What did we learn: Illinois

 




I learned that Frost Co can now show talented recruits how this can become a championship team if they sign on....couldn't say that earlier in the season.
 


Amongst all of the things this staff had to do this year, changing the culture, learning to enjoy the game, etcetera, this was a big one. All of this staff's momentum was built somewhere else and in a different conference. You're absolutely correct, that wasn't always on display early in the season, and while the local media gave a pass, the national media was starting to question it.

Not only are they showing they can replicate past success, they're showing they can do it consistently.

 
Our shortcomings are pretty glaring, but if you want to feel better check out the I_wa Rivals site. Holy smoke dumpster fire doesn't begin to describe it.

And no, I_wa fans, this isn't smack talk. Dayam!




I wanted them to be 10-1 when we played them, but having them collapse is almost as fun.

 
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Remember when we thought only an idiot would pass the ball 34 times on a cold, windy day? 




Some coaches play chess, others play checkers and old maid. The ones who play checkers and old maid look even dumber when they throw in the wind and rain.

 
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I think we learned (and will continue to learn) that your lock down, Blackshirt defense isn't coming back under this staff. The game you saw today (54-35) is going to be  a common theme over the next 5-8 years, or longer. This offense is going to score in bunches, and the defense is going to see a lot of snaps on a regular basis. It's likely, that the best we can hope for is an opportunistic defense that may give up some points, but 2-3 times a game will give our offense the ball in a good spot.




I don't think most games will be like this. What you're talking about might happen against the best teams we play but I don't think they will keep happening for 5-8 years against teams like Illinois and Minnesota.

 
On the defense side my concern was that the D-line continued to get pushed around, early and often this is some of the stuff that needs to be improved as it has nothing to do with the pace of offensive play.  I think the turnovers are a good sign and to be expected when the other team is trying to be aggressive to keep up with the offense they will make mistakes as they feel pressure to chase the offense.  

 
On the defense side my concern was that the D-line continued to get pushed around, early and often this is some of the stuff that needs to be improved as it has nothing to do with the pace of offensive play.  I think the turnovers are a good sign and to be expected when the other team is trying to be aggressive to keep up with the offense they will make mistakes as they feel pressure to chase the offense.  
Agree. Mistakes happen when teams feel pressed. Our O will have a lot of teams feeling pressure. 

I was was reading through the recruit bios on the other page. We need to keep the press on as next year needs to replace some studs and fill significant talent gaps. 

 
I do not understand why people keep defending chinander...I am not saying fire the guy after one season but let us face it, he is not going to bring back the defense we once had. Frost has been able to get the offense clicking. Chinander has put a bandaid on the problem. His defense has more holes than Swiss cheese and we simply can’t stop good running backs. Every decent running back has had a field day when they played us. Wisconsin, which as we see is not that good at all, ran the ball on us with Jonathan Taylor. Today, Illinois had close to 300 yards rushing on us. 

We can hope that that he gets better and he deserves another year to work his system but I seriously doubt he is the answer for the blackshirt defense. I still have dreams of the Suh defense year where we kept teams at less than 14 points a game. Chinander will not produce those kind of numbers no matter how much time he is given. You just can’t change people like that and that is not his style. We might have to settle for him but he is not the long term solution...not if we ever want to rise to the likes of ALABAMA and CLEMSON.

 
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I do not understand why people keep defending chinander...I am not saying fire the guy after one season but let us face it, he is not going to bring back the defense we once had. Frost has been able to get the offense clicking. Chinander has put a bandaid on the problem. His defense has more holes than Swiss cheese and we simply can’t stop good running backs. Every decent running back has had a field day when they played us. Wisconsin, which as we see is not that good at all, ran the ball on us with Jonathan Taylor. Today, Illinois had close to 300 yards rushing on us. 

We can hope that that he gets better and he deserves another year to work his system but I seriously doubt he is the answer for the blackshirt defense. I still have dreams of the Suh defense year where we kept teams at less than 14 points a game. Chinander will not produce those kind of numbers no matter how much time he is given. You just can’t change people like that and that is not his style. We might have to settle for him but he is not the long term solution...not if we ever want to rise to the likes of ALABAMA and CLEMSON.
This is the third DC N has had in three years. What we have is another transition defense with a lack of playmakers. Let’s see how Chinander’s does with more good players and establishes his defense in the future. And it’s hard to measure him from his only two years at UCF. Perhaps if he was coaching there longer, he may have had improved defenses, as is hopefully the case in Lincoln. We will see.  

 
I do not understand why people keep defending chinander...I am not saying fire the guy after one season but let us face it, he is not going to bring back the defense we once had. Frost has been able to get the offense clicking. Chinander has put a bandaid on the problem. His defense has more holes than Swiss cheese and we simply can’t stop good running backs. Every decent running back has had a field day when they played us. Wisconsin, which as we see is not that good at all, ran the ball on us with Jonathan Taylor. Today, Illinois had close to 300 yards rushing on us. 

We can hope that that he gets better and he deserves another year to work his system but I seriously doubt he is the answer for the blackshirt defense. I still have dreams of the Suh defense year where we kept teams at less than 14 points a game. Chinander will not produce those kind of numbers no matter how much time he is given. You just can’t change people like that and that is not his style. We might have to settle for him but he is not the long term solution...not if we ever want to rise to the likes of ALABAMA and CLEMSON.


Spoiler alert: Nebraska is never going to have that type of defense under Scott Frost. 

 
I do not understand why people keep defending chinander...I am not saying fire the guy after one season but let us face it, he is not going to bring back the defense we once had. Frost has been able to get the offense clicking. Chinander has put a bandaid on the problem. His defense has more holes than Swiss cheese and we simply can’t stop good running backs. Every decent running back has had a field day when they played us. Wisconsin, which as we see is not that good at all, ran the ball on us with Jonathan Taylor. Today, Illinois had close to 300 yards rushing on us. 

We can hope that that he gets better and he deserves another year to work his system but I seriously doubt he is the answer for the blackshirt defense. I still have dreams of the Suh defense year where we kept teams at less than 14 points a game. Chinander will not produce those kind of numbers no matter how much time he is given. You just can’t change people like that and that is not his style. We might have to settle for him but he is not the long term solution...not if we ever want to rise to the likes of ALABAMA and CLEMSON.
Fire the DC this week?  Should we still fire the special team coach from last week?

 
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