The Impact of UCF's Winning Streak on Riley

[Doc Fumble]

Sorry to be staunchly opposed my friend, but we do not want "fumble" to be a part of NU football in any way, shape or form.........

You know you're becoming an old geezer when the legendary Husker play you're named after was outlawed and made obsolete by the early 1990s.

 

[SUHnami]

You know you're becoming an old geezer when the legendary Husker play you're named after was outlawed and made obsolete by the early 1990s.

I'm not sure why they outlawed it. Heck I've seen fumbles on purpose when players are trying to get extra yards and they have a teammate that can get those yards.

 

[Jarhead Husker]

You know you're becoming an old geezer when the legendary Husker play you're named after was outlawed and made obsolete by the early 1990s.

I loved that play! It was harder to execute than many other plays, so I'm not sure why everyone got so butthurt about the play and had it removed......

 

[RED ED]

I'm not sure why they outlawed it. Heck I've seen fumbles on purpose when players are trying to get extra yards and they have a teammate that can get those yards.

I was told it had to do with a bunch of whiny hurrican'ts

 

[Cigarman]

I don't see any direct link between Riley's demise and Frost's rise. I think a lot of fans were not sold on Riley from the get go, and he did little on the field to win them over. Last season's melt down was the final straw. From that point on, it was who will be his successor and who best fits our needs. Frost being a former Husker has always been a fan favorite. We all were gleeful with his success. I was a little leery when he was hired. However, I really liked the Moos hire, and have confidence in him. I am happy to say I am pleased with what Frost has accomplished since he arrived. I am crossing my fingers and hope it continues.

 

[Removed Spleen of Jordan]

Frost being a former Husker has always been a fan favorite. We all were gleeful with his success. I was a little leery when he was hired.

 

[Crazyhole]

My personal interactions with scott weren't great, but he has definitely seemed to mature over the years and seems to be a good representative for the state and university. Of course, leading a team to an undefeated season doesn't hurt.

 

[Doc Fumble]

My personal interactions with scott weren't great....

More evidence Frost is a great judge of character!!!!

 

[bshirt]

I agree. While the Powers-that-Be were all 'poo-pooing' its significance beyond Eichorst, it was no coincidence that it took place days after the football team lost to N. Illinois. But hope springs eternal and while it was still possible for Riley to turn around the season, the giant, ever-increasing shadow Frost was casting turned what little hope existed within the program to no hope at all. And that explains the team's death spiral from the second half of the Wisconsin game on.

The fact that there were actually diehard Husker fans ROOTING FOR RILEY TO CONTINUE LOSING tells you all you need to know.

Well good doctor, "Smiling Mike" knew about everything there is to know about losing. Decades of "practice".

But yes, I admit for the 1st time in my life I wanted NU to keep losing because I thought....

1. Year four of "Smiling Mike" would have been miserable beyond belief with that vicious schedule. Two or three wins would have been par for the course with about a half dozen massive blow-out losses.

2. It was glaringly obvious that SF would be a titanic sized upgrade. He "knows" smashmouth NU cfb and playing in the physical Big10.....well, fluff-ball just isn't going to hack it unless you've got overwhelming talent which is almost impossible for NU to have. And with "Smiling Mike's" two losing seasons in three years we're talking a mathematical and statistical zero chance of recruiting far above Michigan, Ohio State, PSU. etc.

So, I plead guilty Doc. As Clint Eastwood says...."a man needs to know his limitations".

 

[1949tackle]

Doc and I are old friends and antagonists, I am one of those horrible people who knew from day 1 that Mike Riley was a horrible hire and that Nebraska was in for a debilitating future as long as he coached here. There is nothing in his resume that spoke to his capacity to run a program like NU successfully.

His only reason for being hired was SE's need to find someone more subservient than himself. They were two people more capable of demonstrating the thesis of the Peter Point than any other two individuals in history. If comparisons to SF drew the more than obvious comparison of Einstein (SF) to the Three Stoogies (MR), then so would have any moderately successful high school coach.

But as assuredly as every atom has a purpose, the hiring and firing of Riley brought us to the position of someone who may in fact be an Einstein in the CFB universe.

 

[Husker Runner]

As the saying goes about a team reflecting the character/personality of its coach, I think we saw that in the 2017 season that shall hopefully be mostly erased from all our memories soon.

There were high hopes, but adversity started, and the whole thing fell apart. This could be said about the team's performance in many, many, (way too many) games. It could also be said in the perceived performance of the coaching staff. I read several times about how much Riley liked the team, but we all saw when things started to go south, there wasn't much holding them up or holding them together. It was clear that for all the good things you could say about the coaching staff as a whole or individuals (and there were some good things), rallying the troops to fight back when things weren't going as planned was not something they were prepared for/capable of doing.

I am excited to see the talent that is on the roster flourish under new leadership. We have already seen first hand how gritty, tough, and resilient the head man is from his playing days and early coaching career. The rest of the staff seems to be cut from that kind of cloth as well. Hopefully, that example shows itself in the boys in scarlet and cream who take the field on Saturdays this fall.

 

[NebSailor]

This is true Fumblerooski but I also will point out the bigger elephant in the room. This team was weak. Weak physically. They were not putting in the time in the weight room like they should have been. They could last maybe a half to 3 quarters with most of the teams, then they would run out of gas and get runover. This issue has been there since Riley started. And really showed up last year.

To your point though every week UCF won the chant became louder and louder for Frost. I rememember sitting watching us get destroyed by Ohio State and myself and several others around me were talking about Frost. We didn't want to see this crappy product on the field anymore and we knew there were weight room issues then. As the weeks went by and we piled up more losses and UCF piled up more wins it became apparent that Riley was out and Frost would soon be in.

I'm just glad TO was/is still around. He was a huge assist in Frost coming back to Lincoln. If not for him I don't think Frost comes.

This was further substantiated by the Nick Gates combine performance during the bench press compared to the UCF kid.

 

[NorthwoodHusker]

He didnt win, he lost his team,and there was no fire in him to turn it around.
Something the fans had seen before was happening again, wc offense, no defense, unattached coach, Riley either did it to himself, or simply couldnt help himself.
Frost was in the back of the mind of every fan, as we watched players not getting better, some even slipping,like Gates, not many excelling in the offense, and no conformity on defense.

It brings for a better appreciation of Banker.

You cant win the fans by getting good recruits alone, look no further than USC,or,Texas.
USC doesnt matter, its a glam slam there, but even in texas you need to win, something Riley just couldnt do.

Scott Frost has proven to me, he can mold a team, create and push his players to a higher level.
These things almost always end in winning,better records, but Frost has shown much more than that.
The wiscy game and minnesota games was rileys to lose, and after it happened, I believe Frosts shadow did indeed loom over not just Riley, but Big Red country as well, as I and almost every other husker fan saw the writing on the wall for Riley.
I dont think it was a progression of Frost gaining ground, more, the ground was removed from Rileys feet, as he couldnt get traction for a team he was losing and had partially lost.