Put this crap to bed; disparity in Nebby plays and yardage vs Iowa

U

uihawk82

Well-Known Member
I have heard and read enough about the stats in the Iowa-Nebraska game about how Nebby should have won and it is time to remind people or discuss how football games unfold. All of you have read and heard this also.

Deace said it during the first few minutes of Jon's latest long podcast. The idea that Nebby outplayed Iowa. Dont these so called knowledgeable people realize that 4 turnovers and a stupid failed fade pattern on 4th and 1 at the Iowa 21 yard line is like a 5th turnover. Five turnovers to one makes the number of offensive plays and yardage comparison stupid because one team runs a bunch of plays, gains some yards, but then turns the ball over to waste all that game time and yardage. And then wham pow and Canzeri goes 29 and 68 yards for TDs on big plays. And Hesse gets the tip and pick six which is the equivalent of a 10 play 75 yard drive.

Iowa got the early lead and in the cold and wind they played fairly conservative.

Each game has its own charm and identity. The hawks talked about how they thougth they could force turnovers.

Nebby is an undisciplined team and they showed all year they have a tendency to meltdown. Iowa is a well balanced team that doesnt make mistakes, I like how they kept running the ball and the beauty of it is those perfectly blocked runs that Canzeri scored on.

I remember listening to a Bob Cummings team go play USC at the Coliseum and the hawks had that great running game and rolled up over 400 yards but not once but twice fumbled inside the USC 5 yard line (one of which was ran back all the way for a TD) so as you know those turnovers turn out to mask wasted yards and wasted game time. Iowa lost that game to USC big time on the scoreboard.

How many of you thought Nebby outplayed Iowa? And in what objective ways do you say that?
 
Not sure a team with 4 TO's can ever claim to have "outplayed" a team with 1 TO. Any "outplaying" was out of the desperation of playing from behind, and is immediately negated by turnovers.

And, I'm not sure a team can "outplay" their opponent in a game where they never had a lead.

Stats can tell whatever story a person wants to hear. The only stats and story I care about are 12 and 0 (I'd prefer the 12 moves to 13 this weekend).
 
meaning said:
Not sure a team with 4 TO's can ever claim to have "outplayed" a team with 1 TO. Any "outplaying" was out of the desperation of playing from behind, and is immediately negated by turnovers.

And, I'm not sure a team can "outplay" their opponent in a game where they never had a lead.

Stats can tell whatever story a person wants to hear. The only stats and story I care about are 12 and 0 (I'd prefer the 12 moves to 13 this weekend).
Click to expand...

One team dropped 7 or 8 into coverage against an erratic QB, against a team that struggled to run. They also scored two tds on their first 3 offensive plays of the second half leading to a double digit lead till the final sec.

From that point, they threw a sleeper hold on and milked a clock. They weren't out played, they played it right into their hands.

The other team lost, and more decisively than the score indicated
 
At no point in the second half was I worried about Nebraska winning that game. The only thing I was worried about was a Nebraska's weird luck this year in being involved in crazy games with crazy endings, as we were straight up beating them the whole game.

A football game is more than just yards gained. Sure if you don't watch the game, you look to it, but if you watch the game, stats are really meaningless. For instance Nebby had the 5 turnovers in essence, where they gained 0 punt yards. IE they didn't flip field position on us. They also had another punt in which King had a big return it so it was like a net 5 yard punt. Once again hidden yardage in Iowas favor.

If you give me the option of having 200 extra yards of offense, or having 5 TO by the opposition, I take the 5 TO ever single time.
 
As A Husker fan and someone who would like to think that I can look at a situation and give it as much of an Unbiased breakdown as possible my thoughts are as follows:

AS POSTED PREVIOUSLY:

No Idea why anyone looks at this game as anything but what happened. I feel a Logical individual can plainly see that Stats don't show if a team won or lost. The score does, the Huskers could have put up 1000 yards of offense and held Iowa to 20. Who cares, if that 1000 yards amounted to less points than what the 20 yards did. Iowa is a talented team, are they More talented than the Nebraska team, well maybe maybe not.
Iowa as a team is successful not because of being more talented than their opponents, refute me all you want, they have been so successful because they have excelled at being simplistic, and fundamental. They have been the picture of Efficient, you don't need outrageous stats to win football games. This is the main reason I feel the mainstream media has yet to be impressed by them, which plays to the Hawks favor heavily once in a game.

