HuskersLive Comments

Here is what we have said before and after Husker Games - the good, the bad and the ugly. To see our most current comments go to the home page or "HuskersLive" tab.

B1G Ugly

This perhaps might be the way things go in the Big 10 and as long as a W is posted, I really don’t care. The final score will be enough for people who didn’t watch the game to think Nebraska took care of business. However if you are a NU fan you have to wonder how this team is going to win in Madison. They bumble, stumble and fumble their way through games but when the final gun sounds it is a win. The Huskers are 4-0 after a 38-14 victory on the road.

Ohio State has ruled this conference since it seems like forever and in all of those years, in all the OSU games I watched, there wasn’t one game where I said this team can’t be beat. In fact, they made a habit of winning ugly against teams they should stomp and doing just enough in the rest to win the conference. It is just the way the Big 10 rolls and this might be the way the Huskers will win it.

The offense was loose with the ball as usual and had more than a few possessions where they just looked horrendous. The O so far this year has put some points up but lets be real here, the defenses we have played are flat out bad. In seven days, we will have judgment day against a quality defense. It is then we will find out if this offense can do enough to win a game on the road against a team we appear to be over matched against. Even the biggest of Husker homers would have to agree, a victory in Madison would be a tall order.

The defense played better and I’m sure Dennard’s return had something to do with that. The fact that Crick missed the game sure hurt, but as long as he’s ready to go next week we are good. We really seem to be missing the turnovers this year. Our defense under Bo seems to have a way of getting plenty of turnovers, but this year it just isn’t happening to date. They will be tested next week for sure against a team that can run and pass the ball. I think they’ll be ready to go though.

It sure is a negative article so far for a team that is 4-0, but did anyone really think we wouldn’t be in this position headed to Madison. The only real question mark was the Washington game and that was at home. This team has the talent to run the table. The only team in the B1G that scares me at all is Wisconsin. So regardless of what NU has shown so far, they can still win the Big 10 even if they lose next week. I just want to see how they perform in that kind of environment.

There are more than a few things I like about this team believe it or not and I give you this useless fact. There are four states that start with ‘W’ (Washington, Wyoming, Wisconsin and West Virginia) and we have beat two of them already. It could be a case where we own the W states this year. I would hope we don’t play in a bowl where West Virginia is going but before we worry about them let’s take care of the third W.

How the West Was Won

The Cornhuskers will head west for their first road test of the year. The road is a place where NU has struggled over the recent years. They will take on the Wyoming Cowboys and this team looks a heck of a lot like the others we have faced in 2011. The Blackshirts will face a decent offense, while Taylor and the boys face a pretty piss poor defense. The Cowboys gave up 541 yards of offense to Weber State, of which 227 were rushing, so they appear to be bad both at stopping the run and the pass. This is a great combination for our Huskers offense that is struggling at maintaining some consistency. Wyoming on the other hand is ranked 16th in total offense, however they have faced a couple pigpens so the stats are inflated. They did go on the road to beat Bowling Green last weekend, which is a nice win.

There are a lot of people wondering what is going on with the defense and you can toss me into that camp. The front four is really not getting to the quarterback like they should be. Crick did pick up the pace in the 2nd half of the Washington game though. The number of blitzes seems to be down and the big reason, I would guess, is because Alfonzo Dennard has been out. When you have a shutdown corner blanketing one receiver, you can get your safeties to focus on other receivers running routes. You don’t need to worry about Dennard’s man so Carl can feel a little more secure in calling blitzes, and as I’m sure you know he is back this week. The Blackshirts will be improved this weekend, but probably not to the standard at which we have been accustom to the last couple years.

The Huskers offense has been putting up plenty of points in the first three games and they should put up plenty against these Cowboys. The bright spot that I have mentioned before is the lack of penalties so far. It’s hard for our Huskers to pick up first and fifteen or twenty, so the fact that they are not shooting themselves in the foot this year is a big plus. However, the turnovers and silly pitches continue and I honestly don’t see an end in sight. We are going to just have to live and die with the craziness that is Taylor Martinez. One of the most elusive and quickest quarterbacks in college football today but also one of the most turnover prone.

The offense can go ten minutes looking like a well-oiled touchdown-producing machine and the next ten minutes look like a broken down mule. The scary part is we have been facing really bad defenses, so in two weeks when the Huskers offense faces a good one will we still see the big play capabilities like we are now? Tick tock tick tock tick tock, but before that task let us take care of the one in front of us.

