84HuskerLaw

I feel Collins will benefit greatly by staying at NU another year. He has not been the kind of dominant player that one would expect it takes to be a first round pick IMO. I don't think it is guaranteed he makes first team all Big Ten as there are a number of darn good DTs in the Big Ten this and every year. His numbers are not astounding and his sack total is marginal. He may have played very well and is a good run stopper. But real power running teams we did not necessarily play a bunch of this year and most teams passed all over on us. He was not the 'splash' type player really. If he improves considerably next season, I think he adds literally millions to his signing bonus. Chances of s serious injury are small and can be insured for. He is money ahead to stay and become a 'great' player instead of a dam good one. IMO.

Tommy has not played well. I dare say we should stick with him in the bowl game (if we in fact do go to one?????) and let him play until he makes two (2) major/glaring erros such as INTs, fumbles, etc. Then sub in Fyfe and let him go until he does the same. Then play somebody else. We have guys that have not seen the light of day in back of them unless they have quit the team or something. Frankly, I predict Tommy will play well in his next outing. If we dont' go bowling, then who knows what can happen in 9 months until Sept 1st. Surely the other QBs on the roster will make some kind of improvement/effort to be the starter and then we will recruit one or more. Obrien is supposedly coming in a few weeks. We know that he is a darn good high school quarterback as he has just finished a very successful senior season with great stats, wins, etc. Very few errors apparently. He was a starter there. Personally, I feel Tommy Armstrong has done many good things in his many games here. He certainly will not be easy to beat out. His errors hurt. He will need to demonstrate that he is less likely to continue those errors or he will lose his starting job. Riley will be expecting a great deal more from his team in 2016. The first year excuses and reasons will no longer apply. Experience has been given to a number of players. Sadly, we have too many that didn't play this year because the coaches were trying to win and every game came down to the last plays almost. Not good for finding playing time for the 2nds and 3rds.

Ahhh, talent... So they have "smart talent" perhaps? Possibly 5 star smart talent across the board?... yes, talent. Skill. Ability. Capacity. Athleticism. Physical and mental capability to perform a feat or series of them. Some football players are indeed better than others. No matter how many days, weeks, months, years I would practice or be coached by John Wooden himself, I could not become good enough to earn a scholarship to play D-1 men's basketball (even in Lincoln where the trophy case has not been built yet) because I am 5'-7" and while I could actually dunk when I was a junior in H.S., I am now 57 years old and simply don't have the talent to make the team and contribute anything more than turnovers, fouls and other inept plays. Should Iowa win the Big Ten title and then magically win the mythical national title by defeating their two opponents in the following playoff games, I would submit that Iowa will be the least talented national champions in the memory of almost every member of this board.

This is something many of us have asked all season long--if you know you have a QB that can't handle the plays that are being called, why the heck are you calling them in the first place? Perhaps the local media was being kind in waiting until the end of the regular season, to give Riley, Langsdorf, et al, the benefit of the doubt, but it's evident they're seeing what many folks have pointed out here, usually during gameday threads--that Riley and Langsdorf really did not do what was sold to the 'Husker fans at the beginning of the season in this regard...or worse yet, they did set out to do this, and failed in their attempt to do so. I think between Sipple's column and McKeown's article in the aftermath of the Iowa debacle, it's evident that the grace period for Riley and company (for whatever grace period was given) is now over, and the local pundits are seeing what many folks have been complaining about for some time--that Langsdorf isn't putting these kids in a position to win with his playcalling and coaching. "Iowa debacle" ? That's a big stretch. We came within 8 points of a top 5 ranked team. That's a bit of a stretch. Almost no realistic person would suggest that Nebraska has top 5 or even top 15 talent. Surely you would not argue that we do? As a result, playing them to a single possession game, despite 4 turnovers and gaining a bunch more yards and holding them to a handful of successful plays/drives is really doing great in my book. Hardly a debacle? We can argue that Tommy A is not a passing QB despite being forced into that role by Pelini/Beck and now Riley. But frankly, Tommy is not exactly Eric Crouch or Jamal Lord as a runner either. We have seen so little of true option running plays over his three seasons that it is hard to really argue Tommy is a great option/running QB as well. At this point, we have many questioning Tommy's defense reading and other skills. We know he doesn't audible much as presumably either the coaches don't want him to or he is not adept at it. The question becomes - what is Tommy really good at doing as a QB in any system or scheme or situation. I believe his best well demonstrated skills are avoiding the pass rush to buy time to throw and throwing the ball 20 to 40 yards down field. He has a strong arm and at times completes a good percentage of his throws. Other times he throws way off the mark into almost any coverage situation.

