Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
That's sign for Husker, but was joined by our Husker
(00:02):
insider Sean Callahan and I don't know about you, but
I'm getting nervous Sean each and every day because of
how much is truly on the line. This feels like
the best opportunity for Nebraska that's left on the slate
to get to that elusive sixth win. However, it's hard
to feel great when there's been so much change in
the way that the team will look in its hierarchy.
(00:25):
How are you feeling two days out for roder Beijion, I.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Think the Wisconsin game is probably still their best chance
at home. And remember the same usc C team handled
Wisconsin earlier in the year, So I do think in
next week that will be their odds of their best
chance to get to win. But again, this is the
usc team though, that's two and five in the Big Ten,
and they've played a tough schedule. They've got some bad
(00:51):
losses though too. The Maryland game was a bad loss.
The Minnesota game felt like a bad loss to them
at that time, and then they could have they should
have beaten US. I mean, they had the Trojans on
the ropes Michigan, they had on the ropes, so they
feel like they're right there as a team. That's the thing.
It's a little deceiving when you look at this Trojan
team because there are a few breaks from being a really,
(01:13):
really good team. But right now they're in a bad
place and you just wonder where their team is, where
their rosters at, how bought in is their team which
has a lot of transfers and players they brought in.
You know, what will the atmosphere be like as well?
In a sports town that doesn't really get on board
unless you are a big winner like the Dodgers or
the Lakers or some teams they had had great success there.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, that's a really great point. It's not the kind
of college town that a Lincoln would be or even
you know next door in Iowa Ames or Iowa City
and the support. You know, it just doesn't feel that way,
especially now. So with that being said, let's talk about
the Husker defense and how it lines up with this
Trojan offense. Lincoln Riley. What happened? I mean, it seemed
(01:55):
like this guy was just an offensive minded genius at Oklahoma.
He was able to rate, you know, multiple Heisman Trophy winners,
even consecutively with all these incredible players who seemingly you
would think, you know, we're going to have all these
professional prospects, and he's got a lot of guys in
the NFL that were offensive stars for him, and now
at USC the last couple of years, it's just been
(02:17):
kind of moving backwards on him. Is he still the
kind of guru that people expected to see from him?
And when his Oklahoma days, well, I.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Think, you know there is often still puts up yards
and over thirty points a game, but I think you're
they're in a different league now too, and it's a
possession league where you don't get as many possessions. The
Big twelve compared to the Big Ten is wildly different.
That's where he started, and obviously the Pac twelve was
a very deep league with a lot of physical teams.
(02:48):
So I think his style of play is adjusting to
especially the Big Ten. It's just not easy to come
in this league in the style that teams want to play.
Oregon has been a great seamless transition, and you could
argue now UCLA has really adjusted well to the Big Ten,
especially as the season has gone on, with how they've played.
(03:08):
We're on the opposite in USC has as much talent
as anybody, has had a hard time just finishing out
these games where a lot of them are one possession games,
and we know what that's like. Nebraska has lost more
one possession, one score games than anybody arguably in college
football over the last five to eight years.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, and then you look at their schedule and it
does make it does kind of open your eyes that
all five of their losses coming, you know, within a score,
and several of them on the road. Joined by Sean Callahan,
here are Husker insider. Who are some of the names
that you're interested in seeing in person here? As you
know the Lincoln Iley offenses on the field, who are
(03:48):
the names that we're going to hear the most well
data My.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Abather quarterback, I think is where you have to start.
I think that's the number one guy you have to
be ready for. Fro They will run the ball too.
I think we think of the air raid and just
how tough that can be sometimes to match up with.
