Quantcast HuskerMax

ARCHIVE
The straight scoop from
Colonel Mustard

Oct. 14, 2002

This was a very interesting game. We played a great defensive game against a good offense, and an OK offensive game against a poor defense. Our defensive gameplan to contain Smith and make him pass was brilliant. Our offensive gameplan of running the ball and keeping Lord's turnover opportunities to a minimum was a good idea. The Missouri coaches never forced us to adjust, so the gameplan worked the entire game.

On the offensive side we ran the ball with authority and the I-backs got almost 40 carries, although you would like to see a higher average per carry than 4.4. We were running options and isos all day long. This is a good strategy against a team we should beat. It should work against Oklahoma State, but to beat the Texases and Colorados we have to do more play-action passes. This runs the risk of the pick. But that is for another day.

Horne is a fine runner and his speed really helps. It is interesting that everyone thinks he had better game than Diedrick, but their per-carry average was the same. In any case they are a nice combination. Lord had only one turnover, and that was an improvement. But by the same token he wasn't asked to do much in the passing game. This was a safe gameplan. Thirty-four yards passing ain't going to get it done in the big games. But in fairness he could have had another 100 if Ross had caught the screen and Lord hadn't missed Diedrick. The bottom line was we got 17 points and didn't get to 300 yards until the last drive. I know this isn't popular, but the limitations of Lord's skills prevent this offense from taking advantage of all its weapons.

The defense was very good and would have probably have held them to single digits without Lord's fumble. The scheme was tremendous. Smith wasn't sure what to do all day. He missed some open guys and our DBs did a good job. Hopkins at linebacker in the nickel D was a huge success. He and Williams, who also played on the nickel, are fast and good blitzers. It would have been interesting to see what this personnel grouping could have done in our two defeats.

Speaking of personnel, Bohl has got to quit trying to make so many changes. Three times we weren't ready when the ball was snapped. And countless times this season, guys are running around trying to get set as the ball is snapped. It is a big reason why they are confused. All in all, though, very impressive. Hopefully we can build on this and get Kelsay back.

On special teams, Larson had a bad day. But don't worry about it, he is terrific and the least of our problems. Groce and Davis had good return days, but they had extremely fine blocking, particularly on Groce's return.

Now we go to Stillwater. It doesn't look like Lord is suspended, so I would expect we follow the same plan on offense. Oklahoma State has always been a crowd-the-line, blitzing team, so we will have to see. They have injuries to their QB and TB, so those guys might not play. This is our game to win. We have the better team. Limit turnovers and we should win. Preview Friday. GBR. Keep the faith.
 
-- The Colonel

 

 
ARCHIVE

• About the Colonel