I would define 'talent' in the context of college football players is athletic ability (bigger, stronger, faster, more coordinated, smoother, quicker, natural ability). To be a talented footbally player, one has natural born physical athletic ability and then develops and hones those skills. Some players are simply better athletes and as such are naturally going to be better football players or better hockey players or better baseball players or better boxers. Surely you are not suggesting that some people are not more athletic than others 'naturally' (they were born that way). People are gentically slightly different and some people are taller, shorter, etc. Sure, people can make themselves stronger but there are natural limits. A 5'-2" tall, slender build woman is not going to ever be able to become a NBA center for the LA Lakers, no matter how hard she works out and how determined she may be. She is not physically able. She might be the world's greatest female gymnast but is not going to be a power lifter or the right offensive tackle for the Huskers. Similarly not every 6-2" high school senior can simply make up his mind to walk on to the Nebraska football team and become the next great I Back. He can run around the world twice ala Forest Gump and most (99%) won't ever become fast enough and quick enough and strong enough to run 4.4 second 40s and become the starting running back. There are less than 1000 running backs nationally each year that are good enough athletically to play D 1 college football as a running back successfully. Nearly all of them have a great deal of talent (skill and physical traits they are born with and have developed and enhanced and practiced for a decade or more typically).

I think this was true 7 or 8 years ago but since that time, you would find that our bowl travel has been pretty subpar at best and we have not had much luck selling even modest ticket allotments, etc. We do actually have lots of fans in California so that would likely weigh into the Foster Farms Bacon bowl. And if they did put a UCLA in there, it would make for a very difficult game. But UCLA and NU is not an attractive draw for Nebraska fans as our experience with the Bruins recently with TMart was less than magical (blow out loss!!). A Nebraska - Arizona or a Cal or somebody would be OK. I have no idea what teams are where in the Pac Ten this year. A tough go if we draw any Pac Ten or Big 12 or SEC team really. We need to play Ohio or Youngstown St. LOL Now that would ruffle up a bunch of feathers and make for quite a TV audience and lots of pregame discussion on all the channels! Especially Youngstown. They are about 5-7. Probably don't have any graduation at all being a 2 year JUCO school! LOL

Richt has about same record as Tom Osborne did over his first 15 years. Averaging almost 10 wins per year and he did win a couple champsionships and so on. His record is arguably better than Pelinis and as far as I know he has no off field issues and I presume he has no behavior problems on the field. But they want more. Also, I believe Georgia as a state has quite a few players and many are being recruited out to other top programs and that probably torques a few alums as well. I think this indicates that winning coaches do get fired (arguably I would say Richt is more respected and appreciated as a coach than Pelini) so that ends the 'well, Nebraska fired a 9 win coach - they are nuts argument.

Coach being fired would suggest he should look at all of his options. I suggest Nebraska is always a good fit for great players.

I think we need to recruit RBs and take hard looks at moving some of our current guys to LB etc. In my view, we have not played a quality, "husker caliber" running back this year. By comparison, to the gold standard of say late 1990s, there is not one RB on the team that would be a walk on I Back for Osborne. Not one. None are fast enough. In the '95 team, the 5th string I Back was Jay Simms who ran sub 4.4 and Lawrence Phillips was the slowest of the group at 4.47 with plenty of take it all the way speed and power and elusiveness combined. Something happened to Nebraska running back talent around the turn of the century because Omaha North used to supply Nebraska with an excellent RB every year. That has not happened in a decade that I recall. Not sure why but it is true. In fact, lately, out state ball carriers have been the better of the Nebraska kids and are not getting much respect of course (Danny Woodhead is passed over by Frank Solich so that he could recruit Cory Ross).