The Cowboys will put some points on us, even with the addition of Alfonzo, but the ease to which it has come of late will be reduced. Wyoming has had a bad habit of getting blown out by top 25 teams over the years and they should expect the same this weekend. The only real question is how long will we let them hang around the chicken coop before putting their heads on the chopping block.

Huskers: 44
Cowboys: 28
Line: Huskers -23.5
Straight Up: 3-0
Against Spread: 1-1 (no line in first game)

A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness… Charles Dickens I am not but his book and opening lines of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ played out in this game for sure. Especially when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. The first half was not the worst of times but the performance was below average. The second half played out the best of times for sure. The final was 51 to 38.

It really would have been interesting if the Huskies were given the ball after that incorrect punt catch interference penalty at the end of the first half. The score was tied 17 – 17 at the time with about a minute and a half left when the Huskers should have lost the ball. If they had scored before the half, it is a different ballgame since they got the ball first after the break. The other huge play was the Washington fumble at the goal line early in the 3rd quarter. The combination of those two plays really seemed to change momentum big time.

The Huskies made a big mistake, if you ask me, to not run Polk more often than they did. The Nebraska defense has been vulnerable to the run of late and Polk had his way with them in last year’s Holiday Bowl. They even had a lot of success in the first quarter, but for some reason stopped doing it. I will not complain one bit.

It would be easy to slam the defense again, especially the first quarter, but I quite frankly thought they played pretty good. I think Keith Price is a good quarterback and could be a heck of a player for the next few years for the Huskies. The Blackshirts had some issues but after the first quarter they seemed to catch a spark. I think sometimes us Husker fans think we should always have a defense like the 2009 version of the Blackshirts. We can’t have shutdown defense every year and this is not a bad defense. Once Dennard gets back on the field, we will have NFL corner helping those Blackshirts out. He can take out one receiver and let the defense get more aggressive, so please hurry back.

Taylor Martinez has those leopards’ spots and he will not change. We will live and die with those spots, the highs and lows, the ups and downs and the good with the bad. He has incredible playmaking ability and will win a lot more games for us. I do like that fact that he is using 2 hands on the ball. The thing that has me confused is we seem to run the ball great with our running backs but hardly do it. We want to press Martinez into passing a lot more than we should. He is not a great passer and has problems going through the normal progression a quarterback needs too. If the run is working, roll with it a little more.

The Huskers are going to be a tough team to beat when they are plus in the turnover category. It isn’t a category we usually lead in but we did today and we took advantage. It was a tale of two halves and I would like to see that second half team a lot more the rest of the year. The Huskers are still undefeated and have one more warm up before the showdown in Madison.

Third Party

One would think the Washington Huskies and Nebraska Cornhuskers are part of the AFC North, geography aside. This will be the 3rd time they have played each other in the last 12 months. I’m sure most remember the outcomes of the previous meetings, so I will not bore you with the details. They both come in at 2-0 and both have looked less than impressive in their wins. The bottom line though is they are both undefeated and one team is going to remain that way after Saturday.

Washington comes in after squeaking by Eastern Washington and holding on to beat Hawaii. The Huskies were outgained 504 to 250 in their win over E. Washington. If not for the plus 4 in turnovers on that Saturday, the Huskies likely would have lost. The game against Hawaii was a little different. They jumped out to an early 21 to nothing lead and held on to win by 8.

Washington’s defense is the hole in the dike here. They are allowing almost 450 yards of offense so far this year. The problem, if you are a Huskers fan, is most of the yardage they give up is though the air. This still doesn’t mean Washington’s rush defense is good. They played Hawaii who is known to throw a pass or two and E. Washington’s QB had 69, yes that is correct, pass attempts in their contest. We will assume the Huskies have not really been tested this year.

The Huskies offense is lead by Keith Price and this year he has completed 70% of his passes. Price has 7 TDs and only 1 INT in 2011; oh did I mention he is mobile. This has been a sore spot of late for the Cornhuskers. Price has not had to run much this year, but can do it. Derek Carr of Fresno State moved around enough to give the Blackshirts some big issues last week and Steve Sarkisian has surely seen that. He however is not my big concern; the young man that makes me a little uneasy is Chris Polk. He was able to rush for 177 yard and had a couple catches for 22 more in the Holiday Bowl against these same Huskers. The Huskers were able to keep him wrapped up in the first meeting holding him to 55 yards on 17 attempts. We need to keep him in check to win the game.

