Nebraska Football: Reviewing The Huskers' 17-3 Win Over South Dakota State

THE GOOD ...

- LAVONTE LIVIN' LARGE: Linebacker Lavonte David recorded 19 (!) tackles in NU's win over the Jackrabbits. Now, some of that number comes from SDSU's game plan to run right at NU, and some comes from the Jackrabbits being successful enough to get through the defensive line and into the linebackers. But still, 19 tackles is 19 tackles. A good day's work at the office.

- ALEX MONEY: Picking right up where he left off, kicker and punter Alex Henery had a phenomenal game. He hit the field goal he was asked to, but his most important contributions were from his punts. In the second half, he had two unassisted punts that pinned SDSU inside their own five yard line.

Given NU's struggles, a touchdown from the Jackrabbits could have really started a downhill slide for NU. Henery's ability to make a punt bite like a Tiger Woods nine-iron helped make sure that didn't happen.

- 4-0: It's not entirely true in college football that there's no such thing as style points. But ultimately, Nebraska survived a flat, listless, and disinterested performance and won the game. Remember, last year they put up a similar clunker against Iowa State and weren't so lucky. NU rebounded from that loss to win five of their next six, including a defeat of Oklahoma and their heartbreaking loss to Texas in the Big 12 Championship.

THE BAD ...

- PANCAKES: No, not the good kind that offensive linemen get for flattening their opponent. Pancakes int the sense of "The 'Huskers were as flat as." While I am sure they were reminded time and time again to play one game at a time by their coaches, it was awfully clear that NU thought they were as good as everyone had been telling them they were since their demolition of Washington. As (cough) someone reminded you in the preview to this game, those are college kids wearing those white helmets, and their immaturity showed on Saturday.

- DRIVING DILEMMA: NU kept South Dakota State out of the endzone, but the Jackrabbits had a number of long drives throughout the game. In the second half, SDSU started out at their own eight and drove all the way to the Nebraska 19 before kicking their field goal. The newly-minted Blackshirts ended up on the field a lot more than expected.

- BAD KARMA: Throughout the week, the discussion about the SDSU game was one of contempt for the Jackrabbits. Some idiot said they were the worst team to come into Lincoln since 1995, and NU would win 51-10.

The Omaha World-Herald's pregame cover had a broadsheet full of cupcakes. We all should have realized the kind of bad karma that puts out, and how that karma almost came back to make the 'Huskers (and, even worse, people who analyze the 'Huskers!) look awfully foolish.

...AND THE BLUEPRINT

Dear Coaches on the Rest of Nebraska's Schedule: You've got a pretty good idea of how to neutralize Nebraska from our game film on Saturday. On defense, spy Taylor Martinez, blitz, and put eight or nine guys in the box to take away the run.

Make "T-Magic" beat you with his arm—his most accurately-placed throws against us were to our guys. On offense, run right at their built-for-speed defense and grind out yards three to five at a time.

Remember, we may have lost by two touchdowns, but we had two touchdowns taken off the board by penalties. You should be able to take your BCS-conference athletes and use this game plan to some success. You're welcome. Sincerely, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

THE BIG PICTURE

After the Washington game, some pundits were lining up Nebraska's chances against teams like Alabama in what seemed like NU's inevitable march to a national championship appearance.

After a performance like Saturday, that type of discussion has been exposed as laughably premature. Still, just as it was easy to get too over-excited about NU's blowout of Washington, it's just as easy to be overly concerned about Nebraska's struggles against an FCS foe.

Pelini will have a week and a half to get the attention of an embarrassed and humbled NU team to get them ready for Daniel Thomas and the Purples. As bad as it looked, Saturday's clunker of a win may help NU sharpen its' focus and be ready for a talented K-State team in a truly hostile environment.

THE NEXT GAME

Nebraska at Kansas State (October 07, 6:30 p.m. Central, Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, KS, ESPN). Kansas State will bring arguably the best back in the conference in Daniel Thomas to the game, licking his chops to see that the Blackshirts allowed an FCS tailback over 100 yards.

Plus, the game is on ESPN on a Thursday night, in front of a Manhattan crowd that genuinely despises the Big Red and would love nothing more than to win their last matchup against NU. There will be work to do both in schemes and in focus for NU to avoid opening their last Big 12 campaign with a loss.

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