RedRex

A 6 foot circle and a fresh pizza?

I know it's only pre-season but I'm liking the way Blashill is running things. I've been looking for a younger tougher version of my Red Wings for a few years now. Got real tired of seeing them dump cash on guys who are just looking for a retirement fund. They need to be faster and MORE PHYSICAL. Spending millions on a guy then letting him get banged around by some goon from the Yellow Snow, Canada Rec league is just stupid. Really hoping Blashill is more like Bowman and less like Babcock. If somebody's gonna hit you, hit him back hard enough to make him wonder why he ever had the idea in the first place.

I'd say Sam was alluding to the square peg/round hole analogy which Riley promised to avoid. Seems like low hanging fruit to me. What it did make me wonder was if Tommy had blown up the play calls and gone with his instincts during the comeback plays. Everybody's questioning the play that failed, nobody's wondering if he was getting the same kind of calls before and "just made plays" on his own anyway. I don't think the staff has come around to fully embracing what TA can do and do well. I wish they would.

Heh, use an open handed slap on a hockey player....good idea.

I'd almost bet those were players calling in to screw with him.

I think there's a place for both. D-line is the one place it makes sense to substitute liberally. Maybe more so on the interior. But it seems like it'd help to have fresh legs on the outside too. Maybe I'm on crack for thinking this, but wouldn't we want him on the interior until we can get some semblance of a linebacker corps going again? And I agree that Freedom and Gangwish should be on the field at the same time. Just not sure how/what roles. You don't mean Freedom on the inside, do you? Not sure he's suited for that at 255. Gangwish might be a better choice to move inside. He's a bit bigger and stronger. I think the best guy to shift inside might be McMullen. He seems to have the size and strength for it. But we're plenty deep inside, so it really wouldn't add anything. Even so we need waaay more help at DE than DT. : Thought I saw Jack listed at 265. Kinda smallish to move inside, and I don't see how you can hang anymore weight on the guy. McMullen going inside makes more sense with Williams and Price graduating this year. Is Maurice a senior? What are they doing with Stoltenberg now? He seems like he might help out at DE if they don't hang too much weight on the guy. He moved real good for Gretna in HS. I saw he got some mop up plays vs. USA but didn't see what he was lined up as. Anyone seen anything on him?

I feel like a rug that the dog has been dragging his a$$ across all day. Questions abound and expectations seem a futile exercise. We have met the enemy and he is us. Direct that any way you want and it'll still probably be true.

Yeah that's definitely a tough to digest stat to this point. Let's hope they can cut down on the penalties. The 5 men in the backfield penalties drive me crazy. If we can't get lined up right then scrap the formation. I'm sure we can find other ways to lose 5 yards.

I concur, and this was my original concern when you fire not one but two coaches who win over 70 percent of their games. Neither Solich nor Pelini were going to get us where we want to be. Callahan wasn't an improvement over Solich (when you factor in Cosgrove), and it remains to be seen if Riley is an improvement over Pelini. Nobody is beating down Frank's door to get him back to coaching a Power 5 school, though. It'll be interesting to see if anyone wants Pelini in years to come. The problem is not firing coaches, but hiring coaches. Callahan was fired from the Raiders for running the team into the ground. Riley is a career mediocre coach. At least Bo was an up and coming DC, but NU has cash; get a top coach and a top staff. I'm still concerned about the staff Riley put together. Especially on defense. Banker's defenses didn't impress at OSU, and so far they aren't better here. Three games is a terrible sample size, but there are some concerns, especially how the secondary suddenly seems inept when they were... "not inept" before. Davie didn't suddenly turn into a merde cover guy, neither did Kalu. Not sure what to make of that, but it's scheme-related, definitely. I agree with the issue of hiring. Callahan was always a mistake, from Day 1 just about everyone knew it would end badly. Riley carries his own baggage, but seems more a "Nebraska Guy" than anyone since Solich. Does he have a run left in him at this stage of his career? A lot of that depends, I believe, on how married he is to his Assistants. If something isn't working, he's got to be ready to pull the trigger. Callahan wouldn't with Cosgrove, and it got him run out of town. Same's going to happen with Riley if his guys aren't cutting it and he won't make changes. As if he cares? NU stepped up and guaranteed him a golden parachute/retirement fund that OSU would never have offered. Hell they couldn't even afford the buyout to fire him. NU paid it and then offered him more. He turns around and grabs the guys OSU also wanted fired and guarantees them a retirement package. Does anyone really believe he's planning to stay past 5 years? So what sort of pressure is going to make him rollover on his best bud Banker? Harvey and the GingerKid are probably already writing up new pay raises with buyouts that would make Jerry Jones have a stroke. Best to just buckle up...gonna be a bumpy ride. Just let it all out. Just don't understand it. Trying real hard to be patient with the guy, but damn. I mean, situation : You're on the verge of being run outta town by the school you've dedicated a good chunk of your life to despite the lack of resources they provide. Only reason he's still there is because OSU doesn't think they can sell 3 million cupcakes at the campus bake sale to buy yer ass out. Along comes NU, tongue wagging and checkbook out, and says you're the guy, we got all the best toys, here's a blank check, just take us to the good times. So what do you do? You go drag all the guys who got you into that S#!T storm in the first place. Brilliant. Oh but he's "comfortable" with Banker and Cavanaugh, he can trust them. To do what? F^6k sh#t up and keep the hate focused on them rather than a "nice guy" like you? That's like chicks who hang around with fat girls to make themselves look hotter. I'm just not seeing or feeling it right now. Looking at the schedule I can envision us never seeing the other side of .500 all season. And I'm out of #@!*&$@ beer!!! It's game THREE! That's about 20 games too few to make any sort of confident qualitative and quantitative judgment on the hire. Hey you said let it out. Don't offer a shoulder to cry on then complain about the snot getting on your shirt.

