Sunday Morning Thoughts

[HughJanus]

Dylan Raiola is the first quarterback to throw for 300+ yards and 3+ TDs against Biff's Butthole Surfers since Stetson Bennett in 2021. Pretty impressive with only 3 offensive linemen.

 

[HughJanus]

Dylan Raiola is the first quarterback to throw for 300+ yards and 3+ TDs against Biff's Butthole Surfers since Stetson Bennett in 2021. Pretty impressive with only 3 offensive linemen.

He’s just the 4th QB since 1995 to throw 300+ yards, 3+ TDs, AND complete 70+% of his passes in a game against Biff's Butthole Surfers.

Joining Indiana’s Ben Chappell (2010), tOSU’s Troy Smith (2006) and Auburn’s Ben Leard (2001).

 

[Kazman5k]

We’re beating PSU

 

[Carm]

Since Biff's Butthole Surfers lost back-to-back games against #1 Oregon and #8 Indiana (5 point loss) last year they are 6-1 including wins over NC Ohio St and #11 Alabama, only loss to Oklahoma. Thery are not they team of 2023, but they are still formidable.

 

[V-Doub]

Dylan’s lack of mobility is a mismatch for Dana’s offense. Hard to stress the defense when your run game is mediocre and you don’t have the receivers/can’t pass block long enough to stretch the field in the pass game.

I think DR is more than capable in Holgo’s offense if you give him a legit offensive line. And to OP’s point about mesh concepts. They’re not gonna be effective if neither your RB or QB threaten the defense with their running ability.

I don’t think we have the personnel to run mesh concept RPOs. JMO

 

[SolichFan1987]

All encompassing of the entire fanbase. Guy who started this thread said Dylan was essentially only good when he can stand back and plant his feet which just isn’t true.

Dylan is good. But he can be better. I’m not suggesting at all that he should be replaced or anything like that.

I do think he has a tendency to hold onto the ball too long. The sacks aren’t on him, but he could have done more to move around a bit and/or throw the ball away.

That said, I’m very impressed with his ability to avoid turnovers. he’s smart with the ball, which we haven’t had in forever.

 

[Sous Chef]

I really struggle to understand some people’s takes on Raiola…he was under pressure on I believe I saw it was 36 of his drop backs. He extended multiple plays.

Stat line of 73% 310 yards and 3 TDS is better than any QB that has ever played for us would put up passing wise in that circumstance.

Was accurate while on the move. If he doesn’t throw his 1st pick of the year then the narrative around him would be totally different.

Dylan was beyond impressive yesterday. He's the real deal.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Dylan is good. But he can be better. I’m not suggesting at all that he should be replaced or anything like that.

I do think he has a tendency to hold onto the ball too long. The sacks aren’t on him, but he could have done more to move around a bit and/or throw the ball away.

That said, I’m very impressed with his ability to avoid turnovers. he’s smart with the ball, which we haven’t had in forever.

part of that is because Biff's Butthole Surfers's pass rush was winning with 4 or occasionally 3 rushers. that means you have 7 or 8 defenders in coverage, and when we start using the TE or RB to help with pass protection it makes the numbers even worse

people love to complain about sacks, but the alternative is usually forcing the ball into coverage which results in INTs like last year. outside of the one throw where he misread the coverage Dylan did a good job with ball security and not putting the ball in risky spots

expecting him to "move around better" is kind of ridiculous, imo. yesterday he did well to avoid the rush and made some key completions after making guys miss or breaking a tackle in the backfield.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

here's some of Dylan's national rankings:

yards - 10th
completion % - 3rd
TDs - 5th
QB rating - 15th

If I had told you before the season that those would be his rankings through 4 games we all would have been ecstatic

 

[Tsakoi]

We tried to skip a step.

Of course the schedule is what it is so we had to play Biff's Butthole Surfers yesterday but the truth is that we need to start beating teams like MSU, Maryland and Minnesota before we will be ready to beat teams like Biff's Butthole Surfers.

Let's win the next 3 and get those monkeys off our backs.

 

[KidsSeeGhosts]

Complementary Football

I don't think we've seen the best version of this team. In its ideal state, you build a lead stressing with the passing strength, and then sit on them a bit with ground + pound with added stress from deep PA concepts. Then on D you're aggressive and back it up with NFL level pass D concepts. That's a good recipe, but we haven't quite been able to land the plane yet.

