Keller Still Growing in Huskers' Offense

Analysis: NU's tough-to-execute stretch plays may get stuffed against USC

For about two minutes Saturday, Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller looked like he was in his element.

Trailing 10-6 late in the first half, stuck at his own 20-yard line, Keller engineered a terrific touchdown drive. He completed 8-of-11 passes for 80 yards, generally looked like that $5 milkshake from the movie "Pulp Fiction." He was accurate. He was resourceful on that little flip to running back Marlon Lucky to avoid a sack.

And when he hit Sean Hill for that 25-yard touchdown pass to give NU a 13-10 halftime lead over Wake Forest and did that cocky, goofy little dance, he was refreshing, because it was seeing Keller as he is: A guy who loves to have the ball in hands when his team is in need.

You can harp on Keller's poor passes against the Demon Deacons. You can fret over his Rex Grossman impression on the fumbled snaps and his "oopsie" interception. You can rightly critique his throwing motion that, to me, limits his deep ball.

Or you can consider this: Twice, Nebraska trailed Saturday. And twice, Keller answered right back with touchdown drives.

Truth be told, Keller looks like a guy whose engine needs to warm up. And once it does, it needs some Interstate miles. And his receivers have to bail him out every so often. The drops have to stop.

Fans have to be realistic with this guy. The very best game he plays won't be last Saturday and it won't be against USC. It'll likely be sometime in November, when he's settled in and learned about the skills of his players.

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Count on Nebraska having trouble running the ball against Southern California unless it alters its zone blocking scheme or has some plays under wraps we don't know about. Wake's defensive line repeatedly sliced through NU's offensive line on the bread-and-butter stretch play, which is not necessarily the easiest running play to execute. 

The Huskers have a giant line, but, on a lot of plays they're executing chip blocks that rely more on speed than girth. Even when the Indianapolis Colts run the play, it looks like a cinch for a loss.

Head Coach Bill Callahan apparently didn't feel like NU could run its toss play. It was nowhere to be found. Neither was Cody Glenn. Is he hurt, or in the doghouse?

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Let's review the five keys, shall we?

Tackling:Well,it was so-so. Part of it was because Nebraska's defenders misjudged the talent of Wake wide receiver Kenneth Moore on those sweep/end around plays. On a number of occasions Moore slipped by arm tackles, especially on his 5-yard touchdown run, which simply should not have been a touchdown given the Huskers' penetration just after the snap. Wake's running backs busted a few tackles, too.

But safety Larry Asante and cornerback Zack Bowman both had solid performances. And linebacker Phillip Dillard is looking more and more like a guy you can't afford to be off the field.

The Mouse Trap:Wake actually played its share of man-to-man coverage, but when the Deacons played that soft zone near the end of the first half, Keller butchered it. And, as we thought he might, he found tight end Hill just beyond the linebackers for that key touchdown. When Wake switched to more man coverage and added a blitzer, Keller struggled. Because Nebraska's lone game-breaker at wide receiver, Maurice Purify, wasn't exactly on top of his game, Keller had a hard time picking his spots. One of his interceptions, for example, was just as much about the lack of respect for Nate Swift's speed as it was Keller's pass. A stop pattern only works if the receiver properly runs off his defensive back.

Don't be surprised if USC rushes five and dares Keller to beat some good cornerbacks.

Purify:He dropped two balls he should have caught. He ran the wrong way on a post route that would have been a sure touchdown. And Callahan only called one quick pass to Purify. That play went for nine yards, and worked nicely. There needs to be more of it next week.

Mo was rusty. To be expected. I'm saying it now: Don't expect fireworks until the Big 12 schedule.

The intangibles:About a third of Groves Stadium was red on Saturday, and Callahan made a point of crediting those fans with making a difference, especially on Wake's last drive. It was as harmless a road game as it possibly could have been, really. Noise wasn't a factor. NU seemed suitably prepared for playing on the grass. And Wake looked just as sluggish as Nebraska at the game's start.

Managing Expectations:The Huskers get an A here. Each time Wake either took the lead, or threatened to, Nebraska played its best football. No wilting.

Now, whether any of that makes much of a difference against USC, it's hard to say. The Trojans are not the greatest road team; in addition to their two road losses last year, they've played some downright mediocre football away from home, especially on defense. They've also played quite well at Virginia Tech and Arkansas.

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Anybody else feel like the ESPN's production of NU-Wake was horribly directed?

How many times did viewers miss the start of a play while they watched close-ups of players sweating on the bench or listened to Erin Andrews ramble on in her mostly pointless and ancillary sideline spots. 

Obviously, Andrews, like Melissa Stark and Jill Arrington before her, has become a minor star on ESPN's telecasts. And she's developed into a decent interviewer, but goodness: Can she talk about the game? 

And if she can't, do the viewers have to miss the game so she and NBA guard Chris Paul can talk about Paul's charity projects? Not to knock Paul's work; it's terrific. It also belongs on a segment during SportsCenter, not sandwiched between three plays.

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It is really, really, really time to do away with football polls in the month of September. The rankings in the AP and Coaches' polls are out for this week, and they're as ridiculous as ever, precisely because nobody has played enough games to really know which teams are for real, and which aren't.

Let's think about it: On what planet must coaches live on to think Virginia Tech, after that 48-7 loss Saturday to Louisiana State, is better than South Carolina, which won at Georgia? On which planet must they live to, as a group, rank Auburn ahead of the team that just beat the Tigers - at Auburn, at night - South Florida?

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