84HuskerLaw

Who knows what will happen. I never felt right, before today, about firing Riley. I guess it will have to wait until year end but this one is really tough. I am not sure what Riley will want to do. He may have to rethink everything for his own reasons. If he has lost the team and the fans, he will have a tough time staying I would think personally.

this year it does not matter who we play, we can make it a loss or force the other team to give us a win by losing. Very painful.

Offense was poor. If you have a QB with some reasonable playing experience, perhaps you don't see this awful outcome. This one belongs on the coaches. Riley better man up and take the blame on this. Frankly, I am not sure what he can say but he needs to provide some kind of explanation of the outcome. You cannot blame

Just not good enough on defense to win. When you give up 50 to a bottom ten team, no matter what, you.

If Riley had played Fyfe several series in some of the previous games, maybe we wouldn't have had so many interceptions today and this would have been a better game. Obviously, we have time but it is crazy. This is a bottom ten level Purdue and we are needing a miracle comeback in one quarter to get close or win!

Someone call Fox Mulder and Dana Scully! We have an X File case going on around here!

You can play with turf toe. Mike Rosier won the heisman and ran for a couple thousand yards with that problem. You take some pain medicine or you tough it out. I suspect he will feel better for the game next week, especially if we dump all over ourselves tomorrow. Fyfe better be able to run the team. Otherwise the screams for Riley's head will get bigger!

I think some people are confusing Frank's recruiting lapses of judgement with Tom's. Frank was the one that refused to look at Reggie Bush who twice flew to Lincoln on his own dime to be a Husker RB. Frank finally said he could give it a shot at DB. I have a friend who was personally involved in this sage and knows the details. Frank often refused to look at the one's that turned out as great players. Danny Woodhead was told 'He was too small and too slow!" and so Frank took instead little 'porkchop' Cory Ross who was a very decent little slow RB with good quickness and good heart. A true Husker certainly but no way was he better than Woodhead who set mindboggling records and I believe may still be in the NFL.

This is an excellent predictiion. Odds are pretty high on most everything. Of course, there is a chance things could go differently. That asteroid on halloween may actually be going to hit Earth and of course the governments of the world have decided not to tell us the 'bad news'. In which case, we won't have to worry about how the season ends up so we can just say "Nevermind!"

I tend to see some truth in much of what many all over the topics have to say. It seem to me the 'truth' is somewhere in the middle of all of this. But I don't feel it is fair to blame Tommy Armstrong for these losses. It seems too many comments suggest he is the problem. His play is NOT as good as the first 4 games but it is not that bad either. I think may a couple interceptions but considering the high number of passes he has thrown this year, already, a few interceptions is only to be expected. If we run the ball 55 times a game, we will have a couple fumbles as well. If a running back has two fumbles a game, you could expect lots of complaints, even if the runner was averaging 7.5 yards a carry and three TDs per game and 165 yards ave.

Husker 27 Purdue 23

Historically speaking, starting Nebraska quarterbacks are supposed to be sitting on the bench during the fourth quarter, letting the backups do mop up duty. The fact that Armstrong is still on the field with 2:00 left on the clock trying to scratch out a first down helps him to amass yardage, although it is disheartening as heck...historically speaking... Yes, the passing yards only count for half as much as rushing yards. The QBs who handed the ball off the most are the "best" .

Hard to imagine Huskers favored by 10 over anyone but then again, Nebraska fans where red glasses don't they. I would certainly be incline to bet a sizable sum on Purdue if someone gives me 10 plus and a home field too to a team with a losing record and 5 losses by a few snaps at the end of each game. We are not playing well and that is the simple truth. No matter how you slice and dice it, Nebraska is just not a very good football team right now. Do we have a chance to win? Yes, but don't bet your farm on it!

Yes, I find it amazing how many yards, etc he is amassing as QB despite our won/loss record, etc. It really tells me that having a quarterback with big numbers is NOT a good thing when it comes to winning football games. I suspect if you're one of the members on here with the skill and interest and ability, you could likely pull up the statistics on the 'winningest quarterbacks' in Husker history and then look at his career statistics, etc. The question may be posed: are the quarterbacks with the most passing yards the 'winningest'? In fact, what were the final year end won / loss records and poll rankings of the teams that were QB'd by our record leaders? Compare this with those teams with running backs and rushing yards that were 'top ten or top five' nationally statistically for the season. I suspect team did better when the rushing yards led the country as opposed to when the QB was a top performer, espcially passing. Again, I ask the simple question for you number crunchers and statistical types: If one were to analyze the top ten teams nationally in the final season ending polls and find out whether they were 'passing' or running teams? I will predict that two-thirds of the top ten teams over the last twenty years gained more yards running than passing. I would also suggest that more national championships have been won by running teams than passing teams over the same past 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, etc. I am not certain how that might come out over the past 5 years but ?

