My utterly reasonable lukewarm take

[Danny Bateman]

So, I'm sitting there watching highlights as we're getting ready to go out for dinner last night pretty deflated from how the game ended. There's footage of Michigan kicking Cincinnati's butt, Louisville handling business, Wisconsin running all over FAU, Iowa escaping Iowa State in overtime...

In all of these games, players made plays. Wisconsin did what they typically do: a roadgrading offensive line blocks some very basic Power O plays very well and a truck of a RB gets up a head of steam and rumbles for days. The Michigan QB throws a laser on a rope and drops it right in the bucket to his WR, who just runs away from his defender. Louisville airs it out and doesn't take long to put up points on anyone. Iowa runs their damn play action to the flat with the TE/H-back all dang day long off their run game, and it's still effective.

 

All of these offenses know what they are, first and foremost. Then they have players to make those plays. They may not be the most effective or cerebral ways to run an offense, but they know what they do and they are able to do it well.

 

NU, I think, is starting to figure out what they want to do. They're finding their offensive identity after two years of forcing TA into a Mike Riley offense to clunky results. MR has his guys, including Lee.

 

I badly want this offense to develop the offensive identity of a Wisconsin or an Iowa. It's GOT to be easier to run an offense effectively when everyone knows exactly what you're going to do and you can still do it. It's a cultural thing at that point with a team, and it requires buy in from everyone.

 

Of course, we still need players to make plays. If NU can develop a strong offensive identity, it will mitigate the talent gap with other teams that outclass us in star power. But I still find myself wondering why NU doesn't have QBs that throw a frozen rope on the money to a WR who can outrun his defender stride for stride for a TD. We still have to go find players that can do THAT and make THOSE plays, because JUST having an offensive identity is never going to be enough to compete with Wiscy and OSU and Michigan and PSU and MSU for supremacy in the Big Ten. We still need an infusion of talent, which, to their credit, Riley has done a pretty good job attracting to Lincoln thusfar. More work needs to be done, though.

 

Ultimately, this offense is still growing. It's still coming together as a unit, which seems silly since it's year 3, but it's a ton of new players and of course a new guy under center. I'm going to sit back and wait and watch how it develops. Maybe Riley gets their poop in a scoop & the offense really pulls it all together to carry the team. Lord knows the D needs a strong counterpart while it goes through its growing pains...

But, ultimately, as an NU fan, it seems like we're always waiting. Patience is absolutely required. Wait for Riley to teach these kids his system (year 1). Wait for it click for TA. Wait for Riley to get "his guys." Wait for Lee to pick things up and the offense to gel. Wait for Diaco to get the guys coached up in HIS system. Wait for recruiting to pick up steam. Wait for some of the new talent to get ready to the college game.

 

I'm predisposed to waiting. I was too young to drink in the glory days in any real way, so I'm not delusional and expecting a return to national title competition from every single Husker team every year. But sometimes I do worry that we're going to be stuck in a purgatory of perpetual waiting. We're forever "almost" there, but "almost" is always going to be "almost." At that point, to continue to ask for patience from everyone is an exercise in futility that's only going to leave a bad taste in our mouths. If we can ever objectively decide we're stuck in "almost" with nothing but a strong sense of wait under Riley, as we'd been with so many other coaches since the days of ole, we might as well turn the page and roll the dice one more time. Maybe the payoff is finally there, that time.

But until then, we've got no other choice. Nobody is going anywhere just yet. So just... wait.

 

 

 

[teachercd]

Mediocre Mike is going to be "retiring" at the end of the season.

[gobiggergoredder]

4 minutes ago, teachercd said:

Mediocre Mike is going to be "retiring" at the end of the season.

I actually think Mike has added talent and stabilized a sinking ship, but this may be a good idea.  These teams just don't play championship level football.

 

I'm getting so tired of watching the first/second year coaches all over the country make progress while we look the same.  The University has too many resources for this team to be fighting to get 1 pt in the AP pole.  I still don't think our kids are bad.  We play bad football.

 

I use to think the CyHawk game was a joke.  Yesterday I saw two programs slug it out that play better football than we do. 

 

 

[MyBloodIsRed16]

57 minutes ago, gobiggergoredder said:

I actually think Mike has added talent and stabilized a sinking ship, but this may be a good idea.  These teams just don't play championship level football.

 

I'm getting so tired of watching the first/second year coaches all over the country make progress while we look the same.  The University has too many resources for this team to be fighting to get 1 pt in the AP pole.  I still don't think our kids are bad.  We play bad football.

