Some thoughts about the game in K.C.....

[Blakejc]

I was happy that his leg is ok. He took a shot like the 1st offensive play, and then another later on, that were nasty.

It’s honestly amazing he stayed healthy all year last year. Dude has to be the toughest guy on the team. Love him, just want a few more of his plays to pop for 60 instead of 12.

 

[tedfordtony]

It was the 1st game against a power 4 team some of you need to relax, past teams would of lost that game

 

[Steveweiser316]

Based on my impression as I was watching, it looked like they used Johnson for between the tackles runs, doing zone blocking with one cut and go.

When it was Nelson & Mozee, they had plays for them sweeping or stretching to the outside to try & get them in space (which makes sense as that's more in line with those backs' skill sets), and it didn't look like we were doing nearly as good of a job in blocking those schemes.

Probably didn't help that Cinci was in a soft zone, so their whole secondary could immediately see those slower developing runs & rally to the ball.

So while EJ looked like a very solid back & the guys behind him did not impress, I'm thinking at least part of that apparent dropoff is the opportunities & schemes.

Nelson and Mozee also only had what I believe was a combined 5 touches. So for some on here to say they suck isn’t a sound argument based merely on their play last night.

 

[MaxHuskers34]

I was happy that his leg is ok. He took a shot like the 1st offensive play, and then another later on, that were nasty.

That was the most blatant late hit/targeting call never called. Quite egregious

 

[Herbie]

I’ll give Raiola some credit after rewatching today.
Outside of 1 throw he never put the ball in any real danger which is a big step after last season.
But play calling and downfield throws will have to be attempted or they’ll lose a good amount of big 10 games this year. Can’t play it safe.
Overall he had some good decision making but he definitely needs to be quicker with his decisions.

 

[Kazman5k]

I did not see the Boise st score til just now. They got their shit pushed in

 

[biscuitgaze01]

I’ll give Raiola some credit after rewatching today.
Outside of 1 throw he never put the ball in any real danger which is a big step after last season.
But play calling and downfield throws will have to be attempted or they’ll lose a good amount of big 10 games this year. Can’t play it safe.
Overall he had some good decision making but he definitely needs to be quicker with his decisions.

Big ten teams do not play defense like Cincy does. There should be more opportunities down field moving forward.

 

[Lionsfan93]

I think any fan has to be worried about our run defense. I know it’s game one, but I don’t think we have the big bodies to hold up in the BIG run game. We are a middle of the road BIG team talent wise.

Definitely not time to be concerned about the DL against the run IMO. Could it be an issue, sure. But they actually held up on in their first game against a team that wants to run the ball. Sorsby led the Big 12 in rushing TDs last year and is one of the best QBs we will see all year (probably second to Allar).

Cincy is on par with Minnesota IMO. Michigan and Penn St will be a challenge to stop. But they are a challenge for every single team in the country to stop.

At the end of the day, this defense allowed 17 points. They did their job.

 

[Herbie]

Big ten teams do not play defense like Cincy does. There should be more opportunities down field moving forward.

No but Cincy gave a pretty good tutorial on how to stop Nebraska effectively

 

[TheXHerb]

No but Cincy gave a pretty good tutorial on how to stop Nebraska effectively

353 total yards, 243 through the air, and a 100 yard rusher. They beat us in only two categories, rushing yards and a slight edge in yards per play.

It's just too easy to watch this game through the eyes of offseason unrealistic expectations and and say Cinci "stopped Nebraska effectively".

If there's ANYTHING that's true about Nebraska offensively that needs improvement is red zone offense. We marched down the field against these guys all night but couldn't put it in the endzone. THAT needs to get better.

 

[CornFed Gregger]

I think it's very important to remember something in context.

Our Defense forced a turnover late in both halves. Those are game changing plays that we likely lose this game without. And I am not saying we were "lucky to win". We had guys rise to the occasion for what felt like the first time in forever.

V9 saying "fuck that first down spot - give us the fucking ball" got me erect. Malcolm - who can be picked on and worries the fuck out of me sometimes - showed that we have a team of guys that can play confidently in the face of things not going perfectly. Frankly I think that D Holding was a bit bullshit - but he responded with a game changing play.

This was huge. For a long time we've been saying "let's see us really close out a game" and we did it. Don't let that deter us when it can be what propels us.

This is true. Clutch turnovers to end the half & the offense responded with 7 points on one. Special teams looks reliable, in the past we miss a FG & cinncy would’ve played it safe & kicked a game winner.

We’ve been envious of Cockeye & Minnesota for closing out these types of games & those coaches take the bad performance Ws & make their team better as the season goes along. We got 5 weeks to get better before playing MSU in a game we need to win.

 

[Toe]

The complaints about lack of deep ball IMO aren’t recognizing what we were up against.

Yeah, I've got my concerns after last night, but that's a minor one. I did notice during the game that Dylan wasn't throwing any deep balls, but then I realized that Cincy was pretty much selling out to stop them and giving us easy throws underneath all night. Still, I'd like to see some 50/50 balls where we let the playmakers come up with them - we're gonna need them at some point.

 

[MaxHuskers34]

Weirdo Bigelow is back and turned off the comments for this tweet

 

[Tell_Sackett]

It’s honestly amazing he stayed healthy all year last year. Dude has to be the toughest guy on the team. Love him, just want a few more of his plays to pop for 60 instead of 12.

That shovel pass he took should have been six. He was knocked down by a random outstretched arm...maybe... The replay looked as if he was barely touched and more that he saw the grass in front of him and the yard line gremlin got him.

 

[Flabio]

No but Cincy gave a pretty good tutorial on how to stop Nebraska effectively

I think so too. We just don’t have the players on OL or RB to line up and smash people consistently.

 

[Milo-of-Croton]

Cincy has a good team. Defensively the front 7 makes their shell defense work. I certainly underestimated them. They were successful in slowing down a passing team - it will bode well for them in the Big 12 - and to complement that defense, he wants to run the ball. They slowed down the game.

You do not know your weaknesses until you play a game, and opening with Cincy exposed us in a few areas. Now the coaches need to get to work and fix the issues.

Go Huskers.