When Frost first saw the team last year

[ShortSideOption]

QB play is being underrated as an issue. I know the line has been a hot mess, but sometimes when you have a patchwork group, the QB has to make some plays and bail them out. That's exactly what AM did last year. He raised the level of play for the offense and in turn, the whole team.

I think he's been hurt all year. There is just no other logical explanation for the drop-off in performance. Even when the pocket is clean or there is 15 yards of open field for running, he's looked tentative.

I'd add that Nebraska had plenty of All-Conference lineman in the late '80s and early '90s. The offense still sputtered against Miami and FSU. It wasn't until Tommie Frazier arrived that things really started to click. He gave the whole team more confidence.

Lebowski - he may have started the year a little dinged up but I think bigger factors are:

+ the coaches asking him to do more
+ bad snaps

When watching, I think he still has the same instincts as last year but he is fighting them, making him appear tentative. You never perform at your best when second guessing yourself.

I think there's truth to a lot of this.... i'll add some because I think Martinez's play isn't up to snuff, but it's a byproduct of other things:

1) Center that has literally never played OL before
2) Person for reason 1 is having erratic snaps, and like it or not it is in Martinez's head
3) With someone who has never played OL before having to fill Farmer's spot, a first time starter is having to fill Foster's spot.
4) Gaylord's injury gives us no options to help Matt Farniok and slide him down where he would have better luck
5) Lastly, all of the weapons we are trying to use now were either hurt this spring (Robinson, Spielman, Warner), hurt now (Robinson, Martinez, Warner), or not even here yet (Mills, Noa). We built zero chemistry heading into fall camp and tried playing catch-up.

So the erratic OL play combined with skill position players taking live bullets trying to find chemistry is making for some bad offensive showings.

 

[NUinID]

I think there's truth to a lot of this.... i'll add some because I think Martinez's play isn't up to snuff, but it's a byproduct of other things:

1) Center that has literally never played OL before
2) Person for reason 1 is having erratic snaps, and like it or not it is in Martinez's head
3) With someone who has never played OL before having to fill Farmer's spot, a first time starter is having to fill Foster's spot.
4) Gaylord's injury gives us no options to help Matt Farniok and slide him down where he would have better luck
5) Lastly, all of the weapons we are trying to use now were either hurt this spring (Robinson, Spielman, Warner), hurt now (Robinson, Martinez, Warner), or not even here yet (Mills, Noa). We built zero chemistry heading into fall camp and tried playing catch-up.

So the erratic OL play combined with skill position players taking live bullets trying to find chemistry is making for some bad offensive showings.

All of these things are definitely causing problems. As to your # 2 Do you think it is possible that Martinez is getting into Jurgens head also? I mean I don't recall a bad snap in the Minnesota game. Maybe Martinez is really ragging him about the snaps.

The biggest problem for most people is that Frost came out and was completely too optimistic about this team. If he had just said we have a chance to be decent, but we still have a lot of chemistry to build with a lot of new guys and guys coming off of injuries.

Mills was a disappointment early and now I think they have lost confidence in him. He needs to play. Let Washington sit and pout. Play Mazour, Play Belt, Play Johnson, Heck play Moses Bryant.

You can also throw in our kicking problems. At this point even if Pickering is healthy I would only kick him 4 games so he can have a RS year.

Everyone is just really pissed about this Minnesota game. Nebraska played terrible no getting around it, Minnesota played great, there is no getting around that either. This is really the only game I have truly been disappointed in the effort.

Martinez just has to play better. If we for sure get 2018 Martinez for the last 5 games of the season I think we win the 3 games we are suppose to and I give us a punchers chance in the Iowa game.

 

[TnHusker87]

Lifelong fan... grew up watching Frazier and Berringer and never stopped
Longtime lurker... dating back at least 10 years
Finally... a subscriber.

Many opinions of Huskermax. Great source for information and some very intelligent posters. Also, many sunshine pumpers and negative Nancies. Here to offer my

The Minnesota game? For those looking at the score from last year to this year, check the stats. Last year Ozigbo, Morgan, and Martinez accounted for 716 yards. 716! Not saying they would have done the same this last weekend but maybe we missed them more than the board is considering. Add in a possible lack of confidence in the snap and a young Oline and one could understand a drop off. When the offense spends less time on the field, the defense spends more, and then these things are bound to happen.