this x1000 No not this. Coaches do not miss field goals. And coaches don't throw interceptions in OT. Coaches don't even throw head scratching pick six that factor into a loss. In fact, coaches are not on the field to hold a defensive player's hand on a Hail Mary pass at the end of a game (past 4th grade). And when a coach calls a play tagged with "run", they sure as heck don't ask the QB to improvise and pass it to kill clock. Some of y'all just point to the coach for the won-loss record. Apparently when a play works, it's because of the players and when it doesn't, it's definitely something else...... Perhaps the players have not performed well enough? Or maybe the plays attempted by the players have altered the outcome of a drive, a series, a pivotal defensive stop, etc. No but coaches teach QB's how to run the play, coaches teach defenders proper positions on hail mary passes and coaches teach players how to stay calm. Most importantly coaches put kids on the field that understand what they teach. I'm not saying it is all the coaches, but with this many issues I'm putting most of it on them. Agree, at this point should we be looking to the future and start playing some of the underclassmen an see what they can do? I have suggested this for several weeks now. Once the season was basically over as our team and program goals evaporated (winning seasons, good bowl games, 10 plus wins, Big Ten championships, etc and all goals that are GONE in 2015. We now need to reset for 2016 and 2017. Play the young guys. They have been basically sitting all season as the starters have been unable to play well enough to not only win but win convincingly and get the games under control so the back ups and younger guys can get experience.

POB has the second highest completion percentage among california QB's with 100 or more pass attempts. He's a 6'4" 225 pound pro-style QB. He's thrown for 2203 yds through 8 games with a completion percentage of 78% and 5 interceptions. He averages 275 yds/gm and has never finished a game with lower than a 70% completion percentage. He's thrown 23 touchdown passes so far. He averages about 30 pass attempts per game. He also has 530 rushing yards. So would this give any indication that we are going to revert back to a run oriented team? Most on this board are calling for him to start next year and he isn't even here. He is averaging about 65 yards a game rushing and presumably that is 'net' after at least a few sacks. Surely, their team has had a few of the negative plays now and then. I am guessing his running ability is not too bad. Perhaps anyway. I doubt seriously he is anywhere near as good a runner as todd reisling. He was exceptional and by comparison much better say than Tommy Armstrong for example.

Sounded to me like tommy is most likely OUT for this week end and Fyfe is 'the man'. Hope that doesn't end up being the excuse we run the ball 50 of the 64 snaps Saturday and punt 14 times. I would not be surprised if the coaches would like a chance to prove the run game doesn't work. Of course, this is NOT what most of us are saying when it comes to committing to the run. We want the run to be our bread and butter and pass to complement the run. We would not want a non running QB to run our run oriented attack. We want a QB with strong running ability and moderate passing skills to run our ground based attack with diverse set of running plays and a complementary set of play action and drop back and roll out throws. We don't need 5 WRs more than 5 plays a a game. For each 5 WR snaps, we want 2 snaps with 3 RBs and double tight ends.

Seems the question is basically which do you want ? What we had was a coach that seemed to have us winning as a number 35 to 40 ranked team with about 9 wins and 4 losses annually or a team that is rebuilt with a future of winning it all? That is the essence of your 'poll'. I think most of the posts on this board have in one way or another answered this already with the latter (second choice being we want the title not just a decent team ). We realize we need to suffer in the near term but with the upsdie being a title type team in a half decade or so. A large majority it seems to me have already said this. IMO The problem you have it that there are significant number (perhaps 20% of the members who opine hereon) that believe strongly that Riley cannot get us to 14-0 even if he is given all the time and resources and 5 or 6 years hence he will STILL be 5-7 or maybe even worse. So, I think the more appropriate question is: Do you believe Riley can lead Nebraska to a championship within 6 years? You might also ask - Do you believe any other coach could lead us to a championship with 6 years? If so, name him: ______________________.

I have trouble finding convinving evidence that there are some players who clearly have not 'bought in' as you say. I think we have some players that are NOT playing hard through each and every play until the whistle blows and we have some who don't seem to know the plays well enough as often are not on the same page from their actions. Whiffs and non blocks are common examples. Backs and receivers running routes or movements which seem to reflect a disconnect with the rest of the players on the play as to direction, objective, etc. These are PERHAPS the fault of coaching but frankly you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink! Players need to make the kind of dedicated effort to be the best players they can be. That means putting in the mental as well as physical effort to get in shape and know what the heck is going on and what your role is on the team. You need to get smart and do your job.

