Enjoy our terrific photos from the Texas Tech pregame festivities at the Husker Nation Pavillion, as Doc Sadler and the Nebraska men's basketball team made an appearance for some fun and introductions...enjoy...and upload your own photos today!

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Please enable Javascript, or download the podcast here.

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Our MVPs and Report Card after NU's 31-10 loss to Texas Tech:

OFFENSIVE MVP: Roy Helu, Jr. Playing with a bum shoulder, Helu mostly maximized gains on what few holes there were. His effort on the 27-yard screen pass was easily the best individual offensive play of the game. Should Helu sit vs. Iowa State? Maybe. He needs to be truly healthy for the stretch run.

DEFENSIVE MVP: Phillip Dillard. Arguably his best game. Dillard chased Tech's backs on passing plays, rendering them ineffective after the opening drive, and imposed his physical will on receivers and linemen. He's catching fire at just the right time in his career.

GRADES

QUARTERBACK: D Zac Lee played his worst game – because it was his most hesitant game. He didn't push the ball downfield. He ate two or three drive-killing sacks. And he didn't get deep enough on a couple of his drops. Playing to avoid mistakes is really no way to play quarterback unless you've got a top-grade running game. And Nebraska doesn't. And while Cody Green gave NU a spark, he could've easily thrown two or three more interceptions.

RUNNING BACKS: B Helu played bravely, but he's not 100 percent, and he's not much of a pass-blocking option when he isn't. Marcus Mendoza caught a few passes, and played aggressively. The coaches erred in not playing him before the Texas Tech game. We'll see more of Tray Robinson next week.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: D Drops, drops, drops. NU's receivers might have been open, and Lee should have found them, but who's to say they would have caught the ball? Niles Paul's blunder is elementary stuff. Cover the ball! Chris Brooks and Khiry Cooper at least catch the ball consistently. Cooper needs to block better. Not a good game for Ted Gilmore's unit, and he's running out of motivation tactics. The tight ends were mostly a non-factor.

OFFENSIVE LINE: D Marcel Jones and D.J. Jones get an F, while the rest of the unit gets, oh, a C or so. The Jones duo was awful, getting manhandled play after play, committing penalties, whiffing on blocks. Jacob Hickman and Keith Williams were fair, but not dominant. Ricky Henry played OK until his bonehead personal foul in the fourth quarter.

DEFENSIVE LINE: B+ The front four generated a terrific pass rush throughout the game, especially ends Pierre Allen and Barry Turner. But they got a little gashed late in the fourth quarter by Tech's quick running game.

LINEBACKERS: B Will Compton had a bad first drive and was replaced by Dillard, who played one of his best. At times, Dillard was mismatched against Tech's speedy receivers. In spot duty, Sean Fisher and Compton were fine against Tech's running formations.

SECONDARY: B- More than one of NU's sacks were thanks to the Huskers' coverage, but two pass interference penalties, plus a couple missed tackles by Prince Amukamara, bring the grade down. The good news: Only Kansas has better receivers, and no team has faster receivers.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C Alex Henery had a poor game, missing a 51-yarder and shanking a punt. Nebraska gave up a big kickoff return at wrong time. The punt coverage units were OK, and Alfonzo Dennard had a nice kickoff return of his own. The snaps by PJ Mangieri were much better.

GAME MANAGEMENT/PLAYCALLING: D Before we even get to Shawn Watson, let's start with Bo Pelini. Stop deferring every won coin toss. Stop calling blitzes on third-and-long on the opponent's first drive of the game. Stop wasting two timeouts per game on the defense. Now Watson, who has a lot of work to do. He wasn't given a lot of options, but he needs to use his tight ends better, and more of them. He needs to have a sense of urgency in the third quarter, down 21 points. He needs to stop giving his quarterback so many options at the line of scrimmage.

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

“We have Blackshirts there at Texas Tech, too. Every one of our guys is wearing a black shirt underneath their pads. I'm proud to say the Blackshirts won this one.”

It's pretty safe to say that little nugget from Mike Leach will find its way to Nebraska's bulletin board. The Texas Tech coach, is his own, inimitable way, praised his bunch and poked a little fun at NU's top defensive unit at the same time.

Let's just hope head coach Bo Pelini uses it to motivate the right bunch. Not the Cornhuskers' defense, which forced five punts, notched five sacks and only gave 259 total yards to one of the best offenses in America.

