husker009

Just now, Vince R. said:

OU is going to lose 2-3 games. 

To who? That schedule is weak. Their toughest game is Texas, whose down to a backup QB. They easily win at least ten games with that schedule.

3 minutes ago, TonkaSker said:

 

This team has significant mental and emotional hurdles they have to overcome before they can beat anyone. None of those games are as winnable as you think.

We are a few plays from being 3-1. The team is not far away from winning the winnable games.

Just now, Jason Sitoke said:

I think I'd bet some of my moderately-earned salary that we will not beat Indiana, Iowa, and Rutgers.  You want to take that bet?

I’m just saying those can be potential wins. None of those teams look like world-beaters. 

16 minutes ago, Jason Sitoke said:

Care to make it interesting?

Do you not think that we can beat Indiana, Iowa and Rutgers at least? 

14 minutes ago, MasterPulverizer said:

Whoever thinks Wisconsin is a potential win is potentially delusional.  What about our defense suggests we can stop a ground based attack?  I'll make a bet with anyone on this board that Wisconsin won't throw the ball more than five times in the whole game.

In today’s game, teams can’t get away with doing that.

Just now, JJ Husker said:

TBH I haven’t seen Indiana play. I’ve watched bits of Iowa’s games (bits are all I could stomach) and their defense looks pretty salty. Salty enough to absolutely manhandle our OL and shut down our sputtering offense. And I’m sure their OL will handle our atrocious D. I expect them to pretty much rush at will and, like usual, we’ll make Petras look Heisman worthy. Hope I’m wrong as beating Iowa is about the only good thing that could begin to salvage any piece of this s#!tty season.

Hopefully the team doesn’t throw in the towel after getting demolished.

Just now, runningblind said:

 

OU is pretty good yep.  How about NW and GA Southern?  Wisconsin looks like a win huh?  Interesting.

Indiana and Iowa look just as bad as we do.

1 minute ago, TonkaSker said:

 

I admire your optimism

Would be a one-win improvement over last year with an interim coach. Impressive, considering the situation Mickey was put in.

1 minute ago, RedSavage said:

I mean we lost to what looks to be a pretty terrible Northwestern team, you sure about that Clark?

Iowa has no offense, Indiana barely beat Western Kentucky, and Wisconsin lost to a PAC-12 team. I absolutely think we can win at least three more games. 

OU being a really solid team than Nebraska being bad. Other than Michigan, OU is the toughest team on the schedule by a significant margin. Venables’ defensive scheme is a very complex one that a lot of teams will have trouble with. OU also has a lot of speed and physicality on their defense. Their offense also has solid skill players along with an experienced quarterback. The talent gap between us and them in the trenches was clear as day.  There won’t be another team on the schedule that we are at such a talent disparity with outside of Michigan. The rest of our schedule is very manageable with the Big Ten West being horrible. Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa look like potential wins. I still see at least 3 more wins with this schedule.

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

I haven't seen anyone proclaiming our offense is amazingly great.  However, they have scored 28, 38 and 42 points.  Maybe I'm forgetting something, but I don't remember them putting the defense in bad situations with turnovers giving the other team short fields in the losses.  I know it didn't happen this game.  

 

I don't know what anyone expects more from the offense against an FCS team.  42 points, 575 yards, zero turnovers.  They marched down the field at the end of the game 98 yards for a go ahead TD.  We have a 100 yard rusher in every game.  

 

They have done enough to win games.  Are they going to be able to do it against OU and the rest of the schedule?  I have no idea.  I'm assuming they will not put up the stats they have been.  They might even look horrible the rest of the way against good teams.  But....it's not the offense's fault we are sitting at 1-2.  It's not special team's fault either.

This record falls squarely on the defense.  

I certainly agree that the defense hasn't held up to their end. I'm just concerned that the offense won't be able to sustain their level of play against better competition. Better teams are going to center their game plan around stopping Grant and making Thompson air it out. With the lackluster receiving group, that will be a problem.

41 minutes ago, admo said:

So, with new players, new starters, new rotations, new OC, different plays, new OL Coach, etc... there is no excuse or time to work together and improve?  That is literally what the early season games are for.

 

I am not as worried, son.  If you want to, go for it.  

I have just been let down too many times the last couple of decades. I try not to build any hope anymore so I don't get disappointed. 

We have played the three worst teams on the schedule. Northwestern, North Dakota, and Georgia Southern are not the best measuring sticks for how potent an offense is. Grant has looked good, but it was against physically inferior d-lines. This offense couldn’t even crack 30 against Northwestern. 

