5 losses by 13 points.

[rez dog 70]

We have a first year coach who is trying to do his job under the most adverse of conditions. Yet there it is... 13 points! We might just get that blowout loss against Michigan State some are desperately hoping for. And they can kick a coach and staff some more that chose to make Lincoln their home. Congrats.

 

[NikkiSixx_rivals269993]

Well Good Morning. What a nice thread topic to start the day.

 

[dinglefritz]

we are the Baltimore Ravens this season. 1-7 with their largest margin of defeat I think by no more than the TD and 2 pt conversion they lost by last night. Last night the John HARBAUGH coached team with a former Super Bowl MVP QB lost when their QB threw an interception in the endzone at the end of the game. Fire the coach.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

We have a first year coach who is trying to do his job under the most adverse of conditions. Yet there it is... 13 points! We might just get that blowout loss against Michigan State some are desperately hoping for. And they can kick a coach and staff some more that chose to make Lincoln their home. Congrats.

It's nice that we aren't getting blown out because it atleast means we are not that far off from being respectable at this point....but my main concern is that some of the losses can be tied directly to coaching down the stretch. That may change in the future if we get more talent but it's not a good look for a staff that was partly hired because of their experience.

 

[dinglefritz]

It's nice that we aren't getting blown out because it atleast means we are not that far off from being respectable at this point....but my main concern is that some of the losses can be tied directly to coaching down the stretch. That may change in the future if we get more talent but it's not a good look for a staff that was partly hired because of their experience.

Coaching or player stupidity? Which has it been? TA throwing red zone picks. Stupid personal fouls on big offensive plays. I guarantee you that they aren't coached to do that stuff. You can always second guess play calls when they don't work. Les Miles always coaches by the seat of his pants and often defies coaching logic and still somehow his players make the plays they need to make. Was TO going for 2 a good coaching decision or just an ego thing? We would have been Co-National Champs on the home team's field had we kicked the extra point.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

Coaching or player stupidity? Which has it been? TA throwing red zone picks. Stupid personal fouls on big offensive plays. I guarantee you that they aren't coached to do that stuff. You can always second guess play calls when they don't work. Les Miles always coaches by the seat of his pants and often defies coaching logic and still somehow his players make the plays they need to make. Was TO going for 2 a good coaching decision or just an ego thing? We would have been Co-National Champs on the home team's field had we kicked the extra point.

No doubt some of it is player stupidity...but the players appear to be making the same stupid mistakes now that they were making in week 1. In addition to this...time management in the BYU game was terrible, also...very questionable personnel on the hail mary. Also, I didn't really mind rushing only 3 players but just a year early it appeared Oregon State tried to defend a hail mary the same way vs USC and got burned on it. Illinois...I don't care what was called in, they literally just had to call a Janovich dive and we win the game. Instead...they gave Tommy the chance to screw up. Call a TO if you have to and tell him 20 times don't throw the ball if you have to.

 

[dinglefritz]

No doubt some of it is player stupidity...but the players appear to be making the same stupid mistakes now that they were making in week 1. In addition to this...time management in the BYU game was terrible, also...very questionable personnel on the hail mary. Also, I didn't really mind rushing only 3 players but just a year early it appeared Oregon State tried to defend a hail mary the same way vs USC and got burned on it. Illinois...I don't care what was called in, they literally just had to call a Janovich dive and we win the game. Instead...they gave Tommy the chance to screw up. Call a TO if you have to and tell him 20 times don't throw the ball if you have to.

They're making the same stupid mistakes they made last year. Play calls only look bad when they don't work. BTW, I just saw a couple of weeks ago a Hail Mary work in an NFL game when everybody knew it was coming.

 

[jlb321_rivals110621]

I support Riley .. but to be fair, to date, we haven't played a team worth a **** and we are looking at 5 losses and counting

 

[ridge22]

It's nice that we aren't getting blown out because it atleast means we are not that far off from being respectable at this point....but my main concern is that some of the losses can be tied directly to coaching down the stretch. That may change in the future if we get more talent but it's not a good look for a staff that was partly hired because of their experience.

