Some thoughts on the Maryland game.

[Tsakoi]

1. DR might be the leader, but EJ is the soul of the team. He is not the perfect RB for football in general, but he is the perfect player for this team. Give me one of him on every team every year, please.

2. For the RB to have a game like that then the OL played well, they also protected Dylan well enough considering Maryland has an above average pass rush.

3. In years past we don't get a win like this because our special teams doesn't return a kick like that or make all of our FGs/XPs. Now we are winning tough games because we actually perform in all 3 phases of the contest.

4. It didn't appear to me that we rotated many different guys on defense this game. What I mean is not as much as in the past games this season. We will see the snaps when PFF comes out. And some dudes we saw at the start of the year have vanished. (Ochoa for example)

5. It was a physical game and I am hoping that we don't totally bonk for the quick turnaround with Minnesota. Some guys have to be feeling banged up after that one.

6. What are the odds that QB stays at Maryland? Dude is legit. I kept waiting for him to play like a true freshman and really do something stupid and he didn't. He was slinging the ball. He really impressed me and made me think some bigger school will be offering some cash that Maryland won't be able to match.

7. Scrap the Haarberg runs unless we are planning to have him fake a run and throw one at some point.

 

[nscottie]

Good points. Totally agree on the Maryland qb. He was very poised and threw a great ball. He’s from Maryland, and that may keep him there.

Also agree on the Haarberg run package. It doesn’t fool anyone anymore.

 

[KidsSeeGhosts]

6. What are the odds that QB stays at Maryland? Dude is legit. I kept waiting for him to play like a true freshman and really do something stupid and he didn't. He was slinging the ball. He really impressed me and made me think some bigger school will be offering some cash that Maryland won't be able to match.

7. Scrap the Haarberg runs unless we are planning to have him fake a run and throw one at some point.

Believe Locks has been recruiting that guy since middle school and they have a pretty tight relationship. He'll get some bag offers for sure (as is the life of a talented player at MD), but would expect him to stick around and be a pretty dangerous dude going forward.

Has that play ever worked? IMO the better change might be Haarberg on speed option (and not just in the red zone). I don't remember him being necessary great in the read game and feel like most yardage just came by repetitive brute force and explosives came off speed option.

 

[herbsinator]

Nebraska got a road win while also -3 in turnover margin. I’d actually argue that you have to be a pretty good team to overcome those mistakes and still win. We also put up 34 points on a D that was #11 in scoring defense

 

[KidsSeeGhosts]

• Got the W despite being massively negative in turnover luck. Team deserves a lot of credit for that.
• Ek is an unbelievable hire. Special teams has not been a net positive, let alone a strength, since DPE. We've had at least one special teams play flip momentum in every win.
• Hope we continue to lean on EJ and the run game a bit more going forward. While run blocking seemed a lot better, EJ has shown that he can get positive yards when there isn't much there and he can generate highlight yards. Dude is a baller.
• Best WR room since 2018 (and I'd put it above that). High level plays all over the field yesterday and #44 does not get enough credit for how he's flashing in first year as a starter.
• This defense is a little odd this year. Feels like we're getting a bit shredded, but you look at the stats at the end of the game and it's not as bad as expected. 5.6 YPP (43 percentile and our approximate average in B1G play last year). 56% in EPA per pass. MD was in that game because of the short field TD and pick 6.
• That said, thing I am paying attention to is the lack of pressure yesterday. Did not seem to me like we blitzed very often, but we just did not generate much havoc. Most of Washington's log completions seemed to come off late developing concepts against the zone coverage that we don't expect to me there because the QB doesn't have time to get to them. Some impressive throws and receptions to make those plays either way.
• Offense played better than it felt like. 9 YPP.
• Lost on the sandy vaginas, but we do not win that game without DR15. Dude made a ton of highlight throws. The game winning drive was a ridiculous BoW. Unsung play of the game, but that throw to evade the free rusher and throw off platform to #44 and put us near plus territory on play 1 of the drive? Special shit.
• Drive to take it from the 8 down for the field goal is going to be get lost in the shuffle, but was crucial. Overcome two potentially drive killing penalties and put in position to win with the TD. Great composure by the team.
• That intentional grounding call on Washington and interception on Raiola shows why "just throw it away" isn't always such an easy answer. Dependent on the pressure and route concepts.

 

[BorWhiskey]

4. It didn't appear to me that we rotated many different guys on defense this game. What I mean is not as much as in the past games this season. We will see the snaps when PFF comes out. And some dudes we saw at the start of the year have vanished. (Ochoa for example)

I think we’ve mostly settled into who we are on defense. We honestly didn’t know who would step up and take the starting jobs, or what parts of the scheme this team would do best. The first four games of the year was a lot of trial by fire. Hopefully we’ve settled into who we are moving forward. I don’t think our pass defense is as good as it was nor is our run defense as bad as it was at this point. Far fewer busts.

