I hope Bajakian has a good game plan and that the boys execute it well

[eastbaycat99]

Nebraska’s defense has really coalesced since their opener, and they have are tough and talented. They pretty much smothered a decent MSU last week in the second half, and will undoubtedly try to do the same to the Cats Saturday.
So far, the Cats strengths and weaknesses on offense have been a little surprising. Both Johnson and Marty have hit deep passes ( I think combined they have had five, with a few drops on top), and Hull has been able to break some chunk plays between the tackles. Overall, pass protection has been poor with a lot of breakdowns, and Hilinski has only thrown a few balls. The red zone offense has been terrible, with what little success they have had coming on the wildcat.
In light of that, you would have to think Chinander will do two things for sure: he will have his linebackers focused on crowding the run, and he will be conservative with his safeties, thinking one of the few ways the Cats could put points up would be the deep throw or a gashing run. Assuming he wants to smother the Cats, I would think he will press the wide receivers at the los, and give the Cats no room to work at all.

While my guess is that Bajakian will try to play Fitz ball and show who is tougher by favoring a power game, I hope he draws up a plan that works backward: with safeties deep and linebackers up, there would be room over the middle if the TE or slot can break the inevitable jam they get. I think the best possible path to some success on offense is to look to short passes over the middle on first and second down, checking down if the receivers get jammed, and run largely on third down when the defense is playing to defend the line to gain. This would require our TE and wide receivers to be physical, and Hilinski to have the quicks to read who is free and deliver the ball on time, both tall orders. While this does not make me run out and put money on the Cats (though I do think they will cover), I do think, based on Hilinski’s history and the improvement at receiver, I think a strategy give the Cats a puncher’s chance to put together a few drives on Saturday. If the Cats rely on their OL controlling the line on first and second to power run, I think it could be close to a shut out, with points only coming from Husker turnovers and special team play.

 

[Cornicator]

Nebraska’s defense has really coalesced since their opener, and they have are tough and talented. They pretty much smothered a decent MSU last week in the second half, and will undoubtedly try to do the same to the Cats Saturday.
So far, the Cats strengths and weaknesses on offense have been a little surprising. Both Johnson and Marty have hit deep passes ( I think combined they have had five, with a few drops on top), and Hull has been able to break some chunk plays between the tackles. Overall, pass protection has been poor with a lot of breakdowns, and Hilinski has only thrown a few balls. The red zone offense has been terrible, with what little success they have had coming on the wildcat.
In light of that, you would have to think Chinander will do two things for sure: he will have his linebackers focused on crowding the run, and he will be conservative with his safeties, thinking one of the few ways the Cats could put points up would be the deep throw or a gashing run. Assuming he wants to smother the Cats, I would think he will press the wide receivers at the los, and give the Cats no room to work at all.

While my guess is that Bajakian will try to play Fitz ball and show who is tougher by favoring a power game, I hope he draws up a plan that works backward: with safeties deep and linebackers up, there would be room over the middle if the TE or slot can break the inevitable jam they get. I think the best possible path to some success on offense is to look to short passes over the middle on first and second down, checking down if the receivers get jammed, and run largely on third down when the defense is playing to defend the line to gain. This would require our TE and wide receivers to be physical, and Hilinski to have the quicks to read who is free and deliver the ball on time, both tall orders. While this does not make me run out and put money on the Cats (though I do think they will cover), I do think, based on Hilinski’s history and the improvement at receiver, I think a strategy give the Cats a puncher’s chance to put together a few drives on Saturday. If the Cats rely on their OL controlling the line on first and second to power run, I think it could be close to a shut out, with points only coming from Husker turnovers and special team play.

I think there is a misconception about Nebraska's defense not playing well vs. Illinois. That's not the case. Nebraska held the Illini to 3.3 yards per carry, and 4.8 yards per play. The Husker defense really only gave up two actual scoring drives to the Illinois offense.

16 of their 30 points were gifts that only Nebraska football can hand out like a Shriner in a Cancer ward.

My point is the defense coalesced from day one of Fall camp.