That it is the biggest problem I have with the losses is that in damn near every one the coaching down the stretch has been questionable. To me that is very disappointing from a coach with this many years experience and a staff that has a lot of experience as well.

I sure hope Coach Riley is able to shake off the slump he is in for conference games. In his last 18 conference games he is 3-15!!!!!!Sick

 

[dinglefritz]

I support Riley .. but to be fair, to date, we haven't played a team worth a **** and we are looking at 5 losses and counting

Ummmmm....Northwestern and Minnesota were both ranked earlier. Northwestern beat Stanford. They have recruited at roughly the same level as Bo did the last few years with the difference being that Northwestern hasn't lost as many defensive players to departure and injury. Obviously we HAVE to recruit better players but almost as importantly we have to stop taking guys with the personal issues that some of Bo's recruits had.

 

[dinglefritz]

That it is the biggest problem I have with the losses is that in damn near every one the coaching down the stretch has been questionable. To me that is very disappointing from a coach with this many years experience and a staff that has a lot of experience as well.

I sure hope Coach Riley is able to shake off the slump he is in for conference games. In his last 18 conference games he is 3-15!!!!!!Sick

3-15 against Oregon, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona St, Utah, UW, WSU, Cal etc. Bo wouldn't have been any better.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

They're making the same stupid mistakes they made last year. Play calls only look bad when they don't work. BTW, I just saw a couple of weeks ago a Hail Mary work in an NFL game when everybody knew it was coming.

Nobody would probably said squat if Tommy rolled at and ran like he should have...but he didn't, and the fact that he was even put in that situation IMO is a very questionable call. The game was won...we literally just had to take a knee or hand the ball off to Janovich and we win...barring a fumble. Like I said...call a TO if you have to and tell Tommy 20 times don't throw. I'm not blaming them for losing the game on a hail mary...I do think the time mgmt. up to that point was terrible. And like I said, the personnel in on the hail mary was very questionable.....and just a year before they got burned by USC only rushing three. We will likely be put in that situation at some point again under this staff...it will be interesting to see if Banker brings more than three guys.

 

[jlb321_rivals110621]

Ummmmm....Northwestern and Minnesota were both ranked earlier. Northwestern beat Stanford. They have recruited at roughly the same level as Bo did the last few years with the difference being that Northwestern hasn't lost as many defensive players to departure and injury. Obviously we HAVE to recruit better players but almost as importantly we have to stop taking guys with the personal issues that some of Bo's recruits had.

neither team is, or are going to be ranked
NW got absolutely curb stomped by Iowa and Michigan

I stand by my original statement - we haven't played a team worth a crap

look, I support Riley and want to give him the time he needs, but I am not going to manufacture sunshine to justify anything that has gone on this season

 

[ridge22]

3-15 against Oregon, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona St, Utah, UW, WSU, Cal etc. Bo wouldn't have been any better.

Dude! You really need to let the Bo thing go! It is not healthy.

 

[jteten]

Losses are losses. Dont try and sugarcoat it. We have played a soft schedule and lost. 1 point, 15 points, 40 points. Doesnt matter.

 

[rez dog 70]

No doubt some of it is player stupidity...but the players appear to be making the same stupid mistakes now that they were making in week 1. In addition to this...time management in the BYU game was terrible, also...very questionable personnel on the hail mary. Also, I didn't really mind rushing only 3 players but just a year early it appeared Oregon State tried to defend a hail mary the same way vs USC and got burned on it. Illinois...I don't care what was called in, they literally just had to call a Janovich dive and we win the game. Instead...they gave Tommy the chance to screw up. Call a TO if you have to and tell him 20 times don't throw the ball if you have to.

