Bleacher Report: Five things standing in the way of a Nebraska Conference Title

[Dr. Strangelove]

This talent thing is getting a little overblown. Go back to the 1994 season. We played CU who I think most outside of Nebraska would say was more talented than us. They had seven players that year selected in the first three rounds of the NFL draft. However, we easily handled them. We also played a very talented Miami team for the NC. Miami arguably had more talent than we did, yet we beat them. Talent can only take you so far. Then, it's up to coaching and how well the team meshes or plays together.

Ohio State is more talented than we are. However, they are not more talented than Alabama. Yet, they beat Bama. We don't have to be more talented than Ohio State to beat them. We just have to make fewer mistakes and play better ball than they do.

NU was in the same universe talent wise- college football talent with Miami and CUThose games weren't huge mismatches by any stretch

We aren't when it comes to OSU in 2015. When your third team QB is Cardale Jones and you have thoroughbreds at every position- we aren't in the same Universe

While Mike Riley and his staff may be good coaches, they aren't Tom OSborne, Milt Tenopir and Charlie McBride

Regardless of how anyone feels about Urban Meyer, he has won big at every stop and has won multiple National Titles, he is the real deal

NU is a LONG way away right now

Beating Minnesota, Iowa and Northwestern consistently and competing with Wisconsin comes first before we even start thinking about beating OSU under Meyer

You both make valid points but both of your points, as different as they may be, both come back to the same thing.

Coaching.

Nebraska was up there talent-wise with every single team they played, inluding that Colorado and Miami team you mention. Miami may have been a bit more talented, but what we lacked in talent, we overcame with coaching.

Here we are in 2015 and I still think we are right up there in talent with even Ohio St. We out talent Minnesota, Iowa, and even Wisconsin, where we have lacked is coaching.

Until now. Riley has displayed an ability to out-coach some highly talented teams and coaches. Now Riley has a talented team at his disposal. I don't know how quickly it all comes together, but I do expect it to happen under these coaches.

Not even close to being true.

Coaching is why we lost to teams like Minnesota. Why we were in dogfights with Iowa and Northwestern. The reason we get trampled by UCLA, Ohio State, Wisconsin, etc. was both talent and coaching. Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, etc. are quite a bit above Nebraska based on talent.

 

[Scratchtown]

So Nebraska is is the same ballpark as Minnesota (who lost to tOSU by 7) and Penn State (who lost by 3 in double OT). So apparently tOSU's universe is somewhere less than three points.

And those games were in October and November so they were well past the "figuring out who they would be without Braxton Miller" by then.

Well, it's still hard to gauge because OSU didn't really become "National Champion" OSU till J.T. Barrett got injured and Cardale Jones became the starter.

Normally most teams would struggle going to their 3rd string QB, but OSU got BETTER. Why? It's not exactly clear but it could be argued that Jones had better leadership skills than Barrett. Some sort of "swagger" that the rest of the team rallied around.

I really think OSU will end up using Cardale as the starter and Braxton will be used in different roles.

 

[True2tRA]

This talent thing is getting a little overblown. Go back to the 1994 season. We played CU who I think most outside of Nebraska would say was more talented than us. They had seven players that year selected in the first three rounds of the NFL draft. However, we easily handled them. We also played a very talented Miami team for the NC. Miami arguably had more talent than we did, yet we beat them. Talent can only take you so far. Then, it's up to coaching and how well the team meshes or plays together.

Ohio State is more talented than we are. However, they are not more talented than Alabama. Yet, they beat Bama. We don't have to be more talented than Ohio State to beat them. We just have to make fewer mistakes and play better ball than they do.

NU was in the same universe talent wise- college football talent with Miami and CUThose games weren't huge mismatches by any stretch

We aren't when it comes to OSU in 2015. When your third team QB is Cardale Jones and you have thoroughbreds at every position- we aren't in the same Universe

While Mike Riley and his staff may be good coaches, they aren't Tom OSborne, Milt Tenopir and Charlie McBride

Regardless of how anyone feels about Urban Meyer, he has won big at every stop and has won multiple National Titles, he is the real deal

NU is a LONG way away right now

Beating Minnesota, Iowa and Northwestern consistently and competing with Wisconsin comes first before we even start thinking about beating OSU under Meyer

You both make valid points but both of your points, as different as they may be, both come back to the same thing.

Coaching.

