Xmas32

 

 

My only problem with the comment is it makes it sound like he has already chalked Fresno State up as a win and is already focused on the Orgeon game.

We should chalk Fresno State up as a win. They're terrible.

So were Illinois and Purdue.

 

Ehhh, as bad as Purdue and Illinois were, I think Fresno State is on a whole 'nother level of bad. We shall see though!

My only problem with the comment is it makes it sound like he has already chalked Fresno State up as a win and is already focused on the Orgeon game.

We should chalk Fresno State up as a win. They're terrible.

FB---Jano

HB--Dan Alexander

DE--Kyle Vanden Bosch

 

#21 RB Wilbon - I think one more year and he's our featured back. Good wiggle and strength.

 

#4 S Anderson - Played good safety and had possible the best hit of the game - driving the TE over the middle dislodging the ball to cause in incomplete pass.

 

#18 - LB Berry - Seemed to be near the ball, added good weight and can run.

 

P.S. Didn't catch the very end of the game (needed a beer) but Kasun had his moment that every Nebraska kid wants.

What was Kasun thing?

 

Kid who made the team from an open tryout a couple weeks ago. Cool story.

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/barfknecht-kyle-kasun-s-game-winning-pick-a-storybook-beginning/article_92fde27e-0431-11e6-99fe-7b8d4908f174.html

 

 

46-41?! Wow, not exactly a defensive struggle, eh?

The 46 was based on scoring system that awarded defensive plays.

 

Huh?

 

The defense got points for things like 3 & outs, INTs, sacks, etc. The offense got points for big plays in addition to other things.

http://www.cornnation.com/2016/4/15/11436548/embrace-nebraskas-wacky-spring-game-scoring-rules

Lol if he wants to leave Nebraska for Kentucky...all I got then is...

Welp, this was a fun thread. It appears the records are staying up. Looks like the fan base will be held together by Big League Chew, duct tape and grit for just a couple more days.

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/nebraska-will-restore-all-athletic-performance-testing-records-after-minor/article_f304be4e-0ac5-59cc-9ae4-9f1244e0b47c.html

Hopefully Reilly learns from this lapse in judgment. On a somewhat unrelated note, Miami (FL) just dismissed their kickoff specialist shortly after he got arrested and charged with DUI. Richt definitely sending a message. Now, the story didn't mention if the young man in question had previous run ins.

I don't expect Reilly to get the boot, but a game or two suspension is probably in the cards.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/15010862/miami-hurricanes-dismiss-kicker-jon-semerene

 

 

Sweet!! Guy is an absolute stud!!

Could we say Nebraska has two of the top 10 NFL defenders in the league right now along with Suh?

No doubt in my book. Suh didnt have a great year last year, but he has capability to dominate a game like only a couple other players in the league(Von Miller, Watt). And David is a consistent tackling and playmaking machine(top2-3 LB in the league with Keuchly, Derrick Johnson).

 

I regret to inform you this is no longer the case. Dude had a heckuva run though, career is simply winding down. I remember him coming out of Texas, just a wrecking ball.

 

 

Is the irony in that Bo Pelini line intentional?

 

The rationalization of the media are incredible. They really seem to like Mike. Good for them.

 

Here's reality: this class is a solid one and very much in line with what NU will recruit more often than not based on our recruiting realities.

 

Riley and his staff had a roster full of classes like this one and went 6-7, with some awful losses and a great win.

 

It's up to Riley to show he can win more with this level of talent. If he can't, then he should go. Because top 15 recruiting classes aren't forthcoming, unless there's another rush of local talent during the next 4 years.

I think it's reasonable to hold Riley and staff accountable.... starting with this year.

Almost everyone grants new staffs a pass on the first year of transition; not an excuse, but a reality.

By their own admission, last year they literally knew more about the kids they were recruiting than the Bo holdovers already on campus, since that was their focus immediately upon arrival.

I happen to believe this class is better already then the majority of Bo's classes because this edition seems more weighted to needs-specific.

Pass me the kool aid, but I'm guessing this class will pave the way for top 15-20 classes starting next year.

 

 

DL was a major need this year, and it was missed on badly.

 

God, it's so funny that now people are talking in terms of recruiting rankings.... this class will pave the way for more recruiting classes in the future?

 

Letting alone there's no real logical or factual basis for that sort of conclusion, who cares?

