Updated Husker Bowl Chances As A 5 Win Team

[Red_Alert]

3.6 yds per play isn't good enough for this staff. For some stupid fucking reason they think they need 8 yds per play. They are impatient.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

I mean, yea 3.6 yards is fine and all......but we aren't getting 3.6 yards if we don't mix the pass in some. We aren't good enough to just line it up and pound it over and over.

We didn't throw a ton in those first 3 quarters, but when we did Tommy would take 1 out of every 5 or so plays to just improvise and do whatever the hell he felt like doing.

 

[Red_Alert]

I can just think back at almost every single loss and think of a game-changing play Tommy made against the coaches requests that killed us.

I can see Riley on the sideline with his head in his hands every time Tommy gets in trouble and makes a dumb decision. He definitely isn't telling him it's okay to do that.

The coaches are gutless fucks throwing Tommy under the bus all season. It's just that simple.

Is he a great passer? NO. Does he have the mindset for a passing QB? NO

So why make him do it?

 

[Red_Alert]

I mean, yea 3.6 yards is fine and all......but we aren't getting 3.6 yards if we don't mix the pass in some. We aren't good enough to just line it up and pound it over and over.

We didn't throw a ton in those first 3 quarters, but when we did Tommy would take 1 out of every 5 or so plays to just improvise and do whatever the hell he felt like doing.

We're "not good enough" at it because the staff doesn't have the desire to be "good enough" at it.

It's not their MO. It's not how they view football.

 

[Red_Alert]

Another cot damn thing.

At the beginning of the game, Tommy scrambled for decent yds and 1st downs when rcvrs weren't open (which was the majority of the time).
Then he abruptly stopped just running for the first down or to pick up 4-5 yds if they were throwing on 1st/2nd down.

Why did he stop? Who told him to stop?

How many times this season has Tommy had 10 yds of open field in front of him and thrown an incomplete or Int? Who's telling him not to take off?

I don't believe Tommy is doing that on his own.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

I absolutely agree he shouldn't be passing the ball like he is. I remember when Taylor Martinez was leading the country in passes under 10 yards and people complained that we didn't throw enough down field.

Tommy should be limited to short passes. He loves slinging it though. He has said it before.....he loves his cannon arm. I think he's spoiled. Just like the all-whites we wore. "Well, I asked Tommy what he wanted and he said all-whites because they look fly. So I know about tradition and all, but we're gonna wear all-whites for Tommy." - Coach Riley

 

[Red_Alert]

I absolutely agree he shouldn't be passing the ball like he is. I remember when Taylor Martinez was leading the country in passes under 10 yards and people complained that we didn't throw enough down field.

Tommy should be limited to short passes. He loves slinging it though. He has said it before.....he loves his cannon arm. I think he's spoiled. Just like the all-whites we wore. "Well, I asked Tommy what he wanted and he said all-whites because they look fly. So I know about tradition and all, but we're gonna wear all-whites for Tommy." - Coach Riley

He's passing the ball like he is because he's being told to do so. If he weren't being told to do so he'd be benched by any coach with half a fucking brain. Same goes for Fyfe against Illinois. He went out and did what he was told to do.

Result = Disaster

 

[Red_Alert]

The fact is 4 yds per CARRY doesn't give anybody a boner in the coaches booth.

They need 12 yds per PLAY to get a tingle in their tighty whities.

If they don't get 12 yds on 1st down, then go for 12 on 2nd down.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

He's passing the ball like he is because he's being told to do so. If he weren't being told to do so he'd be benched by any coach with half a fucking brain. Same goes for Fyfe against Illinois. He went out and did what he was told to do.

Result = Disaster

Most of those passes he's being told to make.

I have watched enough football to tell Tommy doesn't always go through his progressions. He throws into double coverage 65 yards down field. That is not what he's being told to do.

Where this staff is at fault in my opinion is letting him do it. They don't punish him because I think they know they have nobody else behind him. Probably the same reason they encourage him not to run.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

Like I said, Tommy will start next year.

But he shouldn't if POB comes in and shows he's able.

 

[Red_Alert]

Most of those passes he's being told to make.

I have watched enough football to tell Tommy doesn't always go through his progressions. He throws into double coverage 65 yards down field. That is not what he's being told to do.

Where this staff is at fault in my opinion is letting him do it. They don't punish him because I think they know they have nobody else behind him. Probably the same reason they encourage him not to run.

I have a terrible fear we'll be having this same conversation throughout next season, and throughout 2017.

Similar to the HWSNBN and Bopleeny eras, Kool-Aid drinkers will take a few years to separate spoon-fed hope from reality in their heads.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

I have a terrible fear we'll be having this same conversation throughout next season, and throughout 2017.

Similar to the HWSNBN and Bopleeny eras, Kool-Aid drinkers will take a few years to separate spoon-fed hope from reality in their heads.

It's possible.

It's no fluke we lost almost all of our games the same way.