I concur, and this was my original concern when you fire not one but two coaches who win over 70 percent of their games. Neither Solich nor Pelini were going to get us where we want to be. Callahan wasn't an improvement over Solich (when you factor in Cosgrove), and it remains to be seen if Riley is an improvement over Pelini. Nobody is beating down Frank's door to get him back to coaching a Power 5 school, though. It'll be interesting to see if anyone wants Pelini in years to come. The problem is not firing coaches, but hiring coaches. Callahan was fired from the Raiders for running the team into the ground. Riley is a career mediocre coach. At least Bo was an up and coming DC, but NU has cash; get a top coach and a top staff. I'm still concerned about the staff Riley put together. Especially on defense. Banker's defenses didn't impress at OSU, and so far they aren't better here. Three games is a terrible sample size, but there are some concerns, especially how the secondary suddenly seems inept when they were... "not inept" before. Davie didn't suddenly turn into a merde cover guy, neither did Kalu. Not sure what to make of that, but it's scheme-related, definitely. I agree with the issue of hiring. Callahan was always a mistake, from Day 1 just about everyone knew it would end badly. Riley carries his own baggage, but seems more a "Nebraska Guy" than anyone since Solich. Does he have a run left in him at this stage of his career? A lot of that depends, I believe, on how married he is to his Assistants. If something isn't working, he's got to be ready to pull the trigger. Callahan wouldn't with Cosgrove, and it got him run out of town. Same's going to happen with Riley if his guys aren't cutting it and he won't make changes. As if he cares? NU stepped up and guaranteed him a golden parachute/retirement fund that OSU would never have offered. Hell they couldn't even afford the buyout to fire him. NU paid it and then offered him more. He turns around and grabs the guys OSU also wanted fired and guarantees them a retirement package. Does anyone really believe he's planning to stay past 5 years? So what sort of pressure is going to make him rollover on his best bud Banker? Harvey and the GingerKid are probably already writing up new pay raises with buyouts that would make Jerry Jones have a stroke. Best to just buckle up...gonna be a bumpy ride. Just let it all out. Just don't understand it. Trying real hard to be patient with the guy, but damn. I mean, situation : You're on the verge of being run outta town by the school you've dedicated a good chunk of your life to despite the lack of resources they provide. Only reason he's still there is because OSU doesn't think they can sell 3 million cupcakes at the campus bake sale to buy yer ass out. Along comes NU, tongue wagging and checkbook out, and says you're the guy, we got all the best toys, here's a blank check, just take us to the good times. So what do you do? You go drag all the guys who got you into that S#!T storm in the first place. Brilliant. Oh but he's "comfortable" with Banker and Cavanaugh, he can trust them. To do what? F^6k sh#t up and keep the hate focused on them rather than a "nice guy" like you? That's like chicks who hang around with fat girls to make themselves look hotter. I'm just not seeing or feeling it right now. Looking at the schedule I can envision us never seeing the other side of .500 all season. And I'm out of #@!*&$@ beer!!!

I concur, and this was my original concern when you fire not one but two coaches who win over 70 percent of their games. Neither Solich nor Pelini were going to get us where we want to be. Callahan wasn't an improvement over Solich (when you factor in Cosgrove), and it remains to be seen if Riley is an improvement over Pelini. Nobody is beating down Frank's door to get him back to coaching a Power 5 school, though. It'll be interesting to see if anyone wants Pelini in years to come. The problem is not firing coaches, but hiring coaches. Callahan was fired from the Raiders for running the team into the ground. Riley is a career mediocre coach. At least Bo was an up and coming DC, but NU has cash; get a top coach and a top staff. I'm still concerned about the staff Riley put together. Especially on defense. Banker's defenses didn't impress at OSU, and so far they aren't better here. Three games is a terrible sample size, but there are some concerns, especially how the secondary suddenly seems inept when they were... "not inept" before. Davie didn't suddenly turn into a merde cover guy, neither did Kalu. Not sure what to make of that, but it's scheme-related, definitely. I agree with the issue of hiring. Callahan was always a mistake, from Day 1 just about everyone knew it would end badly. Riley carries his own baggage, but seems more a "Nebraska Guy" than anyone since Solich. Does he have a run left in him at this stage of his career? A lot of that depends, I believe, on how married he is to his Assistants. If something isn't working, he's got to be ready to pull the trigger. Callahan wouldn't with Cosgrove, and it got him run out of town. Same's going to happen with Riley if his guys aren't cutting it and he won't make changes. As if he cares? NU stepped up and guaranteed him a golden parachute/retirement fund that OSU would never have offered. Hell they couldn't even afford the buyout to fire him. NU paid it and then offered him more. He turns around and grabs the guys OSU also wanted fired and guarantees them a retirement package. Does anyone really believe he's planning to stay past 5 years? So what sort of pressure is going to make him rollover on his best bud Banker? Harvey and the GingerKid are probably already writing up new pay raises with buyouts that would make Jerry Jones have a stroke. Best to just buckle up...gonna be a bumpy ride.

