Red is Power

Any JUCO dual threat QB's out there we can make a late push for? I'm not too sold on TA being the starter next year and I'm also not willing to put all my eggs in the basket for a RS Frosh to take over the offense just yet. Would it hurt NU to go out and snag a juco dual threat QB right now who can play immediately? Auburn seems to have done it twice now... and it has paid off for them. Zac Taylor back in 05 & 06 wasn't too shabby either...

Here's an idea for NCAAF,

Retired officials offered to become "Rule Administrators" for football games. These individuals should be appointed by the collegiate association and have a fair and balanced mindset ONLY to the NCAA rule book and the ability to review video evidence before a referee does. This individual also has the ability to object a call on the field if it is a questionable call or a ghost penalty i.e. a penalty made that should not be enforced. The admin also has the ability to perform what would be called a "Roll Back" i.e. a call that should have been made but allows the administrator to roll back a penalty and enforced after the play has ended and to be assessed on the current series or the one following. This person would essentially be a manager in the press box for the officiating crew of each NCAAF game.

This would eliminate controversial calls having a higher up who is appointed to review on field calls by means of the rule book and video evidence. They would never set foot on the field. They are an eye in the sky.

I can dream, right?

We will see Tommy Armstrong get some PT

 

The defense won't have any blowout losses

 

Pelini will get pissed at some point and time

I Eichorst is a very hands off guy. I personally feel in this situation he should say something. This gives a lot of teams extra fire power in recruiting.

No silence is a sign of intelligence. These days people open their mouths to the media too much. Nothing good comes from it. Have you learned anything at all?

This is copy and pasted straight from a conversation I had via PM with someone last night. I thought it was something that I could share with the board. It is sometimes hard for me to explain what I am trying to say through a message board. I think if all of HB sat down and talked in person that we would probably find we aren't in disagreement all of the time. A lot is lost on a message board. For example, you can't tell someone's tone of voice and sometimes someone has a thought that they think is in context, but you read it differently than the way that they intended it to come across. I thought I did the best job explaining it here so I thought I'd post it. Here are my thoughts as to where we stand if a change were to be made and my thoughts on the offense and defense.

 

 

 

It is not that I don't think we would get somebody good post-Bo. It is just tough for me to see a realistic candidate that would leave their current position. It is not like I don't think NU isn't a top job. Maybe what I should have been saying for awhile now is that other jobs are EASIER and more attractive than ours. For example, I really think UCLA and TAMU have all the makings to be BIG TIME programs in the next ten years. All of the pieces are in place to do that for them. As I currently believe is the case with us. I realize we as over-educated fans are not indicative of the fanbase as a whole, but the last thing I usually do is blame individual players or coaches. I hate excuses as much as anyone else because I wouldn't accept an excuse from a soccer player that I've coached, but given the circumstances this year, come on now. We lost an all-American player and our four year starting QB to injury. We've had the worst luck of really any team in the B1G in my personal opinion.

 

Beck? He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. If he throws the ball three times on the goalline people say he should have ran it. If he runs it, people say he should have passed it. Next time that we sit down for drinks I'll explain to you our running game in my eyes, but you've got to commit to how we run much like Oregon does. With our blocking schemes, you'll never just line up and go hat on a hat like we used to and knock people back five yards, but with the way we run it you don't have to have the biggest and strongest guys. What Oregon and we do really reminds me a lot of what Denver under Shanahan use to do with Terrell Davis in the sense that there is no designed hole that Ameer is suppose to hit. We show them exactly what we are planning on doing with our formation. From there, our OL is taught to read where the defense is over-pursuing because the defense knows where the play is designed to go. From there, it is all about Ameer making the right cut. Which he has done so much this year and that is why he's special. Every once in awhile since the defense knows where the play is designed to go they make the play. That is why Oregon leads the nation in plays for negative yards. That is why we have a good amount of plays also go for negative yards. But much like the option back in TOs day, you have to commit to your system. I am actually impressed with Beck but I do agree every game there is a series that leaves you scratching your head. But we were spoiled so long with the greatest offensive mind and play caller in history that anyone is going to be a downgrade. Newby has an opportunity to be better than him if he gets the vision part down. He hasn't gotten carries this year IMO because he doesn't have that part and just tries to out-athlete people. Which you can't do at this level. But he has that break away speed Ameer doesn't have.