 

[oaknightshockey1]

I don't feel like crunching the numbers, but what was the run/pass ratio at "the end of the 3rd Q"?

The passing component of the game was a major ingredient to the loss. Fundamentals, discipline, and special teams combined as the other.

The score was 14-10 Iowa at the end of the 1st half. It was still a '3 yds and a cloud of dust' game.

Nebraska averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Not great, but....

3.6 + 3.6 +3.6 = 10.8 yds = 1st down, move the chains, secure the football, do it again. If not, punt it away and rely on the defense who's stats have shown all season to match up well with Iowa. Get the stop and come back with 3.6 + 3.6 + 3.6.

The problem with the passing is it's done at inopportune times. It's 3rd and one, let's try for 13. There's a reason why T.O. got away from it. When the ball is in the air (as opposed to in someones hands) it leads to an increased chance that the wrong person is going to catch it.

I'm not buying this style of offense in the Big 10. There are good days and bad days with it. Never any week-to-week consistency. It's beat yourself football with a lot of "WTF's?"

It was 30 runs to 26 or 27 passes. The problem with your logic is we don't go 3.6+3.6+3.6.

Take a look at our first drive. We ran the ball every down, going 4, 4, 2 (first down, good so far), 2, 4, -3, punt. That's the issue.

Third drive (after TA threw a pick on his first attempt of the game on the second): 2, 4, 10, 1, 2 false starts, and we're at 2nd and 19. Pretty much have to throw it there.

My point is we were committed to the run early in the game, and we weren't moving the ball effectively enough, because we can't count on getting 3 plays of 3.6 yards in order to get a first down and get the drive going. Our WRs are probably the best overall unit on our team. Unfortunately, we don't have a QB that can get them the ball.

 

[Red_Alert]

It was 30 runs to 26 or 27 passes. The problem with your logic is we don't go 3.6+3.6+3.6.

Take a look at our first drive. We ran the ball every down, going 4, 4, 2 (first down, good so far), 2, 4, -3, punt. That's the issue.

Third drive (after TA threw a pick on his first attempt of the game on the second): 2, 4, 10, 1, 2 false starts, and we're at 2nd and 19. Pretty much have to throw it there.

My point is we were committed to the run early in the game, and we weren't moving the ball effectively enough, because we can't count on getting 3 plays of 3.6 yards in order to get a first down and get the drive going. Our WRs are probably the best overall unit on our team. Unfortunately, we don't have a QB that can get them the ball.

Meh

Game after game they've abandoned the run as opposed to being patient and wearing down the opponents front 7. They'll take an ugly loss over a boring win.

It's all or nothing with the thought process of this staff and that doesn't bode well for the future.

"Tommy is #2 in the nation in INT's thrown, but cot dammit that's what we want to do so keep at it suckers. As a coaching staff we'll let the players take the heat and poor some more Kool-Aid that next week will be different, next month will be different, next year will be different."

.

 

[oaknightshockey1]

Meh

Game after game they've abandoned the run as opposed to being patient and wearing down the opponents front 7. They'll take an ugly loss over a boring win.

It's all or nothing with the thought process of this staff and that doesn't bode well for the future.

"Tommy is #2 in the nation in INT's thrown, but cot dammit that's what we want to do so keep at it suckers. As a coaching staff we'll let the players take the heat and poor some more Kool-Aid that next week will be different, next month will be different, next year will be different."

.

I'd be more than open to see some facts to the contrary, but by and large the whole "wearing down the opponents' front 7" thing is a bit of a myth, as I've posted on here several times. I don't have time to look for the thread where I posted it or to redo the analysis, but out of the top 10 rushing teams this year, their YPC goes up by less than half a yard (IIRC it was like .2 YPC) from the first half to the second half, and at that, nearly half of them actually got worse as the game goes on.

And if we continued to just pound it, we would have been down by more than we were. Without throwing the ball, we wouldn't have scored at all. On our first touchdown, 25 out of 31 yds on the drive were through the air. On the second touchdown, it was 60 yds out of 90.

 

[oaknightshockey1]

Oh and by the way, the playcalling on those two drives were 2 runs, 1 pass on the first and 5 runs, 5 passes on the second.

 

[Red_Alert]

But duh int's, doe.

We shall see what the future holds.

You continue to live on a young man's hope.

I'll live on decades of seasoned reality.

 

[Red_Alert]

It's not worth it for me to spend much time analyzing play-by-play.

Overall stats and results tell the truth as to the quality of this staff, and it ain't pretty.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

I can't start predicting too much until we have a different skill set at QB.

We'll see then. If a guy like O'brien comes in here and we're still seeing throws while he's being dragged down trying to pull plays out his ass, then we stand no chance with this staff moving forward.

If those moronic plays go away, we might win 'em all.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

There are kids out there who are just uncoschable due to personality. Maybe Tommy is one of those guys. Who knows, we're gonna find out over the next 2 seasons.