What We Know Now - Fresno St. edition
Notes from the Fresno State Press Conference
The Monday turnaround from a Saturday game is a quick one. There was a lot of rehashing from what the coaches and players were asked in the post-game but there were some bits of information in there. Here's the rundown:
--Quote of the day came from Bo Pelini on how close to the vest Nebraska played it on offense. Here's the entire quote:
Part of what we were doing was trying to make an assessment. Let's face it. You get to a certain point where, and I'm not trying to knock our opponent, but we were trying to work on and see some things. In retrospect, we didn't put our guys in the best opportunity to have success, but that wasn't always the goal every time. We wanted to run some plays and get some looks and watch our players to see where they were and executing certain things. We were able to do that. There is a method to the madness. I can't sit here and explain the whole thing. I think Tim (Beck) would have called a little bit of a different game if it were two or three weeks from now.
Could be encouraging if you were in the camp that thought the offense looked a little lackluster on Saturday. If you're in the other camp, it could just mean there's more plays that Nebraska needs to work on executing better. Either way, it was a significant departure from last year. Nebraska continued to run plays that weren't working as opposed to avoiding the plays that were working as they did frequently under Watson.
--Cameron Meredith is quickly becoming one of the most reliable sources for information on the team. He's articulate and speaks freely which is why I took him at his word when he said Fresno State has "tons of good players." (Okay, "tons" might be a bit much.) That and the fact that he played at California prep powerhouse Mater Dei. The Vegas bookmakers don't necessarily agree, making the Bulldogs a 28-point underdog, but I'll lean more towards Meredith's assessment than the wiseguys.
--How fast can Nebraska's offense potentially go? Oregon fast according to Taylor Martinez. "We have a lot of different tempos. We really didn’t show very much," Martinez said Monday. On Saturday Nebraska ran 68 plays compared to the Ducks' 80.
--Saturday's hero Brett Maher said he got a congratulatory text message from ex-Husker and All-Pro Kris Brown. Maher and Brown have worked together off and on since the Kearney standout was young. Maher's father was the principal at Waverly High while Brown was student teaching there.
--Starting MLB Will Compton is day-to-day with an undisclosed foot injury but Bo Pelini said there were no breaks or structural damage to the foot. CB Alfonzo Dennard is still "getting better" which means...I don't know...his status is still up in the air for this weekend.
9/5/2011
‘Nebraska continued to run plays that weren’t working as opposed to avoiding the plays that were working as they did frequently under Watson.’
I agree, but that line still makes me laugh every time I read it!
9/5/2011
Yea we continued to run plays that weren’t working…and never got them to work? Against D2 talent? Huge red flag.
9/5/2011
Ben, Tennessee-Chattanooga is not a D2 team. They are a D1-AA team (FCS team). But i have been reading articles on this game and have heard what players and coaches have said about and I honestly believe that we could have scored on them at will. This game was just an assessment of different players in a game situation. I’m not concerned.
9/5/2011
Could have scored on them at will? Get real dude you’re just in denial that once again our offense will be horrible unless Taylor can run for 150 yards a game.
San Diego, Ca.
9/5/2011
“Either way, it was a significant departure from last year. Nebraska continued to run plays that weren’t working as opposed to avoiding the plays that were working as they did frequently under Watson.”
Ouchy!
Beck did mention Saturday that he can be stubborn.
Also Saturday, T-Magic did slightly say it was kind of a practice game. Which, it was.
Which is why Championship Subdivision games get scheduled in the first place. As a first game, or a last non conference tune up.
If I’d be concerned this early, its that segments or stages of the offense will have to be mastered, before the rest can be sequenced in.
So, I think it will be more of the same against the Bulldogs, just maybe being somewhat better at it.
Or else, it’ll be the first game you’ll totally need T-Magic to score enough or otherwise make enough plays to win it, for you. Who wants that, this early?
Essentially, the ink is still drying on the report that just got turned in.
The glue is still drying on some fixes.
Shoot, bodies that’ll be needed to help win games still need to get stronger (and heavier.) Physically more mature for the battles.
They’re well aware that another season of offensive mediocrity to malaise will be be enough to make about half the fans… puke. Not long after all the bellyaching.
9/6/2011
What this game showed me is how large the chasm is between number 10 Nebraska and number 5 Boise State. Did this young team overlook this game and consider it a scrimmage? Maybe. If they did, shame on them. I’m sure they’re getting more that an earful from the coaches. Let’s see how the respond and adapt come Saturday. Go Big Red!
9/6/2011
WyHuskerfan- what about the team ranked BEHIND us at 11. Wisconsin looked like a well oiled machine, light years ahead of us, offensively anyway UNLV did have success running against them. Im afraid we are overrated. Way too much hype and title talk in the off season from a team who is a few if not more years away.
NC, USA
9/8/2011
Patience everyone…time will give us more data to make informed decisions and statements versus all the “the sky is falling” comments made here previously.