And yet he'll throw it again. That's the problem team wide from what I've noticed. Riley and the coaches can coach up the players till they're blue in the face. The players continues to make the same mistakes. But this past Saturday was different. I saw a Nebraska team give maybe 75% effort against a Northwestern team hell bent on winning that game. The Cats ran out the clock easily. And yet Riley avoided the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room at his Monday Presser. I guess we can't generalize even though the team looked like they downed a whole bottle of Benadryl before kickoff. I'm not giving a pass to Langs at all (pun intended). But i even would be hard pressed to call a game with what's going on between the hash marks. Riley seems intent to give this situation little oxygen hoping to avoid a team wide explosion. But what happens when this off-season the 10-15 players don't want to transfer??? Do we repeat this again next year??? Does it blow when he tells them not to come back??? Or Does he have the team explosion when these players are benched then next year??? Right now Bo and his players are running the program and that has me more infuriated then the losses.

 

[SnohomishRed]

3-15 against Oregon, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona St, Utah, UW, WSU, Cal etc. Bo wouldn't have been any better.

Who cares what Bo would do he got fired remember - 3-15 is horrible and an indication he needs to shake things up. Which Riley admitted he needed to do right before NU hired - He and this staff need change because what they are selling is not working and has not worked for some years now

 

[SnohomishRed]

And yet he'll throw it again. That's the problem team wide from what I've noticed. Riley and the coaches can coach up the players till they're blue in the face. The player continues to make the same mistakes. But this past Saturday was different. I saw a Nebraska team give maybe 75% effort against a Northwestern team hell bent on winning that game. The Cats ran out the clock with easily. And yet Riley avoided the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room at his Monday Presser. I guess we can't generalize even though the team looked like they downed a whole bottle of Benadryl before kickoff. I'm not giving a pass to Langs at all (pun intended). But i even would be hard pressed to call a game with what's going on between the hash marks. Riley seems intent to give this situation little oxygen hoping to avoid a team wide explosion. But what happens when this off-season the 10-15 players don't want to transfer??? Do we repeat this again next year??? Does it blow when he tells them not to come back??? Or Does he have the team explosion when these players are benched then next year??? Right now Bo and his players are running the program and that has me more infuriated then the losses.

Why are you so willing to throw players under the bus yet fail to actually address the job the coaches are doing ?

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Why are you so willing to throw players under the bus yet fail to actually address the job the coaches are doing ?

Hmmmmm

 

[Dean_Patrick]

Damn, I was only two numbers away from hitting the Powerball lottery last week! I guess close only counts in horseshoes.

 

[rez dog 70]

Why are you so willing to throw players under the bus yet fail to actually address the job the coaches are doing ?

The players are willingly jumping under the bus. I just want to know why??? And can it be fixed???

 

[hamneggs53]

We have a first year coach who is trying to do his job under the most adverse of conditions. Yet there it is... 13 points! We might just get that blowout loss against Michigan State some are desperately hoping for. And they can kick a coach and staff some more that chose to make Lincoln their home. Congrats.

Kinda early for day drinking, no?

 

[JohnRossEwing]

I think it is safe to say Coach Riley is the best 3-5 coach in America.

 

[CameronKrazie86]

There would be a whole lot less heat or angst if two of the losses weren't directly related to clock management and it felt like the team was actually beaten. Those BYU and Illinois losses really hurt because they should've been wins and through a combination of players not executing, coaches decisions late in games and clock management they aren't.

So yes, they've lost 5 games by 13 points but the loss total should be 3 max, not 5.

 

[jrhuskerdad_rivals491985]

We have a first year coach who is trying to do his job under the most adverse of conditions. Yet there it is... 13 points! We might just get that blowout loss against Michigan State some are desperately hoping for. And they can kick a coach and staff some more that chose to make Lincoln their home. Congrats.

Hey! What did people tell you about putting spoiler alerts before you post!

 

[canaham]

Damn, I was only two numbers away from hitting the Powerball lottery last week! I guess close only counts in horseshoes.

Fire your Powerball coach.

 

[SilentCommit]

The players are willingly jumping under the bus. I just want to know why??? And can it be fixed???

