The Stones sing that Tiiiiiiime, is on my side (yes it is).
The Huskers took that to heart. They ground down the Illinois defense. There were a couple of drives that the media guys had to get assistance form the geology department to properly measure.
The final Time of Possession was Nebraska 38:01, basically, Nebraska got to stay on offense for an entire quarter more than Illinois. Nebraska ran 72 plays, to Illinois' 44.
Caleb Lightbourne did nothing to earn his scholarship. Zero punts.
How Many ways can I break this down. Points per play, Nebraska 0.43, Illinois 0.36.
Points per possession. Nebraska 3.88, Illinois, 2.
The Big One, Scoreboard, 31-16.
No, they didn't cover, the spread, so from a betting standpoint, Illinois won, 16-10.
In Not Fantasy World, Nebraska is 5-0 for the first time in forever (2014). If they get to 6-0, we can start talking about time travel.
Why even talk about this? I guess I'm the weird one. I watch the game, I see Nebraska give up some yards, give up some points, and I look at the time remaining, and don't see any reason to panic.
I don't lay chairs down gently when there's a fumble. I don't like them, but I don't panic. I don't kick the cats when Tommy throws into triple coverage and gets picked. Yes, that led to three Illini points, but, big picture, again. 16 of 23 (70%), 220 yards, and a touchdown to go with the pick, and a rating of 155.6 (which is pretty good). Of the 7 'misses', 1 pick, bad Tommy; 1 throw back across his body to the endzone that would have been spectacular if the receiver could have held on to the ball. All in all, pretty good, but he'll still get crap for 4% of his pass attempts, rather than credit for the 70% that worked.
I guess it's a sign of a return of expectations, but I dislike hearing the 'should-bes'. For example, 'against these guys Nebraska should be up by X by halfway through the second quarter. Huskerfan tends to get all wound up if the margin isn't where it "should be'. The networks usually don't help. After taking a 16-10 lead in the Third Quarter, ESPN started talking about how Illinois hasn't beaten Nebraska in back-to-back games since the 20's, there's an upset brewing and all that other fluff, designed to keep the 36 Illini fans actually watching , glued to their sets. Another note to the Should Bes, there are a lot of FBS schools that can stroll in and take one away, these days. Witness what North Carolina did to Florida State, in Tallahassee. North Carolina, who beat Illinois by 25, but lost to Oregon, broke the Nation's longest home winning streak. Not to worry, I'm sure the 'Noles, with two losses will still be ranked ahead of Nebraska.
After the weirdness in Champaign, last year, where Tommy and Coach got side by side accommodations under the bus, the arm-chair quarterbacks and 25th year senior walk-ons said he should have stuck with the run. Nebraska ran the ball 47 times. The pounding the Illinois defensive line had taken all day long, cracked in the 4th quarter. Terrell Newby's 63-yard TD run was a thing of beauty. Newby touched the ball on 17 plays in the 4th quarter.
Speaking of Newby I want to address 'The Spot'. I think Nebraska got a gimme. While it wasn't a game decider, it certainly was a game-changer. It all balances out, game-theory and all. The refs should have blown the whistle when Devine Ozigbo was inside the the Northwestern 1, but they didn't.
The defense played well, most of the time. They gave up a couple of big plays, but this is modern college football, who doesn't. The things that really stood out for me on defense, was the fourth quarter. Illinois had three possessions, ran ten plays and filed to generate a first down. That was definitely not the case, last year. Twice, Illinois got inside the Nebraska 10 and had to settle for field goals. I imagine the Should Bes would have been apoplectic if Illinois had gone up 24-10 in the 3rd quarter. Through five games, the defense has given up 11 touchdowns. I think that's how many Bo's defense gave up the last time Nebraska played Wisconsin in Madison.
The penalty bugaboo wasn't particularly horrible, and Illinois was way worse on that front. Nebraska had 3 for 35 yards, two on the same drive, which almost killed the drive and made a tough FG attempt for Drew Brown. Illinois only got hit for 47 yards, on seven penalties, two on the same drive, both which extended Nebraska's possession and resulted in a touchdown.
It's a good thing the Huskers have next week off, they need it. Moore was out, Cethan Carter and Devine Ozigbo had to leave the game. Tommy looked a little gimpy after getting his back folded up, and JW got to spend the night eating green jello and annoying the nurses at the hospital, after getting a knee to the back.
Take it easy, this week. Relax, get healed up. Get ready to do the two week prep thing to Indiana.
Husk-husk and on the qb.
No comments:
Post a Comment