Athlon: Open letter to the concerned Nebraska fan

[cornographic]

Reading the comments there and seeing some of the flaming here has me convinced that there are way too many idiots that call themselves Husker fans.

Same ol' same ol'. The patient, sane fans don't tend to post alot.

'
I have the most posts on this site. What are you saying?

According to what I said, it could mean you are an excessive whiner or excessively impatient or both. OR, it could mean you have no life!

Probably all of the above.

So so sad, brah...

 

[Hooked on Huskers]

Erase TWO plays ....... 3W and 0L. So near and yet so far

I know one of the plays that would make it 2-1. Which is the other play that make it 3-0???

one - hail mary

two - pick in overtime (vs. Thugs). Huskers offense was clicking until out of the blue pick. Plus 'Canes defense was tired as hell.

 

[74Hunter]

Obviously, Mike Riley has won games when trailing at halftime. He hasn't done it while he's been here yet, but the guy has coached 3 games.

STOP.

Did you not get the memo, his record prior to coming to Nebraska DON'T MEAN ANYTHING!!!11!1!1!!11'.,1

 

[TAKODA]

To the OP.

Good read, thanks for putting it out here.

GBRedneck, you are entitled to your opinion. I am wondering why it looks like you are taking so much joy in your delivery though?

Love your icon though. Damn!

Carry on!

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Obviously, Mike Riley has won games when trailing at halftime. He hasn't done it while he's been here yet, but the guy has coached 3 games.

!!11'.,1

What happened here?

 

[74Hunter]

I'll never understand the sentiment, expressed in that article, that NU under Pelini would've 'folded' in the 3rd-4th Q against Miami this weekend. Hell, we called them the 'Cardiac Cornhuskers' (or at least, some writers did). We have Ohio St (biggest comeback in school history), Penn St 2011, Wiscy, NW, Mich St, Penn St 2012 (all 4 of these comebacks were incredible), NW (hail mary), Mich (great final drive led by Tommy), Penn St, Georgia 2013, Iowa 2014 (and almost Mich St 2014, if not for a dropped catch by Zo). Just in the last 4 years of Pelini's tenure, there were /eleven/ comeback victories. And in almost all of them, the game looked hopeless (the only 3 where had a chance the whole way was NW, Georgia, and Penn St 2013).

Pelini's teams often gave up (I don't need to list those games, they are engraved in our collective memory forever) but to act like they always folded when the going got tough is INSANE. We were the comeback kids for years.

By the way, I am a big Riley fan and think he will do great things at Nebraska. But let's not revise history to fit a narrative.

X100000

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Agree. I don't like revisionist history. Miami '15 was nearly identical to MSU '14.

Mike Riley's team played a lot like Bo Pelini's team. I may not like admitting it, but it's true.

Yet for some reason I'm not worried.

Life's funny.

 

[zoogs]

"Cardiac Cornhuskers" is right. Nebraska is a team well known for hot and cold spells, for overlooking easy opponents (*cough* this weekend? *cough*), for not showing up ready to play, for flashing serious ability in furious finishes with their backs against the wall.

Some of these things you manage, some of these things you like, some of these things you want to try and change.

It's not stunning in any way that a lot of the tenor of the team's play is going to carry over from recent habits.

 

[GBRedneck]

To the OP.

Good read, thanks for putting it out here.

GBRedneck, you are entitled to your opinion. I am wondering why it looks like you are taking so much joy in your delivery though?

Love your icon though. Damn!

Carry on!

Yeah, the icon is a beauty. It's my old roommate.

As for the delivery, I'm just a happy guy. I used to let Husker losses get me down. But I've accepted the current state of affairs and I'm just enjoying life! This season is going to be a rollercoaster ride like none we've ever seen before! Well, except for back in '04 . . .

 

[GBRedneck]

Erase TWO plays ....... 3W and 0L. So near and yet so far

I know one of the plays that would make it 2-1. Which is the other play that make it 3-0???

one - hail mary

two - pick in overtime (vs. Thugs). Huskers offense was clicking until out of the blue pick. Plus 'Canes defense was tired as hell.

Yeah, the hail mary was one play that turned W to L. The 2nd one would only bring 3-0 into play, but it wouldn't guarantee the win. If it's just incomplete, we would've still had to score. If it was complete, we would've still had to hold the 'canes. So after erasing two plays, you still have to run a few more successful plays to turn the 2-1 into 3-0.

 

[HuskerMerc44]

It's too early to judge Riley.

He was given a bad hand.

Give him your support.

Enjoy Nebraska Football.

Big Red will be back.

 

[74Hunter]

It's too early to judge Riley.

He was given a bad hand.

Give him your support.

Enjoy Nebraska Football.

Big Red will be back.

Given a bad hand, lol!

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

To the OP.

Good read, thanks for putting it out here.

GBRedneck, you are entitled to your opinion. I am wondering why it looks like you are taking so much joy in your delivery though?

Love your icon though. Damn!

Carry on!

Yeah, the icon is a beauty. It's my old roommate.

