A few statistical tidbits

[macroboy]

Carry the ball rarely, and you'll find you don't fumble it much.

You lose all credibility by saying this. This season, Nebraska averaged 37.4 and 37.7 pass and rush attempts per game, respectively (38.9 / 35.7 if you don't include the UCLA game which skews the numbers a bit). I stopped reading the other stuff you said after seeing this. The game with the highest number of rushing attempts (62 against UCLA) had only one fumble which was caused by a bullsh!t uncalled facemask penalty.

Feel free to focus on a tree for the forest. That said, NU rushed 25%+ less this year than last.

And that is not the same as "carry the ball rarely" and so his point still stands right?

 

[kchusker_chris]

They were the teams that came to mind.

You don't rank among the worst in the country by facing only a handful of passing teams ranked in the top 25 in passing. We're lucky we played in a B1G conference that couldn't exploit our pass defense more than they already did. We would've been in for an ugly year, as far as the scores to some of our losses are concerned.

They were pathetic early on in the year. Those first 4 games were unlike anything I've seen before. I've never watched DBs play the ball the way they were. I'm still scratching my head over that start. After that though, they settled in and looked promising. UCLA is a decent passing team. Unfortunately they had the 2 big plays early - but without those we hold them to under 200 yards passing. Iowa to 97 (weather factored) is pretty solid. The last 9 games, yards per attempt averaged high 6's which is middle of the pack. We return the core of our secondary, and have some promising freshman that will be in year 2 of the system. I think we see a #40-50 pass defense next year. It will never be Pelini level, but that's because we're set up to stop the run w/ an extra guy in the box, more blitzes, etc. I'd take that in this league over only rushing 4 all game to shut down their passing game. That D was set up for the B12, this D is more geared toward the B1G IMO. #8 ranked rush defense is where we need to be. Banker flipped the script in a good way I think.

 

[Enhance]

They were the teams that came to mind.

You don't rank among the worst in the country by facing only a handful of passing teams ranked in the top 25 in passing. We're lucky we played in a B1G conference that couldn't exploit our pass defense more than they already did. We would've been in for an ugly year, as far as the scores to some of our losses are concerned.

They were pathetic early on in the year. Those first 4 games were unlike anything I've seen before. I've never watched DBs play the ball the way they were. I'm still scratching my head over that start. After that though, they settled in and looked promising. UCLA is a decent passing team. Unfortunately they had the 2 big plays early - but without those we hold them to under 200 yards passing. Iowa to 97 (weather factored) is pretty solid. The last 9 games, yards per attempt averaged high 6's which is middle of the pack. We return the core of our secondary, and have some promising freshman that will be in year 2 of the system. I think we see a #40-50 pass defense next year. It will never be Pelini level, but that's because we're set up to stop the run w/ an extra guy in the box, more blitzes, etc. I'd take that in this league over only rushing 4 all game to shut down their passing game. That D was set up for the B12, this D is more geared toward the B1G IMO. #8 ranked rush defense is where we need to be. Banker flipped the script in a good way I think.

Some good points here. At times I also felt the previous D just didn't have the horses to stop the run based on the scheme. Suh and Co. made stopping the run look easy, but it shouldn't have taken a Suh-type player to make the defense effective at stopping the run.

We didn't have boatloads of talent along the d-line in 2015, but it was refreshing to see the front seven still capable of shutting the run down pretty consistently throughout the year. With more experience in the back seven, and another year in the system, I like the potential this defense has for 2016. Obviously, though, losing a guy like Collins on the interior will be tough to match and/or replace.

 

[StPaulHusker]

They were the teams that came to mind.

You don't rank among the worst in the country by facing only a handful of passing teams ranked in the top 25 in passing. We're lucky we played in a B1G conference that couldn't exploit our pass defense more than they already did. We would've been in for an ugly year, as far as the scores to some of our losses are concerned.

They were pathetic early on in the year. Those first 4 games were unlike anything I've seen before. I've never watched DBs play the ball the way they were. I'm still scratching my head over that start. After that though, they settled in and looked promising. UCLA is a decent passing team. Unfortunately they had the 2 big plays early - but without those we hold them to under 200 yards passing. Iowa to 97 (weather factored) is pretty solid. The last 9 games, yards per attempt averaged high 6's which is middle of the pack. We return the core of our secondary, and have some promising freshman that will be in year 2 of the system. I think we see a #40-50 pass defense next year. It will never be Pelini level, but that's because we're set up to stop the run w/ an extra guy in the box, more blitzes, etc. I'd take that in this league over only rushing 4 all game to shut down their passing game. That D was set up for the B12, this D is more geared toward the B1G IMO. #8 ranked rush defense is where we need to be. Banker flipped the script in a good way I think.

