Howdy football fans! This past weekend was rough for Huskers and the BIG 10 alike. I really expected Nebraska to come out on top against Troy, but you've got to credit the Trojans, they came in with a solid game plan and really took it to the Huskers. To everyone freaking out on starting 0-2 for the first time since 1957, just relax. Nebraska is on the right path, but this is a very inexperienced team and with a total system change it's going to take some time for them to really get in the groove. I don't like watching them lose any more than the next fan, but as I've been saying since the hire of Coach Frost, this is a building season that will be full of growing pains. This post will feature my break down and analysis of Saturday's loss as well as some of the other interesting story lines I've seen across College Football. So sit back, read on, and enjoy!
The typical narrative is that a team improves most during the season from game 1 to game 2. Nebraska took that narrative and ran it off a cliff with their performance against Troy on Saturday. Many people have been pushing a lot of blame towards backup QB Andrew Bunch and the lack of explosiveness on offense, but I could not disagree more with that idea. The entire team came out flat, and while the defense played okay, they were nothing amazing, especially when it came to dumb penalties. Special teams was atrocious yet again and the lack of protection made anything on offense hard to accomplish. I'll go through my break down of the game with the Good, Expected and Bad categories again.
GOOD- It can be difficult to find some positives in a game where you really should've beat the other team, but I did see a few things that have me excited for what this team can do. This is with the offensive pace and the receivers. Nebraska was able to use a lot of different packages with 3 or 4 wideouts/tight ends throughout the game. The fast-paced offense allowed the Huskers to run 75 plays against the Trojans, which really kept their defense on their toes. Nebraska racked up 364 total offensive yards and dominated time of possession by nearly 6 minutes. Since the Huskers were able to use a variety of wideouts in their offense, a number of them were able to catch some passes. There were some bad drops, but with 8 different players catching a pass, Nebraska has good things in the making with this offense. Stanley and J.D. need to be the focus moving forward, and I was very happy to see them get a lot of looks from Bunch throughout the game. Not a great day as far as finishing drives on offense, but the basics for high-powered production is there. It'll come together soon, just give it time.
EXPECTED- My expected category is a neutral category where something I anticipated with the game can be either good or bad. This week's expectations were met by the play of Sophomore QB Andrew Bunch. Again, I've heard a lot of talk bashing his performance, but I'm going to explain why he was arguably one of the few bright spots in this game for Nebraska. No, he did not play a great game and I acknowledge that. I also acknowledge the fact that Adrian is a better athlete and probably could've made a couple more plays with his running ability. HOWEVER, Bunch performed quite well for originally expecting to be a 3rd string QB, and his scrambling ability saved the Huskers more times than not. When you have a talent like Adrian Martinez, you have to remember why the backups are the backups. Bunch is clearly not the runner and play-maker Martinez is, but he handled the offense well, made some good throws, and ultimately gave this team a solid chance to win. Breaking down his performance, I'll get the bad stuff out early. Two interceptions and some dangerous throws really showed the inexperience we have at the QB position. I give a bit of a pass on the second pick since it was tipped, but the ball was a bit high for Spielman. The first pick was on a scramble late in the first quarter just after the Blackshirts had come away with their first takeaway of the season. Tough time because of the momentum swing, but I promise you Adrian Martinez would've made the exact same throw. Any young QB would have because he was just trying to make a play and avoid the loss of yardage. I've seen veteran QBs make that mistake by throwing the ball late in a scramble, so I don't look too much into it, that's just a learning moment. The lack of experience will not play into the favor for any of our QBs this season, we need to accept that now. My issue comes with the lack of help Bunch received throughout the game. He only missed 8 passes, 2 of which being the interceptions, and there were at least 3 drops I can remember off the top of my head. The running game was lackluster as Washington (who played very well) would break off an 8 yard run and then immediately be knocked back 3 on the next play. Finally, the protection was similar to the protection from previous years, a.k.a. nonexistent. The interior of the line gave in like the discount paper towels you see on commercials and Bunch did not have much time to let the play develop. For a walk-on's first start where everyone wants to see Adrian, I thought Bunch did exactly what he needed to do and his experienced weapons on offense needed to step up and help him. Besides, his first TD pass to Stanley was in one of the tightest windows I've ever seen. I'm happy with our backup QB situation.