I think the coaches gave the other QBs a chance to demonstrate they were better than the experienced returning starter and apparently couldn't do it. Certainly the coaches knew where the losses were coming from and that the season was getting 'tough' and if there were any chance one of the other guys was better, I believe they would have been given the opportunity to try. We have what appears to be the best QB recruit in years coming in to Lincoln a in about 4 weeks and will be working out in January. I'd be all for recruiting a good JUCO guy with one year left of playing time as we need a good back up (apparently we don't even have that at this point or we'd have seen him instead of Fyfe in Purdue debacle). I think we recruit another top HS QB in 2017 if we can get one. That will put us in much better shape. We can find a couple walk ons to be back ups and give us the emergency guy in event of injury rash. We need players all over the roster in each position so we can't afford to waste a dozen scholarships on QBs but we have got to have two 'winner' game manager / throwers with moderate mobility. They are not easy to find but Riley has enough reputation apparently with schools and former pros and etc that he is having success getting recruits to listen and visit. POB is one of the ten best QBs this year IMO and maybe one of the 5 best. He has the numbers and size and experience. Is he consistent? We will see. Can he be ready by fall? Maybe. He can surely back up Tommy and hopefully push him.

I think Nebraska can hire almost any coach if they are willing to ante up the money. But you are talking 7 million a year guaranteed for 5 years. That's what it will take to hire away a great coach from a great program where he is happy. You have to make him happier! A legendary rep coach to come to Lincoln gets legendary money. I see Georgia just fired Richt after 15 seasons and posting 145 wins with just 51 losses. That is almost a 10 win average over a long sustained period. That shows you that it is not just wins but championships that schools and fans want and expect. Fans pay big money for tickets and donations and hot dogs, etc. and come to the games week after week, year after year, to see their alma mater or favorite team win a title! While most fans also enjoy the atmosphere and the strategy etc of the greatest spectator sport ever invented (college football), they expect to win a trophy periodically. Apparently, in GA, that is at least every 15 years or more frequently. Nebraska is not alone in its determined quest to return to the throne. And Nebraska experienced the greatest decade of dominance in history with the best team in history! yes, we are spoiled and we remember and we want our legacy back. there is no reason it cannot happen. If the unquestionably great head coach becomes available and the AD and Regents and the boosters with a hell of a lot of extra money setting around want to spend it, go get the BEST. Nebraska can once again be the top dog program and the order can be restored in a three great recruiting classes. We have the makings of a great class right now (we need 6 4 star plus guys more). A great hire can do it. But the change needs to come internally and without fuss or muss. Riley can move up to AD as he would be a great AD IMO. Retain some of these coaches and much of this system but bring in the one HC who can immediately call any HS and contact any home and get a listen. Otherwise, leave things alone. I think Riley will improve the program and prepare it culturally for the next big name guy. Maybe Scott Frost will land a HC job and get a couple seasons of experience and demonstrate his management and style on the national stage. He has not the reputation you need to restore Nebraska recruting wise.

