EngineeringHusker

There is something really fishy about Eichorst hiring Riley who is a couple of years from retirement. He could give a rat's ass about losing since he is cashing a fat check at the end of each month and has no product to show for it. At the end of the day, if he is fired, he gets to ride into the sunset with Nebraska funding his vacation in Hawaii. Let's get real here, we needed a coach who has something to offer and can potentially change the culture into a winning one. We got a below average coaching staff who are giving us exactly what they have always done, an average performance at best. The results speak for themselves. Now, the real question is how much time before we actually send the Chancellor, AD, and coaching staff packing and really start rebuilding because this is yet another episode of American Horror Stories and it is really scary.

Seriously. I do not understand all of this conspiracy theory crap. There is nothing fishy about Eichorst hiring Riley. There is no advantage for him to hire someone he doesn't think will do a good job. WHY????? Hiring a bad coach doesn't help you get a different AD job- that doesn't necessarily look good for your qualifications.

Eichorst has pretty much told us why he hired Riley. When Eichorst was at South Carolina (I believe this was the school), Riley's name came up for consideration. Riley's name also came up several other times in Eichorst's career. I think even Barry Alvarez had mentioned to Eichorst that he would consider hiring Riley. Ultimately, Riley's name came up a lot around Eichorst, and he latched on to it. I think he thought he was getting a hidden gem.

Now whether or not the hire was a good one is an entirely different topic. One that you can probably find a thread or two about if you do a little digging on the site.

Another question. Why would Riley want to give up his essentially lifetime contract at Oregon State to come here and not give a crap. I'm guessing he probably likes to coach, and I'm sure he would like to win. Again, can he win- another discussion.

I know asking for a little bit of reason is a tall order on an internet message board, but can we finally give up on this nonsense about Eichorst and Riley conspiring and not caring?

Sometimes he looks really bad and sometimes he looks really good. I'd be honest and lay blame on him if it were his fault we lost this game. But it's not. Plenty of other issues in this one.

 

Crazy how an offense can possess the ball 18 minutes more than another offense and still lose the game though. The Cornhuskers have to be one of the most baffling teams I've ever watched. The ways we have found to lose football games, not just this year, but for quite a few years now, it's truly strane stuff. It's never just "one thing" either. It seems we find a new way all the time.

 

When you see it with one coaching staff you could directly relate it to the staff, but a whole new staff and we still have the same kind of dumb stuff creeping up. I think we've got some sort of unexplainable lack of football smarts in this team. We just seem to really do some dumb sh#t and we do it at the worst times. It's become a common theme and it's effected every aspect of the game. Offense, defense, special teams, penalities, decison making and situational understanding. You still see a lot of players half assing it out there too. I literally watched Banderas quit on a few plays in the first half before I went on to doing more important sh#t. I mean, the guy just quit playing right in the middle of a play? I'm like.....WTF?

 

I can't allow myself to get to beat up about this stuff anymore. I can't lay it all on the coaches either and maybe I shouldn't have with Bo. We will either find a way to inspire kids to want to do better, or these things will continue.

 

Accountability still seems to be an issue and for me it always will be a problem regardless of the staff. I said it about Bo and I'll say it about Riley if he refuses to make some changes. When the same guys make the same mistakes over and over, or the same players show the same lack of effort day after day, and nobody does anything about it, then it tells you your coaching staff and the core of your football team is weak. Now maybe Riley needs some time to establish a level of accountability in the program and it may be too early to expect it from a bunch of players that are not "his", but my God man, at some point you've got to start looking toward the future and stop letting the same people kill what you're trying to build.

 

Unless of course he doesn't see any issues in this aspect and if that's the case, it's unfortunate for Husker football. Stop f'ing around and start at the heart of the problem.

Overall good post. The bold part is a good point. Over the last couple of years I wasn't a Bo guy anymore. However, after watching the games this year it definitely seems like the problem is deeper than either coaching staff. Perhaps, I shouldn't always blame the coaches including Bo as well.

The team has been soft in the past and is still soft. Apparently, Bo's "us against the world" mentality was good enough to inspire our guys just enough to beat teams like Illinois- the games we have inexplicably lost this year. These couple of crap games that we won in the past due to this mentality are the only real difference between last year and this year. It's still the same uninspired, mistake-laden football as in the past. Our record is different, but the games still look the same- the few games when our guys play to their actual potential, they look pretty stinkin' good (Miami 14, Minny 15), but this is rarely the case.

