The "State" of NU

[markiemark]

It is a mental issue. We are mentally fragile. But that;s a coaching issue. Get the kids ready, mentally prepared. Have them "war game" if you will and use positive imagery to "see" the plays before they happen. Its not rocket science. Sports psychologists use it all the time. Mentally go through the scenarios. That way when things "happen", you've already "been there".

Relating talent, I agree with the "eyeball" test, but not with the results. The SEC does look faster, bigger and leaner. They play meaner and angry. As Corey Raymond alluded to after the USC (Carolina) game, we need to learn to get tougher (like the SEC) Look at Ole Miss and Miss St "star" ratings. IIIRC, this year, NU actually has more. Its coaching. Getting the kids ready to perform, week in and week out.

MSU has been towards the top of the rankings as has OSU. Cold, far from recruiting hot beds (OSU pretty good for recruits), but you get my point......A lot of other programs are consistently doing better with less. Less money, less facilities, less history, BUT much better coaching.......

We have the talent. Elite AA, Collins, Gregory etc.....Now at QB, we are rough. I haven't seen Stanton, but have seen TA....Give Stanton a shot. Read about Beck's philosophy on offense and then loo at our players. Square peg meet round hole.

If we had an OC who called to what we HAVE, not what he WANTS and a DC/HC who wasn't married to his defensive scheme we'd see a huge difference. Something as simple as dropping Gerry and Cop in the box Sat could have paid huge dividends. Especially against a marksman like Stave in the pocket, but instead we kept the same scheme that torched us in 2012......

IMO, its coaching. Lack of development, lack of teaching, lack of scheme and lack of attitude....

^This. The blowouts are a result of the fragile mental psyche of our HC trickling down to our players. How many times have we seen Pelini's teams play down to the competition? SDSU and McNeese come to mind. When things go well, and the execution is there a Pelini team can go toe to toe with the best. That is what makes these losses even harder to take. His teams cannot seem to look past the bad call, a momentum change or the ball bouncing the wrong way. Sometimes in life it isn't about the mistakes but how you recover from it.

Way deeper than that brother

 

[knapplc]

Also if you havent been a football head coach on any level, not to include grade school, you can make all the coaching comments you want but you truly dont understand how difficult and frustrating it is.

I've coached and won a D1A conference championship game, a college national championship, and then I went to the NFL and coached my team to a Super Bowl win. So I still get to comment.

 

[suh_fan93]

I disagree about the comment that the teams in the SEC are noticeably bigger and faster. The faster part I'll partially give you. I still think you punch an SEC team in the mouth and suddenly there not so god like anymore.

One question. Does Nebraska appear to be slower because of sheer athletic ability, or is it because of what so many have been suspecting and what Jake Cotton has pretty much confirmed? (too much thinking. not enough playing)

But, yeah, the thing about SEC looking bigger faster strong is such a crapload of BS. I watch a lot of football, and I guess i just dont see such a glaring difference.

I have always felt like the SEC has been known for it's speed going way back. The Miami teams we used to play and Florida in 96. That's all they talked about was their speed or when they talked about the SEC as a whole that's what they talked about. I do think Nebraska looks lost like they're thinking to much and not playing which has been even more stupefying this season and last season also after hearing our so called coaches say that they were going to 'simplify' things.

Sometimes even the simplest things can be made confusing if the source that the information is coming from doesn't know how to explain something effectively and efficiently or just doesn't know what they're talking about. I would blame the players but this has been going on for years now so these coaches are the one's to blame imo when it comes to the 'current state' of NU. I don't think it has anything to do with Nebraska's speed or lack thereof.

 

[huskerfan92]

I totally disagree with the assertion that we need a pass first quarterback. You don't address a problem recruiting by going after the same type of quarterback that everyone else is going for. We have to reestablish our identity as a slashing power option team with good play action pass to backs and tight ends. We can recruit awesome athletes to fit the roles we need. We need speed. Defensively we are all wrong. This University has thrown away 30 years of power football knowledge and excellence. Sad. Off topic, they are interviewing potential Presidents. My two questions would be if someone came to you with serious allegations of sex abuse in the locker room what would you do? If he or she doesnt immediately say call the cops then seeya. Next question would be how important is a football NC to you? If the answer is anything other than extremely important, with emotion, then seeya.

http://img.pandawhale.com/83571-Blink-182-WTH-gif-Imgur-First-VbnD.gif

 

[Hoosker]

It is a mental issue. We are mentally fragile. But that;s a coaching issue. Get the kids ready, mentally prepared. Have them "war game" if you will and use positive imagery to "see" the plays before they happen. Its not rocket science. Sports psychologists use it all the time. Mentally go through the scenarios. That way when things "happen", you've already "been there".

