Nebraska Thoughts

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Sparlimb

Sparlimb

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It is sure going to be interesting to see if Nebraska shows up next week. They are going to be at home, so I expect they will, but the Wisconsin game was a season killing type of game. I'll be very excited if it early appears to be a mirror of last year's game (which is about the only way I think we win). Thoughts?


Here's a thread on their MB discussing Kill as their next coach:

http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/72364-jerry-kill/
 

Sparlimb said:
It is sure going to be interesting to see if Nebraska shows up next week. They are going to be at home, so I expect they will, but the Wisconsin game was a season killing type of game. I'll be very excited if it early appears to be a mirror of last year's game (which is about the only way I think we win). Thoughts?


Here's a thread on their MB discussing Kill as their next coach:

http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/72364-jerry-kill/
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Interesting. I think Kill would be flattered but wouldn't consider it for longer than a few seconds.
 

I think we should beat Nebraska.
It's going to depend on Leidner throwing for close to 200 yds though.
 

Nebraska is beat up. I expect false bravado in the first half and then the Gophers roll.
 

People have been predicting the Gophers will lose their last three all season. What I have heard few if anyone suggest is since the Gophers manhandled Nebraska last year, and are an improved team this year, they may just actually be better without the need for smoke and mirrors.
 


Schnauzer said:
People have been predicting the Gophers will lose their last three all season. What I have heard few if anyone suggest is since the Gophers manhandled Nebraska last year, and are an improved team this year, they may just actually be better without the need for smoke and mirrors.
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I certainly hope this is the case, but I still don't think our program is at the same level of Nebraska top to bottom. Our victory last season was historic for a reason...now if we come out and beat Nebraska on the road, I may have to re-think my opinions on the two programs. The combination of our victory last year, and the embarrassment of last week vs Gordon, will lead to a very motivated Nebraska team and they should beat us at home.
 

Last year we beat up on them here. I couldn't believe how the Gophers were so more physical. I realize it's a home game for them and I realize we're not Wisconsin, but that game last year and what Wisconsin just did to them make me think there's a little quit in them. Watching Pellini for several years makes me think he's responsible for that. Seems to coach mostly by intimidation and that can backfire when players get tired of it. Important to smack them early and take the crowd out of it. Obviously don't know, but that crowd could turn on their beloved Cornhuskers after this week and those players could turn even more on their coach. I really don't see a close game. We get behind and it could get ugly for us. I think we're going to get up on them, discourage them, and win by a couple of touchdowns.
 

Schnauzer said:
People have been predicting the Gophers will lose their last three all season. What I have heard few if anyone suggest is since the Gophers manhandled Nebraska last year, and are an improved team this year, they may just actually be better without the need for smoke and mirrors.
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I see what you did there!!!! Good memory
 

I think a game like they had last week can make you fire back the next week at a very high level or you can let the disapointment and doubt take your season down. It usually doesn't end up in the middle. Lucky for us the Gophers responded after the IL loss. Here's hoping the Huskers choose the other route.
 




ruppertflywheel said:
Nebraska is beat up. I expect false bravado in the first half and then the Gophers roll.
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I saw a recap of Melvin Gordon's day and Nebraska's defense started off pretty strong defending the run and it did look like they just wore down the Nebraska defense by continuing to pound the ball. With Gordon all he needs is a little daylight and he's gone. I expect the Gophers to be conservative on offense during this game and just try to wear them down.
 

One question sticking in my mind heading into Saturday is how well do we contain Armstrong?

Our defensive strategy leaves a lot to be desired in containing mobile quarterbacks - 59 yards for O'Toole (most rushing yards in a game this year), 79 for Appleby (most rushing yards in a game this year), 92 for Boykin (2nd-most rushing yards in a game this year) and 189 for Barrett (most rushing yards in a game this year).

Armstrong went for 131 against McNeese, and 96 against Miami. He can run. Past performances of this defense against mobile quarterbacks would suggest that he may go for 100+. If he does, we could be in for a long day. We (rightly) should be focused on stopping Abdullah, but if we let Armstrong run wild it means they're probably converting 3rd downs and getting our defense tired.
 

Great point. As much as I like the secondary with it's man coverage, the Gophers have to figure out a way to stop the qb from taking off.
 



