What Did We Learn: Miami Edition

[Dagerow]

1. Nate is a beast

2. Westerkamp is a beast

3. Armstrong played well. He never gave up and showed a lot of character. Exactly want I want from him. (And I admit it, I had my doubts about him and how much he would progress with the new coaches. I was wrong on both accounts).

4. We are lucky the Big10 is largely a run based conference.

 

[Street Novelist]

We desperately need to upgrade our talent. It's just not there. Yesterday clearly exposed that. Miami receivers were faster than our dbs. If Daniel Davie is currently our best option, that isn't saying much. This is a guy who would have rode the bench during Nebraska's glory days. He would have been a walk-on, not a starter. We need Miami/California speed covering those wideouts.

Tommy Armstrong is the black Brett Favre. You never know what to expect. One minute he's rolling out making a great throw; the next he's making a costly interception. At this point it is what it is. I don't think we can expect him to drastically improve. Since Reilly keeps playing him I guess he must be our best option. I really hope Reilly can bring in a great qb next season.

I was very surprised to see Reilly called for unsportsmanlike conduct several times. I thought that wasn't going to be a problem. I thought that was one of the reasons for firing Bo.

 

[Landlord]

I was very surprised to see Reilly called for unsportsmanlike conduct several times. I thought that wasn't going to be a problem. I thought that was one of the reasons for firing Bo.

What? This happened? I was watching at a bar and couldn't hear well but I don't remember ever seeing this.

 

[Comish]

I was very surprised to see Reilly called for unsportsmanlike conduct several times. I thought that wasn't going to be a problem. I thought that was one of the reasons for firing Bo.

What? This happened? I was watching at a bar and couldn't hear well but I don't remember ever seeing this.

Reilly wasn't called at all, was he.......?? Or Riley......?? But, Captain 71 was.......

Golden had his moments.....

 

[Jeremy]

Golden was called for UC, not Riley. Riley was totally calm the whole game.

 

[Branno]

i learned that there are way to many husker fans that can't wait for a loss so they can jump on the forum and bash almost anything about the huskers, the coaches, and the administration. some of them seemed like they were almost overjoyed about the loss.

oh well. i will be there again next week cheering on the Huskers and the coaches. win or lose i will be there cheering them on.

I learned that the last two seasons.

 

[Street Novelist]

Golden was called for UC, not Riley. Riley was totally calm the whole game.

I know Golden was called several times. But so was Reilly. I can't be making this up. Maybe it was a sideline penalty and not on Reilly personally.

 

[Saunders]

That crafting your Defense to theoretically stop the run doesn't really matter if every team throws for over 300 yards a game.

To be fair, Kaaya and Taysom Hill are two of the better QB's we see all season. In the Big Ten schedule, stopping the run is usually the priority. Had we been able to stop the run in conference the last five years, we'd probably have one or two conference titles. Illinois and MSU have QB's capable of passing on us, especially Cook at MSU, but aside from that we don't have any pure throwers on the schedule.
Now, theoretically stopping the run is right. It's what we want to do and we are devoting our resources to becoming the team that does just that. Three games into the season it appears the players we have on the roster are not all capable of playing this way, and the ones that are capable do not have a full understanding of the importance of taking the proper angles and positioning themselves.

Is that surprising? It shouldn't be. Three games in, I don't expect it all to be there yet. Honestly still, if we could just be a little more effective with our front four, it would work miracles for us. The fact that we lack a presence at DE, and that Maliek Collins has not been the impact player we felt he would be, has made the growing pains only that much tougher.

I agree. On top of that, Banker can't scheme a run first defense against a pass first offense and think we're going to shut down mobile/effective passing teams. If someone can teach me the philosophy on our game plan yesterday, please do so, because it doesn't make sense to me.

The gameplan was to have the LB's cover slot WR's with no safety help, telegraph blitzes, and ensure that we had no safety to help on the deep bailout throws on those blitzes, and it killed us.

 

[Igetbored216]

Golden was called for UC, not Riley. Riley was totally calm the whole game.

I know Golden was called several times. But so was Reilly. I can't be making this up. Maybe it was a sideline penalty and not on Reilly personally.

Reilly is a WR. Riley is the head coach, and he was never called for a penalty. Golden was two or three times.

 

[cornographic]

Maybe it's because the Pope's in town or something, but I just can't get over the spirit of generosity displayed by both NU and The U yesterday. I mean, each seemed quite willing to give away the game to the other, and, you know, I think that's, as DJ Trump would say, "really really nice!"

The 1st couple qtrs or so, NU just couldn't get out of the giving spirit and then it was Miami's turn for a bit, and I mean, they innovated some very creative ways too. Just when you thought The U might have a change of heart and deliver the knock out punch, they decided to get back to the giving--like their final comedy of errors on our 1 yd line, which ended up in a pick by us, if I recall correctly I just have to say "thank you U, thank you".

But then, midway thru the 4th, NU decided that maybe receiving is better than giving--fans prefer it by far--and started playing like they actually wanted to win the game. And they damn near did it and I give them a ton of credit for the moxy they displayed in the comeback and DAGNABBIT IT JUST SHOULD'NA ENDED THAT WAY!

I feel bad for Tommy, in particular, the guy is a gamer and just never gives up. The team never gives up, even when I did. And that is why I just kept watching, figuring The U--as per their character--would systematically go sloppy and complacent, er I mean, get into the giving spirit, and maybe, just maybe we might get back in this thing. The comeback was amazing, courageous, and I'm extremely glad we have a level headed guy like Riley on the sidelines keeping thing's on an even keel.