 

[ricko654321]

Nebraska’s defense has really coalesced since their opener, and they have are tough and talented. They pretty much smothered a decent MSU last week in the second half, and will undoubtedly try to do the same to the Cats Saturday.
So far, the Cats strengths and weaknesses on offense have been a little surprising. Both Johnson and Marty have hit deep passes ( I think combined they have had five, with a few drops on top), and Hull has been able to break some chunk plays between the tackles. Overall, pass protection has been poor with a lot of breakdowns, and Hilinski has only thrown a few balls. The red zone offense has been terrible, with what little success they have had coming on the wildcat.
In light of that, you would have to think Chinander will do two things for sure: he will have his linebackers focused on crowding the run, and he will be conservative with his safeties, thinking one of the few ways the Cats could put points up would be the deep throw or a gashing run. Assuming he wants to smother the Cats, I would think he will press the wide receivers at the los, and give the Cats no room to work at all.

While my guess is that Bajakian will try to play Fitz ball and show who is tougher by favoring a power game, I hope he draws up a plan that works backward: with safeties deep and linebackers up, there would be room over the middle if the TE or slot can break the inevitable jam they get. I think the best possible path to some success on offense is to look to short passes over the middle on first and second down, checking down if the receivers get jammed, and run largely on third down when the defense is playing to defend the line to gain. This would require our TE and wide receivers to be physical, and Hilinski to have the quicks to read who is free and deliver the ball on time, both tall orders. While this does not make me run out and put money on the Cats (though I do think they will cover), I do think, based on Hilinski’s history and the improvement at receiver, I think a strategy give the Cats a puncher’s chance to put together a few drives on Saturday. If the Cats rely on their OL controlling the line on first and second to power run, I think it could be close to a shut out, with points only coming from Husker turnovers and special team play.

All reasonable analysis. My hope is that we've been playing possum since the start of the year and holding out until we play B1G West opponents. That our OL will start to pass protect as a joint unit, that our WRs will look shiftier and Bajakian will do a better job of scheming them open, and Hilinski will look downfield (which he didn't do the entire game against Ohio U). That our DL gets a push and pass rush, our LBs for once are able to prevent a mobile QB from running, and that our secondary continues to improve from already solid play.

In typical fashion I expect our D will give up a fair amount of yards (including some frustrating 3rd and long QB scrambles), but that they will keep us in the game... if / as long as our offense can sustain some semblance of effectiveness on the other side of the ball. If so, it'll come down to turnovers and big plays (we've certainly seen plenty of wild ones in this series over the years) - which gives us a reasonable chance to pull the upset. If our offense gets stuck in a cycle of 3 and outs, then I suspect eventually our D will cave and we will lose 31-10 or so.

 

[eastbaycat99]

I think there is a misconception about Nebraska's defense not playing well vs. Illinois. That's not the case. Nebraska held the Illini to 3.3 yards per carry, and 4.8 yards per play. The Husker defense really only gave up two actual scoring drives to the Illinois offense.

16 of their 30 points were gifts that only Nebraska football can hand out like a Shriner in a Cancer ward.

My point is the defense coalesced from day one of Fall camp.

Lol. OK, two 75 yard drives and a 40 yard drive, 4.5 per play against a team that managed 9 points against the fearsome Purdue defense is lockdown. The only other team the Illini have scored 20 against was UTSA, but, though I watched the game, I will take your word the Nebraska D was stellar against the Illini. I complimented your team's defense, said the were really tough, and you need to defend their performance against Illinois? OK. I have to disclose I have a thin skin about Nebraska since my in-laws are all Nebraskans who have for 40+ years told me how good they are, and that in the years they fall short, it is all the fault of coaching. I take Nebraska fans' perception of their team's prowess with a grain of salt. I will say for the last few years I told my in-laws that the Husker defense underperformed it's talent due to coaching philosophy, and this year I am truly surprised they are not. You made the point that this is the most talented D Frost has had, and I agree. Maybe Chinander needs a lot of physical talent to have a good defense, but that is a separate post. UNL has a good defense this year, and there is a good chance they will hold the cats to 10 points or less. I hope NU is able to make it a game.

 

[stpaulcat]

All reasonable analysis. My hope is that we've been playing possum since the start of the year and holding out until we play B1G West opponents. That our OL will start to pass protect as a joint unit, that our WRs will look shiftier and Bajakian will do a better job of scheming them open, and Hilinski will look downfield (which he didn't do the entire game against Ohio U). That our DL gets a push and pass rush, our LBs for once are able to prevent a mobile QB from running, and that our secondary continues to improve from already solid play.

