How do we turn it around

Most of the best players on the team are redshirt sophomores and younger, they need another year or two and the 2-deep will be developed throughout the program. That doesn’t explain the losses, but the young talent we have is very promising.
 

Do we think Nebraska is a turnkey school where a coach shows up, wins right away and solves our problems? Or does a coach actually need 4-5 years to get his guys through the program?
 

We definitely shouldn’t be this bad and the coaching staff is at fault. In regard to yesterday, I think it was a team that bought into themselves, came out flat, and is not good enough to recover from mistakes - especially when the defense lays an egg like that. The defense will win games, but the offense is losing us more games. 
 

The lack of production at QB is glaring, as we see it’s not only an individual fault and more about identity issues. Our WRs need to get into the game. While they don’t have the most talent, they haven’t been utilized. They need to stretch the field, one play in particular could have been a house call if Luke saw Betts with 3-yards separation.

 
Stumpy1 said:
Bama scored 2 TDs yesterday out of the I.  Clemson, ND and Georgia have ran out of it this year.  A majority of the teams use it for short yardage and goal line offenses.  Again,  it doesn't need to be our sole offense but we do/should have it as a part of our plan.

We ran it a couple times against OSU and haven't seen it since.  That isn't exactly being a part of our game. 
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And Austin specifically said as the "new" run game coordinator (haha) we would see some old school as a staple....I was really hoping we would...But nope...

 
I'm also gonna go against the grain and say Nebraska needs to recruit a passing quarterback. They're all over the place. It's what makes them a quarterback. If they see open field and want to hook slide or angle to the chains for a first down, they will, but they don't consider themselves dual threat quarterback and neither do we. They see the field better, they hit open receivers, check down to secondary receivers and even lead them in stride. 

Then do you know what happens? The quarterback hands the ball off to his running backs. A lot. The opponent who stacked the box and dared you to beat them with your arm just lost that gamble.  Now you call whatever game you want. You don't pass more than you run. You just pass a lot better. It's what all the cool teams are doing. 

A better passer is the running game's best friend.  

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
None of Nebraska's turn-overs, penalties, missed tackles and assignments has to do with the complexities of the system they're being asked to play. The "system" is football, and almost every other team is doing it better than Nebraska. It's still about desire and discipline, which includes not accepting defeat when thing turn south in the second quarter, firing up yourself and your teammates on the sideline, and if you're a coach it means helping young men get their head in the game and making halftime adjustments so they don't simply repeat and get used to their failures. Some of that is adjusting your system and drilling in on technique, but there's got to be a joy of the game and a serious thirst for winning. We're just not seeing that. Also, we may not be seeing players who are losing faith in the program. That can be a real cancer. 

Let's start by aspiring to be Illinois, a low-tier team with qb problems that came in to an opponent's house, played motivated football for all four quarters, and joyously celebrated a rout of a supposedly better team. 
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Or IU in year 4....down 28 at the Shoe and lost to OSU by 7...That's a team that has bought in, has a scheme and identity and knows who/what they are...

We are simply not good at any of the fundamentals that make a good team...Blocking, tackling, running or throwing the ball.....We have no identity. No bread and butter plays....At UCF the defense was their offense.  They could score at will "chunk" plays......The D could be aggressive, go all out for the TO's knowing if the other team scored 50, their O could score 51.  Not going to happen in the B1G.  Too many good coaches.  Too many fast, big and ATHLETIC guys.  Too many "dudes" on both sides of the ball.  

We are in the dangerous area of poor coaching/scheme coupled with a mistake prone snake bit team...I have no idea how to "force" the guys to be more disciplined.  not make penalties or miss tackles.  Maybe let guys like Farmer and Newsom start.  

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
I'm also gonna go against the grain and say Nebraska needs to recruit a passing quarterback. They're all over the place. It's what makes them a quarterback. If they see open field and want to hook slide or angle to the chains for a first down, they will, but they don't consider themselves dual threat quarterback and neither do we. They see the field better, they hit open receivers, check down to secondary receivers and even lead them in stride. 