The good news: we are still in the playoff hunt, just ask Al Abama, USC, BYU, AUB, etc. Does anyone think the NChamp will be undefeated this year? I don't. I think the NChamp will have at least 2 losses. All we have to win out and we're 'N', wooohooo! . Why not(?), the Pope is in town and there is the spirit of giving....

(p.s., Alex Lewis should be suspended for a game or 2 and given a heart to heart until he vows not to be good for 2,3,4 penalties per game, whether they be for motion, holding, or personal fouls. The guy clearly has the wrong attitude out there, has since he's gotten here, and that's got to stop. He's hurting the team.)

 

[alwayshusking]

This is a bit more of a rebuild than I was hoping for.

A .700 winning percentage isn't a rebuild.

Unfortunately it is when you fire a coach a year too late. Would have liked the first year of a new coach have Ameer and Randy to play with. The talent level in the program is too low and one of our difference makers has been out the 1st three weeks (DPE).

Plus we could still finish with a 9-4 record this year if that's all you want. I want more though, but I'm going to have to wait for it.

 

[TheSker]

This is a bit more of a rebuild than I was hoping for.

A .700 winning percentage isn't a rebuild.

Unfortunately it is when you fire a coach a year too late. Would have liked the first year of a new coach have Ameer and Randy to play with. The talent level in the program is too low and one of our difference makers has been out the 1st three weeks (DPE).

Plus we could still finish with a 9-4 record this year if that's all you want. I want more though, but I'm going to have to wait for it.

Gregory could have chosen to return.

It's still not a rebuild.

Unfortunately.

 

[Danny Bateman]

This is a bit more of a rebuild than I was hoping for.

A .700 winning percentage isn't a rebuild.

Unfortunately it is when you fire a coach a year too late. Would have liked the first year of a new coach have Ameer and Randy to play with. The talent level in the program is too low and one of our difference makers has been out the 1st three weeks (DPE).

Plus we could still finish with a 9-4 record this year if that's all you want. I want more though, but I'm going to have to wait for it.

Gregory could have chosen to return.

It's still not a rebuild.

Unfortunately.

Lol. Yeah. A projected top 10 pick (before his stock fell) is gonna choose to come back to NU after the coach who recruited him was unceremoniously let go.

 

[True2tRA]

To be fair, Kaaya and Taysom Hill are two of the better QB's we see all season. In the Big Ten schedule, stopping the run is usually the priority.

Sure, but the way our secondary is positioned on a lot of those passing plays, Joel Stave will have just as much success as Kayaa or Hill often enough. It'd be different if it was like 2012 Georgia where our secondary played really well and just got beat on near undefendable balls, but with things as they currently are, mediocre QB's will be able to have similar success as great ones with the cushion available to receivers.

That crafting your Defense to theoretically stop the run doesn't really matter if every team throws for over 300 yards a game.

To be fair, Kaaya and Taysom Hill are two of the better QB's we see all season. In the Big Ten schedule, stopping the run is usually the priority. Had we been able to stop the run in conference the last five years, we'd probably have one or two conference titles. Illinois and MSU have QB's capable of passing on us, especially Cook at MSU, but aside from that we don't have any pure throwers on the schedule.
Now, theoretically stopping the run is right. It's what we want to do and we are devoting our resources to becoming the team that does just that. Three games into the season it appears the players we have on the roster are not all capable of playing this way, and the ones that are capable do not have a full understanding of the importance of taking the proper angles and positioning themselves.

Is that surprising? It shouldn't be. Three games in, I don't expect it all to be there yet. Honestly still, if we could just be a little more effective with our front four, it would work miracles for us. The fact that we lack a presence at DE, and that Maliek Collins has not been the impact player we felt he would be, has made the growing pains only that much tougher.

I agree. On top of that, Banker can't scheme a run first defense against a pass first offense and think we're going to shut down mobile/effective passing teams. If someone can teach me the philosophy on our game plan yesterday, please do so, because it doesn't make sense to me.

The gameplan was to have the LB's cover slot WR's with no safety help, telegraph blitzes, and ensure that we had no safety to help on the deep bailout throws on those blitzes, and it killed us.

Some of the coverages are a bit baffling. I agree that you can't expect a LB'er to cover those receivers all the time, but some of the time, that is how it's drawn up. What you're discounting is that when those LB'ers are in coverage, it's usually not supposed to be for very long. It's usually in pressure situations and the QB isn't supposed to have all day to throw the ball. We are giving opposing QB's way too much time, IMO.

Telegraphing blitzes is another thing we are doing.

Like I said guys, all the things you Saunders and LOMS are mentioning are mostly execution things, so what I can't understand is why 3 games into the season, people are expecting stellar execution of a new scheme, when we clearly don't have the horses to run some of this stuff.

 

[Danny Bateman]

Some of the coverages are a bit baffling. I agree that you can't expect a LB'er to cover those receivers all the time, but some of the time, that is how it's drawn up. What you're discounting is that when those LB'ers are in coverage, it's usually not supposed to be for very long. It's usually in pressure situations and the QB isn't supposed to have all day to throw the ball. We are giving opposing QB's way too much time, IMO.

Telegraphing blitzes is another thing we are doing.

Like I said guys, all the things you Saunders and LOMS are mentioning are mostly execution things, so what I can't understand is why 3 games into the season, people are expecting stellar execution of a new scheme, when we clearly don't have the horses to run some of this stuff.

I'm definitely sitting on your side of the fence on this one, True.

I think Shanle said it best:

Don't judge the meals Riley makes with Bo's groceries.