The big difference between '95 and now (beyond the running vs. passing debate which has been beat to death on this board) is the accountability. You weren't going to take a play off like some of the kids do now. You didn't want to let your teammates down, and besides, they weren't going to stand for that crap anyway.

As a last point- definitely agree with the football smarts idea. I swear it's like some of the kids have no idea how the game of football works when it comes to decision making. They almost need a class or something. Heck, maybe even just watching more actual football games would help.

 

This administration has brought in the last three coaching staffs starting with firing FS. These academic clowns know nothing about athletics. I would guess that they get tired of athletics and the popularity the sports enjoy. Is it correct to say Nebraska Football has not been the same sense this hire. Why give this staff time to destroy the program. The manner by which this staff has lost games is mind blowing. Why would any 4-5 star athletes want to come to Nebraska and have this staff coach them down. Middle school coaches don't make the stupid mistakes these coaches are. How can you not listen to TO and other former coaches when you hire a head football coach. I have no trust this staff or administration can right the ship.[/quot

 

 

This guy hit the nail on the head. Pearlman and Eichorst don't care and have no knowledge of athletics. Their only goal is to make as much money as possibly they could give two $ts if we are winning or losing as long as the money keeps rolling in which it always will. If we want to win on the field as need to fire the administration and hire people in those positions with knowledge of athletics and wants to put winning teams out there. Any idiot could tell you that If you win on the field the money will come rolling in (except pearlman and Eichorst). Fire those two clowns and replace them with the right people and we will be relevant again.

Seriously. Why would Eichorst, as an athletic director, want to hire a bad coach and not care about his hire? If Eichorst wants to have a future as an athletic director (especially back at Wisconsin like so many want to believe), how would not caring help his case. Honestly, I think Eichorst went with who he thought was best. Whether that ends up working in the long term is yet to be seen.

 

Besides, maybe it's just because I'm in academics, but what is so wrong with academics? Ultimately, the university was created for academics and serves ~25,000 students currently. There's no reason the two can't exist harmoniously. It seems like sometimes on this board people lose site of the main vision of a university.

In the first half:

 

Nebraska's starting field position was their own 35 yard line. Exclude the boneheaded decision by Stevenson to run backwards on a kickoff return which started them at their own 9, and their average starting field position in the first half was their own 39 yard line. They had to go about 31 yards, just 3 first downs, in order to get into field goal range for Drew Brown.

 

Instead, we did this:

 

NEB 48: 9 plays, 26 yards: 4 runs, 10 yards, 4 passes, 2 completions, 16 yards--Field Goal

NEB 24: 8 plays, 38 yards: 2 runs, 5 yards, 6 passes, 4 completions, 40 yards--Punt

NEB 45: 3 plays, 7 yards: 1 run, 7 yards, 2 passes, 0 completions, 0 yards--Punt

NEB 37: 3 plays, 8 yards: 2 runs, 8 yards, 1 pass, 0 completions, 0 yards--Punt (This was the drive where Newby got 9 yards on 1st down and then we didn't run it up the middle like any other f'ing team would do on either 2nd or 3rd down)

NW 47: 6 plays, 18 yards: 3 runs, 13 yards, 3 passes, 1 completion, 5 yards--NW Pick Six

NEB 25: 13 plays, 75 yards: 6 runs, 2 yards, 7 passes, 3 completions, 38 yards--Touchdown (This is the drive where we though running outside with Cross was good--it wasn't, we lost 6 yards)

 

Thanks to that wonderful interception, Nebraska gained just 3 points on NW. Northwestern, on the other hand, started their drives on their own 20, which meant that they had to go about 50 yards (5 first downs) in order to get into field goal range. They got ONE FIRST DOWN in those 7 drives. The Huskers allowed Thorsen to scramble on a broken play for 68 yards (pretty much all of NW's first half offense) en route to a TD, but the Huskers got two points back on a safety before allowing Thorsen to again scramble for a big play setting up a FG right before halftime.

 

Northwestern with far worse field position, netted 8 points on Nebraska. That's where the game was lost, because the field position battle was more even in the second half.

 

You simply cannot do f#*k all with such an advantage in field position.

I do not understand why we cannot capitalize on good things such as better field position. It's almost like we don't play as hard in these instances. 99 yards to go or down by at least one score- go hard, catch passes and make plays- the guys can do it. Heaven forbid we use any of this stuff to our advantage. Lord knows how much better we'd look if we could capitalize in these situations.

