Finally got to rewatch the game

[nja13]

I don’t think “we got so thoroughly exposed in the first game.” There are things that need to be fixed and improved upon but “so thoroughly exposed” seems dramatic for giving up 17 points in the first game.

He's talking about the Cincinatti defense forcing our offense to dink and dunk all night and concerned what might happen when better teams use the same strategy.

 

[Flabio]

I think what we do with our '27 recruiting class will be telling. We are in on a lot of Top 100 players and already have two in the boat.
With a good season this year and recrutiing momentum building, we will have the opporutnity to spend a lot of NIL on high school recruiting. Will we capitalize, or will most of them go elsewhere because we can't afford that many blue chippers?

They have to make significant cuts to both the rFR and SO classes. Target rich environment for reaches that need to go and be replaced by better prospects imo. The culture is important but carrying players who can’t crack the two deep need to be evaluated.

Take a look at those classes:
https://www.on3.com/teams/nebraska-...aska-football-scholarship-distribution-chart/

Some examples:
Kwinten Ives, Eric Ingwerson, Ashton Murphy, Madon Goldman, Dylan Rogers, Maverick Noonan, Brice Turner. I don’t watch practices and have no inside info it just seems like there are way too many projects in those classes that have to be moved on to even out classes.

As mentioned maybe we just don’t have the money to upgrade. If that’s the case it still feels like you have to cut the reaches/projects that aren’t going to pan out with ones who may have a chance too.

 

[wildcat_husker]

He's talking about the Cincinatti defense forcing our offense to dink and dunk all night and concerned what might happen when better teams use the same strategy.

My point still stands.

 

[HerbRedman]

The problem is we are dumping 3 mil into a qb that isn’t an all star

Disagree.

I watched a fuck ton of CFB this weekend and I didn't see a better QB all weekend. Castellanos maybe but they're so different it's hard to say. The Cal guy looked amazing but Oregon St is shit-tay.


I think the issue is Rhule had SO many turnovers his first season he overcorrected to the point where we're so protective of the ball that we've slowed the game down to a halt. And we can't get any rhythm going bc it's just so...fuckin...slow.

And Dylan buys into it because he knows this preps him extremely well for the NFL. 70% completion and no INTs.


I just think they all need a little "fuck it" mentality that Castellanos and FSU have. But Rhule is determined to have every game end in a 20-17 ulcer-inducing ass burner. Just like we did last year. And the year before.

 

[Flabio]

Disagree.

I watched a fuck ton of CFB this weekend and I didn't see a better QB all weekend. Castellanos maybe but they're so different it's hard to say. The Cal guy looked amazing but Oregon St is shit-tay.


I think the issue is Rhule had SO many turnovers his first season he overcorrected to the point where we're so protective of the ball that we've slowed the game down to a halt. And we can't get any rhythm going bc it's just so...fuckin...slow.

And Dylan buys into it because he knows this preps him extremely well for the NFL.


I just think they all need a little "fuck it" mentality that Castellanos and FSU have. But Rhule is determined to have every game end in a 20-17 ulcer-inducing ass burner.

I also wonder if we played pretty vanilla while Cincy played like this was their Super Bowl.

 

[Kaladin]

I think the issue is Rhule had SO many turnovers his first season he overcorrected to the point where we're so protective of the ball that we've slowed the game down to a halt. And we can't get any rhythm going bc it's just so...fuckin...slow.

And Dylan buys into it because he knows this preps him extremely well for the NFL. 70% completion and no INTs.

I think you’re right and I think Rhule has bought heavily into the Jim Harbaugh Michigan style of play that won them a natty in 2023 and he is modeling our program after Harbaughs

 

[...TrueColors...]

I think people were expecting a year 3 jump and it was difficult to see it on the field Thursday. But who knows, we beat Michigan at home and all the handwringing goes away.

Not sure I’d say I see no jump.

 

[...TrueColors...]

Agree. I think my concern is my questions seem even more glaring after our first game. Would have liked to see that we had an RB2 or a DL that could stuff things up the middle to alleviate concerns.

I told myself I’m not going to tilt my head and try to talk myself into anything this offseason. My worry has always been the DL and it remains that way. That’s got to get better. I’m hoping most of it is scheme rather than simply not having the guys.

 

[nja13]

My point still stands.

Well, yes, it does. But your point about our defense is unrelated to the point about our offense in the post you quoted.

 

[wildcat_husker]

Well, yes, it does. But your point about our defense is unrelated to the point about our offense in the post you quoted.

Sorry.

 

[Blakejc]

So we’ve given up on Holgo already, eh? Everyone is just going to copy Cincy’s gameplan and he won’t adapt at all. Got it.

 

[nja13]

They have to make significant cuts to both the rFR and SO classes. Target rich environment for reaches that need to go and be replaced by better prospects imo. The culture is important but carrying players who can’t crack the two deep need to be evaluated.

Take a look at those classes:
https://www.on3.com/teams/nebraska-...aska-football-scholarship-distribution-chart/

Some examples:
Kwinten Ives, Eric Ingwerson, Ashton Murphy, Madon Goldman, Dylan Rogers, Maverick Noonan, Brice Turner. I don’t watch practices and have no inside info it just seems like there are way too many projects in those classes that have to be moved on to even out classes.

As mentioned maybe we just don’t have the money to upgrade. If that’s the case it still feels like you have to cut the reaches/projects that aren’t going to pan out with ones who may have a chance too.

