Grading the Huskers: Game #8

Sorry for the late analysis of the Huskers big win over the Missorry Tigers, but yesterday’s post was a special occurrence. Hope you all enjoyed. Today, I have the rare opportunity to use my preview for the game as analysis of the game. It’s fair to say some of these were spot on….

"I leave you all with a final prediction for the game. I expect to see a defensive game. I predict the Huskers hop on them early, and we find out whether this Mizzou team truly is different than in years past. If they are, they battle back. If they aren’t, it’s goodnight sweetheart. I think they’re the same ol’ Tigers."

"My biggest hope in stopping [the Missouri running game] from happening on Saturday? Gary Pinkel’s ineptitude really. I’m hoping he arrogantly decides, which is how he oftentimes makes decisions, that they need to win the game by throwing the ball around, especially after watching what Oklahoma St. accomplished this past week."

"Also, Coach Pinkelnuts oftentimes goes 5 wide in goal-to-go situations, which is so idiotic that I don’t have enough time to properly explain."

"I feel very confident about the game. I’d be more surprised to see a Missouri victory than a Nebraska blowout."

(More………….)

The questions of ‘is Missouri for real?’ have been replaced with statements of ‘same ol’ Pinkel, same ol’ Mizzou.’ Lets take a look at the different Husker units and fire out some grades….

Rushing Offense: Well, lets see, T-Mobile only had 16 yards on 12 carries. Rexy Burkhead had 4 yards?!? Hmm anybody else? Oh, Roy Helu, Goodbye! ran for something like 307 yards, only a school record for the most prolific running team in the history of College Football. I’m not sure he’d say he played much better than he had in any other game, he just happened to go untouched on three runs of 66, 73, and 53 yards. He did show some speed though. All done without a hair out of place. Grade: A-

Passing Offense: Did Nebraska even throw the ball on Saturday? The Kyler Reed show did continue. All he does? CATCH TOUCHDOWNS! Deep ones at that, all four of his have been over 33 yards. There was a nice crossing route completion to Niles Paul, a dump off to Ben Cotton rumbling for the easiest 20 yards of the game, and then Reed’s amazing sideline tippy toes snag. Lee only attempted 3 passes in the 2nd half, counting on the running game to finish off the Tigers. This is a difficult grade to hand out with such little curriculum. Grade: B-

Rushing Defense: Good thing Pinkelnuts was unaware of the Blackshirts’ struggles stopping the run this year (probably was a better idea to test the professional quality secondary anyway). The Tigers tipped their hats on runs by motioning a runner into the backfield pre-snap and the Blackshirts countered by blitzing a corner of the edge to continually stuff it. Once that happened a few times, the entire Missouri running game was reduced to Gabbert scrambles. He got loose on one for 29 yards. Oh, and the 4th and 1 toss play, which was pretty well executed. Tip of the cap. Grade: B

Passing Defense: The Huskers harassed Blaine Gabbert all day, who perfected the roll out 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage before firing it into the sideline play on Saturday. The Tigers were limited to 199 yards passing despite well over 50 dropbacks. The Tigers allowed 6 sacks after only giving up 7 sacks all season prior to this game. Great games by Cameron Meredith, Lavonte David, and even the ballyhooed Pierre Allen rushing the passer. Another shout out goes to #17 Ciante Evans, a true freshman cornerback, that had to fill in when The Fonz, Alfonzo Dennard, went down to injury in the 1st half. The Tigers started out the game 0-10 on 3rd downs. The Blackshirts came out with a clear strategy to hit them in the mouth, which Missouri was not tough to handle. Grade: A

Specialty Teams: Alex Henery set the school record with his 18th straight made field goal in the 1st quarter before seeing the streak end with a blocked kick in the 4th quarter. Henery will go on to the NFL after this year, but he could also make it in Arena Football with the accuracy of his kicks. I find myself a bit disappointed when the ball isn’t placed in the exact middle of the uprights. Adi Kunalic continues to lead the nation in touchbacks, going 7 for 7 on Saturday. Throw in a few nice returns by Niles Paul in the kicking game and the special teams was at the top of their game for the second straight week. Grade: B+

Coaching: I decided to add this aspect this week to focus on the dimwittedness of Gary Pinkel, the worst good coach in the nation. Despite a monster deficit staring his team in the face, the Tigers managed to use all three timeouts (plus an attempt to use a 4th) before the 5 minute mark of the 3rd quarter. Hey, Gary, those are pretty valuable, especially when you’re behind. The Shotgun 5-wide look at the goalline is just classic Pinkel (that’s not a good thing). It’s as if he thinks going conventional down there is an insult to his intelligence. Call it ego, or stubbornness, I simply call it entertainment. The lack of effort in establishing anything resembling a running game, despite his quarterback facing serious pressure on almost every pass attempt. My biggest reason for being confident in the game was having Bo Pelini on our side instead of the mixed bag of Pinkelnuts. This grade is reflective of my feelings toward not having Gary Pinkel. Grade: A+