The head scratchers

[PAOK]

The absence of Ozigbo at the beginning of the year while running Tre into the ground and eventually to the operating table.

Insisting on moving Kalu to safety even after losing our top corner. (Jones) Even though we had good experienced safeties.

Never benching Lamar Jackson for sub standard play and multiple stupid penalties.

Passing up field goal opportunities with a money kicker like Brown only to fail on 4th down numerous times.

Never benching Gates for absolutely horrid play game after game.

Never preserving clock to give our offense a chance late in many first half situations.

Burning Jaylin Bradley's redshirt to primarily return a few kicks or get a handful of carries.

And the big one.....why stick to the 3-4 when it was obviously not working?..FOR WHATEVER REASON....if the scheme is wrong change it....if the roster is wrong you can delay the transition by a year....but why throw away an entire season and ultimately your job all the while watching teams absolutely run over you like a freight train without adjusting at all?

 

[TwinsRRUs]

Not sure on the JB point since he ended up playing a ddcent amount of snaps and got good experience.

The final point is big, like you said. He runs both a 4-3 and 3-4. Why not primarily run the 4-3 and just work in a 3-4 here and there as the players fully understand ech part?

The offensive side had huge issues, but the D was even worse.

 

[TwinsRRUs]

Your last point could also be a stubborn coach who believes in his scheme and thinks the players just suck (but won't come out and say it).

_iaco ruined the season with his _efensive scheme for sure.

 

[PAOK]

Not sure on the JB point since he ended up playing a ddcent amount of snaps and got good experience.

You make a good point. I also thought that maybe playing Jaylin was also a recruiting strategy to show that young guys get chances. But, once everyone saw that he had talent how come he never featured and really only returned kicks because JD was hurt?

 

[dinglefritz]

The absence of Ozigbo at the beginning of the year while running Tre into the ground and eventually to the operating table.

Insisting on moving Kalu to safety even after losing our top corner. (Jones) Even though we had good experienced safeties.

Never benching Lamar Jackson for sub standard play and multiple stupid penalties.

Passing up field goal opportunities with a money kicker like Brown only to fail on 4th down numerous times.

Never benching Gates for absolutely horrid play game after game.

Never preserving clock to give our offense a chance late in many first half situations.

Burning Jaylin Bradley's redshirt to primarily return a few kicks or get a handful of carries.

And the big one.....why stick to the 3-4 when it was obviously not working?..FOR WHATEVER REASON....if the scheme is wrong change it....if the roster is wrong you can delay the transition by a year....but why throw away an entire season and ultimately your job all the while watching teams absolutely run over you like a freight train without adjusting at all?

1. I don't think they knew the severity of Bryant's injury early in the season and he was clearly our best runner IMO.
2. Who you gonna put at left tackle if you bench Gates? He wasn't good at times but his backup? Yikes.
3. We benched Jackson at times and when we did his subs got absolutely torched.
4. Don't know why we move Kalu other than that his cover skills weren't great and they wanted a good 2 deep at safety. That said we needed a 3 deep with all the injuries.
5. Redshirting RBs makes virtually no sense with the scholarship limits these days and we got pretty banged up there early on. We needed 3 RBs and Bryant went down.
6. Diaco had to coach what he was brought in to do and what the players worked on all spring and fall. They did switch it up to 4 down linemen multiple times against Iowa and it worked some of the time. We got burned by bad linebacker and safety play even when it looked like we had them stuffed.
7. We didn't passed up many field goal opps other than that ridiculous fake last night.

 

[cidsports]

Mike Riley says he knows what is needed to reverse the ship at Nebraska.​

Why did Nebraska take a traditional 4-3 program and attempt to switch to the 3-4, without the safeties, linemen and linebackers for the set?

DC Bob Diaco played at Iowa, under Hayden Fry. Fry attempted to move from the 5-2 to the 4-3, back, when Diaco was a young linebacker. It was a massive failure, as Fry brought in a boat load of JUCOs in attempt to make the move.

Nebraska needed a better defensive minded system, under a new DC, but making the double move, with both DC and move to a 3-4 was DOA on arrival.

Of course, the untimely death of defensive coach and Diaco mentor Bobby Elliott also complicated matters.

Mike Riley was a good hire for a passing game transition, though, when he arrived in 2015, there was no QB for his system. However, you have to run in the Big Ten.

This is something both Urban Meyer and Mike Riley have failed over the past three years to realize the importance. Urban Meyer in 2015, against Michigan State, and in 2017, against Iowa, failed in the run game. You have to use a power run game in the Big Ten. Simply, running the ball on 1st, 2nd and 3rd, in a cloud of dust, went out in the 1980s in the Big Ten.

But, winning in the line of scrimmage, power running, when needed and a championship defense is the Big Ten dna more times than not.

Wisconsin right now is excelling at it. They finish out with Minnesota today, where they haven't lost in this series, since 2004. The real test will come in the Big Ten title game, in five trips in seven years, they are the most consistent program in the Big Ten right now. Can they make the College Football Playoff.

Diaco is right, Nebraska may not be light years away from competing in the Big Ten West, but it isn't with the karma right now, in the program.

Iowa sophomore TE Noah Fant scored two touchdowns in the home state to build on a very solid 2nd season
in the Big Ten ...​

 

[cidsports]

By the way, the Big Ten Network is right that Purdue has a schedule advantage in the West competing moving forward under HC Jeff Brohm, with having Indiana always on the schedule.

There will be no years, where MSU, OSU and PSU would be a non-division slate. Or, Michigan and two others mentioned ...