Now, before we go around giving each other group hugs, keep one thing in perspective.  This was a bad Kansas State team, especially without a healthy Brandon Harold.  I hate to see a talent like this get injured and he just needs to shut it down for the season, and get surgery if required.  He’s probably a lock for a medical redshirt, so really wouldn’t miss a year.  I focus on Harold because he’s the only guy who cleaned Louis Vasquez’s clock in 2008, and Vasquez is now looking like he belongs with the San Diego Chargers.  He’s a difference maker for the Cats and would have been nice competition to face before increasing from level JUCO 1 to DEFCON 5 in DL opponent quality.  The offensive line isn’t much better.  Jeffrey Fitzgerald looks fat and out of shape versus the lean, mean machine we faced in the Gator Bowl.  If you haven’t noticed in my rankings, but I’m somewhat fond of this Nebraska football team.  The only reason being is that the guys they have up front on both sides of the ball bite.  Like an Oak Cliff pitbull.  With that disclaimer in place, we do have some reasons for optimism around here.  I’ve warned you not to give up on this football team, and if you watched any Big 12 football this weekend, then we may not be in as bad a shape as we thought, especially if we could sneak out of Lincoln with a win.  I didn’t think we had much of a chance to do that 2 weeks ago.  We’ve got something going with this Stephen Steven Sheffield kid and I like what I’m seeing.  So much so, that I actually believe we have a legit shot at beating the Huskers in Lincoln.  I don’t ephen know how to spell his name yet. 

I’ve seen a lot of Nebraska football this season, so I’ve got some pretty good stuff on them this week.  The reason I’ve watched so much Nebraska football this season is because, to me, they’ve got the most exciting player in college football with DT Ndamukong Suh.  If I had a Heisman vote, Suh would get my vote right now and I’m not saying that as a joke.  There’s not a guard in this conference that can block him, including our own All American.  Speaking of, I’m much more of a fan of the non-clown paint Brandon Carter.  The scouts aren’t going to take you seriously until you wipe off the makeup and gain redemption against a guy that cooked your bacon in 2008, and will be going several rounds higher than you in the draft at this point.  You can literally make millions this weekend.

Player of the Game

I typically like to pick the guy I think won the most plays.  And by that I mean, which guy beat his man the most often in a game.  This week I’m going to pick a guy that I called out after his meager performance in the 1st half of the Texas game.  Yes, I’m referring to Lonnie Edwards, who I felt won all but about one snap in this game and he didn’t lose it badly.  Edwards stayed aggressive and took the play to his opponent.  He played up to his talent and absolutely dominated from start to finish in run blocking duties.  Lonnie showed a nasty side that he hasn’t been playing with to date demonstrated in several earhole-pancakes while double teaming with Justin Keown in pass protection.  Outstanding game young man, and you couldn’t have showed up at a better time.  You’ll face Suh this week on a few snaps and his sidekick, Jared Crick, is no slouch.  He’s been dominating inside as well in the Husker games I’ve seen. 

Offense

I don’t know how you could possibly play a more perfect game sans the pick 6, which nobody noticed due to the point differential.  On 10 drives, the first team unit converted for 8 TDs and a FG.  You’ll win a lot of ball games doing that.  Playcalling was outstanding and the threat of Batch, Jeffers and Stephens kept the LBs and safeties honest in pass defense.  Which in turn, fostered gratuitious opportunities for huge gaping holes in zone defense.  Kansas State already respected our hitch screen game, but we ran it anyway, and out executed them.  The whole scene played out as a harmonious circle of one thing we do good setting up another.  Easy throws and an offensive line that was blowing people off the ball in the run game.  Sheffield was ruthlessly efficient.  Surreal to an extent, if you forgot to remind yourself that this was not the 1996 model of Wildcat defense with a spry 70 year old Bill Snyder at the helm.   More like an ’89 with 300,000 miles on it.

QB

Mike Leach had made up his mind about who our starting QB would be in Lincoln next week by mid-2nd quarter.  Trust me.  Any other decision than that could only be rationalized by dirty pirate hooker syphilis finally finding its way to his brain.  Steven Sheffield brings another dimension to the Tech offense, which is mobility.  He obviously throws pretty well from the pocket, but he’s equally dangerous once you flush him making our offense much more difficult to defend.  Leach and most casual football observers already know it will be tough to slow down the inside pressure of Suh and Frick.  Both can beat a single team and Suh is perfectly equipped to make your double team look like a 7th grade girl paddy cake party.  Pelini masks a lack of speed in the back 7 with this strength and takes advantage of Suh’s athleticism with a variety of zone blitzes effectively to create turnovers.  There’s a pretty good chance that Suh is a guy that’s going to score with the ball in his hands.  Sheffield, at a minimum, gives us the best chance to run away from him or run him down, if necessary.  Forcing the Husker back 7 to cover Detron Lewis for 8-10 seconds versus 4-5 seconds will create some big play opportunities down the field.  Here’s a stat for you: The last 5 quarters Sheffield has played our offense has averaged 75 points per game.  Yeah, it’s against questionable competition, but this offense is definitely not broken right now.

