How much the Cats’ win last Saturday means beyond the immediate gratification it generated is determined by whether the win was over a bad, middling or strong team.
Before the game, I thought, Scott Frost notwithstanding, they were probably a strong team. They took in some talented skill players on offense, had a defense that actually looked pretty good last year and got some transfers to shore up weak spots, and brought in an OC with a proven track record.
After the game, the question remains, are they any good?
I think the answer is a resounding maybe, but the vultures circling over Scott Frost may make it impossible to know for sure.
I think three predominant themes ran through the game Saturday, none of which are answerable until each team plays a few more games.
The first was that the Cats’ Oline totally dominated Nebby’s front seven. This may mean that the Cats’ have an exceptional group that can top most teams, or that the Huskers’ front is really weak.
The second is that after looking almost unstoppable the first quarter of the game, the Nebraska offense stopped except for three non-normative plays: the 11 second scramble, the unforced NU PI, and the long broken field TD run. The key point was that both times Nebraska took a double-digit lead, they showed no ability at all to control the ball or the clock. The unanswered questions are whether NU’s defense was strong and its adjustments stymied Whipple’s group, or if was something of a shakedown cruise, and their game plan was so focused on beating the Cats through passing that they didn’t have a running game drawn up to counter the Cats’ adjustments, or whether they just don’t have the personnel to run the ball, and any team with a DC who has a bran brain and a reasonably competent back seven will thwart them?
Finally, were the breakdowns Nebraska had, like the blown safety coverage on Niro’s TD a first game thing, or are the players Frost brought in physically gifted but flawed in their ability to execute? If the answer is the former, NU caught a break playing them early. If it is the latter, it will be a really long season in Lincoln.
In all honesty, absent the yardstick of comparative competition, I think Nebraska is a bad team with some good skill position players, which would at least make the Cats a team that can exploit opponents’ weaknesses. As the season progresses, I guess we will see.
Before the game, I thought, Scott Frost notwithstanding, they were probably a strong team. They took in some talented skill players on offense, had a defense that actually looked pretty good last year and got some transfers to shore up weak spots, and brought in an OC with a proven track record.
After the game, the question remains, are they any good?
I think the answer is a resounding maybe, but the vultures circling over Scott Frost may make it impossible to know for sure.
I think three predominant themes ran through the game Saturday, none of which are answerable until each team plays a few more games.
The first was that the Cats’ Oline totally dominated Nebby’s front seven. This may mean that the Cats’ have an exceptional group that can top most teams, or that the Huskers’ front is really weak.
The second is that after looking almost unstoppable the first quarter of the game, the Nebraska offense stopped except for three non-normative plays: the 11 second scramble, the unforced NU PI, and the long broken field TD run. The key point was that both times Nebraska took a double-digit lead, they showed no ability at all to control the ball or the clock. The unanswered questions are whether NU’s defense was strong and its adjustments stymied Whipple’s group, or if was something of a shakedown cruise, and their game plan was so focused on beating the Cats through passing that they didn’t have a running game drawn up to counter the Cats’ adjustments, or whether they just don’t have the personnel to run the ball, and any team with a DC who has a bran brain and a reasonably competent back seven will thwart them?
Finally, were the breakdowns Nebraska had, like the blown safety coverage on Niro’s TD a first game thing, or are the players Frost brought in physically gifted but flawed in their ability to execute? If the answer is the former, NU caught a break playing them early. If it is the latter, it will be a really long season in Lincoln.
In all honesty, absent the yardstick of comparative competition, I think Nebraska is a bad team with some good skill position players, which would at least make the Cats a team that can exploit opponents’ weaknesses. As the season progresses, I guess we will see.
