One More Warm-Up (vs. Wyoming)

Recap:

What a beautiful game that was, or at least what a beautiful second half. Getting drenched on the way and off and on during the first half wasn’t fun, neither was seeing Nebraska only up by 4 at the half. But they got it together enough for a solid win. It wasn’t the prettiest by all means, but for a first game against Fresno State, we can settle for good enough…for now. I was actually preparing for all of the feels for the Foltz tributes, and while they were touching, I was expecting some more water works (and not from the rain). The 10-man formation was well played, and is always great to see 90,000+ people be on the same page for these kinds of things. He will always be missed and I anticipate more tributes as the season progresses.

But let’s get back to the game for a bit. There was an interesting sequence of three pass attempts in a row by Armstrong at some point during the second quarter (think it was before halftime-ish?). It went like one really great throw followed by another, and at that point I’m like “Hey he’s throwing the ball better at least, that’s a great sign” and then the third throw was off the back heel, shoulders not square, and thrown into double coverage and almost intercepted. Jk lol. Take back everything I said. I didn’t think much of it at the time because the offense seemed to be firing on most of their cylinders, then I saw some numbers after the game: 13 pass attempts against 51 run attempts. Well damn that explains a lot. The good ol’ 2014 Cowboys method of not letting your mediocre quarterback throw the ball and run the damn ball with your tanks! But that does perplex the question: With so many talented receivers, what do they become? Well we saw some nice sweeps from Moore and Pierson-El, Reiley is known to run some sweeps as well when he returns to the team, Westerkamp not so much. However there seems to be a bond between Armstrong and Westerkamp. So here’s my proposition: If Armstrong throws, throw it ONLY to Westerkamp! There problem solved.

 

Wait, you’re saying Nebraska still has problems? You’re telling me there’s a thing called a defense? Ok ok. The run defense is picking up where they left off, which is fantastic to make teams one dimensional. Sure Fresno threw it 50 million times, but I don’t blame them when the run defense is that good to shut it down and they’re constantly playing from behind, they pretty much had to abandon any run game they had. I also don’t blame them because the secondary still looks non-existent and still shops at Target. I’d throw the ball all day long if my receivers got a 5 yard bubble all to themselves and the defender can’t tackle them properly. 

(Editor’s note: The first targeting call was BS. The second one actually should’ve been, really surprised they picked up the second one. But to those playing along at home; a flag WASN'T EVEN THROWN FOR THIS

 

The Big Red Breakdown:

But I digress. It’s a new day tomorrow and it’ll be against Wyoming. Last time Wyoming was underestimated, they almost won. But I have a tough time buying that one of the worst teams last year (by my rankings) can turn it around enough to be remotely competitive. They needed triple OT to put away Northern Illinois, who also hasn’t been relevant since Jordan Lynch graduated. Sure their coach was an Osborne-ling, but you’ll need some talent to back up your pedigree. Wyoming will just be Nebraska’s final tune-up before #350 against Oregon.

(I also have some questions as to why Pierson-El wasn’t returning punts at all during the Fresno game, do they know something we don’t? Whatever the case is, he better be back there tomorrow so he can get warmed up for Oregon. Again, whatevs, digress)

Nebraska O vs Wyoming D: Advantage Nebraska. Run the damn ball! Except for the few times you toss it up to Westy.

Nebraska D vs Wyoming O: Advantage Nebraska. Prevent them from running the damn ball! And let’s work on that secondary k? I’m sure Oregon will love to slice that secondary in half if it remains in its current state.

Special Teams: Advantage Nebraska. Besides not having Pierson-El field punts, I will make a few more comments about our special teams play last week. They were actually kinda bad. Like one of the worst I’ve seen in a while from them bad. A couple close times they almost turned the ball over by not getting away from it on punts. Maybe that’s the power of Pierson-El they’re missing. One punt blocked, they just kinda let them through, but I’ll allow one. How about that new punter though? Through one game he’s filled in some pretty big shoes fairly nicely, hoping the trend continues. RIP Foltz

Nebraska 48, Wyoming 17 (Since I apparently generously overshot last week)

The Rest of the World in College Football:

Wow what a week. Two of my initial top 4 teams went down already...and as a response to all of the upsets some teams got a very very very generous bump in the rankings (cough Wisconsin, Texas cough). My personal rankings are always a work in progress and won't be released until Week 3 due to lack of sample size, but this new formula is already looking interesting...so we'll see how it turns out.

We split the other games last week but thanks to Nebraska I'll take the 3-2 winning week. No ranked v ranked match-ups this week (sadface) so instead....

THE NFL IS BACK:

The Panthers and Broncos kicked off the season last night in a very excitable game for a Super Bowl rematch, with unfortunately the wrong team winning yet again. But it was fun to watch as I was procrastinating on my homework. Siemian was actually impressive in his debut, maybe they're on to something. One of his turnovers wasn't totally his fault, so we'll give him credit for only causing one. But I'll still hold off before jumping on him for my fantasy lineup, already gambling on the Dak Attack

Sunday Night: Patriots @ Cardinals - Cardinals 31, Patriots 20

The only tough game the Patriots have while Brady goes on a 4-week vacation, even with Brady around it's still a tough task to go to Arizona and come out with a win

Monday Night: Steelers @ Redskins - Steelers 38, Redskins 29

Neither team can play defense so that'll be fun to watch, however I trust the skills of Big Ben to get the job done better than Cousins. And I'm not just saying that because I have Roethlisberger in one of my fantasy teams this year again (Yes I said one of oooooo spooky)

Also Monday Night: Rams @ 49ers - Rams 24, 49ers 21

Well...these teams have to start somewhere? It will be a very blah match up, but it could tell how these teams will shape up for the rest of the season