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Dirk Nails It

@BleedRed78 would you like to make a wager on it? I’ll give you 3 to 1 odds on 500 bucks for me, 1,500 for you. Easiest money I could ever make. 🤡
This wager may be more suited for the rowthenboat guy. He has been more vocal about the coaches that anyone. He seems to think he knows what will happen and which way they will go.

But to say Frost won't be fired for any circumstances to me is pretty niave. I feel like Matty D is posting on this board.

With that said I am just hoping NU and Frost can build on any momentum from last week. He has to win this game. Don't lay another egg.
 
If we clean up special teams, that will get us from a losing record to a winning record, but if the desire is still to be a good team / program, we need to get much better at getting 6 in the redzone.
 
"That’s 11 games (out of 36 total) where respectable special-teams play could’ve
delivered victory."

And this excludes terrible special teams on games we got blown out loss and from games we actually won despite terrible special teams.


Colorado 2018: Three special-teams penalties for 30 yards. A 10-yard average
deficiency in kick returns. A 7-yard edge in field position, per drive. A missed 43-
yard field goal. It doesn’t take much to swing a five-point game.

Troy 2018: When your margin for error is already small — a knee injury sidelined
quarterback Adrian Martinez — you can’t afford to give up a 58-yard punt return
for touchdown. Nebraska did, falling behind 10-0. And later missed a 33-yard field
goal. The Huskers lost 24-19.

Northwestern 2018: Lightbourn opened the game by kicking the ball out of
bounds. Barret Pickering missed a 45-yard field goal, then a 20-yard extra point.
Officials flagged CJ Smith for holding on a 19-yard punt return. The Huskers blew
a 10-point lead in the final three minutes.

Ohio State 2018: The Buckeyes blocked Isaac Armstrong’s first punt and grabbed
a 7-yard edge in average field position. But the lowlight came after Nebraska’s
game-opening, 75-yard touchdown drive, when Lightbourn nearly whiffed on an
onside kick attempt. “It certainly didn’t look like what we’d practiced,” Frost said.

Indiana 2019: Pickering, fresh off an injury, missed a 32-yard field goal.
Armstrong’s 19-yard third-quarter punt gave Indiana the ball at Nebraska’s 35,
setting up a Hoosier touchdown. And William Przystup hit a wayward kickoff out of
bounds. Indiana won 38-31.

Wisconsin 2019: The 14th-ranked Badgers probably win this one anyway, but
Nebraska had legitimate upset hopes after scoring the first touchdown. Then Aron
Cruickshank returned a weak kickoff 89 yards for six. Brody Belt needlessly toted
the opening kickoff to the 14-yard line. Pickering missed a 41-yarder. Little things.

Iowa 2019: Not again. Cam Taylor-Britt’s pick-six lifted a dormant Memorial
Stadium crowd in the second quarter. But Pickering lofted the next kickoff like a
meat ball at Little League practice. Ihmir Smith-Marsette made a hard left turn and
ran around every potential tackler, untouched. The Hawkeyes won by a field goal.

Northwestern 2020: Four times Northwestern punts pinned Nebraska inside
the 20. The Huskers couldn’t do it once. They also allowed a pair of 36-yard
Iowa's Ihmir Smith-Marsette breaks free on way to returning a kickoff for a touchdown against Nebraska in
2019. returns (one kick, one punt), both of which led to touchdowns. The Huskers lost
21-13.

Iowa 2020: Iowa owned an 11-yard field-position edge per drive. But two key
mistakes inflicted most of the damage. In the first quarter, a 31-yard Hawkeye punt
return set up a touchdown. In the fourth, the Huskers lost a golden chance to
mount the go-ahead drive when Taylor-Britt muffed a punt at the NU 38. Iowa
recovered and kicked a field goal.

Illinois 2021: Where to begin? The 34-yard punting average from Daniel Cerni?
Taylor-Britt fielding a punt at his own 1 and taking a safety? Two kick returns shy
of the 25? The most baffling errors, though, came from trusty Connor Culp, who
missed two extra points. Talk about about getting off on the wrong foot.


Oklahoma 2021: Culp missed 50- and 35-yard field goals, but the biggest blow
came when OU blocked an extra point and returned it for two points. A potential
14-10 deficit became 16-9. The Huskers held their own in punts, returns and
average field position, but placekicking spelled doom.

Make it 12 games now. Unfreakin inconceivable!
 
I’m not in the fire Frost side of the fence, but he NEEDS to make changes. All the mistakes Nebraska keeps committing are trends for years.

Chins fixed his end, but nothing on the special teams or the offense has gotten better in 4 years.

That’s coaching. You can’t keep saying your coaches are doing everything well and putting it on the players. It’s obvious the players want it.
 
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Holy crap. I knew our ST were terrible, but this is eye opening. 11 games that are most likely won with just average ST play. Unreal.

What makes this even more frustrating is we have a guy like Bill Busch with a long track record of being a good ST coach and ace recruiter and he isn't in an on field coaching role. Mario should have been sent packing and Busch hired, before the season.

100% correct sir. Busch is precisely what is needed.
 
This is a clear case of where the numbers don't lie.

Too many people get all ga ga over some highly rated punter and start to believe the press clippings only to see the same old problems.

I have said this before and stand by it, I think there is a house cleaning coming in the coaching staff. They have to bring in someone to work on STs and fix some of the other obvious problems. In my most humble opinion, Frost stays, but he will need to make changes.

And frankly who could argue with that?

I agree. Another head coaching change right now is probably only going to make things worse, but Frost needs to be pressured to make some changes. If he refuses, send him packing. Chinander is leading a great defense, but the OL and special teams need a change ASAP.
 
I agree. Another head coaching change right now is probably only going to make things worse, but Frost needs to be pressured to make some changes. If he refuses, send him packing. Chinander is leading a great defense, but the OL and special teams need a change ASAP.
If Frost has ti be forced to make changes, he's the wrong coach for sure.
 
Things could be a LOT different if:

1. Verduzco is replaced by a dedicated special teams coach
2. Frost coaches QBs
3. Frost gives up playcalling
4. Austin is replaced
 
Beckton. There's no need for a full-time Tight Ends Coach. Can't they work with the O-Line coach on blocking, and the WR coach on receiving?

Or get rid of Verduzco and just let Frost coach the QBs. Bring McKenzie Milton on as a grad assistant to work with them.
Too late, those things should have happened long ago. He‘s just not the guy for the job. Can anyone justify his not pulling Martinez after his 4th pick yesterday? Even acknowledging that all weren’t his fault. Why in Gods name wouldn’t you go to a backup? Any backup? If the answer is to keep it close. YOU’RE FIRED! If the answer is to show loyalty to the player. YOU’RE FIRED! If the answer is we have no one better. YOU’RE FIRED ! it is total incompetence by the HC.
 
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Two things. Kicking in college is way different not just because of the crowds. You go from just punting it as far as you can to trying to directional kick and achieve the greatest hang time possible for coverage. The other thing I'll note is that Hiring the guys you suggest doesn't mean that they'll recruit well. I agree that Frost has brought in some excellent offensive talent and it showed up against OU. I'm not sure that "cleaning house" would be the smartest thing to do but we'll see what happens.
A lot of times, a punter who isn't that skilled at directional kicking will often shank it. Directional kicking takes a lot of skill to master.
 
If Dirk would have read this forum the last 3 years, he would have seen what we thought of special team and lack there of..
i Thank him for publishing our Forums thoughts.
Yes, I agree I also like is article on the Unbelievable losses of 1 score games. A lot of games lost when we have >90% probability of winning based on ESPN stats.
 
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