How to beat Nebraska Huskers - looking forward to it for Big 12 North

[Wesley]

<span style="color:red">DEFENSE MUST:</span>
1. Pester Zach Taylor the qb the first quarter. Blitz, blitz. Knock him down a couple times. Let himj know you can reach him. 3rd string Harrison Beck is not the Real Deal. Their backup is that in name only.

2. Plug against the cutback run. They seem to have the inside cutback as their main running play. We are not impresdsed with marlon Lucky speed outside, just Cody Glenn inside running. He actually was in police trouble driving two weeks ago. Cody is the man for Husker rushing. Actually Cory Ross was better than either of these 2 guys.

3. Keep the offensive lineman away from our quick little linebackers. Our speed inside will negate their cutbacks.

4. Let Zach throw long all day. He is not that accurate. Totally unimpressed with their receiving Corps as Matt Herrion still looks hurts, Mulkey kicked off, and old targets are not getrting better. They hope an incoming freshman might be the connection. Remains to be seen.

5. Stuff the middle for passing and try to tip passes up in the air. Let him throw outside in the Ames Air Tunnel. He can clobber you in you do not stuff the middle. Tim Dobbins had a nightmare day last year.

6. Gang tackle.

7. Hold them to 21. Certainly achievable.

<span style="color:red">OFFENSE WILL:</span>

1. No fumbles. None whatsoever.

2. Cut back against an over aggressive attacking defense.

3. Fake out rushing end Adam Carriker till he looks stupid.

4. Watch out for Phillp their big hitting linebacker. He is their true star. He injures the Huskers in practice.

5. Throw the ball up deep for grabs and stretch their secondary. Our receivers are plain better than their newbie defensive.

6. Fake to Ryan Koch and pass the pass on 3rd or 4th down. Can we try this this year?

7. Score 27. May be a challenge.

 

[CycloneSA1911]

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<span style="color:red">DEFENSE MUST:</span>
4. Let Zach throw long all day. He is not that accurate. Totally unimpressed with their receiving Corps as Matt Herrion still looks hurts, Mulkey kicked off, and old targets are not getrting better. They hope an incoming freshman might be the connection. Remains to be seen.

[/b][/quote]

Ya, that worked real well for us last year didn't it...maybe you should revisit this strategy.

 

[Wesley]

That worked all day last year as the defense let the 5 yard pass over the middle be open on every play. I suggest it was our coaches decision - every other team in the Big 12 including Maine was able to stuff the middle. This is correctible. Make Zach throw the ball further and with the wind tunnel he will not pass for 400 yards. That was by far his best game of his career. We were better than that.

When you see the play run successfully 15 times in a game the defense needs to begin to plug the problem. We did not last year during the whole game. And the Cory Ross 80 yard short pass over the middle was a damaging play. I still cannot believe that we let ZachT build his confidence so much. Their whole season changed after we gave them every 5 yard pass over the middle. We forgot to mix up our defense.

The coaches will change their defensive strategy this year. Having faster linebackers will help on the 5 yard over the middle passes. Huskers will have to run more next year.

 

[Drew21]

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<span style="color:red">DEFENSE MUST:</span>
4. Let Zach throw long all day. He is not that accurate. Totally unimpressed with their receiving Corps as Matt Herrion still looks hurts, Mulkey kicked off, and old targets are not getrting better. They hope an incoming freshman might be the connection. Remains to be seen.

[/b][/quote]

Ya, that worked real well for us last year didn't it...maybe you should revisit this strategy.
[/b][/quote]

Did you watch the game at all? He didnt throw long at all. that is why he said this make him throw long because that is his weakness. Those all look like great ways to beat the Huskers.

 

[AlanAldaClone]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
That worked all day last year as the defense let the 5 yard pass over the middle be open on every play. I suggest it was our coaches decision - every other team in the Big 12 including Maine was able to stuff the middle. This is correctible. Make Zach throw the ball further and with the wind tunnel he will not pass for 400 yards. That was by far his best game of his career. We were better than that. [/b][/quote]

It is the strategy of our coaching staff to have the DBs keep passing plays in front of them and not get burned long. We let them complete the short passes and make sure of the tackle. Players have said this is what they are taught. That will be their strategy against Texas Tech and Nebraska again this year.

