More Ridiculousness on the O-Line

[robsker]

If coaches cannot convey the need to play hard to their players and allow their players to be this unrealistic and arrogant (from players and from a team that has done NOTHING --- absolutely NOTHING to warrant over-confidence) then... wow.

This is a pretty big over-generalization. So far, that's two players. Out of how many that played? More than 50 I'd guess. Yes, there were others who had a bad game but that doesn't mean the coaches weren't trying to get them going. Pretty sure I read last week where the coaches specifically said they were telling the players not to over-look Northwestern.

Coaches do what they can to motivate but it still comes down to the player. If a player can't get themselves ready, I don't know what a coach is supposed to do. Yes, that could also mean that the coaches could be putting someone else in the game but people saying coaches have to get everyone motiviated has never made much sense to me.

Again..... I haven't seen the link to this "[Yoshi] didn't even watch game film that week".

I find that to be grounds for Yoshi's dismissal. If not, then Bo is not the person I think he is.... and all his tough talk is just empty noise.

I don't think anyone ever said "Yoshi didn't even watch game film that week." You're making a jump on that one. Several comments from Yoshi and A-Rod are in this OWH article. I think you can blame the coaches for not realizing Yoshi was hurt, if that's what was causing the problem. It would be different if we didn't have anyone else (which was the claim last year) but his backup STARTED EVERY GAME LAST YEAR and now barely gets in.

Yoshi and A-Rod both got pulled after the failed fourth down with about 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. I'd say that was the worst effort I've ever seen but that would imply that they actually put effort into the play. They BOTH looked at TWO different defenders but NEITHER made any attempt to block either one! At least they got pulled after than and didn't get back in (I don't think) but apparently Yoshi is back with the first team so we'll see if it made any difference.

I think we're basing this idea that Choi is the better player on one really good block he had.

I agree. I've seen him completely whiff on a block and the player he missed end up making a TFL.

I think if you go back and watch the two of them, you would see that A-Rod's problem was just one game and Choi is a lot more than just one block.

Regarding it being just two players ... well A-Rod said "we" and appears to have been speaking for the team (or at least a subset of the team) --- he did not say "I" but we.

And... it is evident... essentially week after week, pretty much year after year --- that the NU is often flat, unmotivated or un-focused for portions of (and sometime major portions of) almost every game. So... I think problems in terms of motivation and focus are far, far more extensive than 2 players and is a very pervasive problem. And that is... a coaching issue.

 

[AustinHuskr]

If coaches cannot convey the need to play hard to their players and allow their players to be this unrealistic and arrogant (from players and from a team that has done NOTHING --- absolutely NOTHING to warrant over-confidence) then... wow.

This is a pretty big over-generalization. So far, that's two players. Out of how many that played? More than 50 I'd guess. Yes, there were others who had a bad game but that doesn't mean the coaches weren't trying to get them going. Pretty sure I read last week where the coaches specifically said they were telling the players not to over-look Northwestern.

Coaches do what they can to motivate but it still comes down to the player. If a player can't get themselves ready, I don't know what a coach is supposed to do. Yes, that could also mean that the coaches could be putting someone else in the game but people saying coaches have to get everyone motiviated has never made much sense to me.

Again..... I haven't seen the link to this "[Yoshi] didn't even watch game film that week".

I find that to be grounds for Yoshi's dismissal. If not, then Bo is not the person I think he is.... and all his tough talk is just empty noise.

I don't think anyone ever said "Yoshi didn't even watch game film that week." You're making a jump on that one. Several comments from Yoshi and A-Rod are in this OWH article. I think you can blame the coaches for not realizing Yoshi was hurt, if that's what was causing the problem. It would be different if we didn't have anyone else (which was the claim last year) but his backup STARTED EVERY GAME LAST YEAR and now barely gets in.

Yoshi and A-Rod both got pulled after the failed fourth down with about 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. I'd say that was the worst effort I've ever seen but that would imply that they actually put effort into the play. They BOTH looked at TWO different defenders but NEITHER made any attempt to block either one! At least they got pulled after than and didn't get back in (I don't think) but apparently Yoshi is back with the first team so we'll see if it made any difference.

I think we're basing this idea that Choi is the better player on one really good block he had.

I agree. I've seen him completely whiff on a block and the player he missed end up making a TFL.

I think if you go back and watch the two of them, you would see that A-Rod's problem was just one game and Choi is a lot more than just one block.

Regarding it being just two players ... well A-Rod said "we" and appears to have been speaking for the team (or at least a subset of the team) --- he did not say "I" but we.