I am confident the team is heading in the right direction. Line play impacts everything and, in my opinion, is the longest to develop during a turnaround. The skill players are here and more are coming. Strong line players and linebackers are too. Ty Robinson, Benhart, Corcoran, Hutmacher. Hannah, Henrich, Gunnerson. Yes, I am anticipating these guys will elevate our play over the next 4-5 years.

Nebraska is improving. It is just not translating the way all of us would like to see... yet. Patience is needed. Imagine if snaps were a non-issue this year. I suspect we would all see a different Adrian Martinez this season and that would also help the defensive numbers. Growing pains. Jurgens may very well turn out to be a great center, but he is learning and improving significantly. Like the rest of the team, there is a learning curve. Not making excuses. We all want it now, but it takes time to build it right.

Welcome to the board @blackshirt red!

 

[ShortSideOption]

All of these things are definitely causing problems. As to your # 2 Do you think it is possible that Martinez is getting into Jurgens head also? I mean I don't recall a bad snap in the Minnesota game. Maybe Martinez is really ragging him about the snaps.

The biggest problem for most people is that Frost came out and was completely too optimistic about this team. If he had just said we have a chance to be decent, but we still have a lot of chemistry to build with a lot of new guys and guys coming off of injuries.

Mills was a disappointment early and now I think they have lost confidence in him. He needs to play. Let Washington sit and pout. Play Mazour, Play Belt, Play Johnson, Heck play Moses Bryant.

You can also throw in our kicking problems. At this point even if Pickering is healthy I would only kick him 4 games so he can have a RS year.

Everyone is just really pissed about this Minnesota game. Nebraska played terrible no getting around it, Minnesota played great, there is no getting around that either. This is really the only game I have truly been disappointed in the effort.

Martinez just has to play better. If we for sure get 2018 Martinez for the last 5 games of the season I think we win the 3 games we are suppose to and I give us a punchers chance in the Iowa game.

To the question if Martinez is in Jurgens' head, it's possible. That said, Matt Farniok called him out too, he was out there. Also, Minnesota didn't have a nose over the center against us, further, we had outside help for Jurgens with snapping. But maybe he was intimidated with Martinez back there, really don't know. That said, the snaps weren't an issue against Minny.

I would really like to know what Frost saw that made him come with the "dangerous in 2019" comment. And what hasn't come to fruition? Were some of the guys that left like Cam Jones, CJ Smith, Guy Tomas, Avery Roberts, Tristan Gebbia, were they bigger parts than we thought? Did we not develop as well as he thought? To your point, I really hope this isn't what he meant by dangerous, and we all know he didn't. Which is why there's a lot of frustration.

Not having a kicker is a massive issue. Again, an injury that is causing problems. What's different in Lincoln compared to Orlando where they had "zero injuries year 2"? We have better everything theoretically.

 

[MadRat]

Jurgens snapped inconsistently against Minnesota, only it didn't seem to phase Vedral. But the bad snaps were there. Is AJ Forbes hurt, because he was pretty consistent. Forbes was the best blocking center in the spring and I cannot believe he's really worse than Jurgens. He also doesn't get bulled over like the other two did in the spring. Jurgens might be valuable at tight end to seal the EMOL. We cannot seem to get the EMOL sealed whenever Washington is in, and that's when we really need it.

Mike Decker retiring hurt worse than the others you named. He was pretty solid, although for whatever reasons the staff didn't see his talent.

 

[huskrthill]

I figure this thread is as good as any to drop this...

Football is a unique sport in that you really need everyone on the field doing their job consistently to even look reasonably good. You could have 10 guys do the right thing, but a bad snap can ruin the timing. Or one guy miss a block. Or one guy drop a pass. Or a running back not see a hole. Or a receiver turn the wrong way. And so on and so on. Or someone get called for a hold, a false start, etc.

And that's just the offensive side of the ball.

So when we talk about having talent or not having talent, or when we talk about youth or experience, remember that we're looking at a team that has had turnover, that has experienced multiple systems, and/or is very inexperienced depending on the position. Nebraska needs to establish some sort of consistency, and that goes for players and coaches. It means showing up to practice, showing up for workouts, putting in the effort, committing to being better, and pressing each other to be better. It can't just be a few guys, or even most of the guys. It needs to be nearly everyone. There will always be some outliers, and the hope is that those folks don't stick around long.

We can analyze the crap out of the team, and there will likely be some validity in most criticisms. This is a team that has found new ways to look bad, but it's also a team that has shown flashes of being pretty good.

