Finally got to rewatch the game

[Toe]

- I am a fan of our TE room, I like Lindenmeyer, and Haarberg/Nelson give us an added dimension. But one of the reasons we couldn't run the ball effectively IMO was we don't have that second guy like Boerkircher would have been to get in some heavy sets. HH and Nelson just can't move the pile like another Boerkircher/Markway could have, and that's why you saw Lenhardt get a snap or two.

I still feel sorry for Haarberg. He should have been moved to TE years ago - he'd have a lot more experience at the job at this point, especially for blocking. Keeping him at QB for so long ultimately hurt both him and us.

 

[machupichu53]

I have a question for those who know DL technique. What exactly is Braden teaching these guys? Jeudy just stands straight up and kind of leans into the OL then gets his ass kicked all the way down the field if its a run. He looks super slow and lazy to me as well. RVP at least looks like he's trying. The pass rush moves I saw on display were all weak as hell attempts at bull rushes. Unless it was a stunt that got them more or less free into the backfield I didn't see much ability at all to shed a block by any of them. No violent hands, no swim moves, no speed rushes either. I have had the internal fear that Pot Roast was a bigger loss than Tony White. 1 game is not enough to be certain but the DL honestly looked very poorly coached.

Pot roast was for sure a bigger loss than White.

A reminder of what @Mike513 said back in 2019:

"If an assistant coach is employed by the University of Nebraska, it should be AT LEAST one of the two things: an elite recruiter, or an elite developer of talent. If a coach does not show tangible evidence of one of those traits, if not both, they should not be employed by the university".

So far, although early, Braden has showed NEITHER of these qualities. I wouldn't be shocked if he is fired after the season ends.

 

[BushAK]

Pot roast was for sure a bigger loss than White.

A reminder of what @Mike513 said back in 2019:

"If an assistant coach is employed by the University of Nebraska, it should be AT LEAST one of the two things: an elite recruiter, or an elite developer of talent. If a coach does not show tangible evidence of one of those traits, if not both, they should not be employed by the university".

So far, although early, Braden has showed NEITHER of these qualities. I wouldn't be shocked if he is fired after the season ends.

The recruiting aspect is tough to until he’s had an entire recruiting cycle to prove himself. There’s also the reality that there isn’t a lot of quality defensive tackles in the portal each year and you have to grossly overpay for the ones who are there.

 

[Tsakoi]

Using the VT QB as an example last night:

Absolute rocket arm.
Super athletic.
Yolo bombing.
Slinging throws all over the field.

VT scored 11 points with 2 coming from a safety.


Give me Dylan the game manager with Dana taking what is there every time.

 

[Quint]

Pot roast was for sure a bigger loss than White.

A reminder of what @Mike513 said back in 2019:

"If an assistant coach is employed by the University of Nebraska, it should be AT LEAST one of the two things: an elite recruiter, or an elite developer of talent. If a coach does not show tangible evidence of one of those traits, if not both, they should not be employed by the university".

So far, although early, Braden has showed NEITHER of these qualities. I wouldn't be shocked if he is fired after the season ends.

While I definitely wasn’t thrilled with the overall play of the DL, I’m not sure I’m ready to agree on that Braden has really even had the opportunity to show he’s an elite recruiter or developer.

 

[HuskerDocCo]

end of the day. We were all able to pull down our shorts and “holy Toledo” one for the gipper

 

[Seaofred92]

Interesting thread and now that we’re a few days removed from the game I’m going to share some thoughts that I have, some which have been covered already and some which haven’t

Pros:

- We won the turnover battle 2-0 against a P4 team. While we weren’t perfect with ball security (Dylan specifically should’ve been responsible for two turnovers), we won the turnover battle and it made the difference in the game, directly preventing them from scoring 6 points and directly leading to us scoring 6 points. That’s the complimentary football Rhule has been talking about

- The special teams units looked great outside of the kickoff out of bounds after the first FG. Wilson is an absolute stud at punter, the long snapper from New Hampshire and Cunnanan from Charlotte were great adds. Pretty crazy how we’ve changed that room around in a few months and crazy to think if we had McAllister from Washington here punting instead of adding Wilson in the summer we may have lost this game

- Defensive backs were incredible. It’s very easy to say “Cincinnati didn’t throw downfield” but part of the reason they didn’t was they couldn’t. Andrew Marshall great play for a PBU first play of the game, Hartzog broke up a pass in the end zone, etc

- Teddy played well I thought, but that’s mostly because I didn’t seem to have any reason to be mad at him during the game

- WR room is clearly talented and will continue to improve as we gel as a team and unit with Raiola. That Hunter TD is not caught last year

Areas For Improvement:

