My 2 cents

[chamrocck]

I was not surprised by the outcome of our bowl game. We had very key missing players and game was in state for Tenn. I predicted a 14 point loss and that's what it was (see contest crib thread).

 

The real battle is now with recruiting. We have to win some of these blue chip recruits. If Riley and Co. can't convert in recruiting then we'll continue to not get to the level we want to be. I don't know why everyone expects us to be a Top 15 team when we are not in the top 15 in recruiting. That must be a goal of the coach every year...be top 15 in recruiting.

 

We need to build depth on both lines. The O line was a mess today...overmatched. The D-line lost some guys to the NFL and never recovered. If Lee cannot cut it next year as QB, expect to see Gebbia...the kid gets the ball out quick...definitely needed if we continue with poor O line play.

 

I think we are going pass happy with the QB's we now have. Get used to it. Our skill players are in this mold. If it works, I don't really care.

 

I don't care what offense we run if we can score and put up points. But, the defense to me is a lost opportunity that must be salvaged to get back to big time football. There is no reason we should not be able to get defensive recruits and instill a nasty, hard hitting, fast, play downhill defense. Stock pile guys like this. I hate watching our defense throw shoulder tackles and whiff, get pushed around on the line, get juked, and get burned deep. Gosh our defense is soft. I don't know why everyone is on Banker but loves Bray. I will give them both time as it is a work in progress. Banderas has been good against the run but poor in coverage. Young has not played well IMO in the second half of the season when the better opponents we played overmatched him, Rose-Ivey never got to the level I expected, and M. Newby seems stuck in neutral...this is Bray's unit. The LB's should have been much better knowing the D-Line was going to be on blocks but often the LB's took poor angles, couldn't tackle, got overpowered, could not cover, or were too slow. Riley better understand that he needs the defense to perform better or gains he makes on offense will be lost with a poor defense.

 

In total it was a better season although it did not end well. This team did not have a lot of talent but got to 9 wins. I agree with posters who say our schedule in future will be more difficult and thus this transition for Riley between season 2 and season 3 is the most critical. Recruiting, new QB, fixing the lines.

 

There's a bunch of other stuff we all know about but to keep it short.

 

1) Recruit, recruit, recruit. If we don't finish in top 15, don't whine we are not an elite program.

2) Depth and talent on both lines needed badly. Offensive tackles and DE rush ends should flock here...early playing time.

3) Get ready to see the ball in the air more.

4) Bring back the real Blackshirts.

5) Critical transition...we will look back at this transition as the making or breaking for Riley. I hope it makes him and the team has more success going forward.

 

GBR

[HuskermanMike]

We won't get to the CCG in 2018, so if we don't get to it in 2017 we may not make it until 2019 or later. If we get 10 wins next year during the regular season that would be huge. Foster Sarell could have started the game at OT today and played better then the guy opposite Gates(although Gates was getting beat all game). I would say it might be hard for us to get top recruiting classes and we can win without getting those top recruiting classes. Top 15-20 recruiting class is achievable at Nebraska but top 10 is rare and will not happen unless we win a championship. I say get 6-8 four stars and 1-2 five stars a class and fill the rest with three stars and let the rankings be whatever. With this scenario we will compete better and be able to compete with the top dawgs in the conference.

 

Our offense I believe will be split 50-50 in the coming years and I will be fine with that. Defense will improve with D-Will but I feel Banker doesn't believe in his guys enough to make plays. He always has DB's 10 yards off the receivers so they don't beat us over the top. The problem is it gives up easy underneath throws that anyone can make and the opposition gains 5 or so yards on the play. If we press on occasion or half the time our receivers can be more physical and play faster by making winning plays instead of fearing a mistake. We need to, as a program, start playing to win and taking risks. This will help get us over the hump that we are in right now.

[Savage Husker]

Penn State type of success is the best we can holdout for at this point, but will take another 2 seasons and solid recruiting classes in the next two cycles, including this one, to stabilize depth and talent, otherwise 2020 is going to be a new staff overall. Need to land key prospects this class for immediate impact and need to develop those currently on roster to provide necessary depth which will produce results. Very little room for misses.

 

There is so much potential on the roster already, but each position needs upgrade on overall depth. The next biggest factor is going to be whether or not these coaches can coach players up and whether or not individuals can push each other to become better competitors and teammates.

 

Otherwise we are just a team with a nice coach.

[NU5XChamps]

We are closer then everyone thinks. Once we have a QB that is feared by the defense, they cant stack the box. Nobody feared the passing abilities of TA or Fyfe. Put a real passer behind our O'line and they wont get steam rolled. If I was a Defensive Coordinator, I would load the box, stop the run and man up on the outside. Have TA or Fyfe prove they can hit the tough pass. This year proved again, that was the recipe to beat NU. Anything less than 60-65% completion ratio a game is horrible in this offensive scheme.

 

Gates got used yesterday and that is a little concerning, but he will have all off season to get healthy and if we can land at least one of the 2 tackles we are going for, that will be a major upgrade. If we get Sarell, he will start at left tackle next year and Gates can move back to the right side.

 

It is nice to have all the highly touted skill players, but without someone that can get them the ball on a consistent basis then it is just window dressing.

[huskered17]

It's not 2017 or 2019 that will show what this staff has. It will be 2018. That's when I think we will know how well this staff has recruited. If that class can get to the B1G title game, or even win 10 games with the schedule that year, it will maybe show that they can recruit and coach up their players. jmo

 

GBR!!!

[Roger Dorn]

Nice to read a thread with some realistic and rational thinking.

