OT Sean Harlow [Oregon State Commit]

[Danny Bateman]

If we keep losing quality linemen, at what point do we decide that our line coach(es) aren't attractive to incoming players and make a switch?

 

This is beyond concerning at this point. We have to make a decision, soon, on Cotton. Either he goes or we continue to have mediocre line play. Simple as that.

 

We've done quite well in OL recruiting since cotton has been here. We've seen some improvement on the field the last couple of years, though I agree with those that think we need to see continued improvement there, starting this year.

I know I've had this conversation about Cotton with you before, but bear in mind some of the OL we have brought in during Barney's time here have been more or less gimme recruits. For example: ARod, Reeves, Ty Moore, Long, and Sam Cotton were all in state or legacy recruits. With that said, he has also done some very good things. It would've been easy to lose Moore to one of the FLA teams if we hadn't put the work in, and we've also brought in reliable guys like Yoshi, Sirles, Qvale, Klatchko...

 

I for one still wonder though how much of that improvement was Cotton and how much of it was Garrison, Stai, Beck's new scheme, etc...

[MLB 51]

What a waste of talent. Good luck.

[Atbone95]

What a waste of talent. Good luck.

I'll start by saying I completely agree with you. We all wish he would have played here. But we see this a lot after this kind of situation. I kinda have a question...

 

Is everyone who doesn't play at Nebraska a waste of talent?

[irieboy8]

didnt see this one coming... but with recruiting you never really do.....

[chamrocck]

I never saw where he said it was going to be his last visit.?? Like CMT said, he is visiting oregon st, and washington again before deciding shortly after...both for a second time along with us. Stanton is pushing him hard to commit to us. His mom was impressed, so hopefully that helped ease her mind about him going away. From some of his comments he seemed like another really good, level headed kid. He said it was going to be a tough decision, and just because Stanton is coming here doesnt make him a lock to follow.

 

To me it sounded like he had an issue with distance, he never said that, just a feeling i got from his comments, but i could be wrong. I would say watch out for Washington and their Ace recruiters.

 

Unfortunately i called this, imo this had ALOT to do with distance. From his quotes you could tell he just wasnt comfortable with the distance. Went to the best school offered that was close to home, unfortuantely for us most do. Distance is the number 1 factor in recruiting and we are at a major disadvantage.

 

Could be a bad week fo us with Hannon decision coming towards the end of the week. Might have to not visit this site for a week or so until everyones done crying. The sky is not falling we are going to be ok. Hannon will be a bigger loss if he doesnt choose us, because hes alot closer to home, and a kid we should be getting.

 

I am not buying the distance argument. It is not like he is going to the next county at USC or UCLA. Nor is he even remaining in state to northern CA at Cal or Stanford. Seattle, WA is 1,000+ miles from San Clemente, CA. He had offers to UCLA and Cal as well as AZ schools (all are much closer) so IMO distance was not a factor which makes the choice to WA that much stranger. Did not see this coming.

 

Edit: saw some online comments that he has friends already committed to UW and wanted to play with them. Not much we can do to overcome that if he wanted to play with his friends.

[MLB 51]

What a waste of talent. Good luck.

I'll start by saying I completely agree with you. We all wish he would have played here. But we see this a lot after this kind of situation. I kinda have a question...

 

Is everyone who doesn't play at Nebraska a waste of talent?

The one's choosing Wazo over us are.

[Danimal]

Cotton wasn't Harlow's recruiter, but maybe he should've been.

 

We desperately need a Tosh Lupoi of our own. Major fail on Cal for letting that guy get away.

[Moiraine]

If it was up to me we'd hire a Hogwarts graduate to cast the imperius curse on all the recruits we want

[chamrocck]

OK I made an edit to my above post. Harlow going to UW as he is friends with 2 other UW commits...which just happen to be current teammates of Johnny Stanton, including Stanton's center Dane Crane. The other is Stanton teammate Connor O'Brien. I don't want UW coaches and UW friends/teammates in Stanton's ear the next 6 months!

[Decked]

Lol if they go after Stanton say to UW 2010 at your house bitch. And 2011 2-1 against you.

[knapplc]

If we keep losing quality linemen, at what point do we decide that our line coach(es) aren't attractive to incoming players and make a switch?

 

This is beyond concerning at this point. We have to make a decision, soon, on Cotton. Either he goes or we continue to have mediocre line play. Simple as that.

 

We've done quite well in OL recruiting since cotton has been here. We've seen some improvement on the field the last couple of years, though I agree with those that think we need to see continued improvement there, starting this year.

