Hope

[Born N Bled Red]

Ohio State wasn't the game we wanted it to be. We were beat handily. But this is what gives me hope for the future. On offense, Nebraska has 1 Senior Starter. In fact, there are only 4 seniors on the entire offensive two deep. There are 6 junior starters and only 7 juniors on the two deep. Which means out of 31 total players on the two deep, roughly a third of them are upper classmen. As a result this will be the worst Nebraska's offense will be for at least 3 years. 

I also do not believe Nebraska is near as bad as we looked on Saturday. Last week. I believe we were victims of what Shane Falco would describe as quicksand, and our young offensive team could not over come it. I have actually been part of a team that fell victim to this very same issue. The year prior with a large senior class, we won the state championship with an undefeated season. The following year there were only 4 seniors (two that started the previous year), followed by another large junior class. The 2nd or 3rd game of the season we ran up against our toughest opponent. Things started bad and snowballed, the final score 56- to like 8- with the game being ended in the 3rd quarter to the 45 point rule. - The team rebounded and met that opponent again in the playoffs and beat them 22-20 en-route to a second consecutive state championship. 

All that to say, quicksand is real, especially in high pressure games. We are young and have a bright future. Sure we are taking our licks now, but in a year, maybe two. It will be worth it.

 

[knapplc]

To your point about having a young team. I just noticed this yesterday.

We talk about Frost "turning the roster over." He did. It's a HUGE rebuild. To wit:

We have 154 players on the roster.

24 of them are Juniors

24 of them are Seniors

46 of them are true Freshmen (almost equal to the number of upperclassmen!)

Counting Redshirt freshmen & Sophomores, 106 players - two thirds of the roster - are underclassmen

So we are a YOUNG team. And a lot of those young dudes are contributing.

But even considering our Seniors... this isn't a hugely talented group.  I put this out there on the twitter yesterday, and I'll ask you guys here: Who on this list gets drafted this year? Any sure bets?

 

[LumberJackSker]

To your point about having a young team. I just noticed this yesterday.

We talk about Frost "turning the roster over." He did. It's a HUGE rebuild. To wit:

We have 154 players on the roster.

24 of them are Juniors

24 of them are Seniors

46 of them are true Freshmen (almost equal to the number of upperclassmen!)

Counting Redshirt freshmen & Sophomores, 106 players - two thirds of the roster - are underclassmen

So we are a YOUNG team. And a lot of those young dudes are contributing.

But even considering our Seniors... this isn't a hugely talented group.  I put this out there on the twitter yesterday, and I'll ask you guys here: Who on this list gets drafted this year? Any sure bets?

Lamar Jackson 5-7 round

Davis twins and Daniels maybe late

Ozigbo and Morgan were a lot better than any seniors we have and they didn't get drafted so i wouldn't be surprised if it was none again.

 

[Jarhead In Red]

Ohio State wasn't the game we wanted it to be. We were beat handily. But this is what gives me hope for the future. On offense, Nebraska has 1 Senior Starter. In fact, there are only 4 seniors on the entire offensive two deep. There are 6 junior starters and only 7 juniors on the two deep. Which means out of 31 total players on the two deep, roughly a third of them are upper classmen. As a result this will be the worst Nebraska's offense will be for at least 3 years. 

I also do not believe Nebraska is near as bad as we looked on Saturday. Last week. I believe we were victims of what Shane Falco would describe as quicksand, and our young offensive team could not over come it. I have actually been part of a team that fell victim to this very same issue. The year prior with a large senior class, we won the state championship with an undefeated season. The following year there were only 4 seniors (two that started the previous year), followed by another large junior class. The 2nd or 3rd game of the season we ran up against our toughest opponent. Things started bad and snowballed, the final score 56- to like 8- with the game being ended in the 3rd quarter to the 45 point rule. - The team rebounded and met that opponent again in the playoffs and beat them 22-20 en-route to a second consecutive state championship. 

All that to say, quicksand is real, especially in high pressure games. We are young and have a bright future. Sure we are taking our licks now, but in a year, maybe two. It will be worth it.

I'm not sure in our case youth is a bad thing. I know the conventional wisdom is that youth will struggle, but with Frost inheriting a team having limited talent,  a poor culture, including effort issues and issues with ingrained, poor habits, graduating the upperclassmen may be just what we need to move the program forward. Besides, if we look at our OL, most of the optimism for upgraded play rests on players who will be Soph, Redshirt Freshman or true Freshmen next year. And, on the DL, a bunch of young players are going to be in the two deep with all the Seniors graduating. If youth is truly an issue as people say it is, then we should probably expect to struggle mightily next year and maybe even regress. But, I have a feeling that the young guys will usher in an upgraded talent level next season, and start to narrow the gap with the other Big10 teams.

 

[WyoHusker56]

To your point about having a young team. I just noticed this yesterday.

We talk about Frost "turning the roster over." He did. It's a HUGE rebuild. To wit:

We have 154 players on the roster.

24 of them are Juniors

24 of them are Seniors

46 of them are true Freshmen (almost equal to the number of upperclassmen!)

Counting Redshirt freshmen & Sophomores, 106 players - two thirds of the roster - are underclassmen

So we are a YOUNG team. And a lot of those young dudes are contributing.

