Finally got to rewatch the game

[Quint]

They had 18 starters on last year's team that are now either on an NFL roster or on another Power 4 team.

They finished 1-8 in the league.

It’s Frostian bad.

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

The problem is we are dumping $3m in our QB who is a legit all-star....but we have him doing check-downs all game.

If that's all we're doing we could have a $500k QB and put that $2.5m elsewhere like RB etc

I'm not advocating for this. Just making a point. We have a shit ton of $$$ tied up w our QB but we then turn around and have him throw 10 yd outs all day.

We arent dumping 3 mil into Dylan, thats with his Adidas and Panini etc. Endorsements included in that total.

 

[Quint]

We arent dumping 3 mil into Dylan, thats with his Adidas and Panini etc. Endorsements included in that total.

That’s the part that gets lost in the shuffle. Direct pay from the Universities -vs- other NIL agreements.

 

[Cornicator]

We arent dumping 3 mil into Dylan, thats with his Adidas and Panini etc. Endorsements included in that total.

Yes, and this is why Penn State and Tennessee signed new deals with Adidas. The Adidas brand is willing to pay college athletes for NIL deals.

Nike will only do that with Oregon and Michigan.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Yes, and this is why Penn State and Tennessee signed new deals with Adidas. The Adidas brand is willing to pay college athletes for NIL deals.

Nike will only do that with Oregon and Michigan.

Weird. I get Oregon, but why Michigan?

 

[Faux Sean Callahan]

So, Cincinnati isn't a bad team. I think they'll go to a bowl. That being said, MD, MSU, are better than Cincy. Minnesota might be as well.

We can debate it, but either way they are in the sandbox with those caliber of teams and we would be arguing over a negligible amount.

If they played any of those teams they would either be favorites or less than a FG dog.

 

[Faux Sean Callahan]

...why are you using FPI?

Do you have another power ranking tool?

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

We can debate it, but either way they are in the sandbox with those caliber of teams and we would be arguing over a negligible amount.

If they played any of those teams they would either be favorites or less than a FG dog.

Exactly and would we be worried if we only beat Minnesota by 3 this year? What about MSU etc? Id be tickled pink.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

All I know is that no one has ever been wrong guessing how good a team is based off 1 game

 

[Quint]

All I know is that no one has ever been wrong guessing how good a team is based off 1 game

I know that’s sarcasm, but hell, half of the people I talk to about football don’t have a clue how good or bad a team is based off of a season.

 

[DuckSker]

The RB room is the one that I just don't get, they very much needed to bring someone in, and when the NDSU guy ended up going elsewhere we just threw up the white flag and moved Mozee there.

DL I feel like we tried to get people here but it's really tough to replace Nash and Ty, I get that. I wish we could have found a guy similar to them in the portal, but they probably are extremely expensive.

Charmar Brown had a tuddy for Miami against ND last week right? Good for him getting the bag and going somewhere invested in winning. Starting a season with EJ Johnson and Mekhi Nelson as your RBs is not investing in winning to me.

A 7 win year 3 with a 5 star QB would be devastating, and no doubt Raiola wont be around next year if we limp to 7 wins against this schedule

 

[Quint]

Charmar Brown had a tuddy for Miami against ND last week right? Good for him getting the bag and going somewhere invested in winning. Starting a season with EJ Johnson and Mekhi Nelson as your RBs is not investing in winning to me.

To be fair, we don’t know how the conversation with Brown went, who else the staff contacted about transferring in and the timing of that. Brown might have indicated he was coming and then made the switch to Miami leaving us with an empty bag. It’s not like there are an unlimited number of impactful RB’s in the portal and the only thing keeping any given team from signing them is money. I’m not a fan of where we’re at with the room and think we’re likely a year away due to development from having a couple of guys who can rotate. That’s not ideal, but I also don’t think it’s indicative of a staff/program not invested in winning.

A 7 win year 3 with a 5 star QB would be devastating, and no doubt Raiola wont be around next year if we limp to 7 wins against this schedule

Let’s be honest. We only win seven this year and Raiola would have to big part of ‘why?’.