Then do you know what happens? The quarterback hands the ball off to his running backs. A lot. The opponent who stacked the box and dared you to beat them with your arm just lost that gamble.  Now you call whatever game you want. You don't pass more than you run. You just pass a lot better. It's what all the cool teams are doing. 

A better passer is the running game's best friend.  
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This would fix a lot of our offensive issues.   

 
Savage Husker said:
The lack of production at QB is glaring, as we see it’s not only an individual fault and more about identity issues. Our WRs need to get into the game. While they don’t have the most talent, they haven’t been utilized. They need to stretch the field, one play in particular could have been a house call if Luke saw Betts with 3-yards separation.
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The horizontal camera shots in play-by-play football rarely show it, but when they swing to the vertical cams you can see receivers getting great separation, pleading for the ball, then hanging their heads when our quarterback forces the ball to a much closer and better covered primary receiver.  The announcers occasionally point this out, and apparently they see it as an ongoing problem for both quarterbacks. Hence my post about preferring a pass-savvy quarterback. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
The horizontal camera shots in play-by-play football rarely show it, but when they swing to the vertical cams you can see receivers getting great separation, pleading for the ball, then hanging their heads when our quarterback forces the ball to a much closer and better covered primary receiver.  The announcers occasionally point this out, and apparently they see it as an ongoing problem for both quarterbacks. Hence my post about preferring a pass-savvy quarterback. 
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Yup.
 

We can win now with Adrian or Luke, but there is better out there. Ideally, I’d like to see Smothers be good enough to take over and shift Luke elsewhere, he’s a stud in open field. 

 
When NU can not throw the ball down the field defenses can consolidate their focus and shut the NU offense down every time. When NU plays soft coverage opposing teams in the Big Ten have the skill sets to take advantage of it every time. NU is not my team, but from an outsiders perspective you need new coaches. Big Ten coaches are super skilled and experienced. NU coaches are Division 2 at the best. Northwestern is the best example. Their players are not nearly as athletic as Nebraska, yet they find a way to win through coaching. I feel bad for NU fans and their culture. I miss the days when NU was a real contender and fun to watch. Problem is you can not keep changing the head coach so Frost needs to stay. My first move would be to ditch the defensive coordinator. That guy has never ever had a top defense, not even close. There is no hope for him.  Then I would evaluate year by year. To be honest, I think husker fans have a few more years before things get to where they need to be. Good luck going forward.

 
I wonder about Coach V. Don’t forget A-Mart was nearly 65 percent passing his freshman year. You have to wonder if Coach V put some negative thoughts into A-Mart’s head. Of course I don’t know, but it makes me wonder. 

 
Has anyone had any access to know if smothers is a runner who can sort of throw like Luke and Adrian. Or is he an athletic true QB? Seriously we are gonna go 1-6 this year so should we try smothers? 

 
Huskers93-97 said:
Has anyone had any access to know if smothers is a runner who can sort of throw like Luke and Adrian. Or is he an athletic true QB? Seriously we are gonna go 1-6 this year so should we try smothers? 
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Per an article from the Journal Star ref his SR year.

Season stats: Smothers has completed 73 percent of his passes for 1,958 yards and 26 touchdowns. He’s added 12 rushing touchdowns and is averaging 8.3 yards per carry. He often didn’t play much in the second half because the team was leading by a wide margin.

AM stats JR year of HS

Martinez missed his senior season because of an injury but shined during his junior year, completing 220-of-366 passes for 2,562 yards and 25 touchdowns, with just four interceptions. On the ground, Martinez ran for 1,462 yards and 14 touchdowns.

I'm throwing this on Verduzco.....AM has gotten worse every year. Went from fast blinker to burned out bulb. Kid didn't forget how to play the game.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
The horizontal camera shots in play-by-play football rarely show it, but when they swing to the vertical cams you can see receivers getting great separation, pleading for the ball, then hanging their heads when our quarterback forces the ball to a much closer and better covered primary receiver.  The announcers occasionally point this out, and apparently they see it as an ongoing problem for both quarterbacks. Hence my post about preferring a pass-savvy quarterback. 
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*"Run the Damn Ball Guy" has entered the chat*

 
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