All the negatives aside..

[Bugeater]

with the sloppy play, injuries, etc., you have to admit that the last three games have been kind of fun to watch, right? We all knew this would be a work in progress, that 4 or 5 losses is a possibility, but I've actually enjoyed these games so far.

Do I wish they were better and a true B1G title contender? Absolutely. But we all know it's going to take all this year to get things set for next season, which with as many players that come back, could be pretty exciting. Regardless of what Illinois is, the game with them will probably be another roller coaster nail biter. I like roller coasters.

 

[LBremser]

with the sloppy play, injuries, etc., you have to admit that the last three games have been kind of fun to watch, right? We all knew this would be a work in progress, that 4 or 5 losses is a possibility, but I've actually enjoyed these games so far.

Do I wish they were better and a true B1G title contender? Absolutely. But we all know it's going to take all this year to get things set for next season, which with as many players that come back, could be pretty exciting. Regardless of what Illinois is, the game with them will probably be another roller coaster nail biter. I like roller coasters.

Exciting perfomances/rollercoaster nail bitters against mediocre-to-poor competition does not bode well for outcomes against better opponents.

 

[Lincoln100]

Exciting perfomances/rollercoaster nail bitters against mediocre-to-poor competition does not bode well for outcomes against better opponents.

It's going to happen, period. It happens to every single program, even those that are highly ranked and who have had a coaching staff in place for much longer than 4 games. NU has had some tough and emotional losses against good (not mediocre) competition in 2 of their first 3 games, and certainly had a brain fart in the 2nd half of their 4th game against a team they are clearly better than. It isn't an excuse, it is what happened. They've got plenty to improve on this year, and in the coming years, if we want to be a national player again. It isn't happening this year. Maybe everyone can try to give them a chance, just like every other coach got when they came here. I know it won't happen, because every fan base has its group of idiots, and we're no different, but I thought I would throw it out there.

 

[hddude55]

When the decision was made to hire a guy 61 years old, I thought it only made sense if the thinking was his experienced staff could make the existing players better immediately. Now that it seems that was a pipedream, it seems obvious we are on a five year plan by which time Riley will hopefully have better players -- and he will be nearing 70 years old. Then we'll be needing to hire another coach soon. Some plan.

 

[arf_man]

When the decision was made to hire a guy 61 years old, I thought it only made sense if the thinking was his experienced staff could make the existing players better immediately. Now that it seems that was a pipedream, it seems obvious we are on a five year plan by which time Riley will hopefully have better players -- and he will be nearing 70 years old. Then we'll be needing to hire another coach soon. Some plan.

I have not seen existing players getting worse, I would say that across the board, the players who played last year are better. I just don't see where people get this stuff.

 

[Bugeater]

Bottom line is Nebraska, at this point in time, is barely, if at all, a "other teams receiving votes" program, so they are above mediocre, but not much. Like I said above, we knew it could be a work in progress, and that means losses and tough victories, even over so called mediocre teams.

As this isn't 1995 or anywhere close, I find that looking at the Huskers for what they are makes the games more enjoyable, and although it was dicey in the second half Saturday, it was a fun game to watch. After all, it's college football, and it's just another form of entertainment.

 

[hddude55]

I have not seen existing players getting worse, I would say that across the board, the players who played last year are better. I just don't see where people get this stuff.

Tommy certainly has improved. Of course a third year starter should be better even if Beck was still coaching him. But the team overall seems far from improving its won loss record and meanwhile we have a coach eligible for Social Security who seems to need a lot of new players to take this program to the next level.

 

[Lincoln100]

Tommy certainly has improved. Of course a third year starter should be better even if Beck was still coaching him. But the team overall seems far from improving its won loss record and meanwhile we have a coach eligible for Social Security who seems to need a lot of new players to take this program to the next level.

You are obsessed with his age. Kind of strange.

 

[hddude55]

You are obsessed with his age. Kind of strange.

Hardly. But unless you see him doing a Paterno or Bowden deal, he is unlikely to be coaching more than another five years or so. Hiring anyone sane made sense to get rid of the bad taste of Bo but not if it is going to take him five or six years to get us to the next level. He's too old for a long term rebuild.