 

[Dear_Leader]

That’s not ideal, but I also don’t think it’s indicative of a staff/program not invested in winning.

If we’re truly at 30-40 in total NIL and all the talk is to be a fringe playoff team how would that possibly happen long term if we can’t fund the roster?

As well the rumor that if we beat Meechicken then we will get properly funded. It doesn’t math right to me.

 

[Quint]

If we’re truly at 30-40 in total NIL and all the talk is to be a fringe playoff team how would that possibly happen long term if we can’t fund the roster?

As well the rumor that if we beat Meechicken then we will get properly funded. It doesn’t math right to me.

I understand we want to frame the conversation with ‘We’re Nebraska’, but we haven’t done shit for over twenty years. We’ve been awful or borderline awful for most of the last ten. I get that people aren’t dumping loads of cash into what has been a futile effort for decades. Donors of substance likely want to see something more meaningful than a 20-17 win over Cincinnati before the back the truck up.

The staff and the program can’t do it all on their own, aside from winning meaningful games.

 

[Dear_Leader]

The staff and the program can’t do it all on their own, aside from winning meaningful games.

Age ole question then:

Jimmies and the Joes or the X’s and the O’s.

If it’s both then is the current plan going to get us there?

 

[Kaladin]

Reminder that we have the 20th most talented roster in CFB per 247:

https://247sports.com/season/2025-football/collegeteamtalentcomposite/

We have more blue chip athletes on the roster than at any time in the last decade, probably before that.

Whatever Rhule is doing from a recruiting perspective is working. If we start winning big games and 9 wins per season then we will get more NIL from boosters and we will be able to improve our roster even more.

 

[Quint]

Age ole question then:

Jimmies and the Joes or the X’s and the O’s.

If it’s both then is the current plan going to get us there?

X’s and O’s will get you a winning record. Jimmies and Joes AND X’s and O’s will win you championships.

I think we have to get there incrementally. Better record (hopefully with a high profile win or two) and bowl win this year and folks get more interested. I think that’s the current plan.

 

[Cornicator]

If we’re truly at 30-40 in total NIL and all the talk is to be a fringe playoff team how would that possibly happen long term if we can’t fund the roster?

As well the rumor that if we beat Meechicken then we will get properly funded. It doesn’t math right to me.

I will respond to this topic the same way I responded to questions about "how does Nebraska become a playoff team" in 2023 and those discussions that came up 2024.

Playoff talk is premature before Nebraska wins 9 games. And that's something Nebraska hasn't accomplished in 9 seasons. I understand the allure of being in the playoff consideration, but this program has to prove they can go 9-3 before we can talk about the playoffs. They need to prove they can sustain 9-3 before we can start discussing the next steps towards sustaining a playoff roster year in and year out.

Worry about becoming respectable first.

Also, I'm not sure I buy the notion that Nebraska was unable to "pay" Brown. I think Rhule genuinely didn't believe the value matched the ability, timing or production. Was it a mistake? Probably. But I still think the bigger mistake was either not trying to retain Dowdell in December or not targeting a portal back in December.

 

[HerbRedman]

Interesting anecdote from very top of Bussin WTB. Taylor was in KC for the game and he said he talked to an NFL scout in the press box and interestingly enough the scout was only there for 3 UC players (TE, DT, QB). And the scout guaranteed it'd be a close game, said UC is gonna be good, etc.

Just more fodder for the "Nebraska barely beat the worst team in the Big 12" crowd.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Interesting anecdote from very top of Bussin WTB. Taylor was in KC for the game and he said he talked to an NFL scout in the press box and interestingly enough the scout was only there for 3 UC players (TE, DT, QB). And the scout guaranteed it'd be a close game, said UC is gonna be good, etc.

Just more fodder for the "Nebraska barely beat the worst team in the Big 12" crowd.

Glad we've got no NFL prospects in year 3 of Rhule! Taste it haters