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Sims was the hand picked portal transfer who was effectively brought in to be “the guy.” Haarberg was the plucky home state kid who was 4th or 5th on the depth chart last year. Sims has had his chances and if he can’t fully separate himself from Haarberg by now, that’s his own fault. I think it’s safe to say Haarberg was never brought in with a full intention of being the full time starter. At best, I think his initial trajectory was to have a few nice moments in mop up duty, grad transfer to a smaller school and then he goes back to Kearney to sell insurance. Haarberg is winning and he’s a nice story for now. If he can get us back to bowl eligibility, he’ll retain a special place in the heart of Husker Nation forever. I think Rhule and Co take one, possibly two portal QBs next year and he goes back to being a backup.

The decision definitely isn't wrong. In fact, it should've happened a while ago. The timing just seems interesting to me. Why do it in the middle of the season when they still have plenty to play for? That being said, as much fun as it is to dunk on Brian Ferentz, I think their offensive woes go well beyond him. The last few years QB has been terrible to average, OL has noticeably regressed, RB's and WR's range from non-existent to below average, and TE has been generally solid. Brian has definitely been a major problem, but I think it's safe to say there's plenty of blame to go around.

This is interesting. I was initially under the impression this was a mutual parting of ways. But that statement reads like she just straight up fired him. Barta was the one that restructured Brian’s contract. I believe she still has the interim tag, so she could have very well sat back and let Brian fail, and then let him go with the “my hands are tied” excuse. While the Iowa offense is terrible… Iowa is tied for first in the West, the only bowl eligible team in the West, and could very well win out to get 10 wins and a B1G title game appearance. Why do this now?

There’s a path to victory in all of these games. Just find one.

Both but Neb is definitely improving. The B1G has done a good job of marketing itself as this “tough” and “gritty” league. Which to a degree is true. But it’s also a lot of very, very, very bad football.

He kind of reminds me of Isiah Pacheco for the Chiefs. Has some of that “angry runner” in him.

From the article “A source told ESPN that the Wolverines have used an "elaborate" scouting system to steal signals from future opponents since at least 2021.” I always thought that the leap they made in 2021 was interesting. Their 2019 team was decent but their 2020 team was abysmal. If not for their final 3 games being called “No Contests” they likely finish the season 3-6. After the 2020 season Michigan retooled Jim’s contract to lower his buyout, and he hired a bunch of new assistants. (Where have we seen that before?) and then suddenly in 2021 they’re contenders. I’m not sure why so many around the CFB and sports world are scoffing at these allegations. The Schiano interview shows that he clearly knew what Michigan was up to. Not to mention that Harbaugh has routinely openly accused others of violating rules. OSU 2020 and Neb 2021 come to mind. Those who live in glass houses.

I imagine Kirk copes with that like this

Martin: Coaching experience wise, I think he was actually an upgrade from Wager. I think he’s done fine so far. I think he probably stays Barthel: I don’t love that our bell cow starter from last year dropped to third on the depth chart under his tutelage. Also hard to evaluate when 2 of the top 3 starters are gone 3 weeks into the season. I think he probably stays. Satterfield: I wasn’t wowed by his hire. But with the kind of offense Rhule has talked about running here, I think he’s serviceable. I think Neb has had a run of coaches who think they have to outsmart everyone and show that they’re the smartest guy in the stadium. My hope was Satt would kind of buck that trend and just be a safe, efficient play caller. No need to get cute. There’s times where I see that from him and times where I don’t. Probably stays but I wouldn’t be shocked if he took a job elsewhere. McGuire: Did not like the hire at all. WRs haven’t been terribly involved offensively so I don’t think there’s much to judge him on at this point. I think he probably stays. Raiola: I did not like retaining him. What were the sheer odds that the best possible OL coach that Rhule could find just happened to be the guy that was already here? I wish Rhule had done what Fickell did, and gotten a 30 year veteran OL coach. He didn’t and the OL looks basically the same as last year. My gut says he probably takes a job elsewhere at the end of the season. My concern with Rhule replacing him though is that Rhule tends to hire young coaches with very little experience. Are we better off with a less than inspiring Raiola or a 20something with a thin coaching resume?

I get that. But it’s not like we haven’t had a history of running quarterbacks who I’m confident all played thru some pretty wicked sprains and other injuries. AM had to have his broken face wired together, and he still played.

At this point I feel like it’s gotta be something additional. And yes, I get ankle sprains can linger and take forever to heal. But c’mon. It’s football. If every football player with a sprained ankle sat out until it was perfectly healed, no program would be able to field enough players to have a team.

It is really getting old. I realize that the current staff and players are not responsible for the entire downturn we’ve seen the last decade. But at this point it’s difficult not to smirk and say “Sure” when you hear the “We’re mad” type of comments.

5-7 with a win over Wisconsin last year would’ve been nice.

Regardless if there’s a butt in every single seat for every single second of every single game, we’re in an era when all teams at all levels are finding it difficult to get people in the stadium. Neb’s attendance is still incredible and unmatched. That being said, I’ll never understand why random B1G fans are so preoccupied with the sellout streak.

The bleeding against these kinds of teams really has to stop. To me, this game is effectively a do over of Minnesota. I think if they bring a similar game plan that they had for NIU, they can walk out of there with a W. Rest up during the bye week and go into the NW game with some confidence.

Not stupid at all. This is a perfectly teed up opportunity to beat a veteran B1G coach and a program that has somehow notched 3 straight wins over us. It’s also a perfect opportunity for Rhule and Co to show us things are different now with them. Keep the team’s focus during a short week. Bring a sensible game plan. Execute.

Underperforming coordinators and assistants are usually shown the door as well.

The tide really turned around the end of the Bo years and the beginning of the Riley era and the place was just miserable. I remember one of the owners and admin, Solly, routinely suspended members for every little disagreement and effectively ran a bunch of people off.

Bighuskerfan.com was a pretty solid little board that descended really quickly into negativity. I’m surprised it’s even still up and running.

Curiosity got the best of me and I did google Anthony Panico. Stumbled across this old article largely about Tom Lemming and early 00’s recruiting services that’s actually pretty interesting. Santino and how he got to Neb is one of the central parts of the article. https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-swami-on-the-sidelines/

It’ll be interesting to see how long Kirk hangs on. With the B1G expansion and equitable B1G scheduling, those routine 9-3/8-4/7-5 seasons will assuredly be more and more difficult to come by. It wouldn’t shock me if he hangs it up soon. It also wouldn’t shock me if he makes the Iowa Athletic Department pry the job from his cold, dead hands. My gut says he and Brian aren’t going anywhere. Iowa having to settle a $4m lawsuit out of court on his behalf, with Kirk coming out seemingly unscathed is quite an accomplishment. If he can navigate that without an issue, keeping around his son will be a layup. You also have to imagine the nepotism can go only go on for so long until it creates some dissension within the ranks. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t already. Parker and Woods both work their tails off for their respective units, and yet they’re being held back because of Baby Huey. Parker is 60 so he probably rides it out at Iowa. But if I’m a 45 year old Woods, and someone like Michigan St calls… I’m answering.

It was definitely a cheap shot and worthy of a flag, but c’mon. There’s far worse in game hits. If CU wants to talk about players trying to intentionally hurt their opponent, I’m sure Adrian Martinez would like a word.