I think OU should thank us. They jumped from #6 to #1 after playing us. But was it ever ugly to watch as an ISU fan. For the first time this year I actually felt some despair for the team. I'm not sure how much analysis that I can really provide. It was simply an inability to perform in any phase of the game. What's worse, this coming Saturday we play a surging Texas team in Austin.
About the only good news that came out of the weekend is how beatable Nebraska looked. I was struck by the similarities between last year's ISU at Nebraska game and what happened against Texas. They made many of the same mistakes, and ultimately lost to a team everyone thought they should beat. I'm sure there are plenty of upset Husker fans out there. The bad news is that after the ISU game last year, Nebraska really cleaned up it's act. I expect them to do so again the remainder of the year.
Sustained Offense
I didn't think it could get any worse than last week, but the offense proved me wrong. From a statistical standpoint, Utah's defense was far better than OU's, but ISU made OU look like the best defense in the country. Sadly, I think it was more lack of execution on the Offense's part than anything else. Not even scoring a point was brutal.
Defensive Line
About the only reason the D-Line didn't get worse this week is because they were already at rock bottom. I did notice that the D-Line managed to get hands on backs as they passed the line of scrimmage, but I didn't see them make many tackles. The OU Defensive lineman that tackled Alexander Robinson around the guy he was blocking really made the point in my mind.
Create Turnovers
I saw our guys trying to strip balls, but we came up dry. Landry Jones really knew where to place his passes to keep them from being intercepted.
When Behind, Continue To Use The Run Game
I admit that Tom Herman tried to continue to use the run game, particularly after Tiller was put in, but it was like trying to run up a hill soaked in grease. No traction, nowhere to go.
Bottom line, this was worse than last week. At least last week we managed to score. This isn't the end of the season, by any stretch of the imagination, but as Cyclone fans we need to dig in and take our punches for another week. Then we get Kansas at home, and maybe we can do something with the rest of the season.
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