As for the delivery, I'm just a happy guy. I used to let Husker losses get me down. But I've accepted the current state of affairs and I'm just enjoying life! This season is going to be a rollercoaster ride like none we've ever seen before! Well, except for back in '04 . . .

Your new sig line is just chock full 'o' happiness.

 

[dvdcrr]

Riley has already made this his program. I remember watching OSU get drubbed by good Pac 12 teams. I remember watching the 20 yd outs chucked in vain on 3rd and 12 many times when he was there. He didnt have an NFL QB there at the time, and he doesnt have one here now.

But Riley isnt the problem in its entirety. Absolutely husker fans should be worried. There is a generation of adults now whos only recollection of Husker greatness is the 2001 NC game with the U. Thats scary. Its been too long this program has been languishing. The fans will lose interest. The leadership at Nebraska cant seem to understand that Coaches arent plug and play. You've got to get the right fit. Rodriguez at UM didnt work. Harbaugh will work. Meyer at THE OSU will work. Riley at NU will not work. The coach has to fit into the identity of the program. You are what you are.

What are the Cornhuskers of Lincoln?

This is a team at a University with high academic and character values instilled by past coaches and staff. Not many NCAA violations. Lots of Academic AA. Good enough for the Big 10. We do it the right way. This school and town could never attract a 3 deep stable of studs from Alabama, Texas, and Florida to run the Offense of the Rileys, Callahans, of the world. When you try that here with 3 star dudes, the team runs into a buzz saw of better talent. It takes your team 3 months to figure out the playbook, but it takes the other team 3 days. And the fans (money) dont respect it. It doesnt look like Devaney and Tom did it.

The last few years playing Wisconsins running attack and crowding defense I have to admit they looked more like Huskers than we did (Alvarez). I dont know what abomination that Martinez Beck offense was.

Nebraska football will rise again when we get the guy who understands that here at NU we need to recruit guys for OUR system that really want to be huskers period. He needs to understand that at Lincoln you do this by emphasizing power running,play action pass and some type of option (read option, or other) out of multiple sets. Now that we are in the Big 14 I dont know that a speedy 43 is the answer but the Key is UNRELENTING RUN FIRST DEFENSE. When we get a coach that understands this to the core, NU will return to national prominence. There was a metaphorical great book of football knowledge in the football offices at Nebraska. In it were the keys to domination at NU. Emblazoned on its large leatherbound cover were 5 national titles. Callahan tossed that book in the trash and no one has bothered to look for it since.

 

[cornographic]

Riley has already made this his program. I remember watching OSU get drubbed by good Pac 12 teams. I remember watching the 20 yd outs chucked in vain on 3rd and 12 many times when he was there. He didnt have an NFL QB there at the time, and he doesnt have one here now.

But Riley isnt the problem in its entirety. Absolutely husker fans should be worried. There is a generation of adults now whos only recollection of Husker greatness is the 2001 NC game with the U. Thats scary. Its been too long this program has been languishing. The fans will lose interest. The leadership at Nebraska cant seem to understand that Coaches arent plug and play. You've got to get the right fit. Rodriguez at UM didnt work. Harbaugh will work. Meyer at THE OSU will work. Riley at NU will not work. The coach has to fit into the identity of the program. You are what you are.

What are the Cornhuskers of Lincoln?

This is a team at a University with high academic and character values instilled by past coaches and staff. Not many NCAA violations. Lots of Academic AA. Good enough for the Big 10. We do it the right way. This school and town could never attract a 3 deep stable of studs from Alabama, Texas, and Florida to run the Offense of the Rileys, Callahans, of the world. When you try that here with 3 star dudes, the team runs into a buzz saw of better talent. It takes your team 3 months to figure out the playbook, but it takes the other team 3 days. And the fans (money) dont respect it. It doesnt look like Devaney and Tom did it.

The last few years playing Wisconsins running attack and crowding defense I have to admit they looked more like Huskers than we did (Alvarez). I dont know what abomination that Martinez Beck offense was.

Nebraska football will rise again when we get the guy who understands that here at NU we need to recruit guys for OUR system that really want to be huskers period. He needs to understand that at Lincoln you do this by emphasizing power running,play action pass and some type of option (read option, or other) out of multiple sets. Now that we are in the Big 14 I dont know that a speedy 43 is the answer but the Key is UNRELENTING RUN FIRST DEFENSE. When we get a coach that understands this to the core, NU will return to national prominence. There was a metaphorical great book of football knowledge in the football offices at Nebraska. In it were the keys to domination at NU. Emblazoned on its large leatherbound cover were 5 national titles. Callahan tossed that book in the trash and no one has bothered to look for it since.

You make some very good points. I'm not exactly understanding what you mean by "OUR system", but I'm assuming you are referring to a dominating ground attack. I think Riley himself has consistently said that he wants to emphasize physicality and the run--and I think that is coming. I like the looks of the offense, which appears to be a combination of pro and spread/read sets.

Nobody's running smash mouth anymore, except for maybe "Bert", but even they are passing the ball more.