Sunday Morning Thoughts - Post Indiana

[Doc Fumble]

THE BIG SWING. Colandrea breaks free for a touchdown. Memorial Stadium was rocking. The noise couldn’t have been louder. I knew if we could get a three and out or force them to punt after ticking off some clock, we were on the cusp of putting the defending champs away. Then a (blanking) missed assignment on the very first play from scrimmage and everything we’d spent three-plus quarters building evaporated. It wasn’t the end. We still had the lead. But it was the biggest, quickest, and most devastating momentum swing I’ve can ever remember experiencing.

A TOUGH ONE TO SWALLOW. It was incredibly frustrating to let this one get away because we did the things we thought we had to do in order to win. We stopped their running game cold, we dominated the time of possession, and we had them on their heels for most of the game. But we let them off the hook with two breakaway pass plays, period.

THE OFFENSE DIDN’T DELIVER. But I’m not faulting the Blackshirts. The bottom line is that you cannot expect to win B1G games scoring only 17 points. The offense blew numerous opportunities earlier in the game. The biggest problem in the second half was WAY too many negative plays on first down. You cannot expect to drive down the field when you’re struck with second and eleven or worse on numerous occasions.

GOING FORWARD. Many fans thought we had zero chance of beating the defending champion Hoosiers. Worse, many folks publicly prayed Indiana wouldn’t embarrass us. So when the dust settled, we are at 5-1 as most people expected at this point no matter how we got there. But here’s the deal: through our first 6 games, this team has shown us they are a much improved ballclub over last year. Now we’ve got to buck-up and prove it by the way we handle the second half of the season. This is not the Old Days where a mid-season loss strips away all possibilities season-ending glory. All the team’s goals are still out there if this team plays like they did yesterday and cut down on their mistakes..

Your thoughts?

 

[Blatz]

I love the Huskers. Such an exciting game. But I just don't understand how we can run a guy out on the field who so clearly isn't cut out for College football. This guy honestly may not have been the clear cut winner for the job kicking on Dana College's last football team. I can't back up my next comment... (but can anybody in the state of Nebraska disagree?) There are at least 5 Junior High School kickers within a 250 mile radius of Lincoln that could make a 40 yard attempt. Furthermore, at $105k NIL value, Cunanan may be worse money spent than buying spoiled meat at the supermarket.

 

[Uenth]

I love the Huskers. Such an exciting game. But I just don't understand how we can run a guy out on the field though who so clearly isn't cut out for College football. This guy honestly may not have been the clear cut best man for the job kicking on Dana College's last football team. I can't back up this next comment... (but can anybody in the state of Nebraska disagree with my take?) There are at least 5 Junior High School kickers within a 250 mile radius of Lincoln that could have made that 40 yard attempt. Further, at $105k NIL value, he may be worse spent money than buying spoiled meat at the supermarket.

Dunno, at least with spoiled meat, you have something to toss. Still a little snarky this morning.

 

[Righteous Red]

Doc, you summed up most of our thoughts. My takes:

* The game hinged on missed opportunities

* The stats were stunning, we had an obscene advantage in time of possession, about 40 minutes to 20 for Indiana. Another obscene advantage was 83 plays run by us compared to only 44 plays by Indiana. When the defense hold two 100 yd rushers for a total of 60-70 yds, you would think we would win. We had way too many missed opportunities on offense: Time of possession and number of plays run.

* Agree with Blatz, in this day and age of college football, 50+ yard FG kickers are pretty common, many teams have them, we don’t. In earlier games we’ve seen 50 yd FG attempts don’t even make the distance. We have more failed attempts this year than made attempts. This almost reminds me of several years ago we would go on 4th down instead of going for FGs. Special Teams upgrades definitely should require consistency in kicking. I told my wife when we missed that 40 yd attempt with the wind, that this will loom large at end of game.

* Down the road, while I don’t wish bad for opponents, but I had to smile when DR at Oregon was replaced because of several interceptions and 6/19 passing.
Also don’t sleep on Iowa. Their D is always tough, but their offense looks more productive than I have seen for awhile.

