HuskermanMike

Offense is really good. 

However, the defense has been stout holding them 5 minutes without a score.

A nice complete game through 30 minutes of action. We are finishing really well today.

1 minute ago, Mavric said:

 

 

He can also switch onto bigs and he has length. Big guys don't just get an easy lay in over a small guy on a switch. 

That was an and one from Teddy. But they call offensive foul. 

Missed layup but Banton was falling down.

We are hitting some shots. I like it. 

2 hours ago, seaofred92 said:

Great stuff Mike. I’m really really looking forward to Wednesday afternoon’s opener. This will be a fun team to keep tabs on as the season progresses.

I am really excited for this season. One of the things I think will help us is depth. Many guys will be able to play that we will not have to worry about using a year of eligibility or redshirting. I believe it is a free year for basketball players as well so this should allow us to run many lineups. 

One of the things I am wanting to see is the growth of Ivan and Thor from year one to year two. Especially Ivan, because I can see a big leap from him. 

My thoughts on the qb situation.

Adrian looks more comfortable in the pocket as a passer. I would put him as the starter against Iowa. When he starts getting the yips you put in Luke for a series or a special package type of deal once or twice a game. I think they need to roll Luke out and tell him who to pass to like he did against Iowa and Indiana last year. Get him out of the pocket and allow him the option to run if a throw is not there. Use Luke in the Taysom Hill role until he can prove that he can throw a consistent deep ball. Maybe put Verdu on the field to calm the qbs down when something goes wrong? 

We also need to tell both QBs to check down more. I have seen wide open rbs with many yards in front of them where we take a sack or throw and incompletion. Sometimes we miss these simple throws which is concerning.

Another play we just don't use is the jet sweep with Wandale, Betts, Fleming, or other speedsters. Even Alante Brown or Ramir Johnson could run it. I want to see more of them in motion because Kade Warner is not getting by anyone. Zavier Betts needs to get the ball more as he is getting open on routes. I think we also abandoned the run game yesterday when Scott was getting 5 or so yards a carry. We need to go with plays that work and make other teams adjust. 

Here is some info from the scrimmage last week in PBA. It is coming a little late but thought I would provide some insight. 

Teddy Allen had 29 as Hoiberg said in his presser. He went 4-11 from three and 11-21 from the field. 

Kobe Webster scored 25. 

Lat Mayan and Delano Banton both had 14. Elijah Wood and Stevenson had 11 apiece. 

If anyone finds any other stats form the scrimmage feel free to add them. One team seemed to share the ball well with a positive Assist to turnover ratio of 20/10. 

I think this team will share the ball really well and we will see some fun basketball being played in Lincoln. 

I am a huge OKC fan. If this happened, I would be sad.

No way this trade happens, but I saw it somewhere and it would be devastating. I just don't see Kyrie being traded. But thought I would share it with you all. Nets would become OKC east. It is a reunion with Harden-Durant-Westbrook. 

https://tradenba.com/trade-machine

A more reasonable Rockets-Nets trade for Harden.

https://tradenba.com/trade-machine

In my view this is one of many problems.

We do not have those star players that can change games. I am talking like Ameer who can go get you 10 yards or win you a game. Mills is one of those but he is in the doghouse or hurt. 

I also do not understand going away from running Scott. He was getting 5 plus every carry and then just disappears. Part of that was we were playing behind. But you still need to keep the defense honest. 

This loss looks and reminds me of Iowa 2013 but a whole lot worse. Illinois is not on the same level as that Iowa team that beat us. 

1 minute ago, lo country said:

Still 3 games with no passing TD IIRC....

Luke has a pass touchdown today. He threw one to Betts. It didn't look like it but it is counted as a pass. 

What has Mills done to not get touches in the game? He seems to get 4-5 yards a carry.

5 minutes ago, lo country said:

Just to let them know that it is unacceptable.  I should clarify, not for the game, but a series or plays.  Accountability.

Gotcha. Thought you meant rotate them completely. Could botch the chemistry of the line but maybe do that for those who make multiple mistakes? I'd rather keep an aggressor in for making an aggressive mistake, but no one really stands out outside of Heimas who you would not pull. 

5 hours ago, lo country said:

Where to begin....

 

The front 7 is solid.  I like Luke and Will as the ILB. Henrich has to play as well.   

JoJo continues to just play solid ball

I'd start Farmer and Williams at safety

 

ST is still not special

At least we have a FG kicker this year

 

Martinez vs Luke

Luke is a fast blinker.  He might no go through all his progressions, but he reads, rips or runs....That's the mojo that makes Frost's O go.......He is a decisive runner and his passion seems to rub off when he's out there. His ceiling IMHO is higher.  Martinez has regressed. Smothers looked like a grown a$$ man on the bench between them both.

 

Frost refuses to lean on the running game, use one play to set up another and I might get banned, but is just of bad a play caller as Becks, Wats, and Langs.....And that's saying something.  Doesn't run with the players he has, but with what he wants.  Another year of square peg meets round hole. Even the announcers were calling out our inability to have deep routes, those to the sidelines etc.....When your 6'8 TE can't win a jump ball, we have a problem.  

