Sunday, January 6, 2013

Sunday Review: Georgia

You felt it, I know you did.  When Nebraska charged out of the gate in the second half and went up 31-23, you felt something big brewing; Nebraska was going to get the biggest win of Bo Pelini's career and erase the nightmare in Indy.  We were finally going shake the big game blues and restore the Big Ten's image against a team that was 5 seconds from playing for the national championship.  You could feel it.
But then, those same old Huskers came back.  Another long passing TD.  Another crucial turnover.  Another long passing TD.  More backbreaking penalties.  Another long passing TD.  And suddenly that feeling was replaced by the familiar hollow realization that these Huskers aren't there yet. 
The 2012 season will probably not be remembered for very long, except by those who played it, but if you're seeking a theme, it probably goes something like "More of the same."  Not the season that coaches, players, and especially fans were hoping for, but certainly not a waste.  10 wins, but no palpable sense of progress in the form of a title or marquee win.  The 2012 Huskers showed progress and potential, but bad losses in big games once again defined the team.  The excruciating offseason has begun in earnest, and hopes are high in 2013, but first let's give the final word on 2012, and the Capital One Bowl:

Offensive MVP: Georgia QB Aaron Murray.  Murray shook off two early interceptions to throw for 427 yards and 5 TDs, and 3 of those TDs were perfectly placed deep balls.  If you want to beat Nebraska's defense with the passing game, you have to throw the deep ball, and Murray put on a clinic, torching Bo's defense like no one has since Oklahoma's Sam Bradford in 2008. 

Defensive MVP: Georgia LB Alec Ogletree.  13 tackles, a sack, 3 TFLs and the all-important forced fumble and recovery that turned the tide against the Big Red.  Ogletree gets overshadowed by Jarvis Jenkins, but he's every bit the linebacker as the future top 10 draft pick. 

Special Teams MVP: K/P Brett Maher.  This is more of a default award, but credit Maher for his nice punts (minus the one that was blocked) and solid kickoff work.  Maher's missed 47 yard field goal didn't end up hurting us, but the points would have been nice at the time.

Freshman MVP: Georgia RB Todd Gurley.  The freshman was as good as advertised, racking up 127 yards and a TD on the ground, and complementing Murray's stellar passing.  The Blackshirts mostly shut Gurley down in the second half, but accounting for the freshman hurt the Big Red on several long play action passes.

Assistant Coach of the Game: Rick Kaczenski had the toughest job imaginable, coming off the Wisconsin disaster and going into this game against a huge Georgia offensive line without his best defensive linemen. Coach K's boys acquitted themselves well though, overall.  The pass rush left a lot to be desired, and the big boys whiffed on a couple run plays, but the defensive line was not the reason the Huskers lost this game.  I'm sympathetic to Coach K's plight this time, but with another year to work in Bo's system and a chance to recruit his own players, I expect a big improvement next year.   

Key Stat: 48 yards.  That was the average length of Georgia's 6 TD's, all but one through the air and none shorter than 24 yards.  Ouch.    

Play of the Game: Will Compton's 24 yard pick-six.  Not only was it simultaneously the best play of Compton's career and the worst of Murray's, but it also gave the Huskers a huge momentum boost, and a short-lived lead. 

Play We Want Back: With a tied game and a gassed Georgia defense, Nebraska drove from their own 14 yard line to the Georgia 40 yard line, and faced a 3rd and 1.  Easy, peasy, handoff to Ameer Abdullah for 2 yards and a first down.  Except Abdullah fumbled, and Jake Cotton, if he did in fact jump on the ball, didn't hold onto it and Georgia got the ball back long with the momentum and went on to score 14 unanswered points and hoisted the Capital One Bowl trophy while Nebraska was left with yet another heartbreaking loss.  It's hard to pin a game on one play, but this one sure hurt.