In summation the missed opportunities were that we had so many opportunities: Time of Possession and almost double number of plays run. I really can’t fault our D. Sure, there were a couple of breakdowns that cost us, but the D kept Indiana off the field for so long that the O should have produced more.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

Tidbits from the post-game presser.

"We should have called a timeout." Who, Matt? Who should have called a timeout? You're the head coach.

I used to chuckle at Mickey Joseph's go to line in post-game pressers "It's on me. It's on me." whenever things would go wrong. Now I get it.

"At the end of the day, I'm not calling the defense" was a very, very bad look. Coach Matt jumped in the driver's seat of the team bus, ran over Coach Aurich, and then, just to make sure, put the bus in reverse and did it again.

The way the Huskers finished this game, expect them to get boat raced in Eugene next week, irregardless of the QB for Oregon. The energy spent by the team and fanbase in another heartbreaking home loss will be too much to overcome. As JB famously sang, they will be Running on Empty.

Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.

 

[Jimbosc]

To be fair to Rhule - if Aurich's D is going to crap the bed like that in future games - mostly on NOT getting lined up and on the same page - he won't be here next season. Get your crap together at DC or get fired.

Oregon is not an elite team but they do have a good D and good skill players. Will need the same type of effort and better execution to win on the road.

 

[justino52]

 

[Blatz]

I didn't watch any of the pressers after the game. Reading what Coach Rhule said about the D... yeah, that's not good. I understand Jimbo's take as well, but Rhule hire him. Never heard Dr. Tom talk like that.

They need to take the positive and fire up the team man. Make a springboard not wall.
Work on the gaffs behind the scenes.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

I didn't watch any of the pressers after the game. Reading what Coach Rhule said about the D... yeah, that's not good. I understand Jimbo's take as well, but Rhule hire him. Never heard Dr. Tom talk like that.

They need to take the positive and fire up the team man. Make a springboard not wall.
Work on the gaffs behind the scenes.

Husker fans know from the Bo Pelini Era when a coach begins a statement with "At the end of the day..." nothing good will come from it. That one stupid statement from Rhule could wreck this season. I wouldn't be surprised if Coach Aurich tells Matt, "Hey coach, we need to talk."

"We held the defending champs to 20 points today, and about 170 yards less than their rushing average. Do you have a problem with that? We are in constant communication when the defense is on the field, and you have sole authority to call timeouts as you see fit. If you feel you must, maybe it's time you flip that hat around and take more responsibility for what's happening on the field."

Ironically, seconds before that comment during his presser Rhule was talking about not throwing anyone under the bus...

Matt is a coach very unsure of himself, and that lack of confidence seeps into the players in critical moments. Look at his demeanor on the sidelines and then look across the field at Cigs. Regardless of what is happening during the game, as a player, who are you putting your trust in?

One guy says "Hey, it's the B1G, we have to expect every game to come down to the wire."

The other guy says "I'm a winner. Google me."

 

[Huusker]

1. People need to ease up on Cunanan. Remember, it takes a good snap, a good hold, and then a good kick. We're back to having operational problems on these kicks and that must stop. A good kicker is important, but so is making the most of red zone opportunities -- scoring touchdowns. That's one reason we keep losing these kinds of games. We need more drives ending in touchdowns, and more than 17 points in a B1G game.

2. I don't count moral victories, but there were things I liked. For example, Nebraska ran nearly twice as many offensive plays as Indiana, and held their vaunted running game under 100 yards. If Indiana is as good as advertised (we'll find out next week), that was a strong effort. Three points at halftime for the Hoosiers. Only one other team has done that to Cignetti since he started coaching in Bloomington. Nebraska controlled this game and really outplayed Indiana with the exception of four plays that accounted for most of the Hoosiers' offense.

3. I admire Rhule for admitting he made a big mistake on what became the winning scoring play for Indiana, that blasted 4th and 1. The analyst called it a trick play, but Nebraska was just lined up the wrong way. If Rhule had called a time out, that could have been corrected. Coaches preach to players to pay attention to the little things. Calling a time out there probably seemed like a little thing until Marsh went 40-plus yards for the winning touchdown.

4. The crowd was fantastic, the Big Noon show was fun to watch, and you had national talking heads saying they love coming to Lincoln -- it's a unique atmosphere. That gets lost amid the irrelevance of the program's football issues. No place in America can generate a day like that for an unranked team.