The homerun or strikeout performance of our offense will continue until it doesn’t (very profound). The offense has been verbally abused, and deservedly so, for so long now it is just to depressing to discuss anymore. I will refrain from getting too negative here. The majority of fans know what the issues are so I will focus on the positives. The Huskers certainly have big strike ability and that is something we have not had for a long time. Yes, we did have it last year for a while until the Missouri game broke Martinez to pieces. We have plenty more playmakers than Martinez on the offense, so we need to spread the ball around a little more. The other thing I love, and I mean I really love, is the fact that we have only had 6 penalties total this year. You heard me right ladies and gentlemen, 6 total in 2 games. It is a major improvement from last year.

The defense seems to have more holes in it than I was hoping for. The Blackshirts had problems against the run at times last year and it has continued into 2011. The problem is they are having issues stopping the pass too. There has been a large number of blown assignments in the secondary and perhaps that can be contributed to being only two games into the season. They need to make some big leaps forward though if we want to have a big impact in the B1G this year.

The makeup of these two teams so far this year leans toward a mini shootout. The turnovers will be the key, like in a lot of games. As long as NU can hold onto the ball, we will win this game. I will take the Huskers in this home game, but much closer than what the line makers have for this game.

Huskers: 37
Washington: 31
Line: Huskers -16.5
Straight Up: 2-0
Against Spread: 0-1 (no line in first game)

Deju Vu All Over Again

It really is getting old watching the Huskers shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. It is the same formula we have seen for the last 3 years. Our offense does whatever it takes to lose games and our defense tries to hang on for our lives. Heck our defense wasn’t even on their A game….or B game tonight. The bottom line is we won the game, but if this style of play continues we could see 4 or 5 in the L column. You can’t play top and middle level teams in the Big 10 and have turnover issues like we do. Sometimes I miss the 3 and out of a couple years back and pray our defense gets some turnovers.

I think I speak for everyone when I say Taylor needs to either run less or use 2 hands to hold onto the ball. We can afford to give up a few yards for some ball security. The defense didn’t have its best outing, but they kept us in the game when things were looking dark. The way the Bulldogs ran the ball was concerning and Carl has some things to work on before Washington hits town.

Our offense reminds me of the classic all or nothing slugger swing in baseball. We either have 20 plus yard gains or no yardage, nada. I guess we can say the play calling last year had nothing to do with our flat performances game after game, fumble after fumble. At the end of the day, we still aren’t Duke or Kansas or Baylor or Purdue or Notre Dame, we are better. It just hurts more when you are inflecting more damage to yourself than you are dishing out.

The towel has not been thrown in on Nebraska winning the Big 10 or playing in a New Years Bowl game, but they better play at a much higher level against the big boys in the B1G or we are in trouble.

If there are some bright spots, we really seem to have some great young talent for the next few years. Ameer Abdullah is money and more money. I still would like to see Burkhead, Cotton and Turner get the ball more on offense. Cotton is a beast and needs more than 1 or 2 touches a game.

Oh well, I’ve had enough writing tonight. As it is often said, a win is a win. Go Big Red!!!

Bone Up

Here comes the pesky Fresno State Bulldogs to Lincoln and it should qualify as our first true test of the season. It would be easy to say this game sets up as a trap since the Huskers following date is with Washington, a team that we lost to in the Holiday Bowl with a less than inspiring performance. I just don’t see that happening. Fresno State has to many upsets and near upsets under their belt to be taken lightly in any way, shape or form.

The Bulldogs lost last week to Cal, but trying to predict how the Bulldogs did in that game is a little hard to say because Cal is one unpredictable bunch. In 2010, they beat Colorado by 45, ASU by 33, UCLA by 28 and lose to Oregon by only 2. Nevada, USC, Oregon State and Stanford then torch them, so trying to figure out which team was in appearance last Saturday is anyone’s guess. Fresno State itself had some great wins and strange losses last year, so who knows which team will show up.

