I have to give credit where credit is due. Penn State's quarterback, Matt McGloin, played much better than I thought he would, and I do need to thank him for trying to test Dennard. I think Dennard got beat once, and that was for minimal damage.
The Blackshirts did a good job containing Silas Redd, who had gotten all the hype, but Stephone Green did more damage, both in terms of yards and scoring. All things considered the battle in the trenches was a pretty even match, and both sides acquitted themselves well.
All in all, this was a classic, old-school, smack-em-in-the-mouth kind of game. It was fitting that it was Nebraska and Penn State, two schools where the mere suggestion of altering the helmet is considered seditious. Both teams tried one razzle-dazzle play. Penn State's worked. Nebraska's didn't.
Check this out. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7224530
There were lots of isolations, and off-tackle and Nebraska ran the option a few times. Burkhead's touchdown was a classic. Credit Taylor with a perfect pitch, in stride, to Rex, as Taylor was getting tackled. On one other option, the refs needed to dust off their rule-books, or glasses or something. I've never seen a lateral called an incomplete shuffle/shovel-pass. It negated what would have been at least a positive gain for Rex.
(I'm a Therapod!)
(Photo from Huskers.com)
As for Taylor, he has continued to grow as a quarterback. In the past few weeks, he has made huge strides. He looks more comfortable in the pocket. He keeps his eyes downfield, keeping plays alive even though he could pick up yards with his feet. He has been going through his progressions much better. He will even throw the ball away to live another day. His numbers weren't awesome, but they weren't awful, either. He went 13-26, 143 yards, no TD's and most importantly, no picks. There were at least 6 drops by the receivers, a couple of blown routes and a couple of throw aways when the play wasn't there. The ball got mashed at the line, once, but there weren't any that were wildly off, or that were forced into spaces they shouldn't be. Dare I say it? Taylor is developing into a pretty decent quarterback.The defense played well enough. They gave up some yards to an offense that's not very good, but when you get up by 17, the opposition starts taking bigger risks, and some of those risky calls paid off for Penn State. I have to say the old-school part of me loved the Battle of the Somme in the fourth quarter. Both teams combined for 8 running plays that netted 18 yards. Lavonte David came up huge, again, in stopping Penn State on fourth-and-one. It's too bad Rex slipped on the third-and-three play, because he had enough room to pick up the first down, had he kept his footing. Even though it didn't work out, I completely agreed with Bo's call to go for it on fourth down. I think I would have had Taylor run a run-pass-option and use his feet to the wide side of the field, but that's only because the play that got called got stopped.
(Blackshirts doing a damn fine job)
(Photo from Huskers.com)
Give credit to Penn State's defense. They hung in there and could have folded their tents after going down by 17, but they kept swinging. Devon Still impressed the hell out of me. Dude manhandled the o-line on several plays, and forced the fumble with a great, instinctive gamble on the play. If he would have played it straight up, the way he's supposed to in that situation, Legate picks up an easy first down. As it was, Still followed the pulling guard into the backfield, gambled on hitting Burkhead before he could get started and disrupted the entire play, forcing the fumble. He was one of the few players from Penn State that I would have been willing to trade for.One last note on the Husker game. How awesome is Bret Maher? He averaged 45 yards per punt, and tilted the field in the fourth quarter when the defense needed every yard of territory. His 40-yard field goal was pretty awesome too.
In the Big Ten, Michigan State surprised me by playing well at Iowa. We need to become huge Northwestern fans because Indiana isn't going to beat Michigan State, and we need Sparty to drop one of their last two. Michigan surprised me by handling Illinois with little problem. Wolverhampton is in the same boat we are. They need to win out and hope for a Sparty loss to get to the Championship. Purdue surprised everybody outside of West Lafayette, by slapping Brutus in the mouth.
Over in the LeaderS division, Penn State is still in the driver's seat. Wisconsin is in the thick of it, and Ohio State is on life support. It''s awesome, if Brutus wants to go to Indianapolis, OSU needs to beat Penn State and Michigan, and then hope that Wisconsin loses to Illinois and beats Penn State.
Yayyyyy, Boise State got dropped by TCU on a missed field goal. The best part is that BSU in the National Championship game discussion is on permanent mute.
Stanford got drilled by Oregon. Sloppy play and Oregon's speed killed the smart kids. I picked Stanford to win, but Oregon proved themselves, and pretty much secured home field for the Pac-12 championship. The Pac-12 south is up for grabs between USC, UCLA, and Arizona State. I need to do research. If USC is ineligible for post-season play, does that include the Pac-12 Championship game? If so, does the second place team go instead? Must find out.
Right now, Oklahoma State is the irresistable force, and LSU is the immovable object. LSU has to survive a test with Arkansas and Okie Lite has a game with OU that can't be overlooked. I'm kind of hoping both teams go undefeated. I want the National Championship to be a game of two teams enter, one team leaves. No, Houston doesn't matter, see the Boise State rule.
Need to get ready for Wolverhampton.
Husk-husk and on the qb.
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