Athlon: 5 Reasons Nebraska Should be Patient With Mike Riley After a 2-3 Start

[huskerfan92]

#1 only works if it is indeed luck. Miami maybe if you stretch dropped balls in as bad luck but BYU and definately Illinois were far more about a complete lack of competent clock management than it was luck.

Don't forget dumb players in the secondary who blew coverages. Esp on the hail mary....that is all on the players....just knock the ball down as there were 7 of us and 3 of them.

I'm just going to assume you don't think before your post, and that's the only reason this comment is here.

 

[Sargon]

Appreciate this perspective. I've grown very tired of "the sky is falling" mentality. Granted, this season has not gone as anyone would have liked, but the level of anger and resentment in parts of this fan base is out of control. I was just as frustrated as many others about the poor play calling and clock management. These are things that a seasoned coaching staff should be better prepared for; some of the mistakes really seemed like rookie mistakes, and our staff should be better than that. But all of this talk about firing Riley seems a bit premature, in my opinion. We've got to give them some time and, as frustrating as this season may turn out to be, I will never stop supporting the team. It's my belief that those kids are out there every week, doing their best to perform well, and I will never stop giving them my support.

Just my two cents; GBR!

Complainers are usually about 5 times as vocal as supporters. The fan base may not be as negative as you are reading. Nice post at least a dimes worth

 

[Sargon]

#1 only works if it is indeed luck. Miami maybe if you stretch dropped balls in as bad luck but BYU and definately Illinois were far more about a complete lack of competent clock management than it was luck.

Don't forget dumb players in the secondary who blew coverages. Esp on the hail mary....that is all on the players....just knock the ball down as there were 7 of us and 3 of them.

I'm just going to assume you don't think before your post, and that's the only reason this comment is here.

The hail mary looked more like failed coaching than dumb players. Guessing not nearly enough reps and teaching on it. Design may also have been faulty (Gang spun inside allowing easy rollout, 24 had the receiver yet he did nothing, nobody covered underneath).

 

[Bowfin]

Gang spun inside allowing easy rollout

I'm not going to second guess what a guy does or doesn't do while in the process of dislocating his elbow. I'm not sure when it happened during the play, so he gets a pass from me.

I also will never second guess a 3 man rush on a Hail Mary, because that is always wrong, and has been since the days of Doug Flutie, so there can be no argument or conjecture there. BTW, Ron Kellogg III loves a 3 man rush.

,

 

[VectorVictor]

I'm sorry, but point one is complete b******t.

How many times have we heard Dr. Tom say in the past that the team needs to play so bad bounces/luck/officiating don't take the game out of your hands? In each of these losses, there were a mountain of mistakes during the game that led to needing last-minute/second heroics.

For BYU, we had the breakdowns in the secondary, poor offensive playcalling (especially on 3rd down), mismanagement of the clock, RBs, and the running game. Getting the running game on track to help get one of the THREE 3rd downs we failed to convert would helped to salt the game away.

For Miami, we had breakdowns in the secondary that weren't fixed until after we spotted Miami a 17-point lead, poor O-Line play due to coach mismanagement (read: not subbing out O-Line players during the game), poor clock management, and questionable offensive playcalling re: running game. Yeah, it's great that the team came back and took it to OT...but it shouldn't have been that way in the first place.

For Southern Miss, we had poor O-Line play, breakdowns in the secondary (4th quarter), questionable offensive playcalling, mismanagement of the running game, and extremely poor execution and playcalling in the Red Zone. That game shouldn't have been nearly as close as it was.

For Illinois, we had breakdowns in the secondary, questionable offensive playcalling, poor clock management by the coaching staff, and a complete mishandling of the running game and RBs. The game, had the OC and staff ran the f*****g ball, could have put this game away in the 3rd quarter, had they not bungled it so. And the defense...yeah, it was statistically better against the pass...but realistically, the weather played a significant factor in the ability for either team to complete a pass.

I'm sorry, but you make your own luck in games--through winning the intangibles (e.g. turnover battle), limiting stupid mistakes (including coach mismanagement), and putting your kids in a position to win through paying attention to the flow of the game. NONE of that happened during our losses until too late, and that it's happening with a coaching staff that was advertised to fans as being seasoned enough to avoid these problems is pretty damning.

We're losing our games not due to last-minute plays, but by what ISN'T being done in the 59:00 minutes before. And frankly, I don't know what's worse--that you have articles trying to defend Riley by saying it's purely "Luck", or that people on these boards that followed the team during the Dr. Tom days actually believe this s**t.

