There is certainly a lot to reflect on from this past weekend for Husker fans and many others throughout college football. Obviously the big news is the firing of Husker Head Coach Scott Frost. I'll give you all my thoughts on that along with a full break down of Saturday's loss to Georgia Southern. There was plenty of chaos this past Saturday, so read on and let's get caught up before heading into week 4 of the college football season.
A 45-42 loss at home against Georgia Southern proved to be that final straw to break the camels back. The Huskers had no answer on defense for the Eagle's passing attack, even when simple adjustments would've likely changed the game. Offensive production was good, but once again, poor game management led the Eagles to having the ball last with time. I've got my GOOD, EXPECTED and BAD break down for you.
GOOD - Husker offense & Brian Buschini. I do tip my cap to the Husker offense in this one. While not facing a very formidable opponent, Nebraska was able to move the ball consistently throughout the game and racked up 575 yards. That, combined with 42 points, usually wins you the game... usually. Buschini was also a bright spot, punting 4 times with a long of 65 and average of 50.5. He did a fabulous job of flipping the field, forcing Georgia Southern to drive the length of the field all game long. Hopefully he won't be used too much moving forward as Thompson gets into more rhythm with his wideouts and Anthony Grant continues to run the rock hard. Solid performance by the offensive unit. O-line still struggling with protection though.
EXPECTED - Dumb mistakes. This is a common theme with Husker games over the last few years, but particularly in the form of penalties, this game had a lot of dumb mistakes. The Huskers racked up 10 penalties, accounting for 77 total yards. Georgia Southern only had 3 for 15 yards. There were false starts, holdings, pass interference, and the dumbest of them all was an offsides, BY A CORNER BACK! The Huskers have been plagued by penalty issues for years, but they seem to become more and more boneheaded each game. This needs to be cleaned up immediately. Other dumb mistakes come from coaching. No adjustments on defense, throwing the ball to the endzone with 3 minutes left in the game versus bleeding the clock. Game management is absolutely key.
BAD - There's a lot of words I could use to describe the defense in this game, but we'll stick with bad for simplicity. The "blackshirts" gave up 642 (409 Passing) and 45 points to the Sun Belt reps, Georgia Southern Eagles. There were no adjustments made to counter the quick, underneath passing game. There were no signs that anyone on the defense knew how to make an open field tackle. There was no pressure on the QB. There was just nothing with this defense. The GSU game play was simple, Nebraska is going to play 12 yards off the ball with outside shade (closer to the sideline) in the secondary, so we'll just run crossing routes and slants over the middle. Easy pitch and catch for Kyle Vantrease, who nearly doubled his passing total of 224 yards from last year when he played against the Huskers as a member of Buffalo. The solution was simple, press up the secondary and force the receivers to beat you over the top. It was clear that Vantresase could not throw a very accurate deep ball, so make him beat you down field where your safeties can help in coverage and force more picks. This was horrendous coaching despite being a very simple fix to a fairly basic offensive attack.
Overall it was almost sickening to watch. By the middle of the third quarter you knew the last team to touch the ball would win the game, and you also knew Nebraska would not have the ball last. I tip my cap to Clay Helton and Georgia Southern. They went after it and took full advantage of the loose and lackadaisical defense the Huskers put up. I actually enjoyed the Eagle's offense so much I took some of their plays and implemented them into my offense with the 8th graders I coach. Sometimes the Husker defense shows me exactly how to game plan for 8th grade football. Oh well, onto Oklahoma.
The shocking announcement on Sunday morning was that Scott Frost had been fired from his head coaching position at Nebraska. I was actually in the middle of coaching my 8th graders to a 21-0 victory, so naturally I've got all my materials ready to apply for the job. My career goals aside though, this firing led me to two tracks of mind. The first track is simply a reflection of the past 4 and 1/4 seasons for Husker Football. I was incredibly excited when Scott Frost was hired at the end of 2017, and could not have ever imagined an end to his tenure like this. After a 16-31 record as Head Coach of the Huskers, the boosters and Athletic Department finally had enough. I still cannot understand how he managed to fail this job in such a horrific fashion. Frost was given every resource imaginable, brought in some talented players and even some talented coaches, had full control of everything that touched Husker Football, had the entire Husker Fanbase drooling over him, yet he still could not deliver. I don't begin to claim understanding on the pressure that falls upon the shoulders of those who don the title of Head Football Coach at Nebraska, but with so much potential it's sad to see the opportunity squandered.
The second track of mind goes to the wastefulness of the Athletic Department. Not necessarily the extra $7.5 million they're paying Frost to leave 3 weeks early, but more so the waste of the season. I'm excited to see what Mickey Joseph brings to the table, and certainly wish him all the best. However, if you fire Frost in the offseason, like any other program would, you now give your new coach an opportunity to start their culture build and set a baseline with year 1 of their tenure. The Athletic Department was looking to make a statement on Sunday by letting Frost go, but you spent the offseason restructuring his contract so you don't have to pay as much come October 2nd. Again, I know money's not an issue in these situations, but you now wasted the time you spent changing the contract, you waste the $7.5 million and worst of all, you delay the Husker Football program's ability to grow and move on by another year minimum. This is a great power move for Trev Alberts as he'll be able to pick his coach and then stick around to oversee them for a while. Certainly an interesting series of events and more to come as the coaching search begins. I'll have a post soon about who my top candidates are and why.
Other Highlights in College Football:
- Alabama narrowly defeats Texas 20-19 on the road in Austin. The Longhorns' defense was very impressive, but I think the bigger story is how Bama finds offense outside of Bryce Young.
- 3 Top 10 Teams fell on Saturday as Texas A&M lost to Appalachian State at home, Marshall beat Notre Dame in front of Touchdown Jesus, and the Baylor Bears fell to the BYU Cougars on the road in overtime.
- Kentucky went into the Swamp and smashed the Gators with a 26-16 victory. Watch out for this team in the SEC.
- Another SEC dark horse is Arkansas. The Hogs let South Carolina back in the game for a bit, but turned it on wild with a 23 point fourth quarter, sealing the 44-30 win.
- Tennessee pulled a big upset on the road at Pitt in overtime.
- Washington State surprised everyone by knocking off the Badgers in Camp Randle. Maybe there's still hope for the Huskers in the BIG 10 this year.
- Iowa State FINALLY beat Iowa as the Hawkeyes scored their first and only TD of the season thus far. No matter what happens on my CFB Saturdays with the Huskers, when Iowa and Texas lose it's still a good day.
- Kansas State has a very tough defense to watch out for and ex-Husker QB Adrian Martinez played well in rainy conditions versus Mizzou.
- Duke and UNC escape with close victories. Unfortunately the Blue Devils got theirs over Northwestern in Evanston, so that doesn't help the Huskers.
- Lots of close games down to the wire and overtime this past weekend. Watch out for teams like Oregon State, Kansas and Texas Tech for sneaky upsets this year.
- Star QB Sam Hartman returned for Wake Forest this week after dealing with blood clots. It was great to see him back on the field as he threw for 300 yards and 4 TDs to help lead the Demon Deacons to a 45-25 victory.
Thanks for reading my reflections post and watch for my Week 3 Predictions coming soon. GO BIG RED!
#CFBKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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