But you know, USC has one of the best running
backs and all Big Ten caliber running back on their
(04:11):
roster that you know Nebraska's gonna have their hands full
of Woody Marks as eight hundred and seventy eight yards
rushing on one hundred and fifty five areas. He's a
transfer for Mississippi State, So I think slowing down Woody Marks,
who will be a thousand yard plus back this year,
is as key as anything. They have good receivers, but
(04:32):
UFC always has good receivers. I mean, they're located in
a part of the country where if you don't have
good receivers at USC got problems. So that's always going
to be a thing. But I do think the running
game is the X factor that Nebraska has to be
ready for this week and Jada Maiva adjusting to what
he brings to the table.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, it's a great point, right, and especially with you know,
how to complement the football is kind of the opposite
of you UCLA when they came to town, right, So
they can't run the ball at all, but they were
still able to generate some offense against Nebraska in that matchup.
Now for the Husker defense, you know, what are some
of the answers that they can look toward, because certainly
the pick six didn't help matters. You know, when when
(05:11):
Riola threw the pick six at the start of the
second half against the Bruins. But you know, the skill
on the especially upfront for the Nebraska defense, this should
still be a team that should give USC some fits,
you would imagine, especially with that extra off week to
get healthy.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, I think you know a couple of x We
don't asked how Manker and tire Robinson our key players.
But can they get the same level of play from
Jamari Butler and MJ. Sherman that they got at Ohio State.
I thought that was what really brought their defense over
the top a couple of weeks ago when they nearly
pulled off the biggest upset we had seen in decades
at Nebraska. So they need those other defensive players beside
(05:49):
top Loker and Robinson to win up front and play
at a high level. They had to stop the run
early in this game. I mean, that's another key component
for them. And then the third down defense. You know,
in the first half against the UCLA was the worst
year we're going to see it in Nebraska. UCLA converted
all but one of their third downs and Nebraska's defense
(06:09):
could not get off the field. So that has been
a real bug of But Nebraska's been great on first
and second down. They have struggled in the games they
lose on third down.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah, and it's a great point, and those are the
big momentum plays as well, especially when you're on the
road to get those stops when you have the opportunity to.
I'm going to change gears real quick before I get
you out of here. Sean. We were talking about this
in the last hour and Matt Case kind of brought
up the idea of, you know, if that Dana Holgerson
thing doesn't work, you know, down the line and all
this stuff. You know, Nebraska needs to like look more
(06:40):
at people who have already succeeded or had some success
in some way in either the Big Ten or the SEC.
And then I look at the ACC, which is a
conference that certainly looks to be a few steps behind,
and see a team like Florida State, who had a
dream season last year until their quarterback got hurt. They
were unceremoniously left out of the four team playoffs despite
not having lost a game, and now they're having their
(07:00):
worst season in the program in over sixty years right now,
and even more stunning, Lee, I think you're seeing more
and more of their possible twenty twenty five commits just
decommitting from the program because they're not sure what it's
going to look like. I don't want to put that
kind of juju on Nebraska because they've won five games
(07:21):
so far this year and things look to be at
least moving into a positive direction with the roster. But
is there anything you know that is a little bit
of a fear within the program where people like yourself,
like close by to the program, that there could be
some personnel that aren't interested in being a part of
this program if they somehow fail to win that elusive
(07:41):
sixth game.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I don't think so. I mean, look, they of their
last three games, two of them are to the college
with all playoff games, and I think we all would
agree Nebraska has made improvements, but they're not a college
with wall playoff team, so they could have been Onisle.
Say they did it, and then UCLA we underestimated. I
think a lot of us didn't, and they're one of
the hottest teams in the league. So the last month
(08:02):
has been difficult. But I think when you look at
every game, I mean, two of those teams are top
five teams, and UCLA is one of the hottest. So
there's been some just bad luck with how the draw came,
but Nebraska's also not helped themselves. But I'm not worried
about that because I think these guys understand. I mean,
the fan base here won't let you quit. He'll be
(08:22):
called out for it, and the fans will hold you accountable.