Rather, the quote needs to find its way to the offensive line, which can use every bit of fire, at this point, it can get. May Mike Smith, Keith Williams, Jacob Hickman, Ricky Henry, Marcel Jones and D.J. Jones tack it to their lockers to remind themselves of a performance that left offensive line coach Barney Cotton drained and a little crestfallen.

“I think I've got to do a better job preparing,” Cotton said. “We didn't play the physical ballgame that we had planned on playing...this is a league where you have to be physical to play well.”

Cotton and head coach Bo Pelini both called it “putting a hat on a hat.” The final tally - just 70 rushing yards, and most of those coming via improvisation from Roy Helu, Jr. - suggests the Huskers didn't do it. Couple the leaks with five sacks and a slew of tough penalties – including the drive-killing personal foul by Henry – and it was the sloppiest performance in recent memory.

“We'd always leave a hat open,” Hickman said. “Or a guy jumps. It's just one guy who can kill you...just one guy missing his block, and the play doesn't work. Gotta have 11 guys on the same page. You could really call any play at that point – and it should work.”

Hickman said the line affected quarterback Zac Lee's vision and performance. Although Lee held on to the ball for ten seconds on two different occasions – he was sacked once and threw another pass away - Hickman said some early hits on No. 5 - especially on two playaction passes where Lee couldn't even turn around without being hammered - set a bad tone.

“It threw him on his rhythm,” Hickman said. “It goes through the line first.”

NU planned to physical running game in the opening quarter; the playcalling was balanced through the first four drives. But Helu and Lee's rushing lanes were few; Tech slanted its defensive linemen into gaps, and the Huskers' front unit was unable to clear them away.

The Red Raiders weren't fancy, Cotton said. They just beat Nebraska's linemen into the backfield. When Cotton would gather his unit on the sideline, he'd talk to them – sometimes through the entire Tech offensive possession – about effort, and toughness.

“This was not a game where we were doing a lot of drawing things up,” Cotton said. “We talked about putting hats on hats, and keep those hats on hats. We've got to fight more aggressively and more relentlessly.”

What's that going to look like in practice?

“It's going to be physical,”Cotton said. “Everything we do during the week should be darn near live anyway. That's the way we prepare. But it'll be even more physical.”

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

The reverie lasted all of a quarter. All the fanfare and hoopla and warm feelings over No. 15 Nebraska and its potential run through the Big 12 have been put on hold. Indefinitely.

Sloppy, slow and uncertain. That's how NU played in a calamitous meltdown loss to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders looked speedier, smarter and definitely less rattled by one of the more incompetent group of officials I've seen.

Most of all, the seemed sure of themselves. Even before Niles Paul's boneheaded, casual drop of a backwards screen pass, which led to a 82-yard fumble return for a touchdown, the Red Raiders played and acted like the better, more confident team.

“If y'all would have seen the locker room before the game, you would have thought it was a bunch of animals running around,” Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield said. “That's how our program is, just letting go and letting everybody be themselves and a lot of loud music.”

Understand that Tech's already been through a tumult of a season – two tough losses, suspensions, the typical Mike Leach chicanery. Maybe the boys from West Texas can give Bo Pelini some advice on how to handle the next two weeks. Loud music, apparently.

Get ready. It's going to be a bumpy, restless fortnight. Oh, Nebraska can probably handle defenseless Iowa State and toothless Baylor no matter who takes the field. But NU better have this figured out by Nov. 7, or the stretch run of the season could be a long, troubling slog.

What's wrong? Oh, quite a bit. We'll get there. Let's start with what's right.

Nebraska's front four plays like beasts. Every damn one of them. With attitude, toughness and fury. Phillip Dillard – remember, he's not as good as Colton Koehler for the first two games of this season – is suddenly realizing every ounce of potential he has. Can he please start the game next week and give Will Compton the sideline seasoning he needs? Alfonzo Dennard and Prince Amukamara, a few hiccups aside, bring their lunch pail every week. No cornerback – none – has a perfect record. Larry Asante plays a clean, hard-hitting game. And Pelini is starting to put some of those fancy blitzes back in the box – which is a good thing.

Now for the rest of it.

*Nebraska's offensive line is limping along. Something is missing, and the frustration on the face of Jacob Hickman and Barney Cotton make it clear that they don't quite know what it is. Part of it, I fear, is simple personality. The Huskers aren't nasty enough. Hickman, Mike Smith, Marcel Jones and Keith Williams are all, well, pretty nice guys. Analytical, thoughtful. Technicians. And right now, it's just not working. They're all getting beat at the point of attack. Ricky Henry, too, although he certainly brings a mean mug to the field.