 

[StPaulHusker]

#1 only works if it is indeed luck. Miami maybe if you stretch dropped balls in as bad luck but BYU and definately Illinois were far more about a complete lack of competent clock management than it was luck.

Don't forget dumb players in the secondary who blew coverages. Esp on the hail mary....that is all on the players....just knock the ball down as there were 7 of us and 3 of them.

Saying that about the players is cold. Hopefully you won't ever have to hear people say that about your kids playing a game

 

[HuskerExpat]

Go look at Phil Steele's work regarding net close wins/losses. He defines a close wins/loss as by one score or less. His research shows that most teams, over a period of time, have a more or less equal number of close losses and close wins. The idea is that when a game is close there is a huge element of luck that is often responsible for the result of the game. This year we have three close losses. That's pretty bad luck.

Now it is perfectly acceptable to argue that we shouldn't have been in a close game with Illinois (or any other team for that matter). But the fact is still that this season we've had about as bad of luck as you could hope for when we've found ourselves in close games.

 

[Saunders]

Go look at Phil Steele's work regarding net close wins/losses. He defines a close wins/loss as by one score or less. His research shows that most teams, over a period of time, have a more or less equal number of close losses and close wins. The idea is that when a game is close there is a huge element of luck that is often responsible for the result of the game. This year we have three close losses. That's pretty bad luck.

Now it is perfectly acceptable to argue that we shouldn't have been in a close game with Illinois (or any other team for that matter). But the fact is still that this season we've had about as bad of luck as you could hope for when we've found ourselves in close games.

We had 3 close losses last year, albeit against better teams. And that came off a streak of 11 straight wins in one score games. We really gotta fix the turnover issue though, because we're giving it away, and we aren't getting them. It's keeping games close that shouldn't be.

 

[StPaulHusker]

Go look at Phil Steele's work regarding net close wins/losses. He defines a close wins/loss as by one score or less. His research shows that most teams, over a period of time, have a more or less equal number of close losses and close wins. The idea is that when a game is close there is a huge element of luck that is often responsible for the result of the game. This year we have three close losses. That's pretty bad luck.

Now it is perfectly acceptable to argue that we shouldn't have been in a close game with Illinois (or any other team for that matter). But the fact is still that this season we've had about as bad of luck as you could hope for when we've found ourselves in close games.

We had 3 close losses last year, albeit against better teams. And that came off a streak of 11 straight wins in one score games. We really gotta fix the turnover issue though, because we're giving it away, and we aren't getting them. It's keeping games close that shouldn't be.

I agree here. Turnover margin killed us with Bo and it is not any better now. If your defense is the liability of your team, you have to protect the ball.

 

[Joe_5700]

Regarding #1...is it really just bad luck or a repeating pattern?

 

[HuskerExpat]

Go look at Phil Steele's work regarding net close wins/losses. He defines a close wins/loss as by one score or less. His research shows that most teams, over a period of time, have a more or less equal number of close losses and close wins. The idea is that when a game is close there is a huge element of luck that is often responsible for the result of the game. This year we have three close losses. That's pretty bad luck.

Now it is perfectly acceptable to argue that we shouldn't have been in a close game with Illinois (or any other team for that matter). But the fact is still that this season we've had about as bad of luck as you could hope for when we've found ourselves in close games.

We had 3 close losses last year, albeit against better teams. And that came off a streak of 11 straight wins in one score games. We really gotta fix the turnover issue though, because we're giving it away, and we aren't getting them. It's keeping games close that shouldn't be.

Totally agree. The turnover problem makes games closer than they should be. I guess I'm not sure, but I'm hopeful that the turnover problem is becoming better in that I feel like there haven't been as many just pure blunder, gift-wrapped turnovers this year. Whether I'm right about that or not, we have to fix the turnover problem, but I expect it is going to take some time given that it has been a problem for the last decade.

 

[VectorVictor]

Go look at Phil Steele's work regarding net close wins/losses. He defines a close wins/loss as by one score or less. His research shows that most teams, over a period of time, have a more or less equal number of close losses and close wins. The idea is that when a game is close there is a huge element of luck that is often responsible for the result of the game. This year we have three close losses. That's pretty bad luck.

Now it is perfectly acceptable to argue that we shouldn't have been in a close game with Illinois (or any other team for that matter). But the fact is still that this season we've had about as bad of luck as you could hope for when we've found ourselves in close games.