That's what makes Nebraska unique. When the play falls off,
the fans are still there, the stadium is still full,
and you know, if you can't play hard for eighty
six thousand people a week from now that show up
for you still despite the struggles you had, you know,
you got to look at yourself as a player and
it's like, man, these people are still behind me. I
got to deliver for them too. And that's what makes Nebraska,
(08:44):
in my opinion, so unique, because very few places still
show up like Nebraska with what we've seen the last
few years.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And that is such a great point Nia and the
sellout streak speaks for itself as part of the lore
of Lincoln. Nebraska. Well Sewn Callahan tomorrow will get a
game pick from you. And I don't know what it
is about this particular game, but there's just like a
notot in my gut. I just want it to be
over with already, because I just I personally feel like
this is a great opportunity to kind of get everything
(09:12):
back on the right track. We'll get your thoughts on
what you think the scroll will be tomorrow, and we
really appreciate the coverage today.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Thanks Hemmy.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, I love talking to that guy because I love
football and I love talking about football. I want to
see my football teams do well. But it's been been
a rough month. You can't say it any different way
than that, coming off of a bye week, you really
would like to see this turnout to be what you
hope it to be a bowl season for the Huskers,
and you only have three shots at getting that final
(09:41):
win to get yourself into that game. And you know,
USC they got bull eligibility as well, kind of on
their mind. I'm sure they had bigger thoughts than that
going into the season. They thought they would be a
playoff contender. But they are two wins away from Bull eligibility,
and they have Notre Dame still on the schedule at
the end of the regular season, so Nebraska and UCLA
(10:02):
on the schedule. They're looking at that we need to
win those games. We do not want to have to
take that to a Notre Dame game on the last
game of the season to try to get to that
sixth win and make it to a bowl game. It'll
be interesting to see how hungry those Trojans are when
they come out having lost four of their last five games.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Emery Sunger on News Radio eleven ten.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Kfab Matt Case. I appreciate you for what you bring
to the show. As always, It's always fun talking to
you about different things, and I love to give you
the floor in a platform to give your opinions on
a lot of random stuff. And you kind of were
hinting that you have kind of a pretty hot, heated
take about the state of Nebraska football right now, and
(10:46):
I just figured i'd give you some time here to
let it air out. So fire away.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
So often I am dreadfully wrong, like the time that
I picked Nebraska to beat Indiana. But this is something
that I've been thinking about for a while that I
do believe has been generally unaddressed or at least unmentioned
in the spheres that I occupy as I consume Husker
sports media. You know, get that from Sean Callahan and
(11:11):
so many other writers, great writers that cover the sport
and pontificate with friends and family. Basically, the question is
what's going on? What happened? Like I said, Like I
mentioned in the last segment, I was born into Husker
football at a really great time for the program, the greatest, honestly. Yeah,
(11:32):
three championships in four years, you know, Heisman Trophy winners.
Eric Crouch is my all time favorite player. I'm a
huge Husker guy. I just am you know, I love
the Huskers. That said, I'm sitting on an opinion. My
caveat is this opinion applies if Dana Holgerson doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Okay, so we are kind of fast forwarding through like
what does what does that mean? Like? What defined what
is defined by not working?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I'll explain it by explaining what my personal thoughts have
been for a while. Now, Okay, Now, I'm excited about
Matt Rule for a lot of reasons. I'm also reserved
and have been for a while for a lot of
reasons as well. I'm not on or off the Matt
Rule bandwagon. I'm just observing how it goes. That's kind
of where I'm at right now. Okay, Now, if you
(12:25):
want me to get as spicy as I did off
air for a little bit. Yes, why not if.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
You're willing to accept the people are going to have
opinions about your opinion. Yes, absolutely, I hope I'm wrong
about all this, but you know what, Yolo, I'm just
going to say what I think. I love it. Fire Away.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Matt Rule was the head coach of Temple. That doesn't
really matter to me. That's the AAC. Okay, Scott Frost
succeeded in that same conference, came to the Big Ten,
didn't work out fair enough. It's a lot of people
who have been able to make that jump. But I
don't want to hear about the exception. I'd rather get
to know the rule. And I'm going to discuss the
rule in a second. I'm not talking about Mat rule.
(13:00):
I'm talking about the rule of my argument. Okay, separate rule.
