What did we learn

[Guy Chamberlin]

So...all summer leading up to this game, the majority of Huskerboarders, sportswriters, bookies, and everyone else predicted that Nebraska would likely lose this game. Most predicted that we would have trouble scoring points. Most predicted that it would take some time to clean up the turnover problems that have plagued us for years. We all know what Rhule's year 1 has looked like. Most predicted that, despite losing to Minnesota, we would still be bowl eligible at the end of the season. 

So now that the game went almost exactly as most people predicted, the sky is falling? After all we have seen the past few years, you babies should have a thicker shell than this. 

I think the problem is, we've seen this same game dozens of times under Riley and Frost, and they never were able to fix it. Maybe Rhule can, or maybe not, but it's too soon to tell. I don't think that anything in the last 24 hours should have changed our expectations or predictions, and look, the next 3 games are very winnable.

All good points. The thing is.....if Nebraska had played Minnesota close the first half while scoring a couple touchdowns, say 14-14, and then Minnesota slowly pulled away in the second half to win 28-17, we'd all be embracing that narrative.

But we ended up watching a game where Nebraska clearly had enough talent and game-planning to beat Minnesota -- sloppy as it was -- and the fact that it was Rhule and not Frost or Riley should have made a difference in the last-second collapse department. That wasn't too much to ask of a new coach. 

The sky isn't falling, but it's not exactly a sunny Friday morning, either. As mentioned, there were things to like in that game. Everyone gets a shot at redemption, but I wanted Jeff Sims to make me forget Casey Thompson and that didn't happen.

 

[Hayseed]

I said as much last night.  Sims reminded me of JLo 2.0 (for the record one of my fave Huskers).  If this is what we have, then we will need to really build the offense around a wild cat QB.  PA passing, roll him out, 2 back sets, run some traps/draws etc...Bringing Frank back was a start.  Now let's bring him on as an adviser to that 2003 offense that got us to a  10-3 record (I'd take the 7-7 2002 record TBH).  

We should run the wishbone with an occasional pass to keep them honest.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I said as much last night.  Sims reminded me of JLo 2.0 (for the record one of my fave Huskers).  If this is what we have, then we will need to really build the offense around a wild cat QB.  PA passing, roll him out, 2 back sets, run some traps/draws etc...Bringing Frank back was a start.  Now let's bring him on as an adviser to that 2003 offense that got us to a  10-3 record (I'd take the 7-7 2002 record TBH).  

Oh no. Please God, no. 

 

[BigRedBuster]

Sims' passing game was bad last night, but he did good things with his legs all night. Even just getting us off of our one yard line on our first drive and giving us some breathing room to punt was big.

I really think the thing that's flying under the radar is the two false starts inside their 5 yard line. One of them was basically on the 1 yard line. That one's an easy QB sneak for 6 points without that. Maybe coach should have called a timeout there on that first one, not sure. I'm sure he was saving it in case the run got stuffed.

He shouldn’t have to call a timeout there.  That just gives the defense more time. The O line has enough experience to not do that.  No excuses there. 

 

[JJ Husker]

What I learned.

That was the first time Nebraska actually looked like a B1G team IMO.  Defense was improved. They tackled better, hit with bad intentions and swarmed to the ball. They should be good enough to keep us in all conference games except for probably Michigan.

Unfortunately the offense also looked like a B1G West team, ala Minnesota or Iowa. Of course you should win games like that but 4 turnovers will do that to ya. Hoping Sims can improve on his decision making and field vision but not counting on it. Sadly I think we will be one dimensional yet again with our only real threat being the QBs legs. Lord knows the OL isn’t going to magically transform but hoping they can at least improve some.

Special teams didn’t look like special needs for the first time in a long time. I like that we’re not going to raise the white surrender flag on kick and punt returns. And both kickers looked good.

Apparently I’m in the minority but I, for the most part, liked what I saw. I don’t blame Rhule for going for the TD at the end of the first half. Yeah, in hindsight, people will question it but when you’ve been where this program has been for the last ten year, f#&% it, go for it. Just please do it better next time.  The only coaching decision I had an issue with was going with butterfingers the RB when he fumbled. Sorry but he wouldn’t see the field on my team unless we were up by 21.

B1G officiating is still lousy and seemingly biased against the Huskers. Not blaming the loss on it but 1) we did score a TD that they didn’t get right on review. 2) Minn did hold us quite a few times without a flag. 3) we still might be the only team in the conference to be called for disconcerting signals, again. 4) Minn had a couple false starts that were not flagged…they seemed to catch all of ours. There was only one call that went our way when they missed that PI. It is what it is. We have to play better to overcome that BS.

 

[Undone]

He shouldn’t have to call a timeout there.

Totally agree - but that's just how bad our offensive line is in the mental element of the game. Rhule will quickly learn what it takes to squeak out a win against any opponent with the team we have currently.

 

[gobiggergoredder]

What I learned.

That was the first time Nebraska actually looked like a B1G team IMO.  Defense was improved. They tackled better, hit with bad intentions and swarmed to the ball. They should be good enough to keep us in all conference games except for probably Michigan.

Unfortunately the offense also looked like a B1G West team, ala Minnesota or Iowa. Of course you should win games like that but 4 turnovers will do that to ya. Hoping Sims can improve on his decision making and field vision but not counting on it. Sadly I think we will be one dimensional yet again with our only real threat being the QBs legs. Lord knows the OL isn’t going to magically transform but hoping they can at least improve some.

Special teams didn’t look like special needs for the first time in a long time. I like that we’re not going to raise the white surrender flag on kick and punt returns. And both kickers looked good.