You cannot – absolutely not – run a zone-blocking system without being quick, and tough. You don't have to be that big, and you don't have to pancake guys. But that first step has to be vicious. There can't be a hint of a leak. Roy Helu was flitting around all afternoon like a skier on a slalom course. He'd never admit it, but he got almost all of his yards on sheer improvisation.

*The line is forcing Shawn Watson to alter the game plan. Oh, we'll knock Watson when it's on him. And some of Saturday was on him. But not much of it. Sorry, but when NU runs two of its basic – and often successful – playaction passes, and a Tech defensive lineman is in the backfield before the fake is done, you're not going to have much luck with anything. Watson was relegated to calling two-second slant pattern (that Zac Lee can't throw) and bubble screens that were misadventures.

*Lee isn't trusting his game. His performance was painful, because it was the portrait of a quarterback second-guessing himself. Lee wants to go downfield. Something is stopping him. Because he's not Sam Keller, a professional bail-out artist, Lee sits back there, clutching, shuffling, worrying – until he's sacked, or he's left with a two-yard throw.

And he just won't scramble. This, I don't get. Watson doesn't get it, either. Nobody gets it. Lee is fast, he's tough – and he won't run. And when he does, he runs with his body pitched forward, and his head down.

*Bo still blows defensive timeouts. And two in the first half didn't make much sense.

The first of them was on the fourth down play that NU had stopped – until Pelini called the timeout at the last second. Was it to ice Mike Leach, who always does this? The result: A 21-yard gain on an end around that NU seemed utterly unprepared for.

The second occurred when Tech had the ball on the Huskers' four-yard line. Understandable – except that it was first down. What was Bo going to do – design three plays' worth of defense? As it was, Nebraska committed pass interference in the end zone, and Tech scored a few plays later.

*The penalties. Ugh. First of all, the officiating in the Big 12 – across the board – stinks. Bo can't say it. I'll say it. The zeebs on Saturday were confused, disorganized, out of position and generally perplexed. I give them credit for getting the fumble/touchdown right. Not a lot else.

But how does Bo help his cause by berating the line judge to the point where Memorial Stadium even takes notice, and it more or less delays the last kickoff of the game? How? NU clearly has a reputation at this point, and seems to nurture it with Bo's incredulous behavior.

Some of the penalties are earned, of course. The offensive line seems to pay its weekly toll of 30 yards. When does that stop? Can it stop?

*Most of all, it's just the vibe of this team. Tech obviously had a lot to be fired up about, but the Red Raiders seemed loose, active, ready to mix it up. Outside some of NU's defenders, the reticence – the sheer lack of fire - was glaring. The play of the game – Tech's 82-yard punt return – boiled down to a lack of concentration and mental toughness: Lee not getting a deep enough drop, Niles Paul futzing on a catchable ball, and the whole Husker offense just trotting back to the huddle. Folks, not every team does that. A lot of teams have a few guys, at least, with the sense to be safe about it, and cover the damn ball.

In key moments, Nebraska suffers a collective brain cramp. It happened last year. It's happening now. What's Bo and his capable crew going to do about it?

See also: Defending Shawn Watson - For Now

and

NU/Tech Report Card

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

It was a simple bubble screen gone bad. But it was the wrong time – the wrong game – to get caught with such a mistake.

Inside Texas Tech's 20-yard line, still in the first quarter, Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee flipped wide receiver Niles Paul, who promptly – and rather casually - dropped the ball. Tech defensive end Daniel Howard scooped it up, darting past an unsuspecting Paul and tackle Mike Smith. Only Lee gave chase, and wasn't quite able to catch Howard at the goal line.

The Red Raiders had just scored the easiest defensive touchdown they're ever likely to enjoy to take a 14-0 lead in front of 86,107 stunned NU fans at Memorial Stadium. It was more than enough, as Lee and the Cornhuskers' offense imploded again and again with penalties, drops, curious playcalling, and shoddy blocking. A late touchdown drive led by true freshman Cody Green was answered by another Tech touchdown as Mike Leach's mercurial team cruised to a 31-10 victory that should send No. 15 Nebraska spiraling out of national polls.

The Red Raiders opened the game by converting two long third-down plays on the arm of quarterback Steven Sheffield, who completed all seven passes on the drive for 93 yards. Sheffield his passes of 34 and 22 yards, and finished off the drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Baron Batch.