 

As you can look back and see, I've always been critical of us against the run. In Bo's scheme, he concedes it a lot because he doesn't want to give up the long pass. The scheme he likes to run calls for two high safeties most of the time and if you look back at the thread about our defense against 10 personnel, we had no chance stopping it because we simply didn't have the numbers we needed to in the box. I attributed it to Bo not trusting the secondary. Would you with the safety play we had earlier this year? We have been bringing a lot of pressure lately and I'd attribute it a lot to Bo putting more trust in CC and Alexander and the secondary as a whole. When looking back at the Michigan game, we brought very controlled pressure. We'd make Lewan think that our DE was dropping into coverage only to bring him on a delayed blitz basically rocking him to sleep. It's been fun to watch exactly what we are doing because you can read about the scheme a lot online. The emergence of RG44 cannot be understated either. That guy is a huge reason why we've gotten relentless pressure. If you double VV which he now requires, you've got RG44 to deal with coming off the edge. At the airport I was privileged to meet a scout from the Bucs that was going to meet with Bo and watch practice. They were going to see RG44, VV, Moss, and our whole WR core. I was also fortunate enough to talk to a guy from the Steelers last year through my job and the Steelers have a lot of respect for Bo as a defensive mind and coach.

 

With the talent we've recruited the past 3-4 years I think it would be a mistake to not give Bo a chance with it. If after 2-3 years it hasn't worked out, then I'd be on the side that it's time to move on. But with as much promise as there currently is in this program with as young and talented as we are I think it would be a damn shame if a change is made.

 

I hope that clarifies more of my opinions for you. Anyone who is more knowledgable about football X's and O's I encourage you to correct any of the mistakes I may have made. I would really enjoy hearing it as I love football.

 

GBR

I disagree.

Me too.

MY BIGGEST FEAR.........Bo wins out, stays and next year is a carbon copy repeat of this sh#t!!!!

An even bigger fear is he wins out and leaves the program. He would essentially do what Tom Osborne almost did. Except I do not find Bo as trustworthy as his former boss.

 

Because it didn't matter in those years. 2010 we lost to an unranked Texas team with the red out around the world campaign fail. 2011 we were embarrassed @ Wisconsin. So, really... that is what I meant by "at one point" because we simply beat NO ONE leading up to those games to deserve a top 10 ranking. We have a trend of barely making it into the top 10 and somehow losing on national tv followed by climbing back up into it and followed by losing a game we shouldn't.

 

I understand what you're getting at, but I don't think it's fair. You aren't micro-examining every other team in the top 10 to see if they are deserving or not - so you hold the inside knowledge of our program to the outsider perspective of all the rest.

It's more fact than hearsay which is why you may feel it's unfair. It is not an outsiders perspective because we can see the results clear as day. Our program has never deserved a top 10 ranking during the past 6 years. We are a sub top 20 team at best. Any time we gain steam, we somehow lose it. Top 10 teams don't do that. I, like you, want nothing more than for this football team to be consistent and be a competitive top 10 program.

I would like to think that fan expectations are the reason we haven't turned into Minnesota.

You mean 8-2, and 5-1 in the conference with a chance to win the division still?

 

I am actually pulling for them to win out. I really hope they do, because I don't want to see MSU in the CCG

 

They are 4-2 in conference but can win the division (I believe) if MSU chokes to NW and then MN beats Sparty.

Your right, my apologies

 

Pretty sure it is understood what I meant.

Not everybody follows MN

The question is misguided, because it's a self-fulfilling thing.

 

Are the expectations of fans the reason we're not where we want to be? Well, yes, because you expect something that doesn't exist right now. Not that our expectations actually impact the product on the field, but because "where we want to be" is defined by expectations.

 

 

If you expected 9 and 10 win seasons, then we would be where want to be. If you expect more than what you have, then you aren't where you want to be.

 

I think the general consensus is 9-10 win seasons with no embarrassments i.e. conference title games and being competitive in them. It's the way we are losing and it's usually pretty bad. IMO we have had only one real good season under Pelini and that was 2009/2010. After almost upsetting Texa$$ and destroying Arizona, things were starting to look good on paper. It didn't pan out too well. 2010 looked good after we beat KSucks and were in the top 10 at one point and the offense was lighting it up running the ball. We had OU on the ropes and choked. From there, we have been trending downward a bit. We were very lucky last year to win out and go to the B1G title game albeit with a few controversial calls against a few conference opponents.

 

I think our recruiting has been down and I think our strength & conditioning has been a little rough. Not a good combination. There is too much finesse on this team and not enough physicality. Our players look tiny compared to SEC schools. Where's the beef? I think most fans miss how physical we used to be as a football team pre-2004. Our identity was power run, option, playaction. Boy, do I really miss that offense. It's fun watching Wisconsin/Stanford run the ball and play good defense. That can win you 9-10 games a year and save you from a few embarrassments. Wisconsin barely lost to tOSU. That's the kind of fight I'd love to see in our team. I would not mind losing to MSU 31-24 if we were ranked and 8-1 at the time. It seems like this team is just missing something and lacks an identity something to cling to. We just don't have it.