RB

252 total yards, including 175 rushing, on 33 touches and a TD.  That’s what I’m talking about.  It didn’t really matter who we lined up in the backfield given the blocking being provided, but Batch and Jeffers are adding yet another dimension to the Leach offense, the ability of the RB position to break arm tackles and outrun people.  Stephens looked good in spot duty as well.  As much as we all loved Ricky Williams, Taurean Henderson and Shannon Woods, they didn’t scare anyone, especially the DCs in this league.  Any well prepared 220-lb linebacker with sub-4.8 speed could take them out of the gameplan.    That ain’t going to work with this group of backs.

WR

Gradually, Tramain Swindall has become a dependable guy to make big plays for this team.  He’s deceptively fast and provides an element in the slot position we never really had with Eric Morris.  Swindall presents some problems for most teams’ #3 and #4 CBs and safeties.  Plus, you can’t eat him with a LB at the line of scrimmage. 

Detron Lewis thrives with Sheffield behind center.  Alexander Torres is now a threatening weapon on slants and skinny posts in the red zone with his size and hands.  The KSU nickel back were more concerned about getting earholed by Torres on a hitch screen than about covering Lewis and Swindall.  Zoulalik, Franks, Britton, Leong and James are not familar names from the recruiting trail, but all do something well and we seemed to keep them involved appropriately throughout the contest.  Sam Bradford pines for a group this reliable right now.

OL

Wow, what a game for this group.  We’ve covered Edwards already, but it’s about time we start looking at redshirt freshman LT Terry McDaniel a little closer.  McDaniel has improved every game since being inserted to the starting lineup.  I’m still amazed at how good of job Mike Leach and Matt Moore do at recruiting on the OL.  McDaniel is potentially the best LT in the conference beginning in 2010.  Russell Okung lost millions against Von Miller, and now that Miller is certified as an elite pass rusher, McDaniel will have the opportunity to prove how far he has come in 2 weeks.  Keown, Carter and Winn all played well against the undermanned Cats.  We’ve got enough athleticism at the tackle position where we dominated the Cats with our perimeter run game, especially when they yielded outside leverage to us in 3 man fronts.  I also saw about 3 other Big 12 teams play this weekend for whom Tech’s 2nd string would be starting, including the Aggies.  We’ve got a little depth on this unit all of a sudden relative to other teams in the league, which bodes well for our future. 

Defense

Another outstanding performance by Ruffin McNeill’s unit.  Improved recruiting is showing up here as well.  You’re starting to see Ruff open things up a little more as better athletes become scattered across his roster.  He’s taking things away from teams with guys like Will Ford and D.J. Johnson, or exposing tendencies at the QB position.  Brandon Banks was K-State’s only real weapon on offense and he was pretty much wearing one of those 2 guys, Jamar Wall or Frank Mitchem as a shirt for most of the contest.  KSU QB Grant Gregory appeared lost without him, which played into our hands and resulted in numerous sacks.  I think Carson Coffman is a much better option for the Cats as he seems to spread the ball around better.  While Raider fans should feel good about this performance, don’t start cussing at your TV set when Nebraska can run the ball on us.

DT

Whitlock and Jones were solid as always.  The Huskers are a lock for 10 yards a carry when Victor Hunter is on the field and there’s a slim chance Myles Wade will be a better option sooner rather than later. Chris Perry can put a couple of good plays on film, but he’s still a wild card as to whether he shows up.  I couldn’t really say much good or bad about David Neill.

DE

Brandon Sharpe is not the kind of guy who is going to dominate in every game we play.  However, he is emerging as a guy that can make you pay, if you’ve got weak tackle play like the Cats.  Henley and Howard are similar type players, which continues to work given our secondary play.  Ryan Halliburton looked kind of like the KSU DEs did against our OL and I was more impressed with some guy named Jonathan Brydon. 

LB

Brian Duncan is becoming a fixture of 4 to 5 nice drive ending or 3rd and long setup plays per game.  Bront Bird was given serious consideration for player of the game honors, but the one play he got licked on was the biggest one.  McNeill has found a niche for Bird and he’s delivering with some nice plays on the perimeter, where Bird puts his solid recognition skills to good use.  Marlon Williams is going to struggle next week between the tackles and with the Husker tight ends, but serve as a solid option in screen defense.  You read it here first.  Sam Fehoko isn’t doing as much guessing this year and holds up pretty well against blocks.  

CB

Ruff is gaining a lot of confidence in this group, so much so, that he allowed D.J. Johnson to play press coverage on the backside for more snaps than not.  This dude is cat quick and can run.  Brandon Banks couldn’t shake him, which left a favorable impression on me about the type of player he can be for us.  Jamar Wall was solid.

Safety

Frank Mitchem is probably a step faster than Cody Davis and I didn’t notice his abscence.  Davis might have been in position to hold the big play by KSU to 15 yards, though.  Dewhurst was solid again and Will Ford is already one of the best players on our defense.

Overall

After watching a lot of Big 12 football this weekend, I feel more comfortable about where this team is at.  Sheffield provides the offense with a much needed spark and the defense seems to feed off his energy.  As long as he continues to play at his current level, it’s going to be hard for any team to beat us.