Rover, while I truly appreciate your relentless positivity, I think there's enough blame to go around for everyone. You're right that the coaches have a difficult task in front of them, and (I believe) you're right that there's a significant culture problem in the locker room at the moment. However, I think it's also true that the coaching staff isn't living up to expectations so far. The good news is, there hasn't been an unwinnable game we've played so far. The bad news is, well, there hasn't been an unwinnable game we've played so far. In many ways we are still close to being a solid team, but coaching and recruiting will have to get us there.

I think Riley can succeed here. I think he needs more time, to be sure. I also think that the air is out of the balloon, and our program feels like it's slipped away into a permanent state of mediocrity. It's depressing.

 

[Mr.Scary13]

No doubt some of it is player stupidity...but the players appear to be making the same stupid mistakes now that they were making in week 1. In addition to this...time management in the BYU game was terrible, also...very questionable personnel on the hail mary. Also, I didn't really mind rushing only 3 players but just a year early it appeared Oregon State tried to defend a hail mary the same way vs USC and got burned on it. Illinois...I don't care what was called in, they literally just had to call a Janovich dive and we win the game. Instead...they gave Tommy the chance to screw up. Call a TO if you have to and tell him 20 times don't throw the ball if you have to.

If TA had a better football IQ and runs the play clock down on the last drive like any other competent qb there is no hail mary to be had. Now again, who had terrible game management?

 

[Mr.Scary13]

Nobody would probably said squat if Tommy rolled at and ran like he should have...but he didn't, and the fact that he was even put in that situation IMO is a very questionable call. The game was won...we literally just had to take a knee or hand the ball off to Janovich and we win...barring a fumble. Like I said...call a TO if you have to and tell Tommy 20 times don't throw. I'm not blaming them for losing the game on a hail mary...I do think the time mgmt. up to that point was terrible. And like I said, the personnel in on the hail mary was very questionable.....and just a year before they got burned by USC only rushing three. We will likely be put in that situation at some point again under this staff...it will be interesting to see if Banker brings more than three guys.

Yet Northwestern did the same thing to us with a FRESHMAM qb and he had no problem executing the play.

 

[rez dog 70]

Yet Northwestern did the same thing to us with a FRESHMAM qb and he had no problem executing the play.

I stood in south stadium shocked how easily they picked up first downs and ran the clock out. And we even had all our timeouts to use.

 

[rez dog 70]

Rover, while I truly appreciate your relentless positivity, I think there's enough blame to go around for everyone. You're right that the coaches have a difficult task in front of them, and (I believe) you're right that there's a significant culture problem in the locker room at the moment. However, I think it's also true that the coaching staff isn't living up to expectations so far. The good news is, there hasn't been an unwinnable game we've played so far. The bad news is, well, there hasn't been an unwinnable game we've played so far. In many ways we are still close to being a solid team, but coaching and recruiting will have to get us there.

I think Riley can succeed here. I think he needs more time, to be sure. I also think that the air is out of the balloon, and our program feels like it's slipped away into a permanent state of mediocrity. It's depressing.

I can't really disagree except i'll say the significance culture problem has significantly affect the coaching. The only reason this season hasn't totally imploded is because Riley really is that good of a coach. But he can't allow this to continue into next season. I really hope he realizes that and is gonna have to make some extremely difficult decisions.

 

[Bay_Area_Husker]

Our schedule to date has been pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. And we have five losses. Even if we were undefeated we wouldn't be on the way back to respectability unless we beat MSU.

 

[grayhairedfreak]

If TA had a better football IQ and runs the play clock down on the last drive like any other competent qb there is no hail mary to be had. Now again, who had terrible game management?

Thank you for pointing this out. I think the Illinois play was even more egregious. With at least 7 years or organized football under his belt, TA has to recognize you cannot allow the clock to stop on that 3rd down, even if you have to take a sack. Same with the Pick-6 last Saturday. Just question TA's football IQ sometimes.

 

[nebcountry]

Fire your Powerball coach.

That's a bit hasty. I've heard D_Patrick's powerball coach is a really nice guy. And he'll accommodate your skills somewhat. If you tell him you're left-handed, he'll have you fill in the little squares holding a pen in between your pinky and second left toe, blindfolded and standing on your head (he wants you to use your right foot, nice for him to accommodate).

