Nebraska Football: Five Things To Love and Hate About the Cornhuskers' Week 1

OK, game one of the Bo Pelini Era Year 3 is in the books.  It was generally a solid effort, albeit against a much weaker opponent in Western Kentucky--but hey, at least we aren't in Lawrence right now.

Here are 5 things I absolutely loved about the week 1 win against Western Kentucky:

Taylor Martinez Runs Wild

What Husker fan didn't appreciate the effort by this kid?  He was lightning fast, running for a 46 yard touchdown on the Husker's 3rd play from scrimmage and racking up a positively gaudy 18+ yards per carry average and tacking on two more touchdowns later in the game.

He seemed to be in command of the offense for the most part, made good decisions, wasn't careless with the ball, while at the same time looking for big plays when he could (something really lacking last year). 

There was a little trouble right before half in trying to run the two minute drill, although two drops didn't help, but generally, a solid effort for a young, first year starter.

Lavonte David is all over the field

Was it a flawless effort?  No.  Was he out of position a couple of time?  Yes. However, the kid brought an energy and athleticism to the linebacker position that we haven't seen in quite some time (Dillard's generally outstanding play last year notwithstanding). 

Thirteen total tackles was the final number, but it seemed like the announcers were saying his name on almost every play.  He played fast and instinctive.  Overall a solid effort and it bodes well as the season moves on without Fisher, and for a time, Compton. 

The Offensive Line Play

Sure, SOME of those rushing yards were due to the ridiculous speed and talents of the backs, chiefly Martinez, but those holes didn't create themselves. 

Nebraska set out on a mission this year to be more physical up front, and after one game, they seem to be doing just that.  An 8.8 yards per carry average for the whole team is a great stat that should build some confidence going forward.

Also on the plus side was the depth. Several of the guys in the second spot on the depth chart got in early and often, and as the game wore on, even more players farther down saw some action.  It was good to see guys like Pensick and Rodriguez get some action.  That can only help with depth down the road.

So Far, So Good for the Peso--and the Safety Position

Not that it was a perfect effort by the defense (more on that, later)--but Gomes, Hagg, Thenarse, Smith and co. played pretty well.  I'm not sure we want to say "Asante or O'Hanlon who" anytime soon, but man do we have some playmakers at those positions.

Hagg was all over the field, picking up right where he left off last year.  Gomes was the best of the safties, and he was tied for second in tackles on the team.  Thenarse got as much playing time as he seemingly ever has in a full game, and P.J. Smith had the interception (hang on to it next time, big boy)

The Receiving Corps strutted their stuff

Well, some of them did.  Brandon Kinnie looked solid, no big plays, but made the catches he was supposed to.  Paul had a touchdown catch on a big play.  Enunwa got into the action as a true freshman. Even Will Henry, who has been Mr. Nonexistent for much of his career, got in on the action. 

During the game, it didn't really seem like we were throwing it that much, but at the end of the day, we had 25 pass attempts, a good completion percentage, and good yards per attempt.  Save the misfires at the end of the 1st half (including a couple of drops)--and we can see that Watson has something to build on here.  Besides the drops, the only hiccup was--where was McNeil?

Here are 5 Things I hated about Week 1 (or at least give me pause)

179 yards rushing for Western Kentucky????

Yes, they were committed to the run when most teams would start throwing when they got down a few scores.  Yes, they did have a pretty talented back for a team that didn't win a game last year.  Yes, any team would have a tendency to let down a bit when you get up by 4 or 5 touchdowns.

But let's be honest.  It was Western Kentucky.  This wasn't DeMarco Murray out there.  We can't count on knocking the football out of the runner's hands at the goal line every time they break a big run. 

Was it a "hangover" from missing Suh?  Was it inexperience in our linebacking corps?  Something else?  It was likely a combination of several factors--the D-line needing to gel, new linebackers getting in on the action, playing a pretty vanilla scheme as far as stunts and blitz packages go, and letting down a bit when up by a big score. 

However, we will need to shore this aspect of the game up as our competition gets tougher.  I guarantee that Daniel Thomas is licking his chops about now.

Niles Paul--big playmaker, but sometimes for the other team

An amazingly gifted athlete.  Fast, physical--and those traits were definitely on display Saturday.  92 yards receiving with a 30+ yard touchdown catch, 3 punt returns for nearly a 20 yard average, and some physical blocks on the outside....

and, oh yeah, a fumble, a drop, and we again saw him looking at the ball as a defender picked up and ran with what could have been a dropped lateral (luckily this time, it wasn't).  Sure, it happens to the best of players at times--but with Paul, it is frustratingly frequent.

Where were the Tight Ends?

It's a fair point that the wide receivers were playing well, and we didn't play a lot of two tight sets, but it would have been nice to see the tight ends get a little more involved. 

Maybe we'll be able to line up in a quasi-spread formation, like we did much of the day Saturday, and run the zone read all day long for the rest of the season--but maybe not.

Robinson is your short yardage/goal line back--use him that way

Alright, I'm going to second guess the coaches here.  I really like what Dontrayevous Robinson could potentially bring to the table--but at the same time, I don't think he should simply be plugged into the offense in place of Burkhead or Helu.

When Robinson got into the game, he was just put in as the third option, and the offense didn't change.  I don't see his strengths as being the same as Burkhead or Helu.  I see Robinson as more of a straight ahead pounder that would be effective in short yardage and goal line situations (although Helu had a great run to punch it in from short distance).

They tried to run Robinson wide out of the zone read on several of his carries.  He just didn't seem like he had the explosiveness to hit the openings that seemed to be there for Burkhead and Helu for much of the game.

Western Kentucky had more time of possession

I'm getting pretty nit-picky here, and of course that can happen when you score quickly and have a lot of big plays--and your opponent makes a commitment to running the ball, and has some success.

However, the mark of Pelini's teams has been ball control.  If nothing else, keep it away from their offense.  The zone read plays worked great--but can we line it up with two tights and pound it out if we need to?  That remains to be seen. 

It was a great start to the season.  We finally have a starting quarterback, and he seems to have a lot more big play potential than last year's QB.  The defense seemed to pick up where it left off for the most part, and there was really nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of this Husker fan.