There are some who write negatively about Riley and Company and have done so since the day he was hired. They are not being reasonable or fair to anyone involved and are being completely unrealistic. Sadly, there have been coaching hires that were mistakes dating back to Frank and continuing on through Callahan and Pelini. The facts are not all in on Riley although I think if one had to make a decision (up or down) on Riley today, the answer would be negative. But no decision has been made nor will it be made at this point in time. He will be the coach next year and most likely the year after that, no matter whether his wins total more than 5 assuming he puts a team out on the field each game that plays hard and represents the University well. Wins and losses are NOT the only thing that matters. Pelini may have won 9 games a year but he did so in such an embarrassing way that no reasonable University of Nebraska leader (Regents, Admin, faculty, AD) could support him any longer. Callahan was a professional level coach with a propfessional level mindset and attitude. He is not suited for amateur sports. Frank was a poor recruiter and had personal issues that were a risk to the University's reputation that had been kept under the rug (USC fired their coach over drinking problems so it is not unprecedented) and maybe Frank realized after his drunk driving issues in Ohio that it would be his last shot and was able to straighten himself out. Thus far, Riley has not apparently done anything but be a good and decent person and represent the University well in that regard. His football team has not bee very successful but that did some things right and were not a complete failure, being competitive in every game, including against a few highly respected opponents. Did we win? No - we lost about 7 that - had everything gone right and with a little extra luck - we could have possibly won. The biggest single issue, in my not so humble opinion, Nebraska football has is an overall lack of talent. We have a number of good football players and almost no great football players. We have several positions without good players. We lack depth at nearly every position. These are simply true statements. The players we have made some varying degrees of improvement through the year and that is the coach's job - make the players better football players. This team could win all of its games if it had the following: an excellent QB, , 2 quality RBs with speed and power, two more excellent O linemen, 2 exceptional LBs and 1 top notch lock down CB. Even with these additional players, the games would be tight, close and hard fought battles. To get to a dominate team, you need 3 consecutive top ten recruiting classes and in those classes you have to have at least 75% 'hits' and add another 4 quality walk ons per year. We really don't have a quality second string level group at all. After watching this year play out, I think it is remarkable the number of wins Pelini was able to procure with the talent he had and although he did recruit well in some cases, he was not progressing and it is very likely that this year's record would have been no better than 6 - 6 with a couple uglier losses and without the upset of Mchigan State. Going forward, there is hope and there is risk. If a great coach contacts NU about the job, you certainly need to listen and evaluate. If a 'perfect' fit pop up, you must always do your due dilligence. Riley appears to be in good health and knows the game of football. recruiting will be the challenge. Going 5-7 doesn't help but it does show there is urgent need and players with hopes of playing early have a tremendous opportunity in Lincoln. Should we get a bowl invite, we need to take the opportunity and try to get one more win this season and gain some valuable momentum and a bit more practice and experience for some more future players. Practice is how a team gets better.

If POB turns out to be ready, I am sure he will get the chance to play. Riley does want to win and will certainly play the guys he believes will give him the best chance to do so. Tommy A has done many good things and unfortunately too many not so good things. I just spent half an hour debating with my sister who is a dedicated football study and she insists Tommy A is going to be at least 3rd string all conference QB. Now, if that be true, then I guess we will be lucky to have him back next year. I don't think he makes the cut. I think the biggest single stat that a QB needs is the won/loss numbers. If the team is not winning, then he does not make the grade. This is particularly true of a QB whose play is the focal point of the entire offense. To be fair to Tommy, he does not have a great tail back to hand or pitch or even to throw the ball to in order to make the offense really work well. It is true. No running back on this year's team would make the scout team 15 years ago. We don't know for sure what the youngest of our RBs can do for sure but based on the fact that we had so little this year, I am not hopeful at all. The RB recruit from St. Louis (Bryant as I recall his name) will be much better IMO. We stole him away from KState. Bill Snyder has a great eye for talent. I believe we should plan to see Tommy start but POB and or others will get more playing time, unless the INT risk is greatly reduced in Riley's mind. Tommy does good things but his interceptions and unwillingness to run for first downs when they are stariing him in the face MUST change. If he won't use his legs to move the chains, then we need a pocket passer with a great arm and great eye for finding the open man. Tommy does not search the spectrum for the open guys well. He just doesn't. He made dramatic improvement this year but relapsed to his last year's ways today. Time to move on if he doesn't just wow Riley in the spring.

2 wins. LOL LOL Sorry guys but this one just hit me right this morning and I had to bust a gut! As with all things funny, there is a element of truth in it. But, we could easily win a bunch of games as well. I think it depends on many things beyond our control. The weather obviously is now a big factor in deciding the outcome of most Husker games as wind, cold, bright sun, rain, snow, hail, sleet, northerly breezes on a cool fall day, etc, all can radically effect the flight of the ball when thrown from one player to another, no matter what color jersey they are wearing. Referees and police investigations also impact ballgames, positively and negatively. Time will tell.

