That was much better. Nebraska played the type of football we expected to see this season: unstoppable offense with an inconsistent, but athletic defense. There were plenty of mistakes made last night, as evidenced by several sideline shots of an unhappy Bo Pelini, but it didn't appear that the Huskers were sleep walking like they did last week.
The story of the night is the Husker secondary, which nabbed four picks, two of which were returned for TDs, and played much better in coverage against a fairly talented Southern Miss receiving corps.
The offense still looked a bit lackadaisical, although the Huskers opened up the playbook a little and threw down field more. That vanilla play calling is to be expected with a big game against UCLA looming next week, and it was helpful that the defense outscored Southern Miss all by themselves, preventing any need for a shootout.
On the whole, the young guns on defense took a nice step forward and Husker Nation was treated to the fun sort of blowout everyone expected last week.
On with the review:
Offensive MVP: Ameer Abdullah, RB. Abdullah had a nice game last night, piling up another 116 yards and scoring his first two TDs of the year. I wonder if Imani Cross' big game last week motivated Abdullah a little bit, because the junior ran like his life depended on it last night.
Defensive MVP: Ciante Evans, NB. Evans had 2 INTs and returned one for a TD. He also looked sharp in coverage and managed to get his secondary into the right position most of the night.
Special Teams MVP: Sam Foltz, P. Whatever Nebraska kids are doing to develop into such great punters and kickers, it needs to continue. Foltz's 60 yarder from his own endzone was gorgeous, but his last punt, a floating pooch that was downed inside USM's 5 yard line was something special. If Foltz keeps it up, he'll be next in the long line of NU punters in the NFL; it'll be nice to have him for 4 more years.
Freshman MVP: Greg McMullen, DE. This kid really showed up Saturday night, grabbing 4 tackles, 2 for loss, and forcing a fumble. With so much inexperience on the defensive line, the Huskers are going to need performances like that consistently from the young guns.
Assistant Coach MVP: Terry Joseph. 2 Pick-sixes, 4 INTs, and generally tight coverage all night made for a nice bounce back game for the Husker secondary. This is what we expected to see from the most experienced group on the Husker defense. Stanley Jean-Baptiste and Ciante Evans have looked impressive so far this season and if Joseph can get the safeties going in the right direction, the defense will continue to improve.
Key Stat: 6.2 When your offense is averaging better than six yards per carry, you know you're in for a fun night. The Golden Eagles had a few nice plays on defense, but Ameer Abdullah and Co were impressive on the night.
Play of the Game: Stanley Jean-Baptiste's pick six. With all of the negativity swirling around the defense the past week, fans were on the edge of their seats for all the wrong reasons to start the game. On the third play of the game, SJB made a beautiful jump on Allan Bridgford's pass and it was a clean run into the endzone. Suddenly, everything was right with Husker football again.
Play We Want Back: That 41 yd TD pass to Rickey Bradley was the result of a blown coverage. After last week, those sort of plays are a worrisome occurrence.
Blown Call: It looks like "tackling too hard" is going to be a problem for Nebraska this season. Charles Jackson got hit with a questionable personal foul on a kick return in the third quarter that mystified everyone in the booth.
Hit of the Game: Josh Mitchell and Stanley Jean-Baptiste both had highlight TFL's in the flats, which if missed, would have resulted in big gains. That sort of high-level tackling from the corners is going to come in handy next weekend.
I want to see more...
*SJB. The light seems to have come on for the senior corner. SJB has been Nebraska's most consistent defender so far and if he continues to improve, the NFL will come calling.
*Shutting down the run. USM managed only 62 net yards rushing. That'll do.
*4th quarter fire from Coach K. Nebraska was up 49-13 in the 4th quarter but cameras caught DL coach Rick Kaczenski greeting his charges with fiery and enthusiastic zest as they trotted off the field.
*QB Pressure. Bridgford was only sacked once last night, but he got to know DE Randy Gregory pretty well. The Blackshirts look a lot better when opposing QBs don't have time to set their feet and throw the ball.
