HNC's quick thoughts - Wisconsin

[goodnterribles]

BYU beat Wisconsin by going into Madison and running all over the Badgers. I'm not saying Ziggy should have had 20 carries, but 1 carry in the first half? When Martinez and the offense were struggling a bit?



What? In the 4th quarter, Nebraska was down 24 points. They scored a TD to bring it to 18 points. Had they gone for two and gotten it, they would have been down 16 points, or two scores. Instead we kicked the XP and stayed down 17 points, or three scores.

A few minutes later, with 5 minutes left we were driving down 17 points when we could have been driving down just two scores. Terrible decision to not go for 2.

Right. I think that was a boneheaded mistake by Frost because there was no justification to kick the extra point.

 

[Hville]

The defense played well in the first half but being put back on the field after two incomplete passes or a sack puts them back on the field too quickly . The Huskers were in the game at 3-0 6-0 and even 13-3 but not being able to drive the ball with the run game in the first half kept the defense on the field. Nebraska’s defense fresh in the first half but got tired in the second half. They need more points in the first half but that’s going to come. Martinez is 18 years old and missed his entire senior year. A solid running game helps wear out the opponents defense opening up the passing game.
I guess the point I’m making is Nebraska needs more run -pass balance in the first half because it wears down the opponents defense.I was listening to the Wisconsin radio the first half and they were surprised Ozigbo wasn’t being used. After his 172 yards last week they thought they’d see him all night.

I'm not disagreeing with the need to move the ball and get first downs. My disagreement is that passing and not burning up "game clock" does not shorten the amount of time between series and thus not tiring the defense. They get the same amount of "rest" whether the game clock is moving or not.

 

[Hville]

What? In the 4th quarter, Nebraska was down 24 points. They scored a TD to bring it to 18 points. Had they gone for two and gotten it, they would have been down 16 points, or two scores. Instead we kicked the XP and stayed down 17 points, or three scores.

A few minutes later, with 5 minutes left we were driving down 17 points when we could have been driving down just two scores. Terrible decision to not go for 2.

Why are we worrying about 2 point decisions and making a note of calling it a bad decision when it played less than zero percent part of the outcome?

 

[HuskerNCorpus]

Why are we worrying about 2 point decisions and making a note of calling it a bad decision when it played less than zero percent part of the outcome?

There will come a time when making the right call on going for two or not could mean the difference between winning and losing. There is not a single good defense for kickin the XP in that scenario.

 

[Hville]

There will come a time when making the right call on going for two or not could mean the difference between winning and losing. There is not a single good defense for kickin the XP in that scenario.

And if that point comes then we can determine whether it was bonehead call or not. Seems some are trying to nit pick something that means NOTHING regarding this game and situation. Your scenario would have required making three 2 point conversions. But if even one of them didn't materialize then we went from a 2 touch down one field goal scenario to a 3 TD scenario. A bone head scenario would have been having 2 minutes left in the game having to drive for a TD instead of a FG because we missed a 2 point conversion.

 

[HuskerRef]

There will come a time when making the right call on going for two or not could mean the difference between winning and losing. There is not a single good defense for kickin the XP in that scenario.

And when that time comes, Frost will probably do things differently. I think there were a lot of circumstances that might have figured into his decision to kick the XP. For starters, our short yardage game has not been very good. Also, I doubt he had much confidence that our defense was going to stop them with any consistency, not to mention the fact that two point conversion are somewhat low percentage plays especially against a good defense like Wisconsin's. The odds of picking up three of them in a row were slim at best.

I don't disagree with going for two there, but I can also see why he might've chosen not to.

 

[HuskerNCorpus]

And if that point comes then we can determine whether it was bonehead call or not. Seems some are trying to nit pick something that means NOTHING regarding this game and situation. Your scenario would have required making three 2 point conversions. But if even one of them didn't materialize then we went from a 2 touch down one field goal scenario to a 3 TD scenario. A bone head scenario would have been having 2 minutes left in the game having to drive for a TD instead of a FG because we missed a 2 point conversion.

It seems you're just in all out defense mode of every critique offered of the staff. We're 0-5. Mistakes have been made. That was one.

 

[HuskerNCorpus]

And when that time comes, Frost will probably do things differently. I think there were a lot of circumstances that might have figured into his decision to kick the XP. For starters, our short yardage game has not been very good. Also, I doubt he had much confidence that our defense was going to stop them with any consistency, not to mention the fact that two point conversion are somewhat low percentage plays especially against a good defense like Wisconsin's. The odds of picking up three of them in a row were slim at best.

I don't disagree with going for two there, but I can also see why he might've chosen not to.

Of course odds are against converting three 2 point conversions. But those odds are better than coming back from 17 points (three scores) in 8 minutes.