Apparently I’m in the minority but I, for the most part, liked what I saw. I don’t blame Rhule for going for the TD at the end of the first half. Yeah, in hindsight, people will question it but when you’ve been where this program has been for the last ten year, f#&% it, go for it. Just please do it better next time.  The only coaching decision I had an issue with was going with butterfingers the RB when he fumbled. Sorry but he wouldn’t see the field on my team unless we were up by 21.

B1G officiating is still lousy and seemingly biased against the Huskers. Not blaming the loss on it but 1) we did score a TD that they didn’t get right on review. 2) Minn did hold us quite a few times without a flag. 3) we still might be the only team in the conference to be called for disconcerting signals, again. 4) Minn had a couple false starts that were not flagged…they seemed to catch all of ours. There was only one call that went our way when they missed that PI. It is what it is. We have to play better to overcome that BS.

Good take……

I left the holding out of my post.  There was clearly some real bad holding going on.

 

[ZRod]

I was responding to a post that said we'd win easily if Sims isn't in there to throw 3 picks. Sims had 117 yards rushing (65% of our 181 yards rushing) and 114 passing, which was 78% of our 295 yards of total offense.

I'm not arguing that 3 picks isn't bad but rather that there isn't an easy solution like just putting a backup QB in there.

Sims also carried the ball 3 more times than both our RBs combined. That's a terrible game plan in this league. The Online did a decent job getting push and opening up holes, especially in the 2nd half. They are much improved compared to last year in that aspect, but pass pro is still sketchy.

 

[Scarlet]

I learned that when we had the opportunity to solidify the identity we've heard about all off-season, that of a physical team that can grind out the game in the ground, we went the three passes with a struggling QB and a punt routine. If ever there was a moment to send a message there it was.  

I learned that two decades later, for whatever reason, in crunch time nobody steps up and makes the play.

This game stung.  Probably because it was the opener of a new regime but also because it got away and it may be the difference in bowl eligibility. 

Done.  On to shutdown the Buffs and the Deion hype train.  

 

[Scofrosghost]

Hardest thing about this it wasn’t that we lost. It’s how we lost. 
We finally put a drive together at the end of the half and can’t score on the goal line….WTF?!

we come out the second half and put together a drive with the run game and a little play action, so we decide that worked, so not gonna do that anymore. Lets just throw it every down….WTF?!

with the game on the line, don’t give it to ervin, give it to the guy that is known can’t hold on to the football…WTF?!

for all intent and purposes we were in control for more than half the game and we still s#!t the bed. 

this is not a be patient they will figure it out situation here, this is a systemic cancer imbedded deep in this program that is on life support, time to pull the plug. 

 

[Undone]

Sims also carried the ball 3 more times than both our RBs combined. That's a terrible game plan in this league. The Online did a decent job getting push and opening up holes, especially in the 2nd half. They are much improved compared to last year in that aspect, but pass pro is still sketchy.

You know that I totally agree with you on that point.

The day after the loss though, I can analyze this one game as one topic of conversation, and then zoom out to what it'll take to win enough games to be bowl eligible as a different topic.

In the conversation of the Minnesota game, because the defense wound up being even better than I thought we'd be at keeping the Gophers out of the end zone all game, this wound up being a much more winnable game that I had thought it would be. So given that this was game one and I don't think Sims had been dinged up in camp, I was fine with going all out to try to get the W against a tough division opponent.

But I totally agree - it has such a high likelihood of ending up poorly for us down the stretch.

 

[Mavric]

Back to what I learned from this one.

It was only one game, but I think that Ervin has really improved in the offseason. It's a pretty cool story.

And that's maybe the most frustrating thing for me.  (Other than the horrendous interceptions.)

Back A is the back that you've been layering praise on for months and is averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

Back B is the back that you publicly called out less than a week ago for having fumbling issues and is averaging 3.0 yards per carry.  And you said "if you don't take care of the ball, you can't play for us."

Yet Back A gets 7 carries for the game.  While Back B gets 9 carries.  And, oh by the way, does the exact thing you called him out for last week.  So it wasn't exactly a surprise.

 

[Undone]

Yet Back A gets 7 carries for the game.  While Back B gets 9 carries.  And, oh by the way, does the exact thing you called him out for last week.  So it wasn't exactly a surprise.

It's an embarrassing coaching gaffe by the staff to start out the Rhule era. And coach tried to dodge the question at first during the postgame presser, but then you could tell he just couldn't fully bulls*** his way through it.

It's not like Grant is going to transfer if he doesn't get enough carries so you have to keep him happy; he's out of eligibility. 

 

[thexyz]

And that's maybe the most frustrating thing for me.  (Other than the horrendous interceptions.)

Back A is the back that you've been layering praise on for months and is averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

Back B is the back that you publicly called out less than a week ago for having fumbling issues and is averaging 3.0 yards per carry.  And you said "if you don't take care of the ball, you can't play for us."

Yet Back A gets 7 carries for the game.  While Back B gets 9 carries.  And, oh by the way, does the exact thing you called him out for last week.  So it wasn't exactly a surprise.

Initially I thought that maybe they were saving Irvin for later stages of the game as a closer which might've made sense once we'd soften them up some. He looked real good running. Around the midpoint of the fourth quarter we potentially could of slammed the door then didn't utilize him. It's mystifying along with a few other things in relation to the game plan and play calling. Turnovers and mental errors were the main cause for our demise though the staff needs to shoulder their participation in it as well. Kemp on the initial kickoff was a bit strange to me in addition to the TE's not seeing action. 

 

[walksalone]

That the 3-3-5 is going to be painful to watch, almost as much as the O line.

The Sims situation is interesting.  They need to adjust the offense to his strengths, anything more than him throwing 10 yards becomes an adventure.

I'm not sure that this season is going to be anything less than a unmitigated disaster, but I'd love to be proven wrong.