This is the cold unfortunate thing that fans really need to hear if we aren't sugar coating it. There was/is going to be no quick fix. We'll suck it up as fans and do our best on the field as players, but transitions take time, especially when you are thin and injury ridden.
Honest question - Put yourself in the shoes of Mike Riley, what do you do?
- Thread starter chicolby
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This is the cold unfortunate thing that fans really need to hear if we aren't sugar coating it. There was/is going to be no quick fix. We'll suck it up as fans and do our best on the field as players, but transitions take time, especially when you are thin and injury ridden.
Ready or not they are probably going to be forced to play Ferguson As far as moving Newby around goes, he's the only healthy scholarship LBer we have left so now we're going to "move him around to DE etc?" Yikes. So we play the freshmen and sophomore walk on linebackers and move Newby to DE a position that he hasn't practiced this year? No doubt, they'll come up with a plan but a bunch of free board posters suggesting solutions to guys with multiple years of NFL and college coaching experience is ludicrous.
Just get Banker to make some of these changes he claims they could do. LB Newby needs to get on the field. Young didnt have a good game.
Yep. Just going to have to play who we've got and take our lumps. Hopefully our offense continues to improve and TA and the boys can outscore our opponents. Gonna be tough to win games in conference with our linebacker situation.
They've made changes and will continue to adjust and change things to try to piece together a defense with a bunch of missing pieces. That's all they can do along with trying to get a bunch of kids ready to play that aren't ready for prime time. They've been dealt a tough hand on defense and ONE key injury could have spelled disaster for us let alone the 3 or 4 we've already had.
Agreed.
It will definitely be a challenge. We need to stay positive and concentrate on each individual goal instead of seeing the whole forest. The B1G teams will want to play smash mouth and that is better for us at this point.
We also need help at DE. I like what I see from Freedom so far but that`s it. Hopefully Jones is the answer at CB and we still need a partner for Gerry at safety.
If we can stay healthy the rest of the way it will go a long long way towards a successful season.
What claims did he make? Newby has played, Young is coming off a toe infection, probably won't be full strength till this weekend or next.
I've not really said a whole lot lately, as I'm not sure what needs fixing, other than the obvious.. i.e. penalties, fundamentals, can't come out flat at the beginning of the game. I do think they need to rotate in some different players at different positions, as others have said, and I would include the RB position in that list as well.
I guess it's just Growing Pains. Nothing else I can really put my finger on that wraps it up as nicely as that.
I guess it's just Growing Pains. Nothing else I can really put my finger on that wraps it up as nicely as that.
Our greatest problems right now are in the defensive backfield and getting pressure on the QB. Banker needs to get more creative. Start mixing in some zone blitzes to get more pressure, and still help to safeguard against deeper balls. We are holding up pretty well on earlier running downs, so we have to get more pressure on the QB on passing downs, while also protecting the back end. Periodic zone blitzes and mixing in more zone coverage in general to keep their QB guessing.
The first thing I do is go back to the old Herbie Husker. The latest one seemed to bring a curse with him....
How about Hermie Husker?
When reporters asked him after S Alabama if they gave any thought to trying to help out Davie/the CBs Banker said it wasn't about statistics and there were things they could do to help them out.
Now today Banker said we were on par with Miami talent wise, they just played better than us. I don't think that guy is being fully honest with himself.
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
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totally agree with this,, there are practice players and game players, this stuff isn't all apparent overnight. This is a work in progress. patience people, think of the long term.
Good post OP. The point about Northern Illinois really resonated with me.
I think offensively you change very little, as the offense had been efficient for the most part and I assume would have continued to be in the Miami game if not for some penalties and dropped passes.
Defensively you also don't change a whole lot in anticipation of the BIG schedule. That said, something has to be done about helping the corners on the outside. Whether that is coming up with more creative ways of getting pressure on the QB or giving the CBs more help with safeties, I can't say. It is clear in any case that our defensive strategy for stopping the pass is not working consistently and we are giving up too many big plays.
