What Year are we BACK

[lo country]

More excuses.  Riley went 9-4 the season before his last.  The red headed Manchurian Candidate forced him to hire Diaco and all went to hell.  Getting rid of Diaco should have rectified things.  It didn't.

Did Riley not bring in any o-linemen recruits?  Serious question.  If not, then I'll agree with the issue there.  I really don't know.  I know we've outrecruited other schools in our division.  I know Frost ran off a bunch of kids and now we lack depth.  I know there are things we can do to fight against teams who pin their ears back against our offense that we don't do.  We don't move the pocket.  We do very few misdirections.  I don't see a lot of formations used to confuse defenses.  Frost can do a lot with that offense that has been mentioned in other posts.  I also read our o-line coach say we had 12 guys who were ready.  

This is worrisome to me and has been mentioned numerous times.  It's easy to blame "X", but hard to look in the mirror and admit culpability.  There is no reason we got boat raced by Minnie.  No reasons to have struggled in the wins we got.  Coaching comes down as a part of the problem.  And possibly the easiest solution.  (NO NOT FIRING) Re-evaluate was works/doesn't.  Look at other successful B!G teams not named OSU (talent is light years ahead) and as you (and countless others) have mentioned do something schematically to help out your struggling O. (and D)

 

[badgers007]

Very few here are actually watching Wisconsin and you hit the nail on the head to call it out.

Also, the original quote from TGHusker:

is quite the stretch. People on this site say this because of the Barry Alvarez connection and parrot a small selection of other similar, canned mantras, but aside from recruiting & developing good offensive linemen, there isn't much of a connection. Wisconsin runs a mainly Pro Style offense, and as you mention, has added some small twists in there with Coan.

Even Iowa has added a touch of this last year and this year as well with Stanley. But, few actually seem to watch that many games outside of Nebraska's.

It's all good - didn't mean to call anyone out, but Paul Chryst and Joe Rudolph have taken advantage of an offense chalked with experience at the skill positions.

On another note, I do find the Barry Alavarez and Nebraska connection interesting because Iowa fans are convinced that Wisconsin has borrowed from Hayden Fry.  :box

 

[Husker03]

This is worrisome to me and has been mentioned numerous times.  It's easy to blame "X", but hard to look in the mirror and admit culpability.  There is no reason we got boat raced by Minnie.  No reasons to have struggled in the wins we got.  Coaching comes down as a part of the problem.  And possibly the easiest solution.  (NO NOT FIRING) Re-evaluate was works/doesn't.  Look at other successful B!G teams not named OSU (talent is light years ahead) and as you (and countless others) have mentioned do something schematically to help out your struggling O. (and D)

I still think it comes back more to a culture issue. This is the third coach now that we have heard something to the effect of scheme being the issue, of them trying to fit square pegs into round holes, etc. At the end of the day, either none of the coaches know how to coach a lick or there is something more to it. I thought it with Riley and I think it a bit with Frost. If there is no consistency, there is nothing you can fall back on and trust it is going to work. If you have a QB that isn't super accurate on the quick outs and an O-line that can't even buy him 2 seconds in a decent sized pocket nor reliably open any run lanes, I am really not sure what magical offense you can scheme around that. If you have slow timid linebackers, I am not sure how you expect them to fill gaps reliable and make plays. Barry gets credit for all these tackles, which I am glad he is making, but these are usually tackles that could of/should have been for little to no gain that are instead 3-5 yard pick ups by the time he gets there, is dragged a couple of yards, and brings down the ball carrier. Mostly, I think our guys really feel they are going all out when they are on the field. I don't feel like it is intentional laziness.. I just don't think they really know what it feels like to give 100% effort on every play like there is no other next play. They have a constant, "that was ok, and hopefully I do better next time attitude." Over and over.. I don't know how you fix a weak mentality, especially when it is unintentional, until you have 2-3 guys at each position that can perform at a similar level and you can start sending real messages that force some soul searching. 

 

[Nebfanatic]

What evidence have you seen that suggests this team will win 7?  We struggled to beat Illinois.  We struggled to beat NW and their backup QB.  We struggled to beat Southern Alabama who has a total of 1 win this season.  We were smoked by Minnesota.  Minnesota.  39-0 to OSU at haltime.  We are barely beating the "bad" teams in our conference and the remaining bad teams are better than the bad teams we struggled against.  

Riley left a mess huh?  He outrecruited every team in our division.  It has to be true because that's something I've read here over and over.  Getting rid of Diaco was a huge boon for this program because they went 9-4 before that idiots arrival.  Again, excuses for Frost.  People talk about Frost having to get rid of Riley's players because, apparently, they didn't want to play.  Uh huh.  These kids have been competitive their whole lives and now, somehow, they didn't want to play anymore.  They didn't want to lift weights anymore.  All BS.  Saying these kids didn't fit their scheme is believable. The rest isn't.  

I heard Joel Klatt say this morning that Alabama is starting more freshmen than anybody in the country.  Alabama.  Wow.  I wonder how many offseason lifting programs they've done because I keep hearing one or two isn't enough to build up college strength.  

Wow alrighty then. First of all, Purdue, Indiana and Maryland don't inspire confidence on the field either. Have you watched all of their games? What makes you think they have what it takes to beat us? Again, I'd love to use your crystal ball or ypur genius brain since you know whats gonna happen..

Riley outrecruiting the division doesn't mean jack s#!t when literally half of them left campus or didn't make it in the first place. He left a mess no if ands or buts.

If we could recruit a top 3 class in the nation I'm sure we would be playing alot of Freshman too.

 

[CalhounHusker]

Wow alrighty then. First of all, Purdue, Indiana and Maryland don't inspire confidence on the field either. Have you watched all of their games? What makes you think they have what it takes to beat us? Again, I'd love to use your crystal ball or ypur genius brain since you know whats gonna happen..

