... that this team will not be better in almost every facet than last year, right? From all accounts, the team seems to be gelling well together under the new staff, and our conditioning is getting back on track. The only direction the defense can go is up, and while we have some relative unknowns surrounding the offense, we should still be able to put up big numbers given the talent at WR and RB we have in place. I'm not proclaiming a Big Ten Championship or even a Big Ten West Championship, but damn, it feels good to finally have some genuine optimism for once. Don't sleep on Big Red this year because they're hungry and ready to feast.
It's hard to imagine...
- Thread starter Huskerdrummerguy
- Start date
I really don't care so much about the win-loss record this year. Nebraska isn't going to go undefeated, so a few losses are going to happen. I understand that.
What I DO CARE ABOUT is that the team looks well coached. Well, what does that look like in a loss? It means the team looks sharp throughout the game. Guys are running on and off the field, rather than walking. They are lined up in the right place, and know their assignments. No one has their hands out, palms raised, in the universal "I don't know what's going on" sign. They aren't arguing, or worse yet, still shifting around, when the ball is snapped. There aren't a bunch of preventable penalties and turnovers due to carelessness. The effort level is high, even if the other team is more talented. Guys are playing until the whistle, rather than putting forth effort for a half-count and then standing around. They are swarming on defense. Guys on the sideline are paying attention to the game, not chatting on the bench, oblivious to what is happening on the field. If they give up a big play, or get behind, they don't mentally collapse. The coaches aren't losing their cool, earning penalties, and adding to the panic.
Seeing those things will speak volumes about the future of Nebraska football. Much more than the win-loss record of the first season, with a starting QB who has never taken a snap in a college game.
What I DO CARE ABOUT is that the team looks well coached. Well, what does that look like in a loss? It means the team looks sharp throughout the game. Guys are running on and off the field, rather than walking. They are lined up in the right place, and know their assignments. No one has their hands out, palms raised, in the universal "I don't know what's going on" sign. They aren't arguing, or worse yet, still shifting around, when the ball is snapped. There aren't a bunch of preventable penalties and turnovers due to carelessness. The effort level is high, even if the other team is more talented. Guys are playing until the whistle, rather than putting forth effort for a half-count and then standing around. They are swarming on defense. Guys on the sideline are paying attention to the game, not chatting on the bench, oblivious to what is happening on the field. If they give up a big play, or get behind, they don't mentally collapse. The coaches aren't losing their cool, earning penalties, and adding to the panic.
Seeing those things will speak volumes about the future of Nebraska football. Much more than the win-loss record of the first season, with a starting QB who has never taken a snap in a college game.
Much of what you said can be solved by rotating players during the game. For too many years weve seen the starters playing start to finish so why would a backup really care what's happening on the field? If you know you aren't going to play then why care?
Completely agree. It's hard to follow-up a 4-year kicker with a True Freshman and expect things to be better. It's even harder to follow-up a stellar season by the previous kicker with an even better season, regardless of experience. Regardless, Scott Frost doesn't kick field goals, he scores touchdowns.
Thought we were being truthful here doc,whadja want me to do, punt?There's always got to be one Debbie Downer.
Agree wholeheartedly Darth.
The August Auptimism is getting out of hand once again but that's normal. I have said all along I just want to see the framework for the future. No quitting etc. as you stated. I am not 100% on the Frost bandwagon as I think he has some early Osborne-esque tendencies such as emphasizing offense over defense. I think that will change through time. Osborne used to load a lot of the athletic talent on offense. I remember even the defensive coaches grumbling about that (this was the 70's). I can kind of see that with Frost. You can go far that way but to win championships, you do it with defense.
After what seems like decades of sloppy, undisciplined football i am ready to see a machine but I do expect some road bumps and maybe even a beating or two. People are really not getting the freshman quarterback thing in an offense built on timing and quick decisions. You guys are expecting way too much.
Looking at the 35-31 score on two national chamionship games, unless you really want to count our beatdown over bama later on, it would seem theres not alot of defense being played nowadays.
If you dont have a killer offense with very good defense, youre not going to be the best.
Auburn had a great defense too, little it did for them,but it did keep ucf under their average.
They had a top ten scoring defense before they played ucf, but they gave up two more tds than their defenses average, while also being held to a td less than their offensive scoring average against ucf.
I think people have to learn sometimes theres only so much a defense can do against a great offense, which to me means, you'd better have a great offense too.
Playing in the Big is a chicken n the egg thing.
Are the defenses in the Big so great,or,are the offenses just ho hum?
Theres good defense getting played in the Big, but teams like iowa who win their share and finsh in the middle on all offensive stats,once they step out and play the better offenses out there,its hello stanford.
Its been that way for decades,just watch all those old rose bowls,the west coast teams found ways to score.
The boat races weve endured over the years might not all had been lost if we had an offense that could keep up.
And, those teams thats boat raced us?
Their offenses were more average to good, not great.
And supposedly, this was when we had a HC that made his bed playing defense too.
But then again, his offenses werent ever better than good.
If you dont have a killer offense with very good defense, youre not going to be the best.
Auburn had a great defense too, little it did for them,but it did keep ucf under their average.
They had a top ten scoring defense before they played ucf, but they gave up two more tds than their defenses average, while also being held to a td less than their offensive scoring average against ucf.
I think people have to learn sometimes theres only so much a defense can do against a great offense, which to me means, you'd better have a great offense too.
Playing in the Big is a chicken n the egg thing.
Are the defenses in the Big so great,or,are the offenses just ho hum?
Theres good defense getting played in the Big, but teams like iowa who win their share and finsh in the middle on all offensive stats,once they step out and play the better offenses out there,its hello stanford.
Its been that way for decades,just watch all those old rose bowls,the west coast teams found ways to score.
The boat races weve endured over the years might not all had been lost if we had an offense that could keep up.
And, those teams thats boat raced us?
Their offenses were more average to good, not great.
And supposedly, this was when we had a HC that made his bed playing defense too.
But then again, his offenses werent ever better than good.
I still can't believe we had an offensive line coach who insisted on playing the same five guys the whole game. That is the most insane thing I have ever heard. By the end of the game they must have been worthless, and the backups had no experience at all. You would think game film alone would have shown that it was not working at all.
It was a recipe for disaster.... and it turned out as you would expect.
That's putting it mildly, darth. This was a textbook example of a OL coach blissfully content to "do what I've always done" instead of reexamining the approaches he'd employed at Oregon State given the new program and new conference.
Back in Beaverland, I have no doubt that Coach Cav fielded the same five guys in his O line-up out of necessity. Riley said on more than one occasion that he had to pinch himself at Nebraska to believe he could go at least 2-deep across the entire O line. He said he never had that luxury at Oregon State.
Nevertheless, I suppose if you've spent 12 straight years playing only your top five guys, why change now, right Cav? I'm assuming you and your fellow coaches did your due diligence researching your new competition and came to the conclusion that the B1G plays no differently than the Pac 12, right?
I might try to watch some Syracuse games this year just to see if Cav does the same thing. We know how Riley, as hands off as he appeared, dictated the approach to things so it could be that Cav was just doing what he was told.
Side note: one of the most entertaining things Ive ever seen was on the day the staff was fired. Cav is wearing a sweater that was about 2 sizes too small, walks out of the stadium with a box of personal possessions, and then proceeds to try to peel out of the parking lot unsuccessfully. I dont know that I've ever felt "good riddance loser" as much as I did that day.
To me, it was like owning a mansion on the beach.
You dont swim, you dont fish, you hate getting all sandy, and you use only one room in that mansion.
You dont swim, you dont fish, you hate getting all sandy, and you use only one room in that mansion.
