Can we please call this what it was?

[Saunders]

 

 

Honestly, I just don't understand. We have so many things playing against us from all new coaches, to a lack of depth, to new schemes, to injuries... I mean literally you name a problem and we likely have it. That doesn't mean we can't improve and get better but jeesh... Nebraska, right now, isn't in a position to claim supremacy over a lot of teams and that includes BYU.

Alot of that has to do with the offseason drivel of the new coaching staff vs the old. For 9 months, we've seen post after post and thread after thread on how any average coach could win 9 games with our schedule, that the last staff was awful, and that every new coach is superior to the guy he replaced. If that's the case, then we should see an upgrade in the W/L column, just by fixing the issues that have plagued us for 7 years.

 

But.... it's simply not black and white like that.

 

I agree with all you have posted in this thread. Let me add some things in...

 

1. We are treating BYU like we did Wyoming a few years ago..."Oh the QB is amazing and will play on Sunday's" and "This was their Super Bowl"

 

2. I am a huge Riley fan and I still think they win 10-11 games this year BUT the mantra was, over and over, that any coach, chair, monkey, table, dart board, cup or Huskerboard poster could coach NU to 9 wins every year.

 

They could not convert short 3rd downs...could not make FG's, I guess the clock management might have been a bit poor but I am not sure and they let a guy catch a jump ball. Oh and they had 12 penalties?

 

I guess I see most of those things as very fixable.

 

What might be a concern...letting up over 500 yards of offense and I guess I did not think the D Line looked all that great.

 

EXACTLY correct.

[Redux]

 

 

 

I hardly feel I'm flying off the handle here, just being honest about my opinion. And sadly that opinion is we could lose a lot of games this year. We still have 11 to play and I still have no clue what to expect from this team. Is that where we are? If someone questions our potential the reaction is like I burned my Husker gear and slapped our mascot?

 

LOL!!! What else did you expect?

 

I understand some people's sentiment about Nebraska is great, they should never lose. Although I would never subject myself to that thinking because I have many other things to worry about. Just not on Labor Day.

Okay, you are right. Nebraska should lose games to BYU because BYU is a 10-11 win team this year.

Ohio State. 2014.

And I didn't say that. So don't put words in my mouth. The point is, that you think that just because Nebraska lost week 1 with a new coaching staff, to a good team, that they cannot be good and improve through out the year.

 

What the hell is football all about? Improving as the season goes along. You can't peak at week 1. Later down the road, NU will be better than BYU. Sure.

 

But good grief, you're whining about NU being horrible is absolutely childish and way too much of a snap judgement. Put the bottle down dude.

Umm did you really just tell me not to put words in your mouth only to follow that up by putting words in my mouth?

[Scratchtown]

 

 

 

 

I hardly feel I'm flying off the handle here, just being honest about my opinion. And sadly that opinion is we could lose a lot of games this year. We still have 11 to play and I still have no clue what to expect from this team. Is that where we are? If someone questions our potential the reaction is like I burned my Husker gear and slapped our mascot?

LOL!!! What else did you expect?

 

I understand some people's sentiment about Nebraska is great, they should never lose. Although I would never subject myself to that thinking because I have many other things to worry about. Just not on Labor Day.

Okay, you are right. Nebraska should lose games to BYU because BYU is a 10-11 win team this year.

Ohio State. 2014.

And I didn't say that. So don't put words in my mouth. The point is, that you think that just because Nebraska lost week 1 with a new coaching staff, to a good team, that they cannot be good and improve through out the year.

 

What the hell is football all about? Improving as the season goes along. You can't peak at week 1. Later down the road, NU will be better than BYU. Sure.

 

But good grief, you're whining about NU being horrible is absolutely childish and way too much of a snap judgement. Put the bottle down dude.

Umm did you really just tell me not to put words in your mouth only to follow that up by putting words in my mouth?

 

Yes.

[teachercd]

I think you should put each others wangs in each others mouth! BOOM

[roadrat]

Positives:

Our coach acted like a gentleman in defeat

Armstrong has improved and he has guys that can catch the ball

 

Negatives:

Defense still not communicating-same as last year

Defense giving up huge plays-same as last year. Don't forget the easy 2 first downs BYU got by running the ball on their winning drive.

Penalties up the ass-same as last year

Poor offensive line play-same in the last decade

We called a timeout to review assignments before hail mary and still screwed it up. Seem like the same thing happened a few years ago in a bowl game before halftime.

