Welcome to the Twilight Zone

[DomiNUs]

 

 

In the season-opening, Hail Mary loss to Brigham Young, Nebraska’s win probability, calculated by ESPN, reached 98.5 percent before the final play. It was the highest figure this season of any team to lose -- until the Huskers topped out at 99.5 percent before the third-down mistake Saturday.

 

 

Well, five games in, it’s just as bizarre as ever.

"The fact of the matter," Riley said, "we’ve had a string of games like I’ve never seen."

 

Link

 

As we all know, this season is not going how the majority of us expected. Especially considering the circumstances surrounding our losses. Reading through this article made me think that this season has come straight out of the Twilight Zone. I have to believe that we will get out of this shortly, too many crazy things to happen to one team in the span of 5 games, and the turnaround will happen under Mike Riley.

 

My question to the board is when do you think we will get out of this funk?

[Thanks_Tom RR]

When the coaches stop forcing square pegs into round holes on defense. With nearly the same personnel, our secondary has gone from one of the best to one of the worst in one year. That is scheme.

 

On offense, they need to be better game managers. We have one of the worst 3rd Down Conversions in the nation, many of these misses coming during 3rd & short (1 yard even). Our OC says these type of downs are pass plays, but we have personnel, like Jano, that would allow for a physical run game. Clock management has been a well documented disaster.

[Huskers19911]

Hopefully this week. Wisconsin is down compared to previous years. I support the team and believe we can still have success. Besides the Illinois game, I think we have the same record under Bo. He would have won last week. Very poor play calling. If we can establish a run game with Oz and Jano, we can have success with more adjustments on defense.

 

In probability, we struggle every game for the rest of this year. I want this staff to work, and bring success in future years. It takes time to change the culture of a program, and we are weak in certain areas right now due to recruiting, and DPE being out.

 

This weeks game offers an opportunity to see where this season is heading. Hopefully coaches make the necessary adjustments and the players come out with a chip on their shoulder.

[Hunter94]

i hope the hell Riley and his merry men reviewed the game film.......lots to learn from this one.

[Huskers19911]

When the coaches stop forcing square pegs into round holes on defense. With nearly the same personnel, our secondary has gone from one of the best to one of the worst in one year. That is scheme.

Agree that it is scheme. Last year we gave up a ton against the run, but we weren't rated nearly as low against the run. Teams didn't pass as much, since the run was effective. This year, teams are trying to run more, but we stop them more frequently. Obviously, this year is still up in the air on run defense, since we will be attacked more with the run on the remainder of our schedule.

[Kernal]

If we don't get out of the funk this week versus Wisconsin, I'm afraid of what will happen to the team's confidence. Hoping we get on track this week.

[DomiNUs]

Hopefully this week. Wisconsin is down compared to previous years. I support the team and believe we can still have success. Besides the Illinois game, I think we have the same record under Bo. He would have won last week. Very poor play calling. If we can establish a run game with Oz and Jano, we can have success with more adjustments on defense.

 

In probability, we struggle every game for the rest of this year. I want this staff to work, and bring success in future years. It takes time to change the culture of a program, and we are weak in certain areas right now due to recruiting, and DPE being out.

 

This weeks game offers an opportunity to see where this season is heading. Hopefully coaches make the necessary adjustments and the players come out with a chip on their shoulder.

I think what you said about culture of the program is true, it needs to change. Besides our coaches needing to pull their heads out of their keisters, this might be the next most important thing to get in front of. I do think this can be changed rather quickly though, unlike other issues like installing schemes and personnel shortages.

[DomiNUs]

When the coaches stop forcing square pegs into round holes on defense. With nearly the same personnel, our secondary has gone from one of the best to one of the worst in one year. That is scheme.

 

On offense, they need to be better game managers. We have one of the worst 3rd Down Conversions in the nation, many of these misses coming during 3rd & short (1 yard even). Our OC says these type of downs are pass plays, but we have personnel, like Jano, that would allow for a physical run game. Clock management has been a well documented disaster.

 

Wow. Did he really say that? Or is that something that is implied? Not trying to stir up controversy, just wondering if he really said it out loud, because it's been implied by the playcalling.

[Igetbored216]

If they can string a few wins together, it would help this team start to believe in their coaches and the new schemes. I think it would help the fans too. I know it would help me as I am really wanting to believe.

[DomiNUs]

If we don't get out of the funk this week versus Wisconsin, I'm afraid of what will happen to the team's confidence. Hoping we get on track this week.

