What did we learn? NIU Edition

Undone said:
Matt Rhule in his post game presser said:

Pretty cool to hear that. And I don't think he's just sugaring the fan base's churros with that comment.
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It CAN affect the game greatly if you play good football coach.

I like that "sugaring our churros" :lol:

 
I learned that the HH hype train is already out of control. He’s def a D1 athlete but he’s not a real D1 qb yet….but I’m not sure Simms is either. I like that it puts pressure on Simms to play better as he’s sucked. Bad mistakes. Beginner level football bad.

Defense is baller.

This staff is equal to the last staff as far as baffling rb rotation.

Oline is better than last year and still pretty bad.

I also learned somehow you can play college ball for 7 years. That’s crazy.

 
macroboy said:
This staff is equal to the last staff as far as baffling rb rotation.

Oline is better than last year and still pretty bad.
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Yeah this is, unfortunately, a routine disappointment now. I figured it wouldn't be a quick fix in year one under Rhule but that doesn't make it hurt any less.

This is the tried and true winning formula if they can stick with it, though. Play good defense, avoid special teams mistakes, and wear down the opposing defense enough to where in the 3rd/4th quarter they're a bit gassed and the run game becomes more fruitful. It may not be pretty in the first three quarters but it'll help lead to wins and that's ultimately all that matters.

 
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Blackshirts need to keep doing what there doing.  Not only playing good d, but playing with attitude, getting in that extra pop or getting in the face of other players.  That attitude will make you win games you shouldnt.

 
Stone Cold said:
Blackshirts need to keep doing what there doing.  Not only playing good d, but playing with attitude, getting in that extra pop or getting in the face of other players.  That attitude will make you win games you shouldnt.
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Very much so. Attitude accounts for a lot. It parlays into more confidence the more successes there are. A real sense of not being intimidated, minimally affected by the opponent. Hopefully more of that carries over into the offense as well. More playing to win, less playing to not lose. Playing with authority! 

 
Our fan base still overreacts when we play good against a weak opponent.   HH played ok but the defense he faced was significantly weaker than Sims faced in the first 2 weeks.   That said,  I think you have to continue the trial by fire with him until it doesn't work.   

 
Hilltop said:
Our fan base still overreacts when we play good against a weak opponent.   HH played ok but the defense he faced was significantly weaker than Sims faced in the first 2 weeks.   That said,  I think you have to continue the trial by fire with him until it doesn't work.   
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I would also argue that we scored more in the 2nd half because they did exacty what there were suspost to.  They wore the d down and the points came easier.  Trust the process, keep moving forward, play with confidence and the wins will come.

 
It's good to know this program is moving in the right direction. It's good to see issues being resolved or at least improvements so that they're not as bad as they were in previous weeks. 

As I write this, Colorado has just tied Colorado State with 32 seconds left to go in the game. It seems to me they spent a great deal of time patting themselves on the back after their win against us. I really hope this team doesn't fall into the same pit. This team has a work ethic and I appreciate that because I realize they're trusting the process. 

Anytime we see improvement from the previous week it's cause for hope. Somebody told me that hope is dangerous and they're right. We've been let down before. But I genuinely believe we are going in the right direction and we will see more wins this season.

 
Hilltop said:
Our fan base still overreacts when we play good against a weak opponent.   HH played ok but the defense he faced was significantly weaker than Sims faced in the first 2 weeks.   That said,  I think you have to continue the trial by fire with him until it doesn't work.   
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I agree. Finally having a home game and an overmatched opponent is something this team desperately needed to work some kinks out while in control of the game. Hopefully we'll see something similar next week before we start the conference stretch.

 
Learned that:

(1) We got Simmed the first two games

(2) Our OL is beyond horrible. We can have Tom Brady as our QB and he would struggle with this OL

(3) I still don’t know if our OC is bad or our OL is so horrible that no play can work the way it is drawn. Could be that both OC and OL are equally horrible

(4) Haarberg played with heart and he should be our QB moving forward. With a decent OL, he can do very well.

(5) What Rhule does with his tongue is unnatural and creepy

(6) Someone needs to teach our players that you are not supposed to shush your home crowd. You are supposed to do that in away games when you win. Having said that, since we are not accustomed to winning, these players want to take any opportunity to do the “shush”

Really enjoyed seeing our Huskers win today. May this win be the beginning of many to come. 

 
Seemed like second half Haarberg was better than first half Haarberg. His confidence grew as the game went on. He errs on the side of caution and uses the pass like an extension of the running game. The defense is pretty good when the offense is helping them stay off the field. Sure, it was Northern Illinois, but everyone's confidence grew with this game.

 
Undone said:
If there's a "most improved player" award, it maybe goes to Nash Hutmacher. The guy's motor is real and he just shows up on every down to do some damage.

Tony White makes Erik Chinander look like hammered dog s***. The disguised coverages and secondary play is really doing some good things. And our tackling is pretty great.

I try really hard to not dog on play calling because I think it's often times pretty lazy by fans. But there were long stretches of this game where Satterfield just looked so dumb. I get it, you're trying to make them think you'll always run on first down so then you call a drop-back passing play. But it cost us pretty bad several times. On the second drive he completely went away from the zone read running plays. Why?

Our running backs showed some individual effort in the second half to keep fighting and cut outside to keep looking for space. We've needed more of that kind of stuff ever since Dedrick Mills graduated.

I hope nothing causes Haarberg to transfer out. He has some real potential.
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love love love  Hutmacher's play...!!  and as much as ill take shyt with this comment...  I actually feel Benhart has stepped up his game quite a bit...  honorable mention..??

 
That Fidone thought we were playing an away game? What was with shushing the fans on that TD? Silencing the haters maybe? I dunno it was weird. 

HH is a gamer. He played smart and didn’t look frazzled once. I guess you can have a field general and a freak athlete at qb after all. Granted it was NIU but never felt an impending sense of doom with him out there. Don’t know how sustainable trucking defenders every run is but it was great to watch. 

our defense reminds me of the blackshirts of old, attitude, gang tackling, violence. 

if sat can stay out of his own way and the offense continues to get better this could be a fun season

 
We learned HH can be serviceable but I'd like to see him against better competition before I say he is the answer moving forward. Obviously better than Simms. Even though competition wasn't the same, Simms mistakes were so basic they could have easily happened in this game as well. 

The defense continues to impress. Our ability to create pressure is not a fluke and that will make us a D other teams don't want to play against. Been a long time since we have had a unit like that

 
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