Defense

Starting here as patron saint of radical of the calm down movement (but gd some of you are being emotional).

TD1. My guess is this is a pre-read RPO and really shows the challenge of being a DC in current CFB landscape (that's why it's fun you fuckers). No idea if they checked into it or went Shedildo with perfect timing, but whatever chance we had with the lighter box was evaporated with the stunt. Underwood honestly didn't do much, but this is what that kind of player can still give you now.

TD2. Another one where the stunt puts us off the wrong football against the play call. This shit is going to happen with as aggressive as we are on D. I'm not sure how much of that is scheme or how much is how we're compensating for lack of experience/lack of currently elite DL, but this shit is going to happen. Still think Shavers probably needs to fill a little faster behind the stunt (guy in his first year in these type of game situations btw) and then you have Buford overrun the fit a little. When Biff's Butthole Surfers blocks up this well, you've gotta get the fit right. Cannot do that against a player like Haynes.

TD3. See Complementary Football. Some of this is the product of a defense that had been hung out to dry for most of the third quarter with h Biff's Butthole Surfers threatening in plus territory due to an O failing to do much of anything. Beyond that, just pretty fucking blocking. Watch the climb to LBs from the OL and the WR blocking on Guthrie to clear out the lane. This scheme asks you to fit all 11, which can be tough after the body blows. Don't care if it's maize and blue, that's pretty football.

Back-Breaking 8 min Edgefest. This is the one where, unfortunately, it all comes together. Kudos to the defense on only giving up 3 on a 16 play drive, 8 min drive where Biff's Butthole Surfers displayed the whole game plane. Three of Biff's Butthole Surfers's four third down conversations for the entire game came on this drive (75% on that drive, 33% for the game). Reflect on that. On two of those we had a player there to make the tackle and they just couldn't quite complete the play. On two of those, they're taking advantage of the aggressiveness (screen and run on 3rd and long). Were almost still able to make the play on the screen and on the run, they just had your number. Flip any one of those and DR is driving for a lead.

Honestly, do not recall a game where an opponent scored 3 TDs all on explosive plays, but didn't score a TD in the red zone (only one RZ trip total at that).

College kicker makes a 57 yarder and our guy misses one within his range. Don't come away with any points within the 5, miss on the safety, and end up with zero points with short punt and great field position. They get you with great coverage on the INT and get the immediate TD. That's a tough sequence, but the team battled. Despite what felt like most of the fanbase expecting them to do the opposite.

 

[dom91932]

We'll never know. Either way, uncle Donny and our soft plush pillows on the OL are a yuuuuge problem.

"Plush pillows" is the best description of them.

 

[Flabio]

Dylan is good. But he can be better. I’m not suggesting at all that he should be replaced or anything like that.

I do think he has a tendency to hold onto the ball too long. The sacks aren’t on him, but he could have done more to move around a bit and/or throw the ball away.

That said, I’m very impressed with his ability to avoid turnovers. he’s smart with the ball, which we haven’t had in forever.

I think hes forcing himself to press bc he knows the D is going to give up points and his rb isnt very good. He has to much pressure to make it all work with little help.

 

[TripleOption]

Dylan is a good QB, but it's not a stretch or even a bad take when people say that we might need a QB that is a little more mobile if our OL is that bad. Doesn't mean they think Lateef is better than Dylan right now, just that his athleticism might've given us a better shot at avoiding 7 sacks.

Or, him being so young with little experience, they get more than 7 sacks. See how easy that was?

 

[ChocaEgg]

Or, him being so young with little experience, they get more than 7 sacks. See how easy that was?

 

[Cash68847]

Another kick in nuts, chance to end that insanely annoying 0-28 against ranked teams stat.

Overall, pretty disappointing effort. Our OL got absolutely dominated, which is pretty inexcusable at this stage. Rhule has had 3 years to fix the OL, get better talent in there. Our two tackles are not close to being good enough to win the big ten.

Dylan was fine. Pocket presence was pretty shit, but was also under pressure almost every snap. If he sets his feet and is squared up, he’s legit. But he does that far less often than you would like. He’s also very, very bad when pressured.