 

Agreed. So it was nice to see Riley turn into the 2nd coming of Tom Reagan and turn Hughes into Bernie Bernbaum.

 

 

I get the feeling from Darnay that we're his second favorite school after Stanford.

 

He's clearly interested in what Nebraska has to offer. Hopefully playing in front of the most passionate fans in CFB wins out and we can land one of the highest ranked recruits we've ever had.

What makes you think second after Stanford? I realize it's a tweet but he has said Nebraska is home.

 

He called Stanford his dream offer. By all accounts, his visit there went extremely well. I have no direct inside sources, but Stanford seems to be the team to beat.

 

I always shudder when Nebraska is up against Stanford. I think Nebraska is a great school and all but damn, it doesn't hold a candle to what Stanford brings to the table academically.

 

 

Posted this on another thread.

 

http://www.uwbadgers.com/coaches.aspx?path=football&rc=25

I like the looks of that guy. Nice feather in the cap w/ Aaron Donald, that dude is a wrecking ball. Plus, if he's at Whisky, chances are probably good that he's underpaid. That being said, it would be an interesting dynamic if Riley poaches this guy since Chryst has ties to Riley as well. Yes, I realize that this guy coached w/ Riley first.

Yes, I believe he is in the low 200's

 

Well, NU can certainly do better than that compensation-wise.

Posted this on another thread.

 

http://www.uwbadgers.com/coaches.aspx?path=football&rc=25

I like the looks of that guy. Nice feather in the cap w/ Aaron Donald, that dude is a wrecking ball. Plus, if he's at Whisky, chances are probably good that he's underpaid. That being said, it would be an interesting dynamic if Riley poaches this guy since Chryst has ties to Riley as well. Yes, I realize that this guy coached w/ Riley first.

This is the closest scenario of what a kid can do that compares to a school pulling an offer from a kid late in the game like Harbaugh and others have done.

 

The loudest voices for the kid is, "well, he's making the biggest decision of his life." For a school/coach, "they're scumbags, I wouldn't want my son playing him!"

 

Lesson for us/Riley, please don't wait for the last 4-5 targets you're after be your blue chippers that headline make or break a class. Be better.

I 100% agree with your theory but the nature of the beast is sometimes (well maybe more often than that) your top flight kids are just going to wait it out.

I'd be pretty ok if POB has a college career similar to Gabbert's. 60% career completion percentage, 40 TDs v. 18 INTs. Top 10 NFL pick.

I didn't realize how good of a combine Gabbert had. 4.61 40 yd dash is blazing for a QB.

Thread derail over.

OWH Bottom Line did a quick 5 minute breakdown on him. Mods let me know if I need to do anything special besides link to the breakdown (or if it's even allowed--please delete if I'm violating a TOS).

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/blogs/tbl-analysis-of-husker-commit-tre-bryant/article_fa1c1198-bc05-11e5-add5-330a40d24eac.html

Sounds like this team is also not completely mature enough to police themselves to weed out the egos on the team. Don't like hearing kids talking about how they should have played more or they should be starting over someone. The lack of attitude and effort in practice, showing up late, etc. It's more meaningful if players are chewing teammates out and holding them accountable. Coaches only have so much impact.

 

If you have players thinking they are better than the teammates getting playing time, I would say I contribute a portion of that attitude to lack of competition during practices. It should be a no brainer who they players are and it should be the backups job to work up to their level.

I agree with your statement 100% with the exception of the bolded part. I think to be an elite athlete (heck, elite anything) you need to be inherently selfish whether that's reps in practice, film room study, whatever. I have no issue with players chirping saying they are the best and should be playing. Now, if you're chirping about wanting to play more and you aren't outworking or putting in the time needed to unseat the starter, then you need to pipe down.

In the comments section, Cole Nelson sums it up pretty well. He said, "God I would lose my mind if this happened". I think that's pretty accurate haha. Enjoyable read, just goes to show the razor thin margins of hero to goat. Also, dang Nebraska runs bad at T/O margin.

 

 

 

 

Morgan has tremendous ability to track the football.

 

He has some great skills as well, but his intelligence on the field is what i am most excited about.

 

This WR crew excites me. DPE/Westy/Reilly/Moore/Morgan--- not to mention guys who redshirted/ guys coming in.

