That was a rough one for Husker fans, plain and simple. It was a rough weekend for my picks too; I ended up 2-8 with a couple of close ones and a few blowouts. That's alright though, because there's still a lot of football left to be played. Husker fans need to really take that into consideration, we have plenty more games. Let's dive into the analysis of the Nebraska-Illinois game.
This was definitely a game that Nebraska should've won, quite easily in my opinion. However, once again, one part of the team failed to show up, and really hurt our chances. This time, it was the offense. The defense played lights out until parts of the final quarter of the game, and can only be partially blamed for this loss. The offense needs to take most of the blame here, they left a lot of points on the field. Yes, everyone will blame the 3rd and 7 at the end of our last drive. Yes, we definitely should've ran the ball and chewed up clock. No, that is not the only reason we lost the game. If Nebraska converts just a handful of the other 3rd downs throughout the game (the Huskers were 4/17), I promise you the score isn't even close at the end of the 4th quarter like that. My biggest issue (probably the same as most people) is that Nebraska did not run the ball. I did not like a lot of the play calls in this game for the Huskers. Langsdorf and Riley have done a fantastic job with developing Tommy, and he has been playing much better this season. That being said, he is a running Quarterback and always will be. His passing game has improved significantly, but he's a play-maker with his feet. I really don't like watching Tommy throw 30+ times a game, especially in windy conditions like Saturday had. Nebraska ran a total of 65 plays on Saturday, 34 runs and 31 passes. A handful of the runs were design passes that Tommy scrambled on as well, so I think the numbers would be a little closer to 30 and 35 respectively. This doesn't seem like a big difference, but just a 3-4 yard run compared to an incomplete pass means that we potentially left 15-20 yards out there. Those definitely could've been used on some of the 3rd downs we had throughout the game. The difference in run/pass plays also leads to a big difference in Time of Possession (TOP). Nebraska ended up about 2 minutes behind in TOP. That makes a big difference in close scoring games like Nebraska has been in. Against BYU, Nebraska was over 5 minutes behind in TOP. The lack of the run game hurts the Huskers on multiple fronts. I was happy to see our true Freshman running back, Devine Ozigbo, perform well. That is exactly why we took him away from ISU, he's a very good football player. I hope Coach Riley and Coach Langsdorf realize that the Huskers are much better at running the ball. Don't get me wrong, I love the passing game and the big plays that come out of it, but when Tommy can't hit the deep balls like we need him to, we shouldn't continue to throw them, even if the safeties are playing up. I think that if Nebraska were going to be around 65 plays a game, the ratio for run/pass should be closer to 40/25 or better. Tommy has made great improvements, but strives in the run game.
On the defensive side of the ball, there's only one thing to talk about. That would be the deep bomb that went over Nate Gerry's head on the final drive to set Illinois up for the game winning touchdown. Nate Gerry is not my only concern on that play though. I have a big issue with the formation Nebraska was set up in at the start of that play. The Blackshirts were in a 4-2 defense, 4 linemen, 2 linebackers, and 5 defensive backs. Illinois only has one thing that they can do in a situation, and that's pass the ball down field. The Illini had no timeouts left, so crossing routes across the middle were not going to be extremely useful unless they had good yardage along with them. Knowing this, I personally would've either taken out a lineman for another DB, or taken out one of the linebackers for another DB. We've seen all season that our linebackers have serious coverage issues, so why have them in? I would've had as much coverage as possible during that last minute. As for the two pass interference calls in the corner of the endzone, the first was legitimate in my opinion, but the second was a bad call. The Illini receiver pulled Husker DB Chris Jones into him and threw up his arms at the last second. Chris didn't have a chance and Illinois got a new set of downs. The defense did play quite well, shutting down Illinois for 3 quarters.
To all the fans who want Riley's head already, you need to relax. Bo was 3-3 to start his first year at Nebraska, the season is not over, and the West Division is wide open. Yes, I'm extremely optimistic, but there's no point in being negative, that just makes everyone upset! At least when you look at it in a positive light you have something to smile about. At the end of the day, yes we want the Huskers to dominate everyone, but that just not always an option. Sometimes you've got to roll with the punches and just enjoy a hard fought football game. Things will turn around, maybe not right away, but they will. Nebraska has a very good chance to beat a struggling Wisconsin team this week, so there's a lot to look forward to! I will say that I think Langsdorf and Riley need to rethink parts of their playbook though. For now, let's all just relax and see what adjustments are made throughout the season. Nobody knows what lies ahead, so we all might as well be positive about it! Get ready for a big game, big weekend, and GO BIG RED! Thanks!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
No comments:
Post a Comment