Sigh

[KansasRed]

Same sh!t different day. Two yard inside screens, jet sweep loses. Thank heaven for Emmet tonight. No TO's was good. Haven't stopped a mobile QB in years. Miricle play at the end saved the win. As it stands right now, get ready for 6-6 again...if we're lucky. Hope my outlook improves in the morning.

 

[Huusker]

Run defense leaves much to be desired, but they took away Cincy's pass game. Their speedy receivers and that NFL-bound TE did very little.

I said before the game I just wanted one more point than Cincinnati, and we got three. I'm happy. We have a good shot at 3-0 when my least-favorite B1G team comes to Lincoln.

 

[Dave]

Kind of worried about keeping Johnson healthy thru out the season. Mozèe and/or Ives needs to come on quickly. O-Line and D-Line need to progress - like now.

 

[SCVHusker]

I think we are all disappointed by the score, yet very happy by the win. I predicted 42-17 Huskers. We were all hoping to go 3-0 before MeChicken game. It looks like that's almost a given now. So, I will sleep well tonight.

 

[Jimbosc]

Oline is fine - up against good Cindy front. Dline....yeah we got some work to do.

Not scoring more than 20 points is a problem but I don't put that on the oline - it was more overall execution and play calling. We don't show much confidence in the red zone - and are limited without a running QB.

 

[Doc Fumble]

Same sh!t different day.

I feel your frustrations, but we didn't see the same old outcome.

For the second game in a row the Huskers made the fourth quarter plays that sealed the deal. In a sport involving young men, finding success in the face of adversity builds a winning mindset.

As much as I wanted to blow the socks off of Cincy last night, this kind of game will end up being more valuable going into the Michigan game than if we'd be going into it with three straight no-contests.

 

[ATX_Husker]

Kind of worried about keeping Johnson healthy thru out the season. Mozèe and/or Ives needs to come on quickly. O-Line and D-Line need to progress - like now.

I would not be surprised if at the end of the season Genatone has more carries than Ives. I hope I am wrong think the Ives ship may have sailed.

 

[ramelbm]

A lot is being made of winning a close game. While it’s nice to change the narrative about our track record of close games, it’s a bit misleading.

There are two types of close games. Showing grit by winning a back and forth game is what I’m hoping to see. That builds a lot of character, and is an exciting fan experience.

Last night and the bowl win were the other kind. They were both games where we had double-digit leads in the second half with the chance to firmly gain control and cruise to a win. Instead, the offense sputtered, the defense faltered, and we had to hold on kicking and screaming until the last minute. I could use a lot fewer of these games.

An underwhelming win is still a win. But not all wins are equal.

 

[ramelbm]

I would not be surprised if at the end of the season Genatone has more carries than Ives. I hope I am wrong think the Ives ship may have sailed.

I agree about Ives. RB seems like a position where it’s often clear right away if the guy has “it”. Other than MR talking Ives up for over 2 years, there’s nothing else indicating he’s going to be a strong presence (yet).

 

[Husker99]

Same sh!t different day. Two yard inside screens, jet sweep loses. Thank heaven for Emmit tonight. No TO's was good. Haven't stopped a mobile QB in years. Miricle play at the end saved the win. As it stands right now, get ready for 6-6 again...if we're lucky. Hope my outlook improves in the morning.

Here are the concerns about the team after watching the 1st game:

* The sputtering offense. 20 points per game will probably not serve us well going into conference play. I dunno, I guess with Dana Holgorsen as the OC, I expected at least 35 points and clearly the Husker Offense fell well short of that. The false ztart we had with 1st & Goal, while not ideal, should not have prevented a TD. Let's hope the offense finds their groove

* 7 yards per rush our defense gave up. Yikes, giving up 7 YPC rushing is terrible. Maybe DC Butler needs to use 5 or 6 defensive lineman, run like a 6-5 or 5-6 scheme because what they're doing isn't gonna work well.

Overall though, 1) I'm happy we won, 2) the defense made the play to seal the win, 3) Emmett Johnson had some decent holes to run through, 4) pass pro was solid overall, 5) not a great performance last night, but not terrible either.