BAD- Now I don't want to go crazy on this section, especially because it's a lot of the same, small detail things from last week. Special Teams is so bad right now I don't even have the words to describe it, so I'm just going to say it needs to be fixed. I've already made the comment to some of my family that one could argue it's worse than when Bruce Reed was in charge of Special Teams under Riley's first two years. Next up is the penalties as Nebraska hit double digits with 10 penalties (slight improvement from 11 against Colorado), but still just as costly. Linebacker Mo Barry was ejected for a targeting penalty that was dumb, but textbook helmet to helmet. Immediately following that was another personal foul on defense, setting Troy up inside the 10 with first and goal. The discipline needs to be a key turning point for this team on the field. Dumb penalties like these will make or break a drive, which is a back-breaker in conference play. The final bad point I turn to is the offense's inability to finish drives. Nebraska had solid field position all game long and even when they were gifted a muffed punt on the 8 yard line, they still couldn't come away with a touchdown. This goes to both the players and the coaches. Execution was poor on offense as discussed earlier, but the play calling is still making me cringe at times. Yes, the playbook was probably a bit more limited with Bunch out there, but he ran the ball well when he had the chance. As I mentioned last week though, my primary issues when it comes to play calling stem from the lack of downfield routes and attacking plays. Our QBs may be young, but Nebraska has some very talented and experienced wideouts. Frost and crew really need to start using them in my opinion. I'm not expecting Bunch or Martinez to go out and throw 35+ passes a game, but the offense needs to open up more. They're too predictable right now, which was a primary issue under Coach Riley. Defenses are loading 8 or 9 guys in the box every play because they know Nebraska won't run anything deep. In my opinion, even if you're not throwing it deep all the time, you need to run some routes vertical down the field. Apart from Spielman's TD against Colorado and 1 Stanley Morgan route against Troy, there is no length to the offense. All of the routes are 15 yards or less, allowing the defense to press and cause those tight windows. Coach Frost needs to start spreading these defenses out and at least make them think that Nebraska has the capability to go deep. That will open up the underneath routes very quickly.
Again, this was not a game I expected Nebraska to lose, and missing another bowl game seems almost inevitable now looking ahead to the rest of the schedule. Progress will be made, so don't freak out too much, but this won't be the most attractive looking season for Husker fans.
Now for my thoughts on other games, teams and story lines from around the nation:
- I wasn't on the Tua Heisman train to start the season, but the kid is starting to swing me. I'm going to wait until he gets into the teeth of the SEC schedule, but hosting A&M this weekend should be a solid test.
- TCU played well against Ohio State but could never quite keep the momentum once they got it. Tough loss, but this is a dangerous and fairly young team. They could be in the playoff conversation next year with Will Grier and Kyler Murray moving on from the Big XII.
- Speaking of Ohio State, along with Penn State they look to be the only BIG 10 teams you can hang your hat on at the moment. Iowa has looked strong but conference play will determine who they'll actually be this season. The rest of the conference is up in flames at the moment as 5 of 7 BIG 10 West Division teams lost in the final week of non-conference play, including the big upset of BYU at Wisconsin!
- North Texas pulled off the most amazing trick play/punt return EVER. Go look it up and just enjoy the awesomeness.
Thanks for reading my reflection post on this past weekend of College Football! Be sure to comment about any topics you'd like me to cover and remember to subscribe with your email if you want updates of my posts! Get ready for some more CFB action this weekend as a lot of conference play starts and GO BIG RED!
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Alex Fernando
The North Texas trick play was indeed amazing!
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