Absolutely agree. By the time the '27 class shows up, those guys will be in their fourth or fifth year in the program. If they are not contributors, I have very little doubt they'll be long gone from our roster by then. The '23 and '24 class numbers will not inhibit us with our class of current high school juniors. Those classes were signed when there was basically no roster or scholarship limits, so we felt free to take on as many promising projects as we wanted. By '27 we'll know who has panned out.

 

[wildcat_husker]

So we’ve given up on Holgo already, eh? Everyone is just going to copy Cincy’s gameplan and he won’t adapt at all. Got it.

Every team is going to back their safeties up and we’re only going to win two more games because we were exposed 😭

 

[...TrueColors...]

Every team is going to back their safeties up and we’re only going to win two more games because we were exposed 😭

Of the worries I have, offense is not one. Like at all. Maybe RB2. That’s it

 

[wildcat_husker]

Of the worries I have, offense is not one. Like at all. Maybe RB2. That’s it

Same.

The only thing that worries me about RB2 was the reluctance to give reps to the younger guys. That signals the coaches may not think they have “it.” Excited to watch them these next couple games.

 

[HerbRedman]

Man it's like the PFF Guys had this place bugged. This popped up on my YouTube feed just as I was reading this thread. Here's some bullet points for you TLDR folks:

PFF CFB Show: Nebraska-Cincinnati review notes:

• this came confused the hell out of me. even after watching it a 2nd time
• If you told me beforehand a team was winning with 40 min TOP, dink & dunk passing - i would have told you that was UC winning
• Nebraska played keep away, that was what i was expecting UC to do
• this was a bizarro version of each team
• i though Nebraska was overly conservative in this game (DR depth of target 4.3 yds)
• let Raiola stand in the pocket and take some shots
• i thought NU could have attacked more. Key looked great, Hunter looked great, EJ looked great. but they never did
• i come out of this game feeling like Nebraska should have won by more
• and i don't know what Nebraska's offensive identity is
• for Cincinnati, this was a copy of their last 8 games
• all of their games are going to look like this because UC can't push the ball downfield
• UC needed to be the TOP team to win this
• Sorsby 2.6 yds per pass
• final interception: NU did a great job of showing Cover 1 and rotating to Cover 2. they fooled Sorsby
• UC should not throw unless it's 3rd and long
• Nebraska's secondary was spectacular - they were the best unit of the night, both teams. it was lights out on the outside
• NU coverage grade: 89.4. that was their best rating ever since 2014 when we started PFF scoring. (tied vs Purdue 2014). tied the best coverage rating ever.
• Nebraska's offensive leadership, including DH, needs to figure out what their identity is. felt like they were just running random plays
• the next 2 weeks i want to really see them figure it out
• they will not beat Michigan without a set plan and way to sequence their offense
• i want to see this NU offense get aggressive. they're not going to be in the CFP discussion if they're not
• good on Nebraska for winning the type of game they normally lost under Scott Frost
• they may have 3-4 more of these types of games this season

 

[Flabio]

Absolutely agree. By the time the '27 class shows up, those guys will be in their fourth or fifth year in the program. If they are not contributors, I have very little doubt they'll be long gone from our roster by then. The '23 and '24 class numbers will not inhibit us with our class of current high school juniors. Those classes were signed when there was basically no roster or scholarship limits, so we felt free to take on as many promising projects as we wanted. By '27 we'll know who has panned out.

I really like Rhule but I am a little worried he’s too soft to make the cuts needed. Maybe the new general manager will push him.

 

[...TrueColors...]

Same.

The only thing that worries me about RB2 was the reluctance to give reps to the younger guys. That signals the coaches may not think they have “it.” Excited to watch them these next couple games.

The portion of the game that I feel we missed opportunities was when we got 3 straight 3 and outs from our defense. People forget that happened, but it most certainly did. Off of our corresponding possessions we got 3 points and we got the turnover on what would have been Cincy’s 4th possession in that sequence.

When we get those spots in the game we have to put daylight in between us and them. Had we gotten 7 more points in that span and gone into the half up 20-3 we’ve got a chance then to put the dagger in on the first possession of the 2H.

Then all of a sudden Cincy has to do things they don’t want to offensively. Then the blowout is on and a party in Arrowhead commences.

All in all, I think I expected a bit much out of the first game combined with Cincy being a bit more of a challenging match up for us than I thought they’d be.

Do we lose that game last year? Yes. But for a different reason than others have given. We lose that game last year because last year we don’t have the playmakers needed to go win a 1v1 battle and score in the redzone like Key and Hunter both did in that game. If you end up settling for 3 in either situation we are effectively fucked.

 

[nja13]

I really like Rhule but I am a little worried he’s too soft to make the cuts needed. Maybe the new general manager will push him.

I don't know. This is a guy who fired one of his best buddies (Sat) in the middle of the season and brought in a new guy. Then after the season he fired another long time comrade and buddy (Foley) and pushed out the son (McGuire) of another good buddy. All three replacements were guys he has never worked with before.

I have not seen the softness from Rhule you are refering to when it comes to making tough decisions. I really don't think Rhule will have any trouble cutting dead weight from the roster.

 

[Irv]

and i don't know what Nebraska's offensive identity is

Nebraska's offensive leadership, including DH, needs to figure out what their identity is. felt like they were just running random plays

definitely felt this on Thursday.