- Run fits: Yes the defensive line was not great but we consistently overran our run fits the entire game. The defensive line play is what it is this year, hoping we can get them to be a net neutral against most of the teams we play, but that means our linebackers need to be a top 4 unit in the B1G. They certainly didn’t play like that on Thursday night but you’d imagine this is something that is addressable in film and over the next few games and will improve

- Pass rush: Constantly running straight upfield past the QB with zero adjustment. Yes, Soresby is a great runner, but we also knew that coming into the game and showed zero discipline in our pass rush lanes. There were so many times guys would get into the backfield and run straight past the QB and that’s what led to Soresby being able to take off without being touched so consistently. Need to get that cleaned up (which we can/will… these guys are talented and it was game 1)

- Running back rotation: Cannot have EJ touch the ball more than 10 times each in the next 2 games. Need to get Ives back involved and I think Nelson needs to play more. I’d redshirt Mozee if possible.

Overall Summary: Lots of room for improvement. Lots of talent on this team but need to get them to play with more discipline, which we will do over time. I do think that UC was not a great matchup for us and yet we still found a way to win. Michigan and other teams will try to run the QB and mimic some of the things the Bearcats did - will we learn or be ready?

 

[Turn Down for What]

Is 7 wins in year three with Rhule acceptable?

 

[HuskerDocCo]

Is 7 wins in year three with Rhule acceptable?

is goin fishin without a worm acceptable? now listen, point im makin is I may pull my pad more than humanly possible when we win, but 7 is low ball. I think minimum 9 wins this year

 

[machupichu53]

I personally don't think so. 8-4 is the bare minimum for me.

Is 7 wins in year three with Rhule acceptable?

 

[Blakejc]

They need to figure out what they want to do on punt return. If going for the block then let’s save Jacory the wear and tear and just fair catch the ball. Twice it appeared they went for the block, he had little to no protection, yet still tried to return and was immediately taken down. Maybe that’s him wanting to return everything, or maybe some machismo mindset being passed down, but either way I don’t think it’s very smart or will lead to much success. Let him return some punts with actual protection and see what he can do.

 

[machupichu53]

They need to figure out what they want to do on punt return. If going for the block then let’s save Jacory the wear and tear and just fair catch the ball. Twice it appeared they went for the block, he had little to no protection, yet still tried to return and was immediately taken down. Maybe that’s him wanting to return everything, or maybe some machismo mindset being passed down, but either way I don’t think it’s very smart or will lead to much success. Let him return some punts with actual protection and see what he can do.

Wasn't Andrew Marshall proclaimed as an elite return man? Why can't he do it?

 

[Blakejc]

Wasn't Andrew Marshall proclaimed as an elite return man? Why can't he do it?

I don’t really care who does it, I just want the operation to make sense.

 

[TalaricoHusker]

 

[ShortSideOption]

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?

That 2027 class is a long way from signing, but if we can win 8 or 9 this year I think we will get even more dollars thrown NIL's way.

 

[ShortSideOption]

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.

Ya, and let's be honest, we aren't going to come out and just click everywhere on the first game (or every game in season). We got a look at what needs to get better and came out with a win.

We are going to look great these next two weeks, Michigan is going to struggle a bit against a very talented Oklahoma team, and people will be right back on the optimism bus. All I really care about is our team having confidence heading into September 20th, which I think will happen after Akron and Houston Christian.

 

[ShortSideOption]

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

RB2 biggest worry on offense. Holgo will be more than fine, and I'm confident our OL will be better than they were last Thursday.

Defense is the concerning one for me.

 

[ShortSideOption]

I still feel sorry for Haarberg. He should have been moved to TE years ago - he'd have a lot more experience at the job at this point, especially for blocking. Keeping him at QB for so long ultimately hurt both him and us.

I'd agree, but in 2023 if we didn't have him at QB we win probably 3 games. 2024 we had Raiola, but Kaelin was a true freshman so we brought in an NAIA QB and a transfer from Cockeye Western, both who shouldn't play P4 football so we needed him as an emergency for Raiola.

He's one of the guys we talk about that played a spot for the good of the team, but it may not be his best position. Even though I'm sure he wanted his chance to start/play at QB like he came here to do.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Is 7 wins in year three with Rhule acceptable?

He's not getting fired for going 7-5, but it would be disappointing.

 

[herbsinator]

RB2 biggest worry on offense. Holgo will be more than fine, and I'm confident our OL will be better than they were last Thursday.

Defense is the concerning one for me.

I went back and looked at the box scores from 2023. EJ didn’t even get a carry in the first game and was basically RB1 by the end of the year. We still have a long way to go and there is plenty of time for someone to emerge at the #2 spot.