The Huskers (4-2 overall, 1-1 in the Big 12 Conference) were in business on its second drive of the game following Paul's punt return to the Tech 33-yard line. Five plays later, Paul fumbled and Memorial Stadium seemed drained of energy.

Tech (4-2 and 1-1) scored its third touchdown with a 12-play, 65-yard march in the second quarter, highlighted by a 21-yard run on fourth down and a 18-yard pass on a third-and-eight from NU's 21-yard line. Nebraska answered by going 74 yards in 11 play for an Alex Henery field goal, the drive dying inside Tech's 5-yard line. The Red Raiders finished the half with a field goal of their own after Sheffield hit receiver Detron Lewis for 58-yard pass, Lewis slipping the grasp of cornerback Prince Amukamara.

Most of the second half was a defensive struggle, more painful for NU, which squandered two opportunities for points when Henery missed a 51-yard field goal (after the Huskers had started at Tech's 25-yard line) and it wasted a ten-minute drive on a personal foul penalty by offensive guard Ricky Henry and Lee's overthrow of Niles Paul in the end zone.

Green was inserted for the second time after that play, and promptly led a 40-yard touchdown march, culminating in a 13-yard pass to redshirt freshman Khiry Cooper. On NU's final possession, he threw an interception on a slant route.

Tech ended scoring with another touchdown drive capped off by a Sheffield sneak and aided by a long kickoff return and pass interference penalty on Anthony West that left Pelini infuriated. For the game, Nebraska had 12 penalties for 95 yards, and Pelini spent a good chunk of the TV timeouts thundering away at the officials.

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Join Samuel McKewon as he breaks down the game and provides live updates from Memorial Stadium prior to Nebraska's big tilt with Texas Tech!

He'll give the skinny on how Tech's QBs look, who will replace Rex Burkhead, and whether or not the game will be high-scoring or low-scoring!

Ask the tough questions...get honest answers!

Click here!

The show begins at 1:30 p.m!

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

We're back again - and remember - anybody who guesses score right on the button wins a throwback poster - offense or defense - your choice.

Last week, Gassman came quite close to Nebraska's odd-looking 27-12 victory with a 25-13 prediction. Who makes the grade this week? Post and let's find out!

Also: Give us your offensive and defensive MVPs for the game!

Have at it Husker fans and check out our prediction podcast for our take right before the game! We have a...surprising prediction. Is it in favor of NU? Find out!

See also: Inside The Air Raid Offense!

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

"People are going to draw conclusions. That's what this is here in Nebraska. The football world we live in."

Zac Lee said it with a smile, but he said it just so, too.

Credit Nebraska's starting quarterback for having tact and a sly sense of humor at the same time.

What the junior from San Francisco needs now is a big game at the right time. None better than a Saturday afternoon soiree with Texas Tech, which sports a better-than-expected defense, but a negative turnover margin that has to have those not-yet-Blackshirts salivating.

Lee, too. After all, he'd be the beneficiary of any short field the defense can produce. And he will take any love he can get.

The kid went through the critic's mill a little this week. So did his offensive coordinator, Shawn Watson. They handled like they do most everything else: With a smile and outward confidence. It takes a little self-worth, after all, to call a tight end hide route in the red zone rain. It takes even more moxie for Lee to sell it like he did, then float a lovely little pass to a wide-open Mike McNeill for a touchdown.

An uneven offensive line needs confidence like that. NU's beaten-up running back corps do, too. The Red Raiders may indeed force Lee to beat them by dropping down a safety and “loading the box.” Lee will, again, check into a play that works for him. From there, it'll be on his brain, and his right arm.

He's played well at home – exceedingly well vs. Arkansas State and Lafayette. Maybe it's the Memorial Stadium crowd. Maybe it was the defenses of the Sun Belt Three. But Tech's pass defense isn't much better, frankly. The Red Raiders have athletes, but they're thin at safety. It's the kind of unit that an upper-echelon Big 12 quarterback should be able to pick apart.

And there's little question that Lee has top-shelf skills in most of the pertinent areas: Arm strength, mobility, sixth sense, leadership. His accuracy, right now, is off on the short, timing routes. Lee throws a terrific deep ball, but that's only a small part of the West Coast Offense. You throw ten little darts to set up one cannon shot. Lee has to put a few more of those darts near the bullseye.

Still, he's an easy player to root for because he wears the pressure lightly, and because you sense his inner playmaker is straining to stay within the structure of Watson's offense.

