Player buy in

[Danimal]

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.

The "toxic situation" stuff is more BS scapegoating than reality. Yes there were players that are unhappy about what happened and probably still don't like it. Does that mean they aren't playing hard? This team has battled. They haven't played well with any consistency but they've battled pretty hard, especially for a team that is used to usually winning and has had the setbacks we've had.

Yes we can always improve on recruiting but the talent argument is also largely BS. We showed last night we have the talent to beat any team on the sched. I'd say we have at least as much offensive talent as any team in the con outside of the defending national champs. Yes we are thin in spots on D, no getting around that. But the main problem on our D performance-wise has been a secondary that hasn't even been hit that bad by injury.

 

[brophog]

To me, it was a lack of execution of and commitment to the run game. Last night was different in that category...and voila.

Illinois 34 rushes to 31 passes, 187 yds rushing.....lose a close game.

Wisconsin 37 rushes to 28 passes, 196 yds rushing....lose a close game.

Michigan St. 36 rushes to 33 passes, 179 yds rushing...win a close game.

I'm not seeing it. I saw some nice play sequencing at times that has me excited, but we don't talk about that sort of thing much. In terms of the beaten drum, I'm afraid you may find its the same drum.

 

[Undone]

I'm not seeing it. I saw some nice play sequencing at times that has me excited, but we don't talk about that sort of thing much. In terms of the beaten drum, I'm afraid you may find its the same drum.

In regards to execution, you did see it on our final series on offense against BYU, Illinois, and Wisconsin (unless you had your eyes closed). If we impose our will on three consecutive solid running plays, we convert that last first down, get into victory formation, and watch the clock expire to the tune of a victory.

Commitment to the run was lacking against Purdue with regards to 52 called pass plays with a backup QB who had roughly 18 passing previous attempts (!) as a Husker.

Can you see it?

 

[T_GBR_FAN]

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.

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.

 

[T_GBR_FAN]

I don't think I am a troll. I don't live under a bridge 😉. There have been a couple games in the past where it didn't seem like everyone was on the same page. The entire team was tuned in the last game. I remember a coupe games where it seemed like some of the players didn't really care on the sideline.

 

[xlbder]

The commitment to the run is not just the number of runs versus the number of passes but how many times did we line up in a run formation versus s pass formation? It appeared to me we used more two back sets. Instead of running out of a passing we did more passing outta the run formation. I see Jano and Cross together and my heart soars like a hawk.