 

 

I'm sick of it being called luck. We won those football games. We should have won them, because we did. There's no such thing as luck - there is chance and there is probability and we were fortunate but we still earned it.

 

Otherwise, I don't really have any response to your post, except to say that we were in the Top 10 a lot longer than "at one point". We were Top 10 9 of 14 weeks in 2010, and 6 of 13 weeks in 2011.

Because it didn't matter in those years. 2010 we lost to an unranked Texas team with the red out around the world campaign fail. 2011 we were embarrassed @ Wisconsin. So, really... that is what I meant by "at one point" because we simply beat NO ONE leading up to those games to deserve a top 10 ranking. We have a trend of barely making it into the top 10 and somehow losing on national tv followed by climbing back up into it and followed by losing a game we shouldn't.

I would like to think that fan expectations are the reason we haven't turned into Minnesota.

You mean 8-2, and 5-1 in the conference with a chance to win the division still?

 

I am actually pulling for them to win out. I really hope they do, because I don't want to see MSU in the CCG

They are 4-2 in conference but can win the division (I believe) if MSU chokes to NW and then MN beats Sparty.

The question is misguided, because it's a self-fulfilling thing.

 

Are the expectations of fans the reason we're not where we want to be? Well, yes, because you expect something that doesn't exist right now. Not that our expectations actually impact the product on the field, but because "where we want to be" is defined by expectations.

 

 

If you expected 9 and 10 win seasons, then we would be where want to be. If you expect more than what you have, then you aren't where you want to be.

I think the general consensus is 9-10 win seasons with no embarrassments i.e. conference title games and being competitive in them. It's the way we are losing and it's usually pretty bad. IMO we have had only two real good seasons under Pelini and that was 2009/2010. After almost upsetting Texa$$ and destroying Arizona, things were starting to look good on paper. 2010 looked good after we beat KSucks and were in the top 10 at one point and the offense was lighting it up running the ball. We had OU on the ropes and choked. From there, we have been trending downward a bit. We were very lucky last year to win out and go to the B1G title game albeit with a few controversial calls against a few conference opponents. Not that anyone needed to be reminded of this, lol.

I think our recruiting has been down and I think our strength & conditioning has been a little rough. Not a good combination. There is too much finesse on this team and not enough physicality. Our players look tiny compared to SEC schools. Where's the beef? I think most fans miss how physical we used to be as a football team pre-2004. Our identity was power run, option, playaction. Boy, do I really miss that offense. It's fun watching Wisconsin/Stanford run the ball, not turn it over and play good defense (hey that used to be US!) That can win you 9-10 games a year and save you from a few embarrassments. Wisconsin barely lost to tOSU. That's the kind of fight I'd love to see in our team. I would not mind losing to MSU 31-24 if we were ranked and 8-1 at the time. It seems like this team is just missing something and lacks an identity something to cling to. We just don't have it.

It is largely believed that our 90s run will probably never happen again for 95% of CFB teams.

I can agree with that however I still think we can be competitive but seems to me there are still a lot of people who reference Osborne + 90's teams who ran the ball and had a nasty defense. They had an identity unlike this team where our identity is so...

I would like to think that fan expectations are the reason we haven't turned into Minnesota.

With the year they're having, I think their expectation bar will go up a bit. Ours seems to be so high we can't even come close. The closest we've ever gotten was 1 single second to winning a championship. We're almost 15 years from our last one. In some sports, teams have gone 30+ years without some kind of championship. We're halfway there already.

An analogy would be Superman: The Movie Christopher Reeve was surrounded by an all-star cast. The same can be said for Christian Bale in the Batman films.

I think I would've gone with the Big Lebowski instead. I mean, in Lebowski every single character is a home run.

Haha that is a good analogy, too.

If you can't handle the expectations then you weren't good enoughto beg in with.

That's the problem. We expect too much from coaches/players that few even come close to meeting them.

Simply put, do we as fans expect too much from this program? Should the 90's or Osborne era be the bar? Let's face it, we may never get back to being dominant consistently like the Alabama's or the Oregon's but maybe just maybe we can be competitive. There are some of us who expect just way too much. Championships every year, that kind of pressure is so intense on the coaches and players maybe its one reason why we fall flat in pivotal games? Are we to blame here? Sometimes as a fan, I gotta admit, I feel guilty putting these kids on a high pedestal expecting them to win every single game on the schedule each year.