And... it is evident... essentially week after week, pretty much year after year --- that the NU is often flat, unmotivated or un-focused for portions of (and sometime major portions of) almost every game. So... I think problems in terms of motivation and focus are far, far more extensive than 2 players and is a very pervasive problem. And that is... a coaching issue.

So how is it possible for a HC who's known for having a firey no-nonsense persona, not able to motivate his team?

 

[skersfan]

I was not talking about talent alone, the key to winning is having coaches playing the game, on the field. That is what Saben continously says, all knowing their jobs and the guys next to him. Giving 100 percent every single play.

That is what we need to recruit, the effort, the dedication, the loyalty, the drive, the desire to win at any cost. We do not have those type of athletes at every position it appears.

Jason is spot on, but it goes back farther than just putting in the effort. It is the god given desire to want to do it every single play in the game and practice. We come up short on that type of player for some reason.

In the 90's we had that type of player, maybe not the best in the country, but tried harder than anyone else. Get back to that we will start to win. Decide what type of team we are and recruit that type of player. We have no identity, not rudder to select what we need. We just take what is left it appears. It is obvious what is left, is left for a reason.

 

[husker0072]

Hardrick came out and said that he didn't even watch game film that week. His words were "we didn't take Northwestern seriously".

Wow! Just wow!

Link (I really need it)?

You could tell the team came out flat man.....totally underestimated the damage a NW offense could do....and the NW defense was playing fundamentally sound...esp. in the tackling dept. They tackled well. Hearing this SH%^ kinda pisses me off....you don't take ANY TEAM lightly....

Well apparently some players do, and unfortunately it doesn't matter how bad you think a team is every team has the ability to show up and crack you in the mouth if you don't come to play. It is unfortunate, and I think that although Yoshi is the only one who actually admitted it there were quite a few other players that overlooked NW. I mean this wasn't a loss predicated by one or two people being unprepared this was a total team loss in all phases. NW made us look downright pedestrian. I hope this serves as a lesson for our players.

 

[Mavric]

So how is it possible for a HC who's known for having a firey no-nonsense persona, not able to motivate his team?

Because coaches CAN'T take a player from "lack of energy, lack of effort" to "play this game like it's the BCS Championship." Hopefully, they can bump players up a couple notches but it's up to the players to get themselves going for the most part. Do you think Jason Peter needed Dr. Tom to get him going every day? Does Ray Lewis need John Harbaugh to get him fired up so he can do his dance?

Plus, why does it work on some players but not others? Do the coaches only try to fire up Lavonte David, Rex Burkhead, Alfonzo Dennard and players like that? The rest they totally forget to even talk to?

As I said, you can possibly fault the coaches for not replacing players who aren't playing well - although they did finally yank Yoshi and A-Rod - but they're playing the players they think are the best. We may disagree but I doubt any of us are at practice every day (as Damon Benning commented last night on Big Red Wrapup).

 

[Stickney]

"the minute NU staffers posted it on the Internet for players to see,"?

So they don't go to film study? They wait till ole Barney "posts it on the internet"?

This is the 21st century, they can watch the film immediately it gets edited/loaded by the video staff. They don't have to wait until Sunday afternoon to view it in a room off a projector. They can watch it on their computer/Ipad and then come to whenever their position meeting is to review it as a group.

I watched some tape, NW was routinely dropping a fifth guy onto the LOS -- uncannily -- on every running play. It was almost as if they knew what was coming.

At any rate, NU didn't adjust well to how NW was defending the run. The line did not play with urgency. But then again, except for B. Stein, I can't really say anyone did.

 

[Atbone95]

A lot of programs (college and high school) are beginning to use a program called Hudl. It's a Nebraska based film company (at least I believe so... their corporate phone number is in the 402 area code!) that gives programs the opportunity to post film of games online for players to view. We used it at my high school this year and it was wonderful. The players had the opportunity to watch themselves to learn as well as to watch film of their opponents. OF COURSE there always was and will be film sessions as a team, this just was like an added bonus for the players to be able to dissect the film themselves if they wanted to.

 

[Chaddyboxer]

Hardrick came out and said that he didn't even watch game film that week. His words were "we didn't take Northwestern seriously".

Wow! Just wow!

Link (I really need it)?

You could tell the team came out flat man.....totally underestimated the damage a NW offense could do....and the NW defense was playing fundamentally sound...esp. in the tackling dept. They tackled well. Hearing this SH%^ kinda pisses me off....you don't take ANY TEAM lightly....

Well apparently some players do, and unfortunately it doesn't matter how bad you think a team is every team has the ability to show up and crack you in the mouth if you don't come to play. It is unfortunate, and I think that although Yoshi is the only one who actually admitted it there were quite a few other players that overlooked NW. I mean this wasn't a loss predicated by one or two people being unprepared this was a total team loss in all phases. NW made us look downright pedestrian. I hope this serves as a lesson for our players.