Nebraska was up there talent-wise with every single team they played, inluding that Colorado and Miami team you mention. Miami may have been a bit more talented, but what we lacked in talent, we overcame with coaching.Here we are in 2015 and I still think we are right up there in talent with even Ohio St. We out talent Minnesota, Iowa, and even Wisconsin, where we have lacked is coaching.

Until now. Riley has displayed an ability to out-coach some highly talented teams and coaches. Now Riley has a talented team at his disposal. I don't know how quickly it all comes together, but I do expect it to happen under these coaches.

Not even close to being true.
Coaching is why we lost to teams like Minnesota. Why we were in dogfights with Iowa and Northwestern. The reason we get trampled by UCLA, Ohio State, Wisconsin, etc. was both talent and coaching. Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, etc. are quite a bit above Nebraska based on talent.

Yea, i guess I meant it as we are closer to second in the league as far as talent in my opinion. We aren't really on the same level as Ohio St. but I don't think we are as far behind as some think. Ohio St. and those other teams you list are more talented than Nebraska although we do have a gew guys on this roster I wouldn't trade for any of theirs. I think those teams you list including Ohio St. out talent us in a very key area though and that's on the offensive lines. If we had an offensive line even close to what thoe teams have, I think this Husker team would begin to look a lot more talented to a lot of people. Sadly I think our offenive line has been the weakest part of our teams for far too long.

 

[Redux]

So Nebraska is is the same ballpark as Minnesota (who lost to tOSU by 7) and Penn State (who lost by 3 in double OT). So apparently tOSU's universe is somewhere less than three points.

And those games were in October and November so they were well past the "figuring out who they would be without Braxton Miller" by then.

Lets see where OSU is in year 4 of the Meyer reignThey've lost just 3 games in 3 years and have filled their stables with top ranked recruiting classes

We saw who they can be when they blew out the second best team in the conference by more than 50, then took it to Oregon and Bama

NU isn't in that type of conversation- unless OSU pulls a Nebraska against Iowa State type deal- the longest of longshots

Would love to see it happen, but they are at a whole different level now

Did the season begin and I missed it?

I would rather gauge our capabilities after I see us play a bit.

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

Since we are debating bleacherreport articles can we now discuss Facebook posts?

 

[Redux]

Since we are debating bleacherreport articles can we now discuss Facebook posts?

Your recent lack of farmville requests is disturbing, are you okay?

My status today will be: I cant even, so over this!

 

[jmfb]

So Nebraska is is the same ballpark as Minnesota (who lost to tOSU by 7) and Penn State (who lost by 3 in double OT). So apparently tOSU's universe is somewhere less than three points.

And those games were in October and November so they were well past the "figuring out who they would be without Braxton Miller" by then.

Well, it's still hard to gauge because OSU didn't really become "National Champion" OSU till J.T. Barrett got injured and Cardale Jones became the starter.

Normally most teams would struggle going to their 3rd string QB, but OSU got BETTER. Why? It's not exactly clear but it could be argued that Jones had better leadership skills than Barrett. Some sort of "swagger" that the rest of the team rallied around.

I really think OSU will end up using Cardale as the starter and Braxton will be used in different roles.

I agree

Meyer is an innovator and comes up with packages that fully exploit the talent he does have

With Miller, Jones and Barrett all at his disposal, he will come up with something to work them all into the mix

Heck when TIm Tebow was a Freshman, they used to run a 1940s SIngle Wing package with him, no one was doing anything like that- then

Meyer put Percy Harvin at QB in several packages

Worked out pretty well for him there

Also- as the season progressed Meyer went away from what he normally does, that is what hurt them some

Usually out of OSU you see a lot of QB centered run games- with Miller he ran QB powers, sweeps, and counters

Then you see a full compliment of Zone reads, power reads and sweep reads

They went away from that quite a bit when the injuries started piling up- you saw no QB powers/sweeps/counters and the sweep read and power read went away almost completely

With 3 healthy and strong QBs- Meyer can be more wreckless- expect to see those plays return

BTW those were all plays TIm Beck liked and believed in- but went away from- some completely gone (QB power/sweep/counter AND Power Read/Sweep Read) once Taylor Martinez started racking up his injuries.

Beck will get his full arsenal of plays back and more- they will Jet Sweep read and something NU did a lot in practice but never ran in games that is a real bear to defend- the true triple- ZOne Read- QB/RB then Bubble/Smoke screen run pass option to the WR or Slot. Lots of teams running it now, OSU will definitely add it this year. Martinez couldn't run it- one of the 3 OSU QBs can.