I think offensively you change very little, as the offense had been efficient for the most part and I assume would have continued to be in the Miami game if not for some penalties and dropped passes.
Defensively you also don't change a whole lot in anticipation of the BIG schedule. That said, something has to be done about helping the corners on the outside. Whether that is coming up with more creative ways of getting pressure on the QB or giving the CBs more help with safeties, I can't say. It is clear in any case that our defensive strategy for stopping the pass is not working consistently and we are giving up too many big plays.
I get what you're saying. I personally don't think we're playing the right guy or combination of guys to do that. I don't care how many yards we put up against Sun Belt U. There is nothing in our run game that tells me it can take over a game in the B1G. Our biggest playmakers IMO are Tommy and the receiving core.
One could say, he's not selling out his players, which is how I read his responses you have up above. I'm most a fan of his, but see no issue with what he said...
As far as Davie, he's publicly showing confidence in him. That's a bad thing?
This is what he said: http://journalstar.com/sports/huske...ube_92f99a22-4c16-583d-a8b7-6836a94217b4.html ... All I want is for him to do it. I think that's pretty fair.
1. get guys who can catch in
2. chew ass about penalties
3. run armstrong more (triple option)
4. get the plays in on time
5. motivate players during the whole game
6. get recruits in
7. film film and more film
8. blitz more
9. tell players not to respond to trolls on the net, heck they could be k-state fans.
10. tell players to tackle at the waist not shoulders.
2. chew ass about penalties
3. run armstrong more (triple option)
4. get the plays in on time
5. motivate players during the whole game
6. get recruits in
7. film film and more film
8. blitz more
9. tell players not to respond to trolls on the net, heck they could be k-state fans.
10. tell players to tackle at the waist not shoulders.
You can't average mid 30's recruiting and then have many of those star players from those classes transfer, be released for disciplinary reasons, or be in the "doghouse" so their growth is stunted and not have long term repercussions. We don't have the talent and whatever talent we do have hasn't been developed enough to beat teams like Miami on the road who have just as much if not more talent then us and a system which they've been playing in for a considerable amount of time. Riley and the Staff kept that game close. Bo's teams would have gotten crushed by Miami.
Miami is the same team that almost and should have beat Florida State last year who went on to the playoff. We would have gotten crushed by any of the playoff teams last year and arguably this year. We need to give Mike Riley time to bring in the jimmy's and the joe's. We don't have the talent at the D-End and Linebacker positions. With enough time for development, I think Nebraska fans will be surprised at how good of a team we become by the end of the year. We can easily still win our division and we'll easily win our bowl game this year with this team.
Miami is the same team that almost and should have beat Florida State last year who went on to the playoff. We would have gotten crushed by any of the playoff teams last year and arguably this year. We need to give Mike Riley time to bring in the jimmy's and the joe's. We don't have the talent at the D-End and Linebacker positions. With enough time for development, I think Nebraska fans will be surprised at how good of a team we become by the end of the year. We can easily still win our division and we'll easily win our bowl game this year with this team.
Good post. Our problems at DE are drastically effecting the rest of the D. I can't remember a time, even in the BC years that our DE play has been so non-existent.
I agree about the inability to pressure the QB. Hell, even when we blitz we aren't getting to the QB, leaving wide open routes for the QB to pick between several open receivers.
This to me is the biggest problem on the defensive side of the ball. I do think the corner backs will ultimately make their share of plays eventually and I like daring the opposing QB to put a 30 yard pass on the money and having the receiver make a tough catch, but we HAVE to be able to establish more pressure on the QB, or else we get eaten alive. If we can't generate pressure, I'd say just rush 3 and let's have 8 defenders of the pass.
I wonder if we have the personnel to effectively run a 3-4 being so thin at the linebacker position already.
What are people's thoughts on a 5-2, especially in conference play?
