Cav Has Choices on the OLine

[Decked]

Tackle play is going to be crucial this year. Gates got eaten up against Tennessee but it's the right side that's the real concern. Knevel is going to get a pocket QB killed. I'm also concerned about the situation at center.

Raridon will be a stud. Dont. If Farniok doesn't start at RT and Conrad has to then i'll be worried.

 

[PaulCrewe]

While the line is young, it was Cav's choice to redshirt those freshmen linemen in 2016. If Cav is going to use inexperience as an excuse, it's his own fault for not getting guys experience in 2016.

This. In talking about the other three guys listed that needed experience I look at the second half of the OSU game as a huge example of bad management. Cav kept his starting five in for the whole thing. Decker, Barnett and Gaylord should have been inserted there. Going against OSU's twos and threes would have been far more of learning experience than mop up non conference snaps.
I've been an advocate for rotating guys up front. At least you'll find out pretty fast with what ya got.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Is there a consensus that this is Mike Riley's "prove it" year? It's year 3, he's had 3 full recruiting classes, and most importantly, he's got 4 QBs specifically recruited for his style of offense.

I don't know if winning the Big 10 should be the measure, but it darn sure wouldn't hurt.

Depends on what you mean. There is one hell of a lot that can happen outside the coach's power that can greatly influence the season record.For instance, what happens if Lee comes out totally on fire. We are 5-0 and going strong. Then....he breaks his leg. The next game, POB is going strong and all of a sudden he tears up a knee. Gebbia comes in and dislocates his shoulder.

Now.....the chances of all that happening is pretty small. But, sometimes stuff like that does happen with a team....if that happens, and we end up losing 4-5 games at the end of the year....I'm not going to be calling for Riley's head unless there are other major negative things happening in the program.

holy sh#t man............if all that happens there aint a cow in Texas!

Tell that to Ohio state or 1994 Nebraska where we were aost there.

I said the chances are slim.

 

[onlyHskrfaninIL]

If the OL sucks this year, the only choices I want Cav to have in 2018 are where else to coach as Riley lets him go.......Do t think this is Riley's make or break, but it needs to be Cavs.

Agree 100%. There is enough talent. He needs to put a good oline together this year or its time to go.

 

[Elf]

While the line is young, it was Cav's choice to redshirt those freshmen linemen in 2016. If Cav is going to use inexperience as an excuse, it's his own fault for not getting guys experience in 2016.

This. In talking about the other three guys listed that needed experience I look at the second half of the OSU game as a huge example of bad management. Cav kept his starting five in for the whole thing. Decker, Barnett and Gaylord should have been inserted there. Going against OSU's twos and threes would have been far more of learning experience than mop up non conference snaps.
I've been an advocate for rotating guys up front. At least you'll find out pretty fast with what ya got.

Milt Tenopir never had a rotation for his linemen and we did pretty welll under his tutelage. I'm not saying Milt never substituted linemen, I'm just saying he never had a set rotation. So I don't think rotating the offensive linemen is a huge deal personally.

 

[Elf]

If the OL sucks this year, the only choices I want Cav to have in 2018 are where else to coach as Riley lets him go.......Do t think this is Riley's make or break, but it needs to be Cavs.

The offensive line was doing pretty well last year until the injuries started piling up.

 

[Elf]

I fully support redshirting the linemen we have redshirted. The vast majority of linemen play out their full eligibility. Having them for 5 years in the program is a big benefit when you look at how their bodies develop over those 5 years.

If you have a line that is thin on talent when you get to a school, it can take years to develop the depth needed to really have a room full of good linemen to step in when needed.

Agree with all of this.

I understand it was a bit painful watching our o-line towards the end of the year knowing we had kids redshirted that might have been able to play to help out but I also understood that Riley and Cavanaugh were building for the future. They are trying to get us out of the mess we were in concerning our depth issues and that takes time if you're going to do it right.

 

[marko polo]

If the OL sucks this year, the only choices I want Cav to have in 2018 are where else to coach as Riley lets him go.......Do t think this is Riley's make or break, but it needs to be Cavs.

The offensive line was doing pretty well last year until the injuries started piling up.

I think that coincided with playing tougher teams

 

[Elf]

If the OL sucks this year, the only choices I want Cav to have in 2018 are where else to coach as Riley lets him go.......Do t think this is Riley's make or break, but it needs to be Cavs.

The offensive line was doing pretty well last year until the injuries started piling up.

I think that coincided with playing tougher teams

That too.

