2014 vs 2015 - What's different?

Regardless of the talent that's still on the team in 2015, this year's team aren't going out and beating up on teams that they really should. NU shouldn't have kept BYU, Illinois, and Northwestern in the game. They let those teams hang around, and then poor game management/execution cost the team in the end. The Wisconsin game was always going to be a toss up, but NU could have put them away in the 3rd quarter and again didn't do it.

 
When a new manager takes over a company that is doing ok, but has room to get better, things have to change in all areas of that company. You often will have some that want change, and those who don't, and throw the biggest fits. This is what I see going on with in the lockeroom with this team.

Tommy's lack of fundamentals has cost this team games over the last two seasons. Throwing bad interceptions, and giving points to the other teams. Fundamentals. Riley is here to build the building blocks from ground level. That means that this season mght be and is a bust for some. I think that in some ways, we have gotten by with lack of fundamentals, work ethic and a good attitude. I think Riley is rebuilding those character issues each and every day. I think we have players that don't know fundamentals of the game that well and have gotten by on pure ability. This is why when in the past we have played teams with better talent and gotten blown out.

Yes we have some talent on the field,too much to lose to Illinois and BYu. Never the less, if these guys have never really played the game right, and with fundamentals, are they doing the right thing just to win? Thats my question. If we have better players on the bench that have poor attitudes, and just can't accept playing for this coach, should they play anyway? Hell no. i think the issues on this team are far worse than a 3-5 record would indicate. I think once the season is over, more will come out of the woodwork. I think once this stuff does come out, we will have a whole different opinion of this staff and last years fired staff. I think things will make us appreciate the staff we have currently on this team. With change comes bumps and bruises. We are getting our share of bruises this season, but in the long run I do think that Riley and his staff can get us to the Big 10 title game. Beyond that, I don't think he can obtain, but I think in the next two seasons we can win the West and play for the Big 10 title. Just has to get his players in, and get his system in place with all on board.

 
By the way, stop with the disrespect towards Northwestern. They have two wins on there resume that even Ohio St and Michigan don't have. They have beaten at least two non cons rated in the top 25? Has either Ohio ST or Michigan done that yet?

They had better players on the field last week. Better defensive line players and a better smarter QB who didn't throw a pick six.

Keep telling yourselves that we are better than NW, and keep believing that Ozzy might come back and coach someday. Respect your opponents just a little bit, and then maybe some of these losses won't seem so impossibe to happen. The Big Red N doesn't intimidate teams like it did in the mid 90's and 80's anymore. Now we have to earn victories and earn them even against better quality teams than ours are currently.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Regardless of the talent that's still on the team in 2015, this year's team aren't going out and beating up on teams that they really should. NU shouldn't have kept BYU, Illinois, and Northwestern in the game. They let those teams hang around, and then poor game management/execution cost the team in the end. The Wisconsin game was always going to be a toss up, but NU could have put them away in the 3rd quarter and again didn't do it.
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The difference is NU finally got rid of those worthless players...like Bell, Cotton and RG.

 
gobiggergoredder said:
The obvious one everyone goes to is that the coaches are different. I think that's the easy answer.


For several years, especially 2014, this team was about huge individual plays/performances.

GONE
#80 Kenny Bell - As talented as Westercamp is, Kenny had a knack for winning the match up downfield. As fans, we would cover our eyes after seeing the back foot heave only to watch KB go full David Copperfield. He was able to get so much separation that he could adjust to a poorly thrown ball.

#15 DPE (big play) - yeah DPE is back, but he has missed most of the season. He flipped the field in multiple games on his way to becoming one of the most dynamic players in the country. He was the catalyst in winning games despite stagnant performances by his team.

#4 Randy Gregory - There is no doubt that he changed what other teams did on offense. I really wasn't a huge fan of Gregory but you can't deny that he had an impact.

#8 AA - An NFL starter as a rookie (at least for a few weeks) that needs to be considered as one of the best running backs in Nebraska history. Much like the others listed previously, AA had moments where he put the team on his back and willed them to victory.

2014 -
McNeese State - #8 won this game. This would have been one of the most embarrassing losses in school history.
Miami - #8 ran for 200+ yards and the team had 14 points off TO's to win by 10.
Northwestern - After a dismal first half, #15 got everything rolling and the rest of the team followed as they steam rolled NW.
Rutgers - #8 ran for 228 yards.
Wisconsin - Meh
Minnesota - Meh
Iowa - At one point the team was +3 in turnovers and losing. Won in OT.
USC - The team played great, not many complaints here, but it was a loss.

In my opinion, this team looks almost identical to 2014 with a few exceptions:
1. No big plays
2. They stop the run/give up huge pass plays.

There is no depth and we don't have the right players. It is also reasonable to have the injuries as part of the discussion. The injuries keep players off the field and also hampers chemistry. I don't know whether Riley is the guy or not, but he got a used car with a beautiful paint job and a full detail (9 wins). We've put 500 miles on it and it leaks, knocks, pulls to the right and dies at stop lights (Reality). We have a wreck with a salvage title and we're still trying to convince ourselves that our mint car is ready for Barrett Jackson.

We don't have the players that are currently able to play at the level of the playmakers that we lost. It may be on the roster, but it's not at that point yet. I think we are a solid recruiting class away.
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It is going to take a lot more than 1 solid recruiting class which we don't even have yet. Even if we got a solid recruiting class I'm pretty sure these coaches wouldn't know what do to with it anyway.

 
DPE had 200 more return yards than anyone in the country. In one year, one guy turned a team from one of the worst at punt returns to the best.
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When Pierson-El skipped out on the field, he acted like everybody owed him yardage...and he always collected, or in the case of the Iowa punter, got an IOU that he cashed in next time.

