Fru

The chatter about Jim Tressell coming to Neb after the Bo firing was a pretty wild, though short lived, time. 

13 hours ago, presidentjlh said:

Schedule turned out far weaker than we initially thought it’d be. We’ve only played one team deserving of a ranking in Michigan.

Yup. And the manner of the losses as well. Pretty difficult to feel much confidence after 4 one score conference losses largely from self inflicted wounds. Essentially a mirror image of what we’ve seen since 2018. 

18 minutes ago, ColoradoHusk said:

I disagree that a win against Maryland was assured with a FG, but it puts NU in a much better position to win the game.

That’s why I used the word “probably.”

22 minutes ago, Undone said:

 

I think that second statement deserves some unpacking.

 

No, you're not going to win a national championship and you're not going to beat Michigan or Ohio State in a conference title game "keeping it simple" with the athletes we have right now. That's a true statement. But he's creating a false dichotomy there.

 

A critical late 4th quarter situation is not equal to a conversation about the bigger picture. The program has to stop screwing up late in the 4th quarter to even be in the conversation about winning at a high level. And he's had two games where this happened on his watch.

 

I know he said over and over that he took blame for not getting points on that last drive and I love that, but that second statement in the quote is a big deflection.

 

 

 

Agreed. It’s a wild thing to say at this point. Playing it simple there probably gets this programs first bowl appearance in 6 years. It was a breathtakingly stupid decision. 

Haven’t been to a bowl in 6 years. Currently sitting at 5 wins, best since 2019. Opponent hasn’t won a game since September. 

2 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

 

Welcome back to the B1G, Matt.

9 minutes ago, Waldo said:

I think this has way more to do with the schedule than HH. You still have to win the games, which he has done, but the best win is… NW? 

I’m still waiting for some creativity on the offense. A trick play, a couple of wr sweeps, more TE action. But let’s run up the gut into a loaded box and pass on 3rd and long. 

We haven’t been to a bowl in 6 years. So freaking what if HH’s best win is NW? 

18 minutes ago, Undone said:

 

Yep. There's so much positive happening but a lot of people are missing it or just don't want to focus on it.

 

The thing about the constant dissecting of Haarberg's performances is that the guy was the backup coming into this season. I wish his passing acumen was higher but it just isn't. But nevertheless we just might pull off the best season we've had in 6 years.

 

If we were to get a good-to-great QB in here for next season this program might actually be pretty good again.

The handwringing over HH does seem a little over the top. He was never meant to be the guy and assuredly won’t be next year. The only reason he’s the guy right now is because the current and previous staffs flat out whiffed on their QB management. He wasn’t the hand picked guy, he’s the guy that’s the best of a really bad bunch. Not to mention the monstrous lack of talent/starters around him, and he’s still on the cusp of leading Neb to its first bowl in 6 years. 

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. 

2 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

I hate to say it, because it’s f#&%ing Iowa. But, say this is Nebraska…..I would support the decision. They have everything clicking in their program…..except the offense that is the worst of the worst. And this isn’t just a one year anomaly. 
 

If they can keep everything else together and have a good offense….watch out. 
 

But, I don’t think it’s going to work out that way. 

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. 

2 hours ago, GSG said:

 

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. 

25 minutes ago, Caven said:

The question will be do they want to use firing Brian as a way to get rid of Kirk because if son goes, I am sure dad goes.  I am really not sure if an interim AD will make this call and I am not sure if it is the correct call heading into the new Big 10.  Damn if I would want to be the head coach listening to the student section chanting stuff about my kid though.  That has got to be hard.

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? 

12 minutes ago, Husker in WI said:

 

What we think of as sprained ankles are typically low ankle sprains or very mild high ankle sprains. There's a whole spectrum, and severe ones can even require surgery. I don't think there's anything crazy going on - we rely on the QB run game way too much to have him play through it. If we ran Iowa's offense, sure he could probably be out there. He's been dressing and ran a play against La Tech, but you don't want him running around on it too much and that's exactly what our offense needs the QB to do.

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. 

1 minute ago, teachercd said:

Good lord, does he have Ankle Plague???

 

Sims as the starter immediately becomes the most dangerous player on the field for the next 7 games (for NU and for the other team sometimes too).  There is not a defense left on the schedule that can shut him down when he runs. 

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.

48 minutes ago, Archy1221 said:

The coach speak is nice, glad to hear they were mad and they expect things to change etc… but we’ve heard these same things for going in 5 plus years.   I’m more interested if the coaches can actually make the adjustments happen and move the program forward.  

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. 

21 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

I would have been, especially depending on who that extra win came against. 

 
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.