Once we learn to be more consistent across the board, those flashes will start to become more common.

 

[huskrthill]

Jurgens snapped inconsistently against Minnesota, only it didn't seem to phase Vedral. But the bad snaps were there.

Really? Are you saying this just to be contrarian?

 

[MadRat]

Really? Are you saying this just to be contrarian?

Not at all. I really didn't notice until the replay.

 

[Husker Doug]

I wonder what went through his mind at seeing this team in person, after just leaving the UCF team.
Was it 'OMG what am I gonna do?' Or, 'OMG what am I gonna say to all the fans who think I'm going to work a miracle from here on out.'
He had to do something to give Husker Nation hope, and he did. That team played above what they were able. He had to have known what the replacements were pretty much going to be able to manage after the Seniors were gone.

We may have to deal with a few more blowouts this year but I think with year 3 those will be a thing of the past for us. The future looks bright so don't discard your Husker hats and shirts.

When Frost came in last year at age 44 he was the second strongest person on the team. What does that tell you.

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

All i'm saying is the upperclass that you are downplaying beat the piss out of Minnesota last year.

Did they really "beat the piss out of Minnesota last year?" Does nobody else remember that Minnesota made a 2nd half push against us in 2018 that had 2+ million buttholes clenched to the breaking point before we sealed the game late with more TDs? Minnesota fired their DC a couple games after Nebraska, and there was immediate improvement. Watch any of the last Minnesota games of the 2018 season and convince yourself that that was the same defense that we mauled. Their top 2 RBs didn't play against us, so we saw a lot of Ibrahim, who was also good. Throw in the fact that they started a lot more freshmen and sophomores than we did at the end of the year, and then tell me why, exactly, we expected to steamroll these guys? I was optimistic that we could beat them, but losing to them absolutely doesn't mean that we've somehow backslid off of a cliff from 2018. Our O-line is worse, and Adrian didn't play. We didn't score early when we had opportunities, and it snowballed. That's football. Minnesota could say much the same about last year.

I understand that nobody likes to get steamrolled, but why do we continue to make light of teams that are very much at our level? Minnesota drilled Purdue and Wisconsin last year at the end of the year. We didn't. Minnesota had a bad day against us, and Fleck pretty much admitted that they were outcoached and outschemed in the post-game press conference in 2018. Why did we assume that that was the norm, always to be repeated?

 

[ShortSideOption]

Did they really "beat the piss out of Minnesota last year?" Does nobody else remember that Minnesota made a 2nd half push against us in 2018 that had 2+ million buttholes clenched to the breaking point before we sealed the game late with more TDs? Minnesota fired their DC a couple games after Nebraska, and there was immediate improvement. Watch any of the last Minnesota games of the 2018 season and convince yourself that that was the same defense that we mauled. Their top 2 RBs didn't play against us, so we saw a lot of Ibrahim, who was also good. Throw in the fact that they started a lot more freshmen and sophomores than we did at the end of the year, and then tell me why, exactly, we expected to steamroll these guys? I was optimistic that we could beat them, but losing to them absolutely doesn't mean that we've somehow backslid off of a cliff from 2018. Our O-line is worse, and Adrian didn't play. We didn't score early when we had opportunities, and it snowballed. That's football. Minnesota could say much the same about last year.

I understand that nobody likes to get steamrolled, but why do we continue to make light of teams that are very much at our level? Minnesota drilled Purdue and Wisconsin last year at the end of the year. We didn't. Minnesota had a bad day against us, and Fleck pretty much admitted that they were outcoached and outschemed in the post-game press conference in 2018. Why did we assume that that was the norm, always to be repeated?

If leading by 3 TDS at half and winning 53-28 while compiling over 650 yards of offense and holding them to 125 yards rushing isn’t beating the piss out of someone, I don’t know what is. I guess another term we could use is we “rolled” them instead of “beat the piss out of.”



I’m not making light of any team. I’m telling you that Scott Frost inherited a team that destroyed Minnesota last year. In year 2 Minnesota destroyed Nebraska. Your post tells me Minnesota improved from 2018 to 2019, that’s what the issue is. Because right now Nebraska hasn’t. We destroyed Illinois last year, had to come from behind to beat them this year. We kept it close with Ohio State last year, got rolled at home this year. Those are two more examples. Only games that we look close to the same is Northwestern and Colorado and one of those we lost both years.