When we needed our starting line the most, that's when they were the most screwed up by injuries.

 

[Nebfanatic]

It seemed to me the injury bug really bit us in the Illinois game and it was a struggle from there on

 

[NUinID]

If the OL sucks this year, the only choices I want Cav to have in 2018 are where else to coach as Riley lets him go.......Do t think this is Riley's make or break, but it needs to be Cavs.

The offensive line was doing pretty well last year until the injuries started piling up.

I think that coincided with playing tougher teams

That too.

When we needed our starting line the most, that's when they were the most screwed up by injuries.

Elf really agree with your thinking on this tread. Till the injury bug hit the line was playing decent. Not 1994 pipeline dominate, but pretty well. They were progressing. The type of injuries that the had were the worst. Ankle injuries are just a nagging thing for O linemen. Combine that with the teams getting better and you got what you got. I expect the O line to be pretty solid this year. Again not 1994 dominate, but pretty good.

 

[TonyStalloni]

For all you who think throwing 260 lb freshmen O line rookies into a game against BIG 10 upperclass D linemen please. Just quit. Having them in the system for a year or more before throwing them into the fire can only help.

 

[Huskerzoo]

For all you who think throwing 260 freshmen O line rookies into a game against BIG 10 upperclass D linemen please. Just quit. Having them in the system for a year or more before throwing them into the fire can only help.

Agreed. Redshirting linemen needs to be a given IMO. It takes longer to reset the system but it's worth it.

 

[thatguy]

While the line is young, it was Cav's choice to redshirt those freshmen linemen in 2016. If Cav is going to use inexperience as an excuse, it's his own fault for not getting guys experience in 2016.

This. In talking about the other three guys listed that needed experience I look at the second half of the OSU game as a huge example of bad management. Cav kept his starting five in for the whole thing. Decker, Barnett and Gaylord should have been inserted there. Going against OSU's twos and threes would have been far more of learning experience than mop up non conference snaps.
I've been an advocate for rotating guys up front. At least you'll find out pretty fast with what ya got.

Milt Tenopir never had a rotation for his linemen and we did pretty welll under his tutelage. I'm not saying Milt never substituted linemen, I'm just saying he never had a set rotation. So I don't think rotating the offensive linemen is a huge deal personally.

i think some people quite often confuse substitution and in-game development with "set rotation". the idea is not necessarily to have every lineman play every other series, or some other predetermined schedule. The concept here is that if you are serious about having competent backup linemen, you MUST find meaningful snaps for your backup linemen in both games that matter and games that are less important in the grand scheme of things. doesn't have to be a predetermined order. it can be a "feel" type of thing, based on how the game is going (not just blowouts). some games they might play more snaps than other games. but to have it set in stone that you just don't rotate linemen in, unless the starters' legs are broken or something similar is pretty silly.

that decker and barnett could not spell hobbled starters for any number of snaps at all should tell you something is wrong.

 

[BigRedBuster]

While the line is young, it was Cav's choice to redshirt those freshmen linemen in 2016. If Cav is going to use inexperience as an excuse, it's his own fault for not getting guys experience in 2016.

This. In talking about the other three guys listed that needed experience I look at the second half of the OSU game as a huge example of bad management. Cav kept his starting five in for the whole thing. Decker, Barnett and Gaylord should have been inserted there. Going against OSU's twos and threes would have been far more of learning experience than mop up non conference snaps.
I've been an advocate for rotating guys up front. At least you'll find out pretty fast with what ya got.

Milt Tenopir never had a rotation for his linemen and we did pretty welll under his tutelage. I'm not saying Milt never substituted linemen, I'm just saying he never had a set rotation. So I don't think rotating the offensive linemen is a huge deal personally.

i think some people quite often confuse substitution and in-game development with "set rotation". the idea is not necessarily to have every lineman play every other series, or some other predetermined schedule. The concept here is that if you are serious about having competent backup linemen, you MUST find meaningful snaps for your backup linemen in both games that matter and games that are less important in the grand scheme of things. doesn't have to be a predetermined order. it can be a "feel" type of thing, based on how the game is going (not just blowouts). some games they might play more snaps than other games. but to have it set in stone that you just don't rotate linemen in, unless the starters' legs are broken or something similar is pretty silly.

that decker and barnett could not spell hobbled starters for any number of snaps at all should tell you something is wrong.

That's easy to do if you are up by 30. We haven't had that luxury. Not sure what the issue was with Decker. But, the issues with Barnett are pretty well known and it's not a problem with the coaching staff.