Relating talent, I agree with the "eyeball" test, but not with the results. The SEC does look faster, bigger and leaner. They play meaner and angry. As Corey Raymond alluded to after the USC (Carolina) game, we need to learn to get tougher (like the SEC) Look at Ole Miss and Miss St "star" ratings. IIIRC, this year, NU actually has more. Its coaching. Getting the kids ready to perform, week in and week out.

MSU has been towards the top of the rankings as has OSU. Cold, far from recruiting hot beds (OSU pretty good for recruits), but you get my point......A lot of other programs are consistently doing better with less. Less money, less facilities, less history, BUT much better coaching.......

We have the talent. Elite AA, Collins, Gregory etc.....Now at QB, we are rough. I haven't seen Stanton, but have seen TA....Give Stanton a shot. Read about Beck's philosophy on offense and then loo at our players. Square peg meet round hole.

If we had an OC who called to what we HAVE, not what he WANTS and a DC/HC who wasn't married to his defensive scheme we'd see a huge difference. Something as simple as dropping Gerry and Cop in the box Sat could have paid huge dividends. Especially against a marksman like Stave in the pocket, but instead we kept the same scheme that torched us in 2012......

IMO, its coaching. Lack of development, lack of teaching, lack of scheme and lack of attitude....

^This. The blowouts are a result of the fragile mental psyche of our HC trickling down to our players. How many times have we seen Pelini's teams play down to the competition? SDSU and McNeese come to mind. When things go well, and the execution is there a Pelini team can go toe to toe with the best. That is what makes these losses even harder to take. His teams cannot seem to look past the bad call, a momentum change or the ball bouncing the wrong way. Sometimes in life it isn't about the mistakes but how you recover from it.

Way deeper than that brother

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Also if you havent been a football head coach on any level, not to include grade school, you can make all the coaching comments you want but you truly dont understand how difficult and frustrating it is.

I've coached and won a D1A conference championship game, a college national championship, and then I went to the NFL and coached my team to a Super Bowl win. So I still get to comment.

Nice work in that video game..........

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I totally disagree with the assertion that we need a pass first quarterback. You don't address a problem recruiting by going after the same type of quarterback that everyone else is going for. We have to reestablish our identity as a slashing power option team with good play action pass to backs and tight ends. We can recruit awesome athletes to fit the roles we need. We need speed. Defensively we are all wrong. This University has thrown away 30 years of power football knowledge and excellence. Sad. Off topic, they are interviewing potential Presidents. My two questions would be if someone came to you with serious allegations of sex abuse in the locker room what would you do? If he or she doesnt immediately say call the cops then seeya. Next question would be how important is a football NC to you? If the answer is anything other than extremely important, with emotion, then seeya.

You kinda took me in several different directions there...............

 

[huskerfan92]

Say what you will about the coaching staff, but the problem is an obvious one. Nebraska lacks the quality of players that is needed to be a legitimate top 5 football team. Until we can recruit, or get someone who can, we will continue to slide down the rocky slope of irrelevance in college football -- an after thought to the rest of the country. The glory years of the walk-on program are all but over in this state. The states football program is continually left without an identity year after year, the fans are somewhat divided, and more questions than answers in this culture problem.

I'm pretty sure schools like Boise St., Kansas St., Baylor, TCU, Wisconsin, Michigan St, and let me throw another one in there Mississippi St do just fine without top recruiting classes. All these schools consistently rank about the same or far below Nebraska annually in recruiting. Yet they all have really really good head coaches. Now your line "Say what you will about the coaching staff, but the problem is an obvious one". You're right....it's the coaching staff. They're the ones that have to recruit players to fit their system. On offense it's a system that doesn't exist because our offensive identity is currently Jekyll & Hyde. Something that works when you play NCAA 14 and change offensive schemes without any penalty, but it doesn't work that way in real life. What are we? A spread team, power run, air raid? We never know what Beck is going to bring out. I don't care what our system is, as long as we have one.

So again coaching is the problem, has been for quite some time now. Bo stood by his assistants, and the inexperience of his crew is showing. He's going to end up going down with his assistants.

 

[r06ue1]

I disagree about the comment that the teams in the SEC are noticeably bigger and faster. The faster part I'll partially give you. I still think you punch an SEC team in the mouth and suddenly there not so god like anymore.

One question. Does Nebraska appear to be slower because of sheer athletic ability, or is it because of what so many have been suspecting and what Jake Cotton has pretty much confirmed? (too much thinking. not enough playing)

But, yeah, the thing about SEC looking bigger faster strong is such a crapload of BS. I watch a lot of football, and I guess i just dont see such a glaring difference.

I have always felt like the SEC has been known for it's speed going way back. The Miami teams we used to play and Florida in 96. That's all they talked about was their speed or when they talked about the SEC as a whole that's what they talked about. I do think Nebraska looks lost like they're thinking to much and not playing which has been even more stupefying this season and last season also after hearing our so called coaches say that they were going to 'simplify' things.