Some good points here. At times I also felt the previous D just didn't have the horses to stop the run based on the scheme. Suh and Co. made stopping the run look easy, but it shouldn't have taken a Suh-type player to make the defense effective at stopping the run.

We didn't have boatloads of talent along the d-line in 2015, but it was refreshing to see the front seven still capable of shutting the run down pretty consistently throughout the year. With more experience in the back seven, and another year in the system, I like the potential this defense has for 2016. Obviously, though, losing a guy like Collins on the interior will be tough to match and/or replace.

The ability to tackle was a huge difference in the front 7 stopping the run

 

[MichiganDad3]

People bemoan the blowouts of past seasons, and I get that, but at least those losses were often against teams that were favored to be Nebraska (e.g., Wisconsin last year was -4). I wish there was an easy way to compare NU's records against spreads across each year.

So because a team was favored over us by less than a touchdown a blowout loss is ok?
We have been favored and lost many times over the last handful of years. Its nothing new.

Minnesota 2014: NU-10 lost by 4

Iowa 2013: NU -3 lost by 21

Minnesota 2013: NU -10.5 lost by 11

UCLA 2012: NU -5 lost by 6

Wisconsin 2012: NU -3 lost by 39

Northwestern 2011: NU -17.5 lost by 3

Bolded the important part. Riley has essentially lost games we were favored in during his first season as Bo's entire tenure. I get that different people see losses differently, but here's the rub. Pelini had a low floor, but a high ceiling. We traded in a low floor/high ceiling couch for a high floor/low ceiling coach, but at least we competed for championships.

To be fair, Riley has also won about as many big games as Bo did his entire tenure. How many top ten teams did Bo beat? One. Mizzou, 2010. Did Bo ever win a bowl game where we were the dog by 7 points? And speaking of Bo's bowl games, I think that list above missed our loss to Washington in the 2010 Holiday bowl. The year we played Washington twice.

Speaking of 2010, 3 of our 4 losses were as favorites
Texas: NU, -10 lost by 7

A&M: NU -2.5, lost by 3

Washington: NU -14, lost by 12

. I still don't acknowledge that aTm "loss"

Me neither

 

[MichiganDad3]

They were the teams that came to mind.

You don't rank among the worst in the country by facing only a handful of passing teams ranked in the top 25 in passing. We're lucky we played in a B1G conference that couldn't exploit our pass defense more than they already did. We would've been in for an ugly year, as far as the scores to some of our losses are concerned.

They were pathetic early on in the year. Those first 4 games were unlike anything I've seen before. I've never watched DBs play the ball the way they were. I'm still scratching my head over that start. After that though, they settled in and looked promising. UCLA is a decent passing team. Unfortunately they had the 2 big plays early - but without those we hold them to under 200 yards passing. Iowa to 97 (weather factored) is pretty solid. The last 9 games, yards per attempt averaged high 6's which is middle of the pack. We return the core of our secondary, and have some promising freshman that will be in year 2 of the system. I think we see a #40-50 pass defense next year. It will never be Pelini level, but that's because we're set up to stop the run w/ an extra guy in the box, more blitzes, etc. I'd take that in this league over only rushing 4 all game to shut down their passing game. That D was set up for the B12, this D is more geared toward the B1G IMO. #8 ranked rush defense is where we need to be. Banker flipped the script in a good way I think.

I don't mind giving up a couple big passing plays provided we stop the run, and don't let the opposition march down the field with short passing plays. The result is many 3 and outs and a tired opposition defense. I like it.

 

[MichiganDad3]

They were the teams that came to mind.

You don't rank among the worst in the country by facing only a handful of passing teams ranked in the top 25 in passing. We're lucky we played in a B1G conference that couldn't exploit our pass defense more than they already did. We would've been in for an ugly year, as far as the scores to some of our losses are concerned.

