THE GOOD:
Unfortunately, while I think that NU should've won that game I'd also feel very comfortable arguing the other side of that opinion. That knocks some luster off my feelings.
Hopefully, So. Alabama is a "get well" game and some of the obvious deficiencies get cleaned up quick. Miami just became a very important trip.
GBR!
Edited comment: I for one am not really interested in a record of opening day wins built on the back of the patsies who have rolled into Lincoln over the last couple of decades. Anyone who would rather keep something like that going by scheduling down is something that I disagree with. Ohio St survived a loss to VaTech last season to win it all. This is a different era of college football and I want the team to create and entirely different culture and mentality with regards to the Bill Snyder school of non-con scheduling. Iron sharpens iron and I'm ready for the bar to be re-set higher and then get good enough to win these types of games.
JMO.
- For the first game of a new regime against a quality opponent, the fact that NU coulda/shoulda won the game without something as flukish as a Hail Mary with no time left is a good thing. This comment shouldn't be confused with me calling it a "moral victory".
- The coaches in general, but I'm looking at you Keith Williams and Trent Bray, had the majority of the positions groups playing with noticeably better fundamentals than what we've seen in the recent past. That bodes well.
- Offensively, the coaches opened the game with a plan that was effective and well executed and after it started faltering in the 2nd qtr, they clearly got it back on track at halftime only to see it falter again in the 4th. Out of 445 total yds, the offense accumulated 326 of them in qtrs 1 & 2 and only 119 of them in the 3rd and 4th qtr. Unfortunately, most games that don't end in a blow-out are won in the 2nd and 4th qtrs so the game plan and any adjustments are only good if they are sustainable. Against BYU, they weren't (for whatever reason).
- This observation is only one side of the coin but imo, it's a good thing. Armstrong had 41 passing attempts and of those attempts, a very high percentage were right on the money. Another chunk were good decisions that weren't the best executed and very, very few (2, maybe 3) were ill-advised that actually put the ball in jeopardy. I don't even have a huge problem with his INT. The BYU guy just made a great play on the ball so I'll "tip my cap". Now the fact that Armstrong actually attempted 41 passes is a different discussion.
- Youth will be served. There is some very good young talent on this team and the fact that these coaches can integrate RS and true freshman without suffering significant drop-off was good to see. Where is this team if players like Young, Gates, Morgan, Williams, etc are holding down the sidelines bench waiting their turn without the ability to earn trust/playing time?
- Few things look worse to me than a blown-up or poorly executed screen pass. If this is going to be that big of a component to this offense, they'd better tighten that stuff up quick.
- The RB rotation didn't seem to help/favor any of the backs, or the running game in general, throughout the game.
- If you think that BYU's defense is susceptible to the pass, then commit to it and make them pay. Imo, there weren't enough attempt's to "blow the top" off the Cougar defense and when then finally did call the double move to Reilly late, it was like stealing candy. As aggressive as the Cougar's were playing, plays of that type were there all day.
- I expected Collins and VV to consistently get better push in the middle. For too many long stretches of that game, their impact was negligent and barely dominant enough to keep the LB's clean. Don't want to put any player on a pedestal but like I said, I expected more based on all the off season reports.
- This could maybe go in "ugly" down below but I'll park it here because I'm all for learning life lessons (especially at that age). However, I really hope that MRI, Rose and Carter internalize the fact that the outcome of that game is likely different if they keep their personal "poop in a group" and are available to the roster. I'm not going to argue which team was more depleted. It doesn't matter. The only thing that does matter is that NU's suspensions hurt them in this game and they likely helped cost them the game. I don't care if BYU is 100% or 50%, self-inflicted wounds like this is on those players and I hope they have a bitter taste in their mouth when they wake-up this morning and look in the mirror.
- The attempts and commitment to the running game were pretty putrid. And it seems very clear that the QB needs to be a part of it if it's going to be successful. If they are seriously going to put bubble wrap around Tommy and try to protect him, the team is not going to reach its full potential. The hits he'll take in the pocket this season attempting 41 passes put him in harms way just as much as running him a legit 8-12 times per game. In the 1st qtr, they had a couple of nice roll-out RPO's for Tommy and then in the 3rd they showed a bit more ZR and even the speed option play. I don't think that it's any coincidence that the offense had its two best qtrs concurrent to Tommy posing a threat of that nature (even with the 3rd qtr fumbled exchange
- Defensively, I'm always a believer that you heat-up a young QB who unexpectedly makes an appearance or has to finish a game. That they let Mangum even get into a rhythm was a missed opportunity, imo.
- The o-line seemed to progress as the game wore on but their were WAY too many instances of just being outright bullied up front. I didn't expect 100% precision and cohesion out of that unit but I also didn't expect to get (literally) thrown around at times.
- I can't recall ever feeling like NU was fully susceptible to losing games because they don't have a FG kicker who can make the kicks you'd expect ANY kicker at this level to make. Good guy or not, legacy or not, this isn't the season where losing games in that fashion can be acceptable. Brown needs to get his act together quick.
- Penalties, penalties, penalties. Can't really point to any one thing that caused them but it's clearly an albatross that this team clearly can't afford to hang around their necks.
- Press cover and blitz for the love of cripes sake. They made it way to easy on BYU most of the afternoon and I also don't think it was a coincidence that the defense had its best moments when they were more aggressive and forced some action. All in all, the secondary played pretty well considering they were allowing free release most of the afternoon. Trust your dudes to be dudes.
Unfortunately, while I think that NU should've won that game I'd also feel very comfortable arguing the other side of that opinion. That knocks some luster off my feelings.
Hopefully, So. Alabama is a "get well" game and some of the obvious deficiencies get cleaned up quick. Miami just became a very important trip.
GBR!
Edited comment: I for one am not really interested in a record of opening day wins built on the back of the patsies who have rolled into Lincoln over the last couple of decades. Anyone who would rather keep something like that going by scheduling down is something that I disagree with. Ohio St survived a loss to VaTech last season to win it all. This is a different era of college football and I want the team to create and entirely different culture and mentality with regards to the Bill Snyder school of non-con scheduling. Iron sharpens iron and I'm ready for the bar to be re-set higher and then get good enough to win these types of games.
JMO.
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