observer3

If it ends up being some guy from the MAC we know Nebraska has officially settled in to B1G West mediocrity.

Harbaugh has had plenty of struggles over the years though, and gone back and forth somewhat with offensive philosophy. He was considered a dead man walking in terms of his job coming into the year by some. But it is working this year. OC Josh Gattis is doing a great job finding the right formula for their personnel and game plans this year, and I bet Harbaugh has some involvement in the scheme too. Gattis brought his 'speed in space' ideas originally but now the incorporation of a power running game this year seems to be working for them. Somewhat similarly, Scott Frost has said he believes in blending traditional Husker power football with new ideas.

And 6 rushing TDs today by the Wolverines! (Oregon also beat tOSU with a potent ground game earlier this year.)

Harbaugh was considered a lame duck heading into 2021 by many. In this case allowing him to develop the program has really payed off. 6 rushing TD in The Game my the Wolverines. Both losses by tOSU this year have been to teams able to control the game on the ground.

Yes I agree for this game, didn't want to make a mistake with a freshman QB against the IA interception machine defense, in a game that is going well.

No turnovers good job, moved the ball and scored TDs in the red zone. Hence the lead. Now Frost and company need to earn that contract extension, because you know IA is going to make adjustments at the half.

Even hit the PAT. Fired on all cylinders for that drive! Well after taking that silly delay of game out of the gate.

Brian Lindgren from Oregon State could be a sneaky good hire.

Smothers likely to have more passing yards than the squawkeye quarterback. Running yards too. I mean I don't expect a lot of offense. Could be one of those B1G West games. Over/under currently at 41.5. Take the under?

Wisconsin wins the Maui Invitational. Going into the season, not much expected of the Badgers by many. They defeated Texas A&M, Houston and St. Mary's.

Sophomore LSU cornerback Elias Ricks to enter transfer portal. As a freshmen he had four interceptions (2 pick 6). Played only 3 games this year due to injury. Also from LSU, receiver Koy Moore and linebacker Navonteque Strong. https://www.si.com/college/lsu/football/lsu-elias-ricks-enter-transfer-portal

Yea on the same page about the play calling. Your scenarios are solid. Regarding clock management, my original point that I attempted to make (perhaps somewhat poorly) was that I didn't see methodical utilization of the time - like in the scenarios you described - while using plays that had been working all game, with a timeout to stop the clock when/if needed, etc. Instead what went down at the end of the game was more like near-desperation in flavor to my eyes. Thanks for the post, good detail there.

Well I did also call out the play selection. To me the offense seemed to be running end-zone passes as if they didn't have time to run anything else. They burned a lot of clock early in the drive then rushed at the end. I agree they still could have used a timeout to run something up the middle, even late in the drive. Not using the timeout is also related to clock management.

Well the Illinois all-time football record is now 612–612–50. That is totally dead-even average. . Kind of interesting. One game left vs NW to pull out a winning program record! And maybe make a bowl with 5 wins, since IL actually holds some of the tiebreakers for 5 win teams based on graduation rates, and have been projected to be a a bowl by some. Yet I predict IL would lose a bowl game putting them back to a dead-even all time record.

Yea I kept wanting an intermediate tight end target that had been working all game. And originally on that drive there was plenty of time and timeouts, the entire playbook was an option if the clock was managed well.

Well that was a new one, Clemson vs W Virginia, Clemson down by 3 with 17.4 seconds left. Coming out of a timeout, Clemson has 6 players active on the floor, drawing a technical foul. It took the refs 2 and half seconds to notice. W Virginia goes on to win by 7. Baffling to be so mixed up right out of a timeout. Or maybe they knew they had points to make up quickly and that was the plan! Worth a shot I guess.

Yea it will be very very interesting to see who ends up in the portal. I also imagine the new OC will have a major say in the recruitment of any transfer QB. We also need to hit the portal hard in general. If we could do what Mel Tucker at MSU did to any degree it could really help fill some talent gaps. Need to keep the defense humming next year to go with the new successful offense.

Well that's an interesting point, but a transfer still has to compete for playing time at new program, anywhere. There have been multiple cases where a high profile transfer failed to win a starting qb job. We know for sure that next year would be AM's last year, and further if a multiple QB system were employed the transfer would get guaranteed play time next year, and then would have the reigns all to themselves after that. Especially for a freshman transfer that could work out fine, depending on personality.

The Huskers could nab Quinn Ewers from the portal. (Unsubstantiated chatter that OSU may have more than 1 qb enter the portal after the season so if not Ewers then whoever but all this is purely speculative.) Keep AM on board too.

Someone may have brought this up, but I seem to recall some kind of application/appeal process to lobby for a red-shirt in special situations. Is it possible to still get a red-shirt for Smothers, because that was hardly much game participation.

The need is real for professional referees, and an accountability system for botched calls. This is 2021 in a conference with tons of revenue, there is no excuse for poor officiating. To me crappy or biased officiating pretty much ruins a game. I hate winning because of bad calls too. Look, this loss and others aren't solely on the refs, but we struggle enough that poor calls push us underwater.

Nebraska does not need a dedicated special teams coordinator.

Just win baby! Bowl game is still technically on the table if we win this since there may be a shortfall of 6 win teams. A lot would have to happen but possible. Plus just beat Wisky already.

He's done a great job, but that contract looks way overboard right now given that is MSU down 49 to zip to OSU, which will be a 2nd straight loss, and then PSU on deck for next week, which could be a 3rd loss in a row.

Well with McGowens out maybe now Fred can get the team's attention and we will see an increased sense of urgency to execute the rest of the way. This could be the game we look back on, where the program turned the corner.