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Had a wedding for a buddy yesterday afternoon and didn’t get a chance to watch the game live. Just finished the rewatch and have some thoughts on the game/players and go forward.
Positives:
The defense, specifically against the run, is just so drastically improved from last year (and years prior) I don’t even know where to begin. They totally owned the LOS to the point where LA Tech basically solely turned to running those quick screens to their WRs as their run game. They completely gave up trying to run up the middle after the stuff of the QB sneak on 4th and 1
Nash Hutmacher is an all conference level player at DT. It’s absolutely crazy how much he has improved by adding some flexibility and quickness. Really really great job by Nash to put in the work needed and the strength staff to help get him to this point. Can’t even imagine how good he is going to be next year
Our depth at DB is great as well.. and not only that but most of these guys have at least another year after this. Gives us potential to build on the growth this year which is great, elevates the standard
The OL actually opened some pretty decent holes in the run game. I thought they started to establish themselves as the game went on. Rhule has constantly mentioned wanting to end the game better than they start and they are doing that.
10:33 left in the game Matt Millen provided this commentary: “As the game goes on you can see the strength of the offensive line. They’ve opened some pretty big holes”. Team finished with 312 yards rushing and that could’ve (should’ve?) been over 400 had the two long TD runs not been called back
Billy Kemp is finding his footing as our #1 option at WR. Haarberg seems to like him as his go to guy
Fidone does so many things well and seems to be gaining more and more confidence. His catch radius is just insane- the TD catch he made to leap up, grab it out of the air and keep running for the TD was just absurd. As he gets more and more confident and ramps up he’s going to be a major issue for opposing defenses
We forced two fumbles but both went out of bounds.. one by Omar Brown on a WR screen in the first half and one by Phalen Sanford on the punt return right before the weather delay. Keep punching at the ball and eventually we’ll reap the rewards in the turnover game
You can win football games with Haarberg at QB playing the style Rhule wants to play. I’m not going to pretend he is there as a passer yet but I think at this point he clearly has to be the guy they roll with- he’s earned that right and showed some pretty good speed on both long TD runs he had. His ability to take hits as a physical runner will pay dividends in November.. that isn’t a guy you want to have to tackle in 35 degree weather.
Concerns:
I’m decently concerned with how many snaps Nash has to play, he leads the defensive line by FAR in number of snaps.
Behind Nash (and Ty) at DT there really isn’t much “good” depth. Buckley is surprisingly serviceable- to be honest he was a guy that I didn’t think would ever play a snap here and he’s transformed his body enough to where he can hold up okay. He really only can bull rush the C but his size allows him to make progress there. I’d like to see him improve his lateral quickness in the offseason. Behind Buckley there is absolutely nobody that can play on the nose today- we are going to need a big offseason for Lefotu and Maciejczak.
Running back depth is totally non-existent behind Grant now. Emmett Johnson is going to need to show something because there is no way they can run Grant 22 times per game for 8 more Big Ten games and have him remain as effective/healthy as he is now. I don’t think Ives even played a snap against LT which to me means they’re clearly going to try to redshirt him if possible. Don’t be surprised if Trevin Luben or even Maurice Mazzccua play over Ives in order to have him maintain his 4 game redshirt.
WR.. Coleman finally played a bit (5 snaps) and was in on the long TD run Grant had called back. I think they’d ideally love to redshirt him too but they’re in a pickle because they need him to play to open the offense up a bit. Interesting Jaylin Lloyd didn’t play again… they’re probably going to alternate Lloyd and Coleman’s appearances so as to be able to redshirt both guys as they both bring similar skill sets to the offense (although Coleman’s height is an advantage). We got a Ty Hahn appearance- cannot believe he’s only a Sophomore
Left tackle…. I don’t even know where to begin. I can’t even shit on Corcoran because they’re not putting him in a position to play to his strengths and be successful. He clearly isn’t a Left Tackle but the fact that they keep trotting him out there and Teddy (or Gottula or someone) can’t overtake him is absolutely mind-boggling and extremely concerning. The kid from Utah Knaak seems like he’s years away from seeing the field too. No idea what is happening there but they gotta figure that spot out because between that and the lack of explosiveness at WR they are extremely limited in what they can call offensively
Overall the team seems to be settling in a bit. They’re taking on Rhule’s identity of playing their best ball in the fourth quarter after two weeks of not doing so. Last year we were in a 7 point game against North Dakota in the fourth quarter and gave up 40+ to GA Southern in a home loss… this year we absolutely handled NIU and LA Tech and the result of both games never felt in doubt. This team is not only ahead of where they were last year, but they are getting better as the season goes on. I think we’re going to be happy with where we wind up as a team at the end of the year (not even talking record- just mean how we’re playing) and it MAY result in us getting to that 6 win mark. After next week there isn’t a game left on the schedule this team can’t win. That isn’t something you’ve been able to say about a Nebraska team for a long time.