That would be in the first half! Yes, it is true that players are 'bigger, stronger, etc." today that twenty years ago (my God has it really been twenty years since the '95 team roamed the plains?) but this year's Iowa team would have NO chance against that team. Frankly, the '95 team could win the national title again this year. I am not sure there is a team in the country that could play within 21 points of the greatest team of all. I would dare say the second string of the '95 team would beat this Iowa team. That tells you how the talent has been so spread out across the incredibly high number of teams in the country. Nobody truly has a 'great' team anymore. That is why Nebraska can go 5-7 and be in every game nearly to the end. That was unheard of two decades ago generally. Now days, anybody can upset anybody because the talent differential is really quite low.

Staff Changes: As for staff changes, I am not sure I'd make hiring/firing changes really. Yes, we saw many disappointments early on in the defense and some very disappointing playcalling about a dozen or so times this year at critical times. But, we are becoming unpredictable and that is good, sometimes. We are not finding a good rhythm on offense but I believe the biggest contributor to this is inconsistent QB play. If we get a solid, minimum error, QB with average throwing and pocket presence skills, we will be pretty good on offense. I believe, based on his statistics, etc, that Obrien is going to be the best QB recruit we have had in Lincoln since Osborne retired. He has tremendous upside potential. He is the epitome of a "Riley" pro style QB in size, arm, passing skills, etc. Riley has found 'his' QB. Give him a chance to use him. Riley got the RB from St Louis that I believe is the real deal and will be excellent. He is the likely starter next fall as well. Special Teams: I want to see more creativity in the special teams with much better returns especially. I am not sure we really 'won' the special teams at all this year in any one game. Brown has got the field goal kicking under control but somehow lost his ability to kick the ball deep on kick offs. Not sure how to explain that one. We have a great kicker recruit on the line and if we can get him, the future should be solid there. I would suggest we find a rugby or specialty type punter who can spice up the punt game. Our punting was good but not great this year and we need great. Special teams were not 'special' and they must be. Special teams is ONE THIRD of the team. It must win most of the time if we are to be a great team again. Offense: We threw the ball too much as most on here agree. We need to average 10 less passes and 10 more runs to get the in the right general balance/mix. We need to USE the fullback more and even consider about 8 snaps a game out of a full house backfield with FB and two tail backs (wish bone or other similar true run formations). We don't have to run the QB with Obrien but he must be able to scramble around and be willing and actually run for 2 first downs each and every game at a minimum. receivers as a group are super and we are recruting the right ones to add even more skill there. We are loaded there. RB is rather tough. I love the RB from St Lous and I would be thrilled if we found a JUCO RB to come in and help right away as well. We need two. I would evaluate our present group for position changes such as to linebacker. Hopefully they have adequate speed to play a LB spot. Not sure if they are fast enough for Safety but ? Give them all a close look. We need another great FB from Columbus or Grand island or someplace to get in there. O Line is always in need of more big boys with heart and a nasty streak. Find them. Pay em. Whatever it takes to get them in to Lincoln ASAP.

We don't know the reasons why some players play and others don't beyond what we see on the field when the actually do play! It could be something as simple as not keeping up with the grades or classes. We sometimes forget they are student athletes and not just football players. Though, that is partly the coaching as well. We all know that during the fall semester, the players should be all signed up in the absolute minimum credit hours in courses that are specially designed to NOT have much learning or testing or homework or attendance required. LOL Next year, we need to get careful, prudent, confident QB play. If Tommy A is to be that QB, he is going to have to change dramatically. It is very doubtful he can make a complete transformation. He is a dynamic player without question but his errors are too costly to ignore or to simply accept because his athleticism somehow outweighs them. Unfortunately, our only look at another QB was Fyfe and he made similar INT mistakes as well. The QB race needs to be opened up for sure. If Obrien is anywhere close to beiing a strong second string, you go into game 1 with the plan to get him atleast 10 snaps in each half of each of the non conference games, win or lose. We have got to build for the future. Rebuilding, year after year, is not a long term program. We have tried the play the remarkable athlete at the QB spot and let him grow into the job experiment with TMart and TommyA. Neither grew into the job. Both slipped back as much as they moved forward. st