 

TE's are completely non-existent.  On the goal line, line up in a jumbo package with Mills as a FB.......   Challenge the OL and Austin to run the friggin ball in.....

 

Cincy

Coastal Carolina

Indiana

Rutgers

We are worse than all of them......And much more stars.....and talent......

 

Sit guys who get penalties on the OL. I'd rather play a guy who can't push and get up 5 yards than the guys who lose us yards.....

 

Austin talked about  the run game.  I have yet to see it.  

 

Hickman is AWOL.

 

Lastly, I have seen some defensive improvement.  Quite a bit honestly.  Chin is not currently the weak link in this chain.....

I mean we did have a back-up guard in the game and have to shift the line. Not sure that benching guys for 2s is gonna help us. This is a very hot take. What if the backups also commit penalties? What is the point?

Just my take on things. 

Do we win the game with Luke in the entire second half?

1 minute ago, talaricohusker said:

Chin needs to go pronto can’t constantly give up pass plays on third and eight 

His defense led to our only Touchdown score... They played well overall outside of a few plays. 

Should have just had Luke roll to the right or left instead of try a flea flicker.

Punt was great and no one down there to tackle...

2 minutes ago, seaofred92 said:

Matt Farniok will play center and Ethan Piper gets the start at LG

That is what I thought. Piper must give them more than younger Farniok. It also makes sense as Matt knows every position on the line.

Hopefully, snaps are good today or else I am not too worried about Matt playing center. 

Nebraska 37

Northwestern 31

Air-254

Land-205

2 minutes ago, seaofred92 said:

Rumblings he had foot surgery this week- not starting today and Frost said he's "hopeful" he can play:

 

 

I assume they are moving Matt Farniok to center? 

Ezra Miller should also be someone to watch down the line to help us. He was a very talented player and was wondering if he might play some this year? Haven't heard much about him but maybe he has to sit it out this year? Maybe he needs to learn the system better before going back in as he has only has a short amount of time with it. He also was away from the game so it might take a little adjusting before he is ready to go again.

Regardless, I am excited about him and so many other o line players. The depth of the O-line is the best it has been in a while. 

One thing I am curious about is special teams. How will our new kicker fare? New punter? 

We also have a new person returning punts and we definitely need a threat to take kickoffs. Brody Belt is an amazing player, but he is not beating anyone to the house in the B1G. I am wondering what this new special teams coordinator will do to help us on that end of things. I know he can't have  a headset so who does he communicate to for the plays on ST?

Another thing I am slightly concerned about is our corners are smaller. Braxton Clark was our guy to take on the opposing teams #1 bigger receivers since he was around 6'3. Now, Myles Farmer is 6'2 and a NB, so will he be expected to take on those bigger receivers? I have no doubt Bootle and CTB can cover, but it will be interesting to see how they do against these bigger receivers. Especially trying to get off blocks and make plays on screens etc. 

Finally, how good will our receivers be with or without Manning? It seems the blocking should be improving so the screens should work. However, OSU will be expecting those so can we beat them deep with Betts, Brown, or Wandale to get their DBs guessing is an important question. I wonder if Houston or Nance can also see the field some after being in the system for a year. I could go on about some other questions but tomorrow will answer a lot of these win or lose. 

Remember Ozigbo was third on the depth chart and see what he did later on in the season.

I wouldn't be too worried about anything because it takes time to adapt. New offense and not a lot of practice time will affect that. 

PSU and Ohio State were on our schedule for 2020, so they probably did not want to change much. Also, we get Wiscy at home again. I will take that over playing Purdue at home. 

With the OSU game, I hope we can at least be competitive a la 2018. Fields has a chance to have a Field day on us, but we all saw some Qbs-like Adrian- struggle in year two. Outside of OSU, we need to be competitive. Win one of Iowa, Wiscy, PSU. Iowa will not have as many fans on the road and the other two are at home. Do we finally beat the badgers? Does the team come ready to play and we beat Iowa? 

5 wins is what I want to see. We play 9- last opponent TBD-  but we need to get over the hump eventually by beating a team we shouldn't. 

Any update on when the draft is going to be?

Just need to know the time! 

Put me in coach, I am ready to play!

Wednesday works for me!

3 hours ago, Toe said:

And that's only about a year and a half after the Bulls fired Hoiberg. Flailing like that makes you think it ain't the coaches that are the problem with the team...

 

Pelicans fire Alvin Gentry, Ty Lue apparently a leading candidate to take over in New Orleans.

Not a bulls fan, but he needed to go.

Players showed frustrations with him in the media. He literally did not play a guy because he was not grabbing enough rebounds( he actually wanted the player to get these numbers to play him) despite scoring a ton, which helps you win. He benched Zack Lavine one game and then Lavine went off the next game. His rotations also made no sense whatesoever and ruined the chance for players to get in a rhythm. 

From what I have heard and seen he called timeouts with 1 minute to go down 20+ multiple times as well. Players filed a report to the players association 8 days into his tenure. 

He held practices after back to back games which is not smart and led to a 56 point loss to Boston. 

The organization may very well be failing. But no way should this guy be your head coach acting like a dictator and hated by players. 

As an assistant coach, he has coached on some great teams. Just a guy that can't get out of his own way as a head man.