11 a.m. starts are almost always tough. Earlystarts are always going to be a bit less excited for the fans but by game time and so on, it should be relatively strong. However, it is certainly to be expected that a team with a poor record and struggling against EVERY opponent is not going to rev up the crowd. Fans can only maintain so much enthusiasm when the team is messing around punting and so on. And, of course this year, as they have really flopped in the 4th quarters so regularly, giving up leads and losing in the last seconds, the games have been exciting but crowd noise, etc. is not seeming to help much as far as defensive stops goes. The offense has been exciting in the last series or two but seems to struggle in the middle half of the games playing flat and uninspired. These guys need to play for love of the game and because it is fun and they have the want to play and win. The motivation is really got to come from within. The coach can give them 'rah rah' speeches until the final snap but if the guys are already excited to be playing, then nothing is really going to matter.

I have heard it said Nebraska fans are the 'most knowledgeable fans' - of course they leave the k off the front end of the word too! I do think Husker fans overall have the highest football IQs and understand the game better. Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of football morons too! But we are critical and love the game for its many virtues. I love the game because of its complex strategy. It is somewhere between chess and a war game with lots of military planning involved. Football requires mental and physical toughness, intelligence, strength, speed, agility, coordination, courage, endurance, teamwork, confidence, endurance, obedience, respect, and etc etc etc. Football is the greatest game and sport man ever devised in my view. And Nebraska football has been, overall, the purest most perfect brand of football played at any level anywhere. This is why Husker fans insist on maintaining high standards and expect our teams and coaches and fans to strive for excellence. No matter how good we play, we can find things that could have been done more perfectly or better or something. Lately, we are extremely upset because our program is NOT living up to the goals and standards of Nebraska football. On this, we all can agree! Nebraska football is not "Nebraska football" no matter how one measures or defines it. It is not whether we run or pass, kick or catch, block or tackle, etc. We expect to be the best you can be at each and every aspect. Purity. Excellence!

LOL I do enjoy a good chuckle, and reading all about the Huskers these days is hard to find much to laugh about but this one is funny!

Whether or not the ticket is 'sold' is not as important, in my view, to sending the message to all parties concerned, as 'no shows' at the games or fans leaving early or at half time. I have seen droves of fans heading south at half time for past half dozen years. That never used to happen. Fans go to watch 'great football games'. These recent games have been 'exciting' in the sense that the winner has not been decided until often the last play of the game. But, for a majority of Nebraska fans, we consider 'great football' to be not so much who wins the game but how the game is played. In a way, it is like the line "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game that truly counts!" In Nebraska, we expect to win AND play the game right, honestly, fairly and thoroughly! We have terminated coaches even though they may have won a signficant portion of their games because they didn't win the right way. Winning wrong is no better and can even be worse than losing the right way.

I don't think you're wrong. I do think fans, and apparently even some ex players, see a lackluster performance and believe that "effort" is the issue. Teams don't "effort" their way to wins (almost ever). It's about execution. And execution is about coaches preparing players during the week and then running their system in a way that leads to a higher probability of success. "Effort" isn't really as big of a factor as many want it to be. I just have to totally disagree. If you half ass your effort in a football game, you are going to lose ugly. there is no question that effort (I don't believe it is even proper to say as I often hear one Nebraska sports announcer say "We are going to effort to call someone!" Effort is a noun. One gives a great effort. You can't "I efforted greatly!". It is not used that way. Teams don't win without putting forth a good effort.

I would say the stats definately show we get much more 'conservative' in our play calling and execution (strangely ?) when we are ahead. I suppose I would say that is to be somewhat expected, EXCEPT that normally teams with a small lead (we've not had big leads such as 4 TDs at all that I can remember) will keep on playing hard in an effort to build the lead and put the pressure on the opponents. You must be very careful not to ever let up before you have the game well under control. That means at least a 4 TD lead and strong domination at the lines' of scrimmage. We have never really enjoyed that this year. I suppose opposing defenses take more chances when behind and also go 'prevent' against us. So our offense has an easier time of it when we are behind and we have a tougher time on defense when we are playing so. More than once I have said 'it feels like we are playing not to lose' when we were operating with a small lead. It is hard to described or define this but it is certainly true as I think most football minds know. I remember we saw this way too much in Solich's last three seasons (playing not to lose or even playing not to lose 'bad').