49

[Red Five]

I didn't get to really watch the game (was moving) but I'm guess it was "run the RB right up the center's ass" over and over, no? Anyone have a breakdown?

 

See True's thread

 

http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/77085-creativity-in-the-run-game/

[Hunter94]

throwing the ball 49 times is bullsh#t, it is an admission that we don't know what the f#*k else to do.......Jano should get 10 touches per game, stop making Tommie throw until he gets picked, Langs is an idiot, a QB who hits less than 50% has no damn business throwing 49 times, our coaches are stupid!

[huskerfan92]

I didn't get to really watch the game (was moving) but I'm guess it was "run the RB right up the center's ass" over and over, no? Anyone have a breakdown?

 

Same as the other losses. Incorrect personnel used in the back field. Dropped passes. Offense looking lost, but the occasional miracle conversion on 3rd and long that gets your hopes up. Defense folds again in the 4th quarter. Same story different week.

[lo country]

 

I didn't get to really watch the game (was moving) but I'm guess it was "run the RB right up the center's ass" over and over, no? Anyone have a breakdown?

 

Same as the other losses. Incorrect personnel used in the back field. Dropped passes. Offense looking lost, but the occasional miracle conversion on 3rd and long that gets your hopes up. Defense folds again in the 4th quarter. Same story different week.

 

Rinse, repeat........

[Enhance]

I don't think the run or pass game has any continuity to it. I see too much we are going to try and take what they give us and too little this is what we like to do.

This is the biggest problem with Nebraska. For years, we've danced around concepts without ever really committing to a hard and fast style, whatever that style might be.

 

Continuity is a huge issue. It's not so much in play calls, though, but mentality. Screens, rollouts, shotgun, timing routes, etc., are things you'll see in all types of passing offenses. But, if your players can't make plays when they have to, it all looks bad.

 

I also feel like this team doesn't really know what they want to do in key situations. On 3rd & 2, what are we best at? I don't think even the coaches know.

[Mavric]

On 3rd & 2, what are we best at? I don't think even the coaches know.

For this last week anyway, it was pretty obvious what we were best at and what the coaches thought we were best at.

 

They were not the same thing.

[NU5XChamps]

Throwing the ball 49 times had nothing to do with the defense giving up 30 points to that pathetic offense for NW. That is why we are losing. It has been said several times that the defense gets tired, worn down because of the style of offense that MR and DL run. However, in this game we had more plays (20+) in the game than NW and had the advantage in time of possession (15+ Minutes) and the defense still caved in the 4th quarter. Do we need to run more, YES, is that why we are losing NO.

 

It is the defense that is causing us to lose, in fact, it is the pass defense. Our DB's can't seem to stay with their guy or they can't seem to find the ball when it is right over their heads. Stop the whining about running the ball. Starting whining about the EXECUTION of the DEFENSIVE SCHEME!!!

[beorach]

We didn't hire a coach who's going to install the kind of power running game we've enjoyed traditionally. That's the situation until he retires or is fired. I know enough to know I don't know enough to make the kinds of definitive statements the OP did above. What I do know is that: MR didn't inherit a squad that was as talented as last year's; the team hasn't been ranked since 2012 (and it wound up ranked just 25th in the final AP poll despite two blowout losses); and the team doesn't appear to be entirely unified and motivated. With regard to that last note, I wonder why it is we expect kids to do what we old folks can't. We have some fans who refuse to buy in due to egos and ignorance - just speaking generally and not pointing fingers at anyone. You have the Bolievers who want to be right. You have the folks who think TO won championships with the same level of talent the program has currently. I get that we want to win "the Nebraska way" and that it's almost unavoidable if you believe that Lincoln will never import the kind of talent Columbus does. What's written on the outside of the stadium makes sense. It's not about the W-L record so much as each Cornhusker player taking care of his business. That should mean the team is greater than the sum of its parts...synergy, whatever...and the W-L record should then be respectable given relative talent being what it is. Damon Benning said something along the lines of how this team isn't playing good football and worrying about whether it's Husker football or not is pointless in light of that. I don't know what's reasonable to hope for in the remainder of this season but it'd be great to see only the kids who want to play on the field from here on out. I doubt there are any posters here who couldn't get on board with being a Cornhusker regardless of the coach. Everyone seems to hate Callahan but it doesn't mean we don't appreciate Joe Ganz, for example.

