Players Who Impressed Me

[TheBeav815]

In no particular order...

Tanner Lee: Yep...kid can sling it. Jittery early, but how pretty were a couple of those deep balls? The TD to Stanley and the slot fade to J.D. were gorgeous. What I really noticed is that when he breaks contain, he's not looking to run for 5 yards, he's still looking downfield and still pretty accurate on the move. He is the difference between "technically a completion" and "perfect ball." Throws the kind of ball that turns a 5 yd crosser into a 45 yd TD because he can put it high and in stride and let the WR catch it on a sprint.

Tre Bryant: You can't teach the way he sees it and makes his cuts. I think they got themselves a very good one. Would like to see him incorporate a stiff arm, he can get a little nastier going into contact. But as far as selecting the gaps and getting through them, oh boy. Excited.

Stanley Morgan: Strong hands, uses his body well. He showed out on Saturday, and he'll get after you as a blocker, too. Let's hope that hand isn't busted up.

J.D. Spielman: Speed kills. Enough said.

DiCaprio Bootle: Thought he looked pretty good. Eric Lee struggled IMO.

Joshua Kalu: Liked the way he hit, and that INT was clutch. Can't run into the neutral zone on a blitz but he knows that.

Mick Stoltenberg: (sp?) Thought he held the nose pretty well.

 

[HBK4life]

Deontre Thomas, Caleb lightbourn, Luke Gifford, Mo Barry. Tyson Lindsey

 

[headcard]

Good list. I will add:

Deontre Thomas and Carlos Davis. They were left to play 3 on 5 and both were pretty disruptive at times. The future is bright on the DL.
Mo Berry. Seemed like the most active and aggressive LB.
Luke Gifford. Played much better in space than the other OLB's.

Tyler Hoppes. That catch on the sideline was amazing.
Stanley Morgan, Jr. Looked like a NFL WR.
Nick Gates. Dominated at times, looked like the guy we all loved his Freshman year.

 

[HuskerLLM]

I would add the Davis twins and Gifford

 

[TheBeav815]

Deontre Thomas, Caleb lightbourn, Luke Gifford, Mo Barry. Tyson Lindsey

Good call on Lightbourn. He was excellent.

Liked Gifford and Barry for sure. Didn't watch Thomas very closely but he seems like he plays with great leverage.

Really hope they use Lindsey enough to justify burning his shirt. I know you don't RS a guy like him but I hate when they play a true freshman and get him like 20 touches on the year.

 

[TheBeav815]

Good list. I will add:

Deontre Thomas and Carlos Davis. They were left to play 3 on 5 and both were pretty disruptive at times. The future is bright on the DL.
Mo Berry. Seemed like the most active and aggressive LB.
Luke Gifford. Played much better in space than the other OLB's.

Tyler Hoppes. That catch on the sideline was amazing.
Stanley Morgan, Jr. Looked like a NFL WR.
Nick Gates. Dominated at times, looked like the guy we all loved his Freshman year.

Meant to include Hoppes. Looked like he belonged as a starting TE. If I'm Cethan Carter I'm salty as hell that I didn't get one more year to play with Lee as my QB.

 

[inWV]

One benefit of all of the action on D being on the perimeter was that the inexperienced corners got the equivalent of being thrown in the deep end and told to learn to swim.

 

[inWV]

Really hope they use Lindsey enough to justify burning his shirt. I know you don't RS a guy like him but I hate when they play a true freshman and get him like 20 touches on the year.

Tyjon is a next guy up at WR and snagged three passes last Saturday. I don't recall anything being said of a RS for him, but it was probably unrealistic even before the injuries. Kid is too talented not to be playing. He'll start next year.

 

[DudznSudz]

I'll post my thoughts on the game here as well as how impressed I was with the players:

1.) The game: Offense looked WAY better than I anticipated and really knew how to hang points on a team. The passing game, when it hit, hit hard. Beautiful balls thrown, great reads. I was most shocked to see the running game chugging along. We shredded them on the ground. I thought the O-line started out a little weak, but seemed to really start to get things working by the second quarter.

Overall Grade: A-

2.) The defense: Ok, so, I haven't watched the game a second time yet, but the entire time, I thought "Why so many penalties? Why are we not tackling well? Why are they always throwing down the middle and constantly getting huge chunks of yards doing it? WHY ARE THEY STILL PASSING TO THE SIDELINES AND TORCHING US?

Then the second half happened, and while they got some really great yards, we made enough adjustments to make them a lot less effective than they were the first half.

