Game 2--Arkansas State

Nebraska is getting a lot of great press for a ho-hum win over Arkansas State. Decent enough win, but I've read several articles raving about individual play when the overall unit has a LONG way to go in several departments. Either way, after watching its Big 12 brethren lose (and almost lost) to horrible teams, I'm sure they'll take it. PYB's observations are as follows:

Offense--Nice passing game by Zac Lee--big numbers, efficient numbers. Can he do it against a good team now? Roy Helu was obviously rested Saturday, but the lack of a power running game was concerning. As usual, with Barney Cotton making excuses early in the week, the offensive line failed to establish drive-blocking dominance. Shawn Watson force fed the ball to Niles Paul, getting him a few numbers and pumping up his ego...good I guess...but that Mickey Mouse shit won't work against Virginia Tech. In my opinion, if you're good enough to make plays it will happen without forcing it. But read the hacks in the OWH and LJS, and they'll have you believe this was a breakout game for Paul. Hopefully PYB is wrong, but we still surmise he's still a nonfactor against real competition.

Defense--Decent effort by the defensive line. Another bad performance by Blake Lawrence, though he blew fewer plays. The fact he got steamrolled on a routine play was concerning. Will Compton definitely took a step back, and was a nonfactor...so was Sean Fisher. The DBs were not really tested, so no analysis needed here. The LBs are the main point of discussion, as there was no hint of the swarming defense that will need to be there next week and in the Big 12. What killed NU last year against VT was the lack of containment against Tyrod Taylor, who is a shaky passer at best--especially on the run. Quotes by Arkansas State players indicate NU's DL was tough, but once they got past that level, running against the LBs was easy. Bad news for NU fans.

Unless there's a vast improvement to next week (which there could be as NU players will certainly be more intense and focused...cliche alert!), PYB sticks to its prediction of a Hokie win.