Lack of consistency dooms Nebraska's record-setting passing attack
AMES, Iowa — It's November in Ames. The air conditioning is running in the press box, students in shorts are dancing on goal posts, and Nebraska is throwing the football a school-record 43 times.
Is this the Twilight Zone?
We can't explain the unseasonably mild weather, or the Iowa State students' failed attempts to tear down the north goal post following a victory against a 5-4 team.
But all those footballs in the air, courtesy of Joe Dailey's arm?
Yes, that was planned.
"Our game plan was to throw the ball today, and we wanted to take advantage of their corners," Dailey said.
"That's what this offense is designed to do, to throw the ball and hit the open man."
Problem was, Dailey didn't do the latter with any consistency.
Dailey completed just 18 of 42 attempts for 230 yards in Nebraska's 34-27 loss Saturday. He overthrew open receivers a handful of times — most notably Isaiah Fluellen, who more than once beat his man, only to have a deep ball sail beyond his reach.
"We had some throws we thought were there," Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. "It's obvious to everybody who watched the game today that there were receivers wide-open down the field. We just overthrew a few of them. But those plays were there."
Even Dailey's longest completion of the game wasn't a thing of beauty. Mark LeFlore had gotten lost in the Iowa State secondary, with no defenders within 15 yards of him. While Dailey hit LeFlore for a gain of 46 yards to the ISU 26 in the third quarter, LeFlore had to stop and come back to the ball, then couldn't maintain his balance, and fell.
He would've scored easily.
"We can take big chunks, it's just a matter of executing," Dailey said. "In this offense, it can get ugly quick for us, and for the opposing team."
Dailey's 42 pass attempts tied the school record for the third time this season. Another pass, from Ross Pilkington, completed to Dailey, allowed Nebraska to break the team record for pass attempts.
Dailey, who moved into fourth place on the Nebraska single-season passing list with 1,646 yards, threw one touchdown — a great, one-handed grab by fullback Steve Kriewald, on a deflection.
"He made some good plays in the pocket, worked his feet well," Callahan said of Dailey. "He was at ease, he felt confident in what he was doing. (We were) a few plays away from we're all sitting here being happy. But it didn't happen."
Callahan's game plan was to throw the ball against an Iowa State defense that allowed 118 yards rushing per game.
The downfield throws seemed to loosen things up in the running game, as Cory Ross broke runs of 38 and 33 yards and helped the Huskers to 195 rushing yards as a team.
"We did a great job with the scheme. Coach had a great plan," said Ross, who finished with 126 rushing yards. "We just had to execute. We just didn't do that.
"(Not) running great routes and getting open and hitting the receivers. … I mean, there were a whole lot of miscues in the game today. It was very frustrating."
Still, Nebraska had the ball with three minutes remaining, with a chance to drive from its 31-yard line for a potential game-tying touchdown.
But on the first play of the series, Dailey tossed the ball into the hands of Iowa State linebacker Tim Dobbins. There were at least two other Cyclones closer to the ball than any Nebraska receiver.
"I guessed wrong on the last throw and I should have gotten the ball higher," Dailey said. "He made a good play to sneak in there and pick it off."
And in the first half, Nebraska came up empty following drives to the Iowa State 32-, 43-, 6- and 16-yard lines.
"That hurt us a whole lot," Nebraska receiver Grant Mulkey said. "Not only did that hurt us in not getting any points, it really brought the offense down. It's hard to come back from something like that."
Said Ross: "When you're in that red zone, you've got to get some points out of there, and we didn't."
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
Is this the Twilight Zone?
We can't explain the unseasonably mild weather, or the Iowa State students' failed attempts to tear down the north goal post following a victory against a 5-4 team.
But all those footballs in the air, courtesy of Joe Dailey's arm?
Yes, that was planned.
"Our game plan was to throw the ball today, and we wanted to take advantage of their corners," Dailey said.
"That's what this offense is designed to do, to throw the ball and hit the open man."
Problem was, Dailey didn't do the latter with any consistency.
Dailey completed just 18 of 42 attempts for 230 yards in Nebraska's 34-27 loss Saturday. He overthrew open receivers a handful of times — most notably Isaiah Fluellen, who more than once beat his man, only to have a deep ball sail beyond his reach.
"We had some throws we thought were there," Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. "It's obvious to everybody who watched the game today that there were receivers wide-open down the field. We just overthrew a few of them. But those plays were there."
Even Dailey's longest completion of the game wasn't a thing of beauty. Mark LeFlore had gotten lost in the Iowa State secondary, with no defenders within 15 yards of him. While Dailey hit LeFlore for a gain of 46 yards to the ISU 26 in the third quarter, LeFlore had to stop and come back to the ball, then couldn't maintain his balance, and fell.
He would've scored easily.
"We can take big chunks, it's just a matter of executing," Dailey said. "In this offense, it can get ugly quick for us, and for the opposing team."
Dailey's 42 pass attempts tied the school record for the third time this season. Another pass, from Ross Pilkington, completed to Dailey, allowed Nebraska to break the team record for pass attempts.
Dailey, who moved into fourth place on the Nebraska single-season passing list with 1,646 yards, threw one touchdown — a great, one-handed grab by fullback Steve Kriewald, on a deflection.
"He made some good plays in the pocket, worked his feet well," Callahan said of Dailey. "He was at ease, he felt confident in what he was doing. (We were) a few plays away from we're all sitting here being happy. But it didn't happen."
Callahan's game plan was to throw the ball against an Iowa State defense that allowed 118 yards rushing per game.
The downfield throws seemed to loosen things up in the running game, as Cory Ross broke runs of 38 and 33 yards and helped the Huskers to 195 rushing yards as a team.
"We did a great job with the scheme. Coach had a great plan," said Ross, who finished with 126 rushing yards. "We just had to execute. We just didn't do that.
"(Not) running great routes and getting open and hitting the receivers. … I mean, there were a whole lot of miscues in the game today. It was very frustrating."
Still, Nebraska had the ball with three minutes remaining, with a chance to drive from its 31-yard line for a potential game-tying touchdown.
But on the first play of the series, Dailey tossed the ball into the hands of Iowa State linebacker Tim Dobbins. There were at least two other Cyclones closer to the ball than any Nebraska receiver.
"I guessed wrong on the last throw and I should have gotten the ball higher," Dailey said. "He made a good play to sneak in there and pick it off."
And in the first half, Nebraska came up empty following drives to the Iowa State 32-, 43-, 6- and 16-yard lines.
"That hurt us a whole lot," Nebraska receiver Grant Mulkey said. "Not only did that hurt us in not getting any points, it really brought the offense down. It's hard to come back from something like that."
Said Ross: "When you're in that red zone, you've got to get some points out of there, and we didn't."
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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