That said, I’m still not entirely sure what our offense is supposed to be. We throw a million check down passes, and our run game is pretty vanilla. I think that bites us on plays like that 4th and 2 on the first drive, where there’s not a “we can hang our hat on this” play that we have.

They would run the orbit motion with Mozee and/or Nelson but never really did anything with it. Holgo has run a ton of mesh in the past, didn’t really see it yesterday. I think we actually have very good skill position guys this year, and have the potential to be a very good offense.

Defense was all or nothing. Had some awesome stops, TFLS, and forced a fumble. Run fits were very bad, and tackling was an issue. Everyone’s gonna give up some chunk runs, but giving up 3 long TD runs is due to terrible tackling and lack of good angles being taken. The box was also pretty light at times, would have preferred to have Underwood forced to pass more.

Special teams, ehhh. Archie was awesome. Missed field goal and the Barney punt caught inside the 5, can’t have that.

Rhule’s in game management was fine. The timeout sequence at the end of the first half was more a result of Biff’s incompetence. Didn’t really have any WTF moments. Hindsight being 20/20, def should have kicked that field goal on the first drive. But I also had more of an issue with the 4th down play call than the decision itself.

Overall,
I do feel confident, and this doesn’t feel like “same old Nebraska”. This game could have easily been a blowout loss. The team didn’t quit.

I’m so incredibly tired of the “Matt Rhule year 3” “0-fer against ranked teams”. Last year, we slayed the dragon of losing games where bowl eligibility is on the line. This year, we HAVE to break that top 25 streak.

Going forward schedule wise
Biff's Butthole Surfers State- Great Offense, bad defense. Chiles is a great QB, but I think Dylan is better
Maryland- Malik Washington another good freshman QB, but Maryland is a very flawed team overall.
Minnesota- Gotta beat this team. They will try to bully ball us, and pound the rock. They don’t have the line or RBs that Biff's Butthole Surfers has. Can’t lose to them.
Northwestern- Not a good team. Gotta win here.
USC- This will be our next chance at a top 25 win. Maiava looks to be the real deal. Do like that this one is at home.
UCLA- Long road trip, but this team is a mess right now. Can’t lose two years in a row to UCLA, simply cannot.
Penn State- A better version of Biff's Butthole Surfers. Gonna be very tough
Cockeye- Not as good as they’ve been. Their offense is putrid as usual. Their D isn’t as dominant as it’s been in the past. Another monkey off the back win we need.

I think Rhule is 0-18 against ranked teams since leaving Temple too.

 

[nja13]

Dylan is a good QB, but it's not a stretch or even a bad take when people say that we might need a QB that is a little more mobile if our OL is that bad. Doesn't mean they think Lateef is better than Dylan right now, just that his athleticism might've given us a better shot at avoiding 7 sacks.

And how many fewer passed do we complete? Dylan made all kinds of big boy throws yesterday. We have no idea how Lateef can throw in that situation based on a couple outings against really shitty teams.

There’s a reason the backup QB is always the most popular player. Because when he is elevated to starter and plays enough to expose his flaws, fans move on to hoping the next guy on the bench can meet the standard of play fans have constructed in their imaginations based on on hopes, dreams and garbage time snaps.

 

[Carm]

And how many fewer passed do we complete? Dylan made all kinds of big boy throws yesterday. We have no idea how Lateef could throw in that game based on a couple outings against really shitty teams.

There’s a reason the backup QB is always the most popular player. Because when he is elevated to starter and plays enough to expose his flaws, fans move on to hoping the next guy on the bench can meet the standard of play fans have constructed in their imaginations based on on hopes, dreams and garbage time snaps.

yeah, we've only seen TJ in mop-up time against very weak teams. That doesn't mean he could be effective whatsoever against Biff's Butthole Surfers at this stage of his career.

 

[Grug]

Dylan’s lack of mobility is a mismatch for Dana’s offense. Hard to stress the defense when your run game is mediocre and you don’t have the receivers/can’t pass block long enough to stretch the field in the pass game.

Dylan is one of the strengths of the team. We gave up 290 yards rushing on 9.4 ypc. Let's start there.

 

[nscottie]

yeah, we've only seen TJ in mop-up time against very weak teams. That doesn't mean he could be effective whatsoever against Biff's Butthole Surfers at this stage of his career.

Possibly play okay but also possible the big lights and rush overwhelm him