His a$$crack says otherwise.

"All whites smacks of surrender" - Rob Zatechka Boom...right there.

From what I've heard he was sidelined by an infection on his foot. Short of some super-strain staph infection, you'd have to assume they've cleared it up and he's ready to go full speed.

Offense - TA ---> B. Reilly , I'm thinking yards after catch when TA gets it to him with a little running room. Defense - Can't narrow it down anymore than Freedom, MRI, Dzuris, or anyone coming at UM's LT. Kaaya is gonna get blindsided so many times he'll develop a nervous twitch.

Actually surprised , was waiting for the blatant hit piece. Nice to finally see the LP story being put out not as an indictment of NU or TO, but as a tragedy for a young man who because of circumstances never learned to recognize the value of the opportunities he was given.

NOOOO! RUN COACH! Don't you know what happened last time Mad Jack took a selfie!!!

Sounds like put up or shut up time. Whatcha got Kevin?

This is a good point that is being overlooked a bit when people are talking about Kaaya putting up ridiculous numbers. I could be wrong and maybe he torches us, but I just don't see it. Our offense has shown the ability to sustain drives. Kaaya won't have as many opportunities in my opinion. Also, when looking at Kaay's numbers last year, people need to look at the YAC like I mentioned above. There we a lot of bad angles, and some very poor tackling that attributed to many of those passing yards for Kaaya. Combine less time of possession, better angles and tackling, and the likelihood of bringing more blitzes and pressure on Kaaya, and I don't see him having a HUGE day. Maybe somewhere right around what he's been averaging so far. I actually agree with all this. It looks a lot like the '94 game plan. Kaaya can't hurt us from the bench. If we can sustain long drives Golden will flinch and start screwing with things just like last year. It will wear even worse on the Miami defensive players if they're paying the price for Golden's failings. Being at home might actually work out to be a negative for the Canes. There's a lot of pressure on Golden and the players that has little to do with us, other than we have the chance to make it worse. If we can maintain a steady unrelenting pressure on both sides of the ball we can crack the psyche of Miami. When you see them go for the "bad boy" routine like last year, you'll know they have hit the bottom of an empty tank.

Gangwish played last year. How is this being based off one or two games? I see what I see. He doesn't have a quick burst off the line. If there was a better DE that was available, and more depth at the position, he probably wouldn't be playing right now. McMullen is equally as slow off the line and really has no business being a DE at this point. Like I said, Huskers will be really good against the run (Minnesota & Wisconsin will be in for a very rude awakening), but the pass rush isn't good right now. 1)Under Riley and Banker? Or does the statement that he's had one game in a new system stand? Seemed like Gangwish was quick enough to get a few sacks last year when turned loose. 2) If my Aunt had nads, she'd be my Uncle. Obviously the staff thinks he was the best available or capable of becoming so in this season. I get what you're saying about it seeming like we have no speed rush, I agree that we have yet to really SEE anything. I just don't think we've seen enough of this system to lay it on the position players just yet. Hell, I'll even concede later on that you may be right, but still say you're basing it off too small of a sample to be sure.

Then it would be easy.. You could just call him "The Mike"

I hate seeing the "Gangwish can't do the job" assumptions. He got one game, and a lot of what I saw looked like both DEs were playing more of a containment role than pass rush. Hill was a scrambler remember? If the staff is the coaching/scheming/development gurus that so many are ready burn up bandwidth and forum pages defending, then how in the hell did they decide Jack was their guy?... Did he win some lottery? Acclaimed by a secret team popularity vote? I gotta imagine what we've seen so far has been pretty vanilla as this is the beginning of the season and it's a new system. If you're gonna screech and demand patience from the HCMR naysayers, then you need to swallow your own medicine in terms of offering the same for the players and system. So either Riley is the genius who sees a larger plan or just a coach who plays his "favorites". Pick your poison.

Sheeesshh.....Need to lighten up Francis. No one cares about your internet radio show and you know you only get to air it when Gramma isn't using up the bandwidth watching Highway to Heaven reruns on HULU. (Although the phone number has now probably landed in every junk telemarketers que.) Saddest of all? Has the "image" of "The U" now become symbolized in wearing the pair of cheap tangerine sunglasses you call "Cane Shades"?

Does BYU have any automatic bowl bid affiliations? If not I would think that allowing this sort of image to cultivate would risk some serious financial damage unless they just intend to shrug it off and increase the yearly tithe on Mormons.