I hope Coach gets asked why he didn't pooch punt. We had the ball, went for it on 4th down. Didn't get it and gave the ball 5o Cincy at like the 41 yard line. They promptly took the ball, went right down the field and scored a TD. That changed the entire complexion of the game. And I have to wonder, had Neb pooch punted there and pinned Cincy at their 10 or 15 yard line, would they have scored on that drive? My guess is no.

On to the 1st cupcake...

 

[Huusker]

Still not making hay in the red zone -- i.e. scoring touchdowns instead of settling for FGs.

I was expecting at least a half-dozen deep throws due to the weakness of Cincy's secondary. I don't remember a single deep throw. Raiola had a 79% completion rate but the average completion was less than 10 yards. Should I be concerned, or was DH trying to keep it simple and build success in game #1?

 

[Husker99]

Still not making hay in the red zone -- i.e. scoring touchdowns instead of settling for FGs.

I was expecting at least a half-dozen deep throws due to the weakness of Cincy's secondary. I don't remember a single deep throw. Raiola had a 79% completion rate but the average completion was less than 10 yards. Should I be concerned, or was DH trying to keep it simple and build success in game #1?

Nebraska's went downfield (more than 15 yards) one time. I realize Cincy was playing with 3 safeties most of the game, but even still, a few more deep shots should have been taken.

 

[Pavlov's Dog]

A lot is being made of winning a close game. While it’s nice to change the narrative about our track record of close games, it’s a bit misleading.

There are two types of close games. Showing grit by winning a back and forth game is what I’m hoping to see. That builds a lot of character, and is an exciting fan experience.

Last night and the bowl win were the other kind. They were both games where we had double-digit leads in the second half with the chance to firmly gain control and cruise to a win. Instead, the offense sputtered, the defense faltered, and we had to hold on kicking and screaming until the last minute. I could use a lot fewer of these games.

An underwhelming win is still a win. But not all wins are equal.

I wish there was a SUPERLIKE button

 

[Uenth]

First half played out as I expected. Second half was disappointing in that we didn't open up and start scoring. Glad we won but would like to have seen more points on the board.

 

[KansasRed]

We were darn lucky that the Cinci QB decided to make that deep throw. They were moving on us and very likely would have scored the TD to win the game. Worst case scenario for them was stalling out and kicking the field goal for the tie. I figured that would be their tack and I could see the handwriting on the wall, and then he makes that throw. I thought our DB had knocked it down and was happy about that; couldn't believe he got the int.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

I wish there was a SUPERLIKE button

Just for in case it matters, I gave him a SUPERLIKE also.

 

[colhusker]

Late to dance, been a busy week. For the record it was not a miracle play that saved us. We baited them into that play and Hertzog was tracking it the whole way. From where we were sitting you could see he played that perfect.

That said, I agree the we might not be a whole lot better this year. Some positives to be taken away from the game and some MEHs too.

 

[KansasRed]

Miricale in terms of what has usually happened to the Huskers over the last few years.

 

[Jimbosc]

Initial assessment after a few days to think about it.
Special Teams - look better and room to improve (no kicking OB on KO!!)
Dline - We got problems - light in the a$$ - likely to get dominated in B1G games
LB - jury still out - they need to play better
Secondary - really good
Oline - better but not sold we took a giant leap
QB - DR15 was more efficient but otherwise looked like the same guy as last season - we kept the reigns on throwing downfield - won't be true all season
RB - so far - we aren't any better here. EJ is a very good back but we can't ride him to 300+ touches - he won't hold up. Coaches like the other guys but they haven't shown bupkis in games......yet
WR - upgraded with the transfers - with Wood blowing ACL Nelson has to step up - Barney needs to be more involved (he was dinged on that nasty tackle) - and we have more guys that can contribute. Biggest question is who can take the top off the D and force them to defend the whole field?
TE - Looked good - need to get HH more involved.

Overall conclusion - if we face a team that runs on us - the offense is going to have to flat outscore them. The dink dunk plays keep the D off the field - I get that - but we HAVE to score 30 or more to win some of these games where our Dline is going to get slapped around. Haven't shown we can do it consistently. Michigan will tell the tale - if they line-up and play "see who's bigga" we might have to score on every possession to win. Big ask on this offense.

 

[colhusker]

HH struggled big time last week. whiffed on several blocks. Needs to be in more of a role of stretching the field and not run blocking.