What Did We Learn: Miami Edition

[Savage Husker]

Westerkamp is solid gold, but everybody already knew that.

For whatever reason, I pictured this.

[DrunkOffPunch]

 

 

The only reason the RBs had success under the previous staff is that Helu and Burkhead were the best RBs we've had since Buckhalter. And AA was the best RB IMO since LP. It had nothing to do with the O-line. Unless you chose to forget the time when the O-line was so bad people here thought they were giving 'lookout blocks' to Martinez like the racist kid from Remember the Titans. We just don't have the talent at RB to mask that fact right now.

Halfway through last year, we led the country in yards before first contact. As much as we want to remember Ameer as this mythical hero (because he was awesome), the OL had fine success at times.

 

Ameer and Helu were 3* talents (Burkhead 4*) that became some of the best in Husker history. That screams player development to me.

 

We have a ton of talent at RB; we have four 4* talents on this roster. If they aren't developed or used properly, that is a different issue.

I remember watching Ameer's highlights of that first preseason game. On one of his runs up the middle he gets met a couple yards after the los, makes a cut that would've either broke my ankle or completely shredded my knee, and the s/lb completely whiffs. That's just what AA does. The first guy rarely tackles or even touches him. Also that yards before contact stat was two years ago and it was in the mid to high 5's. Last year was a lot lower. The point of what I said wasn't that the O-line was always horrible, just horribly inconsistent.

[ndobney]

1. Alex Lewis shouldn't be on the team, or at least on very thin ice and shouldn't be a team captain.

2. Tommie Armstrong is not a good enough QB to get our team to a conference championship.

3. We need to start winning close games, one loss in OT and one loss by a hail mary. Hope this doesn't become a habit.

4. O Line can't block and makes to many mistakes false start wise.

 

Saw a lot of good things but not necessarily did I learn anything from them.

 

We need to play better and get better, I think we can do that. Reily isn't off to a good start but he has some time.

[Stumpy1]

 

But, no amount of commitment is going to change the truth - our offensive line isn't performing that well and we don't have a game changer at halfback. Despite a first half filled with dropped passes and penalties, we still managed to play through the 3rd quarter with a balanced attack.

 

Wishing we would run more or hoping for a better dedication to this part of the game won't eliminate the problems we have, in my opinion.

 

I'm open to anything that can improve this facet of the game.

A new, highly experienced staff was brought in to take care of these types of issues and get us to the next level. Riley.....and also in this case Cavanaugh......need to get it done without excuse. And we've done very well in the run game in recent years. Every piece of advice this new staff has been given is to excel in the run game.

 

Lets say that you got hired as a new manager of a business and they want it ran your way, hence why they hired you, but the employees are familiar with the way things have been done for the last 7 years. You only have 2 months ( not consecutive months ) to complete this task and make things roll like a well oiled machine. Do you think you can get it done?

 

My guess is NO...

[Mavric]

Here's a stat that shows that - for whatever reason - teams really aren't even trying to run on us. At the very least, they haven't had to try.

 

17: Opponent first downs by passing in the first quarter of the first three games. That’s last in the nation. Opponents have thrown 38 first-quarter passes against NU, completed 24 of them, and 17 have gone for first downs. Translation: Nebraska’s pass defense is easy to figure out early in a game. It’s an automatic opposing quarterback rhythm-generator.

 

OWH

[Mavric]

And another good stat on us running the ball.

 

5.07: Yards per carry through three games. This isn’t bad. Fourth in the Big Ten — ahead of Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan and Northwestern. Nebraska needs to build on that.

 

OWH

 

 

Opponents have something to do with this but the complaints about our running game struggling are exaggerated. For the year last year we averaged 5.3 ypc.

[Saunders]

 

2. Tommie Armstrong is not a good enough QB to get our team to a conference championship.

Receivers dropped A TON of passes. OL (specifically the tackles) didn't hold up well. The Defense went from non-existant, to serviceable.

 

I've been pretty straightforward on Tommy, and he was the main reason why we were in that game. He tried his damnedest to will Nebraska to a win. If he simply has one less int, we win the game.

[NebraskaShellback]

I am not worried about this team. I do hope Lewis has a change of heart and not let a few fans sum up the whole fan base is against him. It was a team effort the good, the bad, and the ugly, period. I am on to the next game as it is Monday game week. See ya later folks, only 9 games left and maybe an additional bowl game. GBR!!!!