Are the players starting to buy into Mike Riley? Last night was a great game from start to end. The team clicked. They were motivated and passionate as a group. I am not trying to take away from any one player about not being motivated or passionate, but it just seemed like a different team out there.
Player buy in
- Thread starter T_GBR_FAN
- Start date
I think this is an overplayed theme.
As Riley has said over and over, effort and buy in have never been issues for this team. That's a narrative developed by some apologists, along with the "no talent" myths, and it was based mainly on the hypersensitive dissection of out of context plays and stats.
This team has plenty of heart and has demonstrated that in wins as well as losses (think of all of the comebacks - how many points scored in the 4th quarter this year?).
My issue with fans is that if Tommy's pass is picked off by that MSU defender (which would have been a heck of a play), people would be moaning about effort and buy in et al. Too much "results dictate the analysis" around here, imo.
And speaking of MSU d-backs... 3 were true freshman starters? I guess Nebraska isn't the only team that has a couple of thin spots on the depth chart. Hope some of the player bashers acknowledge that finally.
As Riley has said over and over, effort and buy in have never been issues for this team. That's a narrative developed by some apologists, along with the "no talent" myths, and it was based mainly on the hypersensitive dissection of out of context plays and stats.
This team has plenty of heart and has demonstrated that in wins as well as losses (think of all of the comebacks - how many points scored in the 4th quarter this year?).
My issue with fans is that if Tommy's pass is picked off by that MSU defender (which would have been a heck of a play), people would be moaning about effort and buy in et al. Too much "results dictate the analysis" around here, imo.
And speaking of MSU d-backs... 3 were true freshman starters? I guess Nebraska isn't the only team that has a couple of thin spots on the depth chart. Hope some of the player bashers acknowledge that finally.
84HuskerLaw
All-Conference
Obviously, the team kept playing and never gave up. the last couple drives saw nearly every player on the sideline up and in to the game action (not just sitting idly on the bench looking at the cheerleaders, etc. Now, perhaps that is something we should be worrying about but ?? This is a very good sign in my opinion. This game had all the appearances to become an ugly loss with plenty of blowout potential. There were certainly periods of time during the game where things threatened to become out of control and go against us. But, the team kept battling and never lost confidence. They went out there on those last several drives believing they could and would score. They did. I say that is progress.
I don't think Michigan State is the best team out there but certainly I believe they were the best team we've played this year. We were not outclassed although it really helped our cause that Cook was having 'an off night' throwing the ball early on. That kept us in the game and let us get the early lead. This kept the game close through the first three quarters, allowing the game to become a 'whoever had the ball last wins' finish. We benefited by a couple officials' calls and one or two 'ify' play choices by MSU as well. We should not have had the ball the final possession. But, MSU made the right play calls to run the ball three times and burn up the clock. What saved us was the holding penalty on their third down which stopped the clock and saved us about 35 seconds. We lose the game otherwise!
I believe we had a pretty darn good gameplan and the cover 2 defense helped and maybe that caused the pass incompletions by Cook early on. But, the second half, we needed something more as a second major 'change up' in the secondary schemes because it became clear that MSU had become unstoppable really. If we had played another two quarters, they would have likely had about 6 more TD drives in a row. We could NOT stop them.
I think Iowa will be a different challenge as they will try to run right over us. I think if we have all our defenders healthy and available, our big boys on the D line can hold up and make the run game tough for the Hawkeyes and therefore Iowa will have to pass well to beat us. Passing against us has not been difficult for anybody yet but there is hope that with a couple weeks to get ready, we can pull something new out of Riley's hat special for Iowa. The coaches will need something.
I hope we watch the film and realize that we CAN run the ball effectively. Our passing game is very lethal. Any team that doesn't respect what we have been doing in the 4th quarters of games, scoring fast through the air and throwing all over throughout the games is foolish. Teams must overplay the pass against us. This frees up the run and they just can't load up the box. Cross may not make many miss but he can make most hurt and if he carried the ball 30 tiimes in a game, he would get 160 yards and 3 TDs and take several defenders out of the game from the brutality of the process. Use the guy.
I don't think Michigan State is the best team out there but certainly I believe they were the best team we've played this year. We were not outclassed although it really helped our cause that Cook was having 'an off night' throwing the ball early on. That kept us in the game and let us get the early lead. This kept the game close through the first three quarters, allowing the game to become a 'whoever had the ball last wins' finish. We benefited by a couple officials' calls and one or two 'ify' play choices by MSU as well. We should not have had the ball the final possession. But, MSU made the right play calls to run the ball three times and burn up the clock. What saved us was the holding penalty on their third down which stopped the clock and saved us about 35 seconds. We lose the game otherwise!