While Beck isn't the best play caller- he is innovative

With the embarrassment of riches he has at OSU with the stable of QBs- all 3 better than anyone he coached at NU, a great O line, One of the top 3 RBs in College football and a bunch of thoroughbreds at Receiver- those guys are going to score a lot of points

15 returning starters

No early NFL draft guys out

With 14-18 (depends on service) kids coming in as 4-5 star recruits- Meyer always finds a way to get several key Freshmen to contribute right away- these guys are a bridge too far right now, not remotely close

And Meyer doesn't choke in the big games- 8-2 in Bowl games

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

Since we are debating bleacherreport articles can we now discuss Facebook posts?

Your recent lack of farmville requests is disturbing, are you okay?
My status today will be: I cant even, so over this!

Those are the best. Practically a "everyone look at me I have problems" status

 

[Scratchtown]

So Nebraska is is the same ballpark as Minnesota (who lost to tOSU by 7) and Penn State (who lost by 3 in double OT). So apparently tOSU's universe is somewhere less than three points.

And those games were in October and November so they were well past the "figuring out who they would be without Braxton Miller" by then.

Well, it's still hard to gauge because OSU didn't really become "National Champion" OSU till J.T. Barrett got injured and Cardale Jones became the starter.

Normally most teams would struggle going to their 3rd string QB, but OSU got BETTER. Why? It's not exactly clear but it could be argued that Jones had better leadership skills than Barrett. Some sort of "swagger" that the rest of the team rallied around.

I really think OSU will end up using Cardale as the starter and Braxton will be used in different roles.

Meyer is an innovator and comes up with packages that fully exploit the talent he does haveWith Miller, Jones and Barrett all at his disposal, he will come up with something to work them all into the mix

Heck when TIm Tebow was a Freshman, they used to run a 1940s SIngle Wing package with him

Meyer put Percy Harvin at QB in several packages

Worked out pretty well for him there

Also- as the season progressed Meyer went away from what he normally does, that is what hurt them some

Usually out of OSU you see a lot of QB centered run games- with Miller he ran QB powers, sweeps, and counters

Then you see a full compliment of Zone reads, power reads and sweep reads

They went away from that quite a bit when the injuries started piling up- you saw no QB powers/sweeps/counters and the sweep read and power read went away almost completely

With 3 healthy and strong QBs- Meyer can be more wreckless- expect to see those plays return

BTW those were all plays TIm Beck liked and believed in- but went away from- some completely gone (QB power/sweep/counter AND Power Read/Sweep Read) once Taylor Martinez started racking up his injuries.

Beck will get his full arsenal of plays back and more- they will Jet Sweep read and something NU did a lot in practice but never ran in games that is a real bear to defend- the true triple- ZOne Read- QB/RB then Bubble/Smoke screen run pass option to the WR or Slot. Lots of teams running it now, OSU will definitely add it this year. Martinez couldn't run it- one of the 3 OSU QBs can.

While Beck isn't the best play caller- he is innovative

With the embarrassment of riches he has at OSU with the stable of QBs- all 3 better than anyone he coached at NU, a great O line, One of the top 3 RBs in College football and a bunch of thoroughbreds at Receiver- those guys are going to score a lot of points

15 returning starters

No early NFL draft guys out

With 14-18 (depends on service) kids coming in as 4-5 star recruits- Meyer always finds a way to get several key Freshmen to contribute right away- these guys are a bridge too far right now, not remotely close

And Meyer doesn't choke in the big games- 8-2 in Bowl games

Great post! I would +1 you but, you see, I can't seem to do that on my phone.

 

[NUinID]

Lots to optimists and lots of Debbie downers in this thread.

Talent wise I would say that NU is by far one of the most talented teams in the league. OSU is ahead of everyone, but Nebraska falls into the next tier as far as talent goes. The thing BP wasn't doing was maximizing his talent. NU is every bit as talented as Wisconsin, MSU and Michigan. Whisky and Sparty get the most out of their players. Michigan didn't and Hoke is gone. BP didn't and he is gone.

Nebraska traditionally has always been an overachieving team. TO always maximized his talent. Rarely was NU as talented as OU in the 70's or 80's but they generally played them tough and won their share of games. That is where they need to get back to being. I think MR can do this, because he has been doing it for years. Now he has even more talent to work with so hopefully he gets more things done.

