Few thoughts from OU v NU

[formerfan]

First, I only caught bits and pieces of the game on TV, some on radio, that being said:

 

1) is up with getting behind the last 4 weeks????

 

2) That being said, this team is showing great heart not folding like a cheap card table when down big early. Thats pretty cool

 

3) On the OU v NU thread, one member blamed FS for leaving the program without talent. I agree that NU doesnt have the talent of USC, UT, or even VA Tech, but there is enough talent in Lincoln to have won the North, at the very least

 

4) The staff still needs to straighten their act out, and Im not sure they will. Both cozzy and billy c are so stuborn to do what they want even if it isnt working, and wont deviate from it until it is too late.

 

They were flat-out out coached today, as they were last week. The fake 40 yd. FG into a 30 mph, when OU is KNOWN to run fakes is a perfect example.

 

I know that this is but Im more sure than ever that this staff will not bring NU back to the elite, no matter how much "talent" they recruit. Don't look now, but unfortunately the 2006 class is looking kind of slim at this point, with alot of the top names off the board.

[nebr_bob]

don't jump off the bandwagon just yet ff

1) agree

2) agree

3) the loss of the linebackers hurt the D - dont think they are bonding as well with stew out and i think octavian would have been a huge asset

and the O-line is just terrible

4) gotta run what they know the option is gone

5) agree on the fake with the wind blowing like it was but I dont think they were out coached as far as the rest of the game - just outmanned

 

and as far as the recruits there still is enough top names out there that are STILL on the board that 'N' should still have a quality recruiting class

 

[roadrat]

It's all on the coaches. This team is not prepared to play. One week we have penalties because the players can't lineup right, the next week we run some stupid defense and give a QB an opportunity to have the game of a lifetime and finally we fall for a fake field goal. I don't know why there is a willingness around here to accept total mediocrity from this coaching staff when a 10 win season was unacceptable 2 short years ago. How long do we have to give Billy a free ride and allow him to hide behind this transition to the WCO? As far as recruiting goes, you can stockpile prize recruits all you want, coaching them is another matter.

[StuckinChicago]

First of all, Bo Ruud was playing center field to protect against a fake, and was just to slow to react when it happened. Second of all, i dont care what kind of offense you run, you cant move the ball when your o line cant block a goddamn soul. If you didnt notice we had 14 yards rushing!!!!!, no runs over ten yards, and we got sacked i dont even know how many times. We bring in those two tight ends and on 80% of the plays they stay in and block!!!, because our o line cant. I dont know what the hell is wrong with those boys, but we are hurting there really bad. Our defense played good enough to win, and even good nebraska teams of the past give up 24 points occasionally, especiall when the offense cant move the ball and we are on the field that long, but until our oline decides to do their damn job, we wont win games. By the way, switching to a more pass oriented, max protect scheme to hide a weak oline is an example of Callahan "fitting" his system to his players. Tight ends are supposed to be an intricle part of his offense in the passing game, now we use them as blocking sleds. Poor arguments on your part former, unless you want to look at how wagner is coaching the oline, this is not a coaching or scheme thing, this is a player incompetence thing on the part of our oline. Adrian Peterson is special and he is going to make plays occasionally, but our corners had great games and Oklahoma came into the game looking to test them. If you stop those two big runs and the side judge doesnt make the worst non holding call i have ever seen, our defense gives up ten points or so, which is good enough.

[formerfan]

and as far as the recruits there still is enough top names out there that are STILL on the board that 'N' should still have a quality recruiting class

 

Yes, but are they considering NU??

 

From what I have seen, most are not.

[BigRedDallasTexan]

I think you mean holding CALLS... plural. He missed several.

[formerfan]

Our defense played good enough to win, and even good nebraska teams of the past give up 24 points occasionally, especiall when the offense cant move the ball and we are on the field that long, but until our oline decides to do their damn job, we wont win games.

 

Agreed, but the TOP has been a problem for the NU O since billy c. and the WCO has been in Lincoln.

 

By the way, switching to a more pass oriented, max protect scheme to hide a weak oline is an example of Callahan "fitting" his system to his players. Tight ends are supposed to be an intricle part of his offense in the passing game, now we use them as blocking sleds.

 

Touche' a terrible argument on your part. Using the backs/TEs either to block or to catch passes is a part of any offense, this is not a part of billy c's "genius" or lack thereof. TEs were an intrical part of the option, too.

 

Poor arguments on your part former, unless you want to look at how wagner is coaching the oline, this is not a coaching or scheme thing, this is a player incompetence thing on the part of our oline.

 

A new topic. Last year, NUs line was pretty decent, and everyone was giving wags a big pat on the back. This year, they are not good, even with 3 (I think) returning starters, one being a Remington Award candidate. But wags and billy c decided to move their best OT from the blind-side to the front-side, and exposed ZT to some big hits. I think that as good of a job as wags did last year, his is doing a much, much worse job this year. Its not just one player, its the whole line, which is normally a sign of coaching.

 

Adrian Peterson is special and he is going to make plays occasionally, but our corners had great games and Oklahoma came into the game looking to test them.

 

AP is great, however saying that OU was going to test our corners is laughable at best. Have you seen how horrible their QB and passing O has been C'mon now, you can do better than that

 

If you stop those two big runs and the side judge doesnt make the worst non holding call i have ever seen, our defense gives up ten points or so, which is good enough.

 

True, but enough ifs. If OU could have held onto another 3 or 4 badly thrown balls by Taylor, or if they would have made all the FGs they botched, the game wouldnt have been that close.