 

 

Some of these are correctable but all we heard is "this is a highly experienced coaching staff" so I expected better results. I'm hoping this coaching staff learned a thing or two in this game cause a close loss at OSU might be a moral victory but it don't fly here.

[JJ Husker]

I hardly feel I'm flying off the handle here, just being honest about my opinion. And sadly that opinion is we could lose a lot of games this year. We still have 11 to play and I still have no clue what to expect from this team. Is that where we are? If someone questions our potential the reaction is like I burned my Husker gear and slapped our mascot?

I don't think YOU are flying off the handle. I do think some posters want people to be as upset as they seem to be.

 

I don't know what to expect from this team either. I entered this season, like I do most seasons, with very high expectations. Those expectations took a serious hit Saturday. I saw some good and I also saw plenty of bad. I have no clue if we'll lose 4 more or win out. If I had to bet, I would now say we lose 2 or 3 more. However, I am going to try to enjoy the ride and take whatever positives (some call them moral victories) I can glean from the play on the field. I still would rather play well and lose to a good team than play poorly and beat a bad team. Beating patsies means nothing to me but that doesn't mean I enjoy losing either. No one likes losing, shouldn't have to go overboard exhibiting that on a message board or facebook in an attempt to prove how great of a fan a person is.

[Redux]

All offseason we heard how fundamentals would be fixed, how anyone could win 9 here and how big of an upgrade we got.

 

Well we no doubt got an upgrade. The fundamentals wer meh in glaring spots. And we already dropped a game in hopes of continuing to win 9.

 

We didn't get blown out, we had the game won, we just didn't finish. We will get better, things are gonna be fine. But man oh man was that a brutal finish. I'm just not okay with it and I can't sugar coat my disappointment.

[jjamuss]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The loss sucked for everyone. If you're more miserable than others, what's the point of trying to bring them down with you?

Not trying to do that at all.

I just want us to be honest about it. If we pretend that we looked like a world beater on Saturday, it is gonna hurt that much more when we lose the next one, or the next one.

I can't stress enough the fact we looked really good at times. But tap dancing jehova, look at the board a year ago. If someone brought up the fact we looked good but missed some assingments and lost the game they were ridiculed to no end. I plan on giving Mike Riley this season and another before I make a big judgement call. But come on, losing that game the way we did....

Stop me if you have heard this "We did a lot of good things. Looked sharp in this area. Need to tighten up in this area. Yeah we lost but I think we have the potential to win the division or whatever this year."

I've not seen anyone declare NU being this. Or even pretending.

Really?

People aren't using the term "world beater" but by acting like BYU is great, they're saying Nebraska is too because we "played well." It's a silly argument.

No people on HERE aren't. But yeah, talking up BYU like they have a playoff shot is silly indeed. They likely lose 4 more games, maybe more.

Oh, I agree with you. We've done it multiple times over the last decade when we lost a close game. We talk up the opponent, and chalk up a moral victory.

I have done it many times myself. I'm just tired I guess. I'm tired of being average. We pour a lot of our time into following this once great team only to be let down time after time.

I knew we weren't going undefeated this year, we all should have known that. I guess 'm just on the other side of the fence now. For all the good we saw, I'm more nervous about the rest of the season than the folks talking us up to be really good. Hope I'm wrong.

s

 

Yes the loss sucked and we probably should have won, but I'm going to give them more than one game before I pass judgement on the hire. They say teams generally improve the most between weeks 1 and 2, so we'll see how they perform in the next couple weeks

Well to be fair, if we don't see a major improvement against South Alabama we are in trouble.

If we lose to another ho hum team then we know the ginger ninjer is incompetent and the man who brought him here, I'm talking about Harvey Pearlman, needs to go. Time for some new blood cuz this hasn't worked for the last 12 years.

[jjamuss]

All offseason we heard how fundamentals would be fixed, how anyone could win 9 here and how big of an upgrade we got.

Well we no doubt got an upgrade. The fundamentals wer meh in glaring spots. And we already dropped a game in hopes of continuing to win 9.

We didn't get blown out, we had the game won, we just didn't finish. We will get better, things are gonna be fine. But man oh man was that a brutal finish. I'm just not okay with it and I can't sugar coat my disappointment.

I'm with you. I hate seeing this team lose and I refuse to settle and say I'm ok with a home loss, or any loss... they play to win...so win red, WIN!

