Benning is all about the effort

[teachercd]

Banker said he just wants them playing fast

[Mavric]

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the story - according to many - over the last several years when the team came out flat or played uninspired was the blame was to be placed the blame on the coaches for not having the team ready to play.

 

Personally, its a problem of both coaches and players. Coaches can only help so much, but at some point a player has to put on his big boy pants.

 

Also, not sure we can compare yet since the vast majority of the guys on the field are Bo's players and have a history of laying eggs. If Riley is still having this problem when he is 3 or 4 years into his tenure (if he makes it that long), then we can draw more conclusions.

 

 

I don't personally blame the coaches directly for motivation. If a player can't motivate themselves, they're probably not going to be that good. A coach can maybe bring it out of you a little more or provide some focus but it's up to the players.

 

However, it's been pretty obvious over the last few years that a lot of people wanted to blame the coaches for everything. I guess who you blame changes a lot based on whether you like the coach or not.

 

All that being said, I do there coaches can have an indirect impact on motivation. In this year's case, the lack of success has to have some effect on motivation. It can't be as easy to get fired up after losing a bunch of games like we have. And if the players are starting to get as frustrated as many fans are at the coaches seeming inability to put the players in a position to succeed, that won't help matters.

[Mavric]

Banker said he just wants them playing fast

 

Are we playing faster because we're always chasing the other team's players down the field?

[HuskerInLostWages]

 

It's almost worse that he won't name names and give exact examples. He makes these broad proclamations and innuendos. So instead of calling out the offenders, he effectively casts doubt on the whole team.

 

Figured that would be the response. He has said watch the last drive and it will be obvious. If I had the ability/time/know how, I would love to rewatch the last drive and make gifs to illustrate. Maybe someone here can?

 

One that stands out to me overall from the last game...Turner. He stopped his run and then realized he was thrown the ball and had he continued his route he has a sure TD(if he actually decided to catch the ball that is).

[Danny Bateman]

 

It's almost worse that he won't name names and give exact examples. He makes these broad proclamations and innuendos. So instead of calling out the offenders, he effectively casts doubt on the whole team.

 

Figured that would be the response. He has said watch the last drive and it will be obvious. If I had the ability/time/know how, I would love to rewatch the last drive and make gifs to illustrate. Maybe someone here can?

 

FYI, you can rematch most (if not all) games via Watch ESPN online if you have a subscriber log-in through your TV provider.

 

It was lots of little things that added up killing us. Malik dogged it on one early run play. The safeties, despite knowing NW was probably just trying to run clock, played soft up high and didn't fly down to help in the run game.

 

The biggest one was a simple swing pass to Jackson in the flat. Whoever had coverage whiffed, JJ started up the sideline, and our backside defense was jogging after him. I guess they assumed the first guy would make the play. He ended up making a few more guys miss downfield and the play went for 28.

 

That's just straight up lack of hustle. No way around it. Not playing through the whistle.

[Red Five]

 

 

 

Banker said he just wants them playing fast

 

Are we playing faster because we're always chasing the other team's players down the field?

 

 

I don't think anyone was fast chasing the NW QB down the sidelines...

 

(Also, Bando has to still be hurt, right? I mean...)

[Danny Bateman]

 

 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the story - according to many - over the last several years when the team came out flat or played uninspired was the blame was to be placed the blame on the coaches for not having the team ready to play.

 

 

I don't think you're wrong.

 

I do think fans, and apparently even some ex players, see a lackluster performance and believe that "effort" is the issue. Teams don't "effort" their way to wins (almost ever). It's about execution. And execution is about coaches preparing players during the week and then running their system in a way that leads to a higher probability of success.

 

"Effort" isn't really as big of a factor as many want it to be.

 

I will have to disagree with this. Execution is a direct result of effort.

 

 

 

I couldn't disagree more if you're defining "effort" as "selling out for the play" attitude. I love the latter when combined with proper execution, but if you're going 100 mph the wrong way, you're still going the wrong way.

 

 

In other words, a lack of effort may get you beat, but a lack of execution will always get you beat.

 

Effort is an all encompassing, all the time thing. If you're not giving full effort, your prep leading up to games is going to suffer. If you just go through the motions throughout the week, I guarantee you're not maximizing your execution.

 

In that sense, effort almost dictates execution.

[Red Five]

 

 

It's almost worse that he won't name names and give exact examples. He makes these broad proclamations and innuendos. So instead of calling out the offenders, he effectively casts doubt on the whole team.

 

Figured that would be the response. He has said watch the last drive and it will be obvious. If I had the ability/time/know how, I would love to rewatch the last drive and make gifs to illustrate. Maybe someone here can?

 

FYI, you can rematch most (if not all) games via Watch ESPN online if you have a subscriber log-in through your TV provider.

 

It was lots of little things that added up killing us. Malik dogged it on one early run play. The safeties, despite knowing NW was probably just trying to run clock, played soft up high and didn't fly down to help in the run game.

 

The biggest one was a simple swing pass to Jackson in the flat. Whoever had coverage whiffed, JJ started up the sideline, and our backside defense was jogging after him. I guess they assumed the first guy would make the play. He ended up making a few more guys miss downfield and the play went for 28.

 

That's just straight up lack of hustle. No way around it. Not playing through the whistle.

 

 

I always forget about the WatchESPN thing. I'll try to look at it tonight. But it would be great is someone more technologically inclined than me could gif some of the plays (cough, True, cough).

 

Thanks for your thoughts on the last drive.

[Elf]

 

 

Sometimes I feel that us fans care more about the team and wins/losses than the players do.