Don't read this and think that this view is demeaning at all to the Hawks as that is not my intent, make no mistake I actually think the Talent level tilts in Huskers favor as is evidence that they were able to remain in the game. Individual talent though doesn't win consistently, it will keep you in the game and then ever so often win one for you. The second someone starts playing the If's and buts game when talking about the outcome of a game they have definitely dipped into denial/embarrassment mitigation.
As a Husker fan I myself get sick of BS excuses and such.
 
smac07 said:
As A Husker fan and someone who would like to think that I can look at a situation and give it as much of an Unbiased breakdown as possible my thoughts are as follows:

AS POSTED PREVIOUSLY:

No Idea why anyone looks at this game as anything but what happened. I feel a Logical individual can plainly see that Stats don't show if a team won or lost. The score does, the Huskers could have put up 1000 yards of offense and held Iowa to 20. Who cares, if that 1000 yards amounted to less points than what the 20 yards did. Iowa is a talented team, are they More talented than the Nebraska team, well maybe maybe not.
Iowa as a team is successful not because of being more talented than their opponents, refute me all you want, they have been so successful because they have excelled at being simplistic, and fundamental. They have been the picture of Efficient, you don't need outrageous stats to win football games. This is the main reason I feel the mainstream media has yet to be impressed by them, which plays to the Hawks favor heavily once in a game.

Don't read this and think that this view is demeaning at all to the Hawks as that is not my intent, make no mistake I actually think the Talent level tilts in Huskers favor as is evidence that they were able to remain in the game. Individual talent though doesn't win consistently, it will keep you in the game and then ever so often win one for you. The second someone starts playing the If's and buts game when talking about the outcome of a game they have definitely dipped into denial/embarrassment mitigation.
As a Husker fan I myself get sick of BS excuses and such.
Click to expand...


Again a victory and again all the ****'n & moaning about stat's.

Let me again repeat what MN Viking HC Bud Grant said when a reporter asked him about the games' stat difference between the Vikes and the opponent.....Bud looked at the reporter and said, "stat's are for the losers".

Otherwise and my words, the only stat that matters is the final score, again, that is All that matters. But I get it that the media sometimes needs some meaningless dribble to fill air time and print space to justify their existence.
 
One key stat that might explain the disparity in the number of plays is that we ran only 7 plays in the 3rd quarter. I guess it's our "fault" that they couldn't tackle us and we got big plays. Would it have been better to have 20 play drives for 70 yards instead of 1 or 2 play drives for 70 yards?
 
smac07 said:
As A Husker fan and someone who would like to think that I can look at a situation and give it as much of an Unbiased breakdown as possible my thoughts are as follows:

AS POSTED PREVIOUSLY:

No Idea why anyone looks at this game as anything but what happened. I feel a Logical individual can plainly see that Stats don't show if a team won or lost. The score does, the Huskers could have put up 1000 yards of offense and held Iowa to 20. Who cares, if that 1000 yards amounted to less points than what the 20 yards did. Iowa is a talented team, are they More talented than the Nebraska team, well maybe maybe not.
Iowa as a team is successful not because of being more talented than their opponents, refute me all you want, they have been so successful because they have excelled at being simplistic, and fundamental. They have been the picture of Efficient, you don't need outrageous stats to win football games. This is the main reason I feel the mainstream media has yet to be impressed by them, which plays to the Hawks favor heavily once in a game.

Don't read this and think that this view is demeaning at all to the Hawks as that is not my intent, make no mistake I actually think the Talent level tilts in Huskers favor as is evidence that they were able to remain in the game. Individual talent though doesn't win consistently, it will keep you in the game and then ever so often win one for you. The second someone starts playing the If's and buts game when talking about the outcome of a game they have definitely dipped into denial/embarrassment mitigation.
As a Husker fan I myself get sick of BS excuses and such.
Click to expand...

Even though I don't think you mean to come off this way, your post smacks of a back handed complement.

The fact is the Huskers weren't in the game in the second half. At no point did they have the ball with the ability to tie or take the lead after the like 13 min. mark of the 3rd quarter. That isn't being "in the game", that is being behind, with no chance to take the lead when you have the ball. It seems that you say that you get tired of the BS excuses, but you then minimize the fact that Nebraska never had a chance to win the game (you need to have the ball with the chance to take the lead to win).

