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But I’m going to try to save you some time and/or draw your attention to Nebraska football-related stories and columns you may not have come across in this, the week of the Iowa-Nebraska game. (No trumped-up nicknames for the series are necessary, thank you very much.)
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about this football season is reading the good, intelligent work of sportswriters at the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star. Here are some of their recent offerings:
Tom Shatel of the World-Herald, like everyone in Nebraska, didn’t find much to admire from the Cornhuskers in their 45-17 loss at Michigan Saturday. He wrote:
On a day with a BCS bowl on the line, and on a stage where big players play big, the Nebraska Cornhuskers showed us an old, too-familiar look.
The closer they get to a BCS bowl, the further away they are from reaching it.
Will Bo Pelini ever get there? Days like these raise serious questions. …
Big, bad Nebraska of the Big 12 was simply a diversion to old business for the blue people, who could be seen patting Husker fans on the back and saying, “Good luck next week. Who do you guys have?”
“Iowa,’’ said one Husker fan.
Getting stoked for that one?
Steven M. Sipple of the Journal Star was impressed by Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson. He wasn’t so taken with Nebraska.
Let’s be real: Nebraska (8-3, 4-3 Big Ten) didn’t play like a team worthy of a conference title and BCS bid.
No. 20 Michigan (9-2, 5-2) is a good-not-great team. The Wolverines, though, regularly pounced on the Huskers after their multiple miscues, and suddenly — coo coo ca-choo — Mr. Robinson and company had a blowout on their hands. …
Never mind Robinson, though. Nebraska’s defense felt plenty of stress, in part because the Husker offense didn’t exactly carry its share of the load. Michigan had the ball for 41 minutes, 13 seconds, compared with NU’s 18:47. Yikes.
Sam McKewon of the World-Herald finds Nebraska’s defense lacking and its offensive strategy puzzling.
What, exactly, was Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s plan?
While he didn’t show for postgame interviews — are he and Carl Pelini trading off now after losses? — he seemed to like the option and zone-read game.
Michigan’s defense seemed to like it, too. …
You know the story with Nebraska’s defense. Not enough depth. Not enough horses. No pass rush. Average recruiting. It can’t be on the field for 80 plays and 41 minutes. The Blackshirts need the Husker offense for cover. When Beck and Co. can’t provide it — when the plan looks bad from the jump — you eventually get defensive breakdowns. You get 28- or 31-point losses.
What’s it mean for coach Bo Pelini?
That, four years in, his team still relies on a few elite athletes — Lavonte David, Burkhead, Alfonzo Dennard, Martinez when he’s on — and “just so” play-calling and execution from everyone else.
Brian Christopherson of the Journal Star gave a lot of the gory details of Michigan’s second-half dissection of the Huskers. Including:
Wisconsin? Yes, there were similarities, and not just in the final score. (The Badgers beat the Huskers 48-17.)
In that game and in this one, Nebraska self-destructed.
Special teams had their share in the defeat, as Christopherson points out.
On special teams, the Huskers twice fumbled kickoff returns, had a punt blocked, saw Michigan succeed on a fake field goal and roughed the punter just when it seemed Nebraska had momentum.
I would think the Cornhuskers will come to play Friday. After being throttled by MIchigan and being the last home game of the season, should be motivation for them to play well.
From the great philosophizer Lloyd Christmas:
“So you’re saying I’ve (we’ve) got a chance……”
Nebraska fans won’t admit it, but there were a lot posts on message boards this summer saying, “We’re going to own the Big Ten.” I think that when they (and OU) dominated the Big 8/12 for so many years, they looked down on the Big Ten as a weak conference. That said, I look for a very tough game Friday from the Huskers.
Noledge U, like SUI, will talk about 20 years ago as if was 20 minutes ago. It has no relevance to today, but it make’s the speaker feel better about themselves.
The NU and SUI fan base were separated at birth. It has been, and will continue to be, a joy watching and listening to the dearth of intelligence spewed at each other.
Need to look at Nebraska with some open eyes here. In their losses to Wisky, N’Western and Michigan…the vaunted Blackshirts defense has been giving up over 400 yards of total offense.
The 2011 version of Nebraska football has shown they have an extremely difficult time stopping power rushing attacks–Montee Ball of Wisky gashed them for over 150 yds.
They’ve also struggled against high powered, accurate passers–Russell Wilson tore them up for over 250 yds passing earlier this year.
This is a completely winnable game for the Hawkeyes as long as they continue to play their game–be balanced on offense, take their shots when they present themselves and play solid defense.
It’s almost scary, but you could substitute “Iowa” for Nebraska and “Norm Parker-led defense” for Black Shirts (paragraph 1) and change “Hawkeyes” to Cornhuskers in the last paragraph if you were a Nebraska fan.
One phobia that the Iowa sports writers have that doesn’t seem to be shared with their brothers in Nebraska – the fear of criticizing the coaching staff. !!!
Mike – you should smile more on TV.
I have to agree with some of the comments here. Nebraska has been just as inconsistent this year as Iowa.
Will the Iowa team that lost to Minnesota OR the one that seemed to be the clearly better team than Purdue show up?
Will the Nebraska that took Michigan State to the woodshed OR the team that looked lost at Michigan show up?
Which team shows up for each side will determine the winner.
Strange year and maddening for anyone trying to bet on games. Not that I do that.