People are acting like we’re going to win this game just because someone else on the staff got promoted to HC. This team’s long list of flaws are not going away in six days. The same mediocre personnel still remains even with Frost gone. Joseph can’t make this defense physical and fast in just six days. We have played three cupcakes and lost to two of them. Not to mention the game with North Dakota was still in doubt in the fourth quarter. While OU has played cupcakes, their games were won by the fourth quarter and their backups were in. The fans that are suddenly confident that a team that lost to two glorified high school teams is going to beat OU proves how delusional some of our fan base is. OU has far more incentive to win this game, too. Nebraska’s season is essentially over. Another key difference between the two teams is that OU can actually tackle and get stops on defense. Their quarterback is not the best, but he is experienced and we have a penchant for making average quarterbacks look like heisman candidates. Experienced quarterbacks typically don’t get rattled in road environments. The game being at 11 is another advantage for OU. 11 AM road crowds usually aren’t anywhere near as intimidating as night crowds. I’m sure our offense will score some points, but I do not trust a defense that just gave up nearly 700 yards to Georgia Southern to stop OU at all. There is a reason the spread is OU -13.5.

1 hour ago, Has Been said:

Nebraska has talent. It’s not playing up to par. It’s a losing culture and hopefully, Mickey can inject some life into the program. You, nor I, have no idea what changes Mickey may, or may not make. The program was dead with Frost. The change couldn’t wait. Still 9 games left. Chinnander is a high school level coach. Maybe he’ll change that up? Who knows, but having some new blood, will not hurt things any worse than they already were. 

What talent are you seeing? No one besides Thompson and Grant stand out. D-line has fallen off a cliff when compared to last year, offense couldn’t score 30 on Northwestern, o-line has been mediocre, tackling is terrible. I just fail to see many bright spots on this team that can be fixed in just a nine game span. Part of the issue in my opinion is a lack of talent on both sides of the ball. Talented teams do not lose to Georgia Southern or Northwestern and aren’t in a dog fight with North Dakota midway through the fourth quarter. This team has culture and talent issues that cannot be fixed overnight. It might take years to clean up these issues.

8 minutes ago, URSS said:

Disagree.  The assistants will do as much as they can to stay in football- no one will hire them to their staff if they are labeled quitters.

The players will give everything except for the losers.  They want to move up to starter status so they look good in the portal, still have a chance for the pros, and most are competitors with pride.  They will respond to the new coach if he is positive.  Pelini got it done.  He was a great coach with a unruly mouth and a childish brother.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is unreasonable to assume things will improve much in just six days. The defense will still be slow in six days, the players will still be used to losing in six days, both lines will still get pushed around in six days. Physicality and a losing culture are not issues that are fixed in just six days.

52 minutes ago, Has Been said:

I think this change gives NU the best chance to beat OU this weekend. No way was NU winning with Frost. The team will have some new energy, new purpose. You’ll probably see new players playing, different vibe, different plays. He has full control to do what he sees fit. Sure as hell can’t hurt, that’s for sure. 

Joseph can't magically make the defense better in six days. There's zero physicality or speed on that side of the ball. It takes multiple recruiting cycles to fix that, not six days. If Georgia Southern, Northwestern, and North Dakota can move the ball effectively on this defense, then OU absolutely will. Chinander is still on staff, too, so our chances are not great. It's also a concern that we couldn't win the line of scrimmage in the first three games against cupcakes. These are huge issues that don't get fixed overnight.

First, the team already has two losses just three games in, and the coach is now fired. That would be demoralizing to any team, especially with nine games still left. Also, the entire coaching staff is aware that they are a lame duck staff for the next nine games. What incentive do they have now to do the best job they possibly can? It would not surprise me if the players throw in the towel on the rest of the season now. Similar events transpired in the 2007 and 2017 seasons. It seems like bad timing do this so early in the season, especially the week the team plays a top ten OU team. There is a reason why coaches typically don't get fired so early in the season. No athletic director wants to risk the team giving up on the season. Now I can see OU destroying us and the team compiling only a two or three more wins because the players and staff probably feel that the season is lost and that there is no reason to put forth their best efforts anymore. I hope I'm wrong here, but installing an interim coach so early into the season doesn't usually happen for a reason. There will likely be no reasonable improvements with an interim coach that makes it worth it to fire Frost this early.