 

I am hoping to see them use Morgan/Reilly on the outsides and use Westerkamp in the slot.

 

No matter what they do, they have 5 legit WR's and that isnt even talking about Lane Hovey who gave legit minutes at times.

 

When people complained about throwing the ball so much I think people forgot what our strongest position on offense was

 

 

Which is great evidence of why recruiting heavily at WR isn't really that important.

 

 

Can't believe I missed this CM Husker gem. Gonna have to paste that one in the archives.

 

Anyway, I love Stanley Morgan, Jr., and not just because his potentially hot mom might be reading this. You could see his superstar tendencies immediately, and how he made the most of his limited opportunities. Can't say who I'd bench in his favor at the moment, not a bad problem to have, but to my eye he's better rounded at WR than DPE, and stands to have two years to himself as veteran leader of the WR corps.

 

In other matters, I suppose Tom Osborne's run-first offenses were not as reliant on receivers, and could have made excuses for not recruiting heavily at the position. Yet over the years Tom delivered some pretty good WRs into the NFL, including Tim Smith and Irving Fryar, and ball-catching tight ends like Junior Miller and Johnny Mitchell. More recently, guys like Niles Paul and Quincy Enunwa have been getting their touches in the pros. Good receivers have always helped Nebraska win games, and the position is not a dead end at Nebraska, regardless of the offense in vogue.

 

 

 

You need good receivers in any offense. But having an offense that needs 3+ "elite receiver threats" is going to be hard to support over time. It is interesting that you bring up a local kid in Niles Paul. I remember him being often maligned as a receiver at NU, which I thought was completely unwarranted.

 

NU has been lucky to have such a high success rate with receivers as of late. But it would be interesting to track the running average number of kids signed to scholarships at each position going back to the 90s. My opinion: it's good to run a system that can rely on walkon receivers to provide the types of plays in the #2 and #3 WR spots that you need to be made in your offense. By doing so, you can reallocate those resources to other positions (that's not just the scholarship itself, but also the time and effort required to recruit).

 

Then, it's bonus production when you get "lucky" with a recruit, whether because you can convince him to come to a system that doesn't, on paper, highlight receivers or if you have a local elite athlete who wants to play for Nebraska.

 

If I have any time in my schedule, I may go through and track scholarships by position going back to the 1980s... I'm not even sure if we are signing that many more receivers than we have historically. But it feels like we are.

 

Can you cite such a system that exists with the exception of the triple option offense? Your theory is a good one, as you can load up on other positions, the issue is when you run up against teams that have equal or more talent in the secondary they can absolutely lock down those guys in single coverage and then stack the box against your presumably tough running game (I'm guessing that is where the extra schollies are going). I can't see how you can consistently beat tOSU and UM (because that is the goal right? Win the BIG?) with walk-ons in the #2 and #3 WR spot. You just need more talent.

I went 'no' because I don't think NU will ever be able to be consistently dominant but I really wanted to answer 'maybe' because I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. As shown with Iowa, if the schedule lines up, you can get into the national discussion. To me, the biggest thing is nailing the QB position. We've seen first hand @ NU what a high end RB covers up with AA. A high end QB would extrapolate that, it covers up some line deficiencies, makes your WRs better since the ball is where it needs to be, it just makes thing so much easier offensively. The good thing is, look at all the CFB teams that seemingly pop up out of nowhere...they all have stud QBs. I think the reason we as posters are probably trending down is lack of a stud QB. A good QB=hope. TA is largely a known quantity and I really hope he turns the corner and plays great because I would be tickled if we were able to either RS POB for eligibility reasons or ease him in and get him some work in mop up duty as a true FR. Now, if POB turns out to not be that stud QB that we're hoping for...well then things are going to get murky.

 

 

 

Lots of posters including myself have expressed our dislike for Hank Hughes. Why is Riley holding onto this dead weight?

While I agree, his on field results are probably why. But one could argue that was due to 2 NFL DT's.

 

Yeah I'm not buying that.

 

 

I'm not buying it either. We need our coaches to excel both on the field and in the recruiting arena. He has not done a darn thing on the recruiting front.

