Where was the creativity?

[bshirt]

Enough with the whole Bo and his temper are the problem......problem is we have too many candy a$$ fans and reporters who think Bo should give a rats a$$ about what "they" think- The guy is doing about what most realistic people thought he'd do- win 9 to 10 games a season - is that good enough? no, but it could be worse and probably will if Bo leaves- who the hell are we going to get for a replacement? Norv Turner? he should be available in another season, NFL rejects worked well the last time didn't they?.

Oh, don't fool yourself. HuskerNation in 2003 was in complete rapture for firing Frank and bringing in an NFL genius HC. Here we are again winning 9 or 10 games a year and the mob is fully ready & willing to do it again.

If they once again succeed I'll have to do the unthinkable and walk away from NU cfb. I simply couldn't endure the humiliations again. Especially as it's a high chance TO won't be around to SOS next time.

Oh well, they haven't won yet. Can't give up the hope.

 

[Mavric]

Most definitely. I'm of the opinion that it's a lack of player leadership/accountability, followed a little bit by Pelini's composure and then just a general youth issue. To me, David and Dennard are the only two guys defensively that scream leadership and toughness. They're gone next year, so who steps up? The team needs multiple guys on each side of the ball showcasing good leadership skills and holding one another accountable - it can't all come from Pelini.

As far as Pelini is concerned, Sam McKewon brought up a good point yesterday. On one drive in the second half, Nebraska got called for pass interference. Instead of keeping his calm, or even arguing about the call, Pelini is over yelling at the ref about Baker Steinkuhler getting shoved to the ground. It wasn't the right time, and it was a time Pelini needed to keep himself together. As Pelini goes, I think this team goes. And it appears they rely on him for a lot of direction and leadership, so if he is getting frustrated and losing a little control I think the team does as well.

And then the youth is, well...obvious. We had something like 6 or 7 guys play on offense this year who have never really played (guys like Moore, Bell, Turner, Abdullah, etc., are a few that come to mind).

Brings me back to the Virginia Tech game in 08 I think. Pelini blew up, and you could see how it impacted the outcome of the game. A&M as well. Getting screwed by the refs or not, his temper has a dramtic impact on the game.

So how do you explain the games where he kept his cool and we still fell apart (Wisc, Mich)? The players are just used to it so they did a peremptory collapse?

I'm not saying there isn't anything to it but I find it hard to blame fumbles, false starts, dropped punt snaps, pass interferences, hail marys, roughing the kickers, blown double-coverages and dropped passes on the coaches temper.

 

[Hoosker]

My question is why didn't Tim Beck open up the playbook and try to confuse the Gamecock defense in the 2nd half? I still can't bring myself to watch the replay of the game so I may be off on the playcalls, but it seems to me that we stuck with the same old stuff when nothing was really working. We hardly saw the diamond formation (I still believe this should be our primary formation), reverses, flea flickers, or even that crazy option play we used against Michigan with Abdullah getting the pitch from Rex. None of these were worth a try? Not even once?

I just wish we would have played like it was the last game in months in terms of playcalling.

Anyone else feel that we left opportunities in the playcalling dept?

 

[Mavric]

Interesting. Several others were complaining that we went away from what's working.

After the first drive of the second half (missed FG), we didn't have much of a chance to do anything. Killed ourselves with penalties and sacks.

I also thought we might see more gagetry. We got a reverse, a QB throwback (attempted) and Burkhead pitching to Martinez.

 

[HuskerShark]

Mills, I'll be honest. If I had one gripe about Beck's playcalling, it's that at times, he tries to get too cute with his foo-foo finesse plays and we lose a lot of physicality because of that. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I felt about the offensive playcalling in the second half. The first half was really well called, and we ran down the throats of a really aggressive, physical defense. But I think Taylor was right: SC's defense was not the best one we played this year. Maybe it was the fastest, but in no way was it the best.