 

I wouldn't complain if Stewart gets lets go. Jury's still out on Banker, I don't know how much of a hand he has in the secondary being this bad. Langsdorf hasn't shown me anything to believe that he's more than just Watson/Beck 2.0 at this point. What I just don't get with regard to those two is why Langsdorf and Banker both refuse to stick with what works (Langsdorf with trying to get the running game going and Banker with bringing pressure).

I was at the game. Langsdorf stuck with the run majority of the game. I think he called a good game considering how bad our OL was getting beat. Receivers missed easy catches, and Tommy made a horrendous decision on the pick six. I'm more encouraged than most by the play calling. Special teams and the late game collapses are the biggest concerns by far. Secondary continues to improve.

 

Good point. Our guys were in position for a few different nice plays/possible scores but didn't make them. Tommy overthrew Newby a bit on a wheel route, Reilly dropped a nice pass in the endzone. Turner had a few drops and hesitated on a deep route where the ball was well thrown. Tariiq Allen dropped a good ball toward the end of the game. Special teams were poor. I'm not usually into really ragging on coaches or calling for heads, but man... Read....

 

 

 

 

 

NUMBERS DON'T LIE

 

 

Nebraska is a program that for the past 7 straight season produced teams with at least 9 wins.

If Mike Riley & his staff cannot manage to produce at least 6 wins with pretty much the same talent from last season, then there is no choice...

 

...Nebraska MUST, Nebraska SHOULD for the betterment of the entire program, cut their losses at the end of the season, clean house, and bring in a coach that will bring back POWER FOOTBALL and a commitment to the running game.

Minus an all American running back and defensive end, right? That's like having $105 then saying you pretty much have the same amount after you spend the hundred.

Oh man do we miss Ameer. If we had him around the season would look much different. His motor just never quit. I think he would have willed us to win at least a few of these losses.

I'm sorry but your slightly delusional if you think even Ameer gains that. many more yards running Langsdork's favorite Run it up Reeve's butt play with this bad oline

 

Obviously we don't blow everyone out of the water with Ameer, but it looks much better. His extra 1 or 2 yards would add up. Heck, ole DL may be more willing to run with a top quality back like Ameer. Let's be honest- our backs this year are just okay. But ultimately I guess it doesn't much matter.

 

 

 

Thing is our backs could be handled better. We have Newby running up the middle too much when the guy just doesn't run tough. He is no more an every-down back than Cross but Cross hasn't gotten nearly the reps. Cross should get more than the occasional short-yardage connversion. Wilbon looked good in the first two games then he never gets another freaking chance. Ozigbo starts looking good then he disappears. We burn Stevenson's shirt to do be unimpressive on returns and never get carries. I did love what they were doing with Janovich, he's been a revelation this season, props for that. But even there where were his carries today?

 

Of course it sucks we don't have AA anymore, he was a great back, but it appears we could make better use of what we have.

 

Surely, (I hope) the pulling of Stevenson's shirt was totally his own decision, i.e., he'll transfer if he doesn't play or something of the sort. I haven't been a big fan of his decision making on returns. I think if we had one back who had just pulled away from the pack it would help. Newby has been good in protection, but is not a tough runner. I wouldn't mind seeing Cross get more carries, but I understand that he's not the every-down back as well. Not sure what the deal is with Wilbon (surely there's something going on that we don't know about). I like the way Ozigbo runs, and he was in for a few series today, but I don't know how well he knows the offense. On the last Illinois play he pretty much said he had no idea what was going on.

I will say I think our running back corps would be much better suited to a multi-back style of offense- get Cross and Newby in at the same time. I know one of DL's biggest things is he doesn't want to show his hand- likes to run Cross outside when you would expect it up the middle due to his size and so on. Having a couple of options in the backfield would open up the playcalling a bit I think.

In any case, I appreciate the good discussion- this can be hard to find on the board after a loss.

We ran the ball 38 times.

 

Why don't we just admit that the problem is not how much we passed or how much we ran, but more so how ineffective we seem to be at both. We seem to fail at the worst times.

 

We also throw the ball in some baffling spots. I don't like the pass on first down, and I don't like the pass on anything 3rd and 3 or less. Flip side of the coin is, Nebraska can only average 2 yards a carry, so Langs is in a tough spot.

 

Tommy had 291 yards passing but still looks very poor at times. Numbers don't tell the whole story there, he made some good choices and some bad ones. That pick six was ridiculously stupid. Still, if Tommy's receivers catch a few more passes the game probably goes the other way. 9 drops by seven receivers is the stat I heard. That's just plain bad.

 

The numbers don't lie in the run game. 38 rushes for 82 yards. This game was lost in that stat right there. More than anywhere else. This team will either decide to get a little more aggresive in the trenches, or they won't. Plain and simple. The coaches gave them more than enough opportunities to establish something on the ground.