 

[huskerbaseball13]

If TA had a better football IQ and runs the play clock down on the last drive like any other competent qb there is no hail mary to be had. Now again, who had terrible game management?

Huh? So instead the coaching staff doesn't tell him to run down the clock? I don't remember if we had any TO's left...if we did...how about calling a TO and asking Armstrong why he is snapping the ball so quick? Or hell...Langsdorf can just tell him to snap the ball at a specific time before relaying in the call. That's a pretty terrible excuse on your part. Again, the terrible clock mgmt. falls on Riley's shoulders without a doubt.

 

[MemorialRedWarrior]

It's nice that we aren't getting blown out because it atleast means we are not that far off from being respectable at this point....but my main concern is that some of the losses can be tied directly to coaching down the stretch. That may change in the future if we get more talent but it's not a good look for a staff that was partly hired because of their experience.

I disagree with this thesis entirely. I point directly to the game against the fighting Illini, when our quarterback for whatever reason decided to throw the ball instead of running it as he was supposed to. Perhaps we can presuppose that he was told to play the option of throwing versus running, but we were told by Coach Riley himself that he was dialed in to run with the pigskin.
The preponderance of the turnovers at bad times has been the most poignant issue this season. The system is in a state of change and we cannot simply expect it to function at a level anywhere near the vertex of its potential. Reason being is that the factors within it, are not yet balanced.
Our fans should be happy that we are keeping these losses so close, rather than letting them spiral out of control. The system, attitude and staff are entirely different than before. This system is meant to play by the numbers, rather than just relying on talent to lead it to success. It would be irresponsible to deny that it is rather precocious when compared to the former. A couple of points is all that stands in the way of people realizing this.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

Yet Northwestern did the same thing to us with a FRESHMAM qb and he had no problem executing the play.

Don't think so. NW clearly called a play to just run out the clock...on the other hand, just about everyone on the field in the Illinois game ran that play as if they were trying to pass for a first down. I'm not saying that is what was called....but there was obviously mass confusion that could have been rectified by calling a TO or better yet, simply handing the ball off. I have no doubt the coaching staff didn't want Armstrong to throw the ball...but yet, as you have pointed out you have a QB with a low QB IQ who has a history of stupid plays yet you run that play? As opposed to just handing the ball off and sealing the win?

 

[huskerbaseball13]

Thank you for pointing this out. I think the Illinois play was even more egregious. With at least 7 years or organized football under his belt, TA has to recognize you cannot allow the clock to stop on that 3rd down, even if you have to take a sack. Same with the Pick-6 last Saturday. Just question TA's football IQ sometimes.

If the player is not running the clock down do you think it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to tell him to do so? Riley and company at multiple opportunities on that last drive vs BYU to ask TA WTF he was doing.

 

[Mr.Scary13]

Huh? So instead the coaching staff doesn't tell him to run down the clock? I don't remember if we had any TO's left...if we did...how about calling a TO and asking Armstrong why he is snapping the ball so quick? Or hell...Langsdorf can just tell him to snap the ball at a specific time before relaying in the call. That's a pretty terrible excuse on your part. Again, the terrible clock mgmt. falls on Riley's shoulders without a doubt.

Two things: There is no doubt in my mind that the coaches said something to TA about running the play clock down. Secondly, the fact that you or anybody on here would believe that a third year starting division one qb would need a coach to let him know to drain the clock before snapping the ball, sais all you need to know about his mental capacity and what these coaches have to work with.

 

[GimmeRed]

I support Riley .. but to be fair, to date, we haven't played a team worth a **** and we are looking at 5 losses and counting

That's a pretty good point, Our last 4 coaches all have losses against unranked teams. Frank Solich lost to 5 of them in 6 years. Bill Callahan lost to 11 of them in 4 years, Bo Pelini lost to 10 of them in 7 years. Mike Riley has lost to 5 of them in 8 tries.