Iowa for sure has better individual talent than the Husker have this year: (Iowa with 14 All B1G players to Nebraska's 8) If you want to judge raw individual talent, the best judge of that is who gets to the NFL. The NFL could care less if you are selfish, a *****, a criminal, or anything really. They simply want talent. Iowa has sent more players to the NFL over the last 15 year than Nebraska. Iowa has won as many games, has won more B1G titles, have been to more BCS games, have won more BCS games. I think it is time for Husker fan to give up on the idea that they have more talent than Iowa these days, unless you gage talent strickly on how many stars they are coming out of HS. If so, then congrats, Nebraska wins the recruiting ratings stat, as you rack up more talented HS players. Iowa on the other hand turns its recruits into NFL players, while winning B1G titles, and BCS bowl games.
 
When we go into the bend and bend some more defense, with the secondary playing 12 yards off the line, you are going to give up yards. Lots of yards. But not scores. It is what we do when we get ahead, frustrating to watch, but we won.
 
Hesse- Int for TD
Canzeri 29 yd TD run- 2 plays
Canzeri- 68 yd TD run- 1 play

21 points, 3 offensive plays. # of plays, total yds, and time of possession will certainly be skewed in the opponents favor with that kind of efficiency.
 
Is it possible to be outplayed in a game in which you never trailed?

Iowa got outgained because we had a defensive score and played field position in the windy conditions. At no time was the outcome of that game in doubt.

But we weren't anything close to being outplayed.
 
Positive plays for Iowa

JC 2 or 3 runs
JC 2 TD runs
CJB Throwback screeen
CJB rollout TD

outside of that there was not much offense. maybe part of that is because of the way Daniels was running.

That dog won't hunt going forward. Iowa will need to be far more productive throwing and running. Lightning strikes are great but you need more ordinary production to win championship games.
 
In no way was it intended as a backhanded compliment, I think some of you are being a bit too defensive.

8 points is by no means a Handling in any sense of the word as it is a 1 possession lead that is it. You can try to refute BS about talent levels all you want but that stuff is completely pointless as you will pick one measure and a dozen others can pick others which NO ONE can quantify by a definitive scientific measure. The fact is if Iowas talent would have been greater it would not have been a single possession ending, and refute that all you want but if you think Nebraska was so overwhelmed by Iowas TALENT it would not benefit Iowa at all, in fact that would be the same as bragging that you beat the nonathletic kid in a footrace= More embarrassing for you to be bragging about it.

I think a few of you missed my point, I never was bragging about the stats that NEB put up or the lack there of of Iowa. you didn't have the stats because you didn't need them and the opportunity to create them wasn't given. Which is in case any missed it a Compliment and a positive.

I seem to think a few of you read what I stated and simply just wanted to skim through and fire back out of some sort of perceived slight. Iowa won the contest it is indisputable, I haven't said anything about IF's and Buts.

FACT: In a Game that allows you to score 8 points in an opportunity and 8 points was the difference in the final outcome then all you can say is that it was certainly a Chance for the team from behind to tie and move into overtime.

all arguments aside that is indisputable. Everything else would be simple opinion and conjecture.
 
Last edited:
shonblatt said:
Is it possible to be outplayed in a game in which you never trailed?

Iowa got outgained because we had a defensive score and played field position in the windy conditions. At no time was the outcome of that game in doubt.

But we weren't anything close to being outplayed.
Click to expand...


That is in no way shape or form a factual statement.

The answer to your question is Yes, but not very often.
 
deanvogs said:
Even though I don't think you mean to come off this way, your post smacks of a back handed complement.

The fact is the Huskers weren't in the game in the second half. At no point did they have the ball with the ability to tie or take the lead after the like 13 min. mark of the 3rd quarter. That isn't being "in the game", that is being behind, with no chance to take the lead when you have the ball. It seems that you say that you get tired of the BS excuses, but you then minimize the fact that Nebraska never had a chance to win the game (you need to have the ball with the chance to take the lead to win).

