My Nebraska analysis is based on watching their first two games, last year's game and following Nebraska on their Rivals page.
QB: Last year, Armstrong was a big QB with a strong arm who was an effective, power runner/scrambler with some speed who was an erratic passer-think Logan Thomas (VaTech). Nebraska mods have said that Armstrong's accuracy has greatly improved over the off season. His performance in the first two games indicates that they were correct. Armstrong was Nebraska's second leading rusher last year, but, so far, it is clear that coach Reilly wants to greatly restrict his carries. He only had 4 designed running plays, only one of which was a read option, against BYU and only ran the ball twice against S. Alabama. I hope that they don't break that tendency against us.
I would like to see us really get after Armstong. I think he is easily rattled. Their OL isn't good, so we might be able to do it with just our DLs (please take Heurtelou out of the game in passing situations). I would like for us to be less concerned with maintaining lane integrity and more concerned with getting pressure any way we can. I think that the strategy to rush conservatively and keep him in the pocket is ill advised. He is a good passer who will kill us if given time. If we rush aggressively, I think we have to commit a defender to spy. This reduces the defenders in the secondary, but I would trust our DBs against their WRs who are not special. If we can't trust our DBs against Nebraska's WR unit, I don't know who you can trust them against.
RB: Against BYU, they used 3 RBs. Against S. Alabama, just one, Newby. Coach Reilly has said that he does not want to use a RB rotation and that Newby is the guy. Newby is a powerfull RB with some speed, but he is not likely to break the long run.
WR: Nebraska lost its all time statistical leading WR to graduation and the most explosive WR and elite returner to injury. They are left with only one WR, Westerkamp, with a lot of experience. He is very good, but is not a deep threat. They are hoping that true Freshman Morgan can be that big play guy. Our DBs can cover these guys.
OL: Nebraska returns one starting OL from last year who the Nebraska mods described as having an "average" season last year. They played poorly against BYU, especially run blocking. They did much better against S. Alabama. Why am I not surprised? I think our DL can out play these guys.
TE: Nebraska TE have been total non factors as receivers the last two years. So far, that trend has continued.
DL: Collins and Valentine are a great DT tandem. They collapse the pocket very quickly and are very strong against the run. Due to graduation and injuries, Nebraska has one DE with extensive playing experience who will start. The other starter is a redshirt Freshman who is supposed to be extremely talented.
Last week, our OTs were historically bad against FAU's DEs. I expect that Nebraska's DEs will be at least as good as those from FAU. Last week Kaaya was able to step up to avoid the rush from the flanks. This week with Nebraska's DTs I doubt he will have that opportunity. It appears that Kaaya may have to do a lot of scrambling, something he is not very good at, and a lot of throwing on the run which he has also not been very good at.
Can the middle of our OL hold up against the Nebraska DTs? Can Darling and Odogwu markedly improve their pass blocking skills in one week? Maybe.
I would consider it an encouraging sign if personnel changes were made to the OL prior to the Nebraska game.
LB: All of the Nebraska LBs who figure to get significant playing time have missed practice time or held out of games because of injury. Their best LB, Rose-Ivy, played very well against S. Alabama coming off an injury.The second best LB, Banderas, has an injured hip and is an iffy starter. They are starting a true freshman, Young, at MLB largely due to injury. He is big and is considered a tackling machine in the middle, but lacks range. There is no quality depth.
I would like to see us run pass plays whose design puts a lot of pressure on Nebraska's LBs to cover. I think they are deficient in this area.
DB: Nebraska has a great safety in Gerry. He is a hard hitting ball hawk with All-American possibilities. The rest of Nebraska's DBs can be abused, something that both BYU and S. Alabama took advantage of. If somehow we can get Kaaya time to throw, we can destroy this unit.
I think that both teams will be inconsistent and struggle on offense. I am expecting a relatively low scoring game. I think that the biggest difference is that when when the opportunity is there to make plays, Miami's skill players will be more productive than those of Nebraska. Coach Reilly's biggest concern is his teams lack of offensive explosiveness.