If I'm Riley I generally circle the wagons. There is nothing he can really say or do that's going to calm down the portion of the fanbase that is predicting the end of NU football, so he doesn't need to engage in some sort of war on it. The only thing that's going to fix the team is time (recruit, get healthy, teach) , and I just have to maintain a calm presence and hope for the best out of the vocal minority in the mean time.
And find some time to buy a freaking house.
And find some time to buy a freaking house.
I think building a new airplane while over the Atlantic Ocean is probably a bad idea.
There's only so much band-aiding a guy can do. We're struggling to put warm bodies on the field week to week, there's not a ton of scheming around that.
exactly, which is why I think a 5-2 is easier to do than a 3-4 or 3-8 as was previously suggested
Bench Davie and take away his Blackshirt.
Find more ways to get the ball to Alonzo Moore.
Start Alonzo Moore.
Make the fat tub of lard run stadium steps for every yard of penalties he made.
Make everyone else run steps for the penalties we had.
Suspend Alex Lewis one game for letting the team down at the end and make him run steps until he barfs.
Make the coaching staff run stadium steps for not preparing the team and allowing that atrocious first quarter.
Make Davie watch tape of all the big plays he's given up this year eating a deviled egg for each one until HE barfs.
Make the linemen run more steps because they suck right now.
Give Wilbon more carries and play him more.
Line up four wide because our TEs suck.
I'm sure I'll think of more later.
s
Find more ways to get the ball to Alonzo Moore.
Start Alonzo Moore.
Make the fat tub of lard run stadium steps for every yard of penalties he made.
Make everyone else run steps for the penalties we had.
Suspend Alex Lewis one game for letting the team down at the end and make him run steps until he barfs.
Make the coaching staff run stadium steps for not preparing the team and allowing that atrocious first quarter.
Make Davie watch tape of all the big plays he's given up this year eating a deviled egg for each one until HE barfs.
Make the linemen run more steps because they suck right now.
Give Wilbon more carries and play him more.
Line up four wide because our TEs suck.
I'm sure I'll think of more later.
s
I still think its a relatively poor idea. The only place we have depth is DT, and supposing we take basically all of our DT's and make a 5 man line, you now have wiped out any sort of platooning through a full game. How bad would the DL be if Collins, VV, and Maurice played every single snap without any sort of real rest for the next 8 weeks or so?
on offense I'd like to see wilbon and newby on the field together. maybe line wilbon up in the slot and run a shovel pass to him. He's to valuable to leave on the bench. I'd like to see a QB draw every now and then to help slow down the pass rush..
On defense I'd move collins around a little bit on passing downs. He's our best pass rusher, but he's getting doulble teamed on almost every play. Secondly find a way to get home on the blitz. Our DB's have struggled some, but a non existant pass rush doesn't help. If the blitzes aren't gonna get home, then play coverage.
On defense I'd move collins around a little bit on passing downs. He's our best pass rusher, but he's getting doulble teamed on almost every play. Secondly find a way to get home on the blitz. Our DB's have struggled some, but a non existant pass rush doesn't help. If the blitzes aren't gonna get home, then play coverage.
If I am Riley I am not changing anything about my approach. There are short term and long term plans here. In the short term, the remainder of the 2015 season and what can be done from a management standpoint to reduce mental errors like turnovers and penalties. Fix those issues, and some of the other problems will be far less pronounced. In the long term you collect data about your team, spend time in the offseason evaluating every aspect of the program, tweak as necessary and continue with the recruiting for the next three classes whilst preparing for 2016 and 2017. This is a complete tear down and rebuild, it takes time and it will take patience a
But I have almost no doubt that Mike Riley as a professional who has done this a number of times isn't about to start panicking, but yet 90% of Husker fans are on suicide watch or on the verge of having a battered wife at the next loss.
But I have almost no doubt that Mike Riley as a professional who has done this a number of times isn't about to start panicking, but yet 90% of Husker fans are on suicide watch or on the verge of having a battered wife at the next loss.