The Huskers will be facing a team that doesn’t appear to have much of a defense and their offense struggled in week 1. A better formula could not have been calculated for Nebraska. Our offense needs some success early so the negative thoughts dodge the minds of these young athletes. The defense will be facing David Carr’s younger brother Derek and an inexperienced offense to boot. The Blackshirts should be able to force Derek into hurried tosses and a mistake or two.

If there is trouble in this game, it will be from NU’s own hand. This however is more likely than it should be, because for whatever reason we can’t seem to hang onto the ball. The turnovers always seem to cost us a couple games a year and you never know when they are going to rear their ugly head. The quick answer to this issue is to serve pancakes with lots of syrup and no utensils a couple hours before kickoff.

Our offensive line appears to have taken the first game as a wake up call and it would be nice if they would actually answer the bell. Taylor needs to be more secure in handling the ball and make smarter decisions on pitches and reading what the defense is giving you. It would be nice to see a more calm presents in the pocket on his part, but I’m not sure it is in his blood. If Taylor can’t get past that first read, which he really struggles with, then perhaps we need to do more dink and dunk passes for him. I watched the Maryland vs. Miami game and Maryland was having a lot of success with quick 1 read passes to its wide outs. I would think this would be a perfect fit for Taylor. Oh the pleasure of playing armchair quarterback, an easier task you will not find.

The Blackshirts could have some issues with a power running team like a Wisconsin or Ohio State, but I don’t see them getting besieged by these Bulldogs. Fresno might keep it close for a half, but I predict by the time the clock hits the 10 minute mark in the 4th quarter the outcome will have been decided with the Huskers on the pleasurable side of that.

Huskers: 40
Bulldogs: 10
Line: Huskers -28
Straight Up: 1-0
Against Spread: 0-0 (no line in first game)

Denny Green Style

Well in the words of Denny, these Huskers are who we thought they were. The defense was great, as we knew they would be. The offense was up and down but certainly the new offense had similar issues to last year. The special teams were just fine and it looks like the loss of Henery might not be as big a blow as I thought it would be. The Huskers inability to hold onto the football also looks very similar to last year. I guess you could say after one game Denny’s quote is spot on.

There were some real bright spots in all phases and here are the things I loved. The defense for the most part played great and really harassed the QB. Cam Meredith played like a man on a mission to blowup BJ Coleman. Daimion Stafford had some big hits and Crick looked like an All American. I was surprised to see Lavonte David had 9 tackles according to NU’s website. I don’t remember him being in on that many tackles but that is what he does.

The offense was a little sporadic to say the least, but it was the first real game with a new offensive scheme so mistakes will be made. Quincy Enunwa was the biggest surprise and a pleasant one it was. If he can keep that up and Kinnie can learn how to catch again, we might have some better receivers than I thought we would. Ben Cotton and Jamal Turner need more touches if you ask me and I’m sure Tim will get them more involved going forward.

The special teams coming into this game looked like it would have the biggest drop off from last year, but Brett Maher kicked those question marks to the curb with authority. He was 4/4 with a 48 and 50 yarder and punted well too. Ameer Abdullah looked dangerous and even though he fumbled that one punt, you could hardly blame him for that since another Husker ran into him.

The thing I enjoyed most though was looking at the penalties column and only seeing 3 there. I have become far to accustom to seeing double digits in that column and that is one thing that drives me nuts.

The disappointing things to see were mostly on the offensive side of the ball and some of the same old things we saw last year. The game day routine of buttering everyone’s fingers before they leave the locker room is something they really need to stop. They had 4 fumbles and 2 of those were turnovers.

Taylor Martinez is without doubt a great runner but he again just looks uncomfortable in the pocket. His delivery is terrible and is the reason so many of his passes get tipped. He appears to have his mind set on looking for that first read and if it isn’t there, he takes off. He did have some dropped by receivers (mainly Kinnie) but a lot of his passes were off target. It sure at times seems like he has his mind made up he is going to do something regardless of what he sees out of the defense. It was the first game in this new system, but I didn’t see a lot of improvement between the earholes from last year’s version. The speed looks to be back, but we will need him to be able to beat people with is arm more than a couple times this year.

It was a win and I still like this team to win a lot of games this year and have a great shot at a New Years bowl, but I think next week will give us a little better understanding on where this team is. We have a great defense and if our offense can hang in there the Huskers can be great.