 

O Line remains the weakest link on this team. Go back and watch the games last year and count how many times you see our O Linemen missing blocks, not maintaining blocks until the play is done, whiffing on assignments, etc. It happened all through the year, and that is inexcusable from a line coached by the same guy for four years. When you have linemen in the second level downfield on a run play but they have never even touched a defender - including the guy lined up directly in front of them - and they are standing at the end of the play while the ball-carrier is tackled for a short gain or a loss, that is unacceptable.

 

I would like to know where this improvement is that people are seeing. I'm watching these games over and over, and I'm not seeing it, not consistently.

[HuskerFowler]

I never saw where he said it was going to be his last visit.?? Like CMT said, he is visiting oregon st, and washington again before deciding shortly after...both for a second time along with us. Stanton is pushing him hard to commit to us. His mom was impressed, so hopefully that helped ease her mind about him going away. From some of his comments he seemed like another really good, level headed kid. He said it was going to be a tough decision, and just because Stanton is coming here doesnt make him a lock to follow.

 

To me it sounded like he had an issue with distance, he never said that, just a feeling i got from his comments, but i could be wrong. I would say watch out for Washington and their Ace recruiters.

 

Unfortunately i called this, imo this had ALOT to do with distance. From his quotes you could tell he just wasnt comfortable with the distance. Went to the best school offered that was close to home, unfortuantely for us most do. Distance is the number 1 factor in recruiting and we are at a major disadvantage.

 

Could be a bad week fo us with Hannon decision coming towards the end of the week. Might have to not visit this site for a week or so until everyones done crying. The sky is not falling we are going to be ok. Hannon will be a bigger loss if he doesnt choose us, because hes alot closer to home, and a kid we should be getting.

 

I am not buying the distance argument. It is not like he is going to the next county at USC or UCLA. Nor is he even remaining in state to northern CA at Cal or Stanford. Seattle, WA is 1,000+ miles from San Clemente, CA. He had offers to UCLA and Cal as well as AZ schools (all are much closer) so IMO distance was not a factor which makes the choice to WA that much stranger. Did not see this coming.

 

Edit: saw some online comments that he has friends already committed to UW and wanted to play with them. Not much we can do to overcome that if he wanted to play with his friends.

 

maybe, maybe not, just the feeling i got from reading his quotes. As far as your other post goes, they already have thier Qb and a good one at that. If they didnt, then i would be a little worried.

[dylan]

Mistakes happen on every line. I think it's pretty obvious that our line has improved each of the last couple of years, both in providing a more consistent running game and in pass blocking. Have they reached the level we should expect at NU? No, but there's been progress. If we don't continue to see progress this year, I'll join the barney bashing bandwagon.

 

I just feel like there's been an inordinate amount of venom directed at him since his one year as OC of solich's offense and much of it is unwarranted considering the mess he took over. We finally have an effective ground game again and an offense that's showing signs of life and people want to junk a big part of it and start over. I'd rather see if we can keep making progress first.

 

Also, I'd say our weakest link on the team last year was the passing game, between Taylor's inconsistency and all of the receiver drops. Defensive back and defensive line play were hardly stellar either.

[Moiraine]

Also, I'd say our weakest link on the team last year was the passing game, between Taylor's inconsistency and all of the receiver drops.

 

I agree with this. When you pass as little as we do, all those drops are painful. I really don't remember pass-blocking being something we were bad at. It was catching. The o-line might not be stellar but they would have looked a hell of a lot better had we caught more passes so the defense didn't always stack the box.

[HuskerFowler]

Mistakes happen on every line. I think it's pretty obvious that our line has improved each of the last couple of years, both in providing a more consistent running game and in pass blocking. Have they reached the level we should expect at NU? No, but there's been progress. If we don't continue to see progress this year, I'll join the barney bashing bandwagon.

 

I just feel like there's been an inordinate amount of venom directed at him since his one year as OC of solich's offense and much of it is unwarranted considering the mess he took over. We finally have an effective ground game again and an offense that's showing signs of life and people want to junk a big part of it and start over. I'd rather see if we can keep making progress first.

 

Also, I'd say our weakest link on the team last year was the passing game, between Taylor's inconsistency and all of the receiver drops. Defensive back and defensive line play were hardly stellar either.

 

plus 1, this is how i feel as well. We were 16th in rush offense last year, i believe 100 some yards away from 3 1000 yard rushers in 2010. Certainly can improve, but not terrible like some would love to think. i think most of the hate stems from the false start penalites, which have been terrbile, but improved last year.