One thing that almost all great teams have is a game changer at QB. NU hasn't had that since 2001. We got spoiled and lucky we went basically 10 years with game changers at QB. I don't know if TA is that game changer, but I don't see any others on the roster either. Oregon has been great with Mariota because he is that good. Lets see what they do without him. OSU has 3 game changers. It takes a great QB to have a great team.

 

[RunMickeyRun02]

All good points in the article, nothing mind blowing. I was a bit surprised by the kicking thing.

I look at as more individual hurdles to overcome, in mostly the order the article lists them in. I'm not including the kicking thing, I'm not sure it's as big an issue as say, penalties/fumbles/QB play etc. Sure it'd be nice to have a better kicker but the solution to that is rather simple, go get a better kicker. I do think we do have a serious weapons at punter and returner in DPE so in general I'm not as concerned about ST.

I think we'll see improved in penalties and mental mistakes first. I remember a lot of offensive penalties in Callahans first years, but I don't think we'll try to be nearly as complex or shift as much as he did. Still a new system will cause guys to be out of position, two men in motion, jump offside, not expect a hand off thinking it's play action...etc. So it may not happen this year but it will be the first domino to fall I would guess.

QB play would be next. I appreciate all the hard work by our guys and there may be some improvement but at some point you just have to accept guys for what they are, their strengths and weaknesses. Tommy Armstrong will never be Joe Montana, it's not what he's good at. The good news is I think this staff will do a better job at utilizing player strengths instead of just doing things because "dammit that's what we do"...or..."we take what we want". So we may have to wait for Coach Riley to bring in his own guys in.

This last thing that tends to get overlooked and I may get some heat about this, but all things being equal we're to the point where we're in a division with 6 other teams. I realize they aren't world beaters, but we're just one team shy of being in our own Big 8 inside our own conference. Just based on probability you are going to win fewer conference titles with every team you add. Then add to that a championship game on top of that. I would image we would have had a lot fewer conference titles if say, we had to beat Oklahoma twice in the same season to win the Big 8.

 

[BigRedBuster]

This last thing that tends to get overlooked and I may get some heat about this, but all things being equal we're to the point where we're in a division with 6 other teams. I realize they aren't world beaters, but we're just one team shy of being in our own Big 8 inside our own conference. Just based on probability you are going to win fewer conference titles with every team you add. Then add to that a championship game on top of that. I would image we would have had a lot fewer conference titles if say, we had to beat Oklahoma twice in the same season to win the Big 8.

Very good point that gets over looked when comparing now with the "good ol' days".

 

[jsneb83]

So Nebraska is is the same ballpark as Minnesota (who lost to tOSU by 7) and Penn State (who lost by 3 in double OT). So apparently tOSU's universe is somewhere less than three points.

And those games were in October and November so they were well past the "figuring out who they would be without Braxton Miller" by then.

Well, it's still hard to gauge because OSU didn't really become "National Champion" OSU till J.T. Barrett got injured and Cardale Jones became the starter.

Normally most teams would struggle going to their 3rd string QB, but OSU got BETTER. Why? It's not exactly clear but it could be argued that Jones had better leadership skills than Barrett. Some sort of "swagger" that the rest of the team rallied around.

I really think OSU will end up using Cardale as the starter and Braxton will be used in different roles.

Meyer is an innovator and comes up with packages that fully exploit the talent he does haveWith Miller, Jones and Barrett all at his disposal, he will come up with something to work them all into the mix

Heck when TIm Tebow was a Freshman, they used to run a 1940s SIngle Wing package with him

Meyer put Percy Harvin at QB in several packages

Worked out pretty well for him there

Also- as the season progressed Meyer went away from what he normally does, that is what hurt them some

Usually out of OSU you see a lot of QB centered run games- with Miller he ran QB powers, sweeps, and counters

Then you see a full compliment of Zone reads, power reads and sweep reads

They went away from that quite a bit when the injuries started piling up- you saw no QB powers/sweeps/counters and the sweep read and power read went away almost completely

With 3 healthy and strong QBs- Meyer can be more wreckless- expect to see those plays return

BTW those were all plays TIm Beck liked and believed in- but went away from- some completely gone (QB power/sweep/counter AND Power Read/Sweep Read) once Taylor Martinez started racking up his injuries.

Beck will get his full arsenal of plays back and more- they will Jet Sweep read and something NU did a lot in practice but never ran in games that is a real bear to defend- the true triple- ZOne Read- QB/RB then Bubble/Smoke screen run pass option to the WR or Slot. Lots of teams running it now, OSU will definitely add it this year. Martinez couldn't run it- one of the 3 OSU QBs can.