This one doesn't have an h Okay, Matt Rule also
succeeded at Baylor. I'm less worried about that as well,
because sorry, not sorry, Yah, the Big twelve is not
that big of a deal to me. Okay, they don't
really play defense the way they do in the Big
ten or the SEC. That's my point, and my point
is he then went on to Carolina and it didn't
(13:23):
go so well. That's a separate league, the NFL. We're
going to take that and remove it from the pot.
I decided that since we last talked, because that's just
a different league. It's not fair. There's a lot of
coaches who failed in the NFL but were great in
college Nick Saban chief among them, maybe the greatest college
football coach of all time, didn't go so well with
the Dolphins.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Okay, that's fair.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
So what I'm saying here is this, if Matt Rule
doesn't work, or if Dana Holgerson doesn't work, then maybe
we need to consider finding a fit for this team
that has already found a way to win either in
this conference or the SEC. Why Because those are the
two conferences that have absolutely unequivocally separated themselves from the
(14:05):
rest of college football. And if we keep trying to
win in the Big Ten by finding someone good in
the Big twelve, to win in the Big Ten, by
finding someone good in the AAC or the Pac twelve,
it's not going to work. Why Because we're asking ourselves
to find how we can become the exception to the rule.
And it hasn't happened yet for us for a lot
of reasons. And I think that we are under more
(14:28):
constraints than other programs just because of the history, because
of the lore, because of the excitement. Teams get up
to play Nebraska like they don't you can't sleep around.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Does that mean does this make the Does that same
excuse reasoning make the job less attractive because of the
pressure that will be put upon someone who's in that position.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Maybe, but it's also more attractive in the converse way.
So I don't really worry about that. This is a
beautiful job and it's great for all of its reasons,
but it is hard to bring a giant back to
where it needs to be, especially with the difficulties that
surround everything making that happen. But the big thing that
I haven't seen yet, whether it's Mike Riley, whether it's
Scott Frost, whether you know now it's it's it's Matt Rule,
(15:08):
the big thing I haven't seen is the fully embracing
of where we're at and who we need to win here.
What I'm saying is, if Dana Holgerson does not work
as the offensive coordinator, as the offensive coordinator what I
want to see as a fan. I want to see
us go out and get people that can keep this
team together with Matt Ruhle, but get people who are
making the decision the decisions with this program, who have
(15:31):
proven that they can win either in the Big Ten
or the SEC. Now Indiana right undefeated, very possibly headed
to the College Football Playoff in the first year of
their first year head coach, which is wild, right, Kurt Signetti,
But where did he bust his chops at, well, besides
James Madison. Besides James Madison. Yeah, wasn't he an assistant
for saving Yeah, So he knows what it's like. He
(15:53):
knows how to get people ready for big boy football,
That's what I'm saying. So Dana Holgerson, you know, has
been a successful head coach and coordinator, but he's never
really done it against the Big Ten conference. And so
here's my hot take. I think if the Huskers are
going to get to six, they better hope to get
it against USC because it's going to be a lot
harder against Wisconsin and Iowa Because, in my personal opinion,
(16:15):
based on all the times I've watched so many games
playing defenses, playing against defenses, and offenses, but defenses for
the most part in the Big Ten and obviously in
the SEC as well, is just different. It's just different
than going up against the paper defense of the Oklahoma
State Cowboys or the Baylor Bears or the Texas Tech Raiders.
It's just different.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Let me just push back a little bit, a little bit.
The Big Twelve has evolved in a way that I
think it is clearly the third best conference and I
don't think there's an argument to be made against it,
and it is definitely third behind the Big Ten and SEC. However,
there have been really solid coaches that did come from
there and have made moves to other programs in some
(17:00):
regard and had success. Now, what has happened to Nebraska,
I think is fairly unique. It is a former blue
blood school that has had many misfires in this regard,
and just the administrative situation Trev Alberts, the whole Trev
Alberts thing is kind of wild to me as well.
(17:22):
How much time do you need to know if something's
going to work. I think we need to put some
definitive boundaries and guidelines on that because I don't know
what you can possibly expect to be different. Yes, that
he's going to bring in a completely different philosophy, but
he's known these players for two weeks. I mean before this,
he was just hanging out with TCU and working as
(17:44):
like an assistant for them, like they called him up.