 

[Red October]

1. Ozigbo not being used was a joke. One carry in the first half? How do you go from 170 yards rushing last week to one rush in the first 30 minutes?

The offensive coaches did not believe Ziggy could run on Wisky!

 

[36Blast]

BYU beat Wisconsin by going into Madison and running all over the Badgers. I'm not saying Ziggy should have had 20 carries, but 1 carry in the first half? When Martinez and

Our offensive line is a JV squad compared to BYU's. We had no chance of replicating what they did. I thought the game plan was very sound and they put up enough points and yards to win the game.

 

[HuskerNCorpus]

No one is saying Nebraska should have come out and ran it 30 times.

But in the first half, when the offense was struggling and putting the struggling defense back on the field quickly, why not try and establish some sort of running game? Maybe give it a shot?

You shouldn't go from 170 yards rushing one week to 1 first half carry the next. Especially not on the road, with a true freshman QB who was struggling in the first half, and against the team whose only loss this year was to a BYU team who ran it down their throats.

 

[ColoREDo]

1. Ozigbo not being used was a joke. One carry in the first half? How do you go from 170 yards rushing last week to one rush in the first 30 minutes?

Ozigbo was the hot hand but lets be honest, Washington is our best RB and its not even close. Once he has all of his assignments down, everyone else is playing for #2.

2. Penalties are out of control. There were some bad calls, but the main issue is Nebraska being undisciplined.

This team is undisciplined and that fallls squarely on this coaching staff. No question.

3. Not going for 2 after the last TD was puzzling, at best.

It made no sense. Neither did not punting 4th and 11 with a tired defense. I don't care if a DL punted, its the right play.

4. Adrian Martinez is going to be GREAT. He has a ways to go, but I'm very excited about his future.

Without a doubt. He needs to learn to know when to fold on a play but that will come. Best talent we have had in a long time at QB.

5. Mo Washington is a talent. I said it after the CU game. He's our most talented RB since Ahman Green.

No question.

6. The trio of Adrian, Mo and JD will be DEADLY! Dang good trio to build around.

Hopefully a top level TE will add to that mix. Juergens maybe if he plays offense.

7. We need an OL. The above won't mean much if we don't improve in a hurry up front.

It all comes down to the guys up front and we are losing this battle on both sides of the line.

8. Worst special teams in FBS. The punting is just laughably bad. And no other special teams unit is much better.

And its much worse than last year.

9. Cam Taylor needs to start over Eric Lee and Lamar Jackson.

Agree. I'd rather have a young guy in there making mistakes and learning than a veteran making mistakes and not seeming to learn.

10. Honas going down is huge. #5 just isn't getting it done. The defense as a unit is BAD. Very little fire, getting out-ran, out-muscled, and out-worked.

I was disappointed in Honas to be honest. He seems undersized and yet not that fast. He has missed tackles and he has taken himself out of plays. That said, he is better than Young.

 

[FeelLikeAStranger]

There will come a time when making the right call on going for two or not could mean the difference between winning and losing. There is not a single good defense for kickin the XP in that scenario.

This is fairly true. They will need to tighten that stuff up.

However, I think Frost was being fairly realistic about how ‘close’ the game actually was at that point. The defense was gassed and gashed.

 

[ColoREDo]

This is fairly true. They will need to tighten that stuff up.

However, I think Frost was being fairly realistic about how ‘close’ the game actually was at that point. The defense was gassed and gashed.

It told me Frost had Wisconsin -16.

Relax people its a joke.

I think you send the right message to your team(that we can come back) even if its not realistic.

 

[Greatest Fan of All]

I'm not disagreeing with the need to move the ball and get first downs. My disagreement is that passing and not burning up "game clock" does not shorten the amount of time between series and thus not tiring the defense. They get the same amount of "rest" whether the game clock is moving or not.

You are not getting it. If your run game is reasonably successful, you will lengthen the time consumed by your own drives, keep the opposing defense on the field (tiring them), and "shorten" the game.

Example: 1st half, 2nd quarter, Wisconsin kicks FG to go up 13-3, Nebraska gets ball with 6:51 on the clock.

Nebraska goes on a long drive (13 or 14 plays) from it's 25 to the Wiskey 37 where it stopped on 4th and 11. There was only one running play aside from Martinez scrambles/sacks. We give the ball back to Wisconsin with 2:13 left and they score a TD with 48 seconds left to go into halftime up 20-3. Had we sprinkled in some runs, it is likely that when Wisky gets the ball back (if they do), they wouldn't have had time to score that last TD and we are in a much better position to win at halftime. Then, when we start the second half with a score, which we did, it is 13-10 and maybe we have a chance. Our whirlwind up-tempo attack, absent any run game at all, has its place, but in some circumstances we need to run the ball and run clock some just to keep us in the game.