If we lose the bowl game, it won't be the defense's fault

[Saint Boseph]

I see this game playing out similarly to our game against South Carolina. Our D will keep us in the first half to third quarter of the game but the downfall will be a complete crapping of the bed by the husker O-line. That defensive line is going to toy with our O-line. They might blitz a little bit but Jarvis J. is going to make Sirles his you-know-what, just like Clowney and Melvin Ingram wrecked shop last year. The Husker O will largely manufacture 3-and-outs or turnovers because they can't keep D-linemen out of Taylor's face or let Rex even grab the handoff. In the 3rd-4th quarter the defense will have been on the field so long they will cave in, and that is when you will see the floodgates open with Gurley and Marshall running all over us. But they will be set up for failure because of shoddy O-line play.

 

I know being a Barney hater is a tired subject but it's true. I felt he should haven't been coaching after his God-awful performance in his first game as NU coach, the 2003 season opener against Oklahoma State. That offense was pretty horrid and you'll recall at the end of the first half where we scored a grand total of 3 points with Barney as Offensive coordinator, the supposedly "greatest fans in college football" were booing the team as they went into the locker room.That was the same game where I fell in love with Bo (also his first game as an NU coach), to the point that I still am 100% supportive of him. Barney's lines crap the bed against most good d-lines. I'll give him the MSU game this year, that D-line is nasty. Yes our O-line turns in great performances here and there, but this is big-time college football. You're paid a premium for consistently excellent job performance.

 

It kills me that, since Bo has been here, we'd have already had 2-3 BCS bowl appearances if we just had consistently good O-line play like the 90s. A dominant offensive line destroys the will of the other team. Our defenses get tired because the Offense can't stay on the field long enough to give them a break, because the O-line can't allow our skill guys to make plays consistently, and like any defense, they get tired as the game goes on.

 

I think Bo will recognize this and make some changes with an assistant or two. He did with Watson and Gilmore and I'd say Watson and Gilmore turned in better overall bodies of work than Barney Cotton. Being a Husker O-lineman and understanding the tradition doesn't mean you'll automatically be successful. Steve Pedersen was trumpeted when he was hired for his Nebraska roots.

[Saint Boseph]

and before all of you jump on my butt about the defensive performance against Wisconsin, that game is an outlier in my mind. read this article and couple that with the fact that we had our best Dlineman unavailable

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/wisconsin-breaks-tricks-clinch-third-straight-rose-bowl-045817530--ncaaf.html

[Count 'Bility]

And full circle we come, right back to Barney hate. Round and round we go.

 

Not disagreeing with you. Just pointing out the repetitiveness. Beating a dead horse does not do it justice.

[skersfan]

Yep it is always the kids that lose the game, never our overwhelmed coaching staff. Always the kids that bust their butts, but a coach that makes 3 million a year never gets anything but he won 10 games and is the answer. Yep get it now.

[LumberJackSker]

its too early for this

[Saint Boseph]

Yep it is always the kids that lose the game, never our overwhelmed coaching staff. Always the kids that bust their butts, but a coach that makes 3 million a year never gets anything but he won 10 games and is the answer. Yep get it now.

 

if you read the post, I am pinning the O-line play on the coaching of Barney Cotton. Of course the players bust their ass, but they are supposed to do what Barney asks of them, and his techniques that he teaches are ineffective. I never question the players motivation/heart/guts/balls, even in 2007.

 

And for the love of God I am not bashing on ANYONE , the players or Barney Cotton, as human beings. Of course they want to win, more than us, or anyone else on the planet. I'm just saying Barney Cotton isn't very good at his job. I'm sure he's a good guy, father, husband, neighbor, what have you.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Yep it is always the kids that lose the game, never our overwhelmed coaching staff. Always the kids that bust their butts, but a coach that makes 3 million a year never gets anything but he won 10 games and is the answer. Yep get it now.

You need a drink skers....................

[clyde40]

Well at least now it's if we lose rather than when we lose.

[skersfan]

We have an All American on that line, Barney has had something to do with that. We bash Barney continously, but leave the guy that has hired him and kept him on the staff for 5 years. If anyone is to blame for this it is upper management.

 

I think he must have had some idea to develop an All American. We have not had one in some time if I remember correctly.

 

Our problems go higher than the kids or the staff, and until we realize where the buck stops we are going to have problems. If Barney is not good enough he should be fired and should have a long time ago. We do not need friends, buddy's and on the job training. WE need proven winnners, that know their jobs and do them. We do not have that currently. Corrections need to be made.

 

Bo is a new, untrained, unexperienced head coach, trying to learn his job and all of his assistants jobs at the same time. It has not worked and it is not going to in any reasonable time frame. He needs help. Just saying hey we won ten games is not the answer for returning to a proud program.

[skersfan]

Nah BRI I don't drink, ride my bicycle too much for that stuff. Long day in the saddle today.

 

I just want us to start being Nebraska again. I do not mean MNC, s just playing like Nebraska, win or lose. I feel so sorry for these kids, and the fans that support them. It seems like a cruel joke sometimes. They try so hard, work so hard and then to be what appeared totally unprepared for what happened last week is beyond me. We hired Bo because he knew defense. He would return the Black Shirts of Nebraska. He has not done that in any way shape or form.

 

Oh well it is time for me to stop my ranting on this subject.

[Guy Chamberlin]

If you can watch the Huskers' losses this season and blame the offensive line instead of a defense that achieved almost Cosgrovian levels of panic and ineptitude then....

 

.....I honestly don't know how to answer that.

 

It's insane.

[NothingToSeeHere]

If you can watch the Huskers' losses this season and blame the offensive line instead of a defense that achieved almost Cosgrovian levels of panic and ineptitude then....

 

.....I honestly don't know how to answer that.

 

It's insane.

 

+1

[junior4949]

and before all of you jump on my butt about the defensive performance against Wisconsin, that game is an outlier in my mind. read this article and couple that with the fact that we had our best Dlineman unavailable

 

http://sports.yahoo....530--ncaaf.html

 

Outlier? Then, how exactly do you explain the defensive performance and record broke against UCLA by our defense? Let's get real here for a moment. I realize Richt isn't a top tier coach, but he's going to have to have a complete and total brainfart not to just line up and run the ball down our throats. Our offense might not even be on the field long enough to cost us the game. If Richt has any brains at all, he'll simply run for 5-10 yards per play and be completely happy with it.

[Guy Chamberlin]

I will confidently predict that the defense will do better against Georgia than Wisconsin, because it's almost statistically impossible to do worse.

[grandpasknee]

I will confidently predict that the defense will do better against Georgia than Wisconsin, because it's almost statistically impossible to do worse.

And I confidently predict that the day of the game will have 24 hours. It's my lock of the week!