He was just sitting down there in Texas, like, Hey,
you want to be on the staff and he's like sure.
He had like, I'm sure he's caught up on the staffing,
like as a staffer, he's watching tape and all this stuff.
But he's not been there until two weeks ago. He's
not been there for a single game day yet, and
he's going to be calling plays that aren't his playbook.
(18:05):
This isn't the Dana Holgerson playbook. This is the Matt
Rule Marcus Sadderfield playbook, right, this is he doesn't have
a brand new player, just got healthy and all of
a sudden it's going to change things now we help
Riyola is as healthy as he possibly can be, but
he hasn't looked great. And you can blame the game
plan only so much. The players have to go out
there and they have to perform at a certain extent
(18:27):
as well. You have to give them, you know, you're
recruiting these guys. This guy's a five star quarterback. He's
looked good for the first four or five games. The
last month has not looked so good for him. And
if things don't turn around, there's a chance that he
just decides to jump in the portal and find somewhere
else that makes him look like a star.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Yeah, And that's the worry, honestly, it is. And some
people have pontificated that maybe this is why they're making
the move right now, because they want to keep him
here and just to show that they're committed to making
this one.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Look at Florida State, they're in the process of having
their worst season in sixty years. Yeah, and they're losing
recruits left and right that we're going to come to
that school for twenty twenty five that are decommitting because
they're looking at what this program is right now and
they have no idea what that's going to look like
by the time next year rolls around. You don't want
to be in that situation.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
My point here, though, and I feel like is further
proven when you look at Dylan Royola. I think that
he can be great, and I think he's shown signs
of being able to do that with some of the
amazing things that he's done. Especially against Colorado, he looked great,
and there are other times when he looked great. But
I just feel like that welcome to the Big Ten moment.
He got into the Big Ten and defenses and defensive
coordinators kind of started to figure things out. And I
(19:33):
also think that Marcus Saddlefield, for anyone who wants to
defeat my point by saying that Marcus Saddlefield, the former
OC now just tight ends coach of the Cornhuskers. He
came from South Carolina, which is the SEC. I don't
think he was widely successful there. In fact, many of
the fans of South Carolina would tell you that they
were very glad that he that he moved on because
(19:54):
they did not have an offense that was working very well.
And I just think that I don't know. I just
think you need to find people who can put the
pieces together, who know how to win in this conference,
and the Huskers have yet to do that since they
got here. The closest they got was with Bo Polini
when he came here, and I think that he had
enough time. I mean, he worked for Ohio State for
(20:15):
a while. He understood enough about the Big Ten that
he was able to make it work while he was here.
He got to nine wins every year.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Well, you look at the bull drought itself kind of
speaks for itself. In an era where there's eighty teams
that are Bowl eligible every year, Yeah, and you're not
one of them and haven't been one for like eight years.
That's startling. I just am unsure that the next three
games I'm going to be willing to make a verdict
on Dana Holgerson with this offense. And I don't think
(20:42):
two years is enough time for a guy like Matt Ruhle.
If you're going to have this much overhauling with the
people above him in the athletic department and potentially in
the staffing below him, and if he doesn't get that
sixth win, we should be asking questions. There's no doubt
but his previous success, even if it's not in the
Big Ten Conference, I think warrants one more shot at
(21:04):
trying to get this right. From a perspective of a
recruiting class, a staff that gets through spring practice intact,
through the summer into the fall, and then you can
put all the chips on the table for the twenty
twenty five season, and it is make or break for
Rule and anybody underneath him. I think, to me, regardless
of how the last three games play out, and trust me,
(21:24):
they need that sixth win, but even if they lose
all three of these games, overhauling is needed. I don't
know if you're going to gain much by firing that
rule in that scenario.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
I don't disagree. I completely agree. The only thing that
I want to say here is that I'm really tired
of hearing people expect similar results to the past when
the present and the future has different measurables and different variables.