Good post. It would be nice if it was just as simple as "run the ball more", but that just isn't the case. We all forget how many times we were just stuffed on the run.

 

 

 

NUMBERS DON'T LIE

 

 

Nebraska is a program that for the past 7 straight season produced teams with at least 9 wins.

If Mike Riley & his staff cannot manage to produce at least 6 wins with pretty much the same talent from last season, then there is no choice...

 

...Nebraska MUST, Nebraska SHOULD for the betterment of the entire program, cut their losses at the end of the season, clean house, and bring in a coach that will bring back POWER FOOTBALL and a commitment to the running game.

Minus an all American running back and defensive end, right? That's like having $105 then saying you pretty much have the same amount after you spend the hundred.

Oh man do we miss Ameer. If we had him around the season would look much different. His motor just never quit. I think he would have willed us to win at least a few of these losses.

I'm sorry but your slightly delusional if you think even Ameer gains that. many more yards running Langsdork's favorite Run it up Reeve's butt play with this bad oline

 

Obviously we don't blow everyone out of the water with Ameer, but it looks much better. His extra 1 or 2 yards would add up. Heck, ole DL may be more willing to run with a top quality back like Ameer. Let's be honest- our backs this year are just okay. But ultimately I guess it doesn't much matter.

This is not a current coaching issue....This is a Nebraska issue since Osborne left. I feel like we always make opposing QBs look like heisman candidates, especially when they come to Lincoln.

 

There are so many over the past 15 years to name, but what stands out especially is the true freshman QBs who come into Lincoln and somehow look like mega stars.

 

Am I the only one who feels this way? I always think to myself, "Oh this QB is a freshman, or the starter got hurt and the backup is coming into Lincoln and Memorial Stadium, hes going to get rattled".....I find myself being wrong a lot of the times.

 

 

I'd agree with this. In the BYU game, I think I was more nervous after Mangum came in, and dangit the stinkin' freshmen did it. For some reason I think Hill would have tried too hard on the Hail Mary, and we'd have pulled it out.

They always have a knack to put the ball on the money against us...

 

NUMBERS DON'T LIE

 

 

Nebraska is a program that for the past 7 straight season produced teams with at least 9 wins.

 

If Mike Riley & his staff cannot manage to produce at least 6 wins with pretty much the same talent from last season, then there is no choice...

 

...Nebraska MUST, Nebraska SHOULD for the betterment of the entire program, cut their losses at the end of the season, clean house, and bring in a coach that will bring back POWER FOOTBALL and a commitment to the running game.

Minus an all American running back and defensive end, right? That's like having $105 then saying you pretty much have the same amount after you spend the hundred.

 

Oh man do we miss Ameer. If we had him around the season would look much different. His motor just never quit. I think he would have willed us to win at least a few of these losses.

 

 

A team captain cost the offense a chance to get the ball back and we had a poor 4th quarter effort once again.

That is lack of depth, kids get tired. But the problem lately has been more offensive than defensive. Look at the number of plays and we should have killed NW on the scoreboard, but dropped passes, RB's who can't break a tackle or find a hole to save their life, and a QB who has no football intelligence wears the defense out in the 4th are killing this team.

 

I agree. Also, the kids are being put into situations to win, but they're not making the plays. That's not on the coaches. A coaches job is to put people into a position to make plays. The kids just aren't.

 

This x10000!!! Thank you! I agree that not every play call was a good one. But, I can think of several plays that were just left out there due to drops, etc. The main difference from last week to this week- players making plays.

Lots of drops by the wideouts, I can think of four drops and there's probably more. Tommy made one really bad play and his O-Line didn't play great either. Also, why do you just blame Tommy when this is a team game? I think we blame the offense or the whole team not playing well not just one player.

Agree with this. Big difference between last week and this week is the dropped passes. We make those, and this game is much different. The pick 6 was bad though. If he could just learn that sometimes you gotta take a sack or throw it away...

Nebraska 24

Minnesota 13

Rushing 156

Passing 254

LOMS. Thank you. Your reasonable posts have been a welcome sight in one of the quirkiest seasons I have seen.

Definitely. Let's just how we can snag him up before someone else does...

If people are wanting to waste their money and give it away, I know a poor, grad student who is willing to take some donations

 

 

I hope this isn't the narrative going forward. The play calling decisions in a gale force wind and sideways rain should be the real story. 31 pass lays in those cnditions when you are ahead the entire game. What the f#*k?