 

[baseball31ne]

For everyone huffing and puffing about this years team, what would the staff from last year brought back have done that would have made this team 3-1 or 4-0. BYU game would have been a problem because of the mobile QBs they have and don't see our offense being as diverse and making the plays they did. Miami game the lead gets built and the team gets ripped and chewed and while they do fight hard they don't make the way all the way back.

With the number of walk ons playing and the injuries the team has had, this is a team ready to go on a run. I see games being close but there really is only MSU with the offensive team skill sets to make life that tough left on the schedule for the regular season. If the run based teams in the west throw and run on this defense then I will get on here and admit I was wrong.

Like I said in a different thread, 6-2 conference and win the bowl game.

 

[Lincoln100]

Hardly. But unless you see him doing a Paterno or Bowden deal, he is unlikely to be coaching more than another five years or so. Hiring anyone sane made sense to get rid of the bad taste of Bo but not if it is going to take him five or six years to get us to the next level. He's too old for a long term rebuild.

You've mentioned his age lots and lots of times. So yes, you are obsessed, so let me get this straight, if he makes us relevant again in 4 or 5 years, he is then going to retire? He can't coach for ten years? My guess is he is in better shape than 90% of this board. You sound like a little kid.

 

[dinglefritz]

For everyone huffing and puffing about this years team, what would the staff from last year brought back have done that would have made this team 3-1 or 4-0. BYU game would have been a problem because of the mobile QBs they have and don't see our offense being as diverse and making the plays they did. Miami game the lead gets built and the team gets ripped and chewed and while they do fight hard they don't make the way all the way back.

With the number of walk ons playing and the injuries the team has had, this is a team ready to go on a run. I see games being close but there really is only MSU with the offensive team skill sets to make life that tough left on the schedule for the regular season. If the run based teams in the west throw and run on this defense then I will get on here and admit I was wrong.

Like I said in a different thread, 6-2 conference and win the bowl game.

It's going to be interesting to see if we can piece something together at linebacker and DE to be able to stop the run in the B1G. I don't expect Bando or MRI to be healthy for the rest of the year and now Newby may be in the same boat. We are going to be challenged IMO to do that by the more physical offenses we are going to see and clearly our linebackers are a glaring weakness right now. S Miss figured that out and exploited it dramatically in the passing game after Newby went down. B1G teams will try to abuse them in the run game too. Young pup walk ons are going to have to step up quickly and I wonder how close Ferguson is to being able to contribute. He looks awfully light in the pants right now to play linebacker for us in conference and I'm not sure he's close mentally to being ready to play either. Right now I think 6-2 and a bowl win is a best case scenario and I would take it in a heartbeat. I just don't know if we can pull that off with our injury situation.

 

[Nebraska Fan]

When the decision was made to hire a guy 61 years old, I thought it only made sense if the thinking was his experienced staff could make the existing players better immediately. Now that it seems that was a pipedream, it seems obvious we are on a five year plan by which time Riley will hopefully have better players -- and he will be nearing 70 years old. Then we'll be needing to hire another coach soon. Some plan.

Why would you think it was to improve the win/loss columns?

 

[NikkiSixx]

I doubt coach Riley will be here more than five years. To me, his hire was always a short term, stop gap solution. I believe they wanted to change the culture of the football program foremost.

 

[Nebraska Fan]

I doubt coach Riley will be here more than five years. To me, his hire was always a short term, stop gap solution. I believe they wanted to change the culture of the football program foremost.

You're close.

The biggest factor is would you want to search for a new chancellor with Pelini as HC?

Riley is politically safe and winning titles is secondary.

I hope he can pull it off but even if he can't nobody today is going to hang up the phone for the chancellor job because of the HC.

 

[otismotis08]

You're close.

The biggest factor is would you want to search for a new chancellor with Pelini as HC?

Riley is politically safe and winning titles is secondary.

I hope he can pull it off but even if he can't nobody today is going to hang up the phone for the chancellor job because of the HC.

I hope Riley can get this ship turned around, but if he can't, the administration and powers that be really need to change their approach.