Undone

Yep. We were running the ball fairly well at that point. We're on their 26 with 1st & 10 with 1:35 to go and we run for 8 yards. 2nd down play they did stuff it, but then the third down run is a zone read keeper by Purdy for 6. So then we're on their 12 yard line. All other things being equal the play calling and execution in the back half of that drive was awesome. What wasn't as awesome was intentionally running the play clock down on the 2nd down play. And we didn't have to go super fast - just go right to the line calmly, get set, and snap it. But Rhule just didn't want to. There's no way he did it because he's an idiot and wasn't thinking, so I think "bad clock management" is actually probably an incorrect diagnosis. He just didn't want them to get the ball back at all costs. It was "bad strategy" more than "bad clock management," IMO.

If we get that 4th & 1 in the 2nd quarter and score there and we don't miss any field goals, we win that one. Refs could always screw you (intentionally or unintentionally) but we didn't keep our foot on the pedal and take the Badgers out of the game. I doubt there's any conspiracy against the skers but I suppose it's possible.

If this is a thing where he never quite runs the same as he did pre-injury like has happened to a couple of our better mobile QB's, it's going to be really depressing. I thought last year that he was the most likely guy to be the starter this season. He threw for 3,300 yards in only 11 games played his senior year of high school. Seeing him throw the ball against Wisconsin, he's got a good foundation of passing ability and when you combine his running ability? He's exactly the kind of QB that takes this scheme as far as it can go. Not saying he's going to be an all-conference player. But it seems like he's pretty decent.

I'm not saying that would have been the best thing to do, I'm just saying if we had wanted to play for going up by 4, it was an option because we get 8 yards on the 1st down run. At the end of the day, coach just obviously didn't want them to get the ball back in regulation. He wanted to work the ball in closer for the FG and he didn't want to pass too much inside their 25. Nothing wrong with that I guess. But it's a shift for the team's season if all of a sudden he's worried about the defense having to get a stop in regulation.

I was basically where you were at, and then I watched that last drive a couple times after the game. Then I changed my mind. Wisconsin takes a timeout after we get a key timeout with 1:35 to go on their 26. They take the timeout, huge gift. We run a great 8 yard running play with our RB and we're on their 18 with somewhere around 1:25 to go and 2nd & 2. We've got 3 timeouts. I think it was a bad call to not take the timeout there. You want to throw on that play (again, if you're most teams anyway) because if it's incomplete it's 4 down territory to run to get the first anyway. So we don't call the timeout, run the play clock down, call a running play (which honestly is fine) and we get stuffed for no gain...and then we drain the play clock down again. We pick up the first down some something like a 6 yard run on that 3rd & 2 and hooray, we're on their 12 but now there are only 20 seconds left because we didn't go fast nor took at least one timeout. That one's kind of a headscratcher. It doesn't even make me that mad because we're basically the same dumpster fire program we've been for the last 6 seasons. But it's a headscrather.

Offseason groin surgery is a must for Husker fans, as well. Because this is basically the result of watching our team:

I can feel the purgatory of the offseason already with the debates over whether we're better or not than Frost's teams.

We were fine at the point where we were on their 26 yard line with 1st & 10. 1:35 left, three time outs. Just seems obvious at this point that coach didn't want them to get the ball back. There's just no way he's so dumb that he wouldn't have thought to call a timeout there at all, just no way. Purdy was basically on fire in this one (at least compared to anything we've seen from our other QB's this season), so I don't think there was any reason to be afraid of having the ball in overtime. But it just wasn't smart to not call the timeout after the 1st down run where we get to their 18 yard line with something like 1:25 left. Most teams would want to throw on that down & distance situation because it's 2nd & 2. But again, can we even do anything like "most teams" given how we've turned the ball over this year? That's kind of what I was saying in my other post: if we hadn't picked up some yardage on the ground to even get us into the red zone on that last drive and had called pass plays resulting in incompletions, this board loses its mind.

This was the clip I was looking for that the YouTube edit guy's video doesn't show. I still think "bad clock management" is debatable on the last drive...but the more I watch that clip, the more I agree that it was bad. When Purdy gets the long scramble to set up 1st & 10 at their 26 with 1:35 left, Wisconsin takes a timeout. Next play, we run power on 1st down and get 8 yards. No way in hell anybody can have any complaints with that; if we pass and it's incomplete there it's 6 straight days of b****ing on here about it. But yeah, Rhule should have taken a timeout after that 1st down run. I'd go back and do that if it was possible. But then on the 2nd down play that follows we run a toss (something we had had good success with) and it gets stuff. If we execute it and get a good gain & the 1st down conversion, maybe Rhule plays it differently. Just don't know. Coach clearly wanted to run power to work the ball closer to the goal line so that the FG would be an easy one for Alvano, and he clearly doesn't want to risk the INT. As pissed as I am about the loss, I think Purdy and the offense was amazing on that drive. Blocking, running, passing was excellent.

