Purdue Week Pressers

[huskerfan74]

I am hoping the team takes the field at Purdue angry and hungry to win a game in a dominating fashion. Does this team have it in them? We will see.

[Huskers93-97]

4 hours ago, huskerfan74 said:

I am hoping the team takes the field at Purdue angry and hungry to win a game in a dominating fashion. Does this team have it in them? We will see.

My guess is they have about a half in them. Maybe a quarter and 1/2. If we contain Moore I think they will stay confident. If Moore starts making plays and they tie it up or take a lead in second half we lose 

[lo country]

6 hours ago, CalhounHusker said:

What exactly has Wisconsin achieved?

Seriously?  

[lo country]

Maybe I am missing something.....Frost is pi$$ed at the team playing like sh!t, words are exchanged and players feelings get hurt?  Or the elephant in the room is Frost's play calling sucked in that game (after Noah went out) and  Chin refused to go to a dime formation to get speed on speed against their best receiver instead of Barry?  

 

Who knows why or what was said.  Seems like the same old song and dance....Different coach, staff and team, but same subpar  results.  Getting old.  Progression is better than regression.....

[Born N Bled Red]

I saw a great article yesterday that may speak to this. Pretty sure it was PJ Fleck, but it might as well have been Frost. He was talking about turning a program around. He basically said, and I'm typing from memory, so forgive me if I don't get it completely right,

 

"Turning a program around and and installing the right culture takes time. Year one is about breaking bad habits and getting everyone to do what they are supposed to be doing. What we are looking for in year two is that doing everything you are told to do becomes actually what you want to do. You want to do everything right because you want to be better, not because you were told. You're also a young team in year 2, perhaps the youngest, and that youth might cost younsomengames, but you get that experience and build for the future. In year 3 is when the program really takes off, you're still young, but young and experienced is a positive and everyone is finally on the same page."

 

Like Fleck, last year I think Frost was pleased with everyone doing what they were told to do. Judging by comments this week, it seems there may be a good portion of the team that are struggling to take that next step of "what you're told to do becomes what you actually want to do." And that is what Frost sees as being ok with being "just ok."

[ColoradoHusk]

3 minutes ago, lo country said:

Maybe I am missing something.....Frost is pi$$ed at the team playing like sh!t, words are exchanged and players feelings get hurt?  Or the elephant in the room is Frost's play calling sucked in that game (after Noah went out) and  Chin refused to go to a dime formation to get speed on speed against their best receiver instead of Barry?  

 

Who knows why or what was said.  Seems like the same old song and dance....Different coach, staff and team, but same subpar  results.  Getting old.  Progression is better than regression.....

How did Frost’s play calling sucked after Vedral got hurt?

[lo country]

14 minutes ago, ColoradoHusk said:

How did Frost’s play calling sucked after Vedral got hurt?

IMHO, PA was open the entire game as they played with 8-9 in the box.  Selling out to stop Wan'dale.  Continued to run Wan'dale into the defensive front.  All year. Frost has shown an inability to adjust to a D that is aggressive in the blitzing and crowds the box.  Unsure if this is schematics or personnel.  I imagine that it is a little of both.  Growing pains adjusting to a substantially more physical conference.  

 

Other teams seem to do a much better job scouting us and recognizing deficiencies  on D and exploiting them ie Fleck getting us running sideways and cutting back, Indiana going after the ILB (Mo) in their passing game.

 

For the record, prior to Noah getting hurt, the O was running very well.  

[ColoradoHusk]

4 minutes ago, lo country said:

IMHO, PA was open the entire game as they played with 8-9 in the box.  Selling out to stop Wan'dale.  Continued to run Wan'dale into the defensive front.  All year. Frost has shown an inability to adjust to a D that is aggressive in the blitzing and crowds the box.  Unsure if this is schematics or personnel.  I imagine that it is a little of both.  Growing pains adjusting to a substantially more physical conference.  

 

Other teams seem to do a much better job scouting us and recognizing deficiencies  on D and exploiting them ie Fleck getting us running sideways and cutting back, Indiana going after the ILB (Mo) in their passing game.

 

For the record, prior to Noah getting hurt, the O was running very well.  

So your perception that the offense struggled under McCaffrey is not correct. The offense had 5 full drives under Luke. Only one of those ended in a punt, and that drive started inside NU’s own 10 yard line. 3 drives scored 17 points and another drive gained 23 yards in 2 plays before Noa fumbled. I don’t get what else you would want from that offense led by McCaffrey. Frost utilized the strengths of Luke and Wandale.  The TD pass right before half was a great call by Frost. Even the TV announced said that Indiana would be creeping up to stop the run as that play was snapped. Frost burned them with a TD pass deep (20 yards down field). 
 

The Indiana game wasn’t the fault of Frost’s play calling. I do agree the D was frustrating and watching Barry get burned over and over again sucked. Frost said on Monday that Deontei Williams’ being out for the season has limited the D’s ability to play Dime. 

[CalhounHusker]

49 minutes ago, lo country said:

Seriously?  

Yeah, seriously. They haven’t won a conference title in 7 years, when Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State were all down.

They’re 5-4 in bowl games since 2010, one of the wins against a non-P5

[Huskers93-97]

1 hour ago, ColoradoHusk said:

So your perception that the offense struggled under McCaffrey is not correct. The offense had 5 full drives under Luke. Only one of those ended in a punt, and that drive started inside NU’s own 10 yard line. 3 drives scored 17 points and another drive gained 23 yards in 2 plays before Noa fumbled. I don’t get what else you would want from that offense led by McCaffrey. Frost utilized the strengths of Luke and Wandale.  The TD pass right before half was a great call by Frost. Even the TV announced said that Indiana would be creeping up to stop the run as that play was snapped. Frost burned them with a TD pass deep (20 yards down field). 
 

