Nebraska Football: Reviewing the Cornhuskers' 51-41 Win Over Oklahoma State

THE GOOD

DOUBLE DARE: Oklahoma State took their defensive cue from South Dakota State and Texas—load the box with eight or nine players and dare Taylor Martinez to beat them throwing the ball. Martinez responded by going 23-of-35 for 323 passing yards and five touchdowns.

To put that in perspective, Martinez and Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden—you know, the guy who runs the sling-it-all-over-the-place offense—had the same number of pass attempts.

DRIVEN TO SUCCEED: After struggling some in the first half, Nebraska's offense was able to link plays together and drive the ball, not only scoring and winning the field position battles, but keeping Oklahoma State's dangerous offense off the field. The drive that won the game for Nebraska was a 12-play, 83-yard drive that took over six minutes. That, kids, is how you win football games.

KEEPING THE POKES OFF SCHEDULE: After getting run ragged in the first half, Nebraska's defense settled in and did much better on first down against Oklahoma State's offense, putting them in second-and-long situations to make them easier to defend. While 41 points is a big number to surrender, other than the flea flicker, Nebraska's defense responded well and did a better job of putting a lid on the Cowboys' explosive offense.

THE BAD

LACK OF WRAPS: For two games in a row, Nebraska's tackling technique was (to put it kindly) suspect. And while some of the struggles are just physics (smaller players trying to wrap up larger players with momentum), some of the struggles are still linked to the same lack of execution that dogged NU against Texas.

SLEEPY 'SHIRTS: We've seen this enough to now know the pattern. Nebraska's defense struggles at the start, giving up what seems to be shocking yardage to an opponent. Adjustments are made, the defense settles in and the yardage gets harder to come by for the opponent as the game wears on. Nebraska's offensive explosion in Stillwater let them get away with it against Oklahoma State, as opposed to the hole Texas dug for NU in the first quarter last week.

LIVIN' ON THE EDGE: I'll say this about Martinez: He's not shy about his abilities. Time after time, he took risks with his body and the football to keep plays alive to keep NU punching in this donnybrook. He lost one and gave OSU a field goal, but otherwise all of his dice rolls came up sixes.

That's a tough recipe, though, to rely on throughout a season. Keep your Tums handy, 'Husker fans.

AND LOOKING BACK IN ANGER.

After looking anemic and inept, Nebraska's offense exploded for 51 points against an undefeated Big 12 South team.

And Texas lost to Iowa State.

At home.

The $64,000 question is whether Nebraska ultimately choked away its chance to put the burnt orange ghosts away finally in Lincoln last week given the way the teams performed the week following their matchup. It's probably unfair to make that conclusion directly. While Oklahoma State is certainly a better and more balanced team than Kansas State, there are definitely parallels between the two teams, and Nebraska ultimately matched up pretty well against the Cowboys.

How well they match up against teams with legit defensive talent remains to be seen.

THE BIG PICTURE

Stop me if you've heard this one. Nebraska struggles at home, particularly on offense where it has a hard time getting anything consistently going. The Cornhuskers go on the road against a team with a suspect defense and look like world-beaters. They come back to Memorial Stadium, awfully impressed with themselves, and face a hated rival with solid defensive talent.

I don't know about you, but I feel like I've seen this movie. And I don't particularly care for the next scene.

Now, the emergence of Martinez the passer does change the fundamental dynamic of defending Nebraska. A defense can't just put eight in the box, play the lanes and leave NU's receivers one-on-one.

But make no mistake, Missouri's defense is legit. No less a luminary than Ivan Maisel has proclaimed the Tigers the best team in the Big 12 (although it's a good thing San Diego State isn't in the conference).

But in next week's Big 12 North Championship Game it will be fascinating to see how Martinez and Co. fare against them playing straight up. It will also be fascinating to see Pelini's Peso defense match up against Mizzou's spread offense, the style of offense (spread, shotgun, quick throws) that Pelini built the Peso to stop.

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