 
I think we're absolutely loaded at wide receiver, and don't miss Kenny Bell a bit.

Problem is, this is a team. You can have 22 competent players, but two weak links in the offensive line and a couple more in the defensive secondary can absolutely kill you.

And we appear to have a more weak links than that.

We would have missed Abdullah less if Tommy Armstrong had been able to complete merely 5% more of his passes in his Junior year.

That's not happening. And that may be the biggest disappointment. The defense was expected to struggle.

Also, last year at this time Husker fans were grousing about the coach who had sullied Nebraska's reputation and needed replacing. So some things aren't that different.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
I think we're absolutely loaded at wide receiver, and don't miss Kenny Bell a bit.

Problem is, this is a team. You can have 22 competent players, but two weak links in the offensive line and a couple more in the defensive secondary can absolutely kill you.

And we appear to have a more weak links than that.

We would have missed Abdullah less if Tommy Armstrong had been able to complete merely 5% more of his passes in his Junior year.

That's not happening. And that may be the biggest disappointment. The defense was expected to struggle.

Also, last year at this time Husker fans were grousing about the coach who had sullied Nebraska's reputation and needed replacing. So some things aren't that different.
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Many people on this board expected an immediate improvement on defense. Two All conference DTs with an experienced defensive backfield, and a coaching staff that would turn them loose. And while the D has crumbled under pressure when games have been on the line, at least we aren't getting curb stomped like we did, twice per year the past few years.

 
A few years ago, I managed to burst a disc in my neck. To all the world, I looked great (well, great considering what I have to work with). But my left arm was in intense pain. It didn't hamper my ability to do things, it just hurt like hell to do them.

After testing steroid injections and physical therapy, surgery was the only option. My surgeon was a very nice guy. He said he could make me like new. I trusted him.

I went in to surgery 90% functional, expecting to be close to 100% as a result of he surgery. I woke up from the nice guy's surgery and felt awesome. It was the remaining anesthesia and drip of morphine. An hour or two after leaving the recovery room I felt a lot of pain. A LOT.

It took me quite a while to move without pain in my neck and arm. It took almost a year to regain full flexibility and muscle tone. But since that year, I am indeed close to 100% and am very, very happy I had the surgery.

You figure out the moral of this story.

 
grandpasknee said:
A few years ago, I managed to burst a disc in my neck. To all the world, I looked great (well, great considering what I have to work with). But my left arm was in intense pain. It didn't hamper my ability to do things, it just hurt like hell to do them.

After testing steroid injections and physical therapy, surgery was the only option. My surgeon was a very nice guy. He said he could make me like new. I trusted him.

I went in to surgery 90% functional, expecting to be close to 100% as a result of he surgery. I woke up from the nice guy's surgery and felt awesome. It was the remaining anesthesia and drip of morphine. An hour or two after leaving the recovery room I felt a lot of pain. A LOT.

It took me quite a while to move without pain in my neck and arm. It took almost a year to regain full flexibility and muscle tone. But since that year, I am indeed close to 100% and am very, very happy I had the surgery.

You figure out the moral of this story.
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It's obvious-

You would rather endure that pain and go through that tough surgery and recovery all over again, than see this team play like they did against Northwestern again. Duh.

I mean everybody knows that nothing takes time to improve and that change must be instantaneous. In todays society, if it doesn't happen immediately, everyone knows it's never going to happen at all.

 
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I tend to see some truth in much of what many all over the topics have to say. It seem to me the 'truth' is somewhere in the middle of all of this. But I don't feel it is fair to blame Tommy Armstrong for these losses. It seems too many comments suggest he is the problem.

His play is NOT as good as the first 4 games but it is not that bad either. I think may a couple interceptions but considering the high number of passes he has thrown this year, already, a few interceptions is only to be expected. If we run the ball 55 times a game, we will have a couple fumbles as well. If a running back has two fumbles a game, you could expect lots of complaints, even if the runner was averaging 7.5 yards a carry and three TDs per game and 165 yards ave.

 
All this Ameer won this and Ameer carried that.

How much success did the Bo Jackson Auburn teams have?

17-8 with a pedestrian offense that never averaged more than 30 points a game.

Look at Ameer's early stats. Solid, but not spectacular; not to mention he wasn't able to displace Rex (who I think is extremely underrated and a great back in his own right).

Backs develop and backs are a product of their systems.

We have a lot of raw talent in the RB group. It's not their fault it's not being developed and utilized.

 
grandpasknee said:
A few years ago, I managed to burst a disc in my neck. To all the world, I looked great (well, great considering what I have to work with). But my left arm was in intense pain. It didn't hamper my ability to do things, it just hurt like hell to do them.

After testing steroid injections and physical therapy, surgery was the only option. My surgeon was a very nice guy. He said he could make me like new. I trusted him.

I went in to surgery 90% functional, expecting to be close to 100% as a result of he surgery. I woke up from the nice guy's surgery and felt awesome. It was the remaining anesthesia and drip of morphine. An hour or two after leaving the recovery room I felt a lot of pain. A LOT.

It took me quite a while to move without pain in my neck and arm. It took almost a year to regain full flexibility and muscle tone. But since that year, I am indeed close to 100% and am very, very happy I had the surgery.

You figure out the moral of this story.
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The moral of the story is that you and many others had unrealistic expectations, and that many still have unrealistic expectations.

I didn't think we would win more than 6 games this season, I never thought it would be this bad.

I think the more apt story would be going in for a bad knee and the surgeon taking the whole leg.

Changes needed to be made, sure, but Riley was a bad hire. We will not magically get better, nothing in his entire coaching career has ever suggested this. We will be have a ceiling of 6-8 wins a season with many 3 win seasons with this coach.

 
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