Alright Husker and College Football fans, here are my reflections from Week 1. I apologize for the delay, on top of being busy over the long weekend, I also needed some time to calm my thoughts about the Huskers' performance last Saturday. It's only been one game and there's still plenty of time for this team to improve. I knew there would still be growing pains for this team, but I think we all expected a better performance than we saw. The Huskers did win though, and that's something everyone around Nebraska should be happy about. This post will break down my thoughts on the Huskers' win over South Alabama and some of my thoughts from the other games this past weekend. Be sure to comment if there's any topics you'd like me to give my thoughts on. Enjoy!
The Huskers are undefeated for the first time in two years!! After a sluggish 35-21 victory over the Jaguars of South Alabama, Husker fans will likely be slowing down the amount of Kool-Aid they pour down their gullet. With so much hype heading into the season opener, it's hard not to be at least mildly disappointed in Nebraska's performance. Overall, I just thought it was very flat, especially on offense. I like to break down my reflection into three categories: Good, Expected and Bad.
GOOD- The defensive scheme and play calling. The Blackshirts were easily the highlight of Saturday, and are the primary reason for the Huskers' victory. They racked up 5 turnovers, 4 sacks, 9 tackles for loss and 2 defensive TDs. After three different coordinators in three years, the defensive unit can finally settle into Erik Chinander's system in year two. I really enjoyed the blitz packages he dialed up throughout the game, bringing pressure from unique areas to confuse South Alabama's Quarterback and pass protection. The sacks and forced fumbles by Lamar Jackson and Cam Taylor were the result of perfect play calling. Tackling is still an issue for most of the team and coverage was spotty at times, but overall the defense took a step forward from last season. The secondary made some great plays on the ball, specifically Eric Lee with his two interceptions. It's been a while since I've been able to say this, but the defense could be the strength of our team for most of this season. Still lots of improvements to be made, but the defense was by far the best part of Saturday's game.
EXPECTED- The struggles on offense. Okay no, I did not foresee Adrian Martinez playing the worst game of his (young) career, but separate of him, I did not expect a ton of fireworks from this unit. The interior of the offensive line poses the biggest problems, and Cam Jurgens' skills at center were very concerning. I know Cam personally and even helped with some of his recruiting visits, he's a great kid. However, he's been injured the past two seasons and has not played a lot of football recently. He'll need to get his snaps down if the offense wants to find any rhythm. Speaking of rhythm, I don't know what happened with Adrian on Saturday, but that was not our Heisman-potential QB we know and love. I wouldn't expect too many performances like that from him. Lastly, jumping back to the struggles on the O-line, the run game is not going to be good for a while. Adrian and the backs also looked a step off too, so there's a lot of work to be done. Frost wasn't very aggressive or creative with the play calls, especially in the run game, so that was a contributing factor as well. All of the offensive issues center on one big thing, the youth. This is an inexperienced unit overall and they have a lot of chemistry to build before they become the force to be reckoned with that Husker nation is expecting. There could be some off-beat games ahead for them.
BAD- The Special Teams and Tackling. I feel like these are my most common talking points for what was "bad" in the Huskers' performance, but they're still not fixed. Starting with tackling, if the name isn't Mohammed Barry or Cam Taylor, I was not impressed. There were too many missed tackles and that will cost us once Justin Fields, Jonathan Taylor and Rondale Moore line up on the other side of the ball. This has been an issue at Nebraska for years and it needs to be solved quickly. Now, shifting our focus to the Special Teams unit, I do want to credit them for not having any penalties on punt or kick returns and for assisting JD Spielman in his punt return for a TD early in the third quarter. However, both JD and Wandale Robinson muffed a punt and kickoff respectively. If they are supposed to be our most talented athletes, they need to make sure the ball is secure first. In the Kicking department, I really hope Barrett Pickering is healthy soon. Other than PATs, I don't trust Jorgensen enough right now to go with a FG attempt over a 4th down attempt. Then there's punting. Issac Armstrong had some fantastic rolls on his punts, but those won't happen all the time. Special Teams could be in for a long season.
Again, I do want to remind everyone (and myself) that Nebraska did win and that is always a step in the right direction. Colorado on the road looks to be a bit tougher after this past weekend, especially since they put up 52 points on rival CSU. The secondary will be tested early and often as Steven Montez and Laviska Shenault Jr. look to give an encore of last year's 350+ yard air raid on the Blackshirts. Boulder will be a nasty atmosphere, but I'm anxious to see how well the Buff's plan to keep Husker fans out really holds up. Time to make some Ralphie skin rugs! #HateCUWeek
Now for some quick thoughts from elsewhere around College Football.
- Clemson looks to be quite unstoppable, but they've got a tough match-up this weekend with Jimbo Fisher, Kellen Mond and the Aggies coming to Death Valley. Trevor Lawrence will need to be sharp, but I think Travis Etienne is who they need to lean on. Can you say HEISMAN??
- Johnathan Taylor is a monster and On Wisconsin... that's about all I have to say here.
- Justin Fields, Joe Burrow and Jacob Eason all looked phenomenal in their opening games. This is truly the year of the Quarterback in College Football.
- Boise State with an impressive win on the road in Tallahassee. Another star QB in the making with Hank Bachmeir, but their defense shutting out the Seminoles in the second half is what really turned that game. Willie Taggart could be in hot water early as he starts his second season with FSU 0-1.
- Wyoming with a big win over Missouri. The Tigers did not see that one coming at all.
- Iowa State surviving Triple OT with Northern Iowa shows the gap in competition in the Big XII.
- Oregon played a great game, especially on defense, but still can't hold the lead. Impressive comeback by Auburn, but I wonder what Justin Herbert was thinking about after the game. They'll need to run the table to have any shot at the Playoffs now.
- JT Daniels' injury looked bad and losing him for the season is even worse for USC. You can probably count them out of the PAC-12 South race.
- Baker who? Kyler who? Jalen Hurts + Lincoln Riley offense = Ridiculousness. Watch out for Oklahoma this year, Anderson is back and healthy at RB, their defense will improve under the new coordinator and Hurts will be a Heisman finalist.
Thank you for reading my reflections for the opening week of college football! Be sure to check for my week 2 predictions before the games and GO BIG RED!
#CFBKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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