Yes, but even some better decision making at the margins by Stone could be enough. It would have been today. He is a mediocre QB but he is the best we got.
Game Thread: Northwestern vs. Nebraska
- Thread starter mshelton33
- Start date
We haven’t really had a QB like Stone in a long time. He’s not completely non-capable, but he’s very very below average as a starter.
Still have a shot at a bowl, but trying to see who we still have a fair shot at winning against. Illinois and Minnesota are not going to be easy. Minnesota throttled Nebraska last Saturday night as I watched the game. The offense was run heavy, but the D was very aggressive and lights out. Illinois would be the best bet for a W, but they still are better than us.
Michigan I think we can definitely beat with a strong effort. They play the same style as us and have a mercurial young QB. It’s like on like. USC I am least confident about just due to style, I have a hard time seeing us drag them into a plodding, slow, defensive game. I think you have to do some scoring to beat them. MAYBE we can smack em hard in the ground and keep up, but it seems like a bad matchup for us. Our back 7 is very good, but those speed and weapons seem like something we won’t be able to bottle all game, especially given our LB speed.
Part of the problem is that the receiving corps is well below average. But that second interception was a killer, and just should not happen. I didn’t like the play call, as anyone could see that Nebraska was going to sit back in a zone. Either try to go over the top on a deep sideline route, or just run the ball.
You people are way too scared of MN due to their one best performance
We’re going to be dogs all the way down the stretch but that’s fine. Minny is up and down. You could make the same week to week comparison with Ourdue
We’re going to be dogs all the way down the stretch but that’s fine. Minny is up and down. You could make the same week to week comparison with Purdue as an opponent, who blew MNs defense open but laid an egg against us the next week.
Give Huskers credit for that last drive. They made plays. Too bad the hold wasn’t called, but that happens. Give Cats credit for a great comeback that fell short.
I hate to see NU lose, but it was an entertaining game with both teams playing full out.
I hate to see NU lose, but it was an entertaining game with both teams playing full out.
No doubt, I have been one of the world’s leading and loudest critics of NU receivers for like ten years. It’s a massive issue. But Stone is simply too mistake prone and missed a bunch of basic throws today too. The one INT wasn’t his fault but he also put it on the ground out of a simple read mesh. He am what he am.
Yeah - it's a 60 minute game and if it's a one score game, with time for either team, anything can happen.
Mediocre quarterbacks will be the rule for NU til they jazz up the offensive philosophy. The best QBs want to be in a system that will let them shine. Until NU gets a Cignetti type, that isn't going to happen. We are getting other programs' scraps at that position or just 3 star journeyman. It is becoming a bad joke anymore. All this $$$$$ being given to the program to build up it up is going to be wasted. Ryan is looking rather foolish.
You are correct. Not sure on Braun. Some days I think he our guy then today they don't show up in the first half. Throw in the no show in the first game of the year at Tulane makes me wonder if he is the answer going forward. Feel like a new OC is needed for sure. But also not sure if NU can get a better coach. Nebby has a terrible pass blocking OL and NU hardly touched the QB.
Stone was 4-star, 14th ranked QB in his class and SMU players (from someone who I know) loved him.
Disagree. It’s just money. Boring as Michigan stole away Underwood, viewed as a generational #1 recruit, by just paying. People need to get their heads around the idea that this pro football
Who cares about star rankings. SMU loved him so much that they benched him a few games into last season turning to an unproven Sophomore Qb. Use your own eyes. Have you watched him play this entire year? He is a very mediocre QB but the best we’ve got this year.
By the way, so was Hunter Johnson.
That is part of my point, the system needs to be jazzed up so the kids can get the stats to get them to the promised land. Yeah, CFB is becoming semi pro football, but what is NU going to do about it? Lowering your academic standards for jocks would do the trick, but I don't think the administration is going to do that as it is a private institution. NU needs to quit pussyfooting around. It comes down to football yes, or football no. Football maybe in the current reality of semi pro college football isn't going to garner winning. The folks at U of Chicago are looking like Nostradamuses right now. If we do enter into a severe recession in the near future, CFB will be hurting. The entertainment value just isn't there anymore.
Stone is not going to typically make something out of nothing but he’s good if he has good receivers. Wilde is great, Welcing and Eligon are developing. But for the most part we don’t have many receivers who will make something out of nothing.