I think it was a mistake against Nebraska last year as they had not had any success to speak of in their passing game until they played us. We made Zac Taylor look all-world and we never should have lost to them. We had great defensive backs last year and they could have played the Nebraska WRs straight up and won nearly every match-up. With new DBs playing this year, it's probably going to be more of the same, only with worse results.

I'm never critical of the coaching staff, but I think they are making a big mistake with this strategy. They need to trust their players to make the play and to play people straight up and aggressively. This strategy is passive. It's not the attacking style of defense that you see the really successful teams employ. We need to ATTACK on defense.

The worst part is the strategy worked to some extent last year. Yeah, we allowed a ton of yards, but only 13 points in regulation. The staff will look at that as confirmation that the strategy works. The only problem is, it doesn't work. We lost the game.

They employ the same strategy against Texas Tech and a couple of years ago in the game with "the run," we beat them pretty decisively. But we don't have Wallace now. Meyer is a fine QB, but he can't change the outcome of a game by himself like Wallace could. Meyer has to rely on other players to make plays to be effective. The only game where that wasn't the case was against Miami of Ohio in our bowl game, where Meyer all of a sudden became Brad Smith. But a lot of that was the opponent. He couldn't do that against most Big XII teams. Wallace could take a busted play or a play where it seemed there was no hope of a positive result and turn it into a TD.

Both Tech and Nebraska will no doubt pass for 400-plus yards on us this year and we'll have to outscore them both.

 

[Wesley]

My opinion of Nebraska receivers is low (lots of players with Terrance Nunn as thier best receiver) as I do not see them holding onto the longer balls or even beating out the defenders. They have clubs for hands. I just suggest it is a mistake to give Nebraska all the short passes because those arte the only ones their receivers are catching. Unless Nebraska receives some renovated receivers, we do not want to make them look like All-World. Franz Harding, old receiver of Zac from juco, even went through "I can't catch a ball period." Fluellyn was fast but ran right by the ball. Matt Herrion is their only decent tight end who makes an impact and he is leg challenged as he broke it in several places. The "bomb" against ISU was a 5 yard pass over the middle. And now Cory Ross is trying out for the pros.

Bottom line is I think we match up against the Huskers more than we think. It is in Ames. Huskers play Southern Cal and Texas and their swagger may be wobbly.

 

[CycloneSA1911]

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<span style="color:red">DEFENSE MUST:</span>
4. Let Zach throw long all day. He is not that accurate. Totally unimpressed with their receiving Corps as Matt Herrion still looks hurts, Mulkey kicked off, and old targets are not getrting better. They hope an incoming freshman might be the connection. Remains to be seen.

[/b][/quote]

Ya, that worked real well for us last year didn't it...maybe you should revisit this strategy.
[/b][/quote]

Did you watch the game at all? He didnt throw long at all. that is why he said this make him throw long because that is his weakness. Those all look like great ways to beat the Huskers.
[/b][/quote]

Drew,

Yes, I watched the game. I watched Taylor complete 36/55 passes to ten different recievers for over 400 yards. I wouldn't consider that a poor passing game. There was one point in the first half that they threw 18 times in a row. I can't recall, how many times did Taylor get sacked? Point is, I don't know what our strategy should be. But I for one don't want Taylor feeling comfortable behind his O-line with the ball in his hands because we are calling his bluff again.

 

[ripvdub]

Most of his passing yards were from those damn screen passes. They did it all day long and we never caught on to it. I swore they had one for about 50-70 yards and a TD. They lost the little back that caught all of em, so maybe thatll help, but every team killed us with little dinky passes.

 

[Drew21]

<span style="color:red">DEFENSE MUST:</span>
4. Let Zach throw long all day. He is not that accurate. Totally unimpressed with their receiving Corps as Matt Herrion still looks hurts, Mulkey kicked off, and old targets are not getrting better. They hope an incoming freshman might be the connection. Remains to be seen.

Ya, that worked real well for us last year didn't it...maybe you should revisit this strategy.

Did you watch the game at all? He didnt throw long at all. that is why he said this make him throw long because that is his weakness. Those all look like great ways to beat the Huskers.