It drives me bonkers. And that's what I mean is
that it doesn't matter to me as much that Matt
(21:54):
rule has succeeded in the AAC Conference, the American Athletic Conference,
and the Big twelve Conference, because those are just flat
out different conferences than the Big Ten and the SEC.
And so if we can't get it figured out and
get to a bowl game this year, my call right
now is just tiny little fan Matt case out here.
My call is, let's get some people in the house
(22:16):
who know how to succeed in this conference, if not
this one then sec because we need those voices in
around that locker room matt case, ladies and gentlemen, hot
takes for days. Emery Songer will be back in a
moment on news radio eleven ten kfab
That's sign for Husker, but was joined by our Husker
(00:02):
insider Sean Callahan and I don't know about you, but
I'm getting nervous Sean each and every day because of
how much is truly on the line. This feels like
the best opportunity for Nebraska that's left on the slate
to get to that elusive sixth win. However, it's hard
to feel great when there's been so much change in
the way that the team will look in its hierarchy.
(00:25):
How are you feeling two days out for roder Beijion, I.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Think the Wisconsin game is probably still their best chance
at home. And remember the same usc C team handled
Wisconsin earlier in the year, So I do think in
next week that will be their odds of their best
chance to get to win. But again, this is the
usc team though, that's two and five in the Big Ten,
and they've played a tough schedule. They've got some bad
(00:51):
losses though too. The Maryland game was a bad loss.
The Minnesota game felt like a bad loss to them
at that time, and then they could have they should
have beaten US. I mean, they had the Trojans on
the ropes Michigan, they had on the ropes, so they
feel like they're right there as a team. That's the thing.
It's a little deceiving when you look at this Trojan
team because there are a few breaks from being a really,
(01:13):
really good team. But right now they're in a bad
place and you just wonder where their team is, where
their rosters at, how bought in is their team which
has a lot of transfers and players they brought in.
You know, what will the atmosphere be like as well?
In a sports town that doesn't really get on board
unless you are a big winner like the Dodgers or
the Lakers or some teams they had had great success there.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, that's a really great point. It's not the kind
of college town that a Lincoln would be or even
you know next door in Iowa Ames or Iowa City
and the support. You know, it just doesn't feel that way,
especially now. So with that being said, let's talk about
the Husker defense and how it lines up with this
Trojan offense. Lincoln Riley. What happened? I mean, it seemed
(01:55):
like this guy was just an offensive minded genius at Oklahoma.
He was able to rate, you know, multiple Heisman Trophy winners,
even consecutively with all these incredible players who seemingly you
would think, you know, we're going to have all these
professional prospects, and he's got a lot of guys in
the NFL that were offensive stars for him, and now
at USC the last couple of years, it's just been
(02:17):
kind of moving backwards on him. Is he still the
kind of guru that people expected to see from him?
And when his Oklahoma days, well, I.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Think, you know there is often still puts up yards
and over thirty points a game, but I think you're
they're in a different league now too, and it's a
possession league where you don't get as many possessions. The
Big twelve compared to the Big Ten is wildly different.
That's where he started, and obviously the Pac twelve was
a very deep league with a lot of physical teams.
(02:48):
So I think his style of play is adjusting to
especially the Big Ten. It's just not easy to come
in this league in the style that teams want to play.
Oregon has been a great seamless transition, and you could
argue now UCLA has really adjusted well to the Big Ten,
especially as the season has gone on, with how they've played.
(03:08):
We're on the opposite in USC has as much talent
as anybody, has had a hard time just finishing out
these games where a lot of them are one possession games,
and we know what that's like. Nebraska has lost more
one possession, one score games than anybody arguably in college
football over the last five to eight years.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, and then you look at their schedule and it
does make it does kind of open your eyes that
all five of their losses coming, you know, within a score,
and several of them on the road. Joined by Sean Callahan,
here are Husker insider. Who are some of the names
that you're interested in seeing in person here? As you
know the Lincoln Iley offenses on the field, who are
(03:48):
the names that we're going to hear the most well
data My.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Abather quarterback, I think is where you have to start.