 

I use to think the CyHawk game was a joke.  Yesterday I saw two programs slug it out that play better football than we do. 

 

 

You thought Iowa looked good?  I've watched both their games this year and if we don't beat them I will be very surprised.  

 

[Ratt Mhule]

4 minutes ago, MyBloodIsRed16 said:

You thought Iowa looked good?  I've watched both their games this year and if we don't beat them I will be very surprised.  

 

 

We said the same thing last year after they lost to NDSU but when it came time to play them our defensive line was getting pushed 5 yards off the LOS. 

[Savage Husker]

1 minute ago, Rike Miley said:

 

We said the same thing last year after they lost to NDSU but when it came time to play them our defensive line was getting pushed 5 yards off the LOS. 

I think most of that loss had to do with what was between their ears and in their heart rather than talent and skill. 

[Danny Bateman]

1 hour ago, gobiggergoredder said:

I actually think Mike has added talent and stabilized a sinking ship, but this may be a good idea.  These teams just don't play championship level football.

 

I'm getting so tired of watching the first/second year coaches all over the country make progress while we look the same.  The University has too many resources for this team to be fighting to get 1 pt in the AP pole.  I still don't think our kids are bad.  We play bad football.

 

I use to think the CyHawk game was a joke.  Yesterday I saw two programs slug it out that play better football than we do. 

 

 

 

Well said. We're pretty close in our evaluations of where we are at.

 

Case in point: Taggert yesterday. He walked into an Oregon team that had quite a good deal of talent but was a pretty mediocre team last year. But he got his offense to ball out initially & his defense to play well enough to beat us in his second game yesterday. He is quite a good coach, and it goes to show that if you find the right coach you CAN walk in and win right away in the NCAA.

To your point about the CyHawk game, yeah I rib both those teams a lot to, having lived in Iowa for quite a while.

But what those teams lack in talent, they more than made up for in just brute desire to play that game and win yesterday. They both DEEPLY disliked each other, and badly WANTED to win the game.

When is the last time you saw an NU team come out like that against a team and just WANT it more, and who was the other team?

[MyBloodIsRed16]

3 minutes ago, Rike Miley said:

 

We said the same thing last year after they lost to NDSU but when it came time to play them our defensive line was getting pushed 5 yards off the LOS. 

Who is We?  I thought last year's game was gonna be a tough one just because Iowa would get up for that game.  Nebraska wasn't playing good football going into that game and had some injuries.  Unless the wheels fall off again this year I believe we will win 

[Nebfanatic]

Riley has gotten us closer to Wisconsin than we were when we started this Big 10 adventure. if we beat them this year I'd argue we are making progress. It all remains to be seen but in reality this game means nothing if we can put together a good season in conference. That's what matters at this point. Wins against teams like Oregon are great but mean nothing in the grand scheme of things if you aren't competing for a playoff spot. If we can learn from this game and get better from it en route to a a West title, I don't mind losing this game. This team is young and inexperienced. If that means a loss on the road in noncon I'm ok with that. 

 

That being said, it's year 3. Year 3 is the year coaches show what they are doing with their program in most instances. We have to win the West this year. We have to at least have a perfect record against our west opponents. If we do that I think Riley will have shown he is improving our program. (when was the last time we went perfect in our division?) If we can't do that I think it's time to let Riley know he is on the hot seat and steps are being taken to move on to the next chapter of Husker football. I'm not saying fire the guy but definitely see who is available. We out recruit the West year in and year out, it's time we start playing like it. 

[gobiggergoredder]

48 minutes ago, MyBloodIsRed16 said:

You thought Iowa looked good?  I've watched both their games this year and if we don't beat them I will be very surprised.  

 

Nowhere did I say Iowa played good.  Their QB, who is brand new, had a rough quarter and they had a few lapses on D.

 

I don't know how you could possibly be "very surprised" with a Nebraska loss at this point.

[Whistlepig]

I've said this in another post but it warrants repeating:

Got to get rid of the boob who thought bringing in a 62 year dude with an even record was a good idea, before we fire Grampa, because based on that decision I wouldn't let Eikhorst  choose my toilet paper let alone another coach

[Whistlepig]

Speaking of Grampa, just look at the old man of the plains south of Lincoln- decent teams year in and year out, all that without Calibraska talent or pro-style sets.

Of course Grampa Synder is a witch and has a winning record