Drew,

Yes, I watched the game. I watched Taylor complete 36/55 passes to ten different recievers for over 400 yards. I wouldn't consider that a poor passing game. There was one point in the first half that they threw 18 times in a row. I can't recall, how many times did Taylor get sacked? Point is, I don't know what our strategy should be. But I for one don't want Taylor feeling comfortable behind his O-line with the ball in his hands because we are calling his bluff again.

I know what your saying and i feel the same way. But the way you talked Taylor was throwing 50 yard passes all day long. That isnt the truth they three little screens and we missed tackles. I think i know the big play you are talking about but most were sceens and short passes that we didnt make the tackles on.

 

[Wesley]

Taylor finally figured out how to throw the short pass across the middle (after year and a half) about the time of the ISU game. This is what Bill Callahan prefers to do if allowed. With our smaller faster defense this year, make them gamble long this year by encouraging them to throw the long balls. Then we can bait and switch at times to cross them up. Zac Taylor is a tough kid, but on the long passes he has to hang in the pocket longer and probably take some hits.

Nebraska never did throw the longer passes worth beans last year. Their short passing game set up the Cory Ross runs. Again, make Bill Callahan gamble as it will probably be a windy day in Jack Trice Stadium. We have made the Nebraska qbs look like gods the last 3 years with our ISU defensive schemes. Need to do something different this year. The reason why 10 people caught balls last year was because they were across the middle 5 yards deep with nobody guarding them.

We can beat them this year.

 

[burn587]

Why was Mulkey kicked off Nebraska's squad? The kid was a jerk when I played against him in high school so it's not surprising but he was decent for them last year.

 

[NU Follower]

Where to start, I guess by stating my prediction that NU will win in Ames by 10+ points.

NU's front 9 on defense is going to be as good as you will face all year, including Texas and Oklahoma. Nebraska is talented and deep at DE, DT, LB. NE has two returning starters at corner, and just brought in the #1 JUCO CB in Andre Jones for depth at corner(nickle back).

Questions remain at safety. Tierre Green, who started 8 games at corner (before the #1 JUCO corner from last years class Zac Bowman replaced him in the starting lineup) was moved to safety before the bowlgame against Michigan. Shanle will probably be the other starter at safety. Green and Shanle are two of the fastest 5 players on the entire roster, they just lack experience.

On offense, this team will go as far as the OL takes them. They are still a year away, but getting better. NU is finally starting to develop depth across the OL thanks to Callahan's recruiting. NU was starting two different tackles at then end of the year, a true FR and RS soph. We have another RS soph, who missed all of last year due to injury returning as well.

RB is inexperienced, but talented. We have the 3 studs from the 2005 recruiting class: Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn had very good spring. Leon Jackson almost left the team due to the logjam but has now reconsidered. Brandon Jackson, played as a true FR two years ago, has had reoccurring injuries and missed spring ball due to that. And then, NU brought in the #1 JUCO RB, Kenny Wilson in this year's recruiting class. I doubt he will have much of an impact this year due to the learning curve.

At WR, NU returns a solid receiving corps, but nothing spectacular. Hopefully, #1 JUCO receiver Maurice Purify will learn quickly and have a big impact. He is 6'4" 225 lbs. and fast. He still needs to prove it on the field, but reciever is a position in which a newcomer can come in and make a big splash. We also have T. Spain coming in. He was in Lincoln all last year, but couldn't play due to grades. Grant Mulkey was kicked off the team due to a variety of issues (fighting with teammates/ pot). He wouldn't have played much anyway with the new players coming in.

At TE, the weakest position on the team last year, is the return of Matt Herian. Matt missed all of last year with 2 broken bones in his leg suffered in the Missouri game of 2004. Rehab hasn't gone well, and he's had many setbacks, but he's coming around. He was able to play in the spring game. His speed is back, but he still needs to get over the injury mentally. If he's even back to 90%, that just adds another element to the offense, which was missing last year.

At QB is Zack Taylor who could be all Big XII. The guy is a warrior. He is an extremely smart guy. This is his second year in the Callahan WCO offense and a returning starter. I don't know why Wesley downplays his ability, but I would bet he gets drafted next year. He accurate, has a decent arm, and is tough. He just didn't have a running game or any time to throw last year. That should improve this year.

I will admit that I drink the red cool aid, but I would also guess that Nebraska will be favored in 10 games this year, everyone except for Texas and USC. 10-2 regular season and the north is my expectation, with a very outside shot at the National Title. If NU can pull the upset early against USC, watch out.