[Enhance]

 

Honestly, I just don't understand. We have so many things playing against us from all new coaches, to a lack of depth, to new schemes, to injuries... I mean literally you name a problem and we likely have it. That doesn't mean we can't improve and get better but jeesh... Nebraska, right now, isn't in a position to claim supremacy over a lot of teams and that includes BYU.

Alot of that has to do with the offseason drivel of the new coaching staff vs the old. For 9 months, we've seen post after post and thread after thread on how any average coach could win 9 games with our schedule, that the last staff was awful, and that every new coach is superior to the guy he replaced. If that's the case, then we should see an upgrade in the W/L column, just by fixing the issues that have plagued us for 7 years.

 

But.... it's simply not black and white like that.

 

And I get that. I'm more or less just shocked that this is what the narrative became.

 

And really, the only explanation I can come to is that a lot of fans are ignorant. Some people act as if coaching a football program is as easy as working at a sunglasses kiosk at the mall, clocking in, selling a few items and then going about your business. I know nobody really thinks that, but, they sure as hell act like the job isn't very difficult.

[RedRex]

 

 

Some of these are correctable but all we heard is "this is a highly experienced coaching staff" so I expected better results. I'm hoping this coaching staff learned a thing or two in this game cause a close loss at OSU might be a moral victory but it don't fly here.

 

This is probably what bothers me the most. A lot of the problems in the game relate back to coaching. We were told we would embrace running the ball, but I don't see the commitment. Running the ball is an attitude that plainly states "stop me if you can". We look to be back to "take what they're giving" like Beck preached, and they will keep giving TA the 50/50 passing opportunities because it's worked against us time and time again.

 

What boggles me the most is the Special Teams efforts. We hired a full time coach because it's a crucial phase of the game and yet look so ineffective. DPE goes down early in camp and the response is "Westy, just secure the ball." That was just unacceptable 2 yrs ago but now? meh. Did we not have the time or concern to work on another plan? Foltz is a prime target for injury every single time he punts but all we have for a backup plan is the 5th string QB? At home when we can have 3 backup punters if we want?

Field goals? Heck anyone can kick field goals right?

Just real curious as to WTF Read actually does.

[NebraskaShellback]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The loss sucked for everyone. If you're more miserable than others, what's the point of trying to bring them down with you?

Not trying to do that at all.

I just want us to be honest about it. If we pretend that we looked like a world beater on Saturday, it is gonna hurt that much more when we lose the next one, or the next one.

I can't stress enough the fact we looked really good at times. But tap dancing jehova, look at the board a year ago. If someone brought up the fact we looked good but missed some assingments and lost the game they were ridiculed to no end. I plan on giving Mike Riley this season and another before I make a big judgement call. But come on, losing that game the way we did....

Stop me if you have heard this "We did a lot of good things. Looked sharp in this area. Need to tighten up in this area. Yeah we lost but I think we have the potential to win the division or whatever this year."

I've not seen anyone declare NU being this. Or even pretending.

Really?

People aren't using the term "world beater" but by acting like BYU is great, they're saying Nebraska is too because we "played well." It's a silly argument.

No people on HERE aren't. But yeah, talking up BYU like they have a playoff shot is silly indeed. They likely lose 4 more games, maybe more.

Oh, I agree with you. We've done it multiple times over the last decade when we lost a close game. We talk up the opponent, and chalk up a moral victory.

I have done it many times myself. I'm just tired I guess. I'm tired of being average. We pour a lot of our time into following this once great team only to be let down time after time.

I knew we weren't going undefeated this year, we all should have known that. I guess 'm just on the other side of the fence now. For all the good we saw, I'm more nervous about the rest of the season than the folks talking us up to be really good. Hope I'm wrong.

s

 

Yes the loss sucked and we probably should have won, but I'm going to give them more than one game before I pass judgement on the hire. They say teams generally improve the most between weeks 1 and 2, so we'll see how they perform in the next couple weeks

Well to be fair, if we don't see a major improvement against South Alabama we are in trouble.

If we lose to another ho hum team then we know the ginger ninjer is incompetent and the man who brought him here, I'm talking about Harvey Pearlman, needs to go. Time for some new blood cuz this hasn't worked for the last 12 years.

 

Harvey will be gone before the 2016 season starts

Edited September 7, 2015 by NebraskaShellback

[The Dude]

 

The loss sucked for everyone. If you're more miserable than others, what's the point of trying to bring them down with you?