Seeing how Bo is....I would assume he is chewing some major a$$ this week. He should be...

 

[skersfan]

Well his a$$ chewing has very seldom done any good, we have numerous games where we did not play to our ability, not only losses.

We can hope, but it really has never seemed to do much good. Maybe too much a$$ chewing goes on for things that are not to that level. Who knows.

 

[Enhance]

A couple of things. First, motivation should never be a problem. I mentioned this a couple of times earlier this week and last, but it's important. A former coach once said that if he had to motivate a player to play their best in front 85,000 people at Nebraska, then that player didn't deserve to be on the team. I know most of these kids aren't from Nebraska, but the truth of the matter still remains. Five national championships - a history of excellence - a history of dominance. If being a Nebraska player and playing in front of some of the best fans in college football doesn't motivate you, what will?

Second, as another poster pointed out, this team is in absolutely no position to not taken anyone seriously. They haven't done anything - they haven't earned anything. What did they do that gave them the right to not take NW seriously? Beating MSU? Do they not remember the absolute throttling they got on national television against Wisconsin? Again - they're in no position to not take anyone seriously.

Lastly, the one coach I still question on the staff is Cotton. Over the last three year's, our offensive line has been arguably the worst part of our entire team. High expectations every year with some pretty good players, only to have it followed up by some of the most inexplicably poor performances and inconsistencies. We added help on the offensive line this year, and now the youngest group of linemen we've had in years is playing arguably more consistent than any other since Cotton has been here. They've had their hiccups this year, like last week, but they played really well for the last 9 1/2 quarters before the NW game. Cotton shouldn't be fired because we have had some crazy things happen on our lines with injuries and transfers, but with the youth he has there are no excuses for this group to not be great in two years. If they're not, it should be time to re-evaluate the position.

 

[illnino]

Hardrick came out and said that he didn't even watch game film that week. His words were "we didn't take Northwestern seriously".

I thought film study was a requirement? Anyways, sad to hear this kind of stuff if it's true.

 

[HuskerTrucker]

I don't think this team can take anyone lightly. They are NOT that good. They should be in the film room and working their butts off EVERY week for EVERY game. This has become a real issue here at Nebraska, the attitude that they can just show up and beat teams that are supposed to be of lessor talent. Not just this season, but it seems like it goes back all the way to Osborne's later seasons.

I think this is a coaching issue. The players will only respond to what the coaches ask them to do. If the coaches aren't drilling them to watch the film, or to take a team seriously, it won't happen.

This offensive line is not good. This again is a coaching issue. Cotton has had every opportunity to make it better. In my view, he don't know how, and he does not know how to do a good evaluation on talent. We are no farther with the O-line than we were last year at this time. I think that may be a team-wide issue - the defense is going down hill. This was not a problem in past years before Callahan, and Bo has not brought the blackshirts back to where they should be. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, and I would have hoped that we would have been farther down that road by now with Bo bringing in "his" recruits.

 

[HuskerinSunDiego]

I think we're basing this idea that Choi is the better player on one really good block he had.

I agree. I've seen him completely whiff on a block and the player he missed end up making a TFL.

Choi was dominant in the Washington game. Way better than anything ARod has done. Ironically, Washington was our best game. I have yet to see ARod make one block that has stood out. Not so for Choi.

 

[Chaddyboxer]

I think we're basing this idea that Choi is the better player on one really good block he had.

I agree. I've seen him completely whiff on a block and the player he missed end up making a TFL.

Choi was dominant in the Washington game. Way better than anything ARod has done. Ironically, Washington was our best game. I have yet to see ARod make one block that has stood out. Not so for Choi.

As much as I bash on A-Rod...I think NEB's best o-line blocking came against Mich. St. A-rod played a solid game.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

They took a game off.

Which means they took a bunch of practices off.

Makes me sick really.

No wonder every time I hear Jason Peter talk he's fuming about what goes on over there. You'd think Callahan & Cosgrove were still in the house. All the stuff JP talks about are effort related - not so much talent related. He KNOWS it when he sees it and I've never heard him even once say anything that he's happy about. For instance, the handing out of 22 BlackShirts. TWENTY TWO??!! Really? Fisher gets one? SJB gets one? Courtney Osborne gets one?

This is a joke.

BlackShirts is a time honored tradition that went to the 11 starters, not to guys who made courtesy appearances :steam .

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have found the reason why AustinHuskr hates Bo Pelini and everything that he stands for.