Offense D. I thought about going F here. Watson's game plan was odd in many ways though I am not sure if anybody could make much out of this bunch right now. How many Freshman did we start today? The Offensive line is a mess, The Running Backs are a mess, The Wide Receivers are a mess, The QB's you get the point. BTW you've got a 6'5" inch 240 pound QB can't he go forward and get a yard? I didn't go F here simply because they won the game but forget the score this was the offenses worst game of the year.
Defense: A-. For 2 1/2 quarters the defense played really lights out. And unlike last week when they didn't create turnovers they did so this week keeping Baylor off the score board. Jared Crick played one of the all time great games in NU history but the fans are too busy preparing for their lynching to notice. Defense kinda backed off a little bit in the 4th quarter which was disappointing but they made plays when they had to. Baylor's touchdown came from a interception return.
Special Teams: A+. Your offense sucks? Block a punt and return it for a score. Alex Henery was Alex Henrey. Making clutch punts and being as automatic as always from inside of 50 yards. Niles Paul even had a nice punt return.
Coaching: No grade here I am not a coach. And no, playing NCAA 2010 or reading all of Dr. Tom's books doesn't qualify one for the job. Neither BTW does working for the Omaha World Herald they just don't know it yet. I questioned Watson's game plan plenty today but honestly as a scribe pointed out Bill Walsh at his best would have trouble getting much out this bunch right now. It's not that they're bad necessarily as it is they are young.
Grade: C. And maybe that is too nice. This team needed a win and they won. As a famous wrestler used to tell us that's the bottom line. Well Bo told us as well after today's game proclaiming the win "great". This team also needed to get some confidence and momentum. They did not. even if Nebraska would have won 34 or 41-3 as it appeared for a while at least they might you still didn't have much hope for them winning next week. Just one problem. If you watched Kansas State take OU down to the wire tonight this team doesn't look as if it could beat Kansas State either. All is not lost however. Kansas looks as if it too has severe mental issues at the moment and Colorado maybe relegated to stay at home status next week. Both those games are on the road where this teams plays marginally better.
Nebraska won today and improved to 5-3 but it wasn't the kind of win that made you think of a 4 or 5 game winning streak. It was the kind of win that made you think glad to get this one...can we possibly get one more?