I think NU will be able to move the ball the majority of the game against ISU's defense. I don't think we'll pass for 400+ again, but I don't think we'll have too with your run defense being suspect. This is going to be NU's best team since 2001. Cally has been recruiting very well, especially the JUCO's. I realize that most JUCO don't pan out, but Cally is getting the best of the best: the last two year's #1 JUCO CB, and this past year's #1 WR and RB. We will have five JUCO's from the 2005 recruiting class starting(4 defense, and QB).

Feel free to let me know if I'm smoking some bad weed.

 

[benjay]

National title? Easy brother, I think you need to trim you expectations. Nebraska is getting hype because of a strong finish last year and because of the fact that it's Nebraska. But you didn't really play anyone good in your finish last year and preseason hype is just that: hype.

I expect Nebraska to be a solid football team, but 10-2? I don't think so. I'm not surprised you predict an easy win over ISU, but you husker fans predict that every single year. We played you into overtime in your house last year. You are going to have trouble in Ames.

 

[bmuff]

I think you're smoking. Nebraska will be better this year, but 10-2 and an outside chance at the NC???? Nebraska's chance at the BCS is tiny. The NC is impossible. Even if you do win the North, OU or UT will smoke any North team in that game. I think ISU beats Nebraska in Ames, but Nebraska takes the North due to ISU's tougher schedule and usual inability to pull out close games.

No way Zach Taylor gets drafted, BTW. You guys don't know what an NFL QB looks like yet.

 

[NU Follower]

10-2 is my expectation for this team. Do you see more than 2 games in which NU won't be favored? Our game @ISU will be our 3rd toughest game next year. We get USC early (and they lost a ton of talent) and then Texas at home (with a true FR or RS FR starting at QB).

 

[Wesley]

Your best player remains Zac Taylor. Jury still out on Cody Glenn and marlon Lucky - if they are equal to a Cory Ross. Your defense is much better than your offense.

As far 10-2 goes, don't see it in the cards. Too many things have to go right for Nebraska to accomplish that. They are not that Back....

Here is where the enthusiam comes from: the bowl game was Michigan and the big win at the end of the season was Colorado.

Even we beat Colortado, the disfunctional junction people.
Michigan appeared to have a lot of talent they did not know how to use - reminds me of a basketball team from last year.

Looks to me a ten point win in Ames is optimistic thinking. Anyone want to hazard a guess on the score?
Remember, it is probably the key game for the Big 12 North.

 

[benjay]

Whether or not you're favored in Ames has everything to do with how ISU and Nebraska handle their opening games. If ISU wins in Iowa City and plays Texas tough, they could enter the 10/7 game with a 4-1 record and a high quality win against the Big 10. Assuming Nebraska loses at USC, they'll have no high quality wins and be playing on the road. That's an ISU favor in my book.

I wouldn't take anything for granted at this point. A lot can happen once the ammunition is live.

 

[NU Follower]

I agree Benjay. But we have completely different outlooks on the ISU team. I see a team with a suspect defense and very little depth teamwise. I see a 6-6 record for ISU. I see ISU with losses to Iowa and Texas before the NU game.

You are excited about ISU chances this year as I am with Nebraska. I feel we have a lot more reasons to be optimistic. I'll be rooting for you against Iowa, I just don't see ISU coming out on top.

 

[benjay]

That's what everyone in the nation sees, but they underestimate the strengths and overestimate the weaknesses. It's impossible to predict how that good (or bad) that defense is going to be once they hit the field. The offense could (and should) be dynamite.

 

[liljones13]

I think the way to attack Nebraska, is to challenge their running game. If they can get past our front 4 then congratulations Huskers, you have won. I would hope we would play a nickel or zone coverage on them, then mess w/ Taylor's mind and send a couple corner blitz's. We're too inexperienced with our D-backs, so we have to get backers and more dbacks on the field to slow down Taylor.
On offense the key is our offensive line. If we can move the black shirts back with our huge line, then I think we could open the game wide open. If we struggle with the run, then we're gonna have to expect great things from Blythe and Co. to get us a W.

Prediction: ISU 31 Huskers 24

I think Hicks is due for a big breakout game and our line has to get better, riight??
Taylor will have trouble finding open recievers if we play zone or nickel and make him create on his own.