WorkingMyTailOff said:
Great point. As much as I like the secondary with it's man coverage, the Gophers have to figure out a way to stop the qb from taking off.
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Armstrong running definitely worries me some because we have shown a weakness when it comes to running QB's. Nebraska compounds this problem by having a great RB as well in Abdulah (although will be interesting to see how much this injury is really affecting him because he looked hurt against Wisconsin and his pass protection was terrible).

Both teams will put a premium on stopping the run because neither team is great when it comes to passing it. They have a few more weapons in the receiving corps but like us their QB can have trouble at times getting the ball where it needs to go.
 

Gopher07 said:
One question sticking in my mind heading into Saturday is how well do we contain Armstrong?

Our defensive strategy leaves a lot to be desired in containing mobile quarterbacks - 59 yards for O'Toole (most rushing yards in a game this year), 79 for Appleby (most rushing yards in a game this year), 92 for Boykin (2nd-most rushing yards in a game this year) and 189 for Barrett (most rushing yards in a game this year).

Armstrong went for 131 against McNeese, and 96 against Miami. He can run. Past performances of this defense against mobile quarterbacks would suggest that he may go for 100+. If he does, we could be in for a long day. We (rightly) should be focused on stopping Abdullah, but if we let Armstrong run wild it means they're probably converting 3rd downs and getting our defense tired.
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Great point. I seem to recall the EIU QB running well also - so it seems to be an issue we have had all year.
 

When was the last time that a Gopher team knew on November 17th, that if it won out, it would win the conference title?
 

Spoofin said:
Great point. I seem to recall the EIU QB running well also - so it seems to be an issue we have had all year.
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It's pick your poison. Claeys would rather try to come up and tackle a scrambling QB than give up a pass over the top.
Yards are meaningless by themselves. In fact I'd say if Armstrong ran for 131 against McNeese then we should hope he does that again because that means he's not handing the ball off to Abdullah or throwing it to Bell. McNeese almost ended the Huskers season before it began.
 

Ole said:
It's pick your poison. Claeys would rather try to come up and tackle a scrambling QB than give up a pass over the top.
Yards are meaningless by themselves. In fact I'd say if Armstrong ran for 131 against McNeese then we should hope he does that again because that means he's not handing the ball off to Abdullah or throwing it to Bell. McNeese almost ended the Huskers season before it began.
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I see your point - and do think it's valid - but for the sake of conversation, will counter and say the Huskers are 7-0 when Armstrong goes for 50+ yards, and 1-2 when he fails to reach that number.

When he's rushing for a decent amount of yards, they're scoring a lot more points on average (43 ppg in those games where he has 50+, 29 ppg in those games where he doesn't). Of course, this is one tiny stat in a sea of others (including strength of competition in those games), and correlation does not prove causation, but I think we need to scheme ways to contain him since it looks like their offense hums along better when he's able to move the ball with his feet.
 

Gopher07 said:
I see your point - and do think it's valid - but for the sake of conversation, will counter and say the Huskers are 7-0 when Armstrong goes for 50+ yards, and 1-2 when he fails to reach that number.

When he's rushing for a decent amount of yards, they're scoring a lot more points on average (43 ppg in those games where he has 50+, 29 ppg in those games where he doesn't). Of course, this is one tiny stat in a sea of others (including strength of competition in those games), and correlation does not prove causation, but I think we need to scheme ways to contain him since it looks like their offense hums along better when he's able to move the ball with his feet.
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Well that's why they pay Claeys the big bucks, if I had to bet though I'd say they'll try to do similar things to what wisky was able to do Sat.
Abdullah really didn't look right so maybe he's more gimpy than they've let on.
 

Felt all along that NE was not even close to their #11 ranking. They have not defeated a Power 5 team with a winning conference record this year. Far too many NE fans believed they actually had a real shot for "glory" this year (such as a Big 10 conference championship victory over OSU, ultra top tier bowl, etc.), which makes the return to reality that much more painful.
 

Ole said:
Well that's why they pay Claeys the big bucks, if I had to bet though I'd say they'll try to do similar things to what wisky was able to do Sat.
Abdullah really didn't look right so maybe he's more gimpy than they've let on.
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Really hope so. Agree on Abdullah - he was not really on his game. Pass blocking was truly awful against Wisco.
 


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