Not sure how popular I will be for saying this but, Raiola improved the O Line pass protection.
BB and TP improved on the edges. Our line improved at picking up stunts and blitzes. Much fewer deer in the headlights moments.
We rotated a lot of guys at guard and we didn't see a ton of drop off if any.
They played tough. They took the arrows. They stayed together.
We never saw improvement, and often saw regression under Greg Austin.
All that said, we need to work technique and explosiveness in the run game. Prime example yesterday, they showed backfield view of NN going to block an Iowa D linemen and the Iowa DL stayed squared and just ripped NN with his momentum and out of the play. Handwork and footwork need to continue improving.
Raiola already has recruited potentially more talent this year than GA did in his whole time coaching at NE.
Raiola kept those young men bonded and that isn't an easy task when conventional ground game is a challenge.
Scott was a big portal get. We need another center now behind JEJ to develop.
Pretty amazing to me that we accomplished 5 wins, and were essentially in all the games except for Colorado and Michigan, while leading the country in turnovers.
The O Line gave big clean pockets for 3-4 seconds plenty of times. Our QB decision making and experience squandered many opportunities. On TV you could see WRs running open and not getting a sniff of the ball because the QBs didn't have the timing and calmness to see windows come open.
Our discussion has shifted from repeated O line mistakes more to QB decision making. If we had a freshman 2AM or a Tommy Armstrong big arm mobile QB, we get into a decent bowl game, and would have been in serious discussion for B1G West crown.
That is a big credit to the improvement of the O line under Raiola. Not perfect but improving week to week. Kudos.
BB and TP improved on the edges. Our line improved at picking up stunts and blitzes. Much fewer deer in the headlights moments.
We rotated a lot of guys at guard and we didn't see a ton of drop off if any.
They played tough. They took the arrows. They stayed together.
We never saw improvement, and often saw regression under Greg Austin.
All that said, we need to work technique and explosiveness in the run game. Prime example yesterday, they showed backfield view of NN going to block an Iowa D linemen and the Iowa DL stayed squared and just ripped NN with his momentum and out of the play. Handwork and footwork need to continue improving.
Raiola already has recruited potentially more talent this year than GA did in his whole time coaching at NE.
Raiola kept those young men bonded and that isn't an easy task when conventional ground game is a challenge.
Scott was a big portal get. We need another center now behind JEJ to develop.
Pretty amazing to me that we accomplished 5 wins, and were essentially in all the games except for Colorado and Michigan, while leading the country in turnovers.
The O Line gave big clean pockets for 3-4 seconds plenty of times. Our QB decision making and experience squandered many opportunities. On TV you could see WRs running open and not getting a sniff of the ball because the QBs didn't have the timing and calmness to see windows come open.
Our discussion has shifted from repeated O line mistakes more to QB decision making. If we had a freshman 2AM or a Tommy Armstrong big arm mobile QB, we get into a decent bowl game, and would have been in serious discussion for B1G West crown.
That is a big credit to the improvement of the O line under Raiola. Not perfect but improving week to week. Kudos.