Needless to say, I was completely wrong on the run/pass ratio. Oh, it was 70%. 70/30 pass/run ratio. Perhaps Jay Norvell and Bill Callahan saw the same things they saw last year from Iowa State when they went pass-happy in the first half in Ames. The difference this season is that the Huskers were able to execute.
The first three games it was tough to see much of an improvement on offense, but today was a different story. Callahan and Norvell put Taylor into the shotgun, and let him fire away on slants, crossing patterns, and screen passes to receivers in motion. Taylor seemed to be much more comfortable operating out of the shotgun, though the same can't be said for center Kurt Mann. Most of his shotgun snaps had a noticable slice to them that Taylor occasionally bobbled.
Although Cory Ross will get the lions share of the credit, my game balls for receivers go to Grant Mulkey and Nate Swift. Mulkey got the game going with several nice catches over the middle to open up the offense. And Nate Swift finally got a chance to contribute with some nice catches in the 2nd half. I was very impressed by Swift in the spring game, and with the concern over small receivers, couldn't figure out why he wasn't playing more.
Not everything was rosy red; the defense was leaky and didn't get consistent pressure. The rushing game was non-existant. The freshman all-Rivals kicker continues to struggle. But that's another discussion for another day.
Tonight, let's give Zac Taylor, Nate Swift, Grant Mulkey, Cory Ross, and Isiah Fluellen the credit they deserve for a big game.
On a personal note, I was saddened to learn of the death the of "the big guy" who had sat behind us in South Stadium for the past 11 years. Though we never shared names, we shared our insights and joys of watching national championship teams, Heisman Trophy winners - and shared our misery during a 5-6 season. I was wondering where he was, and finally asked today and found out the sad news. Hope he enjoyed today's game from that big skybox in heaven.
2 comments:
According to the LJS, Swift has been injured. He just got the brace off his shoulder lately. Nice to have him in there.
I saw him in for a few plays against Pitt; the Pitt safety broke his leg trying to keep Swift from catching the ball. I liked Swift in the spring, and hope we'll see more of him.
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