We had 3 close losses last year, albeit against better teams. And that came off a streak of 11 straight wins in one score games. We really gotta fix the turnover issue though, because we're giving it away, and we aren't getting them. It's keeping games close that shouldn't be.

Totally agree. The turnover problem makes games closer than they should be. I guess I'm not sure, but I'm hopeful that the turnover problem is becoming better in that I feel like there haven't been as many just pure blunder, gift-wrapped turnovers this year. Whether I'm right about that or not, we have to fix the turnover problem, but I expect it is going to take some time given that it has been a problem for the last decade.

It's not just gift-wrapping balls via the offense--our defense needs to get better at attacking players, going for strips when more than one person is tackling, DL getting their hands up on passing plays to deflect, and more.

I was kind of disappointed that with all the talk about Banker being experienced, that we're still having the same problems we did under Bo with this defense...and some. Though I am glad to see the run defense is stout--we're just now susceptible to anyone throwing the ball over our heads, like it's the late 80s/early 90s (pre-93) all over again.

 

[74Hunter]

I'm sorry, but point one is complete b******t.

How many times have we heard Dr. Tom say in the past that the team needs to play so bad bounces/luck/officiating don't take the game out of your hands? In each of these losses, there were a mountain of mistakes during the game that led to needing last-minute/second heroics.

For BYU, we had the breakdowns in the secondary, poor offensive playcalling (especially on 3rd down), mismanagement of the clock, RBs, and the running game. Getting the running game on track to help get one of the THREE 3rd downs we failed to convert would helped to salt the game away.

For Miami, we had breakdowns in the secondary that weren't fixed until after we spotted Miami a 17-point lead, poor O-Line play due to coach mismanagement (read: not subbing out O-Line players during the game), poor clock management, and questionable offensive playcalling re: running game. Yeah, it's great that the team came back and took it to OT...but it shouldn't have been that way in the first place.

For Southern Miss, we had poor O-Line play, breakdowns in the secondary (4th quarter), questionable offensive playcalling, mismanagement of the running game, and extremely poor execution and playcalling in the Red Zone. That game shouldn't have been nearly as close as it was.

For Illinois, we had breakdowns in the secondary, questionable offensive playcalling, poor clock management by the coaching staff, and a complete mishandling of the running game and RBs. The game, had the OC and staff ran the f*****g ball, could have put this game away in the 3rd quarter, had they not bungled it so. And the defense...yeah, it was statistically better against the pass...but realistically, the weather played a significant factor in the ability for either team to complete a pass.

I'm sorry, but you make your own luck in games--through winning the intangibles (e.g. turnover battle), limiting stupid mistakes (including coach mismanagement), and putting your kids in a position to win through paying attention to the flow of the game. NONE of that happened during our losses until too late, and that it's happening with a coaching staff that was advertised to fans as being seasoned enough to avoid these problems is pretty damning.

We're losing our games not due to last-minute plays, but by what ISN'T being done in the 59:00 minutes before. And frankly, I don't know what's worse--that you have articles trying to defend Riley by saying it's purely "Luck", or that people on these boards that followed the team during the Dr. Tom days actually believe this s**t.

This.

 

[AFhusker]

#1 only works if it is indeed luck. Miami maybe if you stretch dropped balls in as bad luck but BYU and definately Illinois were far more about a complete lack of competent clock management than it was luck.

Don't forget dumb players in the secondary who blew coverages. Esp on the hail mary....that is all on the players....just knock the ball down as there were 7 of us and 3 of them.

Saying that about the players is cold. Hopefully you won't ever have to hear people say that about your kids playing a game

The truth hurts. They are young adults, not pee wee age kids. This sediment is ridiculous as kids screw up and it isn't always on the coaches when they do.

 

[74Hunter]

#1 only works if it is indeed luck. Miami maybe if you stretch dropped balls in as bad luck but BYU and definately Illinois were far more about a complete lack of competent clock management than it was luck.

Don't forget dumb players in the secondary who blew coverages. Esp on the hail mary....that is all on the players....just knock the ball down as there were 7 of us and 3 of them.

Saying that about the players is cold. Hopefully you won't ever have to hear people say that about your kids playing a game

The truth hurts. They are young adults, not pee wee age kids. This sediment is ridiculous as kids screw up and it isn't always on the coaches when they do.

The truth is that if this staff understood clock management the BYU and Illinois games would be in the win column, they never would have come down to last second plays.

But, in their defense, when you don't win that much I guess that running the clock out is a foreign concept.