Positives:
The defense, specifically against the run, is just so drastically improved from last year (and years prior) I don’t even know where to begin. They totally owned the LOS to the point where LA Tech basically solely turned to running those quick screens to their WRs as their run game. They completely gave up trying to run up the middle after the stuff of the QB sneak on 4th and 1
Nash Hutmacher is an all conference level player at DT. It’s absolutely crazy how much he has improved by adding some flexibility and quickness. Really really great job by Nash to put in the work needed and the strength staff to help get him to this point. Can’t even imagine how good he is going to be next year
Our depth at DB is great as well.. and not only that but most of these guys have at least another year after this. Gives us potential to build on the growth this year which is great, elevates the standard
The OL actually opened some pretty decent holes in the run game. I thought they started to establish themselves as the game went on. Rhule has constantly mentioned wanting to end the game better than they start and they are doing that.
10:33 left in the game Matt Millen provided this commentary: “As the game goes on you can see the strength of the offensive line. They’ve opened some pretty big holes”. Team finished with 312 yards rushing and that could’ve (should’ve?) been over 400 had the two long TD runs not been called back
Billy Kemp is finding his footing as our #1 option at WR. Haarberg seems to like him as his go to guy
Fidone does so many things well and seems to be gaining more and more confidence. His catch radius is just insane- the TD catch he made to leap up, grab it out of the air and keep running for the TD was just absurd. As he gets more and more confident and ramps up he’s going to be a major issue for opposing defenses
We forced two fumbles but both went out of bounds.. one by Omar Brown on a WR screen in the first half and one by Phalen Sanford on the punt return right before the weather delay. Keep punching at the ball and eventually we’ll reap the rewards in the turnover game
You can win football games with Haarberg at QB playing the style Rhule wants to play. I’m not going to pretend he is there as a passer yet but I think at this point he clearly has to be the guy they roll with- he’s earned that right and showed some pretty good speed on both long TD runs he had. His ability to take hits as a physical runner will pay dividends in November.. that isn’t a guy you want to have to tackle in 35 degree weather.
Concerns:
I’m decently concerned with how many snaps Nash has to play, he leads the defensive line by FAR in number of snaps.
Behind Nash (and Ty) at DT there really isn’t much “good” depth. Buckley is surprisingly serviceable- to be honest he was a guy that I didn’t think would ever play a snap here and he’s transformed his body enough to where he can hold up okay. He really only can bull rush the C but his size allows him to make progress there. I’d like to see him improve his lateral quickness in the offseason. Behind Buckley there is absolutely nobody that can play on the nose today- we are going to need a big offseason for Lefotu and Maciejczak.
Running back depth is totally non-existent behind Grant now. Emmett Johnson is going to need to show something because there is no way they can run Grant 22 times per game for 8 more Big Ten games and have him remain as effective/healthy as he is now. I don’t think Ives even played a snap against LT which to me means they’re clearly going to try to redshirt him if possible. Don’t be surprised if Trevin Luben or even Maurice Mazzccua play over Ives in order to have him maintain his 4 game redshirt.
WR.. Coleman finally played a bit (5 snaps) and was in on the long TD run Grant had called back. I think they’d ideally love to redshirt him too but they’re in a pickle because they need him to play to open the offense up a bit. Interesting Jaylin Lloyd didn’t play again… they’re probably going to alternate Lloyd and Coleman’s appearances so as to be able to redshirt both guys as they both bring similar skill sets to the offense (although Coleman’s height is an advantage). We got a Ty Hahn appearance- cannot believe he’s only a Sophomore
Left tackle…. I don’t even know where to begin. I can’t even shit on Corcoran because they’re not putting him in a position to play to his strengths and be successful. He clearly isn’t a Left Tackle but the fact that they keep trotting him out there and Teddy (or Gottula or someone) can’t overtake him is absolutely mind-boggling and extremely concerning. The kid from Utah Knaak seems like he’s years away from seeing the field too. No idea what is happening there but they gotta figure that spot out because between that and the lack of explosiveness at WR they are extremely limited in what they can call offensively
Overall the team seems to be settling in a bit. They’re taking on Rhule’s identity of playing their best ball in the fourth quarter after two weeks of not doing so. Last year we were in a 7 point game against North Dakota in the fourth quarter and gave up 40+ to GA Southern in a home loss… this year we absolutely handled NIU and LA Tech and the result of both games never felt in doubt. This team is not only ahead of where they were last year, but they are getting better as the season goes on. I think we’re going to be happy with where we wind up as a team at the end of the year (not even talking record- just mean how we’re playing) and it MAY result in us getting to that 6 win mark. After next week there isn’t a game left on the schedule this team can’t win. That isn’t something you’ve been able to say about a Nebraska team for a long time.
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