2016 Blowouts - Talent or Coaching?

[Guy Chamberlin]

Ohio State: Coaching

• The kids were obviously rattled by what happened. Calming the kids down and getting them focused is where they earn their pay.
• Langsdorf set the kids up to fail as soon as Tommy was knocked out.

Wasn't the team already down like 31 - 3 with wheels coming off in all directions when Tommy got hurt?

 

[soup]

Ohio State: Coaching

• The kids were obviously rattled by what happened. Calming the kids down and getting them focused is where they earn their pay.
• Langsdorf set the kids up to fail as soon as Tommy was knocked out.

Wasn't the team already down like 31 - 3 with wheels coming off in all directions when Tommy got hurt?

No actually they were driving to bring it within striking distance. After Tommy got hurt around tOSU 20 yard line. We were stopped on a 4th down, and tOSU drove the field and went up another TD. It was a 14 point swing in about 2 minutes of gametime. It was a crusher in multiple ways. Then halftime, and tOSU had the ball to start at halftime and the rest is history.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Ohio State: Coaching

• The kids were obviously rattled by what happened. Calming the kids down and getting them focused is where they earn their pay.
• Langsdorf set the kids up to fail as soon as Tommy was knocked out.

Wasn't the team already down like 31 - 3 with wheels coming off in all directions when Tommy got hurt?

No actually they were driving to bring it within striking distance. After Tommy got hurt around tOSU 20 yard line. We were stopped on a 4th down, and tOSU drove the field and went up another TD. It was a 14 point swing in about 2 minutes of gametime. It was a crusher in multiple ways. Then halftime, and tOSU had the ball to start at halftime and the rest is history.

No. They were already down four touchdowns. Tommy stays healthy and the game is perhaps 55 - 10. 48 - 17 at best. The a$$-kicking was well in progress. We were in a similar "striking distance" scenario against Iowa, and the odds against Ohio State were worse.

Nebraska had little margin of error to begin with, and went downhill quick. Also, Ohio State was having a perfect storm of a game, coming off a wake-up call and a loss and totally dialed in at every level.

 

[soup]

Ohio State: Coaching

• The kids were obviously rattled by what happened. Calming the kids down and getting them focused is where they earn their pay.
• Langsdorf set the kids up to fail as soon as Tommy was knocked out.

Wasn't the team already down like 31 - 3 with wheels coming off in all directions when Tommy got hurt?

No actually they were driving to bring it within striking distance. After Tommy got hurt around tOSU 20 yard line. We were stopped on a 4th down, and tOSU drove the field and went up another TD. It was a 14 point swing in about 2 minutes of gametime. It was a crusher in multiple ways. Then halftime, and tOSU had the ball to start at halftime and the rest is history.

No. They were already down four touchdowns. Tommy stays healthy and the game is perhaps 55 - 10. 48 - 17 at best. The a$$-kicking was well in progress. We were in a similar "striking distance" scenario against Iowa, and the odds against Ohio State were worse.

Nebraska had little margin of error to begin with, and went downhill quick. Also, Ohio State was having a perfect storm of a game, coming off a wake-up call and a loss and totally dialed in at every level.

Not true. They were driving to potentially make it 24-10, and have some momentum. Would they have won the game with Tommy, no. But they wouldn't have lost by 60 points. That was a back breaker of all back breakers. To be driving to potentially bring the game within reach, to losing your starting QB and leader, to not making a 4th and short, to tOSU driving and scoring just before half. It was about 5 minutes of game time that broke their will.

 

[JJ Husker]

I don't consider the loss to Iowa a blowout. There were plenty of those types of games for Nebraska going back to well before I was born. In the old days they called holding and coaches were nicer to each other. Coaches running out the clock held down scores that could have been worse. If Armstrong hits open receivers running deep in the Iowa game it's a 1 score or better game late. PSU showed what can happen hitting deep open receivers against Wisconsin.

OSU was a butt kicking. We need better line play to keep that from happening. And a 2 deep that's at least as good as the best starters.

Sorry but a 30 point differential is a blowout no matter how you try to spin it. If's and but's are useless. Heck if Tommy could've hit a wide open receiver we might have blown them out. The basic problem, in addition to nobody wanting to play, was Tommy is not a passer and couldn't run but the coaches went with him anyway. We will never compete with decent teams if our starting QB can't execute the offensive game plan and our 2nd string QB is a walk on and we apparently don't have a 3rd string QB. That is the definition of talent AND coaching being the problem.Although I may not know what I'm talking about. I turned the game off at the start of the 3rd quarter when our coaches deemed the best plan was to keep going with a QB who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

If that's the case then it has to be talent. Since every single coach has had those sort of games.There are varying levels of being in games and it being hopeless. Iowa and Ohio State were different.