They were pathetic early on in the year. Those first 4 games were unlike anything I've seen before. I've never watched DBs play the ball the way they were. I'm still scratching my head over that start. After that though, they settled in and looked promising. UCLA is a decent passing team. Unfortunately they had the 2 big plays early - but without those we hold them to under 200 yards passing. Iowa to 97 (weather factored) is pretty solid. The last 9 games, yards per attempt averaged high 6's which is middle of the pack. We return the core of our secondary, and have some promising freshman that will be in year 2 of the system. I think we see a #40-50 pass defense next year. It will never be Pelini level, but that's because we're set up to stop the run w/ an extra guy in the box, more blitzes, etc. I'd take that in this league over only rushing 4 all game to shut down their passing game. That D was set up for the B12, this D is more geared toward the B1G IMO. #8 ranked rush defense is where we need to be. Banker flipped the script in a good way I think.

Some good points here. At times I also felt the previous D just didn't have the horses to stop the run based on the scheme. Suh and Co. made stopping the run look easy, but it shouldn't have taken a Suh-type player to make the defense effective at stopping the run.

We didn't have boatloads of talent along the d-line in 2015, but it was refreshing to see the front seven still capable of shutting the run down pretty consistently throughout the year. With more experience in the back seven, and another year in the system, I like the potential this defense has for 2016. Obviously, though, losing a guy like Collins on the interior will be tough to match and/or replace.

I am not convinced about the talent issue. How do MC and VV compare to Crick and Suh? Suh was a once in a lifetime player, but I think MC and VV are top a five tandem in CFB.

 

[Enhance]

They were the teams that came to mind.

You don't rank among the worst in the country by facing only a handful of passing teams ranked in the top 25 in passing. We're lucky we played in a B1G conference that couldn't exploit our pass defense more than they already did. We would've been in for an ugly year, as far as the scores to some of our losses are concerned.

They were pathetic early on in the year. Those first 4 games were unlike anything I've seen before. I've never watched DBs play the ball the way they were. I'm still scratching my head over that start. After that though, they settled in and looked promising. UCLA is a decent passing team. Unfortunately they had the 2 big plays early - but without those we hold them to under 200 yards passing. Iowa to 97 (weather factored) is pretty solid. The last 9 games, yards per attempt averaged high 6's which is middle of the pack. We return the core of our secondary, and have some promising freshman that will be in year 2 of the system. I think we see a #40-50 pass defense next year. It will never be Pelini level, but that's because we're set up to stop the run w/ an extra guy in the box, more blitzes, etc. I'd take that in this league over only rushing 4 all game to shut down their passing game. That D was set up for the B12, this D is more geared toward the B1G IMO. #8 ranked rush defense is where we need to be. Banker flipped the script in a good way I think.

Some good points here. At times I also felt the previous D just didn't have the horses to stop the run based on the scheme. Suh and Co. made stopping the run look easy, but it shouldn't have taken a Suh-type player to make the defense effective at stopping the run.

We didn't have boatloads of talent along the d-line in 2015, but it was refreshing to see the front seven still capable of shutting the run down pretty consistently throughout the year. With more experience in the back seven, and another year in the system, I like the potential this defense has for 2016. Obviously, though, losing a guy like Collins on the interior will be tough to match and/or replace.

I am not convinced about the talent issue. How do MC and VV compare to Crick and Suh? Suh was a once in a lifetime player, but I thin MC and VV are top a five tandem in CFB.

I didn't compare Suh/Crick to MC/VV. I was talking about after Suh/Crick left, we had more troubles stopping the run under the PREVIOUS scheme and nobody along the interior really had their talent level.

If anything, I was complimenting MC/VV on their ability to help stop the run in 2015.

 

[MichiganDad3]

They were the teams that came to mind.

You don't rank among the worst in the country by facing only a handful of passing teams ranked in the top 25 in passing. We're lucky we played in a B1G conference that couldn't exploit our pass defense more than they already did. We would've been in for an ugly year, as far as the scores to some of our losses are concerned.

