched kickoff that hurt us on special teams.  The blocked punt cost us 9 points basically.  Then, you have the 30 yard punts and not knowing when to field a punt or fair catch a kickoff or not.  We also have a FG kicker that we can't trust to make a 40 yarder.  I don't feel like special teams will get fixed this season.

 
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4skers89 said:
You didn’t have many losses to pick apart and be miserable about- the way a childhood should be.
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That pretty much my point.  It was more understandable to expect to win every game, and pick apart every loss when NU was one of the best programs in the country.  That’s not the case anymore. Yeah, that fact sucks, but I don’t get how someone can expect a victory every week, considering the state of the program the past 20 years. 

 
Packerhuskerfan said:
It was more than the botched kickoff that hurt us on special teams.  The blocked punt cost us 9 points basically.  Then, you have the 30 yard punts and not knowing when to field a punt or fair catch a kickoff or not.  We also have a FG kicker that we can't trust to make a 40 yarder.  I don't feel like special teams will get fixed this season.
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I disagree that the block punt cost NU 9 points. It cost NU 2 points. Ohio State got the ball at pretty much the same field position they would have after an Armstrong punt. Ohio State was going to move the ball on NU regardless. Yes, those 2 points were important throughout the game, but it wasn’t as big as you make it out to be. 

 
Jason Sitoke said:
I didn’t think Nebraska got out athleted today. OSU is generally the standard when comparing talent, and while they’re clearly in a down year, I think NU’s skill guys are more athletic than their skill guys.   That should bode well in the coming years. 
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I didn’t see this at all. OSU looked generally much faster than our D. Chin needs to get rid of the Tre Neal jumbo package as that kid gets mowed every time. 

We we have some talent, some guys we need to move on, and tons of hope for the future. We’re out scheming defenses, and the offense has outpaced the defense in progress. 

If we can get a stud at all three defensive layers, a flat out speedster as a receiver, and the O line more consistent...watch out. 

I also would like to see more athletic length; rangy kids that are fast that we can bulk up. 

 
Summarizing a four page thread destined to grow even more.......

  • Moral victories are for losers.
  • 2-7
  • You're not smart enough to understand what I'm saying



                                                      Versus

  • Can you not see the progress the team is making?
  • Flipping the culture takes time
  • You're not smart enough to understand what I'm saying so I'll repeat myself



Me:




View attachment RashWellwornHatchetfish.webm
 
Packerhuskerfan said:
It was more than the botched kickoff that hurt us on special teams.  The blocked punt cost us 9 points basically.  Then, you have the 30 yard punts and not knowing when to field a punt or fair catch a kickoff or not.  We also have a FG kicker that we can't trust to make a 40 yarder.  I don't feel like special teams will get fixed this season.
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How does a blocked punt cost us 9 - Basically?

 
VectorVictor said:
To be fair, Caleb also kicked the last squibb kickoff before the half out of bounds. 

And no, it doesn’t appear intentional, if the immediate ScoFro reaction shots are to be believed. 
Click to expand...


I actually have no issue with that kick going OOB.

First, it was about as much bad luck as anything.  Usually those kicks bounce end-over-end and hop down the field.  That one happened to lay over so it rolled much farther than would usually be expected.

Second, I actually said before he even kicked it that we should just kick it out of bounds and not even take a chance with them returning it.  There were only 15 seconds left in the half.  Even getting the ball at the 35 they only had 2-3 plays to get into field goal range.  I'd take those odds much better than trusting our coverage (this year).

 
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