Back In Black?

For the first time in my life, I took got to see back-to-back games in Memorial Stadium when I saw the Huskers take on the Iowa State Cyclones last weekend. And I've got to say, it was probably the second weirdest Nebraska game I've ever seen (the weirdest being the Huskers' 24-17 victory against the Kansas Jayhawks in 1999, when Nebraska scored all of their points in the second half and a game they would have lost without former quarterback Bobby Newcombe's 200 all-purpose yards). This game was similar, in that it took Nebraska's offense a while to get going, and without a couple big plays that led to Husker scores not by the offense (in '99 it was an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown by Newcombe and this time it was an interception returned 93 yards for a touchdown by Bo Ruud) the outcome might have been different indeed.

What made it so weird? Well, for starters Iowa State's time of possession for the game was 39:03 minutes. This was about 19 minutes longer and nearly doubled Nebraska's T.O.P of 20:17 minutes! Second, Iowa State ran astounding 102 plays versus only 59 from Nebraska. ISU topped off their amazing statistics with an impressive total of 28 first downs. When one team is dominating those three categories, like Iowa State did on Saturday, it usually means they're also dominating the other team. But here's the thing, with all of that going for them on offense, Iowa State was only able to score 17 points! Even when ISU was up 10-0, it never felt like Nebraska was out of it and once Nebraska took the lead, it never felt like they were ever really in any danger of losing it. In fact, if anything, it felt like it should have been, and would have been, a blow-out by Nebraska if not for 3 turnovers early in the game. Like I said, weird.

Another weird factor of the game was definitely the play of the Nebraska defense. For the first time in recent memory they look not only prepared, but energized. The defense was flying to the ball, making gang tackles, intercepting passes, and pressuring the quarterback. To me, the pressure the Huskers were able to put on ISU QB Bret Meyer was definitely the most impressive. Impressive mostly because Meyer was sacked three times with Nebraska managing just three sacks in their four previous games and the Cyclones having only allowed three all year. Aside from the sacks, that pressure was definitely a factor in the passes that Meyer threw which the Huskers were able to pick off. It just goes to show what good pass rush can do.

That all sounds great, right? Keep in mind, I said that the play of the defense was weird, too, so before you get all excited about what the Nebraska defense did right, there's definitely some nagging concerns. First and foremost were the number of plays ISU had (the aforementioned 102) and the fact that Iowa State outgained Nebraska in yardage 415 to 369. Those 415 yards, by the way, were ISU's second-most ever in Lincoln. Now, I'm going to cut the D some slack here, because as I said before they were playing with intensity (finally) and were probably more than a little tired after their teammates on offense kept turning the ball over in the first quarter. But keep in mind, Iowa State is ranked at the bottom of the Big XII North in scoring offense and were 83rd in total offense going into last Saturday's game. Even more disturbing, is that when you add the 415 yards ISU had to the 610 yards Ball State had, and you'll get 1025 yards given up by the Cornhuskers in back-to-back games to opponents who are now ranked #104 and #59 respectively.

So, the question remains, is the Nebraska defense getting better, or was Iowa State that bad? I'm actually willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here because of the turnovers by the Nebraska offense, the fact that they came up with big plays when they had to, they only allowed 17 points, and finally, because the Huskers won. Does that mean that I think that this was a return to form? No. This was an ISU team that the Blackshirts of old would have kept out of the endzone, and maybe kept from scoring entirely. But, I do think that is was a step in the right direction. You've got to give credit where credit is due and Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove got his players prepared and fired up despite all of the distractions surrounding his defensive unit this week. That takes focus and determination. That takes good coaching. And for the first time in weeks, Cosgrove stepped up.

Now, can Cosgrove take the necessary steps to keep his defense improving for the rest of the season? If not, Cosgrove might need to put his house up for sale. True, he may be off the hotseat for now, but a poor defensive performance against Missouri this Saturday will put him right back in it. And with Kansas State upsetting #7 Texas and Colorado upsetting #3 Oklahoma last weekend, no game looks like a gimme for the rest of the season. Which doesn't mean that Nebraska has to win the rest of their games either, it just means that the Nebraska defense needs to look just as prepared and fired up from here on out as they did against Iowa State. Because Nebraska fans can handle losing, but they what they can't handle is bad coaching.