Everyone who matters cares about star rankings; it’s why they exist.
And feel free to ignore my comment about his SMU teammates.
With the receiving team he has, and being his first year in the system, he’s done admirably. That’s what I see. Wish we had him for more than a year.
His decisions are what makes him bad QB. He's had a MINIMUM of one stupid throw per game. Often, the opposition has dropped them. We have 4 decent teams remaining. I don't expect him to grow up in the last 4 games of his last year.
BS. When it comes to football, star rankings are a reflection of recruiting interest from college programs rather than star rankings driving recruiting interest from college programs. Many of these recruiting services slap rankings on these kids without even watching any highlights let alone watching a full game on tape or in person. They are a joke.
Again, in football they become ranked 5 stars when Alabama and OSU offer them, not because a recruiting service independently evaluated them. This isn't basketball where the recruiting services can send a couple of guys to a top national summer league tournament and watch 30-40 top players play multiple games in one spot over the course of a weekend. Football requires that you travel the entire country and go watch these each of these kids practice and play at their individual schools. It takes a ton of time, effort and evaluating ability to do the evaluations any justice and there is no way the national recruiting services have the time, money or staff to do the job. The only guy that did the process justice is a guy like Tom Lemming and I can assure you the national recruiting services don't have a guy who is as capable or that puts in the amount of work that Lemming used to put in.
A positive was how the team fought the whole game and we were still in it until the end. The kick return, holding penalty in the red zone followed by interception were major downers. This was a very winnable road game for us but don’t see how we were favored on the road against Nebby.
I felt the Nebby players were chippy all game and got away with a lot of mischief. Not impressed by the Nebby program at all. Their program is mediocre and they are not competitive against the upper strata of the BigTen. Indiana on the other hand is for real blowing out UCLA today. One pundit observed the balance between their offense and defense but their defense was particularly impressive against a UCLA team that had seemed to be on the upswing after losing early in the season. It should be an interesting championship game with the Buckeyes. Pundits seem pessimistic about us winning another game this year. Nebby coulda shoulda been a win. Don’t know if we can pull off an upset. Mediocre QB play is really frustrating but our running game is still solid. Go Cats!
I felt the Nebby players were chippy all game and got away with a lot of mischief. Not impressed by the Nebby program at all. Their program is mediocre and they are not competitive against the upper strata of the BigTen. Indiana on the other hand is for real blowing out UCLA today. One pundit observed the balance between their offense and defense but their defense was particularly impressive against a UCLA team that had seemed to be on the upswing after losing early in the season. It should be an interesting championship game with the Buckeyes. Pundits seem pessimistic about us winning another game this year. Nebby coulda shoulda been a win. Don’t know if we can pull off an upset. Mediocre QB play is really frustrating but our running game is still solid. Go Cats!
They're a heuristic, but as you say they're broadly reflective of the level of respect for and interest in a prospect across college football. Whether you look by star rankings or just look at offers and interest as I do, the picture is the same: our HS recruiting has sucked in recent years. It's gonna need to turn around.
SOmething to discuss after the year is over, at least with regards to Braun.
It isn't going to turn around anytime soon, unless you get a HC that is going to install a "flashy" offense that will garner interest from a better caliber player. Other than that, the only other option is to lower academic standards for incoming athletes. 5 star athletes are semi pro athletes at best, more like pros now. NU isn't going to get anywhere in football til it decides they want to go all in and do what it takes to win. So far, they still want to half *** it and rely on Ryan's insane generosity. Nice stadiums and facilities are not a major factor in recruiting top talent. Ryan would have been better served reserving his $$$ for NIL. The university needed to go all in with football or go to a lesser conference or drop it completely like U of C did. The NU administration is coming off as morons.
Jacob Schmidt was doing NIL with duct tape and paper clips, and we disbanded that when revenue sharing came out. We assumed everyone else would play by these so-called rules. I don't care which direction we pick (Sun Belt or B1G) but just commit to it.
It hasn't been good but don't cite star rankings as evidence of that. It hasn't been good because we've resorted to recruiting an inordinate amount of players who have a limited amount of HS experience/accomplishments and an inordinate amount of physical and technical development left to make before they can become contributors.