 

[HuskerDocCo]

just another flash ⚡️ in the pan post!! 3am??!

 

[Carm]

7. Scrap the Haarberg runs unless we are planning to have him fake a run and throw one at some point.

they must be planning this, it's the only way the HH wildcat makes sense.

 

[westernnehusker]

1. DR might be the leader, but EJ is the soul of the team. He is not the perfect RB for football in general, but he is the perfect player for this team. Give me one of him on every team every year, please.

2. For the RB to have a game like that then the OL played well, they also protected Dylan well enough considering Maryland has an above average pass rush.

3. In years past we don't get a win like this because our special teams doesn't return a kick like that or make all of our FGs/XPs. Now we are winning tough games because we actually perform in all 3 phases of the contest.

4. It didn't appear to me that we rotated many different guys on defense this game. What I mean is not as much as in the past games this season. We will see the snaps when PFF comes out. And some dudes we saw at the start of the year have vanished. (Ochoa for example)

5. It was a physical game and I am hoping that we don't totally bonk for the quick turnaround with Minnesota. Some guys have to be feeling banged up after that one.

6. What are the odds that QB stays at Maryland? Dude is legit. I kept waiting for him to play like a true freshman and really do something stupid and he didn't. He was slinging the ball. He really impressed me and made me think some bigger school will be offering some cash that Maryland won't be able to match.

7. Scrap the Haarberg runs unless we are planning to have him fake a run and throw one at some point.

Like the analysis!

 

[Baron Winnebago]

On Washington (Maryland QB), the potential is obviously there but he's got a long ways to go as far as accuracy and placement. He missed a ton of open throws because he never took anything off the ball. Of course his frame and arm are things you bet on long term, but if I were him I'd think long and hard about jumping after the bag to a place that will be a whole lot less forgiving of his growing pains

 

[Flabio]

On Washington (Maryland QB), the potential is obviously there but he's got a long ways to go as far as accuracy and placement. He missed a ton of open throws because he never took anything off the ball. Of course his frame and arm are things you bet on long term, but if I were him I'd think long and hard about jumping after the bag to a place that will be a whole lot less forgiving of his growing pains

Yes but for a true freshman that was a ridiculously good performance against a good secondary.

 

[Tell_Sackett]

Teams that run the ball effectively and consistently just win more. It shouldn't all be on Dylan's shoulders, good or bad, and yesterday it wasn't... and that's why we won. We ran off schedule consistently, it kept Dylan upright, and put us in manageable down and distance all game long. EJ was a man possessed.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Yes but for a true freshman that was a ridiculously good performance against a good secondary.

Yeah it was a really solid day for him.

 

[Flabio]

Yeah it was a really solid day for him.

I was really surprised we didn’t blitz him or get in his head. Dude was calm the whole game, not rattled at all. Their OL was pretty good too.

 

[TampaBaySkers]

On Washington (Maryland QB), the potential is obviously there but he's got a long ways to go as far as accuracy and placement. He missed a ton of open throws because he never took anything off the ball. Of course his frame and arm are things you bet on long term, but if I were him I'd think long and hard about jumping after the bag to a place that will be a whole lot less forgiving of his growing pains

He also could have picked up that 4th down on opening drive but was afraid of contact. Could of been the difference in this game

 

[TampaBaySkers]

I was really surprised we didn’t blitz him or get in his head. Dude was calm the whole game, not rattled at all. Their OL was pretty good too.

We finally started pressuring last drive and it worked pretty well. Not sure why we didn’t prior but it all worked out

 

[Baron Winnebago]

He also could have picked up that 4th down on opening drive but was afraid of contact. Could of been the difference in this game

Yeah there were a lot of those "freshmen moments" where he slid 2 yards short of the sticks, stepped out, forced a throw when he easily could have gotten the yards with his legs.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Also Lindenmeyer was huge yesterday. Big TD catch and then sparked that last drive with 15-20 YAC on a play that should have been dead in the water

 

[ChocaEgg]

I get people looking at the box score and being excited about the low # of sacks allowed, but I think that's more due to Dana doing a great job neutralizing their pass rush with his play calling. Lots of screens and short passes that didn't give Mathis & Co time to get home.

OL (and everyone else pass blocking) still crappy, but Dana did a good job masking it yesterday.

 

[TampaBaySkers]

Also Lindenmeyer was huge yesterday. Big TD catch and then sparked that last drive with 15-20 YAC on a play that should have been dead in the water

It was a beautiful stiff arm !