I put more blame on the play calling. Tommy is a horrible passing QB because of his terrible decision making, so what do they do? They have him throw 40 times a game. TA would not start for any other Top 10 program. Top 10? Not sure. Maybe not, but maybe OSU. But he'd start at Oregon right now. He'd start at some other good programs too. He should have been all conference this year. LOL Get real guys. Tommy likely would not star I put more blame on the play calling. Tommy is a horrible passing QB because of his terrible decision making, so what do they do? They have him throw 40 times a game. TA would not start for any other Top 10 program. Top 10? Not sure. Maybe not, but maybe OSU. But he'd start at Oregon right now. He'd start at some other good programs too. He should have been all conference this year. Get real people! Tommy Armstrong would not start at any other Big Ten school, let alone any top ten. Tommy played as well as he could play. He has had better games but overall he is playing his best. He has a Husker heart and I am confident this loss hurt very much as did a bunch of the others. About half his INTs are his fault and the result of poor choices as to when and where to throw the ball. The other half are the result of either mistakes by receivers, poor pass protection, desperation attempts to make something out of nothing, bad luck, excellent defensive plays, etc. After this length of time and plenty of playing time to get adjusted, improve, experienced, etc, it seems pretty clear to me that Tommy Armstrong is just not good enough at the QB position to take us to the next level. We were competitive this year, generally speaking, in ALL of our games and certainly had chances to win nearly all of them. Tommy made some dam good plays and many good throws, etc. But in between the good ones were sprinkled a bunch of not so good and just plain bad ones. The bad ones more than off set the good. He, as a result, is not a Big Ten QB. Early on, I felt Tommy had a chance to be an all conference type QB but the mistakes kept piliing up. As defenses began to scout and prepare for our offense (the early games we had a big advantage as our schemes and approaches were not on film, etc.), the offense remained productive but seriously ERROR prone. We proved we can run up the passing yards (like many passing teams do) but passing yards do not equal rushing yards. It takes about double the yardage in passing to produce the points a team needs to win most games today. You need to score 35 or more. You will not do that very often without 200 or more rusing yards and 300 or more passing. You can score 35 a game with 300 yards rushing and 100 passing easily. Not the other way around. Patrick Obrien has got to be the ANSWER people! He is our one great hope for the future. Get him the receivers, linemen, etc. We have a great RB committed. Fill in the blanks in the other positions with good players and we will still have the kind of recruitiing class we need. Don't give up hope. But be realistic.

time for a QB change up. This is a sad deal but tommy is NOT in this game mentally. We have to throw the ball some as we can't ram it up the field against 7 or 8 defenders with this O line when there is zero respect for our passing. Throw down field if you are going to throw. Sheet! This may have cost the game. We were actually 'winning' this game but for the two awful INTS. We can still do this but we have to get better QB play.

We have got to change this next year and start putting two guys back so we can field the dam ball! Chip and roll is a great punt method but can be offset by a pair of return men to field the ball even on the bounce. You can't let them put you inside the ten over and over and a good rugby or field punter can aim and put the ball in the right places.

Punt return. A real one! Please

Time for the defense to get it together. Turnover time.

Time to quit the funky stuff on kick offs and just kick the ball out of the stadium. christos.

Way too much 'thinking' and not enough reacting and acting. Often the case when there is a break up in the routine. Of course, we know where Tommy A's head was this week with a press conference, investigation, etc. He had to be very concerned because you never know who is going to believe what about who! Time to wake up and play. Often, the first score is sort of a relief valve for both teams. It also resets the field position as the kick off gives the offense a new set of downs and the chance to reset the field position after a matching score. Let's hope our offense gets going now. Time to complete some passes to the receivers and not the defense.

Reilly run under the lob throw.