Don't get me wrong: It's a good structure, especially for ball control, which is necessary vs. Texas Tech. But it was a comfier fit for a guy like Joe Ganz, who can't wing it 70 yards, but can cut a defense for six, seven yard gains at a time. He bled the Red Raiders dry doing just that last year.

Lee has to blaze his own trail. Through five games, he done a lot of things well. He's only thrown two interceptions that matter (his last pass at Virginia Tech could've just as easily been batted down) and, wayward snaps aside, he's not really a fumbler. He avoids bad sacks – Ganz didn't always do that – and he keeps plays alive with his feet. And he creates big plays. That you can't argue. He's not afraid to throw the deep routes, and he knows where to throw them.

It's simply a slightly different model than most WCO quarterbacks. It's a model that needs a good power running game to help set it up.

But if Lee doesn't get that on Saturday – and the Red Raiders will surely try to stuff Roy Helu and whoever else Nebraska trots out there – then he'll find himself in the middle of a dogfight, having to march, instead of bomb, the Huskers down the field.

Is he up to that challenge? Are Lee's receivers?

Hey – Missouri's over. In this space, too.

Now - opportunity knocks. Inside, a one-way ticket to the Oklahoma game, a 7-1 record, and more media buzz than you can shake a space balloon at.

Lee will have a home field, a fairly healthy offensive line and a vanilla defense to work against.

Good quarterbacks rise to this moment. The best ones own it.

Time for No. 5 to put the money where his moxie is.

See also: Guess The Score! NU vs. Tech! and Five Keys to Texas Tech

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!

The Husker media machine kicked into full gear this week. Nebraska's football team uneasily wore the crown.

You could sense the strain in some of the answers after a 27-12 win over Missouri. Here was NU, after the biggest program triumph in some time, getting peppered with questions about last year's Texas Tech game, handling success, the offensive playcalling, replacing Rex Burkhead, defending spread offenses, you name it. You could almost see the frustration churning inside players and coaches: Wait – didn't we win last week? Didn't we complete the best fourth-quarter rally in Husker history? Did everyone forget that?

Yes, yes and most certainly not. But here's the thing: With each big win head coach Bo Pelini collects, fans and writers can see the shoreline a little more clearly. With a beaten-up, overrated Big 12 out there for the taking in 2009, the vibe is now distinctly “carpe diem.” Thus, the armor chinks become more glaring with each ratchet-turn of expectation.

Nebraskans express hope with worry. It's the natural tendency, the bedrock of our modesty and insecurity. It couldn't really be this good this fast, could it? It just might. If the Huskers can hurdle one Mike Leach, that is.

On to the five keys:

Aggression: Nebraska returns to its home field, in front of a crowd ready to explode with chants of “We're back!” There ought to be enough energy in the joint to kick start three offensive lines, much less one. Needs to be, too. If the Huskers intend to score a first round knockdown, much less a first round knockout, they'll need every bit of anger, muscle and toughness the offensive line can muster. Running backs can only plow through holes that exist, after all.

“We need to play faster, we need to play more physical, and we need to execute better,” offensive line coach Barney Cotton said. We'll take that and a side of peanut cole slaw.

Turnovers: A typical, fallback key of any big game, but, in the case of NU v. Tech, it matters because the Red Raiders – specifically Taylor Potts – have struggled keeping the ball on the team with the right colored jersey. Tech is 99th in turnover margin – rare for a Big 12 school still in the early stages of conference play – at -.67 per game. Nebraska's 15th overall. Big advantage, right there, to the Huskers.

How does NU force them? In the secondary, breaking on poorly-thrown balls without giving up the farm elsewhere.

Pick up “Sticks:” Walk-on quarterback Steven “Sticks” Sheffield has enjoyed a nice couple of weeks, but those were minor rehearsals compared to Saturday. Sheffield can light as many fires as he wishes and scramble all over the house looking to wear out his own legs. But the kid's probably going to have to throw for three bills and two touches to give Tech a fighting chance.

As skinny and untested as Sheffield is, Nebraska needs to make a maniacal effort to pressure the living daylights out him. If Leach wants to install Potts into the game, hey – so be it. The more musical chairs Leach runs, the deeper the hole his team will dig.

Carter vs. Suh: Texas Tech has a quick rhythm passing game and wide linemen splits, and thus feels like it's fairly impervious to any consistent pass rush, even one led by Ndamukong Suh. So the Red Raiders will likely match guard Brandon Carter – the deposed captain who paints his face as if he's going to death metal concert, or readying for a night of carousing with Kym from “Rachel Getting Married” – against Suh, one on one.

