What did we learn Indiana edition

JJ Husker said:
Maybe I’m goofy but what I learned is that Nebraska, and damn few other teams, were going to beat Indiana on this day. I don’t see how this was a coaching issue. We got our a$$ kicked plain and simple. I will give you that it appears we could’ve had a better offensive game plan and that Satterfield is suspect but Indiana played lights out and we were just ho hum (if even that).
 

Those back shoulder throws to the sidelines were mostly defended as well as a corner can. Perfect throws and an excellent receiver. Raiola had a poor game. It was bound to happen, he is a true freshman. His footwork does not appear to be where it needs to be yet. I can see where it looks like coaching but what I saw was a team simply overmatched talent wise. I can’t think of a thing we could’ve tried that would have fared any better.

I’m not convinced that what we saw signals a regression or is any proof the coaching staff is miserably failing. What I think happened is that some people felt we were coming along better than we actually are based on a few victories over some cupcakes and we ran into a real team on Saturday.

I also don’t buy the story that “if Indiana can turn it around” then why haven’t we, yet. It’s different circumstances and what Cignetti has done with Indiana is not indicative of anything Rhule has or hasn’t done yet at Nebraska. That was basically a 4th year JMU team that has had the same coaching for 4 years. Sure it’s frustrating after 20+ years but what I’ve been seeing here is frustrated takes and not anything very applicable to Nebraska’s current situation. We’ve improved in some areas, fewer than we all would like. We don’t have the horses yet to compete with some teams. And we have some glaring deficiencies, still. For example, if we could kick (and make) a simple FG, maybe the whole mojo of the game changes a bit, we put up a few more points and they put up a few less.  :dunno
 

I don’t know, I’m not ready to burn it all down and start over….yet. But yeah, that game sucked and was a bit of a surprise.
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I think this is pretty good except one thing.  Indiana is not world beaters.  I think we are going to be more pissed when they end up losing to Purdue or Michigan St.  There were some great throws where the coverage was pretty solid.

That being said, we got little pressure on the QB.  They were releasing the ball pretty quickly.

I think it's fair that this may not be good for a full assessment of our program, but it's definitely not good.  I just hope we see something different.  Saturday was embarassing.

 
gobiggergoredder said:
I think this is pretty good except one thing.  Indiana is not world beaters.  I think we are going to be more pissed when they end up losing to Purdue or Michigan St.  There were some great throws where the coverage was pretty solid.

That being said, we got little pressure on the QB.  They were releasing the ball pretty quickly.

I think it's fair that this may not be good for a full assessment of our program, but it's definitely not good.  I just hope we see something different.  Saturday was embarassing.
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I'm not going to say this is going to happen, given the landscape of CFB this year, but this would require their Starting QB and several others on offense to be out. (which might be the case for a bit)  If Indiana is full strength.  The buckeyes will be their toughest test and that will be a hell of a game.

 
gobiggergoredder said:
I think this is pretty good except one thing.  Indiana is not world beaters.  I think we are going to be more pissed when they end up losing to Purdue or Michigan St.  There were some great throws where the coverage was pretty solid.

That being said, we got little pressure on the QB.  They were releasing the ball pretty quickly.

I think it's fair that this may not be good for a full assessment of our program, but it's definitely not good.  I just hope we see something different.  Saturday was embarassing.
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Yeah I don’t claim they are world beaters. Although they were close to it on this given Saturday. And they aren’t going to lose to Purdue or Mich St. so not worried about that pissing anybody off.  We were off and had a very bad game and they were on and played probably as well as possible. Ran into a buzzsaw unprepared, it happens. That’s my take anyway.

 
Vince R. said:
I have watched enough to know that there is one issue that spans multiple regimes and thousands of players and it's that there is a serious psychological/emotional demon in that locker room. If things do not start well, and the game is 14-7, it's over. It is not coaching or talent, it is a passed on trait from past to current players. This is also a program where playing football is just not fun. Big moments are just too heavy and too draining with this psyche. 

This program is the only one that is constantly pressed against its glorious past where guys cannot play freely or just enjoy it. Instead, every game is the "shoe drop game" and I now understand why Rhule gets swirly about "fighting for Nebraska". His players struggle to fight for themselves because they too believe in the doubts. I think they went into that game insecure and once Indiana scored, they succumbed to it. They didn't quit but they didn't have confidence. 

Are there issues like development, play design, play calls, etc? Yes. But this team struggles to remain competitive if things don't go their way early and that's on the players. 
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Maybe the top tier fan support plays into it in some sort of paradoxical way.  Like playing to not  disappoint the fan base instead of focusing on what they've been coached to do or perhaps feeling a need to win in order to keep the sell out streak going, etc.    I do think there has definitely been a coaching/talent issue the past 15+ years, though.  Mainly coaching IMO.  How many current NFL starters are former Huskers?  I have no Idea, but I can only think of 3 or 4 of the top of my head.  And I'd wager we are lagging the average Power 4/5 program in that area.