They were pathetic early on in the year. Those first 4 games were unlike anything I've seen before. I've never watched DBs play the ball the way they were. I'm still scratching my head over that start. After that though, they settled in and looked promising. UCLA is a decent passing team. Unfortunately they had the 2 big plays early - but without those we hold them to under 200 yards passing. Iowa to 97 (weather factored) is pretty solid. The last 9 games, yards per attempt averaged high 6's which is middle of the pack. We return the core of our secondary, and have some promising freshman that will be in year 2 of the system. I think we see a #40-50 pass defense next year. It will never be Pelini level, but that's because we're set up to stop the run w/ an extra guy in the box, more blitzes, etc. I'd take that in this league over only rushing 4 all game to shut down their passing game. That D was set up for the B12, this D is more geared toward the B1G IMO. #8 ranked rush defense is where we need to be. Banker flipped the script in a good way I think.

Some good points here. At times I also felt the previous D just didn't have the horses to stop the run based on the scheme. Suh and Co. made stopping the run look easy, but it shouldn't have taken a Suh-type player to make the defense effective at stopping the run.

We didn't have boatloads of talent along the d-line in 2015, but it was refreshing to see the front seven still capable of shutting the run down pretty consistently throughout the year. With more experience in the back seven, and another year in the system, I like the potential this defense has for 2016. Obviously, though, losing a guy like Collins on the interior will be tough to match and/or replace.

I am not convinced about the talent issue. How do MC and VV compare to Crick and Suh? Suh was a once in a lifetime player, but I thin MC and VV are top a five tandem in CFB.

I didn't compare Suh/Crick to MC/VV. I was talking about after Suh/Crick left, we had more troubles stopping the run under the PREVIOUS scheme and nobody along the interior really had their talent level.

If anything, I was complimenting MC/VV on their ability to help stop the run in 2015.

I am agreeing with you, I am wondering if we will see the same drop off in run stopping ability if MC and VV both leave this year. It is difficult to determine how much of an impact MC and VV have.

 

[4skers89]

Article on turnovers. Nebraska listed as one of the "snake bit teams". Basically bad at recovering our own fumbles and making interceptions.

http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2016/4/6/11376430/college-football-turnover-luck-in-2015

 

[BigRedBuster]

They were the teams that came to mind.

You don't rank among the worst in the country by facing only a handful of passing teams ranked in the top 25 in passing. We're lucky we played in a B1G conference that couldn't exploit our pass defense more than they already did. We would've been in for an ugly year, as far as the scores to some of our losses are concerned.

They were pathetic early on in the year. Those first 4 games were unlike anything I've seen before. I've never watched DBs play the ball the way they were. I'm still scratching my head over that start. After that though, they settled in and looked promising. UCLA is a decent passing team. Unfortunately they had the 2 big plays early - but without those we hold them to under 200 yards passing. Iowa to 97 (weather factored) is pretty solid. The last 9 games, yards per attempt averaged high 6's which is middle of the pack. We return the core of our secondary, and have some promising freshman that will be in year 2 of the system. I think we see a #40-50 pass defense next year. It will never be Pelini level, but that's because we're set up to stop the run w/ an extra guy in the box, more blitzes, etc. I'd take that in this league over only rushing 4 all game to shut down their passing game. That D was set up for the B12, this D is more geared toward the B1G IMO. #8 ranked rush defense is where we need to be. Banker flipped the script in a good way I think.

Some good points here. At times I also felt the previous D just didn't have the horses to stop the run based on the scheme. Suh and Co. made stopping the run look easy, but it shouldn't have taken a Suh-type player to make the defense effective at stopping the run.

We didn't have boatloads of talent along the d-line in 2015, but it was refreshing to see the front seven still capable of shutting the run down pretty consistently throughout the year. With more experience in the back seven, and another year in the system, I like the potential this defense has for 2016. Obviously, though, losing a guy like Collins on the interior will be tough to match and/or replace.

I am not convinced about the talent issue. How do MC and VV compare to Crick and Suh? Suh was a once in a lifetime player, but I thin MC and VV are top a five tandem in CFB.

I didn't compare Suh/Crick to MC/VV. I was talking about after Suh/Crick left, we had more troubles stopping the run under the PREVIOUS scheme and nobody along the interior really had their talent level.

If anything, I was complimenting MC/VV on their ability to help stop the run in 2015.

I am agreeing with you, I am wondering if we will see the same drop off in run stopping ability if MC and VV both leave this year. It is difficult to determine how much of an impact MC and VV have.

I don't think we will because in this scheme, we aren't relying on one or two guys to be amazing players to stop the run. We have a team effort in the front 7 and I think our talent level across the board is probably higher now than it has been in recent years (In the front 7).