Sunday Morning Thoughts -- Post Bowling Green

[Doc Fumble]

BOOOOOOOOOOOM! Despite an early ‘interception,’ we witnessed a royal first half butt-kicking! This was a dominating 60 minutes of football from the Huskers. In the past, this is where our board’s contrarian, MRJFB (RIP) would have jumped in to remind us all that we weren’t playing a very good team so hold off on any illusions of grandeur. But given the depths of where we’ve come (thanks to ATX for reminding us this week by posting a Nebraska vs Georgia Southern ‘highlights’ YouTube from 5 years ago), kicking a so-called ‘nobody’ sure feels awfully satisfying to me.

Colandrea is Da Man – His Best Run. Anthony Colandrea continues to impress me with his command of our offense. It’s some of the best QB play I’ve seen from a Husker in a long time. (AC kind of reminds me of Joey Ganz.) His third quarter run for a touchdown was spectacular and showed off his speed and illusiveness–but alas, it got called back.

Colandrea is Da Man – His Best Pass. The play last night that “wow’ed” me was the dart he threw to Gilmer for our second TD. The moment he let it go, I was convinced he’d thrown it directly to a defender in the endzone for an interception. The place went wild, jostling my binocs and I didn’t get to see what happened. But I knew fans were too excited for it to have been an interception. On the HuskerVision replay, I saw AC had ‘threaded a needle’ just over the defender’s outstretched hand to a crossing Gilmer behind him. Truly an amazing pass.

The ‘Triplets’ were great again. Mozee, Nelson, and Rule ran for a combined 24 carries for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns and another 34 yards through the air. Kwinten Ives also got some PT and scored a touchdown. I think they've put away the hand-wringing that we needed to get a stud RB out of the portal.

Red Zone Success. Considering our frustrating Red Zone struggles in recent years, I think it’s important to note that through our first two games, Nebraska is 8 for 8=100% in Red Zone touchdown scoring.

The Blocked Punt. When we got flagged for holding for the third time on special teams, I could imagine the scene inside BHF’s Shout Box. I closed my eyes and could envision a bunch of grousing texts about how special teams has gone to hell again now that Mike Ekeler left us for USC. I hope our blocked punt quieted some of our board’s ST angst. For this week anyway.

Chambliss Play. Maybe this is just me projecting, but it sure seemed to me we looked much more “In Control” with #0 on the field running the defense.

RVP Sighting. I was impressed by how often I saw Van Poppel make the play in the first half.

Lateef. TJ looked really good in the fourth quarter. He engineered a great TD drive.

Odds & Ends:

One Second Remaining Before Half? I found myself wondering last night how a quick sideline pass ran out the clock with six seconds left, but Michigan could throw a 50 yard Hail Mary with nine seconds remaining and still have a second left. Hmmmmmmmm…

Notable Tunnel Walk. This was one of the best Tunnel Walks I can remember in years. 1) It was a callback to the special ‘first responders’ one we gave the nation in the first college football game after the 9/11 tragedy. 2) The video used some of our old Huskervision graphics that highlighted the Kearney Arch, Chimney Rock, Henry Doorly Zoo, and a Nebraska harvest scene. IMO, those late 90s videos still remain our very best.

What were everybody else’s takeaways?

 

[innmc]

Good game

 

[Uenth]

The third quarter was more than a little troubling but minus that, great game. Seemed like a different team from the first half but the ship was righted and all was good otherwise.

 

[Nebraska99]

Game stats...

https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401858441

 

[Chris]

Aurich was a transformational hire.

 

[Blatz]

AC is the best QB we've had in the last decade. He has the good feet and throws well, but on field leadership is far and away his best trait. I don't see any Triplets in the backfield, although I do "get it". Jamal Rule is RB1 by a mile. Mekhi Nelson is RB2 and we do not want to lose Rule to injury or we are in trouble. Mozee is solid and deserves to be on the field.

Suggestion... we should line up in the I with Mozee as the FB right in front of Rule.

Both sides of the line looked good. Special Teams looked good. Tight Ends... once again we didn't use them, it doesn't even look like we even have any, and we all know we have several good ones. Is this Satterfield or Holgersen?

Suggestion... move the TE to an H back and use them we used to use our FB

 

[Chris]

AC is the best QB we've had in the last decade. He has the good feet and throws well, but on field leadership is far and away his best trait. I don't see any Triplets in the backfield, although I do "get it". Jamal Rule is RB! by a mile. Mekhi Nelson is RB2 and we do not want to lose Rule to injury or we are in trouble. Mozee is solid and deserves to be on the field.

Suggestion... we should line up in the I with Mozee as the FB right in front of Rule.

Both sides of the line looked good. Special Teams looked good. Tight Ends... once again we didn't use them, it doesn't even look like we even have any, and we all know we have several good ones. Is this Satterfield or Holgersen?

Suggestion... move the TE to an H back and use them we used to use our FB

TE's are pretty heavily involved - in run/pass blocking.

 

[Blatz]

LOLOL Chris. I didn't mean I couldn't see them engaged. But we aren't USING them. We'll force a pass to a WR with subject hands when we have Luke who is automatic! Emmett caught more balls than the TE's did as a group. We wouldn't miss Hunter on the field at all. I'd put Carter Nelson out there instead. Put Luke in as FB

 

[Righteous Red]

It was an impressive win. Having said that, so many other schools had impressive wins over the Campells, Houston Baptists, Southern U, Norfolk State, Howard, Kennesaw State, Wofford, etc of the world. They were scheduled because it was expected to achieve the desired massive point differential. In the scheme of things, it doesn’t raise eyebrows on all those teams who had blowouts on Saturday. What raises eyebrows for me when I see Texas coming back to beat Ohio State, Okie St beating Oregon, Michigan beating OU,
Iowa beating Iowa State on FG at end of game (sound familiar) or Wisconsin pounded by Notre Dame.