Sometimes even the simplest things can be made confusing if the source that the information is coming from doesn't know how to explain something effectively and efficiently or just doesn't know what they're talking about. I would blame the players but this has been going on for years now so these coaches are the one's to blame imo when it comes to the 'current state' of NU. I don't think it has anything to do with Nebraska's speed or lack thereof.

I'm right with you on that one, was watching those championship games recently and all they talked about was the speed of Miami, Florida and Tennessee. We had the formula for beating them way back then and decided to get cute and change things. What a disaster it has been. I want to see us return to the team that Osborne created, the team that people hated to play because we were so physical.

 

[dvdcrr]

Sorry for the WT% post I just really want to believe our University has better judgement than Penn St. I kinda believe that unless you are old enough to remember back to the 80's and 90's you really dont understand what Nebraska football is about, and its been sooo loooong since ee have been ourselves tge young kids dont even know.

 

[Comish]

It is a mental issue. We are mentally fragile. But that;s a coaching issue. Get the kids ready, mentally prepared. Have them "war game" if you will and use positive imagery to "see" the plays before they happen. Its not rocket science. Sports psychologists use it all the time. Mentally go through the scenarios. That way when things "happen", you've already "been there".

Relating talent, I agree with the "eyeball" test, but not with the results. The SEC does look faster, bigger and leaner. They play meaner and angry. As Corey Raymond alluded to after the USC (Carolina) game, we need to learn to get tougher (like the SEC) Look at Ole Miss and Miss St "star" ratings. IIIRC, this year, NU actually has more. Its coaching. Getting the kids ready to perform, week in and week out.

MSU has been towards the top of the rankings as has OSU. Cold, far from recruiting hot beds (OSU pretty good for recruits), but you get my point......A lot of other programs are consistently doing better with less. Less money, less facilities, less history, BUT much better coaching.......

We have the talent. Elite AA, Collins, Gregory etc.....Now at QB, we are rough. I haven't seen Stanton, but have seen TA....Give Stanton a shot. Read about Beck's philosophy on offense and then loo at our players. Square peg meet round hole.

If we had an OC who called to what we HAVE, not what he WANTS and a DC/HC who wasn't married to his defensive scheme we'd see a huge difference. Something as simple as dropping Gerry and Cop in the box Sat could have paid huge dividends. Especially against a marksman like Stave in the pocket, but instead we kept the same scheme that torched us in 2012......

IMO, its coaching. Lack of development, lack of teaching, lack of scheme and lack of attitude....

You are spot on with the comment about the OC calling what he wants vs calling what works with what he has.....!!

But except for the red highlighted 3 players (and I would add Gerry as potentially being listed there), the remainder of the roster currently playing is good but not elite. Not saying we don't have more in the pipeline but those seeing the field are topped out at those 4 in labeling elite status. Four is not enough.

That is NOT to say I don't agree with the other issues you cited involving development and coaching but I don't believe we are substantially ahead of upper echelon BIG teams on talent alone.

 

[TheSker]

We have the talent. Elite AA, Collins, Gregory etc.....Now at QB, we are rough

You say we have the talent then point out three of our better players. Of those three, Collins may have the best shot at All B1G first team by the way. Abdullah and Gregory are likely not first team All B1G. How's the talent looking on our OL? At LB? Interestingly enough, preseason publications indicated these two position groups were question marks.

 

[beanman]

We have the talent. Elite AA, Collins, Gregory etc.....Now at QB, we are rough

You say we have the talent then point out three of our better players. Of those three, Collins may have the best shot at All B1G first team by the way. Abdullah and Gregory are likely not first team All B1G. How's the talent looking on our OL? At LB? Interestingly enough, preseason publications indicated these two position groups were question marks.

When has the OL not been a question mark?

 

[TheSker]

We have the talent. Elite AA, Collins, Gregory etc.....Now at QB, we are rough

You say we have the talent then point out three of our better players. Of those three, Collins may have the best shot at All B1G first team by the way. Abdullah and Gregory are likely not first team All B1G. How's the talent looking on our OL? At LB? Interestingly enough, preseason publications indicated these two position groups were question marks.

When has the OL not been a question mark?

1999

 

[The Osbfather]

I disagree about the comment that the teams in the SEC are noticeably bigger and faster. The faster part I'll partially give you. I still think you punch an SEC team in the mouth and suddenly there not so god like anymore.

Miss St. Without a doubt, is the biggest team I've seen all year. They look like they have NFL guys all over the field. Alabama is also pretty good sized, but any lack in talent (if any) Saben makes up for it. Size is no doubt important, but teams like TCU and Oregon have had success with smaller, faster guys over the years. But when it comes to bowl season, it will be interesting to see how the smaller & faster teams deal with the physicality of the SEC teams.