But even considering our Seniors... this isn't a hugely talented group.  I put this out there on the twitter yesterday, and I'll ask you guys here: Who on this list gets drafted this year? Any sure bets?

If Lamar continues at the level he's played I think he gets drafted. Teams are always looking for a big nose tackle so I think Daniels goes late. Davis twins maybe have a chance, but I'd guess they end up UDFA. Probably some guys who get a shot in camp in there.

 

[italianguard135]

I was looking at the junior and senior classes the other day. Both, especially the senior class show a failure of the previous staff in developing them. This team has the possibility to be very good in two years.

 

[Husker in WI]

Lamar Jackson 5-7 round

Davis twins and Daniels maybe late

Ozigbo and Morgan were a lot better than any seniors we have and they didn't get drafted so i wouldn't be surprised if it was none again.

Not necessarily athletically, and that's as important as production in the NFL. You need both unless you have truly elite production or athleticism, and a couple of those guys are more talented. I'd bet on Daniels and Jackson for sure. The Davis bros have a shot, and maaaaybe Barry or Alex Davis. But to the original point, yeah this is not an overly talented senior class. 

 

[Huskers93-97]

To your point about having a young team. I just noticed this yesterday.

We talk about Frost "turning the roster over." He did. It's a HUGE rebuild. To wit:

We have 154 players on the roster.

24 of them are Juniors

24 of them are Seniors

46 of them are true Freshmen (almost equal to the number of upperclassmen!)

Counting Redshirt freshmen & Sophomores, 106 players - two thirds of the roster - are underclassmen

So we are a YOUNG team. And a lot of those young dudes are contributing.

But even considering our Seniors... this isn't a hugely talented group.  I put this out there on the twitter yesterday, and I'll ask you guys here: Who on this list gets drafted this year? Any sure bets?

Lets put it this way. Not in who would get drafted. But if we were a good team. So say 5 years from now. Would any of those players be in the 2 deep? I think daniels and the davis twins are the only 3 I could say yes.

Ill edit that to say they would be in the 2 deep. Not Starters.

 

[LumberJackSker]

Not necessarily athletically, and that's as important as production in the NFL. You need both unless you have truly elite production or athleticism, and a couple of those guys are more talented. I'd bet on Daniels and Jackson for sure. The Davis bros have a shot, and maaaaybe Barry or Alex Davis. But to the original point, yeah this is not an overly talented senior class. 

I doubt alex davis and his 1 tackle a game average are going to impress anyone and i dont think barry is athletic enough to be a 3 down backer. I can't believe how much the coaches talked up alex davis in the offseason.

 

[GBRFAN]

So we basically will flip out starting 3 DL and lose a little depth.  Otherwise, at every other position we will get a year older and have 24 more chances to add a difference maker.  I like our chances of improving next year.

 

[Husker in WI]

I doubt alex davis and his 1 tackle a game average are going to impress anyone and i dont think barry is athletic enough to be a 3 down backer. I can't believe how much the coaches talked up alex davis in the offseason.

I think Davis is actually playing reasonably well, but good point the production isn't there. I guess I was thinking he could test pretty well, but not so well they'll overlook the non existent production. 

Barry is absolutely a long shot, but teams draft rotational linebackers in the late rounds. Still unlikely though. 

 

[Dansker]

So why did everyone wait until now to do their research on the roster? Where was this during all the off-season hype? Too much kool-aid drinking?  :koolaid2:

 

[Decoy73]

It’s too easy to ignore the facts when the Kool-aid is flowing freely. 

Just like Ike a long night of binge drinking with friends. It seems great and worry free at the time, but If you’re not at least somewhat smart about it, you’ll surely have some regrets later. 

 

[Born N Bled Red]

I knew that the offense was young in the preseason. What I didn't see happening was line play falling off as much as it has. 

 

[Jeremy]

So why did everyone wait until now to do their research on the roster? Where was this during all the off-season hype? Too much kool-aid drinking?  :koolaid2:

Not me. I said repeatedly that we would need to be okay with 7-5, even 6-6. Get to a bowl game, extra practices, recruit and keep building. Not great, but progress from two 4-8 seasons. That's the most we should expect from a program that was gutted when Pelini was axed. Not saying he was the end-all, be-all, but we lost recruits and prestige from that whole episode. Then Riley let things slide into the abyss until Nebraska football wasn't even a shadow of it's former self. Embarrassing. 

I want to believe Scott is doing everything possible to get the right kids and coach in whatever way it takes to bring us back. It's concerning to me, though, when I hear that we have GA's possibly teaching Wandale how to run option out of the I and take pitches - in warm-ups before OSU - for the first time? Why in the heck is this not taught in the several practices leading up to the game? I hope I'm wrong, and they were just brushing up on skills that had been previously introduced.

I also want to believe Scott knows that you can't keep a kid in at center if he can't reliably snap the ball. It's getting ridiculous. Also, please tell me he knows that we can't leave a guard moved to tackle on an island to block one of the best DE's in the country. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

All that said, somehow we were able to get 700 yards against a P5 defense, which is very impressive, no matter who we're playing. There is definitely hope, but little room for error or bad decision-making. We need to be literally on the ball from here on out.