NU offense knows it needs to get back on track
Players were upset. Coaches were upset. Fans were upset.
Matt Slauson’s mother? Ready to file a missing person report.
“I was talking to her on the phone after the game,” Slauson said. “She said, ‘Did somebody steal your uniforms and tie you guys up? Because that wasn’t you.’ ”
Slauson, Nebraska’s starting right tackle, agreed. He couldn’t explain to his mother the “real” Huskers’ whereabouts, but he agreed.
Tuesday — three days after the Huskers lost 41-29 at Oklahoma State — Slauson tried to offer some better answers.
For instance, what happened to the passing game, and in particular, protection?
“Their defense was good. They were ready for us,” Slauson said. “We got the pickups, but we weren’t holding them long enough.
“There was always one or two more guys coming than we could block. Sometimes they came so fast that Zac (Taylor) just didn’t have enough time to get rid of the ball.”
Did Oklahoma State’s defense surprise NU’s offense?
“Yeah, it really did,” Slauson said. “We were not expecting that kind of speed from their linebackers. It was totally something new, them shooting so fast.”
And what about the route running, Nate Swift?
“It just seemed like there was no time for us to get into our routes,” said Swift, a sophomore receiver. “When we did get in there and felt like we were open, we always looked back and Zac was on the ground or something.”
Indeed, Taylor was sacked five times, four in the second half. During one stretch after halftime, Taylor was only 4-of-20 passing.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the Oklahoma State defense,” said Taylor, who finished 21-of-39 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. “They’ve got a lot of great athletes out there, and they were timing their blitz really well.
“It was just tough. It was one of those things where you get out of rhythm, and everybody’s on the sidelines trying to pick it up. We all knew what we needed to do … and for whatever reason, it didn’t happen.”
Taylor said the Cowboys “had pretty good coverage” the whole game. When receivers were open, and when Taylor did have protection, too many times, either receivers dropped balls or Taylor was off the mark.
“I missed on a couple throws,” Taylor said. “I think we’ll rebound from it. It wasn’t our worst effort ever.”
No, but probably rough enough to warrant some concern as Nebraska prepares for Missouri, a team that’s amassed 30 sacks and owns the Big 12 Conference’s second-best pass defense (167.4 yards per game) and second-best total defense (290.6).
“It’s going to be a challenge for us,” Slauson said. “It’s going to be an outright battle.”
In his last three games, Taylor has been sacked 13 times and completed 54.5 percent of his passes. In the season’s first six games, Taylor was sacked six times and had a completion percentage of 66.4.
“Do we have to get better? No doubt,” Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. “We’ve got to throw it better, we’ve got to protect better, we’ve got to catch it better. I think all those elements, any one of them you can pick one out and write a story about.”
Or easily intertwine into one.
Offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said he’d like to see more consistency and a higher completion percentage Saturday against Missouri.
“Sometimes when you have a lot of blitzes and a lot of man coverage, your percentage isn’t as high, and you get some more big plays,” Norvell said. “If that’s the kind of game it is, we want to strike and we want to hurt people when they play man coverage. I’d like to see us beat man more consistently this week.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
Matt Slauson’s mother? Ready to file a missing person report.
“I was talking to her on the phone after the game,” Slauson said. “She said, ‘Did somebody steal your uniforms and tie you guys up? Because that wasn’t you.’ ”
Slauson, Nebraska’s starting right tackle, agreed. He couldn’t explain to his mother the “real” Huskers’ whereabouts, but he agreed.
Tuesday — three days after the Huskers lost 41-29 at Oklahoma State — Slauson tried to offer some better answers.
For instance, what happened to the passing game, and in particular, protection?
“Their defense was good. They were ready for us,” Slauson said. “We got the pickups, but we weren’t holding them long enough.
“There was always one or two more guys coming than we could block. Sometimes they came so fast that Zac (Taylor) just didn’t have enough time to get rid of the ball.”
Did Oklahoma State’s defense surprise NU’s offense?
“Yeah, it really did,” Slauson said. “We were not expecting that kind of speed from their linebackers. It was totally something new, them shooting so fast.”
And what about the route running, Nate Swift?
“It just seemed like there was no time for us to get into our routes,” said Swift, a sophomore receiver. “When we did get in there and felt like we were open, we always looked back and Zac was on the ground or something.”
Indeed, Taylor was sacked five times, four in the second half. During one stretch after halftime, Taylor was only 4-of-20 passing.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the Oklahoma State defense,” said Taylor, who finished 21-of-39 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. “They’ve got a lot of great athletes out there, and they were timing their blitz really well.
“It was just tough. It was one of those things where you get out of rhythm, and everybody’s on the sidelines trying to pick it up. We all knew what we needed to do … and for whatever reason, it didn’t happen.”
Taylor said the Cowboys “had pretty good coverage” the whole game. When receivers were open, and when Taylor did have protection, too many times, either receivers dropped balls or Taylor was off the mark.
“I missed on a couple throws,” Taylor said. “I think we’ll rebound from it. It wasn’t our worst effort ever.”
No, but probably rough enough to warrant some concern as Nebraska prepares for Missouri, a team that’s amassed 30 sacks and owns the Big 12 Conference’s second-best pass defense (167.4 yards per game) and second-best total defense (290.6).
“It’s going to be a challenge for us,” Slauson said. “It’s going to be an outright battle.”
In his last three games, Taylor has been sacked 13 times and completed 54.5 percent of his passes. In the season’s first six games, Taylor was sacked six times and had a completion percentage of 66.4.
“Do we have to get better? No doubt,” Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. “We’ve got to throw it better, we’ve got to protect better, we’ve got to catch it better. I think all those elements, any one of them you can pick one out and write a story about.”
Or easily intertwine into one.
Offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said he’d like to see more consistency and a higher completion percentage Saturday against Missouri.
“Sometimes when you have a lot of blitzes and a lot of man coverage, your percentage isn’t as high, and you get some more big plays,” Norvell said. “If that’s the kind of game it is, we want to strike and we want to hurt people when they play man coverage. I’d like to see us beat man more consistently this week.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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