Not trying to do that at all.

I just want us to be honest about it. If we pretend that we looked like a world beater on Saturday, it is gonna hurt that much more when we lose the next one, or the next one.

I can't stress enough the fact we looked really good at times. But tap dancing jehova, look at the board a year ago. If someone brought up the fact we looked good but missed some assingments and lost the game they were ridiculed to no end. I plan on giving Mike Riley this season and another before I make a big judgement call. But come on, losing that game the way we did....

Stop me if you have heard this "We did a lot of good things. Looked sharp in this area. Need to tighten up in this area. Yeah we lost but I think we have the potential to win the division or whatever this year."

We haven't been world beaters for nearly 2 decades now, not sure who is pretending we are. Feel free to post links, and we'll laugh at them together.

 

I don't care what people were saying during year 7 of the Pelini era. That has nothing to do with this season. Totally different circumstances. I think generally speaking, most Nebraska fans are fairly reasonable and patient. My prediction is Riley will get at least 5 years to get things turned around, unless the wheels completely fall off between now and then.

 

Personally, I never thought we had a chance at the division this year (have you seen Wisconsin's schedule?)

 

My outlook wouldn't have been dramatically different if that Hail Mary would have fallen incomplete.

[Sargon]

So on facebook the Husker groups are pretty colorful and stupid. A lot are logical but several are doing the blame Riley, Hire Bo back thing. I come on here and honestly if I didn't know better I would think we won that game.

 

But can we please be honest? That hurt. That was a heartbreaker in every sense. We just lost an opener for the first time since before a lot of us were born. And it wasn't to Alabama or Oregon. It was to an independent BYU. Not a team to sneeze at, but not a world beater either. To prove that, they had to do it with a backup freshman QB and several guys who were out. We had guys out too, but dammit we were at home.

 

Pretty much all I'm seeing is sad optimism. Not pathetic but we all want to think of it as a moral win. Well it wasn't, we lost even if it was an ugly way to lose. Sure, there was a lot to like. Really there is. Team could be really good. But there was a lot to not like being ignored.

 

I see the "We just wanted improvement" argument. Thats not all I wanted. We canned Bo for 2 reasons. He got stale, and he was a big meany head.. Riley is frsh start and super nice. But I wan't a damn trophy. The Bo haters are now using the same excuses to defend the loss that we heard were stupid excuses.

 

Yeah yeah, one game, we will get better yadda yadda. I just feel defated, let down. Damn I hate losing like that. Regardless, I like our direction and think we are going the right way. But this is not our return to glory, not this season. We have a long way to go and if we let the same growing pains we all saw continue, we could be in for a long year. So lets all continue being positive, I know I will try.

 

Sort of looks like you were a bit bipolar while you typed that. Relax a little buddy. It's one freaking football game. GAME.

As for getting rid of Bo for a reason...we got rid of him for lots of reasons. But one of them...better recruiting, isn't going to show much value for us in games until 2016, 17 and beyond. Yeah yeah I KNOW we already have a little value from new recruits but we need good 3rd and 4th year guys out there doing what this staff has taught them. Looks to me like our D has plenty of work left just to understand what they're supposed to do. And the O line. What 4 of em combined for 6 starts now? Or is it 10 now? Either way they have a lot of improving to do.

 

Here's where I'm at. I'm hoping for a win at Miami no matter how we get it including dumb luck worth 21 points. Come Wisky time I'm hoping our 1s and some 2s are pretty coached up so they can combine their athleticism and effort with smart play. But I have no idea how fast the progress will be so I'll just enjoy watching them and try be patient.

 

Progess? It's only one game so far and he made plenty of poor plays but to my eyes Tommy looked surprisingly better for his first game in the new system against a tough opponent. Young also was a positive surprised to me. Wilbon looked good but I was mostly expecting that.

[commando]

calling it what it was? it depends on who you are as to what you believe the game was

 

for the pessimists? Riley dared lose his first game at Nebraska. time to fire him

for the optimists? it was just the first game with lot's of positives to take from the game.

for the Mormons? it was an answered prayer.....and the worst nightmare (losing taysom)

for many college football fans? it was the most exciting game of the weekend

for the Bolievers? it was the perfect wet dream. Nebraska lost their first game after Bo. the perfect ammo for them to come take shots on social media and shout "I told you so".