*Mike Moudy. The fact that the junior was playing in the first half means that the second and third team linemen are developing to the point where they can spell the 1's early in the game. That was the hallmark of the best offensive lines in the 90's and it's encouraging to see that depth finally returning.
*Kenny Bell. That dude just plays football. He knifed the Eagles with a 21 yard TD catch before halftime and he stole the momentum back after USM's second half TD with a 63 yard kickoff return. Add to that his edge blocking and tackles on special teams and Bell could well be Nebraska's most valuable player overall.
*T-Magic. Aside from some nice scrambles, there wasn't anything magical about Taylor Martinez running last night. Hopefully he's saving it up for UCLA.
*Backups. According to the official participation report everyone, including the waterboys, got into the game. Playing the last 25 minutes of a live game is indispensable for the youngsters, especially the linemen. Bo's been criticized in the past for leaving the starters in too long, but I think he did a good job last night.
*Skill position depth. Seven wide receivers or tight ends caught balls last night, and 5 different backs got carries. King Frazier and Graham Nabity looked good getting carries late, and redshirt freshman walk-on WR Sam Burtch caught a TD from Martinez. You can't buy that sort of depth (unless you're Ole Miss).
I want to see less...
*Busted coverage. There were a few missed throws by Bridgford that could have been big gains. The improved QB pressure made a difference, but tighter coverage is going to be a priority against UCLA.
*Penalties. A couple stupid ones in this game, most notably Gregory's roughing the passer; that was a completely ridiculous move on his part.
*Wasted Drives. Nebraska had three 3-and-outs last night. I'll give them a pass on the drive that started at the Nebraska 1 yard line, but I was pretty irritated at the slow start after halftime.
*Missed throws. You will never see anyone more wide open than Cethan Carter was on a playaction fake in the second quarter and Martinez just plain missed him. He knew it too; after the game all he could do was shake his head in the press conference.
*Turnovers. Terrell Newby is a stud, but he's a young stud. Young studs eventually learn that there's things they got away with in high school that won't cut it in college. Ball control is one of those things. Side note: Nebraska is +3 in turnovers for the first time in forever.
*Page not responding. Because Northwestern vs Syracuse was the game picked for my region, I was forced to go to BTN2GO which, of course, was down for most of the afternoon. Luckily, there are websites of questionable legality on which I was able to watch the first half.
Armchair coach: Why did it take until late in the third quarter to see Imani Cross? After the game he had last week, I would have expected Ron Brown to put Cross in early and often to compliment Abdullah's slashing style with a bit of blunt-force trauma.
Jennifer's Take (my wife doesn't know much about football, but she still has opinions)
"What take? I was working all day!"
Sucks to suck.
Opponent Watch...
*ESPN announcers joked that perhaps Michigan State DC Pat Narduzzi should take over as offensive coordinator as well. Not a bad idea. In a 21-6 win over South Florida, Narduzzi's DE Shilique Calhoun scored two TDs compared to the offense's one. That's the same South Florida team that gave up 53 to McNeese State (whatever that is) last week. Sparty's got some issues.
*Color me impressed by Illinois' fast start in that win against Cincy. Tim Beckman needs wins like that to keep his job.
*Both Iowa and Purdue struggled in wins over FCS teams. One of those teams will have a new coach next year if things don't improve.
*Penn State true freshman QB Christian Hackenberg shook off an early fumble returned for a TD and threw for 311 yards and a TD as Penn State rolled 45-7 against Eastern Michigan. Bill O'Brien is clearly building for the future with his young QB, who will be a senior when the Lions are eligible for the post-season again.
*Minnesota dominated another weak team on the road. The Gophers are nothing to sleep on, but they're not worth losing sleep over either-yet.
*#17 Michigan looked OK in a nice home win over #11 Notre Dame. Devin Gardner looked good-minus that disastrous 4th quarter pick six-but that pass defense needs to tighten up.