So, I thought in a 3-4 scheme, three guys absorb basically all of the offensive line, which, if you watch, was exactly what was happening and they honestly appeared to have been doing a great job of it (remember, in the 3-4, none of the down linemen actually get sacks very often, they almost never get that kind of penetration.) BUT, why were we not rushing with the "Dog" or "Cat" linebacker...EVER? That quarterback got to sit in his pocket all day long and only got banged like, what, two or three times? I realize that part of the calling involves moving all four linebackers back into coverage, but I didn't realize that it meant moving them back into coverage 99% of the time.

Overall grade: C-

Special teams: Caleb Lightbourn is playing like a punter possessed. He not only is probably the reason why we won, he KNEW it. That kid somehow figured out his business, because he kept placing the balls in exactly the right spots and then congratulating himself for doing it. Also, JD Spielman is a badass. The only reason that this isn't an A is that one punt return for a TD that Ark State got looked bad, but honestly, that was one of those "Oh crap JUST GET HIM!" moments that you can't really plan for.

Overall Grade: B+

Players that impressed the hell out of me:

Tyler Hoppes: I was worried, but now Im not. That big kid can catch a football.

JD Spielman, Tyjon Lindsey, and Stanley Morgan Jr: These receivers are money. It was amazing to see them work with a QB that can actually throw accurately to them.

Caleb Lightbourn: This kid has the potential to win games for us on ball placement during punts alone.

Tre Bryant: Looked like a monster out there. Lets make sure he stays healthy though, and freakin' rotate in the other backs sometimes. Wilbon looked great, I don't know why they didn't play him more.

 

[StrongArm517]

I'd like to mention the offensive game plan. The strategy against #11 was outstanding and I believe one of the reasons we won. Great job Langs.

 

[jflores]

So far after game 1, I really like what the overall development seems to be.

The OL was not a monster, but lots of guys played pretty well. We had young guys stepping up all over the place, (Thomas, Linsey, Lightbourn, Barry, Spielman, etc). Tanner Lee pretty impressive. Hoppes as advertised. Gifford surprised me in particular.

We really had a whole bunch of question marks coming into the season personnel wise and I think a good majority of them were answered.

Obviously the defense needs sorted out, but I'm still of the opinion we're at least a class away there at OLB. The secondary will come of age with experience as well and should receive another shot in the arm with DW's first full class.

 

[grayhairedfreak]

I'd like to mention the offensive game plan. The strategy against #11 was outstanding and I believe one of the reasons we won. Great job Langs.

I will agree with you up until the last 2 drives that ended on incomplete passes when we should have been running the ball and running out the clock. We needed to keep our D off the field and salt that game away. I swear Langs cannot help himself sometimes with this "balance" business. But otherwise yes, not much to gripe about.

 

[StrongArm517]

I will agree with you up until the last 2 drives that ended on incomplete passes when we should have been running the ball and running out the clock. We needed to keep our D off the field and salt that game away. I swear Langs cannot help himself sometimes with this "balance" business. But otherwise yes, not much to gripe about.

I'm not really talking about playcalling. Rather the decisions of how to strategize our personnel against theirs. I think the offensive coaches did an excellent job with this.

 

[Cloud@Heart]

This thread is the most uplifting/positive I have read in the last two days, yet not overly dosed in kool aid........ Thank you!

 

[mpbrown27]

For as much hype (and hope) Husker faithful have put behind Tanner Lee, you have to give the kid credit. He pretty much lived up to expectations. He looked poised in the pocket and made some great throws. He may have forced a couple passes, but I think even the chances he took on deep balls were calculated risks. Based on what I saw on Saturday, the dude can play.

Secondly, the wide receivers as a whole looked more explosive and talented as a whole than our terrific corp from just a year ago. There are some play makers in this group. I'm not worried at all about them.

Joshua Kalu looks like a seasoned veteran out there. He appears to have taken the next step. I don't question the move to safety at all now.

 

[DudznSudz]

For as much hype (and hope) Husker faithful have put behind Tanner Lee, you have to give the kid credit. He pretty much lived up to expectations. He looked poised in the pocket and made some great throws. He may have forced a couple passes, but I think even the chances he took on deep balls were calculated risks. Based on what I saw on Saturday, the dude can play.

Secondly, the wide receivers as a whole looked more explosive and talented as a whole than our terrific corp from just a year ago. There are some play makers in this group. I'm not worried at all about them.

Joshua Kalu looks like a seasoned veteran out there. He appears to have taken the next step. I don't question the move to safety at all now.