Being #1 yet loosing in 1996 to #17 Arizona State felt sort of like Iowa. 44 rushes for 130 yards and unable to get in field goal range.

Losing to Miami 22-0 felt like OSU. I'm not sure if they crossed into Miami territory until a drive in the 3rd quarter.

2 a year needs to stop. But with the playoffs set up this way and the polls, coaches are no longer gentlemen and will step on your neck to impress. So I'm sure those teams will get theirs someday. We've handed out plenty of beatings.

I agree that Iowa and tOSU games were different. But I disagree that talent alone is to blame. Yes tOSU has more talent than us and that can explain a lopsided loss. But I believe it also requires some coaching brain farts to let it get 62-3 bad. And I also believe coaching is to blame for most of the 30 point differential in the Iowa game. I doubt there is anybody on this message board that would've kept going with Tommy as long as they did. How long does it take to realize that what you are attempting is not and will not work? Wasn't it obvious during the week of preparation that a gimpy TA who has never been a good Passer and that Fyfe with a broken wrist might require a different game plan than the one trick pony they tried? You can't blame talent just because the coaches decided to go with and stick with less talent that day.
And you can't say any games is either one or the other just because all coaches and teams have bad days. Yes those kind of games happen but that doesn't preclude talent or coaching from being the issue in any specific game. I do not believe Iowa's talent is 30 points better than us. Coaching was a factor in it getting that ugly.

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Did the Huskers ever replace Dr Jack Stark?

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Ohio State: Coaching

• The kids were obviously rattled by what happened. Calming the kids down and getting them focused is where they earn their pay.
• Langsdorf set the kids up to fail as soon as Tommy was knocked out.

Wasn't the team already down like 31 - 3 with wheels coming off in all directions when Tommy got hurt?

No actually they were driving to bring it within striking distance. After Tommy got hurt around tOSU 20 yard line. We were stopped on a 4th down, and tOSU drove the field and went up another TD. It was a 14 point swing in about 2 minutes of gametime. It was a crusher in multiple ways. Then halftime, and tOSU had the ball to start at halftime and the rest is history.

No. They were already down four touchdowns. Tommy stays healthy and the game is perhaps 55 - 10. 48 - 17 at best. The a$$-kicking was well in progress. We were in a similar "striking distance" scenario against Iowa, and the odds against Ohio State were worse.

Nebraska had little margin of error to begin with, and went downhill quick. Also, Ohio State was having a perfect storm of a game, coming off a wake-up call and a loss and totally dialed in at every level.

Not true. They were driving to potentially make it 24-10, and have some momentum. Would they have won the game with Tommy, no. But they wouldn't have lost by 60 points. That was a back breaker of all back breakers. To be driving to potentially bring the game within reach, to losing your starting QB and leader, to not making a 4th and short, to tOSU driving and scoring just before half. It was about 5 minutes of game time that broke their will.

Agree with you. The team came out mentally/emotionally flat possibly a result of the tough Wisconsin loss. As Ohio State jumped out quickly they started to lose more "air" and the near loss of Tommy almost deflated them totally.

 

[Axl_sued_me]

I'm starting to think that it's the culture and not so much coaching or Talent. The football program in Lincoln has too many bells and whistles with the luxury facilities. The Husker football team is treated like rockstars when they have not deserved any of it as of recent. I think players come here and they get too complacent.

 

[LAblackshirt]

Pelini I feel like definitely didn't have a championship culture here. Riley on the other hand I think is doing a much better job of providing a championship culture. As far as the luxury facilities goes I'm not sure how that would be a negative thing. All the best programs have luxury facilities. Alabama, OSU, Michigan, Clemson, and all the other big boys have luxury facilities.

I also feel like the fact Huskers are always treated like rock-stars is one of the few advantages we have being in such a small population state. The elite talent players desire to be treated like they are elite and players where I live in LA (near UCLA) are just another person in the city of stars. Take them to Neb on the other hand and they are signing autographs and taking pictures. Playing at Neb is as close as you can get to playing pro sports without actually doing so.