The biggest winner in these blowouts are those teams that come into Mega Stadium U and slink away with multimillion paychecks. Fans pay so much for tickets, parking, fuel, concessions, licensed gear, meals, motels. We pay opening night prices for a Broadway play, but instead we get a Middle School Christmas play. Fans should demand more from or Athletic Department to schedule more than one competitive big name schools for our non conference play. I would much rather lose to some quality non conference schools early. It gives us a better picture of what to expect in conference play, and to assess our strengths and weaknesses. We need to raise more eyebrows in or non con games.

 

[Chris]

LOLOL Chris. I didn't mean I couldn't see them engaged. But we aren't USING them. We'll force a pass to a WR with subject hands when we have Luke who is automatic! Emmett caught more balls than the TE's did as a group. We wouldn't miss Hunter on the field at all. I'd put Carter Nelson out there instead. Put Luke in as FB

Guess I just don't see the need. Yeah- we old guys miss the days of rumbling fullbacks (which is now what the TE is). At least I don't see the need when we win by 50 and put up nearly 600yds in offense.

Also- on special teams, against Ohio, Nebraska had two offsides penalties on kickoffs. Against Bowling Green, three Jacory Barney punt returns were negated by holding penalties.

 

[HuskersNC949597]

Both teams showed tremendous balance on offense. Nebraska threw for 282 and rushed for 264, while Bowling Green threw for 84 and rushed for 85, good job by both teams really keeping the opposing defense guessing

The third quarter will probably be the blueprint North Dakota uses next week, as BGSU held the ball for over 11 minutes total in the 3Q and didn't do anything particularly fancy. Basically a replay of Northern Iowa 2024.

 

[redfred]

The third quarter will probably be the blueprint North Dakota uses next week, as BGSU held the ball for over 11 minutes total in the 3Q and didn't do anything particularly fancy. Basically a replay of Northern Iowa 2024.

Not just North Dakota I'm guessing.

This game didn't change my overall thoughts.......ie I'm bullish offense and hopeful but anxious defense. The easiest way to corral a good offense is by keeping it off the field.

 

[redfred]

Aurich was a transformational hire.

Agreed. My concern is when you transform something it sometimes takes time....... sometimes a little and sometimes a lot. Given enough time I really think he could be the best D-coordinator we've had in some time. How long it takes, and how much patience Husker Nation has are big questions.

 

[Doc Fumble]

The third quarter will probably be the blueprint North Dakota uses next week...

Not just North Dakota I'm guessing. This game didn't change my overall thoughts.......ie I'm bullish offense and hopeful but anxious defense. The easiest way to corral a good offense is by keeping it off the field.

Yeah, we totally sucked on D in that 12-play third quarter, ahem, scoreless drive, with a 35 point lead.

Doctor Fumble diagnoses a case of lingering Husker Fan PTSD from the Riley/Frost years. I hear the cure is a 6-0 start.

 

[HuskersNC949597]

Yeah, we totally sucked on D in that 12-play third quarter, ahem, scoreless drive, with a 35 point lead.

Doctor Fumble diagnoses a case of lingering Husker Fan PTSD from the Riley/Frost years. I hear the cure is a 6-0 start.

Yeah I'm just expecting a boring game next week where the other team tries to hold the ball to minimize embarrassment, a 34-3 win would be fine by me.

 

[Doc Fumble]

I don't see any Triplets in the backfield, although I do "get it".

That's fair, Blatz. I was just trying to come up with something to describe our three-headed RB beast.

Jamal Rule is RB1 by a mile. Mekhi Nelson is RB2 and we do not want to lose Rule to injury or we are in trouble. Mozee is solid and deserves to be on the field.

I agree with your assessment of all three. BTW, I forgot to mention one of last night's highlight plays: Nelson's hurdle OVER a defender!!! I recall Maurice Washington doing it once (I think it was the snowy Sparty game) but Mekhi's leap was much cooler IMO!!!

 

[MadRat]

TJ Laterf is a smooth operator. Unless Colandrea screws something up, TJ won't need to play while injured like last season. IMHO he's better but younger. He is good but forcing too much on him is not the best choice. I look forward to him pushing Colandrea to improve. TJ hits the moving breadbox when passing whereas Colandrea struggles with accuracy. But there is nothing wrong that the experienced QB is at the reins. Rest assured TJ is the future.

 

[Jimbosc]

Guessing all those "where is Tommie's Heisman" chants got Eddie George fired up at half - BGSU came out fired up in the 2nd half and played hard.

Okay - jokes aside - pretty complete game. Mozee doesn't quite have the burst of speed at the LOS so 3rd RB is the right spot for him. TJ is a great athlete but you can see how much smoother AC10 is running the offense. A couple of AC10's throws last night were elite - but he's really good at finding the open guy. And so far we have guys that get open. We'll see if that continues once we get to the tougher defenses later this season.

 

[Doc Fumble]

TJ hits the moving breadbox when passing whereas Colandrea struggles with accuracy.

What??!??! Are we watching the same quarterback?

AC was 20 of 24 for 224 and 4 touchdowns. I've already seen a couple of Anthony's passes that were more elite than anything I've seen from any other Husker QB for a looooooong time.

TJ was good too but he overthrew a wide-open receiver for a long TD.

 

[Pavlov's Dog]

I just noticed- Doc didn't even enter the Guess the Score contest. I'm beginning to think he doesn't have the same passion for Husker Football that the rest of us do.
....and Uenth, don't you EVER show up in the Shoutbox after the first half. "I didn't have running water nearby" is the most bs excuse I have ever heard.