What did we learn Illinois edition

Just re-watched. The most egregious bad officiating was on Illinois 4th & 1 at Neb 38 w 3:56 left in the 3rd. Sherman clearly has #6’s forward progress stopped at the line of scrimmage and whistles are blown. 6 then lunges forward and Sherman tries to rip the ball and gets PF for punching. The play was reviewed and “stands” was called. Clear evidence in the review.  Sherman’s arm around 6 after the whistle.  Official in background.

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VedderHusker said:
Just re-watched. The most egregious bad officiating was on Illinois 4th & 1 at Neb 38 w 3:56 left in the 3rd. Sherman clearly has #6’s forward progress stopped at the line of scrimmage and whistles are blown. 6 then lunges forward and Sherman tries to rip the ball and gets PF for punching. The play was reviewed and “stands” was called. Clear evidence in the review.  Sherman’s arm around 6 after the whistle.  Official in background.

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He may have stopped him but he was definitely punching at him after the whistle.  He punched him twice.  Only MJ knows if he was punching at the ball or not. 

 
Dr. Strangelove said:
I don't disagree, it was a play that worked. But the problem with passing plays to non-traditional pass catchers is that the play working in execution may not be good enough. The throw is to a non play making player, the timing of the throw is a little different than the thousands of practice throws to play makers. It's all just a little... off in timing. It's a hard play to make work.

Now, if Nebraska had a FG kicker who you trust and can rely on, then sure. I wouldn't have a problem with the play because you can always have 3 points in your back pocket. But Nebraska does not have a reliable FG kicker you can trot out there if the play does not work. And if Satterfield thought his FG kicker was reliable and that was a valid reason to call his 3rd down play, well, he's worse than I thought. And if he dialed up the 3rd down play, despite his Running Back averaging 4.0 ypc that drive, knowing he has a bad FG kicker he'd have to trot out there if it doesn't work, well than that is even WORSE than all the other scenarios.

Satterfield is really bad at understanding the time and situation of football. He blew multiple games this year by overthinking things, and he blew the end of the game against Illinois. That being said, the defense was so atrocious it should've never been in that situation to begin with.
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You lost me here in the bold.  Illinois came out stacking the box, again. If I’m calling the plays and I have no confidence in my kicker, y am I calling a running play that has been a struggle all night just to let my kicker who I don’t trust bail us out? The play call was fine, literally it couldn’t have been executed better up until the throw. if u have zero confidence in your kicker, which we clearly don’t, you go for the win

too many of your are zeroing in on this play. What about our defense being a house of cards in the run game? I heard all off-season how the secondary has a couple nfl guys on the roster- where was this defense in our first conf game?  Where is our running game in general? We couldn’t run at all all night and many of you are complaining we didn’t try and run it one more time lol. Imagine if we did call a run play and get stuffed- you all would be complaining non stop about “we have a 5 star qb” “we weren’t getting a push on the line all night how dare they run”. 

 
gossamorharpy said:
You lost me here in the bold.  Illinois came out stacking the box, again. If I’m calling the plays and I have no confidence in my kicker, y am I calling a running play that has been a struggle all night just to let my kicker who I don’t trust bail us out? The play call was fine, literally it couldn’t have been executed better up until the throw. if u have zero confidence in your kicker, which we clearly don’t, you go for the win

too many of your are zeroing in on this play. What about our defense being a house of cards in the run game? I heard all off-season how the secondary has a couple nfl guys on the roster- where was this defense in our first conf game?  Where is our running game in general? We couldn’t run at all all night and many of you are complaining we didn’t try and run it one more time lol. Imagine if we did call a run play and get stuffed- you all would be complaining non stop about “we have a 5 star qb” “we weren’t getting a push on the line all night how dare they run”. 
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HIGHLIGHTED - you keep saying it but the stats say different in my opinion.

Dante Dowdell      20/74       3.6

RahmirJohnson     4/17       4.2

Isaiah Neyor           1/13      13.0

 
twofittyonred said:
HIGHLIGHTED - you keep saying it but the stats say different in my opinion.

Dante Dowdell      20/74       3.6

RahmirJohnson     4/17       4.2

Isaiah Neyor           1/13      13.0
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Exactly. On that drive alone, Dowdell had running plays of 5, 7, 4, and 2 yards. The OL was getting decent push on that drive. The worst running play was -2, but that was because Dowdell tried to stretch the play outside instead of taking 3 yards between the tackles. The OL pushed Illinois 2 yards off the LOS on that play. 

But the real issue with that game was the defense, especially in the secondary. They were terrible. 

 
twofittyonred said:
HIGHLIGHTED - you keep saying it but the stats say different in my opinion.

Dante Dowdell      20/74       3.6

RahmirJohnson     4/17       4.2

Isaiah Neyor           1/13      13.0
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Definitely could have been better, but I've seen worse stat lines. Defense was the key problem as Dr. Strangelove noted. The offense played generally well enough to win. The defense did not.

 
twofittyonred said:
HIGHLIGHTED - you keep saying it but the stats say different in my opinion.