In typical fashion I expect our D will give up a fair amount of yards (including some frustrating 3rd and long QB scrambles), but that they will keep us in the game... if / as long as our offense can sustain some semblance of effectiveness on the other side of the ball. If so, it'll come down to turnovers and big plays (we've certainly seen plenty of wild ones in this series over the years) - which gives us a reasonable chance to pull the upset. If our offense gets stuck in a cycle of 3 and outs, then I suspect eventually our D will cave and we will lose 31-10 or so.

Your first paragraph sounds like the year Colter beat the Huskers in Lincoln. Your second paragraph reminds me of the Alamo Bowl. That's quite a range of possibility.

 

[ricko654321]

Your first paragraph sounds like the year Colter beat the Huskers in Lincoln. Your second paragraph reminds me of the Alamo Bowl. That's quite a range of possibility.

Haha I was thinking of the Colter game. That Colter to Ebert slant + the Colter stretch. I've tried to block out the 2000 Alamo Bowl game, unfortunately it still lingers in my memory... I recall seeing them run a reverse pass (or similar?) when already up about 50 on the TVs in the bar as we were walking back to our hotel along the Riverwalk... still salty at Frank Solich about that. Outside of 2 long runs by Damien our offense got stifled, and unfortunately I think gave a blueprint for teams to defend us in 2001.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

NU must throw deep against the Huskers. Take chances with Robinson deep. Thats the whole game plan. We won't be able to run on them unless we throw downfield successfully.

While I agree with the original poster that Nebraska will have 7 guys in the box on defense, I also expect the safeties to be playing up close because we are so conservative and Nebraska thinks our receivers can't get open.

(I think Robinson can)

 

[eastbaycat99]

NU must throw deep against the Huskers. Take chances with Robinson deep. Thats the whole game plan. We won't be able to run on them unless we throw downfield successfully.

While I agree with the original poster that Nebraska will have 7 guys in the box on defense, I also expect the safeties to be playing up close because we are so conservative and Nebraska thinks our receivers can't get open.

(I think Robinson can)

I agree on they will need deep throws if they play the safeties close to the line. As I said, I would think they believe their front 7 can stifle our running game and have viewed video of both Johnson and Marty connecting deep throws and conclude the one way the Cats might put up points is doing what you say. We will see.

 

[NUCat320]

I remembered NU at Nebraska during Thorson’s freshman year as looking a lot like the Stanford game but, in addition to the long run from the youngster, there was a defensive TD and a few decent drives.

Let’s do that tomorrow night.

Northwestern 30-28 Nebraska (Oct 24, 2015) Final Score - ESPN

Game summary of the Northwestern Wildcats vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers NCAAF game, final score 30-28, from October 24, 2015 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

Go Cats.

Robinson is a good good player. Hilinski is the guy to find him.

 

[FanatiCat]

I've tried to block out the 2000 Alamo Bowl game, unfortunately it still lingers in my memory... I recall seeing them run a reverse pass (or similar?) when already up about 50 on the TVs in the bar as we were walking back to our hotel along the Riverwalk... still salty at Frank Solich about that. Outside of 2 long runs by Damien our offense got stifled, and unfortunately I think gave a blueprint for teams to defend us in 2001.

You left the Alamo Bowl early? Wife and I stayed until the bitter, bitter end. Would have been so much more fun to hang out on the Riverwalk.

 

[pawildcat]

Haha I was thinking of the Colter game. That Colter to Ebert slant + the Colter stretch. I've tried to block out the 2000 Alamo Bowl game, unfortunately it still lingers in my memory... I recall seeing them run a reverse pass (or similar?) when already up about 50 on the TVs in the bar as we were walking back to our hotel along the Riverwalk... still salty at Frank Solich about that. Outside of 2 long runs by Damien our offense got stifled, and unfortunately I think gave a blueprint for teams to defend us in 2001.

I don't think it was so much a blueprint to defend us as it was that Nebraska had some very quick edge rushers who took advantage of the spread formation to make Kustok's life miserable that game.