5. Many of you know I married into a Kentucky family, and the Minchey snub continually annoys me. But when I watch both Minchey and Colandrea play, I think we got the better quarterback. Minchey is doing well and led the Wildcats to a win over LSU last night. But he doesn't have the decision-making ability (experience) and the athletic prowess of Colandrea. I do worry that we put too much on his shoulders. But he reminds me of watching Johnny Rodgers as a kid. You just never know what he's going to do, but you know it will be good most of the time.

6. The B1G is showing Nebraska love next Saturday with a 10 PM kickoff. I no longer see that game as a near-hopeless cause. In fact, I think if Nebraska plays the way it did today, we'll win. To me, the worst thing about playing Oregon is no longer the fear of being clobbered, it is the endless Dylan Raiola pieces we'll have to read and watch in the next six days. They did pull him from the UCLA loss, so maybe we won't be subjected to that storyline after all.

 

[Removed Spleen of Jordan]

The main feeling I come away with after watching the game yesterday is that this team is actually better than I thought they were.

 

[Nebraska99]

We need to find consistency for

6. The B1G is showing Nebraska love next Saturday with a 10 PM kickoff.

I don't quite understand this statement. How is getting the worst time slot "showing Nebraska love"?

Thanks.

 

[Doc Fumble]

I don't quite understand this statement. How is getting the worst time slot "showing Nebraska love"?

Me thinks Huusker was being a teensie weensie bit sarcastic.

When we WANT a night game (for our Blackout game vs Washington), I doubt we'll get one.

 

[Huusker]

Sarcasm. It's a service I provide.

 

[innmc]

WIN OUT!

 

[Uenth]

6. The B1G is showing Nebraska love next Saturday with a 10 PM kickoff.

Well, I can promise everyone in Gameday Chat that there is ZERO way I will be awake for the majority of this game. Way past my witching hour. So someone else will have to call for TD's, INT's, etc.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

The main feeling I come away with after watching the game yesterday is that this team is actually better than I thought they were.

I agree with this because Colandrea is the X Factor. We have upgraded the QB position immensely with him at the controls. What I know for sure about this year's Huskers is that we are the best team in the MAC, and we are better than at least 4 teams in the B1G (Maryland, Rutgers, Michigan St, and probably Illinois). We are going to have to let the season play out to determine whether Nebraska is the 8th or 14th best team in the league. Unfortunately, it appears UCLA in Y1 of the Chesney Era has already leap-frogged Nebraska. Eight wins is still quite doable, but six may be more probable, if they can beat Rutgers on their second consecutive road trip.

 

[Uenth]

I wouldn't dream of hazarding a guess on how many more games will be won or lost. I know if we have another game Saturday like we had yesterday, it's not a good omen. Rhule needs to get his players to settle down or whatever the issue is, fix it ASAP. To those who say it's only 1 game, I disagree. It can be only 1 game but some adjustments need to be made to keep it from becoming a pattern.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

I wouldn't dream of hazarding a guess on how many more games will be won or lost. I know if we have another game Saturday like we had yesterday, it's not a good omen. Rhule needs to get his players to settle down or whatever the issue is, fix it ASAP. To those who say it's only 1 game, I disagree. It can be only 1 game but some adjustments need to be made to keep it from becoming a pattern.

Oh, I think we have a pattern, Uenth. Nebraska has lost 31 games in a row to ranked opponents and is 0-11 under Coach Matt. Coincidentally, Matt is 2-26 against ranked opponents in his 10-year college coaching career. We definitely have a pattern, or two, or three.

 

[KansasRed]

This one hurt, much more than some of the blow out losses. Coulda won. and SHOULDA won! I don't want to hear how we are better than we thought we were or at least we played them close or any other bull crap. The kid in the stands who has become an i-net meme is right. WE CHOKED! Horrible play calling in the second half; somebody on instagram (maybe they're on here?) said Holgerson called plays like we were behind instead of ahead; I agree. If you lined up all the things we had to do to lose, we checked every one of the boxes. I'm sick of it. I saw the handwriting on the wall early in the 4th Q and knew we were gonna lose. I hate that I knew that! I AM STLL P!SSED!!!!