Well, OK. It worked to some extent in 2008. But this ain't 2008.

“(Carter) is a really good lineman,” defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “They're a man protection team, but they've got five and we've got four rushing. It's the same way every week. We just try to do our thing.”

Pelini's right, of course, but interior pass blocking, against a player of Suh's caliber, is no trip to Cleveland. Can Suh and his mates force the Red Raiders to keep a running back in to block?

Resist the pirate spirit: Nebraska needs to be smart on Saturday not to let Leach's wild gambles rub off on Bo Pelini. When Leach goes for it on fourth down...NU better stuff it. If he tries a trick play, gets cute with his punt formation, or tries to go 80 yards in 38 seconds, you'll have a distinct example of Leach attempting to bait his opponent into bizarre situations. If Nebraska can keep its poker face while the Red Raiders flop about like a fish on dry land, it'll gain one or two extra possessions at least. Tech, which lives or dies by the number and efficiency of plays run, would in be the same spot it was last year. Except Nebraska's defense is more equipped to shut down TTU.

See also: Chalk Talk: Inside the Air Raid Offense and Guess The Score! NU vs. Tech! and Recruiting: All Dressed Up with No Position?

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Part of good coaching is knowing when, and how, to push player buttons to get the desired effect.

After Nebraska’s offense laid an egg in the first half of the Missouri game, wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore benched Niles Paul and Menelik Holt. He made them turn in their hand warmers and gloves. He stuck Antonio Bell and Brandon Kinnie out there, to no real avail other than it fired up Paul, who responded with two touchdown catches in the fourth quarter.

“It kind of let me get down on myself,” Paul said. “But then I kind of thought about it and was like ‘he’s doing this for the team.’ And he put us back in there.”

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson told his quarterback, Zac Lee, point blank: We’re thinking about sitting you for a drive, and inserting true freshman Cody Green.

“He said, ‘We’re going to do it for a series,’” Lee said. “‘Keep your eyes open.’”

Watson didn’t bench Lee. One wonders if his mere consideration was a fire he was trying to light under the junior, who came alive and threw his best passes of the game in the fourth quarter. If Green had entered the game, and played remotely well, Watson would have opened a Pandora’s Box in Husker Nation. As it is, he cracked it opened a little bit,

“It is what it is,” Lee said. “I had to deal with it. I know Coach Wats has my back, I know Coach (Bo) Pelini has my back, so it kind of motivated me to have their back. It’s just part of the game.”

How often do those motivational techniques work? Once? Twice? Ideally, you don’t use them much.

But Nebraska’s offense, especially the running game, has been a little slipshod at times since the Arkansas State game, when Lee looked like the best quarterback in the Big 12. Roy Helu’s bailed out the offensive line with some terrific individual efforts – more than half of his yards this year are after early contact - and Lee’s fired up that great arm of his at just the right times.

Can NU really afford to hope the switch flips at the right time? To assume the offensive coordinator alights on just the right passing plays to beat the opposing defense?

Watson took considerable heat for his playcalling in Missouri. By Watson’s own actions and logic, he deserved some of the criticism.

Watson used the awful, rainy conditions to defend Lee, yet shrugged off those same conditions in defense of his playcalling because Missouri was “loading the box” against the run. But Watson didn’t exactly help his own case when he unveiled a quite successful quad-tight set at the end of the game that ground out 68 rushing yards in eight plays. The Tigers had ten guys hovering near the line of scrimmage – but the Huskers still ran the ball.

Now comes Texas Tech, a “vanilla” defense that doesn’t blitz much and relies on its front seven to stop the run. Will Watson impose NU’s size advantage? Or will the game, again, fall on Lee’s right arm?

The Huskers could, but should not, use the absence of Rex Burkhead as a built-in excuse for throwing the ball 40 times a game. Burkhead was valuable – he made several crucial plays in the Missouri game – but he was only averaging roughly 6-8 touches per game. If Helu has to carry it 30 times, so be it. He’s a great back, Nebraska’s best in a decade. If Helu’s shoulder is too banged up for the heavy load, Watson and Tim Beck need to trust their own coaching skills, and insert Burkhead’s replacement. It’s football, after all, not a North Korean nuclear treaty negotiation.