[VectorVictor]

Throwing the ball 49 times had nothing to do with the defense giving up 30 points to that pathetic offense for NW. That is why we are losing. It has been said several times that the defense gets tired, worn down because of the style of offense that MR and DL run. However, in this game we had more plays (20+) in the game than NW and had the advantage in time of possession (15+ Minutes) and the defense still caved in the 4th quarter. Do we need to run more, YES, is that why we are losing NO.

 

It is the defense that is causing us to lose, in fact, it is the pass defense. Our DB's can't seem to stay with their guy or they can't seem to find the ball when it is right over their heads. Stop the whining about running the ball. Starting whining about the EXECUTION of the DEFENSIVE SCHEME!!!

 

Um...yeah, it kinda does. When your offense continues to put up 3 and outs and doesn't mount consistent, sustained drives, it doesn't give your defense time to rest and stay fresh. It's also part of the reason why this team continues to fail defensively in the 4th quarter--the offense continues to fail to do their part in eating clock, sustaining drives, and running the ball effectively to beat up the opposing defense in the 59:00 preceeding.

 

Of course, there's a lot that can be said about Banker's "El Matador" defensive pass protection and how our Secondary Defensive players that were on the field last season have, to a man, significantly regressed since last year. Or how Banker likes to give opposing receivers +/- 30 yard buffers to prevent giving up the long ball (I'm kidding--they're only +/- 10 yard buffers).

 

But to put all of this loss on the shoulders of the defense? Sorry, but no.

[Mavric]

 

Throwing the ball 49 times had nothing to do with the defense giving up 30 points to that pathetic offense for NW. That is why we are losing. It has been said several times that the defense gets tired, worn down because of the style of offense that MR and DL run. However, in this game we had more plays (20+) in the game than NW and had the advantage in time of possession (15+ Minutes) and the defense still caved in the 4th quarter. Do we need to run more, YES, is that why we are losing NO.

 

It is the defense that is causing us to lose, in fact, it is the pass defense. Our DB's can't seem to stay with their guy or they can't seem to find the ball when it is right over their heads. Stop the whining about running the ball. Starting whining about the EXECUTION of the DEFENSIVE SCHEME!!!

 

Um...yeah, it kinda does. When your offense continues to put up 3 and outs and doesn't mount consistent, sustained drives, it doesn't give your defense time to rest and stay fresh. It's also part of the reason why this team continues to fail defensively in the 4th quarter--the offense continues to fail to do their part in eating clock, sustaining drives, and running the ball effectively to beat up the opposing defense in the 59:00 preceeding.

 

Of course, there's a lot that can be said about Banker's "El Matador" defensive pass protection and how our Secondary Defensive players that were on the field last season have, to a man, significantly regressed since last year. Or how Banker likes to give opposing receivers +/- 30 yard buffers to prevent giving up the long ball (I'm kidding--they're only +/- 10 yard buffers).

 

But to put all of this loss on the shoulders of the defense? Sorry, but no.

 

 

Did we even have any 3 & outs? Maybe a couple? We held the ball for 38 minutes so I have a hard time buying the fatigue factor.

 

Although technically the defense "only" gave up 23.....

[beorach]

The defense, outside a couple of plays, gave "us" a chance to put some distance between us and Northwestern (if not away) if our offense had executed better in the first half.

[Enhance]

Throwing the ball 49 times had nothing to do with the defense giving up 30 points to that pathetic offense for NW. That is why we are losing. It has been said several times that the defense gets tired, worn down because of the style of offense that MR and DL run. However, in this game we had more plays (20+) in the game than NW and had the advantage in time of possession (15+ Minutes) and the defense still caved in the 4th quarter. Do we need to run more, YES, is that why we are losing NO.

 

It is the defense that is causing us to lose, in fact, it is the pass defense. Our DB's can't seem to stay with their guy or they can't seem to find the ball when it is right over their heads. Stop the whining about running the ball. Starting whining about the EXECUTION of the DEFENSIVE SCHEME!!!

IMHO, the bolded is wrong. 49 attempts is just the surface problem. If you can complete 35-40 of those that's great.

 

The bigger problem is when you only complete 24 - that means we had 25 plays Saturday that amounted to absolutely nothing. 25 times the ball hit the turf and cost a down. 27 times if you count the two sacks TA had.

