Athlon: 5 Reasons Nebraska Should be Patient With Mike Riley After a 2-3 Start

[AFhusker]

 

 

 

 

#1 only works if it is indeed luck. Miami maybe if you stretch dropped balls in as bad luck but BYU and definately Illinois were far more about a complete lack of competent clock management than it was luck.

Don't forget dumb players in the secondary who blew coverages. Esp on the hail mary....that is all on the players....just knock the ball down as there were 7 of us and 3 of them.

Saying that about the players is cold. Hopefully you won't ever have to hear people say that about your kids playing a game

The truth hurts. They are young adults, not pee wee age kids. This sediment is ridiculous as kids screw up and it isn't always on the coaches when they do.

The truth is that if this staff understood clock management the BYU and Illinois games would be in the win column, they never would have come down to last second plays.

 

But, in their defense, when you don't win that much I guess that running the clock out is a foreign concept.

 

You are right about the Illinois game, the BYU game was Tommy snapping the ball while the clock was still in the teens on several occasions.

[NebraskaHarry]

I'm sorry, but point one is complete b******t.

 

How many times have we heard Dr. Tom say in the past that the team needs to play so bad bounces/luck/officiating don't take the game out of your hands? In each of these losses, there were a mountain of mistakes during the game that led to needing last-minute/second heroics.

 

For BYU, we had the breakdowns in the secondary, poor offensive playcalling (especially on 3rd down), mismanagement of the clock, RBs, and the running game. Getting the running game on track to help get one of the THREE 3rd downs we failed to convert would helped to salt the game away.

 

For Miami, we had breakdowns in the secondary that weren't fixed until after we spotted Miami a 17-point lead, poor O-Line play due to coach mismanagement (read: not subbing out O-Line players during the game), poor clock management, and questionable offensive playcalling re: running game. Yeah, it's great that the team came back and took it to OT...but it shouldn't have been that way in the first place.

 

For Southern Miss, we had poor O-Line play, breakdowns in the secondary (4th quarter), questionable offensive playcalling, mismanagement of the running game, and extremely poor execution and playcalling in the Red Zone. That game shouldn't have been nearly as close as it was.

 

For Illinois, we had breakdowns in the secondary, questionable offensive playcalling, poor clock management by the coaching staff, and a complete mishandling of the running game and RBs. The game, had the OC and staff ran the f*****g ball, could have put this game away in the 3rd quarter, had they not bungled it so. And the defense...yeah, it was statistically better against the pass...but realistically, the weather played a significant factor in the ability for either team to complete a pass.

 

I'm sorry, but you make your own luck in games--through winning the intangibles (e.g. turnover battle), limiting stupid mistakes (including coach mismanagement), and putting your kids in a position to win through paying attention to the flow of the game. NONE of that happened during our losses until too late, and that it's happening with a coaching staff that was advertised to fans as being seasoned enough to avoid these problems is pretty damning.

 

We're losing our games not due to last-minute plays, but by what ISN'T being done in the 59:00 minutes before. And frankly, I don't know what's worse--that you have articles trying to defend Riley by saying it's purely "Luck", or that people on these boards that followed the team during the Dr. Tom days actually believe this s**t.

[Blackshirt_Revival]

I'm sorry, but point one is complete b******t.

 

How many times have we heard Dr. Tom say in the past that the team needs to play so bad bounces/luck/officiating don't take the game out of your hands? In each of these losses, there were a mountain of mistakes during the game that led to needing last-minute/second heroics.

 

For BYU, we had the breakdowns in the secondary, poor offensive playcalling (especially on 3rd down), mismanagement of the clock, RBs, and the running game. Getting the running game on track to help get one of the THREE 3rd downs we failed to convert would helped to salt the game away.

 

For Miami, we had breakdowns in the secondary that weren't fixed until after we spotted Miami a 17-point lead, poor O-Line play due to coach mismanagement (read: not subbing out O-Line players during the game), poor clock management, and questionable offensive playcalling re: running game. Yeah, it's great that the team came back and took it to OT...but it shouldn't have been that way in the first place.

 

For Southern Miss, we had poor O-Line play, breakdowns in the secondary (4th quarter), questionable offensive playcalling, mismanagement of the running game, and extremely poor execution and playcalling in the Red Zone. That game shouldn't have been nearly as close as it was.

 

For Illinois, we had breakdowns in the secondary, questionable offensive playcalling, poor clock management by the coaching staff, and a complete mishandling of the running game and RBs. The game, had the OC and staff ran the f*****g ball, could have put this game away in the 3rd quarter, had they not bungled it so. And the defense...yeah, it was statistically better against the pass...but realistically, the weather played a significant factor in the ability for either team to complete a pass.

 

I'm sorry, but you make your own luck in games--through winning the intangibles (e.g. turnover battle), limiting stupid mistakes (including coach mismanagement), and putting your kids in a position to win through paying attention to the flow of the game. NONE of that happened during our losses until too late, and that it's happening with a coaching staff that was advertised to fans as being seasoned enough to avoid these problems is pretty damning.

 

We're losing our games not due to last-minute plays, but by what ISN'T being done in the 59:00 minutes before. And frankly, I don't know what's worse--that you have articles trying to defend Riley by saying it's purely "Luck", or that people on these boards that followed the team during the Dr. Tom days actually believe this s**t.

[cheekygeek]

 

I'm all about being patient with a new staff, new system, etc. But what I can't be patient about is the WAY we are losing. We would have at least two more wins (BYU and Illinois) if this veteran coaching staff showed that they understand basic clock management. And in the Miami game, the main reason we got back into it was because their staff didn't understand basic clock management.