 

[jreb14]

I agree we have not improved from last year. This is not a very good football team. I do not understand the small ball. We are neither fast or powerful with small people playing. We need to run bigger running backs and replace the center until he can snap consistently. I agree TE is not sealing the edge because we can not attack perimeter or attack vertically.

 

[Hville]

I came to this party late and have read a good deal of the thread. I'm not sure anyone is really wrong with their predictions or their hypotheticals. And for the most part that is what it is. But you can't rule out the facts of the eye test either. Right now this coaching staff is doing a poor job of development. I know some have mentioned he needs his players and others have said he has failed to recruit to our weak spots. I'll give you an example right off the top of my head. Greg Bell, Will Honas, Dedrick Mills, Jaron Woodyard, Jahkeem Green. These are junior college transfers that made Big impacts at their position in the Junior college ranks and were highly ranked Nationally at their positions. And yet they had or have had very little impact on our program and none of them seem to have gotten any better. Many would say they have digressed.

I believe SF is the right guy but if the assistants can't get better play out of proven players than we have some coaching problems that probably aren't going to make this a success any time in the near future.

 

[Bleed Red]

I came to this party late and have read a good deal of the thread. I'm not sure anyone is really wrong with their predictions or their hypotheticals. And for the most part that is what it is. But you can't rule out the facts of the eye test either. Right now this coaching staff is doing a poor job of development. I know some have mentioned he needs his players and others have said he has failed to recruit to our weak spots. I'll give you an example right off the top of my head. Greg Bell, Will Honas, Dedrick Mills, Jaron Woodyard, Jahkeem Green. These are junior college transfers that made Big impacts at their position in the Junior college ranks and were highly ranked Nationally at their positions. And yet they had or have had very little impact on our program and none of them seem to have gotten any better. Many would say they have digressed.

I believe SF is the right guy but if the assistants can't get better play out of proven players than we have some coaching problems that probably aren't going to make this a success any time in the near future.

Sorry, just because JUCOs dominate at that level doesn't mean they immediately dominate at the next. Bell was obviously a bust and Woodyard and Williams as well, but Honas and Mills can be contributors. There is a reason that JUCO rebuilds are not all that sustainable (except for KSU but they really didn't have a choice).
I just don't equate JUCO recruits to "proven players".
I will admit i'm confused how Noa can put up the stats he had in Cal and then do nothing at NU.

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

If leading by 3 TDS at half and winning 53-28 while compiling over 650 yards of offense and holding them to 125 yards rushing isn’t beating the piss out of someone, I don’t know what is. I guess another term we could use is we “rolled” them instead of “beat the piss out of.”

Interesting that you jumped from halftime to the end of the game. What about that third quarter? Anyone else remember that? "28-22" ring a bell? Maybe you watched Morgan come in for an injured Annexstad and tear through us, and it didn't bother you, but the Husker fans that I was sitting by were at full pucker.

As for the rest of the teams that you mentioned, Illinois and Minnesota are (I think) the only two teams that we played in '18 who predominantly relied on younger players than we did. Both had almost everyone back, especially in the trenches. You've been around football: when young teams have everyone back on the O-line and play against another young team that is weak in the O-line, who would you expect to win?

Ohio State is the opposite. I thought that losing 4 starters on the O-line would put them in reverse until November, at the least: I was very wrong. I thought that their new co-DCs would keep their defensive scheme simple enough that we could dissect it: if we could, we'd never know because they were in our backfield too fast to ever find out.

It's an axiom that is as old as football coaches being interviewed: you're never as good or as bad as you think you are. Our O-line is bad, but our "team?" Not so much. You can't hide a bad O-line, so that affects everything else. We'll find out in the next couple of games how much our O-line has improved.

I would really like to know what Frost saw that made him come with the "dangerous in 2019" comment.

How much different would our offense look if we had Andre Hunt and Jaron Woodyard as legitimate deep ball threats at any point in the game? We have no deep threat. All we needed was, literally, the threat of throwing deep to someone other than our Z or R, and it changes the defense, which opens up the offense. Instead of demanding a CB with FS help, everybody we play can throw their #2 CB on our X and forget about him for the rest of the game. It's crippled our offense, and I don't know how you would have guessed that Woodyard would still be battling injury, and/or that Andre Hunt would be a piece of sh_t who treats women like garbage. Throw in the bad snaps--which do a heck of a lot more than blow up an occasional play as the QB has to be focused on what is supposed to be the most routine part of every offensive play. Add in some injuries, and, voila, here we are.