Cincinnati: What Did We Learn?

The only thing that concerned me was our pass rush. Cincy completely rammed it down our throat in the 4th quarter. We just couldn't stop them. Some of you might think I am overreacting, but what happens when we play a real team loaded with talent? Michigan, Penn State, USC, Iowa? Those guys will just keep running the ball. I didn't realize how much of a dropoff it was from Robinson and Hutmacher.
 
Hilltop said:
It is lazy comments like this that drive me nuts. Cinci has 3 players that would easily play for Michigan... or anyone else for that matter.
www.nytimes.com

College football Freaks List 2025: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith tops a list of 101

The 2025 Freaks List is here. College football is close!
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No. 14 Dontay Corleone
No. 29 Jeff Caldwell
No. 48 Jake Golday

You can look on the list for all the Nebraska Players... spoiler alert we don't have a single one.

Cincinnati didn't have a great year last year but it wasn't like they were bad either. They had horrible luck with injuries, including Corleone, and lost some tight games they likely would have won if he was healthy.

Of course we have issues to work on but celebrate the win for what it is. We beat a power 5 opponent away from our stadium on opening day- something we haven't done in over 20 years.
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No way Caldwell plays for Michigan, or any Big Ten team outside of maybe Iowa or Northwestern. Golday would play for some Big Ten teams (I'd like him on ours), but he would not be starting over Hausmann and Barham.

The freaks list is 1) not reflective of whether the guys are good at football, and 2) a PR tool for teams at this point. I used to love it, 10 or so players with legitimate, measurable, and understandable feats of athleticism. Now I am pretty sure he just asks teams to submit players and their measurements. Outside of the top ones, it's all "this guy is slightly bigger than the average player at his position, runs a (reported) 40 yard dash a little faster than you'd think and can bench press some weight." And again, more to the point - despite their inclusion on the freaks list Caldwell and Golday would not be playing for Michigan.
 
Husker_In_WI said:
No way Caldwell plays for Michigan, or any Big Ten team outside of maybe Iowa or Northwestern. Golday would play for some Big Ten teams (I'd like him on ours), but he would not be starting over Hausmann and Barham.

The freaks list is 1) not reflective of whether the guys are good at football, and 2) a PR tool for teams at this point. I used to love it, 10 or so players with legitimate, measurable, and understandable feats of athleticism. Now I am pretty sure he just asks teams to submit players and their measurements. Outside of the top ones, it's all "this guy is slightly bigger than the average player at his position, runs a (reported) 40 yard dash a little faster than you'd think and can bench press some weight." And again, more to the point - despite their inclusion on the freaks list Caldwell and Golday would not be playing for Michigan.
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Who said anything about starting? You don't think those guys crack the 3 deep rotation to see the field on Michigan's team?

I do appreciate your insight on the list.
 
It's going to be a long year. Ten pages of angst and bitching about how terrible of win it was. Almost seems it would have been better to just have lost the game since we act like we did anyway. Can't wait to see the reaction when we actually do lose one. Should be good for 20-30 pages.
 
Hilltop said:
Who said anything about starting? You don't think those guys crack the 3 deep rotation to see the field on Michigan's team?

I do appreciate your insight on the list.
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Fair enough, I think Golday would be rotational for them. It's one game for Caldwell, but there are lots of physically talented receivers who can't play at this level and he looked like one of them.

I also think despite their exclusion from the list and expanding to rotational guys, all of the following on our team would contribute at Michigan this year:
Agree with Corleone and Golday, maybe their CB #7, and maybe one of their linemen or two also being able to contribute on a team like Michigan. Overall I agree many (including me) are probably downplaying Cincinnati's talent. But we are more than 3 points more talented than them. I will take the P4 win though!
 
Husker_In_WI said:
Overall I agree many (including me) are probably downplaying Cincinnati's talent. But we are more than 3 points more talented than them. I will take the P4 win though!
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I agree with you and so did Vegas with the 7 point opening spread.

I just think some of us need to be reminded what a top draft prospect does for your DLine and whole team. We haven't had one since Suh. Some lists have Corleone in the top 5 in the draft if he can stay healthy.
 
hskrpwr13 said:
Agree with a lot of the criticism and some of the positives already mentioned. A couple of other things I learned...

John Butler: I appreciated that the defense played with a lot of energy. Guys were flying around. No, the execution wasn't always desired, but they seemed to play with intensity. Whatever is Butler's preferred scheme, he did well to mesh it with what White had established. The lack of big bodies up front will kill us in more than one game this season, but that's due to recruiting/portal.

Game Management: I might be overly critical here but I cringed when Rhule called that time-out on the 4th and 7 during Cincy's last drive. Cincy's offense is reeling a bit, our defense is feeling it, the crowd is amped (camera shaking moment for those that remember our lesser technology from the day), and ......... time-out, Nebraska. Momentum killer.
For someone that, in my opinion, is fantastic at "reading the room" off the field, he really seems to struggle with "reading the moment" on the field. (Of course Cincy winds up getting the first down. Seems to happen every time.)
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Good point. I was pissed when he called that TO. Thought the same thing. Basically just let them regroup when they were on the ropes
 
olddominionhusker said:
Good point. I was pissed when he called that TO. Thought the same thing. Basically just let them regroup when they were on the ropes
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Yeah, I don't really like defensive timeouts on 3rd/4th & Long in pressure situations like that. Obviously, I get calling one if there's an alignment issue or the coaches see a potential defensive procedural penalty, but it felt like the defense had the edge there. Looked like they called the timeout to get a glimpse of Cincy's formation and/or just talk over basics of what needed to happen next. I don't love that, especially when the opposing offense is out of timeouts. THEY have to score and THEY are running out of time. The feelings of panic and urgency in those situations are more on the offense, so keep up that pressure/intensity.

Maybe some statistics prove that calling a timeout there defensively is a good idea more often than not. I don't know. I also try not to judge those decisions exclusively based on the outcome. Obviously, the outcome is relevant, but if Nebraska gets a stop there then today the narrative would be that it was a wise move.
 
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