And most of our issues were the result of one player not successfully executing their one job.
Yes, the kickoff return for a TD was a team failure. The punt block was probably on a couple guys.
I don't know how focusing more on special teams is going to prevent last year's B1G Kicker of the Year from falling off the ledge. Or how you prevent a guy from punting it 62 yards one time and 7 yards the next. Or a couple odd bounces that the punt returner made a bad decision on.
At some point the players have to make the plays. Especially when they are (mostly) routine plays.
I've been struggling with this for years... even before Frost during Riley's tenure. There's something mentally weak about the team that is REALLY difficult to pin down. They've clearly got the talent to compete with anyone on their schedule - which wasn't the case when Frost took over - but ever since eating that hail mary against BYU in Riley's opener, the team has crumbled under pressure and cannot stop a surge of momentum from the other team.
The fact is every football game has momentum swings - a fumble, INT, specials teams play - that turn the tide of a game for better or worse. When a bad things happens in a game, good teams rally and find a way to come up with a key play that swings the momentum back in their favor. Nebraska can never do that no matter who they're playing or who is on the field and they absolutely will not recover until the game is comfortably out of reach. How many times in the last few years has NU experience a bad momentum swing and suddenly the offense, defense, or special teams goes from adequate to wholly incompetent until they're down 10, 14, 17 points? Then when the pressure is off, Martinez turns into a miracle worker and brings us all the way back to within one score before choking again when the pressure is back on.
Every time an opponent does something important, I'll turn to whoever I'm with and say something like "This next drive is crucial" and NU without fail soils themselves.
I've been wondering if the issues are less about coaching, technique, Xs and Os, or talent and more about emotional stability and maturity. Is there someone on staff - a team counselor, psychiatrist, etc. - that is in charge of making sure players are in the right head space?
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I've been struggling with this for years... even before Frost during Riley's tenure. There's something mentally weak about the team that is REALLY difficult to pin down. They've clearly got the talent to compete with anyone on their schedule - which wasn't the case when Frost took over - but ever since eating that hail mary against BYU in Riley's opener, the team has crumbled under pressure and cannot stop a surge of momentum from the other team.
The fact is every football game has momentum swings - a fumble, INT, specials teams play - that turn the tide of a game for better or worse. When a bad things happens in a game, good teams rally and find a way to come up with a key play that swings the momentum back in their favor. Nebraska can never do that no matter who they're playing or who is on the field and they absolutely will not recover until the game is comfortably out of reach. How many times in the last few years has NU experience a bad momentum swing and suddenly the offense, defense, or special teams goes from adequate to wholly incompetent until they're down 10, 14, 17 points? Then when the pressure is off, Martinez turns into a miracle worker and brings us all the way back to within one score before choking again when the pressure is back on.
Every time an opponent does something important, I'll turn to whoever I'm with and say something like "This next drive is crucial" and NU without fail soils themselves.
I've been wondering if the issues are less about coaching, technique, Xs and Os, or talent and more about emotional stability and maturity. Is there someone on staff - a team counselor, psychiatrist, etc. - that is in charge of making sure players are in the right head space?