Sunday, October 2, 2011

Sifting through the trainwreck in Madison

There's no way to possible to make this one look good. Because it wasn't. No. 8 Nebraska, or sooner to former No. 8, had a welcome to the Big Ten 48-17 loss to No. 7 Wisconsin on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.


While the Badgers were tabbed a 10-point favorite entering the contest, the Huskers should have been at least expected to be competitive. Instead, you get a loss that was pretty similar to 2008 setbacks to Missouri (52-17) and Oklahoma (62-28). Losses like that in 2008 were at least understandable because it was head coach Bo Pelini's first season and he was trying to wash away the wreckage of the Bill Callahan years. This is 2011. The players have recruited and shaped by Pelini.

As I was watching the game, I exchanged text messages with a few friends. Two of them (Jason Page and Matt Johns) are former college classmates of mine. The other (Will Densberger) is a former work source whom I consider a friend from the Napa Valley. We were commiserating over everything from quarterback Taylor Martinez's inbility to read defenses to offensive coordinator Tim Beck's Shawn Watson-like play-calling to the defense offering very little resistence.

Therein, should lie the reason the Huskers were outplayed and outcoached. When a team gets beat 48-17, no one side of the ball is any more or less to blame than the other. It means, you stunk on both sides of the all. OK, if you really want to stretch, Nebraska had the special teams edge with Kenny Bell's recovered fumble on a punt, Jared Crick's blocked extra point and Ameer Abdullah's 26.7 yard average on seven kickoff returns. However, what does that matter in a 31-point loss.

On offense, two things are equally true. Calling for 11 straight pass plays at one point in the first half while running back Rex Burkhead just six times in the first half is inexcusable. When you run the option, the pass can set up the run as well as compliment it but the run is the staple of the offense. However, on Martinez's three interceptions, his reads would have been bad if he were a high school JV quarterback.

There were two instances where Martinez threw incomplete passes that were deep when he had an intermediate receiver wide open. Again, that's not a hard read to make. Martinez had it predetermined on both plays that he was throwing it deep. I'm all for taking shots dpwnfield to soften up the defense but when there are two defenders around the deep receiver and none around the intermediate guy, that has nothing tto do with play callng. His interception to linebacker Mike Taylor was a result of throwing late over the middle. I don't give a damn what level of football you are at or what play is being called, it's a cardinal rule that throwing late over the middle gets you in trouble. On his interception to cornerback Antonio Fenelus, the pass was a 12-yard out intended for Quincy Enunwa. Martinez rolled right. He could run for at least eight yards or complete a short pass to Burkhead for at least that many but he threw into traffic.

While Martinez made his share of bad reads, the offense needs to get Burkhead more involved in the offense if they want to compete in the Big Ten Conference. The offensive line played well at times but still made mental mistakes by committing foolish false start penalties. I do think the offensive line is moving in the right direction. At the beginning of the season the offensive line was the weak point of the offense. I would consider them more of a strength of the offense than a weakness right now.

If it's possible, Nebraska looked even worse defensively. The Huskers had no answer at all for Wisconsin's ellusive quarterback Russell Wilson. I shudder to think what Michigan's Dennard Robinson will do to the Huskers on Nov. 19. Wisconsin ended the game with 484 yards total offense. That is not going to get it done in a good BCS Conference.

Nebraska played well at times with their front four on defense early in the game but the defense got tired in the second half.

Nebraska’s secondary is a work in progress. Nebraska rotated players in and out of the lineup the entire game but couldn’t come up with a combination that worked. Nebraska allowed 255 yards passing. The secondary will continue to be a problem for Nebraska. Yes, it's nice to have cornack Alfonzo Dennard back in the lineup but teams will not throw his way because they don't have to do so.

Most people said they would know where Nebraska stood after the Wisconsin game. What we know is: Nebraska is not a top ten team; they have a ways to go before they are, and their dreams of a Big Ten Conference title in their inaugural season may be far-fetched.

Nebraska started the game well but was quickly taken out of their game plan and had no answer to the Wisconsin offense.

Nebraska will be a competitive team in the Big Ten, but it's hard to envision them being the top team in the conference. Next week Nebraska will host Ohio State. The Buckeyes are closer to the level that Nebraska is at right now. It will be a good game between the Cornhuskers and Buckeyes next week.

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