Iowa for sure has better individual talent than the Husker have this year: (Iowa with 14 All B1G players to Nebraska's 8) If you want to judge raw individual talent, the best judge of that is who gets to the NFL. The NFL could care less if you are selfish, a *****, a criminal, or anything really. They simply want talent. Iowa has sent more players to the NFL over the last 15 year than Nebraska. Iowa has won as many games, has won more B1G titles, have been to more BCS games, have won more BCS games. I think it is time for Husker fan to give up on the idea that they have more talent than Iowa these days, unless you gage talent strickly on how many stars they are coming out of HS. If so, then congrats, Nebraska wins the recruiting ratings stat, as you rack up more talented HS players. Iowa on the other hand turns its recruits into NFL players, while winning B1G titles, and BCS bowl games.
Click to expand...


Well those are all correct and I wouldn't refute you on the ones given. But that in no way shape or form is Undeniable proof that Iowa or Nebraska has better or worse talent.

The talent of an individual can not be proven beyond a doubt, let alone a team. A talent in and of itself is INTANGIBLE.

I will not refute at all that Iowa Bested Nebraska this season as that is a tangible fact, but anything other than simply stating Iowa was ahead by 8 pts or 1 possession as the clock hit 0.
 
Last edited:
NCHawker said:
Positive plays for Iowa

JC 2 or 3 runs
JC 2 TD runs
CJB Throwback screeen
CJB rollout TD

outside of that there was not much offense. maybe part of that is because of the way Daniels was running.

That dog won't hunt going forward. Iowa will need to be far more productive throwing and running. Lightning strikes are great but you need more ordinary production to win championship games.
Click to expand...

Exactly. We had 250 yards of offense, almost 100 of it which came on 2 plays. You can't count on the lightning strikes, so the inability to sustain drives is very concerning. Armstrong makes very bad decisions throwing the football and not all of them were something that we necessarily forced (the long one to Mabin and the very first one come to mind)...so we were fortunate in that regard.
 
smac07 said:
Ok in no way was it a backhanded compliment, I think some of you are being a bit too defensive.

8 points is by no means a Handling in any sense of the word as it is a 1 possession lead that is it. You can try to refute BS about talent levels all you want but that stuff is completely pointless as you will pick one measure and a dozen others can pick others which NO ONE can quantify by a definitive measure. The fact is if Iowas talent would have been greater it would not have been a single possession ending, and refute that all you want but if you think Nebraska was so overwhelmed by Iowas TALENT it would not benefit Iowa at all, in fact that would be the same as bragging that you beat the nonathletic kid in a footrace= More embarrassing for you to be bragging about it.

I think a few of you missed my point, I never was bragging about the stats that NEB put up or the lack there of of Iowa. you didn't have the stats because you didn't need them and the opportunity to create them wasn't given.

I seem to think a few of you read what I stated and simply just wanted to skim through and fire back out of some sort of perceived slight. Iowa won the contest it is indisputable, I haven't said anything about IF's and Buts.

FACT: In a Game that allows you to score 8 points in an opportunity and 8 points was the difference in the final outcome then all you can say is that it was certainly a Chance for the team from behind to tie and move into overtime.

all arguments aside that is indisputable. Everything else would be simple opinion and conjecture.
Click to expand...

How are NFL draft numbers not quantifiable? It's pretty simple really. The numbers don't add up for a Nebraska fan so you want to say it isn't quantifiable. It's simple. The NFL drafts talented players. Iowa has more players drafted than Nebraska and they have for quite some time. You can spew out 5 paragraphs worth of garble garble and it's not going to help your case.
 
That is a measuring stick that doesn't tell talent level of a given team. It is something You are using to make up facts. it is a Fact that Iowa drafted more players, but it is outside the scope of actually measuring a Teams Talent level which is immeasurable.

It's not a Nebraska thing at all. It is simple science and logic.
 
smac07 said:
That is a measuring stick that doesn't tell talent level of a given team. It is something You are using to make up facts. it is a Fact that Iowa drafted more players, but it is outside the scope of actually measuring a Teams Talent level which is immeasurable.

It's not a Nebraska thing at all. It is simple science and logic.
Click to expand...

If Nebraska has as much or more talent than Iowa then why don't they have as many or more NFL draft picks? Explain that to me genius.
 
smac07 said:
That is in no way shape or form a factual statement.

The answer to your question is Yes, but not very often.
Click to expand...

If you could point to a single moment in the second half where nebraska had the ball and an opportunity to take the lead, that would be great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top