Hey Football readers, I hope you all are having a great week! This post is a bit delayed from the holiday weekend, but we had a fantastic weekend of opening football with some close games, big blowouts and even a few upsets! This post will recap everything from the first weekend of a full CFB schedule and give my breakdown of the Huskers' victory over Fordham. Feel free to drop any questions and comments on other teams you'd like my reflections on and enjoy!
The Huskers put together a much needed 52-7 victory against the Rams of Fordham. Now this was certainly a game Nebraska needed to dominate in order to gain some credit among the fanbase once again, and they were up to the task. Husker fans saw a much more competent offense than on the road at Illinois, and were even able to watch some backups get playing time as the Huskers dominated both sides of the ball. There were some blunders here and there, but luckily the Huskers played like a Power 5 school should when in a non-conference game like this. I'll break down all my key findings of the game with my GOOD, EXPECTED and BAD categories below.
GOOD - Adrian Martinez and offensive execution. It's not the execution Brian Kelley talked about during his post-game press conference for Notre Dame, but the Husker offense played very well on Saturday, racking up 52 points and over 600 total yards of offense. This performance should give a much needed confidence boost to the offense as they prepare for tougher competition. Just the reps of well executed plays and spreading the ball around the field was good to see. I really enjoyed Adrian in the passing game and while there are still some scary moments, he's throwing well so far this season. his ability to throw a good pass is directly related to his protection however, so that will be a key factor to watch moving forward. Samori Toure had a great game and is starting to show why his name was so hyped up during fall camp. My favorite part of Saturday was the offensive play calls to get Tight-End Austin Allen the ball. He's a great athlete and should be looked to more often in this offense. It was great to see some of the backups and get everyone some playing time. The Husker offense will need to use this game as a boost heading into Buffalo to keep the offense humming and executing at a high level. I do want to give a GOOD shout-out to Fordham Linebacker Ryan Greenhagen who ended the game with 31 total tackles. Absolutely INSANE!
EXPECTED - Predictable play-calls and strong defense. While the offense did play very well, the play calls are still extremely predictable. The run game is very simple and unimaginative and you can see the swing passes coming from a mile away. The option mixes were a nice touch, but still not run the best with a lack of perimeter blocking. I've highlighted this issue before, but if I can sit in the stands and call the plays out then I'm sure the defense has a good idea of what's going on. The execution on the simple plays is one thing, but this offense needs to get a bit more creative if the Huskers want to break out in the BIG 10. There were a couple of plays that were run multiple times throughout the game I picked up on as well. One of them was a quick shot-gun pass where Toure was stacked in the slot behind Austin Allen and another receiver out wide to them on Adrian's left side. The far wideout (Martin or Manning) would run the corner off with a deep route while Allen cut underneath with an out route toward the sideline. Toure would do a short hitch into the middle of the field behind Allen and have a quick 5-7 yard bubble around him for an easy pass. A good route combo, but very easy to pick up and cut under for an interception if the defense watches the game like I do. Something to be cautious of moving forward. On the other side of the ball, the Huskers held the Rams to just 1 TD. I was skeptical this would be the case early in the game as Fordham was moving the ball up and down the field quite easily with how soft the Huskers were playing in their zone. The Blackshirts were clearly told not to get beat over the top with Fordham's passing attack, but probably could've played a little tighter coverage with the quick passes the Rams were taking advantage of early in the game. A couple of key interceptions helped stop some big drives and the second half the Blackshirts flexed their muscles. Strong performance to hopefully give them some confidence as well.
BAD - Cam Taylor-Britt trying to return punts. That's it, that's the bad. The senior captain once again tried to field an ill-advised punt and muffed it off of the bounce into the hands of a Fordham defender before going out of bounds. I'm not sure how he still has the punt return job (although Brody Belt didn't do too much better back there), and I'm not sure how much longer the Huskers can survive having him back there. I find it very difficult to believe there's no one else on the roster who know's how to field a punt and make some decent return out of it, but the special teams woes continue for the Huskers. At least they didn't miss any PATs this week!
Quick-hit Notes from around College Football:
- Virginia Tech locked down UNC with a dominant performance on defense. They could make a push for the Coastal Division this year if they find a bit more firepower on offense.
- Miami did not stand a chance against Alabama (just as I predicted) and I doubt many teams will. The Tide are going to roll through a majority of their schedule in 2021.
- Minnesota put up a good fight, but Ohio State is too talented and will outlast most teams in the BIG 10. The Buckeyes do look vulnerable on defense, but as long as Stroud can play pitch and catch with any of those receivers, they're going to put up a lot of points.
- Boise State and UCF was a phenomenal game and both teams will be very strong in their respective conferences.
- Big win for Charlotte as they knock off Duke in their first ever Power 5 victory.
- Mel Tucker has the Michigan State offense running tough. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 264 yards and 4 TDs against a rebuilding Northwestern defense, but Sparty could be a sneaky team.
- My home-state Jackrabbits went into Colorado State and demolished the Rams 42-23.
- Tulane made OU work for it, maybe the Huskers have a chance after all!
- Georgia's defense was extremely impressive, but so was Clemson's. I imagine we'll see both at the top of the rankings when the end of the season rolls around.
- Oregon had to pull one out late against Fresno State and star DE Kayvon Thibodeaux left the game with an ankle sprain. Neither of those bode well for their game this week in the Horseshoe.
- Iowa looked very impressive against "INDINIA", especially on defense. The Hawks have a good path to the BIG 10 Championship if they keep up that kind of play.
- My first I TOLD YOU SO moment of the weekend was UCLA upsetting #16 LSU in Pasadena. I really think the Bruins could win the PAC-12 this year.
- My second I TOLD YOU SO was Nevada beating Cal on the road. This may not seem like a big game, but watch the Wolfpack this season, they're going to be good.
- Texas had a strong start to the Sarkisian era, we'll see how the season goes in Big XII play.
- Notre Dame had a scare down in Tallahassee and we had one of the greatest comeback stories of College Football with McKenzie Milton returning to the field after recovering from a terrible leg injury nearly 3 years ago. He helped the Seminoles battle back and take the Irish into overtime. FSU has a terrific ground game and could certainly cause some upsets in the ACC.
- Last but not least we had a couple of fun upsets with Montana over Washington and UTSA over Illinois.
Thank you for reading my reflections post and get ready for the game predictions coming on Saturday morning. GO BIG RED!
#CFBKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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