Chat At You Later

Well the 2011 season is about to kickoff and our Huskers will be playing their first game as a B1G member. It should be an easy win against Tennessee Chattanooga, but then again we didn’t exactly blow the doors off of Idaho and South Dakota State last year.

It will be exciting to see what this new offense under Tim Beck will look like or more importantly how much pressure they can take off the defense. At least the bar, in my eyes, has been set pretty low. I mean it shouldn’t take much to surpass the terrible performances by our offense over the last 2 years. Yes they did start out like a house on fire last year, but after the Missouri game we sure didn’t put the fear of God into anyone.

Taylor Martinez has a lot to prove this year and the offense needs him to be on his A game to be effective. There needs to be improvement between the earholes, in the pocket and in staying healthy for us to have any chance of winning the Big 10. He has the keys to this machine and if he doesn’t show up there is a good chance the O will stall.

I have no doubt the defense will be up to task and will show us why they are one of the best defenses in the country again. We know our front four will be stellar and the DBs are money. The only question mark will be the linebackers but Bo and Carl will turn those question marks into exclamation points.

Chattanooga has a good senior quarterback in B.J Coleman, but the problem is the offensive line lost a lot of people from last year’s team. That is one area you don’t want to be inexperienced at against these Blackshirts. The points will not come easy to them so they better hope for a lack of interest on NU’s part to have any success against us. I wouldn’t count on it.

We may not learn a ton about this team in this game, but it is just good to be back sporting red on Saturdays again, Go Big Red.

Line: No line on this one
NU: 45
Chat: 13

2011 Predictions

The first season in the B1G is less than a month away and it is time for my 2011 forecast. My prediction last year before the season started was dead on. I had them going 10-2 and headed to the Big 12 Title Game and that is exactly what happened. If you look at my predictions before each game, I went 12-2 straight up but was absolutely terrible against the spread. I finished 5-8 (no line on the Jackrabbits game), which is why I don’t gamble on sports.

This year there appears to be two schools of thought on how the Huskers will finish this year. You have Nebraska should roll through this new league with perhaps one hiccup along the way, but will still win the Big 10 Title Game (I’ll spare you the number of members not matching the league name commentary). Now the majority of people that think this way are Nebraska fans. The other school preaches that Nebraska is too small and the newness of the teams they play will be the stumbling blocks to win the conference. Yes, they will win games but the size and running game of these B1G schools will take over games in the 4th quarter. They still think we will win games but have Michigan State coming out of the Legends.

What do I think? I sit right in the middle of these schools and here are my beefs with each side. The problem I have with Nebraska going undefeated or losing 1 game is we have not been consistent enough to do it. Bo has done a great job of turning this program around and with any resemblance of an offense this consistency might not be an issue. However, our offense was a joke 2 years ago and last year at least showed signs of being great early but the Taylor Martinez injury issues shut down the O. Those issues on offense still exist until I see otherwise. Yes the Huskers have discarded and reshuffled the deck with new offensive coaches but will it work is the question. I can’t see this team being undefeated or sitting with only one loss, with the schedule they have, going into the Big 10 Title Game.

Enough about why the Huskers won’t win the National Title, I want to get to the good part. The argument that Nebraska is to small to win in the battle scarred Big 10 is just a joke. In the late 80’s and early 90’s when Miami and Florida State were running circles around us you certainly didn’t here that argument. I would argue the opposite, speed kills baby. The Huskers defense the last two years has been lights out and that was playing against some of the best offenses in the nation. You never knew what teams were going to throw at you from week to week. Most of the schools in the B1G are pretty predictable on what they want to do with the ball. Now if Bo can setup great game plans against the mad offenses of the Big 12, imagine how good they can be when they know what is coming most of the time.

One of my biggest concerns coming into this season is not the offense or our ‘small’ defense, but it is the loss of Alex Henery. Everyone in Nebraska knows how money this kid was both punting and with field goals, so I sure hope we can fill 75% of Alex’s shoes because I doubt we’ll ever see another one like him.

Will the Huskers Win?	Home	Away
Locks	Chattanooga	Wyoming
Should Win	Fresno State, Washington, Northwestern & Iowa	Minnesota
50/50	Ohio State & Michigan State	Penn State & Michigan
Need A Break	Nobody	Wisconsin
Record	6-1	4-1
Total	Before Title Game	10-2