[Husker_fan_in_KC]

3) On the OU v NU thread, one member blamed FS for leaving the program without talent. I agree that NU doesnt have the talent of USC, UT, or even VA Tech, but there is enough talent in Lincoln to have won the North, at the very least

Question about this issue, when people argue that our recruiting under FS wasn't up to par. This always brings up a question in my mind. How are they defining a "good" recruiting class? I keep seeing references to "Rivals" and our recruiting ranking, but isn't that totally subjective? The #1 running back maybe a side to side runner where we want a power runner, and the best of that group is #25 or something. I think they are comparing each position to some template that THEY think is best (I could be wrong, will have to do some research into how they decide rankings).

 

I guess if your basing the recruiting on a totally subjective set of standards then sure we pry sucked at recruiting. Not trying to defend FS but I am trying to understand the base of this arguement that people keep making about recruiting. Also keep in mind that Texas always seemed to be in the "Top 10" or so in recruiting and I believe this is the first year they appear to have done anything with it.

[formerfan]

3) On the OU v NU thread, one member blamed FS for leaving the program without talent. I agree that NU doesnt have the talent of USC, UT, or even VA Tech, but there is enough talent in Lincoln to have won the North, at the very least

Question about this issue, when people argue that our recruiting under FS wasn't up to par. This always brings up a question in my mind. How are they defining a "good" recruiting class? I keep seeing references to "Rivals" and our recruiting ranking, but isn't that totally subjective? The #1 running back maybe a side to side runner where we want a power runner, and the best of that group is #25 or something. I think they are comparing each position to some template that THEY think is best (I could be wrong, will have to do some research into how they decide rankings).

 

I guess if your basing the recruiting on a totally subjective set of standards then sure we pry sucked at recruiting. Not trying to defend FS but I am trying to understand the base of this arguement that people keep making about recruiting. Also keep in mind that Texas always seemed to be in the "Top 10" or so in recruiting and I believe this is the first year they appear to have done anything with it.

 

Couldnt agree with you more This "template" you speak of is one concocted by so-called recruiting experts,

i.e. not coaches.

[nebr_bob]

even though we lost some of franks 'best' linemen the result is that we have none capable of playing in this O with the exception of Mann - next years line better be better prepared after the redshirt/first year in the system or I do agree that Wags will be on the hot seat

 

 

 

[chuckd]

I'm not in to bashing FS, I think he was a pretty decent guy and a decent coach, but there is no way to try to cover up the fact that he didn't recruit well. The simple fact that he refused to recruit during the season to "focus on football" is absured. TO didn't have to do this, I'm quite certain the top coaches in the nation (Carrol, Bowden, Coker, Behmer) all find a way to do a good job of coaching AND recruiting during the season. When you put no focus on recruiting dirung the season it makes a lot of people lose interest. You can go back and look at the recruiting classes from 2002- on rivals site and while I have stated earlier that I don't put as much importance on these recruiting services as some people, the fact is they aren't just making things up. While you don't need all 4 and 5 star athletes to be a top team, the statistics show that those schools that do get them tend to do better. There is NO reason why Nebraska should have the 40th and 43rd best recruiting classes in the nation. That is unexcusable, most to all of the high star athletes that FS recruited were from Nebraska, that is all well and good and I think it is very important to have home state kids, but Nebraska is not Texas or Florida or California we can't get by with just kids from here the state is just not big enough resulting in not enough talent. I wish Frank well at Ohio I hope he has lots of success, but I believe whole heartedly that the drop in recruiting has cause this program to start to decline. 2002/2003 40th and 43rd rated recruiting classes, those kids are mostly sophs/juniors. If you ask most people where this team would be rated, it would probably be right in that area, the correlation is pretty evident. Callahan has obviously improved this area. (#5 class) Three years down the line (barring a coaching change) you take a look at where the team ranks in the polls, I'm betting you it is a lot closer to #5 than it is to #40.

[rawhide]

My very inexpert take,

 

 

NU needs:

 

lockdown D i.e. 95

 

That includes very vocal take no prisoners leaders

 

increased production in offense

 

whether that means better blocking for pass protect or run plays

 

 

Forget the stupid zebras if we dominate its a moot point

 

I dont like to tout other boards but there was a great article about CM and TO and how they had to break up fights on the 95 team and cover their ears when the team meetings were going on because of the fervent content

 

That's what I'm talkin' about

 

As far as BC and staff they should get the same ops as FS had to succeed.

 

IMO it seems that BC is attempting to recruit more players without excess baggage.

[NamelessHusker]

NU was not outcoached. Stoops implimented his fake when the score was 24-17. No coach in his right mind would go for a fake with only a 7 point lead when they were leading 24-3 to begin with and the other team came back from the deficit.

 

It's just like the 2001 game. Stoops tried a fake but his didn't work. Solich came back and showed him how it was suppose to be done. In this game, Stoops ran his fake, Callahan countered it with his own play. Like i said, Stoops showed some balls by trying the fake, but had it not worked and OU lost the game, Sooner fans would have crucified him. Stoops is 3 for 3 on the year in fake field goals, so it's not like he does it every game

 

OU simply outscored Nebraska, plain and simple.

[Pedro Guerrero]

Yes, but are they considering NU??

 

From what I have seen, most are not.

According to the Rivals Top 100 HS players we are still in the running for 10 of the kids left fromthat group that haven't picked a school yet. Also we are in on 3 of the top 20 Juco kids left. How many of these guys end up here? Who knows but that is still a good number of kids looking our way.

[Pedro Guerrero]

Also keep in mind that Texas always seemed to be in the "Top 10" or so in recruiting and I believe this is the first year they appear to have done anything with it.

2001: 11-2

2002: 11-2

2003: 10-3

2004: 11-1

2005: 8-0

 

Those records look pretty good to me. They have finished in the Top 12 each one of those years.(I know this year isn't over yet)