I want to see more...
*Taking advantage of breaks.  Nebraska received several breaks against Georgia, and the only one they really took advantage was Compton's pick-six.  After PJ Smith's interception, the Huskers went 3-and-out and had a punt blocked for a safety (that should have been a TD; another break).  Taylor Martinez worked his magic to escape pressure in the backfield, but missed a wide open Jamal Turner in the end zone, and Nebraska settled for a field goal.  After Ameer Abdullah's fateful fumble, the Bulldogs went 3-and-out, but the Husker's promptly did the same.  Once the fourth quarter hit, the Husker's luck dried up, and the Bulldogs made quick work of the beleaguered Blackshirts to put the game away.
*Rex Burkhead.  It just doesn't seem fair Rex, we hardly knew ye.  After missing most of the season with a knee injury, Rex rides off toward the NFL leaving a stellar, if unfulfilled career in his wake.
*Baker Steinkuhler.  Does Nebraska win if Stein plays?  Hard to say, but having the big rock in the middle wouldn't have hurt our chances.  Here's hoping he can find an NFL team that can use his talents.
*Kyler Reed.  The theme of Reed's career is under-utilization.  Credit Georgia's speed for taking away one of Nebraska's best weapons, but it didn't seem like Reed was part of the gameplan.   
*Batted balls.  Something needs to change in the coaching of Nebraska's DB's.  They couldn't locate the ball in the air, and thus were burned by Murray's precision deep throws.
*Pass blocking.  Especially from the tackles.  If I'm Barney Cotton, I would move Andrew Rodriguez back inside, as he is a constant liability with his penalties and poor pass blocking technique.  As for Jeremiah Sirles and Brent Qvale, they need a lot of technique work, as they struggled against elite pass rushers this season, and the young pups behind them need to be groomed.  Having Tyler Moore back wouldn't hurt, but unfortunately that ship has sailed.
  
I want to see less...
*Turnovers.  Two poorly thrown interceptions, albeit under duress, and a killer fumble.  Same story as it's been the whole season.  Tim Beck needs to hunker down and figure out how to make this turnover problem go away; it's the only thing holding his offense back from true greatness.
*Penalties.  They always crop up when they hurt us most.  Holding, false starts, and personal fouls bit us hard when we needed to come back in the fourth.
*Jarvis Jones.  The Georgia linebacker was as good as advertised, constantly in Martinez's face and ruining several plays in the backfield.  He figures to make a lot of money in April.
*Cameron Meredith at DT.  I love the kid's heart, but it just wasn't fair to put him in the middle against the mashers he faced the last two games.  I hope he gets his shot at the next level, and I hope we can find someone a lot bigger to plug in next season.  Cough, Vincent Valentine, cough, cough.
*Big plays.  Bo's defensive system is predicated on shutting down the big play, so it was discouraging to see Georgia gash us for 8.3 yards per play.  The big plays in the running game cast a shadow on the dramatic improvement the defense showed since the Big Ten title game.
*Dropped passes.  Quincy Enunwa on Nebraska's first drive and Ben Cotton in the fourth quarter both dropped first down catches, which is huge in a game in which Taylor Martinez didn't have enough time to throw perfect strikes.  The Huskers showed huge improvement catching passes this season overall, but those two dropped passes could have gone a long way towards a victory.
    
Armchair coach:
I understand why Bo called a blitz on 3rd and 12 with Georgia at their own 13 yard line in the fourth quarter, but I really wish he wouldn't have sent everyone, and I really, really wish safety Daimion Stafford hadn't cheated inside on the play.  The 87 yard TD was the nail in the coffin for the Husker defense and the final blown defensive assignment in a season full of them.

Hit of the Game:
South Carolina DE Ja'Deveon Clowney's destruction of  Michigan RB Vincent Smith in the Outback Bowl was heard all the way from Tampa to Orlando, so I'm giving him the nod.  If you somehow haven't seen it, do yourself a favor. 

Jennifer's Take (my wife doesn't know much about football, but she still has opinions)
"They played really well, but I'm really sad they lost.  I still love Sexy Rexy."