 

It is sad when virtually every Nebraska fan watching the game knows what the percentages say would be prudent to call next (run vs pass) and then the team does the exact opposite.

[admo]

I still think this team is better than it's won-loss record. Of all the reasons mentioned, the biggest hurdle for this team is learning how to finish. Every player has his own matchup (responsibility) within each play. These guys need to out perform the guys across from them one play at a time. When it's close in the fourth quarter, be smart and make a play. Then do it again and again....finish off your opponent when the opportunity is at hand. I call it a dagger. Needs to happen on defense as much as offense.

 

And from the looks of it, most of these games come down to the 4th Quarter with 8 minutes left in game.

 

Finish them off by making the dagger play.

[cheekygeek]

[Husker67]

The fact that Nebraska could be and should be 4-1 does not mask the real issues. Nor would going to a bowl.

 

Athlon missed the boat on that article. Given Mike Riley's career record of just barely over .500, did anyone really think that he was going to wave a magic wand at Nebraska and take them from a perennial 9-4 team to a national championship in say 3 years. Since about 1998, there have been quite a few coaches who won a championship in their second or third year at a new school. Saban did it twice, Meyer has done it twice, Miles, Stoops, Tressel, even Gene Chizik at Auburn for crying out loud.

 

Does anyone really think Riley's offense is built for the long haul in the midwest? Riley has been coaching a long time and has a career record, again, of just over .500. To ask him to suddenly improve to being an .800 coach just because he changed addresses is almost unfair to him. He is what he is at this point. The excuse for him in Corvallis was that he couldn't compete against the money at Oregon. Well, Art Briles at Baylor and Gary Patterson at TCU have turned the tide on Texas in that football-rich state. I'm all for being patient, but really, Riley has had plenty of college coaching experience and is barely breaking even, so how long should we wait for him to suddenly become a great coach?

 

I just don't see this as being the answer to a 16 year conference championship and 18 year national championship drought. Callahan's best year, 2006, will probably be Riley's ceiling as far as a record is concerned So, we can be patient, but we will be patient for a 9-4 or if we're lucky 10-4 type of season.

[zoogs]

The fact that Nebraska could be and should be 4-1 does not mask the real issues. Nor would going to a bowl.

I agree with this. Heck, we are two 99% win chance in the final minute games away from being 4-1 right now -- but none of the issues would change. Concerns about defense? Check. Worries about DE recruiting? Check. Culture hangover? Well, it wouldn't have been put to as much of a test just yet, but the season is long. Coaches who should know better about time management or maybe not asking your returning injured player to field a punt? Check.

 

We'd all feel a little better, maybe, but it'd be window dressing. Smoke and mirrors.

 

The reclamation project at Nebraska, also called the "Please Don't Be Two Decades Between Conference Titles" initiative, is a long-term grind. We have no idea if these coaches can or will get us there. It won't be easy, and it was never going to be.

 

For now, though, let's be glad that the coaching staff handles themselves with complete class. That's been missing here. Let's cheer them on and know that all parties -- AD, current coaches, fans, players -- understand that if it doesn't get done, someone else (equally professional, one would hope) will get their own 4-5 year window to do it here.

 

So in that sense, I completely agree with the thrust of this article. There's no reason to lose our heads.

[Husker67]

 

The fact that Nebraska could be and should be 4-1 does not mask the real issues. Nor would going to a bowl.

I agree with this. Heck, we are two 99% win chance in the final minute games away from being 4-1 right now -- but none of the issues would change. Concerns about defense? Check. Worries about DE recruiting? Check. Culture hangover? Well, it wouldn't have been put to as much of a test just yet, but the season is long. Coaches who should know better about time management or maybe not asking your returning injured player to field a punt? Check.

 

We'd all feel a little better, maybe, but it'd be window dressing. Smoke and mirrors.

 

The reclamation project at Nebraska, also called the "Please Don't Be Two Decades Between Conference Titles" initiative, is a long-term grind. We have no idea if these coaches can or will get us there. It won't be easy, and it was never going to be.

 

For now, though, let's be glad that the coaching staff handles themselves with complete class. That's been missing here. Let's cheer them on and know that all parties -- AD, current coaches, fans, players -- understand that if it doesn't get done, someone else (equally professional, one would hope) will get their own 4-5 year window to do it here.

 

So in that sense, I completely agree with the thrust of this article. There's no reason to lose our heads.

 

I hear you, Zoogs. I'm not necessarily losing my head, although I did fling my hat across the house on the third down play last week, my head wasn't in it. But, I do think we can wait this out and I think this looks like Callahan all over. With that being said, I think it sets recruiting back again. I guess I'm not a fan of this type of offense and probably never will be no matter what. Nothing personal, just not my type of offense.

[zoogs]

I actually love the recruiting operation we have going right now. Those guys Riley brought on -- Van De Riet, Gunderson, McShane, O'Bryan, maybe others -- are really good. The message is extremely positive and I see the N brand being strengthened.

 

One of the things that made me sick in recent years was this idea that kept being promulgated in service of defending Bo Pelini, that Nebraska was so hard to recruit to, etc, who wants to come here. Everything was so defensive with that staff. Sure, there's challenges, but *everything* right now takes all of Nebraska's many tremendous positives and selling the heck out of them.

 

So, that's why I'm not worried. Even if they flunk on the field, they're doing a great job of laying groundwork. After Bo "That's What's Wrong With That Place" Pelini, telling his team that the fans, ex-players, and media here were enough to make anyone's life miserable, we have so much momentum regarding how great a place Nebraska is to play, coach, or be a student.

 

If/when Riley's tenure fizzles out, it should hopefully be a *much stronger* and healthier situation for the next guy to walk into. That, already, is no small accomplishment (though it's also not enough to keep him employed here forever).