Texas-Nebraska Review

So, I was unable to watch the game live on Saturday. I got to watch it on the DVR. I must say it was an enjoyable experience not having to watch the commercials.

If you take a look at my column from last week, you'll see that the Longhorns did exactly what I asked them to do. The offense didn't turn the ball over, the defense didn't sustain Nebraska drives with dumb penalties and, although Curtis Brown did drop the ball on special teams, he recovered it.

What Texas did right:
1. Greg Davis finally opened up the playbook and let Gilbert do some things with his legs. I swear I heard the announcers say "Great play call by Greg Davis." Buy a generator, stock up on water and non-perishables, because the end is near.
2. We ran the ball effectively and kept the backs fresh. Garrett also had time to throw the ball. Add those up and you've got great offensive line play. Jared Crick and Co. didn't have their names called a lot.
3. Won the 3rd down battle. Nebraska had several third-and-longs they couldn't convert. They missed two big tackles on Nebraska's first scoring drive, but they got off the field.
4. Not calling a timeout with 0:01 left on the clock. Mack Brown showed his class where someone like, say, Nick Saban or Urban Meyer, would not.

What Nebraska did wrong:
1. Dropped balls. 8 of them according to the ESPN stats crew working the game. At least half of those were from Niles Paul, the supposed "next level" and "sure-handed" star wide receiver. Two would've been touchdowns and two would've at least put Nebraska inside the 5 yard line. "Sure-handed" Rex Burkhead alligator-armed a sure TD with no one within 10 yards of him on the 2-yard line.
2. Ten penalties for 94 yards.
3. Six fumbles, with one lost. At least two of the fumbles they recovered were on third-and-short and stalled drives.
4. A curious decision by Bo Pelini to bench Taylor Martinez. Sure he wasn't making the correct read on all plays, but all the fumbles and dropped passes didn't help. You've gotta dance with who brung ya. Zac Lee, while he made the right reads, isn't nearly as fast as T-Magic. I think with time that Martinez would've read the defense better and would've made Texas pay.
5. The crowd let the team down. As Mack Brown said, "But I could feel some of their fans, when we got up 10-0 thinking, 'You've got to be kidding, not again.'" I could tell that after we made that figgie to go up just 3-0, it got quieter. But when we followed up Roy Helu, Jr.'s fumble with that TD from Gilbert, it got real quiet.

What Texas did wrong:
1. We dropped the passes too. James Kirkendoll bobbled the go route deep in the end zone. Welcome Back Kirky! Malcolm Williams dropped the out route.
2. I can't blame Malcolm's drop all on him though, because Garrett just isn't an accurate passer. He lobs when he should flick. He holds the ball too long and throws behind receivers. There was that one play deep in our own territory where Fozzy ran an outlet and GG just tossed it at his feet with lots of running room in front of him.
3. That pooch punt. Mack went to the bucket one too many times. Credit Nebraska with studying the film and being ready. Here's betting we get that puppy out-of-bounds next time.

So the sky isn't really falling. Greg Davis called the game as if his job depended on it, well, because maybe it did. There's new life. The only game that looks really scary after this past weekend's games is Oklahoma State. But then again, we own them. So we've got 9-3 if we lose to OSU, and 10-2 if we win that game. Much better outlook than two games ago.