The Indiana game wasn’t the fault of Frost’s play calling. I do agree the D was frustrating and watching Barry get burned over and over again sucked. Frost said on Monday that Deontei Williams’ being out for the season has limited the D’s ability to play Dime. 

I think you both have good points. We scored 17 points with our 3rd string QB. But I get what lo country is saying too. Maybe we score 28 instead of 17 if you hit on a few wide open PA passes. Which if you do that the D has to back off and maybe wandale and luke runs have more room.

[Igetbored216]

I thought the offensive play calling was fine once Vedral went out. Yeah, it was a lot of the same plays, but Indiana wasn't exactly stopping it. I'm fine calling the same play, or similar plays if it nets positive yardage. If the other team can't stop it, keep doing it until they can. 

[TheSker]

2 hours ago, lo country said:

Maybe I am missing something.....Frost is pi$$ed at the team playing like sh!t, words are exchanged and players feelings get hurt?  Or the elephant in the room is Frost's play calling sucked in that game (after Noah went out) and  Chin refused to go to a dime formation to get speed on speed against their best receiver instead of Barry?  

 

Who knows why or what was said.  Seems like the same old song and dance....Different coach, staff and team, but same subpar  results.  Getting old.  Progression is better than regression.....

I don't think the elephant in the room has anything to do with play calling.

 

This team is soft.  Frost knows it.  He has said as much without directly calling the team soft.

[ColoradoHusk]

15 minutes ago, Huskers93-97 said:

I think you both have good points. We scored 17 points with our 3rd string QB. But I get what lo country is saying too. Maybe we score 28 instead of 17 if you hit on a few wide open PA passes. Which if you do that the D has to back off and maybe wandale and luke runs have more room.

Now you are nitpicking. 17 points on 5 drives is 3.4 points per drive. If an offense gets 12-15 drives per game that’s 40-50 points per game. The offensive production was good enough under McCaffrey.

 

The one drive which ended in a FG, McCaffrey was stopped short on a 3rd and 2 run. All I have seen on this message board this week is criticism for having Frost use a rollout pass with Vedral on the 3rd and 3 play which Vedral fumbled. The “call the right play” fans are terrible. Yes, Frost’s job is to call plays, but he’s not going to be 100% every time. Plus, he may call the “perfect” play, and it not be successful due to player execution. 

[Huskers93-97]

2 minutes ago, ColoradoHusk said:

Now you are nitpicking. 17 points on 5 drives is 3.4 points per drive. If an offense gets 12-15 drives per game that’s 40-50 points per game. The offensive production was good enough under McCaffrey.

 

The one drive which ended in a FG, McCaffrey was stopped short on a 3rd and 2 run. All I have seen on this message board this week is criticism for having Frost use a rollout pass with Vedral on the 3rd and 3 play which Vedral fumbled. The “call the right play” fans are terrible. Yes, Frost’s job is to call plays, but he’s not going to be 100% every time. Plus, he may call the “perfect” play, and it not be successful due to player execution. 

I am not nitpicking. If you read my post I said 17 points is good especially considering it was the 3rd string QB. But its like football 101 if you got like 9 in the box and they selling out on the run. Run a PA and your success rate is probably pretty high. No one is nitpicking- its calling it what it is. I think we may have left plays on the field by not doing more PA. No one is saying Frost did a s#!tty job so relax, some are just saying man we probably left opportunities out there.

[BigRedBuster]

12 hours ago, ActualCornHusker said:

Anyone who has ever coached sports should understand that there are a variety of different management styles.

 

Many coaches (Bo) implement top-down leadership and rule with an iron fist. Many times, this can make it difficult for players to rise up as strong leaders as everyone looks to the coach for discipline. 

 

Frost, on the other hand, ideally wants a team where strong veteran leaders hold everyone accountable and the coaches can focus on coaching rather than constantly cracking the whip. 

 This method can create leeway for the entire team to slack off a little more like we're seeing this year when there aren't strong veteran leaders. Last year, the team had some strong leaders - Mick Stoltenberg being probably the strongest - which is why the team turned the corner. I think Frost has been waiting for those leaders to emerge again this year, and since no one has, he's having to tighten the screws on the team. 

I agree.  And, I would add...the way Frost wants it, is how it NEEDS to be done.  With a roster of 100+ players, there is absolutely no way the staff can effectively be the work horse leaders of everyone on the team "cracking the whip".  An organization that size, must have a certain culture inside that holds each other accountable.

 

12 hours ago, Huskers93-97 said:

I think the way frost wants it is a great way. It’s how Osborne did it. BUT they had a strong culture already in place that was passed down and instilled in the kids day 1 they stepped on campus. The staff needs to be more involved until the culture has a strong foot hold 

 

And...I think we are seeing that with what you hear the coaches saying.  They are expressing what they want and need.  Yes, the O line needs to block better. The coaches can talk all day long about that.  But, in reality, to get the team to that point, we need leaders to rise up in the group.  So....that's what the staff is talking about and pushing for.  We need players that are committed to doing the right thing every time with the right mindset.  Until then, they can talk all day long about blocking better, but .....it's not going to have a major affect.