Riley outrecruiting the division doesn't mean jack s#!t when literally half of them left campus or didn't make it in the first place. He left a mess no if ands or buts.

If we could recruit a top 3 class in the nation I'm sure we would be playing alot of Freshman too.

Sorry bud, but comparing Alabama’s freshmen to the ones that Nebraska has gotten is wild. They’re forcing players out like Jalen Hurts, who is in Heisman contention for a NC title contending team. We aren’t greyshirting 4-5 star players, with a hungry 4-5 star player ready to backup anyone who isn’t pulling their own weight.

 

[Nebfanatic]

Again, excuses for Frost.  People talk about Frost having to get rid of Riley's players because, apparently, they didn't want to play.  Uh huh.  These kids have been competitive their whole lives and now, somehow, they didn't want to play anymore.  They didn't want to lift weights anymore.  All BS.  Saying these kids didn't fit their scheme is believable. The rest isn't.  

Also is it really all BS? Were you around the Riley program? Because the people that were actually in the building regularly say its not all BS. But of course southernoregonhusker could never believe Riley actually ran the program into the ground. Its all BS even though I wasn't actually there and the people that were say these things happened. But its all BS.

 

[Nebfanatic]

Sorry bud, but comparing Alabama’s freshmen to the ones that Nebraska has gotten is wild. They’re forcing players out like Jalen Hurts, who is in Heisman contention for a NC title contending team. We aren’t greyshirting 4-5 star players, with a hungry 4-5 star player ready to backup anyone who isn’t pulling their own weight.

Tell that to @southernoregonhusker he seems to think our freshman should be as good as theirs and if they are starting more freshman than us there should be no excuses. 

 

[Nebfanatic]

And I also have to say Rileys 9-4 season was the biggest sham in Husker history. If you are using that to defend your position good luck. Iowa beat us 40-10! 

 

[BIG ERN]

More excuses.  Riley went 9-4 the season before his last.  The red headed Manchurian Candidate forced him to hire Diaco and all went to hell.  Getting rid of Diaco should have rectified things.  It didn't.

Did Riley not bring in any o-linemen recruits?  Serious question.  If not, then I'll agree with the issue there.  I really don't know.  I know we've outrecruited other schools in our division.  I know Frost ran off a bunch of kids and now we lack depth.  I know there are things we can do to fight against teams who pin their ears back against our offense that we don't do.  We don't move the pocket.  We do very few misdirections.  I don't see a lot of formations used to confuse defenses.  Frost can do a lot with that offense that has been mentioned in other posts.  I also read our o-line coach say we had 12 guys who were ready.  

These same things have been discussed on here over and over again. Those 4* players that Riley brought in are not on campus due to transferring or not qualifying. You also have to take into account that we are now running a no huddle spread offense compared to a huddle up pro style offense. Complete changes were made. The few good players that were left over didn't even get drafted. What talent did he leave us with? Comparing us to Alabama is foolish at this point. All the talent is down South - check who has been winning for the past 20 years....No other coach is going to come into Nebraksa and get us to relevance in 3 years. We can't keep turning over coaches - we will never be successful that way. Frost needs a minimum of 5 years to show what he can do. 

 

[dvdcrr]

A story I know well, there once was a small town high school football team who had never made it to state.  Though they had big boys, fast boys, and smart boys over the years they never won more than 2 games in a season.  One veteran observer who had just witnessed another bitter defeat coolly stated "this town pisses away more talent than the Dallas Cowboys".  Another fan was heard saying " Those boys sure need help.  "

One year a new Old Coach rolled into town.  With an eagle eye he watched every athlete weigh in at the start of the year and began to guess each player's height and weight, never being off by more than an inch or 5lbs to the amazement of the Seniors.

When practice started the boys could tell the hard work was geared right toward producing well conditioned football players.  They could tell the plays were good, and the new blocking schemes were amazing.  

The old coach told the boys, "Every day out here is a battle.  Every day you challenge yourself by going up against someone you dont know if you can beat."  Then he said "Go home and tell your moms and dads that we are going to be good this year.  Then come out here to practice and hit harder and work harder than you ever have to prove it to them. "  And so the boys did tell the town that they were going to be good.  And then they did go to practice and hit harder than they ever had.  Boys started going home with ice wraps on their arms and legs.  The weight program was instituted big time, 7AM.  Players were going to get stronger throughout the season.  

Then came week one, the moment of truth against a worthy opponent and rival.  The Old Coach said, if they could get this first win, the rest would follow but they had to do the things they learned in practice; everybody does their own job, and "Get it Done".  It was a nail biter, but the neighboring rivals were sure stunned when they got beat by the perrennial doormat team and the Old Coach.  After that, this team made history for the small town finishing at 10-2.  So from 2-7 to 10-2 in one year with nothing but the addition of one Old Coach.

You see there is something about the right coach which earns respect.  And when the boys totally respect, and admire their coach they will run through a brick wall for him.  And there is a bond that forms among teammates, to become like brothers. I think the real magic happens when the right coach is fortunate enough to meet up with the right players.  Senior/ Junior players who are willing to go all out for the new guy, and win.  Willing to go all out every day to set the example for the young guys.

 

[The Dude]

You also have to take into account that we are now running a no huddle spread offense compared to a huddle up pro style offense. Complete changes were made.

Huddling is Jr. High level stuff.

 

[walksalone]

We're going to be stuck at middle of the road for who knows how until somebody that's the HC, realizes that the elusive dual threat QB or the shifty RB with blazing speed are going to be nothing better than mediocre, if you don't have a line that can actually push people around and provide a decent pass rush.  

Same thing on the defensive line.  There are kids there that are pretty good, not the level of talent to bring us to the promised land.