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Bill Busch ...

RedCap

Nebraska Legend
Sep 29, 2001
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Good debut as DC. Not perfect because of the letdown at the end of the first half BUT good overall because at least the defense came back strong in the second half. That's what you need: corrections made that work in the second half, something we've obviously not been getting. Indiana isn't a great team of course and one game does not mark a turnaround but worth watching the next games to see if the progress can continue. I think Indiana demonstrates why a hurry up offense won't work on an ongoing basis in the B1G.

Offense (and Thompson) need to improve. It's far too up and down, ie., inconsistent. Too many penalties.
 
I was into the game last night because the D was bringing pressure and playing with hair on fire at times, dare I say watching the game was fun? Kudos to MJ and BB for coming here and wanting to fix our sinking ship of a program. I yell a lot at Casey when he doesn’t take off and run to get 5-8 yds but he throws a great ball and more times than not connects. When’s the last time we had a qb we were confident in to make a deep throw on the money? Excited for Friday night.
 
I was into the game last night because the D was bringing pressure and playing with hair on fire at times, dare I say watching the game was fun? Kudos to MJ and BB for coming here and wanting to fix our sinking ship of a program. I yell a lot at Casey when he doesn’t take off and run to get 5-8 yds but he throws a great ball and more times than not connects. When’s the last time we had a qb we were confident in to make a deep throw on the money? Excited for Friday night.
My biggest complaint with Thompson seems to be the same issue that Whipple had with him last night. Namely, sometimes he hangs onto the ball too long in the pocket and takes an unnecessary sack or ends up with a grounding penalty when he had plenty of time to throw the ball away. I also agree that there have been times when it seems he could have scrambled and run for four or five yards but instead he hangs onto the ball and gets sacked.
 
This staff, on both sides of the ball, seem to really struggle with in game adjustments. Matt Millen kept beating that drum and repeatedly mentioned that Indiana’s OC was up to the task however. As been mentioned before, after CT and Whip run through the first 15 plays NU’s offense really bog down. With a clean pocket, CT is pretty good, but struggles creating plays and use all of his playmakers, IMO.
 
This staff, on both sides of the ball, seem to really struggle with in game adjustments. Matt Millen kept beating that drum and repeatedly mentioned that Indiana’s OC was up to the task however. As been mentioned before, after CT and Whip run through the first 15 plays NU’s offense really bog down. With a clean pocket, CT is pretty good, but struggles creating plays and use all of his playmakers, IMO.
I’m not sure what game you watched but I think we definitely saw adjustments by this staff. As you mentioned Millen repeating IU’ OC’s adjustments in the 2nd Q, well Busch countered those in game adjustments @ halftime and IU OC never had an answer
 
My biggest complaint with Thompson seems to be the same issue that Whipple had with him last night. Namely, sometimes he hangs onto the ball too long in the pocket and takes an unnecessary sack or ends up with a grounding penalty when he had plenty of time to throw the ball away. I also agree that there have been times when it seems he could have scrambled and run for four or five yards but instead he hangs onto the ball and gets sacked.
Agree . My other nit picks of CT is he throws rockets to receivers and backs 10 yards away and he totally boned one of our backs last night by throwing him a short pass to immediately getting blindsided.
 
I've been harping for quite awhile that the defense and offense to an extent need to be simplified, thank God Mickey and Busch have done so. I think too many college programs make playing football harder than it should, leave the complex designs to the pros.
 
I’m not sure what game you watched but I think we definitely saw adjustments by this staff. As you mentioned Millen repeating IU’ OC’s adjustments in the 2nd Q, well Busch countered those in game adjustments @ halftime and IU OC never had an answer
Millen sucks.
 
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I've been harping for quite awhile that the defense and offense to an extent need to be simplified, thank God Mickey and Busch have done so. I think too many college programs make playing football harder than it should, leave the complex designs to the pros.
This was Bill Callahan's problem too. He handed his players a phone book to learn.
 
My biggest complaint with Thompson seems to be the same issue that Whipple had with him last night. Namely, sometimes he hangs onto the ball too long in the pocket and takes an unnecessary sack or ends up with a grounding penalty when he had plenty of time to throw the ball away. I also agree that there have been times when it seems he could have scrambled and run for four or five yards but instead he hangs onto the ball and gets sacked.
I find it interesting that the last 4 years there the complaints that Adrian took off too soon and didn't see the guys wide open. Now it is Casey holding on too long while actually going through his reads.

There is always a perspective there is always an easy 4-7 yards open in the middle by stepping up in the pocket. There may be, but the camera never shows the LB sitting back there waiting to unload but it does make everyone an instant expert coach with a simple remedy - just run it.
 
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I find it interesting that the last 4 years there the complaints that Adrian took off too soon and didn't see the guys wide open. Now it is Casey holding on too long while actually going through his reads.

There is always a perspective there is always an easy 4-7 yards open in the middle by stepping up in the pocket. There may be, but the camera never shows the LB sitting back there waiting to unload but it does make everyone an instant expert coach with a simple remedy - just run it.
When it’s 3rd and 3. Go get it with your feet. Keep chains moving. I was actually pissed for grant last night, workhorse all the way down the field then CT gets to run it in for the score. Team game I guess
 
I find it interesting that the last 4 years there the complaints that Adrian took off too soon and didn't see the guys wide open. Now it is Casey holding on too long while actually going through his reads.

There is always a perspective there is always an easy 4-7 yards open in the middle by stepping up in the pocket. There may be, but the camera never shows the LB sitting back there waiting to unload but it does make everyone an instant expert coach with a simple remedy - just run it.
Well I was not one of the people complaining that AMart took off too soon. In fact, I liked it when he took off since many of our best offensive plays were when he scrambled. But there were times when Adrian too held onto the ball too long and took unnecessary sacks when he could have thrown it away. Nor did I say or imply that Thompson scrambling was some kind of simple remedy. I said explicitly that there "were times" (note: not always) when "it would seem" (note: there may be extenuating factors we can't see) that he could have run the ball instead of taking a sack.

Whipple was pissed at Thompson for taking too long on his progressions which led to the sack. Palmer was open and Thompson did not see him, and looking to Palmer should have been his first read (according to what Thompson said at the press conference). In other words, Whipple was pissed that Thompson held onto the ball too long which was the result of making a bad read in his progressions.
 
I find it interesting that the last 4 years there the complaints that Adrian took off too soon and didn't see the guys wide open. Now it is Casey holding on too long while actually going through his reads.

There is always a perspective there is always an easy 4-7 yards open in the middle by stepping up in the pocket. There may be, but the camera never shows the LB sitting back there waiting to unload but it does make everyone an instant expert coach with a simple remedy - just run it.
It comes down to “knowing how to win” and “losing mentality”. It is the on field awareness our players have that makes us lose games and not know how to finish.

So knowing when to scramble, when to run, not panicking, reading the game and understanding how to so something little to change the game. That is what many of our players including QB are missing.

That is still there and going to take time and confidence to overcome.
 
When it’s 3rd and 3. Go get it with your feet. Keep chains moving. I was actually pissed for grant last night, workhorse all the way down the field then CT gets to run it in for the score. Team game I guess
Baller play though. Brewington cleared a guy and Grant led Thompson into the end zone. Admire a kid like Brewington, eagerly doing the dirty work. He complements the run game quite well.
 
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