I believe we had a pretty darn good gameplan and the cover 2 defense helped and maybe that caused the pass incompletions by Cook early on. But, the second half, we needed something more as a second major 'change up' in the secondary schemes because it became clear that MSU had become unstoppable really. If we had played another two quarters, they would have likely had about 6 more TD drives in a row. We could NOT stop them.
I think Iowa will be a different challenge as they will try to run right over us. I think if we have all our defenders healthy and available, our big boys on the D line can hold up and make the run game tough for the Hawkeyes and therefore Iowa will have to pass well to beat us. Passing against us has not been difficult for anybody yet but there is hope that with a couple weeks to get ready, we can pull something new out of Riley's hat special for Iowa. The coaches will need something.
I hope we watch the film and realize that we CAN run the ball effectively. Our passing game is very lethal. Any team that doesn't respect what we have been doing in the 4th quarters of games, scoring fast through the air and throwing all over throughout the games is foolish. Teams must overplay the pass against us. This frees up the run and they just can't load up the box. Cross may not make many miss but he can make most hurt and if he carried the ball 30 tiimes in a game, he would get 160 yards and 3 TDs and take several defenders out of the game from the brutality of the process. Use the guy.
Red Dead Redemption
Starter
SMH. Are you a troll? What is with so many people saying the players were not "bought in" to Mike Riley before now?
Proof?
I agree it seemed like a different team, but that's probably because it seemed like a different game plan.
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The bigger question is whether the Riley and staff will buy into the current crop of players. I think Nebraska won last night IN SPITE of the coaching and game plan, not BECAUSE of it.
First and goal, and Langsdorf tries to make that a passing series, as if he isn't even aware that the offensive line clicking on the run game, Cross having his best game, plus Armstrong and Janovich great all season running tough. Oh, and then for the last TD drive, we again ignore Cross, Janovich, and Armstrong for the first two plays and go with a dinged up Newby. Then the Special Teams coach takes a kicker with a great leg that most likely would boom it into the end zone and have him squib kick at the end of the game.
I see Riley and his staff are slowly groping their way to what works, and hopefully will have a firm grasp of this team's strengths and weaknesses by the time kickoff comes against Iowa...
That all being said, we should keep Riley for the length of his contract with the stipulation that he reads mavric's posts every week and gives a written response to what mavric sees and what he questions...
First and goal, and Langsdorf tries to make that a passing series, as if he isn't even aware that the offensive line clicking on the run game, Cross having his best game, plus Armstrong and Janovich great all season running tough. Oh, and then for the last TD drive, we again ignore Cross, Janovich, and Armstrong for the first two plays and go with a dinged up Newby. Then the Special Teams coach takes a kicker with a great leg that most likely would boom it into the end zone and have him squib kick at the end of the game.
I see Riley and his staff are slowly groping their way to what works, and hopefully will have a firm grasp of this team's strengths and weaknesses by the time kickoff comes against Iowa...
That all being said, we should keep Riley for the length of his contract with the stipulation that he reads mavric's posts every week and gives a written response to what mavric sees and what he questions...
IlliniHusker
Five-Star Recruit
How come everyone is talking about Iowa? Our next game is against Rutgers. Are we suddenly incapable of a let down? Are we suddenly consistent defensively against a good passing team?
Lets play one game at a time.
Lets play one game at a time.
Red Dead Redemption
Starter
This + one million
Rutgers is beatable, but then again so was Illinois, Purdue, etc...
Beating MSU was the deviation.
Let's hope we have a good game plan for Rutgers
Vitalis Jackson
Banned
The players continue to learn the new system and gain experience. I think that's what we are seeing.
Undone
All-American
I'm not really into the theory that a "lack of player buy-in" was any part of losing the majority of the games we've lost. To me, it was a lack of execution of and commitment to the run game. Last night was different in that category...and voila.
Tommy, Alonzo, Reilly, and Westerkamp also made some incredible plays through the air. Offensively, it was just awesome.
Tommy, Alonzo, Reilly, and Westerkamp also made some incredible plays through the air. Offensively, it was just awesome.
Agreed, but that's a universal problem. Every Michigan paper I saw today second guessed their last real series, and they all wanted to throw the ball and "be brave". We all know how that story is written had they thrown incompletions and given up even more time on the clock. But the winners do everything correct and the losers do everything wrong...whether it's said on a forum, a Facebook comment section, the papers, or the water cooler...unfortunately 'results dictate the analysis' reigns supreme.
(That's why the game threads are very interesting in hindsight.)
grandpasknee
All-Conference
Hate having our bye week so late in the year...but it might turn out to be very beneficial....everybody should have a chance to get healthy for the Iowa game..and we get an extra week to game plan....and I will be there with my son...AND WE WILL BE LOUD!!!!!!
zoogs
Assistant Coach
I agree with this. I think the concern, though, was if this season kept going off the rails in the W/L column, whether the team would be able to keep it all together. I think it has been a growing challenge for everyone given the results -- players, coaches -- but I think these guys would have.