"Realistically this could've been a lot closer". i hope this isn't our program for this season.
What did we learn? OSU edition.
- Thread starter Decked
- Start date
"Realistically this could've been a lot closer". i hope this isn't our program for this season.
ColoradoHusk
Donor
I don't get that logic at all. Yes, Wandale and Mills could have gotten a few more touches, but it's hard to argue against the results of the offense, especially in the first half. Ohio State has enough talent on D where NU needs to find ways to get chunk plays on offense, and that's what NU did. The "line up and play ball" is an old coaching trope when an offense doesn't look like what you want to see.
BaytownHusker
Active member
Trust me i would love to see us line up like Oregon or UCF and run and sling it every where. But we dont have and wont get those guys. Or at least enough of them to have that offence work in the B1G.
ColoradoHusk
Donor
I am not saying NU has to be Oregon or UCF either, and I think NU will find a middle ground to what works in the Big Ten. I think Frost was trying some new wrinkles with McCaffrey in the run game, and for a lot of the Ohio State game, the offense moved the ball well. I agree that the RB's need to get more involved in the game, and I think they will going forward.
Husker in WI
New member
Barring injury, all 5 of those dudes get drafted - in the first 3 rounds most likely. Davis will be an Outland finalist and Myers will be a Rimington finalist. That OL is better than Wisconsin's this year.
Things I liked:
- As many others have said, the DL held up pretty well and we tackled very well overall
- OL was solid
- Gameplan was weird, but reminds me of how we used to play Texas Tech. Make them take as long as possible to score (soft coverage, etc) and try and shorten the game. And it worked for almost a half, we're just not good enough to overcome dumb (and a couple questionable) penalties and turnovers.
- Really no problem with the off coverage, those are easily the best 2 receivers we'll see until Bateman. I'll give them 12-15 yard catches to prevent multiple long TDs.
Things I didn't like:
- I really don't know why this staff is so hesitant to give guys chances early. Especially 3rd quarter once things got weird, we can't even try the young receivers?
- I'm a bigger Chins defender than most, but the 20 yard deep safety on 3rd/4th and medium is bizarre. Especially when neither of them have the range to be a center fielder anyway. We also had Nelson jamming an outside receiver while Bootle played ~12 yards off on one 4th quarter play.
- LBs tackled well but are not very fast.
- Receiver is a problem. I get that the gameplan was short passes and a lot of running, but our worst fears of the Warner/Falck/Liewer "hype" were realized. Nothing personal against those guys, I think they can all play. But it means 0 deep threats on the field.
This game confirmed all the holes, as one would expect it to.
Here are a few:
CB's can't cover elite WR.
Wandale is only WR threat and all one needs to do is blanket him down to shut down the WR's.
We cannot not run from the RB position. OL improved but can't generate 4+ yard runs consistently against good DL.
QB's still struggle with ball security. How will we beat the beatable teams if we are our worst enemy.
The penalty issue continues to baffle me. The bad calls on defense really killed us. Somewhere/somehow refs have to see how hard we play and stop acting like we are giving Covid to everyone. Personally, I thought the calls brought the phrase, "bunch of pansies".
I wasn't discouraged by this game. We can be competitive the rest of the way, yet, we have yet to prove we can play sound, traditional Husker football ... and we are leaps away from OSU in every way imaginable. Doesn't mean we can't compete ... but we are at a talent level still a whole 1.5 levels down from them.
Here are a few:
CB's can't cover elite WR.
Wandale is only WR threat and all one needs to do is blanket him down to shut down the WR's.
We cannot not run from the RB position. OL improved but can't generate 4+ yard runs consistently against good DL.
QB's still struggle with ball security. How will we beat the beatable teams if we are our worst enemy.
The penalty issue continues to baffle me. The bad calls on defense really killed us. Somewhere/somehow refs have to see how hard we play and stop acting like we are giving Covid to everyone. Personally, I thought the calls brought the phrase, "bunch of pansies".
I wasn't discouraged by this game. We can be competitive the rest of the way, yet, we have yet to prove we can play sound, traditional Husker football ... and we are leaps away from OSU in every way imaginable. Doesn't mean we can't compete ... but we are at a talent level still a whole 1.5 levels down from them.
RedDenver
New member
I recommend watching it. Watching any Husker football is a gift this year, and I'd enjoy as much of it as you can.
Great phrase! Maybe I'll start a middle-aged dad band called "Bubble of Fatties"...
knapplc
Active member
I feel like the score is distracting a lot of people. Ohio State is that great RB that only needs a tiny crease to be gone - and they got that tiny crease over and over against Nebraska, whether it was because of our play or questionable flags. And they took advantage of it like great teams do. And that's how we got the score we got.
But we played very well on the lines, against very talented guys who will play on Sundays. I think a lot of people are ignoring that.
The lines are the foundation of the team. We've been suspect on both lines for a long time, and we've gotten the results we've gotten over the past few years because of it.
I think both our lines are finally showing the promise of Year Three in the S&C program.
We're going to give a lot of teams fits with that kind of O & D Line play.
But we played very well on the lines, against very talented guys who will play on Sundays. I think a lot of people are ignoring that.
The lines are the foundation of the team. We've been suspect on both lines for a long time, and we've gotten the results we've gotten over the past few years because of it.
I think both our lines are finally showing the promise of Year Three in the S&C program.
We're going to give a lot of teams fits with that kind of O & D Line play.
Husker in WI
New member
Agreed - I was hesitant to do a re-watch, but it was better than I remembered. That late 2nd/early 3rd quarter really turned everything, and so many little things just bounced the wrong way. We need to be able to absorb those better, but against OSU it's really hard. I came out of the game thinking we had no offense in the second half, and we really did. Just shot ourselves in the foot a lot, and hopefully some of those were first game things.
MyBloodIsRed16
Active member
There are few guys from OSU that woke up Sunday and were reminded that they played the Huskers the day before. I don't know how many times you could say that over the last couple of years.
krc1995
Donor
Exactly, said they same thing. At least they knew we were there.
First game in awhile I said, ya-we lost by 5 tds but it could have been a lot better. We played to win and sometimes when you you play with no fear, you get burned. I think we offensively open it up a bit this weekend.
Decked
Active member