And defenses are going to start getting wise to Nebraska’s strategy. If it’s that easy to move NU away from the running game, they’ll take the chances with a quarterback and receivers who have been uneven at best over the last month.

Missouri was a handful of plays away from a shutout, frankly. If Burkhead doesn’t make a nifty move to gain four yards on a third-down play, Lee never gets to make that throw to Paul, and the Tigers shift into the “eating game clock” mode. And the bulk of this week is a real bear for Nebraska and its coaching staff, instead of a celebration of Ndamukong Suh’s many defensive talents.

“Bottom line is, we need to score points,” head coach Bo Pelini said. “You’re not going to shut (Texas Tech) out. You’d like to, but they’re a pretty good offensive football team and we need to match them. We need to put some points on the board.”

You wonder if Bo will have to push some his coaches’ buttons to make it happen.

See also: 50 Husker Fans, 50 States: Pittsburgh

See also: Defending Tech's...Running Game?

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Texas Tech’s 15 minutes of fame might be up, but the Red Raiders have Nebraska’s full attention as the Cornhuskers prepare for Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. game.

“This team is better than people are giving them credit for,” NU center Jacob Hickman said.

Tech comes to Lincoln at 4-2, with a 34-24 loss at Texas and a 29-28 loss at Houston. That’s in sharp contrast to the 2008 Red Raider team, which started 10-0 before losing two of its last three games. That version slipped by Nebraska 37-31 in overtime. For NU, the loss served as a rallying point for the rest of that season, and the Huskers only lost once more, at Oklahoma.

In 2009, the Red Raiders are the stumbling block for the suddenly-popular No. 15 Nebraska (4-1), which beat Missouri 27-12 on ESPN. Despite losing stars like quarterback Graham Harrell, wide receiver Michael Crabtree, defensive end Brandon Williams, and safety Darcel McBath to graduation and/or the NFL Draft, Texas Tech still has plenty of firepower, head coach Bo Pelini said.

“These guys are a challenge,” Pelini said. “They were right there with Texas right to the very end. That speaks for itself.”

While Leach’s offense is still putting up huge numbers – scoring 48 or more points in three games this year, accumulating a rather astonishing 2,661 passing yards already in 2009 with two different quarterbacks – it’s the defense, which is 27th nationally against the run, that’s performed better than expected.

There’s nothing fancy about Tech’s defensive approach under coordinator Ruffin McNeill – a standard 4-3 with deep safeties - but the unit already has 18 sacks, which leads the Big 12. And while they’ve certainly bent a little against the pass, they’ve only allowed five passing touchdowns – against several prolific offenses.

“Pretty vanilla,” Hickman said. “They don’t blitz much. They’re gonna play one or two defenses. They’re gonna play so they don’t make mistakse. Basically their goal is to let their offense score points and minimize mistakes.

“But they’re not going to give you anything. You have to earn everything you get.”

Offensive line coach Barney Cotton said Tech’s front seven is among the best in the Big 12, especially defensive tackle Colby Whitlock, who has a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss so far this year.

“They play fast, they play physical and they’ve got linebackers who are extremely fast and play downhill,” Cotton said. “We need to make huge improvements from last week or otherwise we’re going to be very disappointed on Saturday.”

See also: 50 Husker Fans, 50 States: Pittsburgh

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

No Blackshirts yet, as Nebraska’s football team Monday began prep for Texas Tech, which leads Big 12 in passing offense and is currently second in the nation.

Head coach Bo Pelini was in no real mood to discuss handing out the black practice jerseys, either.

“No,” Pelini said. “Next question.”

NU’s players are no less interested than the media in a Blackshirt timeline, although senior safety Larry Asante said he has a handle on what Pelini wants.

“Ha - that’s a good question,” Asante said. “I think that’s a question that everybody wants to know. I feel like, going back and watching the film we played good on defense, but we still haven’t played a complete football game yet. I think Coach is waiting for us to play our best football.”

The Cornhuskers, now 15th and 17th in the major polls, held a brisk-but-short 90-minute workout, mostly inside the Hawks Center, that Pelini applauded for its “good tempo.” Terse and to the point, Pelini only spoke with the media for two minutes, interested mostly in praising the Red Raiders, who beat Kansas State 66-14 on Saturday.

“We’d better have an edge,” Pelini said. “We’ve got a helluva football team coming in here. They’re playing well. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Said Asante: “This will be our greatest challenge yet. They had a backup quarterback in there this past weekend, and he threw for 490.”