While Beck isn't the best play caller- he is innovative

With the embarrassment of riches he has at OSU with the stable of QBs- all 3 better than anyone he coached at NU, a great O line, One of the top 3 RBs in College football and a bunch of thoroughbreds at Receiver- those guys are going to score a lot of points

15 returning starters

No early NFL draft guys out

With 14-18 (depends on service) kids coming in as 4-5 star recruits- Meyer always finds a way to get several key Freshmen to contribute right away- these guys are a bridge too far right now, not remotely close

And Meyer doesn't choke in the big games- 8-2 in Bowl games

Great post! I would +1 you but, you see, I can't seem to do that on my phone.

You can if you scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit "Full Version"

 

[BigRedBuster]

So Nebraska is is the same ballpark as Minnesota (who lost to tOSU by 7) and Penn State (who lost by 3 in double OT). So apparently tOSU's universe is somewhere less than three points.

And those games were in October and November so they were well past the "figuring out who they would be without Braxton Miller" by then.

Well, it's still hard to gauge because OSU didn't really become "National Champion" OSU till J.T. Barrett got injured and Cardale Jones became the starter.

Normally most teams would struggle going to their 3rd string QB, but OSU got BETTER. Why? It's not exactly clear but it could be argued that Jones had better leadership skills than Barrett. Some sort of "swagger" that the rest of the team rallied around.

I really think OSU will end up using Cardale as the starter and Braxton will be used in different roles.

I agree

Meyer is an innovator and comes up with packages that fully exploit the talent he does have

With Miller, Jones and Barrett all at his disposal, he will come up with something to work them all into the mix

Heck when TIm Tebow was a Freshman, they used to run a 1940s SIngle Wing package with him, no one was doing anything like that- then

Meyer put Percy Harvin at QB in several packages

Worked out pretty well for him there

Also- as the season progressed Meyer went away from what he normally does, that is what hurt them some

Usually out of OSU you see a lot of QB centered run games- with Miller he ran QB powers, sweeps, and counters

Then you see a full compliment of Zone reads, power reads and sweep reads

They went away from that quite a bit when the injuries started piling up- you saw no QB powers/sweeps/counters and the sweep read and power read went away almost completely

With 3 healthy and strong QBs- Meyer can be more wreckless- expect to see those plays return

BTW those were all plays TIm Beck liked and believed in- but went away from- some completely gone (QB power/sweep/counter AND Power Read/Sweep Read) once Taylor Martinez started racking up his injuries.

Beck will get his full arsenal of plays back and more- they will Jet Sweep read and something NU did a lot in practice but never ran in games that is a real bear to defend- the true triple- ZOne Read- QB/RB then Bubble/Smoke screen run pass option to the WR or Slot. Lots of teams running it now, OSU will definitely add it this year. Martinez couldn't run it- one of the 3 OSU QBs can.

While Beck isn't the best play caller- he is innovative

With the embarrassment of riches he has at OSU with the stable of QBs- all 3 better than anyone he coached at NU, a great O line, One of the top 3 RBs in College football and a bunch of thoroughbreds at Receiver- those guys are going to score a lot of points

15 returning starters

No early NFL draft guys out

With 14-18 (depends on service) kids coming in as 4-5 star recruits- Meyer always finds a way to get several key Freshmen to contribute right away- these guys are a bridge too far right now, not remotely close

And Meyer doesn't choke in the big games- 8-2 in Bowl games

Sounds like an offense that doesn't have an identity.

 

[NUinID]

This last thing that tends to get overlooked and I may get some heat about this, but all things being equal we're to the point where we're in a division with 6 other teams. I realize they aren't world beaters, but we're just one team shy of being in our own Big 8 inside our own conference. Just based on probability you are going to win fewer conference titles with every team you add. Then add to that a championship game on top of that. I would image we would have had a lot fewer conference titles if say, we had to beat Oklahoma twice in the same season to win the Big 8.

Very good point that gets over looked when comparing now with the "good ol' days".

It is a point that is very often lost on the modern day Husker fan. TO fielded some very good teams, but most years he had 1 solid OOC opponent plus OU to beat. The rest of the big 8 took turns going from being OK to be down right awful. Even when their was a second team in the Big 8 that had a good record they still usually got their butt kicked by OU and NU. They were just head and shoulders above every other team. The same was true in the Big 10 with Michigan and OSU.