 

[84HuskerLaw]

There are many valid points on the 'talent and or coaching' question in here. There are always coaching 'errors' and misjudgments and strategy and scheme issues in every game. Adjustments in the alignments, blitzes, reads, etc etc etc are a part of every game, whether going well or poorly, for both teams. Sometimes, though, talent or the lack thereof are the biggest reasons that schemes, strategies, adjustments, alignments, blitizes, etc etc don't work or are not even attempted. The coaches recognize, after careful analysis and scouting of their opponents, what may or may not be viable in the upcoming game. Riley and his staff have been around a long time and, while nobody would argue they are the best of the best, they certainly are not the worst.

We have some good players on our team but clearly not enough to win championships (we haven't won any for two decades and literally dozens of highly paid coaches. Solich certainly was of t'he "Osborne" tree and had many years of experience as his right hand man and assistant HC to learn all he could possibly learn from him. He was handed the team on a golden platter with the best, deepest, most 'talent laden' team, maybe ever!. He had a tremendous staff of assistants with many years of experience and players with all the confidence in the world. Yet, somehow it didn't work out. He failed to maintain a top ten program and in just 5 years, the best ever become 'mediocre' according to many football experts inside and outside the program. We saw it on the field in a -7-7 season and a bowl trip to Shreveport! Following that disasterous season, Solich opted to fire most of the Osborne legacy staff members - apparently to try to shift the blame for the lack of talent on the staff. Maybe there were health issues etc but the big problem was Frank was not paying attention to business and was not 'a closer' and often didn't recognize talent when it walked in his office. Frank's problems were mostly 'talent' but of course not bringing in and developing that talent is coaching. So it was both back then.

Callahan, it was hoped, would provide an immediate rush of recruiting of the nation's best once again to quickly restore the order before the Nebraska brand and 'legacy' of greatness was lost on a whole bunch of H.S. players. About 7 years is as long as H.S. seniors will likely recall a given program's on field product personally. We are now facing nearly 2.5 times that long and most high school players don't have any personal clue what Nebraska football really was like. Callahan didn't understand the college game and never really would have figured it out. He had a pro mentality and while he was exceptional skilled as an offensive line and play calling coach, he didn't pay any attention to defense. Defense wins championships while offense sells tickets.

Now we have to make the long slow climb and will have to find that magical mix of a handful of special players (the Fraziers, Phillips, Peters, Wistroms, etc) that can take us back up the steep slope. In the end it is recruiting, recruiting and recruiting - speed, size, strength, desire and HEART - are required. Husker heart is brought in from the local recruits (scholarships and walk ons). It is essential to get the effort to win the games against opponents with comparable talent. We lack all of the above.

 

[cornstar]

Riley on the other hand I think is doing a much better job of providing a championship culture.

How so? I'm trying to figure out how a non championship coach is providing championship culture.

 

[4skers89]

I'm starting to think that it's the culture and not so much coaching or Talent. The football program in Lincoln has too many bells and whistles with the luxury facilities. The Husker football team is treated like rockstars when they have not deserved any of it as of recent. I think players come here and they get too complacent.

I agree. We have top facilities paid for by the efforts of players that achieved championship results. Maybe putting a lock on the luxury locker rooms until we at least play in a CCG? How about naming each individual locker that achieved all american status or played on a championship team from the past? I respect those players a lot. Not because they won championships that us fans can take pride in. They worked their butt off to achieve that level of success. Remind the players every day how those trophies were won.

I dismiss the notion that the Wiscy loss caused the Ohio State and Iowa blowouts and the team was mentally spent. If any team had that excuse it would be Wiscy and their schedule yet they were competitive in every game. Riley has a big task to change the 9 wins is good enough attitude that has seeped into the program. I do blame Bo for this since he was quoted as saying the team or program was a 9 win team/program. Maybe Riley was sending a message in the OSU game by continuing to pass to make up the point deficit in order to win rather than burn clock and make the loss look less worse. Based on Westerkamp's comments before the OSU game, I think the players had conceded the game before arriving in Columbus.

 

[Saunders]

our talent level is just above average, not great.

our coaching is slightly below average to average at best. im sure i will get roasted for that, but 15+ years of data points dont lie.

lots of room for improvement in both areas.

Average would be 64th.

We're at 25th.

 

[cornstar]

our talent level is just above average, not great.

our coaching is slightly below average to average at best. im sure i will get roasted for that, but 15+ years of data points dont lie.

lots of room for improvement in both areas.

Average would be 64th.
We're at 25th.

Wow. Easily the highest in our division and just a few spots behind the last 2 league Champs.

 

[Branno]

The blowouts this year and last (the Purdue loss was a blowout) were due to the coaches. There shouldn't have been a doubt that we would lose to OSU but that score was an embarrassment.

Iowa should have been a win.