 

Tough to find those guys who fit that criteria and would be interested in coming to NU. I guess if you put a gun to my head, I'd rather my DLine coach be an excellent teacher moreso than excellent recruiter. Don't get me wrong, recruiting is the lifeblood of every program but so much of what makes a good DLineman into a great one is technique. If I were a big time recruit I'd be looking for the guy who could take my game to the next level and not maybe the guy I clicked the best with. I think maybe lineman are wired a little differently since they don't get all the glory like the skill position guys do. I could be totally off base here, buy hey's just my 2 cents.

 

 

Have we heard anything positive from the players about HH? I mean if you cant recruit that just tells me he cant relate to kids. Thats going to carry over to coaching. The top 3 returning d tackles said peace out. Really only 1 d line recruit and hes an in state kid. Anybody with the size and two functioning legs should be able to challenge for playing time but theres no interest. Im no columbo but seems like there might be a problem.

It seemed like an odd hire...of course lots of HughesUppers told us how he had all these boss run defenses at Uconn...The problem was, getting a DL coach like Ed O was just not going to happen, a guy like that had no interest in NU

He said he was interested back then, hence all the buzz.

The DL recruiting, combined with valentine leaving and Kevin Williams threatening to go makes you wonder what is going on...

 

Was Ogereon interested in coming to NU as DL coach or the DC? I remember reading some stuff that he was interested in coming to Nebraska (that Ogereon put out I believe), I just don't remember what capacity it was in. If it was a DC job then there is no point in getting heartburn since Riley/Banker are pretty well attached at the hip and I think it would take a Cosgrovian level of defense for a DC change to be made.

 

I'm surprised there are people saying VV won't be drafted. DT is not a fungible position in the NFL like RB where you can pluck a stud in FA like Arian Foster or most recently, that Rawls kid for Seattle. If VV can show he's healthy and has a good pro day and/or combine he's getting drafted. There just aren't a ton of dudes with his size and skill set. As Colo Husker pointed out, with the NFL it's all about the 2nd contract now. If anything, I expect to see more and more guys declare early now.

The NBA has seen a similar trend when they started capping the rookie salary scale. Guys weren't turning pro to get filthy rich on their rookie contract, it was so they would hit their 2nd contracts at a younger age. All this has done is increase the number of underclassmen declaring for the draft.

 

Now NFL agents are having their clients go pro early because they aren't much value in their rookie contracts, but the agents want to get a percentage of their fat 2nd contracts and bonus money.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I realize every kid's situation is different but it really makes me wonder what agents are telling some of these kids who declare early. I look at a guy like Jalin Marshall from Ohio State and think, "Seriously, that guy is going to leave after being in school for only 3 years?" I get that he's fast but dang, he didn't exactly set the world on fire in college.

I'm surprised there are people saying VV won't be drafted. DT is not a fungible position in the NFL like RB where you can pluck a stud in FA like Arian Foster or most recently, that Rawls kid for Seattle. If VV can show he's healthy and has a good pro day and/or combine he's getting drafted. There just aren't a ton of dudes with his size and skill set. As Colo Husker pointed out, with the NFL it's all about the 2nd contract now. If anything, I expect to see more and more guys declare early now.

 

 

A quick Wiki search shows that Taylor is 9 years younger than Frost (32 v 41). It's an interesting discussion of kinda who would you rather bet on. I think it's pretty clear that Taylor is much further along coaching career-wise than Frost was at age 32. I don't follow coaching at all so I'm not sure how unusual it is for a guy to go from the NFL to college. To me, it would seem like once you get into the NFL you'd want to stay there. That being said, if you want to become a HC, it's far easier to do that in the college ranks and he's doing the right thing but going the coordinator route. I've always like Zac Taylor, he was one tough SOB and took some helacious hits.

 

I think looking at the age progression is a bit misleading. Frost had a reasonably long professional career (8 years?). By his 7th year of coaching, he was a coordinator at Oregon. Zac coached 8 years before getting this opportunity at U of Cinny.

 

Just as an FYI, a lot of guys go back and forth in the assistant ranks... less so as coordinator and head coaches.

 

 

Also, didn't Taylor have an "in" with coaching? He married Mike Sherman's daughter and was on his staff. Perhaps he was on staff first and met his daughter that way though.

 

Yeah...not sure there. Taylor did start as a GA on A&Ms staff. With Sherman's being much more of a NFL guy with probably more connections there, it's not too surprising as to why Taylor was able to make the leap to the NFL.