 
Decoy73 said:
Maybe the top tier fan support plays into it in some sort of paradoxical way.  Like playing to not  disappoint the fan base instead of focusing on what they've been coached to do or perhaps feeling a need to win in order to keep the sell out streak going, etc.    I do think there has definitely been a coaching/talent issue the past 15+ years, though.  Mainly coaching IMO.  How many current NFL starters are former Huskers?  I have no Idea, but I can only think of 3 or 4 of the top of my head.  And I'd wager we are lagging the average Power 4/5 program in that area.
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Our talent to the league has been dismal and is a major explanation for the s#!t show we’ve had to endure. In particular, the lack of talent we’re sending on the o line has been the biggest challenge imo

 
Huskers93-97 said:
No I bet he means actually watch a game and you can see the difference. It doesn’t look pathetic like our rushing attack. Being similar in yards means next to nothing if they are say passing for 350 a game. It just means they run less but are much more effective when they do. They just choose to pass more because they are great at that. 
 

we are not good at either so the run means more to us. They can run when they need to and want to. For example they run punch it in from the 2 yard line against a top 5 team.
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Thanks, yeah I guess that is more inline of what @Stumpy1 meant.  And he def knows his s#!t too.  I may have taken it too literally by looking at stats, which tells a different story.  

 
Archy1221 said:
Georgia has also played:

Clemson - They only beat terrible ACC teams.  

Kentucky - Georgia beat them by 1 point.  Barely.

Alabama - They're not even a top 15 team in the polls.  And UGA lost.

Auburn - Not bad program for a .500 team, year in and year out

Mississippi State - Worst team in the SEC.  Also Lame.

Texas - Defense carried UGA.  Passing helped too. Nice Win.

With Tennessee Tech thrown in as the easy game - Lame. Of course.
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I get what you are saying, but it's not like UGA is dominating just because they beat Texas.  That was a desperation game for them.  Because one more loss and they will be playing early and on the road in the CFP.  

As for their super powered rushing attack, ok I will give you that when I see it moving forward. 

 
admo said:
I get what you are saying, but it's not like UGA is dominating just because they beat Texas.  That was a desperation game for them.  Because one more loss and they will be playing early and on the road in the CFP.  

As for their super powered rushing attack, ok I will give you that when I see it moving forward. 
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I’m not trying to say Georgia has some super powered rushing attack.     But I am saying one must take a look at the schedule played when trying to compare each teams rushing attack.  
 

Georgia has faced 4 teams ranked in the Top 40 defenses in terms of Rush yards per game and that didn’t even include Alabamas defense. 
 

Nebraska has faced 1 team in the Top 40.  

 
Archy1221 said:
I’m not trying to say Georgia has some super powered rushing attack.     But I am saying one must take a look at the schedule played when trying to compare each teams rushing attack.  
 

Georgia has faced 4 teams ranked in the Top 40 defenses in terms of Rush yards per game and that didn’t even include Alabamas defense. 
 

Nebraska has faced 1 team in the Top 40.  
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Fair enough.  

But yes, I agree with you and others that Nebraska's rushing game has been stinky bad as the season has progressed.  Part of it is the line.  Part of it is the rotation of RBs not getting consistent carries and multiple drives back-to-back.  Part of it comes with obvious short yardage downs that defenses sniff out and stack the box.  I don't think our RB coach is good.  I mean, he's not even trying to run Gabe Irvin who is healthy and completely cleared to get carries.

 
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I don't have earbuds in to hear it, but just watching - that's a pick/rub route.  It should not be legal, but a technicality says it is legal as long as the pass is completed behind the LOS.  It's a cheat code.  Maybe it would benefit the Huskers to use a clear-out route / play like that.  They also scored on a similar play.  Defensively, DC Tony White should have noticed this in film study and been prepared to defend that.

 
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JJ Husker said:
Maybe I’m goofy but what I learned is that Nebraska, and damn few other teams, were going to beat Indiana on this day. I don’t see how this was a coaching issue. We got our a$$ kicked plain and simple. I will give you that it appears we could’ve had a better offensive game plan and that Satterfield is suspect but Indiana played lights out and we were just ho hum (if even that).
 

Those back shoulder throws to the sidelines were mostly defended as well as a corner can. Perfect throws and an excellent receiver. Raiola had a poor game. It was bound to happen, he is a true freshman. His footwork does not appear to be where it needs to be yet. I can see where it looks like coaching but what I saw was a team simply overmatched talent wise. I can’t think of a thing we could’ve tried that would have fared any better.
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I think the thing that supports this the most is that the defense absolutely got their asses handed to them as well.  Yes, there have been questions about Satt since he got here.  But most people seemed to think that White has done a really good job.  Did he just forget how to coach this week - or the past two weeks with that much time to prepare and get guys healthy? 

Or is is more likely that the whole team just played terrible, for whatever reason?

 
I love watching breakdowns like that.   Thanks for sharing.   Goes to coaching the little things like technique and effort when you as the player aren’t getting the ball to help make big plays.   
 

NU doesn’t seem to have that consistent effort and until proven otherwise, I’m going to blame coaching on that. 
 

I’ll have to rewatch a game a check this types of plays out on our offense.  

 
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