Special teams and turnovers. We also got like 80 yards in garbage time on that last possession.
That last possession pretty much just offset the fuskers one good drive of the game... :huh:
I don't really understand what you're saying. Our last possession offsets their one good possession which happened to clinch the game for them? Okay. I'm just saying, 80 of our yards came when the game was over.
I'm just saying the 200 yard advantage didn't just come right at the end of the game. We were outgaining them pretty much all day. But yeah, that last drive of theirs was a killer, and in the end statistics are for losers... :huh:
"Take away 10 plays this season and we're probably in a bowl game," CU coach Dan Hawkins said after the game. "We just need to clean some things up ... that's the story of the season."
"I don't like the way our football team played in any phase of the game," Huskers coach Bo Pelini said. "I'm happy we won the game. I thought we took a step back today."
Hawkins is right about this team being close. I question whether he's the coach who can get us over the hump, but that ship has sailed now so all I can do is hope that he is.
I don't know about that. We were every bit as close to 1-11 as we were to a bowl game imo. I just don't see an offseason fixing the issues this team seems to have under Hawk.
I completely disagree with special teams not being the reason for the loss. Gave up a punt return which is 6, two missed fg's 6 more, and they completely owned field position in the first quarter which led to a score and the punt return. We also gave up a pick 6 and yes stalled drives. However special teams set the tone in this game. I respect your opinion but I dont agree with it fwiw.Special teams weren't positive contributors, but I don't see them as the reason for the loss. Three drives deep into Neb territory. Placing the ball on Goodman's "wrong side of the field" - the left hashmark. Those are decisions made on Offense that cost points.
Coach Hawkins said he had the team ready to play, but was he aware that a First Quarter existed? Apparently not on Offense, at least. The offense didn't make any first-downs, receivers ran into coverage instead of away from it, and the O-line were handing out free passes into the backfrield.
The Defense only gave up two TDs. On that first allowed TD, they were tired and gassed. On the last one, they'd had plenty of rest - the Offense was gaining ground and grinding out restful minutes. But the Defense was still tired and gassed, and looked like they just gave up after their Offense's last drive inside the 20 resulted in no points.
Calling a time-out to give up a 3rd-down pass... how depressing. Nice adjustment, Coach.
Special teams set a bad tone of Quit, Give Up, whatever. But I think the refusal to call plays that continually exploited the obvious weaknesses was a bigger factor. And once again, the team didn't show up for the entire game.
I think we'll see a lot more of this in the future. I think "Quit" will become one of Coach Hawkins' most successfully-taught traits. We saw it this year for quite a few games. I expect he'll be even more successful teaching this next year.
I completely disagree with special teams not being the reason for the loss. Gave up a punt return which is 6, two missed fg's 6 more, and they completely owned field position in the first quarter which led to a score and the punt return. We also gave up a pick 6 and yes stalled drives. However special teams set the tone in this game. I respect your opinion but I dont agree with it fwiw.
Ah, the little things again. We're having a hell of a time fixing them.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13879126?source=rss
They missed a long field goal, too, so I'd say we were 3 short of where we should have been. Other than that I completely agree with you. That 2nd miss was inexcusable in that situation. It took all momentum away. Then there's the return (-10 points). Then there's fielding a punt over the shoulder at the 3 to ensure bad field position that led to their one offensive touchdown in the 1st half (-17 points). Plus we didn't make any plays while their punter pinned us deep with one great directional punt and one punt that seemed like it went 70 yards before going out at our 10. We absolutely lost this game on special teams.
"We just need to clean some things up ..."
Here we go again. :wow:
And I can't believe that he really believes "Take away probably 10 plays and we're in a bowl game". Well, change about 3 plays and we're 1-11. Did you mention that?
If this doesn't give credence to the old saying "statistics are for losers" nothing does.
I was just saying that we outgained them by a substantil margin and still lost.
Agreed. We had our chances to be sure, turnovers and special teams are the great equalizer. I really hope we can improve our red zone offense next year, if we don't we're screwed.
Those are valid points, but I think about the OTHER THREE QUARTERS.I completely disagree with special teams not being the reason for the loss... owned field position in the first quarter...