Wistrom Disciple

Yes… do you believe we would have better or worse with Reimer & Heinrich out there all game? Presumably you would agree we would be stronger with them than without. Safe to say more opportunities for injury occur by facing more plays? Ergo, facing fewer plays on defense may lead to a reduction in injuries? Defense helps themselves via turnovers or preventing prolonged drives. Offense helps by better controlling the clock and allowing time for the defense to recharge. We haven’t done either of those well since Pelini.

Time of Possession is rarely our friend, but it’s clearly having a negative effect on our defense. We faced 101 plays on defense tonight. In contrast, we had 52 offensive plays. For reference, Illinois faced 42 from Minnesota. No amount of S&C can fully prepare a defense to face 90+ snaps a game without seeing the injured list start racking up. Will be very interesting to see how many extra snaps our defense had to face at the end of the year in comparison to our peers. Either need to start forcing turnovers or shut down opponent drives.

Inflated sense of self. No doubt Purdue earned the win. But clearly a team with flaws. Would have been very interesting to see how they would have done had we had Heinrich & Reimer for the whole game. I strongly doubt they would have been able to call 100+ plays offensively

Time of Possession Purdue: 42:42 Nebraska: 17:18 Total offensive plays Purdue: 101 Nebraska: 52 The fact that we only lost by six is kind of crazy. Add in consideration of all our injured coming in and leaving during the game… kind of impressive on our boys. I mean Phelan Sanford was playing meaningful time on defense for most of the game. Would not have expected that at all to start the year. Hope it’s only better from here, this bye week is needed badly.

Minnesota? Wisconsin? Iowa? None are world beaters and all are struggling. Not all doom and gloom

I gotcha. Line has been better after halftime. Just need to give the defense time off… up to facing 89 snaps now. Just not sustainable and can’t blitz as much if they’re out there so long

That throw didn’t have anything to do with the line. Just a poor throw.

Fair, but we’re up to 80 plays faced on defense already. No wonder our guys are getting injured so much. Need to get some sort of breaks

Purdue has run 72 offensive plays already. Our offense has run 45… need to figure out how to sustain drives the rest of the season. No wonder we have so many guys beat up.

Why we get inside the five and demand passes is beyond me. Should have had at least a couple rushing attempts.

To be fair, Adrian rarely gave his receivers a chance before tucking and running. That said, it would be nice if Casey would run it on some of these plays with wide open field. Frustrating for sure

I don’t know how Purdue’s runningback hasn’t broken his neck yet. The guy seems to lower his head almost every play… dangerous. Nice start coming out of the half, need to run the ball and wear them out.

Ok totally get it, thank you for clarifying. I fully agree that recruiting is going to be more difficult. However, with coast to coast coverage now, we might be able to tap back into LA for recruits with the reasonable expectation of playing a game out there every season. Though it may get more difficult for USC & UCLA to hold recruits on the coast. At large, I think the California schools may follow the pattern we saw with other schools switching power five. Compete for the division strong the first couple years, then have a falling off after year two or three. Missouri, Colorado and us made a strong impression for our new conferences. Then other schools started to adjust (or Eichorst got trigger happy) and the new schools struggle to find their footing. A&M might be considered the “best” of outcome, and they’re still having a ton of issues. I don’t know that the average fan appreciated how big of a deal switching conferences (recruiting base, scheme, weather, fan travel support, etc.) impacts a program. So although Lincoln Riley can be a great offensive mind, I wonder if his strategies to handle Fleck ball in Minneapolis in November will work.

Not sure I ever recall Bo and drinking being an issue. His were anger “issues” and bosses hell bent on putting their own stamp on the program away from Osborne. Had they actually wanted Bo (and the program) to succeed, who knows where we would be today. Frost left the program with a lot of talent (heck of a lot more than Riley added), it was unfortunately the coaching and in-game decision making that were failures. 9-10 wins a year is going to turn into a bigger challenge with USC & UCLA joining the mix.