 

And Mavric, we had several 3 & Outs. We were 9/20 on 3rd down and we've been equivalent to that or worse all season.

 

I'm not giving the defense a reprieve - they do cave and they have shown that when it's time to buckle down and make a statement they can't do it. But, our offense is just as responsible for the reasons we're losing games as the defense is. Our defense played their butts off in the 1st half and our offense managed 1 TD, 2 field goals and had a pick 6.

 

The Wildcats had given up almost 80 points their last two games. They were susceptible and they didn't look very good defensively IMHO. We just aren't very good offensively.

[Mavric]

And Mavric, we had several 3 & Outs. We were 9/20 on 3rd down and we've been equivalent to that or worse all season.

I'm sure you know this but failing to convert on third down is not the same as going three and out. About 50% on third down isn't all that bad. Considering the stats, if we'd run it more on third and short we probably would have been over 50%.

 

Looking at the game stats, we went three and out four times. The last play of the first quarter was an incomplete pass, then we ran for 7 yards and threw incomplete on 3rd & 3. The following drive we ran for 9 on first down, lost a yard running on second down and three incomplete on 3rd & 2. Then the first possession of the fourth quarter we ran for 2, passed for five and threw incomplete on 3rd & 3. The next time we had the ball we went incompletion, incompletion, sack.

 

So on our four three and outs, twice we passed on 3rd & short after running got us in good shape, once we passed on third and short after a run and a pass and once we called pass plays on all three downs. There would seem to be a pattern there.

[Enhance]

 

And Mavric, we had several 3 & Outs. We were 9/20 on 3rd down and we've been equivalent to that or worse all season.

I'm sure you know this but failing to convert on third down is not the same as going three and out. About 50% on third down isn't all that bad. Considering the stats, if we'd run it more on third and short we probably would have been over 50%.

 

Looking at the game stats, we went three and out four times. The last play of the first quarter was an incomplete pass, then we ran for 7 yards and threw incomplete on 3rd & 3. The following drive we ran for 9 on first down, lost a yard running on second down and three incomplete on 3rd & 2. Then the first possession of the fourth quarter we ran for 2, passed for five and threw incomplete on 3rd & 3. The next time we had the ball we went incompletion, incompletion, sack.

 

So on our four three and outs, twice we passed on 3rd & short after running got us in good shape, once we passed on third and short after a run and a pass and once we called pass plays on all three downs. There would seem to be a pattern there.

 

Yeah that was my bad. I just misread what you were saying.

[Joe_5700]

We had the ball for approximately 75% of the game. Their D should have been gassed. As mentioned above, where was Jano.

 

The bottom line is we have hired a staff, that like Cally, is married to a system that doesn't fit the talent we have on hand. OK. I get that. So for sh!ts and giggles lets give him time to get "his guys" here. You know what we will have then? The same sh!t show he had in the PAC 12. A .536 record and a bottom feeding program that gets farther and farther away from the top. Its not his current performance (3-5), but his cumulative body of work that says the guy is average at best.

 

In 13 seasons, he has (4) 9+ wins and never finished ranked higher than 20..... His best season? 10-4. Guess what, he finished ranked #21 that year. Why. Because he still lost 4 friggin games. Awesome. Why the hell did we hire this guy with this awesome record of getting it done? What in his body of works says he's a good coach or will "get us back". Absolutely nothing. Nada, zip.

 

This staff is showing the best they can do. Keep the losses respectable. Maybe catch a break or two and we are 6-2. Guess what. Even if we then won 2 more we are at 8 wins and 4 losses. not bad, but that isn't predicted on good coaching, athleticism etc.... Its on plain old fashioned luck. Never should have been in the position to allow BYU, NW, Illinoi or Wisky to even be close. Poor clock management, play calling, scheme etc cost us those games.... Not lack of athleticism. No way these kids (seniors- Soph) were that bad under Bo. Hell they are all 9 game winners. They had talent to win at least 9 every friggin year they were here. Then in comes Mr Rogers (the anti Bo) and this is what we get. The same kids who were good enough to win 9, now might lose out. Kids my a$$. Thats Riley and this craptastic staff he's put together.

 

Al I want to hear at the press conference is that he will be making some significant staff changes at the end of the season. Apologize to the team, school and fans for bringing some of this staff and that everyone deserves better. Then walk off and start looking at some serious pipe hitters to bring in.

^That times 1,000...