First, a thank you to those of you who wished me well after the accident and during my recovery.
Okay, on to the game.
After the way Adrian Peterson ran through the defense like it was Swiss cheese for the first Sooner touchdown, I figured a blowout was in the books. At least I had a mild surprise at the 7 point differential at the end of the game. But this score doesn’t tell the tale of the game. Nebraska was pushed around all day and the crowd realized it midway through the second quarter.
I was a bit shocked at how vocal the boo-birds were, but I really can’t blame them. I wasn’t against getting rid of Solich (although I didn’t like how it went down) and I was initially encouraged by the hiring of Callahan. After last season’s disappointments, I told myself I’d give him until the end of next season to grade the program. At this point, with 3 games and a possible bowl game left, I’m ready to give my grade, and it is a solid D. Not failing, but not high enough to allow matriculation through the system.
Where is the game plan? Callahan has repeatedly stated that “we won’t take what we are given, we’ll take what we want.” If that is the case, he really needs to change his values if 5 straight 3 and outs to the start the game is taking what he wants. I know he subscribes to Denver Bronco head coach, Mike Shanahan’s philosophy of scripting the first 15 or so plays of the game, but this isn’t the NFL and one can’t wait until halftime to start making adjustments.
With the West Coast Offense, the multiple pre-snap shifts are designed to reveal the opponent’s defensive coverage and give the QB reads for open pass and rush lanes. On running plays, when Nebraska shifts and the defense stays home, why aren’t they audibling away from defenders sitting without a Red Jersey between them and the running back. I don’t care if we had LaDanian Tomlinson in our backfield, running him into 3 unblocked defenders all day long will not result in positive yardage.
I’m not going to start down the “Fire Bill Callahan” road, but he obviously still has some disconnects to the college game. Until he can figure out that sometimes one has to “play with what you got,” and quit making excuses about poor execution, he isn’t going to have much success in the NCAA. By many opinions (fans and analysts) we’ve got a ton of talent sitting on that sideline. If you can’t get that talent to work to its potential on the field, that is a coaching problem, not a problem with the players. If you are burning red shirt years for no real reason, that is also a coaching problem. I am curious what he has on his clipboard though, because it seems he spends more time looking at it rather than watching the action on the field.
Offensive line, I’m sure Zac Taylor has told you that whenever you decide to show up and block people, you will be appreciated.
Defensive line. You guys are solid, but it is too bad that there aren’t another half dozen of you. When the offense is repeatedly going 3 and out, I don’t care how good of shape you are in, you will get worn out.
Defensive Secondary. I’m not sure what the overall strategy is, but from what I’ve seen it has something to do with letting more than one guy get open on any given play and then staying away from those guys. When you give them 8-10 yard cushions off the line, you are going to get eaten up all day long.
I’m not sure where to give blame for the big rush games folks have had lately, but it seems more a case of middle linebackers and safeties moving to double up zones on the outside rather than staying home in the middle. I guess when you give a WR a 10 yard cushion to start the play, you are going to need help.
Zac Taylor’s pass to Swift in the endzone was a strike. Amazing what can happen when your offensive line can give a couple extra seconds to scan the field. The RB pass to Swift also was a nice execution. Had the defense not been on the field all day long, they probably could have kept the momentum going. But it was obvious they were hurting, there were way too many hands on hips in between plays late in the game.
All-in-all, it was a tough loss. I don’t think the game was as close the final score indicated. Mainly because if the game was close, I seriously doubt that neither of the two plays resulting in touchdown passes to Swift would have been called. Some of you may find the following statistic telling as well:
Nebraska, Total Offense: 266 yards
Nebraska, Passing Yards: 251
Nebraska, Rushing Yards: 15
At least we got 49 against Missouri…