Dante Dowdell      20/74       3.6

RahmirJohnson     4/17       4.2

Isaiah Neyor           1/13      13.0
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Great- so the 2 running backs averaged 3.79 yards per carry, thats not a great average yards per carry lol.  Right now Iowa is averaging 5.95, Indiana is averaging 5.74, and Michigan is averaging 5.57 yards per carry this year for a point of reference as to what the top running teams are putting up in the big10...

To add to things, our OL was dinged up- so despite the stats saying we weren't rushing great, the eye test showing a struggling running attack and being a couple guys down- we should've just ran the ball again in a short field scenario against a stacked box?  

 
Our inability to punch the ball in on short yardage situations in the run game - whether it be due to not executing or because Satterfield didn't want that play - was really the punchline for me in this one.

Inb4 the "everything is hypothetical" comments.

We had 2nd & goal from their 2.75 yard line in the first half. I would want to believe our team is in a place in year 2 with an experienced offensive line and experienced backs where that's a run play we execute and either get the score or get it again on the run on 3rd down. But we call a fade. Yes, I know it was probably pass interference.

3rd & 3 with the game tied on the opponent's 21 with 3:10 left in the game. You pick it up with the run there either with one or two tries and your odds of winning the game (where your opponent only has two timeouts left) skyrocket. Yes, I understand it doesn't matter whether you convert it with the run or in the air but the point is that the run is probably the higher percentage option.

I'm not complaining about play calling, I'm just saying that we failed to win the game with short yardage running, in my opinion.

 
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Undone said:
Our inability to punch the ball in on short yardage situations in the run game - whether it be due to not executing or because Satterfield didn't want that play - was really the punchline for me in this one.

Inb4 the "everything is hypothetical" comments.

We had 2nd & goal from their 2.75 yard line in the first half. I would want to believe our team is in a place in year 2 with an experienced offensive line and experienced backs where that's a run play we execute and either get the score or get it again on the run on 3rd down. But we call a fade. Yes, I know it was probably pass interference.

3rd & 3 with the game tied on the opponent's 21 with 3:10 left in the game. You pick it up with the run there either with one or two tries and your odds of winning the game (where your opponent only has two timeouts left) skyrocket. Yes, I understand it doesn't matter whether you convert it with the run or in the air but the point is that the run is probably the higher percentage option.

I'm not complaining about play calling, I'm just saying that we failed to win the game with short yardage running, in my opinion.
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I just think that Satt tries to be too cute and be the smartest person in the room.  Here are some career stats for his offenses in the past.  Run the damn ball.  Eat the clock.   Win the game.  We are not delivering body blows in the 4th.  Dude is not going to get it done at NU.

OFFENSIVE RANK

2013- 76
2014- 120
2015- 96
2021 107
2022- 75
2023- 110

Other stats by category

2013 Temple: 88th PPG, 75th YPG, 90 turnovers per game

2014 Temple: 100th PPG, 120th YPG, 123rd TOPG

2015 Temple: 61st PPG, 96th YPG, 46th TOPG

2021 USC: 106th PPG, 110th YPG, 109th TOPG

2022 USC: 40th PPG, 72nd YPG, 123rd TOPG

2023 Nebraska: 116th PPG, 104th YPG, 132nd TOPG

And he is in a group of the 7 highest paid OC's at $1.4 million.  Dude is robbing NU.  He is the weakest link.

 
@lo country: I had zero complaints about what we did on offense in the first three games - including in the second half against Colorado.

Taking out the garbage sack yardage in overtime, we put up around 380 yards of offense against a decent defense. We attacked in the end zone and the red zone more than Illinois did.

But the inability to punch it in with short yardage running was really the biggest problem on offense in that one for me. The passing game moved the chains pretty much all night, no complaints there.

 
lo country said:
I just think that Satt tries to be too cute and be the smartest person in the room.  Here are some career stats for his offenses in the past.  Run the damn ball.  Eat the clock.   Win the game.  We are not delivering body blows in the 4th.  Dude is not going to get it done at NU.

OFFENSIVE RANK

2013- 76
2014- 120
2015- 96
2021 107
2022- 75
2023- 110

Other stats by category

2013 Temple: 88th PPG, 75th YPG, 90 turnovers per game

2014 Temple: 100th PPG, 120th YPG, 123rd TOPG

2015 Temple: 61st PPG, 96th YPG, 46th TOPG

2021 USC: 106th PPG, 110th YPG, 109th TOPG

2022 USC: 40th PPG, 72nd YPG, 123rd TOPG

2023 Nebraska: 116th PPG, 104th YPG, 132nd TOPG

And he is in a group of the 7 highest paid OC's at $1.4 million.  Dude is robbing NU.  He is the weakest link.
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It's hard to argue with those stats.. That said, I have liked a lot of what we have done on offense over the first 4 games.  The one area I wish we were better at appears to be one of his historical weaknesses (imo)- commitment to running the football with success.  He is historically a pass first OC and I don't see that changing anytime soon with DR under center.       

 
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