What did we learn

D looked fine, generally.  Buckys did not cover the spread, and scored much less than their average.  What bothers me and others in the room as we watched, is the almost Callahan-like attitude and play calling by Rhule.  Basic good Offense hard football was all that was needed in that last minute.   Sad.  I wonder if he can ratchet back and teach himself something about Nebraska and for Nebraska. 

eh rant over...

 
In a lot of ways the game went better than I expected.  We were in a position to win a game that few outside of Nebraska gave us much of a chance in.  

I don't have a lot of hope for the offense but our next 3 games are against much weaker defenses so they, and our coaching staff, will have a chance to make a lot of improvements before we face that level of competition again.

 
F46ZOm9XsAANsW8


 
Hammerhead said:
Jeff Sims reminds me a lot of Adrian Martinez.  I don't mean that as a compliment
Click to expand...
He reminded me of Jamal Lord and the play calling last night reminded me of Frank.   2002 Jamal was relied on to run, run, run. Another time we relied on a QB to be the main runner.  Jamal also was prone to throw INTs at the worst possible time (Texas, end of game INT into the end zone - sounds familiar?).  

Begs the question:  How unprepared are the other QBs that we get this 3 INT performance?

So disappointed that Gabe wasn't given the rock to pound more and the decision to have Grant carry the ball at a crucial stage is just beyond excuse.   We heard all spring and fall camp how Gabe 'was the man'.  But outside of that long run, he didn't get much opportunity to show it.  

Positives:  Overall D play.  Better tackling, More aggressive (I wish there was more pressure on the QB however),   O Line improved as the game went on but the penalties!!

I had this game penciled in as a loss - so with the 'almost win' - I guess I should feel better.  But the same old story of how we lost, makes it feel worse than what it was.  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Why was a back up qb in there instead of Fidone? Worried about keeping him healthy? I know Harbeerg can move and is a great athlete but as much as we are running Sims makes me think Purdy is number 2 qb 

 
Honestly, I don't feel like I learned much - the game played out about the way I thought it would. I expected both teams to be better on defense than offense, resulting in a low-scoring slugfest. Problem is, that's pretty much Fleck's favorite kind of game.

Minnesota doesn't have Ibrahim anymore and it shows. Some people were talking up their WRs, and one did make a few plays, but that's about it. They're not gonna scare anyone with their offense this year. Their defense, on the other hand, is still the strength of their team.

Sims is what I expected - talented but mistake-prone. But he wasn't getting a whole lot of help from his WRs, which I think is going to be the bigger problem this year. Grant's got legs, but still shouldn't be seeing the field much. I still like the hire of White more than Satterfield, though we haven't seen how the defense will hold up against an offense with a pulse.

Overall, folks, remember that this was the first game of the season, and Minnesota was #4 in scoring defense and #9 in total defense last year. There's definitely gonna be some squeaky wheels on the team, but the offense isn't going to look this weak overall in most games. Bring on Deion!

dennis-green-theyare-whoe-we-thought-they-were.gif


 
Rhulethehusk said:
Why was a back up qb in there instead of Fidone? Worried about keeping him healthy? I know Harbeerg can move and is a great athlete but as much as we are running Sims makes me think Purdy is number 2 qb 
Click to expand...


This is probably Haarberg's last year as a QB. He'll probably be transitioning to a new position next year, likely TE, which he's been taking snaps at through fall camp. He's got the athleticism to play at the next level, but not as a QB.


 
Last edited by a moderator:
ZRod said:
He's just lazy in the passing game. I don't see him improving much at all, there's too much to fix (going through progressions, throwing on time, throwing off the back foot, forcing throws, paying attention to defenders underneath routes, etc.), but I hope I'm wrong...
Click to expand...


Here's another take on this as well: I feel like it might be a bit of a waste of all of the heavy sets these coaches run to have this bruiser zone read QB in there.

Like @floridacorn mentions, Sims really is a play action passer. So yeah, maybe you gain some benefit with the defense crowding the box more and more, thinking the QB is going to keep it and run, and then you play action bomb.

But the guy had a terrible game with his arm last night. You can definitely excuse it if we really wanted to with "first game for this team, on the road, lots of nerves." That's fine. But here was our box score:

image.png

Hate to be this critical, but those are roughly the stats of a wildcat QB who had to come into a game in a pinch because three other guys are injured.

And going away from Ervin in the 4th quarter is just more s*** coaching.

 
What I mostly learned was there were at least 5 different people that can take direct blame for that loss. Sims, Grant, Gifford, Hartzog and Satterfield. For me, it obviously feels like more of the same, but I guess there is hope that a new coach will actually take the measures needed to address the problems. I don't have issue rolling out there beginning of season with what you feel is your best unit/staff/approach. What I will get upset about is if measures are not taken to attempt to address things. 

Bad news, as we all know. When your QB looks as far behind in so many things that make a QB great, likely not an easy fix there. Ideally we would have a serviceable backup, but that has not been the Nebraska way for quite awhile. 

Hopefully Satterfield is sent  packing if he keeps letting the boys down at crucial times. Hopefully Riaola is sent packing if all we can continue to say about the O-Line is that they like each other, ETC. 

Tough for me to come into the season saying could be a mess, lets let it play out and try to enjoy whatever comes, and then get pissed that we didn't come out as world beaters game 1. There are plenty of deficiencies out there on the field, and the problem with playing the long grind game with a sub par team is that you can't blow the win open as you don't have the horses to do so. Sure tough to justify outrage when its as plain as day we are too weak in too many areas to expect wins all over the place.

 
Toe said:
Overall, folks, remember that this was the first game of the season, and Minnesota was #4 in scoring defense and #9 in total defense last year. There's definitely gonna be some squeaky wheels on the team, but the offense isn't going to look this weak overall in most games.
Click to expand...


I like this take.

The "pressing the Easy Button" take is to say that the OL is still terrible and that was the root cause of the loss. But I don't think it's accurate. As a team we averaged 4.9 yards per carry, more than double Minnesota's of 2.2. We got setup inside the 5 yard line twice...but pissed those two TD's down our leg with false starts. That was the game for me.

So we actually ran the ball just fine as a team. I didn't like that Sims was the leading rusher, but it's what I expected, so I'm not even mad about that. Our heavy sets actually allowed us to work the pile a bit, and Ervin honestly played like an improved player.

It was turnovers and penalties that lost the game.

 
Undone said:
Here's another take on this as well: I feel like it might be a bit of a waste of all of the heavy sets these coaches run to have this bruiser zone read QB in there.

Like @floridacorn mentions, Sims really is a play action passer. So yeah, maybe you gain some benefit with the defense crowding the box more and more, thinking the QB is going to keep it and run, and then you play action bomb.

But the guy had a terrible game with his arm last night. You can definitely excuse it if we really wanted to with "first game for this team, on the road, lots of nerves." That's fine. But here was our box score:

View attachment 20884

Hate to be this critical, but those are roughly the stats of a wildcat QB who had to come into a game in a pinch because three other guys are injured.

And going away from Ervin in the 4th quarter is just more s*** coaching.
Click to expand...
There was a lot of bad.

One thing I noticed is even when a lot of his passes were completed the receivers were blanketed.  In general, no one was open.  He was having to step up in the pocket almost immediately because the tackles were getting worked.

I think your point about the play action is probably accurate.  But we're going to have to have a running game going for play action to open up receivers. 

 
Back
Top