Keeping an eye on the rest of the college football world...
*What the heck SEC?  If you'd have told me a month ago that LSU would lose to Clemson, and that Florida would get blown out by Louisville, I'd have told you you were crazy.  With another loss by Mississippi State, and close wins by Georgia and South Carolina, the SEC's image was definitely tarnished until Ole Miss and SEC-newby Texas A&M posted blowout wins.  Still, if Notre Dame upsets Alabama tomorrow night, the league's image of invincibility will be destroyed for a year.  Which would be nice.
*What about the Big Ten?  Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan all showed well in losses.  Northwestern had the best win over the SEC's Mississippi State, and Michigan State got a nice win over TCU.  Purdue got blasted by Oklahoma State, but everyone expected that to happen.  The league gained face nationally, even though they lost more games than they won.
*Never bet against Boise.  The Broncos won their 11th game with a stirring victory over Washington a few weeks ago.  That was the best bowl game I saw this season, but then again I didn't watch the Michigan-South Carolina thriller.
*Biggest surprise of the bowl season?  Easily Louisville's beat down of Florida.  Big East teams aren't supposed to do that to SEC teams.  Teddy Bridgewater put himself in the Heisman top 5 for next season, and OC Shawn Watson put himself back in the mix for some head coaching jobs next year. 
*Remember back in August when USC was going to walk through the PAC-12 and beat an SEC team for a National Championship?  They got walked over by Georgia Tech's triple-option attack, and it's going to be a long 9 months for Kiffin and Co.
*Former Nebraska head coach Frank Solich's Ohio Bobcats destroyed ULM and secured their third straight 9 win season.
*Former Nebraska QB Cody Green led Tulsa to 11 wins, a conference title, and a bowl win over Iowa State.  Good to see him having success, and it will be interesting to see if he can play his way into a draft pick next season.
*Speaking of former Huskers, former defensive coordinator Craig Bohl won his second consecutive FCS National Championship at North Dakota State.  
*UCLA got wiped out by Baylor, and now coach Jim Mora is receiving a lot of interest from the NFL.  Things might get interesting in LA the next few weeks.
*Unfortunately, the season ends tomorrow with that game you might have heard about.  9 months is a long time.

Beer of the Game
Agave Wheat by Breckenridge Brewing Co. Denver, CO




I love a well done wheat beer more than almost anything else in the world, and this offering from Breckenridge is a terrific hefeweizen.  The agave nectar is sorta exotic, but it's a nice change of pace from the citrus heavy world of wheat beers.  This beer is difficult to find, and pretty expensive, but if you come across it, it's definitely worth a buy. 

Best Commercial
I'm a big fan of the Allstate Mayhem commercials and I think this one is especially appropriate.  Nothing funnier than a streaker.

Best Fan Rant
I was in Lincoln for the holidays, but I had planned to exchange text message trash talk with my friend Joe who is as big a Georgia fan as I am a Nebraska fan.  Unfortunately, my phone died right before the game so I thought this idea was out the window until I plugged my phone in Tuesday evening and got 6 text messages at once.  The following are the text messages I received from Joe throughout the course of the game:

"Scoreboard."
"We suck.  All is lost."
"This is shameful.  The Braska [Joe's preferred name for The Cornhusker State] is playing with heart and UGA is just going through the motions."
"I hate UGA"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaand scoreboard."
"Who won?  I didn't catch the end." (Yes he did.  Joe is not a gracious winner or loser.)

Seems like Nebraska fans aren't the only ones who live and die a thousand times on gameday.

Last thought
I'm not into moral victories, but I would be lying to you if I thought that Nebraska would have played Georgia that closely.  Although Georgia's talent and speed advantages were clearly seen, Nebraska used a good game plan, and several lucky breaks to match the Bulldogs blow for blow.  Until the fumble.  But enough about that.  It's time to look toward 2013, and the incredible opportunity the Huskers have to make a run at a conference title, or more.
Even Bo was in a rare good mood after the game, and he is outwardly excited for next year's team, and (secretly I'm sure) the lighter schedule.  If the head man is happy, then he knows that all is not lost after his third straight bowl defeat.  Bo was right, Nebraska was a few plays away from knocking off a top 10 SEC team with what amounts to an NFL defense and one of the best offenses in the country.  No, not a moral victory, but certainly not the crushing defeat that the Big Ten Title game was.
2012, if it is remembered at all, will be remembered for the same wild swings in performance and momentum that characterized Bo's first 4 years.  The 10 wins were nice, but once again, the Huskers have very little to show for it.  The offense showed amazing progression, while the defense showed baffling regression.  Maybe 2013 is the year Bo can finally put it together.  It's 9 excruciating months until we find out.