I've also heard there is some hesitancy with him being physical every play. Great athlete and some good instincts, but some reluctance to "putting his face in the fan" when it would make an impact.

First place in the division! Bring on the Buckeyes!?! Really though, nice to come out with a W when we had no business being competitive. Had Rutgers stuck to one QB, they might have found flow. Doesn’t matter now though, just need to get ourselves in order. Kind of like the Friday night game with a win, solid start to a weekend!

Refusal to run on first down since the first quarter is frustrating. Rutgers giving us every reason to win and we don’t seem to want to take the lead.

The refs are inserting themselves into this game way more than any other crew so far this season, no? Same head ref who was the lead official last year for our game against Michigan if I remember right.

These refs are terrible. If that’s a punch, at least make it worth the penalty.

Same goes for the runningback who did zero

Lol you believe he was moving the program forwards... as in he was improving the on field product he inherited from Pelini? Any sort of evidence to indicate that he was moving the program forward? Was it striking out with the whole Calibraska movement? Honing all recruiting focus on big name 4 & 5 star prospects who rarely came before the staff settled for below average talent because they failed to recruit with any backup plans... I'm old enough to remember the Foster Sarell for Chris Walker trade off. You also believe boosters chose Bob Diaco as our defensive coordinator? Maybe Eichorst, but any boosters choosing a failed Diaco would be shocking.

Not sure I buy that, Riley made a lot of questionable decisions and caused a massive talent departure the longer he stayed. Doesn't mean Frost was better, but Riley was not a good coach in any stretch... took our program backwards... Frost just continued with it.

I wouldn't say it is slander, but it definitely is piling on after the guy was fired. If these former players felt so strongly that Frost wasn't living up to being a coach (beyond the on field results), it's on them for not saying anything until now. I don't care if he skipped a birthday party or a reunion gathering. In part, I think he would be reluctant to attend something like that unless the program was winning. Had he gone, he would be peppered with questions from former players that probably wouldn't have changed anything within the program anyways. So really, all he did was supposedly miss a meeting where he would more than likely have been a punching bag to listen to their frustrations. Lastly, what is gained by former players bringing up these alleged stories/tidbits now, after Frost was fired? My guess is just clicks and attention because it doesn't solve (or help) a lick for the program.

In case it isn’t obvious, most (maybe all) of Frost’s hires will probably be looking for new jobs after the season. Most deservedly so for the team’s performances. However… it does not matter who is in charge of the defense until we have a complimentary offensive plan/style to balance the defense. Though in theory, Chins aggressive/turnover seeking defense sounds good. It only works if the offense can maintain time consuming possessions ultimately resulting in points. When the offense fails to do either, the defense spends too much time out on the field, opening up opportunities to be beaten as the game goes along. Facing 80+ snaps per game is just not a winning recipe in any league. As an example, through the first three games of the year, Nebraska faced 241 snaps on defense. In contrast, Iowa faced 199 snaps against their defense and Minnesota faced only 142 snaps. 3-6 extra games worth of collisions by season’s end. Though I think both Minnesota and Iowa are boring to watch, they both have offenses who attempt to be incredibly protective of their defenses. Hopefully our changes will results in coaches that understand this basic concept. And for the love of God, when a defense only keeps five men in the box, run the d@*# ball right at the smaller defenders. 4-5 yard runs are a good thing, Whip.

He sure was, with a senior QB and future NFL talent that Bo Pelini brought into the program. What happened after that 7-0 start? And his transfer "stud" QB Tanner Lee turned out to be a dud for us along with a poorly constructed defense and recruiting misses that set the program back several years. Unfortunately, Frost was a little too stubborn with the staffing decisions and scheme. Had several other setbacks not caused by his own doing, but was unwilling to adjust to the circumstances. Hindsight is 20/20, but the size and individual talent has improved within the program... sadly the coaching and development has not improved accordingly.