The end of 2014 vs. the start of 2015

[redtrout]

I think that what we've seen so far in 2015 is fairly similar to what we saw at the end of 2014. Let's compare Bo's last 3 games to Riley's first 3 games.

Bo:

59-24 loss at Wisconsin. As bad as it gets.

28-24 loss at home to Minnesota. This game was pretty close. DPE had the ball around the Nebraska 5 or so at the very end but Minnesota forced a fumble.

37-34 OT win at Iowa. Iowa's first three drives: all got inside the Nebraska 10 but the first two came away with nothing and only a FG on the third. Iowa left a lot of points on the table here. They were up 24-7 in the end of the third quarter but basically just decided to punt the game away to DPE. Nebraska came back to tie a game that they never should have been in and won in OT.

Riley:

33-28 loss at home to BYU. Lost on a hail mary.

48-9 win at home over S. Alabama. A blowout of a bad team.

36-33 OT loss at Miami. Nebraska came out flat for most of the game and Miami left a lot of points on the table in the middle/end of the game. Nebraska came back in a game that they never should have been in thanks to some poor coaching decisions by Miami but lost in OT.

Don't those Iowa and Miami games sound fairly similar? BYU is ranked in the low 20s just like Minnesota was after the win. Those games sound pretty similar as well.

Nebraska gave up 471 yard per game in those 3 games in 2014, giving up tons of rushing yards. Nebraska gave up 511 yards per game to Miami and BYU, giving up tons of passing yards.

My two favorite computer ranking systems are the Sagarin Rankings and the F/+ Rankings by Football Outsiders. Nebraska is currently ranked #30 in both. At the end of 2014 Nebraska finished #29 in Sagarin and #30 in the F/+ rankings. Again, about the same.

This team obvious has a lot of issues, some of them very serious. But that's just the type of team this was at the end of last season. It hasn't gotten better yet. There are just different issues. But the difference is that we are in game 3 as opposed to the end of year 7. I'm excited about what Riley's teams will do once they are fully comfortable with the new schemes and consist of more players that were actually recruited to play in them. GBR.

[commando]

i am glad i am not the only poster who didn't get the memo that we are all suppose to be bashing the new coaches in every possible way in every post

[GBRedneck]

Good OP. FYI, the Sagarin rankings are heavily influenced by last season's results until somewhere around the 5th or 6th game when there are enough transitive matchups to connect all the teams.