That backup would be Steven Sheffield, a 6-foot-4, 175-pounder nicknamed “Sticks” who may supplant starter Taylor Potts in Lincoln this Saturday. Tech coach Mike Leach, mercurial as he is, will make his starting QB a “gametime decision” that hardly seems like one.

“They’re both good players, they both run their system well and they both play at high level,” Pelini said of Sheffield and Potts.

Note: Pelini said running back Roy Helu, seen holding his shoulder late in the Missouri game, practiced and “had no issues.” Redshirt freshman tight end J.T. Kerr is done for the season after getting shoulder surgery; he’ll return for spring ball.

See also: "There was a lot of disappointment in my room."

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Count on Mike Leach to artificially add a little intrigue to Nebraska’s Saturday matchup with Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders’ coach won’t be naming his starting quarterback for the 2:30 p.m. game during the week. Instead, Leach sardonically said, expect the “excitement and drama” of a “gametime decision” between junior Taylor Potts and sophomore Steven “Sticks” Sheffield, who spelled Potts in a 66-14 rout of Kansas State by throwing for 490 yards and seven touchdowns in his first career start. He won Big 12 Player of the Week for his effort.

Potts, who earned the starting job last spring, clearly suffered a concussion in the second quarter of Tech’s win over New Mexico, although Leach denies Potts is injured at all.

“I’m not into the whole injury thing,” Leach said.

Sheffield, a walk-on, earned his nickname “the day he walked in the door,” Leach said, because of his slight frame. Sheffield is 6-foot-4, 175 pounds. Think of former NU quarterback Beau Davis – only skinnier.

“He’s among the most coachable guys I’ve had,” Leach said. “He just continually gets better, but has been focused in on improving what he does. And then he brings kind of a natural spirit to things. He’s a real grinder when it comes to details.”

Potts is the sturdier of the two, possessing one of the stronger arms in the Big 12. He played well prior to the concussion, throwing for 420 yards in a loss to Texas, and 456 in a 55-10 win over Rice. Sheffield, meanwhile, is more mobile.

“They’re both good football players,” head coach Bo Pelini. “But we’re going to defend their offense. They’re just one cog in the offense. They’re very multiple in what they do. They run it well. They throw it well.”

See also: 5 Secrets to Leach's Success

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

It was the kind of season that would have made any offensive coordinator proud.

College football’s 12th-best total offense. No. 17 in scoring offense. No. 15 in passing offense. No. 2 in time of possession. Using a quarterback who had started all of three games, integrating three new position coaches – and their philosophies – while making a major strategic shift after the fifth game of the season.

But Nebraska’s Shawn Watson said he likes to adhere to core principles. And one of them is a rigorous self-evaluation.

“We take ourselves apart,” Watson said.

Really, Watson deconstructed his own work first. After NU’s 9-4 season ended after a 26-21 win in the Gator Bowl - over a Clemson team that challenged Watson’s hybrid spread/West Coast offense in new, frustrating ways - he watched every offensive play from the 2008 season again. He had a pad with him, and dissected each – particularly quarterback Joe Ganz’s performance within that play – with a handwritten note.

NU ran 919 plays last year. If Watson spent just five minutes on each play – and if you’re writing a report by hand, you figure he would – that’s 75 hours of research. Double it to ten minutes per play, and you’re looking at a week’s worth of film study and report writing.

And that’s before he copies it, prints it and gives it to his coaches and players to digest.

“A little detailed analysis,” quarterback Zac Lee said. “What was done wrong, what was done right. What could be done to make things better. It really helped. Might have been a little thick – but it helped.

"Coach Wats goes above and beyond. He spends quite a few extra hours. He’s very committed to what he does. You know you have the best possible game plan, the best possible coaching you’re gonna get because he’s such a perfectionist. He won’t let little things go.”

This is why Latravis Washington, who just started playing quarterback at the onset of spring practice, spends 3-4 extra hours each night studying the offense – watching film, grasping concepts.

This is how Watson was able to take an offense that looked troubled, slow and too reliant on Ganz’s improve talents in the Virginia Tech and Missouri games and transform it, one week later at Texas Tech, into a polished, thoughtful attack that beat the Red Raiders at their own time of possession game and nearly pulled off a gigantic upset in Lubbock.

How will it look in 2009? What is Watson doing to continue evolving against defense that now have film on 2008?

Tomorrow, part two of the series, available by Locker Pass.

Not a member of the site? Sign up today - for free.

Permanent Link to this Blog Post