Good evening football fans! I hope you're all enjoying the week thus far and ready to reflect back on the weekend of football we just saw. Despite the lack of big games on the slate, we saw some upsets and have a number of teams looking very intriguing early on in the season. This post will cover the Husker victory against Buffalo at home and the rest of the major happenings around CFB, enjoy!
The Huskers stifled Buffalo on a hot day in Lincoln for a 28-3 victory. This was a very slow moving game, especially since running the ball wasn't much of an option for either team. Penalties were abundant for both teams in this one, and there was a very inconsistent play on all sides of the ball. This was a better looking game for the Huskers, but there are still some glaring issues of concern, so we'll see what improvements are made. Here are my GOOD, EXPECTED and BAD of last week's game.
GOOD: Big plays and the Blackshirts. The Husker offense struggled to put up points apart from their big plays in this game, but when they hit, the big plays looked great! Some of them (like Adrian Martinez's 71 yard run out of a near sack) came off broken plays, but the long passes were very well drawn up. The receivers got over the top of the defense and both Martinez and Smothers hit them in stride. This won't be the case every game, but it's always nice to see some fireworks when we can. On the defensive side of the ball, very few big plays were allowed. The pass rush has dwindled since the opening game against the Illini, but 6 tackles for loss were still recorded. Luke Reimer had a fabulous game with 16 total tackles, 7 of them solo and the interception down to the one yard line. The Blackshirts will be tested in Norman this weekend, but hopefully they walk in with some confidence after two solid performances at home against lower competition.
EXPECTED: Adrian Martinez and the lack of a run game. I highlighted how difficult the inside run game (and overall run game) would be in this matchup, and it showed. Outside of Adrian's 71 yard scamper, the Huskers averaged 3.7 yards per carry as a team and totaled 149 rushing yards. The trio of backs with Gabe Ervin Jr., Sevion Morrison and Markese Stepp have been very pedestrian so far this season, and most of that blame goes to the offensive line. The Huskers continue to miss blocks up front and cannot create holes for these backs to get through. There are far more imposing defensive lines ahead for the Huskers, and this problem never goes away easy. Luckily we have an Adrian Martinez. Now I certainly have been one to criticize the 4th year starter, but I will give him his marks this season, he's not (much) of the issue. It's clear that no one else in that QB room comes close to his abilities, and this offense would be a lot worse off without him. He's continued to run the ball well and makes some great plays in touch scenarios. I will still grumble at the amount of time he takes to hold the ball on pass plays, but he has yet to throw an interception this year and is starting to hit his receivers with better passes. Hopefully he can stay healthy and keep making big plays because I'm not sure who else will on this offense.
BAD: Do I even need to say it? SPECIAL TEAMS! This week we'll focus on the horrendous kicking of FORMER ALL-BIG 10 Kicker, Connor Culp. Now, full credit to this man for owning it and talking to the media after missing 3 field goals from 32, 42 and 34 yards respectively. However, there is no reason he should be trotted out there for another field goal attempt this season unless every other kicker is hurt. I've heard rumors of injuries for Culp, but at this point he's in his own head. These are not kicks a 6th year college football player should miss. Freshman Kicker Brendan Franke has booted 12 of his 16 kickoffs into the endzone for touchbacks, I don't think it's unwise to at least try him at a field goal attempt. The entire special teams unit has never shown improvement under Frost and is unlikely to this season. My last note on this is that Cam Taylor-Britt should never go back for a punt again. He had his shot and there needs to be a changing of the guard.
Overall this was a good, confidence-building win for the Huskers. We'll see if it does much for them as they travel to take on the Sooners this weekend, but nonetheless it was a strong performance, especially defensively. The offense still struggles to put complete drives together and special teams isn't worth the words to type. Hopefully there are some building blocks here, but no matter what just appreciate Adrian, he's possibly the only true offense the Huskers have right now.
Quick Hit Topics from around CFB:
- Texas is not back, and it's wonderful. The future SEC bottom dwellers thought they'd show a quick preview of what's to come after they part ways with the Big XII, but ended up getting ROUTED by Pig Sooie as the Razorbacks (who've won just 4 conference games in the last 4 years) crushed them 40-21. Welcome to the SEC Longhorns.
- The Ducks upset Ohio State in the Horseshoe with a fantastic performance on the road. Even without their top two defensive players, Oregon was able to hold off the Buckeye's just enough to get the 35-28 victory. C.J. Stroud played very well, throwing for 484 and 3 TDs, but his late pick (and the lack of a supporting run game) led to the Ducks victory. Oregon also ripped Ohio State's defense for some big plays, so look for that to be an area of focus quickly for Ryan Day and his team.
- Colorado gave Texas A&M all they could handle in the 10-7 victory for the Aggies up in Boulder. Neither team could get much going on offense, but A&M was able to score late in the fourth to steal the victory away from the Buffaloes.
- USC's Kicker was ejected for targeting & Clay Helton was fired following the loss to Stanford at home. The Cardinal are always upset minded when facing the Trojans, and they showed it with a 42-28 romp.
- Iowa & Iowa State battled for the Cy-Hawk Trophy and the Cyclones fell short yet again. In the first ever battle as top 10 teams, Iowa dominated the line of scrimmage, putting a lot of pressure on Brock Purdy who threw 3 interceptions and was benched. I don't believe Iowa is the #5 best team in the nation, but they are playing good football right now.
- BYU upset #21 Utah at home in Provo to win the Holy War for the first time in 10 meetings between the schools. The Cougars are out to prove last year's run wasn't a fluke and Jaren Hall has been a worthy replacement of Zach Wilson thus far.
- Michigan has an impressive rushing attack with Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins. They will be a force in the BIG 10 East if they can run the ball this well all season.
- The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame had to come back and then fend off Toledo in order to secure their 32-29 victory over the Rockets. The biggest highlight from this game came when Jack Coan dislocated his finger, had it popped back in and then ran back in the game to throw the game-winning touchdown.
- Last but not least, we have the wonderful saga of Florida State. After taking the Irish to overtime and nearly knocking off a top #10 team in their season opener, the Seminoles lost to Jacksonville State on a last second Hail Mary pass where the receiver easily could've been tackled, but wasn't. Those poor fans in Tallahassee felt that one DEEP.
Thanks for reading my reflections post and get ready for GAMEDAY in Norman this week Husker Fans. GO BIG RED!
#CFBKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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