Agree with all of the above. Kalu looked friggin' great out there. Again, Im re-watching the game now, and I actually am liking a lot more of what Im seeing than the first time through. Everyone is playing their asses off, and if anything, the reason why Ark State had the success that they did throwing the ball had to do with the scheme we were going with rather than anything completely blown on our part. Donte Williams was just interviewed and said a lot of that had to with the fact that Nebraska had absolutely no idea what they were going to do, offensively. So, we took away their run game (if they even had one) and stayed far back, so their short pass game looked great.

 

[StrongArm517]

I totally felt better the 2nd time watching it too. I agree, players looked in position to make plays and played hard.

 

[DudznSudz]

I totally felt better the 2nd time watching it too. I agree, players looked in position to make plays and played hard.

Yep! I mean, it just means that I feel better about the competence of our coaches, it DOESN'T mean I feel good about whether or not we get smoked (pun intended) by Oregon's offense on Saturday. I think this D is going to be a work in progress for at least the first 4 or 5 games (which is fine, except for the Ducks), but it means we'll probably eat a loss in Eugene. I also think we're definitely losing to tOSU and Ped State now, and probably dropping it to Wisconsin. However, I would think that by the ass-end of the season against Iowa, this team is going to be as good as it can get in 2017, so I don't chalk that up as a loss. 8-4 from here on out, and I still think that is a successful season.

 

[inWV]

For as much hype (and hope) Husker faithful have put behind Tanner Lee, you have to give the kid credit. He pretty much lived up to expectations. He looked poised in the pocket and made some great throws. He may have forced a couple passes, but I think even the chances he took on deep balls were calculated risks. Based on what I saw on Saturday, the dude can play.

Secondly, the wide receivers as a whole looked more explosive and talented as a whole than our terrific corp from just a year ago. There are some play makers in this group. I'm not worried at all about them.

Joshua Kalu looks like a seasoned veteran out there. He appears to have taken the next step. I don't question the move to safety at all now.

Really nice rust buster opportunity for Lee. Protection was decent for the most part with 2 QB hurries and 1 sack. ASU was top 15 in sacks last year. The WR group is as talented as last year's but not as experienced. Zo, Reilly, Westy and Carter will watch games this year whistfully.

 

[jay-cheese]

Perfect 1st game in preparing for Oregon. We'll likely see the same type of spread offense this week, and I'd rather we played against it already than not. ASU picked on our DB's playing in their first game. They'll play better this week.

Great teams utilize positive momentum. 3 or 4 times we had them on the ropes and then let them get momentum again. There's a lot we can learn from that.

Going to be a close one this week in Eugene (or wherever we play it)

GBR

 

[oldjar07]

I was impressed with a lot of players on Saturday. I don't think talent is an issue. Our personnel decisions and schemes seemed to be the biggest problems on defense. Our linebackers were not put in a good position although I was impressed with Gifford. Very happy with Kalu as well and thought he got more flack than he deserved last year at corner. Morgan might be the most improved player on the team, he played lights out. Spielman has great speed but needs to take care of the drops to see the field more.

 

[Charlie Marlow]

I thought Kalu was the difference in the second half

 

[HuskerBorn]

I agree with most of this. The drop by Hoppes in the end zone early in the game was bad. Hit him right in the hands. Hoping it was just nerves and won't be a weekly event. Think he made up ground with a great catch later in game along the sidelines. GBR!

 

[yunginsNU2]

There was a post awhile back which asked who would have a breakout year.. i said Hoppes and Jackson..both i thought played great... i hope they continue... the one who surprised me the most was how fast dedrick young got sideline to sideline.. i want him on the field more.. same with Bootle

 

[cubsker]

i was alarmed at our inability to get off blocks on their bubble screens. jackson made a couple of good plays but other than that, our guys were walled off way too easily.

 

[headcard]

i was alarmed at our inability to get off blocks on their bubble screens. jackson made a couple of good plays but other than that, our guys were walled off way too easily.

Yep, our DB's were too passive and chicken fought too much. I didn't see guys fly up and attack the outside should very often, hopefully we really improve on that quick.

 

[cubsker]

as for who impressed me.

spielman is at the top
hoppes
tre
tyjon

 

[jflores]

I think if I had to pick one player, it'd undoubtedly have to be Lightbourn, as unexciting a position he plays.

The kid was an absolute train wreck last year at times. It was like we imported a punter from ISU in 1984, and not NU. He was money all night Saturday. I don't think any single player improved more than he did.

 

[Toms Wife]

Hoppes. You have to like his game.