Minnesota: What Did We Learn?

gobiggergoredder said:
I think he’s a 7 v 7 QB, but I’d be curious to see him perform with lock down blocking too. His lack of mobility is a serious problem. There are no current elite QBs that I can think of that are not a danger to get 10-15 yards if the defense doesn’t account for them.
Click to expand...

Wonder what an offseason full of dot, ladder, boards, jump rope, and other quickness drills plus shaving 10-15lbs would do.
 
Not to pile on, but passing thru the twin cities last weekend, I decided to catch the MN/Purdue game in person and watched it intently because MN was up next for NU. MN absolutely couldn't do anything on the ground against Purdue on the ground and had like a total of 20yrds rushing at some point in the 2nd half. Purdue, the team that is currently 2-4 and about to be shutout by Northwestern, absolutely controlled 3/4 of that game. MN had a great pick-6 late and that turned the tables as they generally kept it a 1 score game the whole time and won a close one. I came away feeling relieved that Nebraska was finally going to beat MN because MN generally looked like a bad to mediocre team headed for 6-6...............OH boy. Every game is different and obviously we can't draw parallels, but like everyone else I am incredibly disappointed and somewhat surprised at how BAD of a football team Nebraska is right now. Coach Rhule NEEDS to make some uncomfortable, but necessary decisions soon. We may be lucky to get back to the Pinstripe Bowl again.
 
I bet everyone feels like Northwestern is a winnable game but they have been playing lights out the last three weeks and they shut out Purdue today. Their defense is solid and given that our o-line are little women who have no shame about their QB being sacked 9 times in a game, I feel that Riola needs to get used to being on his back. Yesterday’s game set us back so much. It was a huge blow to the confidence of this team. Riola is one of the slowest QB we have had in two decades. Couple that with an o-line that can’t block a middle school football team, I would not be surprised if we lose next week. I am not confident about any of the teams we are going to face the rest of the season. If we can get bowl eligible, that would be nice. If we finish season 8-4, I would call that progress, sadly. On a positive note, this team has trained me to lower my expectations and I don’t get as mad when we lose because I learned that our HC recruiting is suspect. We need a Cignetti type HC at Nebraska.
The one undeniable improvement this season has been our special teams play which, in my opinion, is the difference between us being 5-2 versus 2-5.
 
huskerfan74 said:
I bet everyone feels like Northwestern is a winnable game but they have been playing lights out the last three weeks and they shut out Purdue today. Their defense is solid and given that our o-line are little women who have no shame about their QB being sacked 9 times in a game, I feel that Riola needs to get used to being on his back. Yesterday’s game set us back so much. It was a huge blow to the confidence of this team. Riola is one of the slowest QB we have had in two decades. Couple that with an o-line that can’t block a middle school football team, I would not be surprised if we lose next week. I am not confident about any of the teams we are going to face the rest of the season. If we can get bowl eligible, that would be nice. If we finish season 8-4, I would call that progress, sadly. On a positive note, this team has trained me to lower my expectations and I don’t get as mad when we lose because I learned that our HC recruiting is suspect. We need a Cignetti type HC at Nebraska.
The one undeniable improvement this season has been our special teams play which, in my opinion, is the difference between us being 5-2 versus 2-5.
Click to expand...
I am hoping that Dana swallows his pride, gives up his salary from the Minny game, goes on a Ibogaine journey or whatever it takes to realize he needs to design plays around the destruction that was the Minny game. Forget about film, forget about your experience, game around 2 back sets, short passes, draws, motions, PA, feed EJ early and often etc...And dare I say introduce some RPO where Dylan keeps. No DC would EVER see that coming. Anything that will help Dylan play as though there is no OL. Not slow developing plays, not a hand off 7 yards deep to EJ to the D can crash....Would love to see a lot of deigned rollouts where the OL moves the front and allow Dylan to sling the rock. He does well in that mode. And look at Barney more than one time....
 
ranch boy said:
I am sorry, but if expecting to beat a down Minnesota as a 7 point favorite, top 25 team is unrealistic, what is the point? How is that remotely acceptable at this point?
Click to expand...
Again, those are unrealistic expectations in this era of parity when any team can win in any given week. We're struggling to get from the bottom half of the B1G into the top half, call it tier 3. Minnesota has been there for years. We're going to lose some of those games, especially on the road on a short week with a Friday night game.
 
There are some spoiled programs that have a hard time accepting a bad season, like Penn state and Clemson. There might be some opportunities to snag one of those winning coaches because their fan bases struggle to deal with one bad season. They should talk to us who endured two decades of bad seasons with some of those seasons categorized as nightmare seasons. I am willing to take one bad season over this never ending hope crushing cycle of hell we are stuck in. I am sorry, but expecting to beat a Minnesota team with a seasoned coach and a 5-star QB should not be considered as unrealistic expectation. It should be a given. We have more talent than Minnesota. Minnesota did not do anything special. We were simply distracted and outclassed and outcoached. I put this entirely on the coaching staff. If the only way for us to keep Riola at Nebraska is to keep his incompetent uncle as OL coach then we should let both of them go. A 5-star QB is useless behind a non-existent OL. I would take a 3-star QB behind a solid OL rather than this crap show.
 
While the O-Line is it own problems. It seem like we are always stuggling on the road and it seems like we are dealing with the same old issue every season. Missed tackles, poor o-line, run defense, etc... We have good games and than show up unprepard the week later.

Here is the 2026 schedule and it doesn't get any easier.

Non-Conf - Ohio University, Bowling Green and FCS North Dakota. The Bobcats have won P4 games recently as they beat Iowa State and WVU in past two years and nearly beat Rutgers this year and took Ohio State into the 3rd Qt this year. Bowling Green isn't very good. Any Dakota school is good at football.

Screenshot 2025-10-18 at 7.27.44 PM.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top