Maryland. The turnovers and the inability to get more than 10 points on the board against a pretty average team was pathetic. The Minnesota loss helped the team get motivated to really dial it in starting with Illinois. Which we did. We needed either Michigan State or Maryland to get the bowl game and not getting it just put us into a terrible place.

I thought we moved the ball fairly well, given the opponent. We ran zone read, our QB scrambled at the right times when pass plays weren't happening, and our QB hit guys that were open in the pass game. I can't blame the OC in this one.

This guy's YouTube videos are awesome but they don't include every single play. This was one of Chubba's best plays of the game and goes down as pretty legendary if we had won it: After he picks up the first we're on their 26 yard line with 1:35 to go. But you can't do a play-by-play review of the next couple plays; the video then skips to 3rd & 2 of that series and there's 20 seconds on the clock. That's the series where Rhule doesn't do a great job. Seems pretty clear that he's super worried about them getting the ball back whether we get a TD or a FG. It's probably too conservative, but then again I think it's fair to be worried about throwing it in the red zone because of what happened against Maryland. I was honestly shocked we even tied it up. If we execute the 1st & 2nd down plays of that series well maybe we wind up getting into the end zone. But we didn't.

No, to me it seems like it's only come out in the last week and a half but I could be wrong.

The first missed FG was pretty huge to the outcome of the game.

I kept saying "the longer they're behind, the bigger the chance Mordecai starts screwing up." But he played a clean game and we couldn't tackle him in the backfield. We should have converted that 4th & 1 in the second quarter and gotten more points on the board on that drive. When that didn't happen we just gave up all the momentum. Anyway, Purdy played a really good game. 65% completion, over 100 yards running. He can rifle passes into spaces and anticipate where a guy will be open like the other two QB's cannot.

Here's an analogy. For the past six seasons, we can't even walk. We're crawling. You seem to not be talking about walking or maybe even running slowly. You seem to be talking about competing in a 100 yard dash.

I get it. You're taking your frustration of losing the game out on a stranger on the internet. 1st & 10 from the opponent's 12 yard line in this one. We throw on first down and it's an incompletion. Last week, it was 1st & goal on their 7. We throw on that play for an incompletion (and obviously Rhule claimed Chubba decided to throw instead of run). So then in this one, 7 seconds in the game from their 12. For most teams, you want to see another play, I wouldn't ever disagree with that. But, we're a bunch of complete f***-up's. I highly doubt a run play gets into the end zone from their 12, but anything is possible. If we pass, it's pretty similar to calling the pass on 3rd & goal last week; you've got the same QB who threw a dumb pick from basically the same exact spot on the field in the same basic situation the week before. Now the stakes are lower there because it was tied whereas against Wisconsin if you don't come up with 3 points the game's over. So yeah, the situations are similar. They're not identical, but they're similar. Coach was probably gun shy about turning it over. I wanted to see another play also, just saying that for like the third time now.

I have to just point out fans' propensity to focus on what happens in the second half of fourth quarters while simultaneously forgetting about failures that happened for the first 3.5 quarters. Our momentum went downhill when we didn't convert the 4th & 1 in the first half. And then we couldn't shut down some of their short throws, and we couldn't tackle Mordecai in the backfield. Maybe we punch it in on short yardage on goal to go, or maybe they stop us. For me it's just a huge problem that this offense can't even average 5 points per quarter. We should be putting up 20 points in regulation with the athletes we have, IMO.

I agree, Moiraine. I also wish it had gone that way.

This is a legendary tier of bulls***, lol. I haven't drank enough for this.

I agree with everything you said but just have to point out that last week our staff was aggressive in trying to score 7 instead of 3 and we screwed up big time (with the same QB that was playing tonight) and we all lost our s***. Please don't tell me that you won't even acknowledge this. This is a safe space.

You can't be serious.

What skill position has shined? Well, let's see. Here are our injuries: -Gabe Ervin -Rahmir Johnson -Marcus Washington You want Chadwell's scheme, right? How is what we did tonight appreciably different than Chadwell's stuff? We ran option, we ran zone read. We run a bunch of stuff out of the "I" (which lifelong Husker fans generally are really happy about). We needed Chubba's game that he had tonight against Michigan State & Maryland and we're 7-4 right now. Hell, make it 8-4 if he had played like tonight against Minnesota.

Can't understand the point you're trying to make. I was referring to Purdy. Apparently Purdy has had an injury basically all season. To my eye, Chubba Purdy is exactly the kind of QB that works best for this offense. Like, exactly the right guy.

Obviously we're all mad about this, but just to play devil's advocate: everybody was so mad about not getting the field goal last week in basically the same situation...right?