 

This offseason is a critical turning point for our program. Critical to finish strong in recruiting and critical to have some key player development. We have some young talented players on the roster, we need to develop them while also building more depth behind them.

 

Think we see a completely different team next season, whether there will be substantial improvement or we get the same results is yet to be seen.

[Xmas32]

We are closer then everyone thinks. Once we have a QB that is feared by the defense, they cant stack the box. Nobody feared the passing abilities of TA or Fyfe. Put a real passer behind our O'line and they wont get steam rolled. If I was a Defensive Coordinator, I would load the box, stop the run and man up on the outside. Have TA or Fyfe prove they can hit the tough pass. This year proved again, that was the recipe to beat NU. Anything less than 60-65% completion ratio a game is horrible in this offensive scheme.

 

Gates got used yesterday and that is a little concerning, but he will have all off season to get healthy and if we can land at least one of the 2 tackles we are going for, that will be a major upgrade. If we get Sarell, he will start at left tackle next year and Gates can move back to the right side.

 

It is nice to have all the highly touted skill players, but without someone that can get them the ball on a consistent basis then it is just window dressing.

Agreed that Gates struggled but I'm not really concerned. That's what a Top 10 NFL Draft pick looks like. Barnett is going to get paid at the next level. He's essentially a bigger version of Randy Gregory.

[dvdcrr]

I kike Charlie McBrides take. Go get the speed. We can coach the rest. I dont give a darn if they are "blue chip" . Are they fast? Do they like to hit and lift weights? We should be able to develop the rest. I am talking about 4.3 4.4 speed.

 

Have the coaches gotten lazy, that they want polished players they dont have to coach?

 

You dont need blue chip players. You need super fast well coached natural born killers. Remember the itty bitty committee? Almost NO deep passes got past those guys.

[ColoradoHusk]

I keep hearing that a strong passing attack and an accurate QB will open up the run game. I somewhat disagree. Yes, the defense won't be able to "stack the box", but without a strong o-line the defense won't fear the run and will play more coverage against NU's offense.

 

I know that Armstrong was not a feared passer, but he was able to threaten the defense with his running ability. That forced the defense to play 11 on 11, and opened up passing lanes. Without the threat of the QB run, the defense has an extra guy to play coverage and it squeezes the throwing windows.

 

Finally, the run game will never be anything but window dressing for Langsdorf and Riley. They may want "balance" in terms of the play call %, but they are going to use the passing game to move the ball downfield and create chunk plays. It will be interesting to see the coaches will be able to recruit and develop all the necessary pieces to succeed that way.

[84HuskerLaw]

I kike Charlie McBrides take. Go get the speed. We can coach the rest. I dont give a darn if they are "blue chip" . Are they fast? Do they like to hit and lift weights? We should be able to develop the rest. I am talking about 4.3 4.4 speed.

 

Have the coaches gotten lazy, that they want polished players they dont have to coach?

 

You dont need blue chip players. You need super fast well coached natural born killers. Remember the itty bitty committee? Almost NO deep passes got past those guys.

Not to nit pik because your points are good but the itty bitty committee I believe referred to our receiving corpse and not our DBs. Speed is absolutely essential. 4.65 is LB speed. 4.45 is CB, WR and RB speed. QBs and Safeties run 4.65 or better. DEs run 4.75 or better. DTs run around 5 flat. O linemen are 5.1 or better. Punters run 4.7. The S&C guys can take a point or so off but speed is something that you either have or you don't and can't be developed significantly. Strength and poundage can be added quite successfully and I think some would argue it is almost better to add the desired pounds than to try to take weight off or convert it once it is already there. I rather build up the players to the desired weight, for example, than to try to find them already there as H.S. players. That weight is often excess and hard to 'fix'.

 

The motto once was: Nebraska: where the good get better and then become great! Or something along those lines.

[Mavric]

I keep hearing that a strong passing attack and an accurate QB will open up the run game. I somewhat disagree. Yes, the defense won't be able to "stack the box", but without a strong o-line the defense won't fear the run and will play more coverage against NU's offense.

 

I know that Armstrong was not a feared passer, but he was able to threaten the defense with his running ability. That forced the defense to play 11 on 11, and opened up passing lanes. Without the threat of the QB run, the defense has an extra guy to play coverage and it squeezes the throwing windows.

 

Finally, the run game will never be anything but window dressing for Langsdorf and Riley. They may want "balance" in terms of the play call %, but they are going to use the passing game to move the ball downfield and create chunk plays. It will be interesting to see the coaches will be able to recruit and develop all the necessary pieces to succeed that way.

 

Agree with this.

 

First of all, I don't think teams were "stacking the box" against us very much. It's mostly a function of running "heavier" sets - if you have two tight ends, the defense is going to have more guys close to the LOS.

 

Second, I definitely agree with your last paragraph. Being primarily an Inside Zone team has little chance of creating a potent running game. Even if the defense only has six guys in the box, there isn't much room when you mostly run straight ahead.

[MichiganDad3]

I kike Charlie McBrides take. Go get the speed. We can coach the rest. I dont give a darn if they are "blue chip" . Are they fast? Do they like to hit and lift weights? We should be able to develop the rest. I am talking about 4.3 4.4 speed.

 

Have the coaches gotten lazy, that they want polished players they dont have to coach?

 

You dont need blue chip players. You need super fast well coached natural born killers. Remember the itty bitty committee? Almost NO deep passes got past those guys.

I completely agree, and I would also add that we should not recruit to specific positions. Get the fast guys, put them in the weight room, then figure out positions.

[Huskerfan55]

Go get speed is a great idea, but you have to have coaches!