 

I just have a weird feeling about Wisconsin. I'm not nervous about it at all. For some reason, I think we are going to win convincingly. Of course I am probably wrong, but this is just a gut feeling.

[Hunter94]

 

If we don't get out of the funk this week versus Wisconsin, I'm afraid of what will happen to the team's confidence. Hoping we get on track this week.

 

I just have a weird feeling about Wisconsin. I'm not nervous about it at all. For some reason, I think we are going to win convincingly. Of course I am probably wrong, but this is just a gut feeling.

 

take some Pepto and call me Sunday morning!

[Kernal]

 

If we don't get out of the funk this week versus Wisconsin, I'm afraid of what will happen to the team's confidence. Hoping we get on track this week.

 

I just have a weird feeling about Wisconsin. I'm not nervous about it at all. For some reason, I think we are going to win convincingly. Of course I am probably wrong, but this is just a gut feeling.

 

 

This isn't a vintage Wisconsin run team, but they do have a good defense this year and our own offense and defense have been unpredictable and inconsistent. I hope for the players sakes we have a great week of preparation and enter the game with confidence, and that the coaches have a solid gameplan to put Wisconsin away early.

 

Wisconsin players have a ton of confidence playing Nebraska due to past results. We need to hit them early and often and keep momentum on our side.

[brophog]

Wisconsin has given up 13 points since the opener against Bama. 10 of those were in that 4 turnover game last week vs Iowa.

 

Yeah, it's aagainst a weak schedule but this defense will be a great test for our offense.

[MichiganDad3]

The Wisconsin D worries me. They will make TA pass, and this staff will be happy to oblige. I think this will cause us to lose the TO battle. I would still like our chances, but we have too many injuries on defense to keep the score low enough to give us a strong chance of winning. Also, MR has to be up by 9 or more with 2 minutes to go, or he will find a way to give the game away.

[lo country]

 

When the coaches stop forcing square pegs into round holes on defense. With nearly the same personnel, our secondary has gone from one of the best to one of the worst in one year. That is scheme.

 

On offense, they need to be better game managers. We have one of the worst 3rd Down Conversions in the nation, many of these misses coming during 3rd & short (1 yard even). Our OC says these type of downs are pass plays, but we have personnel, like Jano, that would allow for a physical run game. Clock management has been a well documented disaster.

 

Wow. Did he really say that? Or is that something that is implied? Not trying to stir up controversy, just wondering if he really said it out loud, because it's been implied by the playcalling.

 

Here are his comments and the stats....... We do not have an OC that comprehends the running game.

Heading into the game, the Huskers were converting on 41.2 percent of their third downs, which is middle of the pack at No. 62 in the country. On Saturday, the Huskers converted just four of their 17 chances, or 23.5 percent.

 

Here’s the breakdown: Nebraska went with a pass on 12 of the plays, a run by quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. on three of them and a run by fullback Andy Janovich on the other two.

Armstrong went 2-of-11 with an interception and a sack, with one of his completions to tight end Cethan Carter for 55 yards and the other to Terrell Newby out of the backfield for four yards on third-and-16.

Armstrong busted off a 32-yard scramble, but his other two carries went for two on third and three and for a loss of three on third and five. Janovich carried the ball for gains of four and 10, converting both times, and both were on the drive preceding the Illinois game-winner.

Again, three of Nebraska’s four conversion were via the run. But they only ran it five times. Why?

“It’s hard to convert third-and-6, third-and-7 runs all the time,” offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf said. “I think you can get them occasionally.”

True. However, Nebraska had third-and-4 or less seven times. They threw it four times, all of them incomplete, and ran three times, with two conversions by Janovich during a clock-chewing drive.

Nebraska had a third-and-5 or 6 four times. It converted two with the big run by Armstrong and the big pass to Carter, ran for a loss of three on one and threw an incompletion on the fourth. The Huskers had six third downs of 7 or more yards and didn’t convert any of them, going 1 of 5 through the air with an interception and a sack.

“Success on those early downs can get us in those third-and-2, third-and-3 situations where we feel pretty good about running it,” Langsdorf continued. “But we really had some things going in the passing game. We thought we had some open plays that we didn’t connect on. But I like where we’re at with the run. We had good production there. We ran hard and stuck with it.”

http://hailvarsity.com/news/commentary/run-the-ball/2015/10/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=2015_10_05_Runtheball_3&inf_contact_key=13b766c933cbdf1485a3c0d310bad588f1f426ac8db7a496e0c4e3870c27dafb