Omaha Cowboy wrote:MadMartin8 wrote:Did Oregon decide to take a nap?
This was simply a case of NU digging themselves too big of a hole.. But yet, they still almost crawled out of it..
If you're a Husker fan, you have hope. NU competed big time in the 2nd half when they could have completely folded..
This is a loss that the coaching staff can build on.. Let's hope Bryant's injury is a minor one...
Ciao..LiO...Peace
Agree. I felt strangely happy in the immediate aftermath of this one -- to see Nebraska avoid an absolute blowout (after being down 28 points) and, at two minutes left in the game, to have had a legitimate shot at sending the contest into overtime. Stunning.
Now that it's been a half a week to digest what exactly we saw, I've come back to thinking this team is capable of pulling off a really good season. The defense is only going to get better. While much was said about Oregon's conservative second-half approach playing into Nebraska's comeback (I agree that was part of it) I read a really excellent analysis on Huskermax as to why Diaco's adjustments were as much to credit for the difference as was Taggert's taking his foot off the gas. Players made small changes that yielded stunning results. If anyone doubts that, ask yourself how many points is a "conservative" Duck offense is really worth over two quarters? 14 points? 21? I would say at least 14, but probably closer to 21. And yet, these same players who got burned for 6 scores in two quarters, skunked that very same offense over the next two quarters. At halftime I was hoping Nebraska could somehow magically keep Oregon from breaking the 60-point barrier. It just looks nasty on game tickers. Also gaudy blow-outs like that can't help with recruiting. Never could I have imagined that Oregon's 42 halftime points would read the same at the final gun. Thank goodness for small miracles.
The offensive woes we saw (4 turnovers and a handful of bad decisions by offensive players) seem entirely correctable over the next one or two games. (Just in time for Wisconsin.) And, the defense is learning. They'll get much better by midseason. I stand by my preseason prediction that Nebraska will win the Big 10 West. I just think things are lining up in that direction.
As for the East -- well, we all saw that the Buckeyes are no world-beaters so far this year. Like I said, 2017 could still shape up to be a special season. And with several potential high-end recruits still trying to make up their minds -- an excellent season now could set up a nice run in the future.