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Nebraska football's close-game struggles under Scott Frost highlighted by eye-opening stat

Cornhuskers7 said:
The million dollar question will be answered this year: Why haven't we been successful?

Was it Frost's poor recruiting/player development early on, bad game planning and play calling, or inability to create mental toughness for players to not crumble in close games?

Or was it Adrian's inability to stay healthy, poor decision making, lack of ball security, inability to make the right throws?

My bet- It is probably a combination of the two. However, for the entirety of this era of Nebraska football, those two have been hitched together. The one thing to hang some hope on is that there have been a lot of closes losses, which means we are potentially very close to turning some of those to wins.
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Agree completely. So many of the issues and results were intertwined.

Adrian was the classic love/hate relationship. He would do some great things, and then he would do some frustrating things. His blocking was horrible at times, so he would be great and scramble and gain a chunk of yards. Then he would get us in a position to score and he would fumble the ball away. It leads to some pretty good individual numbers, but when you are among the nation's leaders in turnovers, it kills the team. I definitely think it was best for both parties that we parted ways.
 
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WeNeedMorePower said:
Agree completely. So many of the issues and results were intertwined.

Adrian was the classic love/hate relationship. He would do some great things, and then he would do some frustrating things. His blocking was horrible at times, so he would be great and scramble and gain a chunk of yards. Then he would get us in a position to score and he would fumble the ball away. It leads to some pretty good individual numbers, but when you are among the nation's leaders in turnovers, it kills the team. I definitely think it was best for both parties that we parted ways.
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2AM's ability to scramble was a blessing and a curse. It was almost a necessity behind an offensive line that just wasn't very good for the time he was our quarterback. He made something out of nothing more times than I can count.

That being said, one of the hardest things for an offensive line to do is block for someone that is freelancing. The idea of forming a "pocket" is to block and create a hedge of protection for the one spot that you expect the quarterback to be. However, when the quarterback moves, you lose that location of protection and you see a lot of holding penalties that result from trying to recover and block for the new location. It is a double edged sword.
 
Cornhuskers7 said:
2AM's ability to scramble was a blessing and a curse. It was almost a necessity behind an offensive line that just wasn't very good for the time he was our quarterback. He made something out of nothing more times than I can count.

That being said, one of the hardest things for an offensive line to do is block for someone that is freelancing. The idea of forming a "pocket" is to block and create a hedge of protection for the one spot that you expect the quarterback to be. However, when the quarterback moves, you lose that location of protection and you see a lot of holding penalties that result from trying to recover and block for the new location. It is a double edged sword.
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If AM is to have an improved season relative to those at NU, certainly conditions at KSU have to be better for him, but it will also be necessary for him to consolidate what he has learned under those trying circumstances and apply it to self.
Yes, our line struggled, but lordy, a QB must realize that his line struggles, and adjust by not holding the ball so long, and by understanding that a slow rollout to one side doesn't end the threat, only delays it, and very slightly.
He has to develop a better internal clock, and a better sense of where trouble is coming from, that he might cut back on turnovers. But can he?
 
Cornhuskers7 said:
The million dollar question will be answered this year: Why haven't we been successful?

Was it Frost's poor recruiting/player development early on, bad game planning and play calling, or inability to create mental toughness for players to not crumble in close games?

Or was it Adrian's inability to stay healthy, poor decision making, lack of ball security, inability to make the right throws?

My bet- It is probably a combination of the two. However, for the entirety of this era of Nebraska football, those two have been hitched together. The one thing to hang some hope on is that there have been a lot of closes losses, which means we are potentially very close to turning some of those to wins.
Click to expand...

I believe that there was a systemic (from the top down) disrespect for the importance of turnover margin and belief that a dynamic, high-scoring offense would mitigate offensive turnovers. The high scoring offense didn’t really happen, but the turnovers did.

I also believe that there was a systemic (from the top down) disrespect for the importance of special teams. Special teams are an opportunity to gain an advantage over your opponent by way of fiend position, turnovers and rapid-change plays. Frost seemed to believe that a dynamic, high scoring offense would mitigate any advantage gained here as well, which resulted in our opponents gaining significant advantages in field position, turnovers and rapid-change plays.

I’m hoping that having a few more adults in the room (Whipple, Joseph and Busch in particular) helps to counter-balance Frost’s peculiar disrespect for these two important aspects of football.
 
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Husker In Oklahoma said:
That’s a rivalry game, different story, and right now, Iowa has their number. Tell me Iowa State, of late, couldn’t beat Purdue, or MSU, or any of the other average teams in this league?
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You're venturing into the hypothetical.
I am dealing with facts.
Rivalries dont last 7 years unless its nit much of one.
Iowa plays ISU as many times as any Big 12 team plays them unless its a championship game.
Iowa is potentially 3rd to 7th best in the Big any given year, even in the last 7, yet has owned ISU.
Ignoring these facts should allow for ignoring some you may bring, if you do.
ISU has risen above the middle of their pack as has Iowa, yet again,Iowa dominates.
 
NorthwoodHusker said:
You're venturing into the hypothetical.
I am dealing with facts.
Rivalries dont last 7 years unless its nit much of one.
Iowa plays ISU as many times as any Big 12 team plays them unless its a championship game.
Iowa is potentially 3rd to 7th best in the Big any given year, even in the last 7, yet has owned ISU.
Ignoring these facts should allow for ignoring some you may bring, if you do.
ISU has risen above the middle of their pack as has Iowa, yet again,Iowa dominates.
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It’s one team man. One. Oklahoma State, or Baylor, and probably several others, would kick their ass.
 




Brew City Husker said:
I believe that there was a systemic (from the top down) disrespect for the importance of turnover margin and belief that a dynamic, high-scoring offense would mitigate offensive turnovers. The high scoring offense didn’t really happen, but the turnovers did.

I also believe that there was a systemic (from the top down) disrespect for the importance of special teams. Special teams are an opportunity to gain an advantage over your opponent by way of fiend position, turnovers and rapid-change plays. Frost seemed to believe that a dynamic, high scoring offense would mitigate any advantage gained here as well, which resulted in our opponents gaining significant advantages in field position, turnovers and rapid-change plays.

I’m hoping that having a few more adults in the room (Whipple, Joseph and Busch in particular) helps to counter-balance Frost’s peculiar disrespect for these two important aspects of football.
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I'm not sure how much of a disrespect there was for turnovers and turnover margin. It didn't feel like we were doing a lot of high risk, high reward offense (until maybe this season). I think it was more of a product of having players who continually regressed to trying to make a panic throw or a spectacular play with their legs. I didn't see that being a systemic, but it could have been.

You are right on about special teams, though. A few years ago, we didn't have a kicker who could make an extra point. Last year we struggled to field punts, let alone return them. That was clearly systemic, and is hopefully something that will be fixed soon.
 
NorthwoodHusker said:
Like they do ISUs?
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They don’t anymore. Like I said, Iowa has a stranglehold on ISU at the moment. Not unusual for a state rivalry. You seem to be keying on one team, and and in state rivalry at that. That still leaves 90% of the rest. Your argument doesn’t hold any water at all.
 




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