A lot of us who have not played the game have no idea what a day in the life of a college football player is like but when reality hits for this team for me each year, it sucks. It really does. I question whether or not we will ever get to where we want to be as a program. Is it so hard to recruit kids to play for us? Will we ever have an identity again like we did before when we were known as a tough program? A team with guts that ran the ball at people and begged them to stop us? Maybe it's too much to ask for... but 9-4, 10-4 does get a bit old every year, does it not? One unexpected let down and a blowout loss is almost a guarantee every season for us and it's a pattern. I can hear the groans of Husker Nation getting louder and louder each year. Does Bo hear the groans yet? Maybe one day he will think of himself, his family and whether or not he can see himself in Lincoln for the next 5 years. If he can, then I recommend a long, long look in the mirror... are these assistants who have yet to truly prove themselves worth more than his own career? Let's hope Bo isn't as stubborn as Bill Callahan was.

I'm not calling for Bo's head but I think some staff shake up is in order. It isn't the amount of losses each year but how we lose our games. I'm not looking back at the MSU game looking for a morale boost. We got whupped plain and simple. 41 points allowed to an inept MSU offense says so. Blame the TO's all you want but it's the defense' job to stop that god awful offense from scoring. Purdue held them to 14 POINTS... again 14 lousy points. When will the day come when we stop making teams look like world beaters? When will we have a punishing identity again? An analogy would be Superman: The Movie Christopher Reeve was surrounded by an all-star cast. The same can be said for Christian Bale in the Batman films. Bo should really look into surrounding himself with proven assistant's who have winning track records and then maybe our team can finally make the jump.

Martinez will retire 2-0 against MSU

Also 0-2 in conference championship games, 0-3 in post season and the only Husker QB to have such a feat unless some history buff says otherwise.

The thing with Armstrong is his mistakes look like just that, freshman mistakes. He is not Johnny Manziel and able to light up the scoreboard. We've seen flashes of his talent which is very raw. With that said, I think he will be a very good backup to Johnny Stanton next year.

The downhill running game was there for the taking. No good excuse not to get him more carries.

I agree. This is not a knock on Abdullah he is a great back but it looked to me on that single run, the Imani bus was warming up. The coaches will come up with some sort of excuse that he wasn't meant for the packages we were using, etc... some kind of coach speak will be expected.

What the heck happened? That 51 yard run was a thing of beauty. Looked like he bursted through the hole and nobody wanted to tackle the big fella. Abdullah is great but man... Cross should have gotten a few more carries in this game, I think. Were the coaches not happy that he had the longest run of his career and probably the longest TD run allowed by Michigan State's D all year? Really think the coaches blew it with not utilizing him a little bit more. If Abdullah leaves for the NFL, I wouldn't be the least bit worried having Cross in the backfield next year!

We probably don't have to worry about any of our coaches being candidates for other jobs (not saying loss is on them, just they won't be looked at)

Maybe a few of them will be encouraged to find work elsewhere at lower tier schools like Paps & Els.

1. MSU Defense was not impressive. Nebraska ran all they wanted to one them

 

Nah, come on. Maybe not the best defense in the history of college football, but they're darn good, and our beat-up offense, when it wasn't making untimely miscues, deserve credit for actually hitting them in the mouth numerous times and in multiple ways.

 

A lot of credit.

We almost had 400 yards of offense on them take away a few of those dumb turnover mistakes we made and we easily hang 450+ yards on their D and probably hang 10-14 more points on the board.

I learned MSU's D is not all it's cracked up to be and that we made them look like the better team by gift wrapping 5 turnovers all IMO mistakes by our players. Something has to be done about this. This has been a Pelini era cancer that spread throughout the team. Is it because they use older footballs, is it mental? Who knows... what I do know is our defense is good but not great. They aren't the 09 Huskers where they can have their backs against the wall, block FG attempts, goal line stands, etc.

We will hold them to their lowest point total this year I can see us winning 17-6, 17-7, 23-10, etc.

So our offense is similar to Indiana's but not quite as good. That's what you're saying? So, I'll take 24 points and at the same time, I don't think your anemic offense will be able to put up more than 17 on our defense in Lincoln.

 

Goodness. Their offense is better than ours in conference play from a statistical standpoint. Theirs is also healthy, whereas ours is missing several key impact players.

 

Our offense over the last few weeks is nowhere close to Indiana's.

That will change when we dominate MSU. This will be TA signature game and the one huge win so far this year for us.