 

Definitely. And I'd wager the fans care far more about the losses than the wins. Meaning, we win and it's "ho-hum, we should have won that game." Very little excitement, very little praise. We nitpick wins because they aren't good enough, then quickly move on and forget them.

 

Losses, though. Whoa boy. A loss fuels every conversation for years. We talk more about our losses to Wisconsin than our wins against Michigan. We talk more about our losses to Minnesota than our wins over Northwestern. Losses are the focus. Just look at the post counts skyrocket after a loss.

 

True. But here's the deal, NE is supposed to be beating most of the teams and contending with the Big Boys, at least theoretically. And Riley was supposedly to take us beyond what Bo accomplished, to the next level, so to speak. Instead, we're in the process of achieving epic levels of losing, so of course the fan base is going to be all riled up, so to speak. We do have a standard 'round here.

 

Losing five games by a combined total of 11 points is "epic levels of losing?"

 

I never expected Riley and Co. to turn this thing around with just spring practice and fall camp.

[Red Five]

The bench is a great motivator but it's not being used. I have no idea why certain guys keep getting to trot out onto the field given their play.

 

You can blame some of it on the players but if the coaches keep putting those guys out there then it's on them.

 

Absolutely! The staff if totally dropping the ball by not punishing the guys who are slacking. They can slack and then be right out there the next week starting again.

[Swiv3D]

First time I saw that picture, I guess I didn't register that that was with 5 minutes left in the game...

 

Hate throwing guys under the bus, but that's embarrassing. It's pretty obvious there are guys on the team who don't care. There just along for the ride. Sad it's gotten to this point. Really hope Riley has an answer.

I don't know if it's that they don't necessarily care, it's just that they clearly gave up at that point. Either way, that's not what a football team at any level is supposed to look like with 5 minutes left in a close game.

[Elf]

I'm looking at this still photograph and wondering what Benning is seeing there that's cause for so much consternation... is it that some back ups are sitting on the bench? Does he not believe players should sit on a bench during a game?

 

I rewatched the game. I don't see a lack of effort, especially defensively. This team actually played pretty well defensively on Saturday.

Benning has been a proponent of Riley for a long time, so he's making excuses now and throwing players under the bus as a result. Pretty sad.

Did you not see all the missed tackles by the defense?

[Blackshirt_Revival]

Maybe the Nebraska Cornhuskers could use a few more guys that really want to play for Nebraska, as in ones who grew up dreaming to do so and would do about anything to do so. Motivation probably wouldn't be such a concern, then.

 

That's my takeaway from reading this thread, anyways.

 

Is that to say we shun recruiting studs nationally? Absolutely not, but this thread just totally reinforces to me why we should have a greater presence of local talent on the team.

 

Instant identity and instant character. Recruiting then compliments your built-in strengths. Built-in motivation, in addition to a sanctuary and support system for the out-of-area guys. Build your OL, DL, LBs, TEs, FBs with mostly local guys. You can build the foundation for a quality a class with kids at these positions within a roughly 500 mile radius of Lincoln. Target the best skill position players nationally who you think will suit what it is we want to do. You will probably have to rely on the bulk of your skill position guys coming from out of that region, but that is not to say you cannot or will not find very good skill position players within that region, either.

 

Seems like a strange way to recruit to some, but once you forge an identity, I think recruiting instantly becomes much better overall (and dare I say, easier?) and more of a match for what it is we want to do as a team. See Stanford who has very high hurdles to jump to get kids on campus to play there due to their admission standards, in spite of their Bay Area location, yet still finds a way to field quality teams with quality players. And by the way, this would basically amount to a slightly updated version of how we recruited and had success here for years.

 

Are things different and harder recruiting this way for Nebraska now? Yes, but I'd counter it's difficult to recruit to Nebraska in any other fashion, as well (relative to most other power programs). Just because it may be difficult (at least at first) to do it this way doesn't stop it from being better than having no real direction or identity (as far as I can tell), mired in a bog of futility, and it's definitely no excuse to abandon the foundation of what truly made our program so great and special and unique for so long. Then again, to do something like this, we'd need a coach and an administration/AD that would have that sort of vision, and who would want/try to forge that identity. Not sure I can identify what Mike Riley's vision for Husker football is, and don't think I care to know what Perlman or Eichorst's vision is.

 

But regardless, even if what you think I'm saying is total rambling nonsense, a coach needs to hold his team accountable, regardless of what kind of system we are running or what players constitute our team--a coach that, while not being an authoritarian by any means, needs to exert his authority and take control of his team, period. And yes, the kids need to be motivated, tuned-in, and have desire to succeed here. Whether that is purely on them to provide that or on the coaches, or both, if I'm the coach of this team, it's definitely something I'm addressing, whether that means looking at my motivational skills/demeanor, my staff's motivational skills/demeanor, disciplining or sitting a player if the effort and attitude is not there, or whatever--it needs to be addressed. Send a message, take control of the team. If Riley can't do that, then what is his function again, exactly?

[Red Five]

[Mavric]

 

I'm looking at this still photograph and wondering what Benning is seeing there that's cause for so much consternation... is it that some back ups are sitting on the bench? Does he not believe players should sit on a bench during a game?

 

I rewatched the game. I don't see a lack of effort, especially defensively. This team actually played pretty well defensively on Saturday.

Benning has been a proponent of Riley for a long time, so he's making excuses now and throwing players under the bus as a result. Pretty sad.

Did you not see all the missed tackles by the defense?

 

Can't be. I was informed after one game that this staff had corrected the missed tackle issues.