Sunday, October 01, 2006

Mangino: Best Coach in the Big XII North?

Many Husker fans scoffed last month when Mark Mangino signed a new contract that pays him the same as Bill Callahan. However, if you compare the two coaches head-to-head, I'd have to say that Mangino is underpaid in comparison. The last two seasons Nebraska has had more talent on the field, but Mangino and his staff have outcoached Callahan and company.

Looking around at other's comments on yesterday's defensive collapse against Kansas, three factors seem to be at the heart of the problem:
  • Kevin Cosgrove's bad gameplan
  • Communication problems lead to breakdowns
  • Bad fundamentals
Even Cosgrove had second thoughts about his gameplan, telling the Omaha World-Herald that he limited the Husker pass rush out of concern for the shovel pass to Jon Cornish. Thank goodness for that; who knows how many yards Cornish would have run for in that situation. Sigh. Considering that Kansas racked up 574 yards last night, that's kind of like Calvin and Hobbes worrying about monsters under the bed.

Jon Johnston over at CornNation.com kind of sums up the frustration of all Husker fans. Cosgrove needs to get these problems addressed quickly. Iowa State's Bret Meyer is a much better quarterback than KU's Adam Barmann, and if he has as much time next Saturday night, Meyer could throw for 600.

One place to start would be to look at how Kansas defended the Husker offense where Kansas found a way to disguise their coverages and befuddle the Husker offensive line to abuse Zac Taylor.

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