TLDR TLDR
So, Martinez looked funny. A step slow, indecisive, unmotivated. Idk what that was about. Maybe just a one game thing or living in Lincoln finally annoyed him. Idk.
Outside of that, it was about what I expected. Their DL looked okay at times, better than okay at times, and unspectacular at times. Far from what the camp reports made it sound like where they went 7-8 deep with dominating 800lb squatters. They also got winded easily - which is something their writers have mentioned being an issue.
They have a bit of a Landman situation going on with Mo Barry, who looked slow and took some poor angles which is really weird because he was their best returning defender. Their other starting ILB, Will Honas, is exactly who we thought he would be. An unguided missile who will make a ton of mistakes.
Domann looked good at OLB and gave them some life. But he also didn’t play all game and I think he’s probably on a pitch count due to so many injuries in a row. Outside of him, their OLBs got virtually no pressure. In fact, their best (and really their only) pressure came from DB blitzes - we will see how effective that is in the long run.
Their DBs were willing to make tackles but WRs were running free. They won because of defense and STs, but it wasn’t like they shut S Alabama down. I’m not convinced Chinander is the guy, which is pretty much the universal opinion in Lincoln.
Offensively, their interior OL was pretty rough. The academic miracle, Dedrick Mills, spent most of the game running into lineman’s butts. They will test our edges because they don’t have the big RB Ozigbo to lean on like they had last year. C is still a major issue. Snaps were high and it threw off timing. They brought in the backup in the 2nd half, who was able to snap the ball correctly, but their whole OL looked worse with him in there.
WRs didn’t appear to be getting open at all. I think they miss Stanley Morgan more than they thought they would.
Despite all the big wiener talk in Lincoln, Moos said 6 wins and a bowl game is the goal. Maybe they truly did sandbag so we don’t see a beatdown coming, but they looked very underwhelming. As always: