The Bone Yard

UnKnown’s Forgettable Opinions
Week #11

IT TOOK 30 YEARS…but we finally got a little pay back for that ridiculous call in the 1982 Penn State game in Happy Valley. Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it? Yes, we might have had a replay official fearing he’d get out of town safely if he ruled against Nebraska, but…

DON’T FEEL TOO BAD PSU FANS…when Nebraska got screwed in 1982, the official’s mistake was measured in feet not inches, there was no time left for Nebraska to come back, and the loss may have cost Nebraska the national championship. None of those conditions were applicable this time around. Consider yourselves fortunate that the stakes weren’t higher. It was your 4th loss in a probationary season. In 1982, it was Nebraska’s only loss in a potential National Championship season. Big difference.

I USED TO JOKE ABOUT THIS TEAM CAUSING ROLAIDS MOMENTS…but it’s not a joke anymore. I got a major league acid attack watching this game and had to go with the famous “pink liquid chalk” to remedy situation. At the rate things are going, the Husker fan base may have to be put into a group medical plan with the football program picking up the tab.

“SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME”…a great movie from back in 1956 about the fortuitous rise to stardom of boxer Rocky Graziano. There’s a remake in production. It stars the 2012 Nebraska football team.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 8-2 AND 4-6?…In Nebraska’s case, about a dozen plays. It’s amazing how just a few plays can make the difference between success and failure. Right now, we’re on the plus side, but then we could have easily gone the route of Michigan State and Northwestern this year. I like Pat Fitzgerald, but his team can’t protect a lead to save their lives.

DID DAMION STAFFORD PUT BO IN HIS PLACE?…He just might have. DS getting in Bo’s grill about late defensive play calls may have been a crystalline moment. Not only did Bo fess up to causing the problem, he admitted they simplified things in the 2nd half to avoid further such scenarios. And oh, by the way, we played much better defense in the 2nd half. A “learning experience” for Bo? We’ll see.

SIX...or, the number of different plays we ran yesterday. I’ll be seeing that toss play to the right in my dreams. According to Bo, it’s a play the blockers know how to execute, and obviously, AA is pretty good at running it. Even at that, it got a bit redundant.

TIM MARLOWE…I’ll try to tread lightly, but if the ONLY reason you’re back there fielding punts is your ability to catch the ball, then you better catch ‘em all.

WHY DIDN’T WE THROW LONG MORE OFTEN?…Probably because our OL was getting bitch slapped too often. We are not good at the RT position on pass plays. Running right is no problem, we do that all day, but we have a guy or two over there that whiffs on his pass blocks with regularity. On the plus side…

TAYLOR’S ESCAPABILITY… is definitely better this year. He avoids sacks and big losses better and has made a few good scrambling throws too. That pass to Jamal Turner off a scramble was pretty. On the minus side…

TAYLOR STILL HAS SOME ISSUES…locking onto his targets. He threw one ball to Kyler Reed when he was triple covered. Someone else had to be wide open on that play. He also seems to have lost his touch for the zone read, often making the wrong choice on who should get the ball. By this time, I think the zone read is more of a look than an actual option play.

HOOSIER DADDY, INDIANA?…Apparently, it’s Wisconsin. That pretty much looked like a B1G team v. an intramural flag football team. Wiscy looked good, but we’ll know about where they really are in a couple of weeks.

IF THERE’S ANY JUSTICE IN THE WORLD…of college football, K-State will make it to the NC game. The SEC may be great, but frankly, I’m tired of coaches who make 8 mil a year, have 20 future NFLers on their team, and manage their rosters like a professional team being the “model” for college football. What Bill Snyder has done at KSU is far more the “model” for college football than what any SEC team could ever hope to be.

IS GENE CHIZIK A MODERN DAY FORREST GUMP?…He gets hired to be Auburn’s HC after losing the last ten games he coached at Iowa State. He them stumbles upon Cam Newton (we won’t go into how that happened) and wins a National Championship. Once Cam and few assistants leave, we verify what was already known, Chizik can‘t coach. Now, after Auburn’s dreadful performance this year, he’s all but gone, but will walk with a $7,000,000 check in his wallet. Considering his actual talents, Gene Chizik might be the luckiest guy on Earth.