Miami-Nebraska 24-20
QB: Last year, Armstrong was a big QB with a strong arm who was an effective, power runner/scrambler with some speed who was an erratic passer-think Logan Thomas (VaTech). Nebraska mods have said that Armstrong's accuracy has greatly improved over the off season. His performance in the first two games indicates that they were correct. Armstrong was Nebraska's second leading rusher last year, but, so far, it is clear that coach Reilly wants to greatly restrict his carries. He only had 4 designed running plays, only one of which was a read option, against BYU and only ran the ball twice against S. Alabama. I hope that they don't break that tendency against us.
I would like to see us really get after Armstong. I think he is easily rattled. Their OL isn't good, so we might be able to do it with just our DLs (please take Heurtelou out of the game in passing situations). I would like for us to be less concerned with maintaining lane integrity and more concerned with getting pressure any way we can. I think that the strategy to rush conservatively and keep him in the pocket is ill advised. He is a good passer who will kill us if given time. If we rush aggressively, I think we have to commit a defender to spy. This reduces the defenders in the secondary, but I would trust our DBs against their WRs who are not special. If we can't trust our DBs against Nebraska's WR unit, I don't know who you can trust them against.
RB: Against BYU, they used 3 RBs. Against S. Alabama, just one, Newby. Coach Reilly has said that he does not want to use a RB rotation and that Newby is the guy. Newby is a powerfull RB with some speed, but he is not likely to break the long run.
WR: Nebraska lost its all time statistical leading WR to graduation and the most explosive WR and elite returner to injury. They are left with only one WR, Westerkamp, with a lot of experience. He is very good, but is not a deep threat. They are hoping that true Freshman Morgan can be that big play guy. Our DBs can cover these guys.
OL: Nebraska returns one starting OL from last year who the Nebraska mods described as having an "average" season last year. They played poorly against BYU, especially run blocking. They did much better against S. Alabama. Why am I not surprised? I think our DL can out play these guys.
TE: Nebraska TE have been total non factors as receivers the last two years. So far, that trend has continued.
DL: Collins and Valentine are a great DT tandem. They collapse the pocket very quickly and are very strong against the run. Due to graduation and injuries, Nebraska has one DE with extensive playing experience who will start. The other starter is a redshirt Freshman who is supposed to be extremely talented.
Last week, our OTs were historically bad against FAU's DEs. I expect that Nebraska's DEs will be at least as good as those from FAU. Last week Kaaya was able to step up to avoid the rush from the flanks. This week with Nebraska's DTs I doubt he will have that opportunity. It appears that Kaaya may have to do a lot of scrambling, something he is not very good at, and a lot of throwing on the run which he has also not been very good at.
Can the middle of our OL hold up against the Nebraska DTs? Can Darling and Odogwu markedly improve their pass blocking skills in one week? Maybe.
I would consider it an encouraging sign if personnel changes were made to the OL prior to the Nebraska game.
LB: All of the Nebraska LBs who figure to get significant playing time have missed practice time or held out of games because of injury. Their best LB, Rose-Ivy, played very well against S. Alabama coming off an injury.The second best LB, Banderas, has an injured hip and is an iffy starter. They are starting a true freshman, Young, at MLB largely due to injury. He is big and is considered a tackling machine in the middle, but lacks range. There is no quality depth.
I would like to see us run pass plays whose design puts a lot of pressure on Nebraska's LBs to cover. I think they are deficient in this area.
DB: Nebraska has a great safety in Gerry. He is a hard hitting ball hawk with All-American possibilities. The rest of Nebraska's DBs can be abused, something that both BYU and S. Alabama took advantage of. If somehow we can get Kaaya time to throw, we can destroy this unit.
I think that both teams will be inconsistent and struggle on offense. I am expecting a relatively low scoring game. I think that the biggest difference is that when when the opportunity is there to make plays, Miami's skill players will be more productive than those of Nebraska. Coach Reilly's biggest concern is his teams lack of offensive explosiveness.
Miami-Nebraska 24-20
