How to Save a Coaching Job (Or lose one against Purdue)

Recap:

Boy, another close Northwestern game with Nebraska on the losing end of this one. And of course everyone is still calling for heads to roll and what not. But let's look at this game closely. Losing by 2 at home to a formerly 5-0 team (albeit again Nebraska should be close to undefeated themselves) is still something to be looking up to for next year as they'll be keeping most of the same key parts as the team finally understands Riley's system. Here's what I liked about the Northwestern game, Nebraska honestly outplayed Northwestern for the majority of the game. Aside from 2 big QB scrambles, the defense kept Northwestern in check through the entire game (except for their last possession where it looked like the defense shit themselves). But they got a freakin safety. A SAFETY. Haven't seen great things like that from our defense in a while (or as one of my friends puts it, "since the war" that she has never been a part of). So why did they lose? Could we blame Armstrong as usual? Eh we could, he threw an extremely foolish pick-six. But our receivers had butterfingers for a pre-game snack so maybe its not entirely on Armstrong. But that question could be answered this Saturday...

What Direction is Nebraska Heading? (Northwestern apparently)

First I'm apologizing for that lame joke in the title. It's been a long week and couldn't think of anything better.
I'll also apologize that this post is coming out on a Saturday morning right before kickoff...again.
And further more, I apologize that despite it being my fall break this past weekend...along with the fact that this is coming out on a gameday morning, I actually don't have my data up to speed for this upcoming week. So this post is actually going to be very bland and more of a synopsis than a predictor (additionally also because there is also only one ranked matchup this week). But shout out to the AP Poll for recognizing Temple and Memphis finally.

Recap:

Wait. Nebraska won on the road? Against a decent opponent? And was nearly flawless? Well I'll be damned (and I should be damned since I had them losing)

(Ohhhh) We're Halfway There...And That Might Be Bad

Recap:

In short, Nebraska was highly competitive again, no glaring mistakes this time. The pass defense is improving, finally. The reason why I say finally is that it's halfway through the season, and NOW Nebraska is fixing the problem. Shouldn't this be something that should have been fixed after the first game? Sheesh.

Anyway, down 14-20 in the 4th quarter this happened:

Crowd went nuts. Then some old 90s Hip Hop song played, crowd went more nuts. Then Wisconsin drove down the field, crowd gets scared. Wisconsin proceeds to hit post on the field goal try, crowd resumes going nuts, only to have it fade away in the next drive after Nebraska fails to make a damn first down. And they kick the winning field goal this time. Roller coaster emotions man.

Its one of those things that I honestly can't explain, because truthfully Nebraska probably played pretty damn well, and losing the game was the net result of not having a seemingly healthy Pierson-El fielding punts (at least its looking like hes healthy...)

Don't Hit the Panic Button Yet | Vs. Wisconsin

Recap:

When it got to the 4th quarter and Nebraska was only up 13-0, I told myself "Yep they're in prime position to lose." First of all, who only puts up 13 points against one of the worst defenses in the nation? Second, how do you let an offense you've kept in check through three quarters to suddenly get going? Then the touchdown happened and I told my friends "Yep we're gonna lose" Proceeded to take a couple pillows to the face, but I had that coming given the fact I need to remain loosely neutral.


The Big Red Throwdown:

So here is Nebraska. Back to a game under .500 at 2-3. Coming into a season where I slated them at 9-3, and well they've hit their 3 allowed losses...2 too soon. Additionally, Northwestern and Iowa are looking hella scary to play (especially Northwestern, I'm already preparing for the beatdown they'll hand us) and Iowa could be a bigger challenge than once thought. There is a silver lining along with a great joke one of my friends made: "It's ok, Riley gets wins against Top 5 teams." So watch out Michigan State, Nebraska is here to spoil (not to mention the Spartans not looking quite as sharp as once thought but we'll get to that later) But that still shouldn't excuse the fact that Nebraska is 2 wins behind schedule and is looking to possibly not making it to the bowl season. So at the moment I have Nebraska at 7-5, given that Northwestern is going to kick our butts now, but in trade Minnesota looks winnable.

Blocking Out the (Illi)nois(e)

Recap:

Baby steps. The offense took a step back last Saturday, despite ripping up Southern Miss for 610 yards...but failed to pick up 20 more when they got to the red zone...5 times. The good news? The pass defense looked...passable. It wasn't as bad as it has been which is great for showing improvement - "But Southern Miss had 447 passing yards!" Well, they were quick (and smart) to abandon the run game, so all they did was basically throw it, not to take advantage of the weak pass defense (which I thought was surprising they didn't come out guns a blazing). The only miscues that the pass defense made was horrible tackling to allow big plays (which helped rack up some pass yards statistically speaking), but that is a staple of a Nebraska defense. So all in all, the score was honestly closer than what the game actually was, Nebraska was fairly outplaying Southern Miss. Except for when they pulled off the onside kick at the beginning of the fourth quarter. I totally called it but Nebraska didn't listen to me. Put me in coach (as the coach).

The Big Red Throwdown:

So with all of that still in mind, Nebraska stumbles into Big Ten play at 2-2, should be 3-1, could be 4-0. I'm not complaining, but the way Nebraska has been playing could make for a long Big Ten schedule. They open up Saturday against Illinois who has actually looked fairly threatening on offense...which could be a problem. Expect a shootout boys and girls.