 

Forget the last two plays. How about they answer for the other 59 minutes of terrible decisions.

 

Exactly. It doesn't matter if Tommy improvised that third down pass. The game should never have come down to that, and games NEVER hinge on one play.

 

I think this is the problem for Nebraska right now. Not good enough to really blow teams out, so games are going to come down to one or two plays late in the game. So, when it does, the coaches need to learn from their past mistakes (BYU) and do something a little different.

 

The one thing really seems to hold us back is the lack of killer instinct. This is a mindset thing that we have had for a very long time now. When we're down at the end of the game and need a miraculous comeback we start playing tough. But for whatever reason, when we're in the lead we just can never put it away. We've had some very good comebacks before (Michigan State, OSU, even Miami this year). I don't know how many times we have blew a lead and lost a game that we should have one (OU in the BIGXII Championship game which would have helped Bo's case for staying, BYU, tonight). Heck, even the 408 game. I thought we were gonna roll in the first quarter after our fast start. I was hoping Riley could fix this, but we've already blown two leads this year and nearly a third to S. Miss, so I'm pretty worried.

I think it's bigger than a single bad play call or coach or player. There just hasn't been something right in the mental game.

 

 

Bump.

Honest question here. Are you glad we are losing?

Nope. It saddens me.

 

It just pisses me off that I'm being labeled as a bad fan because I thought that the Riley hire was bad.

 

I hate seeing this crap, I long for the 90s.

 

Imagine what would have happened if someone who questioned the Riley hire had started a thread like this. Instant ban.

 

Are you happy with what you've seen so far this season?

 

Can't say that I am. Unfortunately I am too young to remember most of the 90s, although I do remember the beat down of Peyton Manning in 97. I guess I should apologize. Everybody is so upset- I'm pretty dang upset, and I was going to bicker with you, but I shouldn't. Ultimately we'll all Husker fans, and we just want to see them win. Our lousiness has transcended a single coach or play call. We've been so meh for so long, and I guess we all just can't take it anymore!

Bump.

Honest question here. Are you glad we are losing?

 

 

For those who care, Riley said that was supposed to be a bootleg, no pass option.

Except the running back ran a pass route and was looking back for the ball, and Tommy, you know, threw the ball.

 

That's the most detestable thing Riley had done here. He f'd up, own it.

Riley throwing guys under the bus?

 

Doesn't sound like a nice guy move, or we didn't "execute"

 

Well, if it was a run call, should he have just lied? Ultimately, there is also some onus on the players to "execute". They are the ones playing the game...

 

So it's been pretty well discussed that Riley was brought in to repair the divide Pelini left us with between school and fans...

 

We bring in MR, a nice guy, that really had a lot of us hopeful for the future...meanwhile we forgot what unifies Husker Nation..

 

WINNING.

 

Win games vs bad opponents by 50. Win games vs comparable talent.

 

This kind of BS reminds me of why I don't normally visit message boards after a loss. People get to emotional and forget to use reason and common sense.

 

No doubt. I don't know why I come here after a loss, because I know what sort of crap will be spewed. But dangit, I can't help it.

There is no excusing the 3rd down call, but the way the team played, especially on offense was a complete joke.

Agreed. Honestly, save for maybe Janovich and Ozigbo, the entirety of the offense played terribly. I don't even necessarily think the play calls for the most part were bad. I was nervous from the beginning when Tommy ran on the 3rd and 4 and didn't get it. He didn't run with same fire he usually does.

 

 

I have no words for the absolute nutless coaching I just watched. I'm sure this is somehow Bo's fault because of sh**ty recruiting.

Bad call to pass on the last third down. But they went for the kill shot- don't know that I'd call that nutless.

Killshot!!!!????

 

THERE WERE 55 SECONDS LEFT!!! WHY THR f#*k WOULD YOU THROW AND STOP THE CLOCK???? YOU RUN AND TAKE THE CLOCK DOWN TO ALMOST NOTHING!

 

Killshot....gimme a friggin break.

 

I never said it was a good call. I just think you should be more precise with your words. Going for the first down is not what you call "nutless". Get a first and they don't even get the ball back. Besides, I believe I saw that it was supposed to be a designed run for Tommy.

 

Riley just said the 3rd down play was a QB run and Armstrong decided to throw it which he wasn't suppose too. Who f'd up now?

Thats some good ole Bo pointing the finger and not the thumb. Kids don't execute......

 

At some point the kids don't. Even Bo wasn't always wrong in that regard. The execution today was not good on the players side nor the coaches.