*#19 Northwestern had little trouble with Syracuse, winning 48-27. They're looking like a tougher out every week.
*Wyoming blasted Idaho 42-10, and the Cowboys were up 42-0 going into the 4th quarter. It's a good first step in proving last week wasn't a fluke.
Keeping an eye on the rest of the college football world...
*How good is former NU Tackle Tyler Moore? To my eyes, he was #12 Florida's best lineman against Miami, consistently locking down ends while pass blocking and driving guys off the screen in the run game. He got busted on at least 3 penalties though, so you know he's sticking to his Nebraska roots. Also, Florida has the same problem as Michigan State: a hideous offense that ruins great defensive performances.
*Miami, still under the cloud of an NCAA investigation, looks like they're ready for a serious run. Their next big test comes Oct. 5 against Georgia Tech, and avoiding Clemson during the regular season is a boon.
*Brett who? #21 Wisconsin stuck to the run game and strong defense to record their second consecutive shutout over Tennessee Tech. Gary Anderson gets his first true test against Arizona State next week, but he's made a strong first impression so far.
*Speaking of Brett Bielema, his Hogs had to sweat it out yesterday. They were down 21-17 going into the 4th quarter against Samford.
*400 yards and 4 TDs for Teddy Bridgewater and #8 Louisville against Eastern Kentucky. Bridgewater needs these sort of performances to keep his name at the top of the Heisman list, because he doesn't have many marquee games to showcase his considerable talent.
*#2 Oregon took less than two minutes to score their first TD against Virginia and they rolled to a win wearing their worst helmet yet.
*Braxton Miller missed most of #3 Ohio State's game against SDSU this week. Kenny Guiton might be the most experienced backup QB in the country, and he proved he can win if Miller is out for a long while.
*Contrary to what "Tyler in Atlanta" might think, #11 Georgia's season is not over. One of the ESPN announcers said on the broadcast that he would take Jadeveon Clowney over JJ Watt. He looks pretty silly, after Aaron Murray and Todd Gurley gashed the Gamecocks all afternoon.
*#7 Texas A&M has a great offense, but it might be time to start worrying about that D after they gave up 4 TDs to Sam Houston State.
*Who wants to be Mack Brown this week? Another baffling loss ruins another season before the end of September. OK, it's probably too early to say that for sure, but after all of the unjustified hype (including a certain World-Herald writer pegging them at #3 in his AP ballot), Texas must regroup quickly with Ole Miss and Kansas State coming to town the next two weeks.
*How about #22 Baylor's 781 yards of offense against Buffalo? Art Briles appears to have built a machine in Waco, starting his 3rd QB in 3 years with no dropoff. After Okahoma and Texas' struggles, the Bears might be the favorite in the Big 12.
*If you haven't seen Western Kentucky's 5 turnovers in 6 plays, get your life together and go to ESPN's college football page. It's awesome because it happened to Bobby Petrino.
*As much as I loved Mike Leach before, I love him oh-so-much more this morning after finding out that his Washington State team knocked off USC late last night. Surprisingly, the Cougs did it with defense, holding the Trojans to 54 passing yards and forcing 2 picks. Can't sleep on any team coached by Mike Leach.
*#5 Stanford was a little sloppy in their opener vs San Josed State, but if they can beat Oregon like they always inexplicably seem to do, I like the Cardinal to
Last Thought
Two games into 2013, we have two very different Nebraska teams. Which is the real Husker defense? Is the Nebraska offense the unstoppable juggernaut we expected in August? Is every other play going to be a disaster followed by a celebration?
With such a small sample size, it's impossible to say for sure, but one thing is certain: we'll have a better idea by 3 PM next Saturday. UCLA comes to town and it looks like a perfect storm of Bo Pelini's demons: ranked opponent, mobile QB, and a national TV audience. Will the young Nebraska defense rise to occasion, or is it going to be another soul crushing day to be a Husker fan? We'll see but I definitely feel better about it than I did last Sunday. We'll see how I feel next Sunday.
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