I think that's the number one guy you have to
be ready for. Fro They will run the ball too.
I think we think of the air raid and just
how tough that can be sometimes to match up with.
But you know, USC has one of the best running
backs and all Big Ten caliber running back on their
(04:11):
roster that you know Nebraska's gonna have their hands full
of Woody Marks as eight hundred and seventy eight yards
rushing on one hundred and fifty five areas. He's a
transfer for Mississippi State, So I think slowing down Woody Marks,
who will be a thousand yard plus back this year,
is as key as anything. They have good receivers, but
(04:32):
UFC always has good receivers. I mean, they're located in
a part of the country where if you don't have
good receivers at USC got problems. So that's always going
to be a thing. But I do think the running
game is the X factor that Nebraska has to be
ready for this week and Jada Maiva adjusting to what
he brings to the table.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, it's a great point, right, and especially with you know,
how to complement the football is kind of the opposite
of you UCLA when they came to town, right, So
they can't run the ball at all, but they were
still able to generate some offense against Nebraska in that matchup.
Now for the Husker defense, you know, what are some
of the answers that they can look toward, because certainly
the pick six didn't help matters. You know, when when
(05:11):
Riola threw the pick six at the start of the
second half against the Bruins. But you know, the skill
on the especially upfront for the Nebraska defense, this should
still be a team that should give USC some fits,
you would imagine, especially with that extra off week to
get healthy.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, I think you know a couple of x We
don't asked how Manker and tire Robinson our key players.
But can they get the same level of play from
Jamari Butler and MJ. Sherman that they got at Ohio State.
I thought that was what really brought their defense over
the top a couple of weeks ago when they nearly
pulled off the biggest upset we had seen in decades
at Nebraska. So they need those other defensive players beside
(05:49):
top Loker and Robinson to win up front and play
at a high level. They had to stop the run
early in this game. I mean, that's another key component
for them. And then the third down defense. You know,
in the first half against the UCLA was the worst
year we're going to see it in Nebraska. UCLA converted
all but one of their third downs and Nebraska's defense
(06:09):
could not get off the field. So that has been
a real bug of But Nebraska's been great on first
and second down. They have struggled in the games they
lose on third down.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah, and it's a great point, and those are the
big momentum plays as well, especially when you're on the
road to get those stops when you have the opportunity to.
I'm going to change gears real quick before I get
you out of here. Sean. We were talking about this
in the last hour and Matt Case kind of brought
up the idea of, you know, if that Dana Holgerson
thing doesn't work, you know, down the line and all
this stuff. You know, Nebraska needs to like look more
(06:40):
at people who have already succeeded or had some success
in some way in either the Big Ten or the SEC.
And then I look at the ACC, which is a
conference that certainly looks to be a few steps behind,
and see a team like Florida State, who had a
dream season last year until their quarterback got hurt. They
were unceremoniously left out of the four team playoffs despite
not having lost a game, and now they're having their
(07:00):
worst season in the program in over sixty years right now,
and even more stunning, Lee, I think you're seeing more
and more of their possible twenty twenty five commits just
decommitting from the program because they're not sure what it's
going to look like. I don't want to put that
kind of juju on Nebraska because they've won five games
(07:21):
so far this year and things look to be at
least moving into a positive direction with the roster. But
is there anything you know that is a little bit
of a fear within the program where people like yourself,
like close by to the program, that there could be
some personnel that aren't interested in being a part of
this program if they somehow fail to win that elusive
(07:41):
sixth game.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I don't think so. I mean, look, they of their
last three games, two of them are to the college
with all playoff games, and I think we all would
agree Nebraska has made improvements, but they're not a college
with wall playoff team, so they could have been Onisle.
Say they did it, and then UCLA we underestimated. I
think a lot of us didn't, and they're one of
the hottest teams in the league. So the last month
(08:02):
has been difficult. But I think when you look at
every game, I mean, two of those teams are top
five teams, and UCLA is one of the hottest. So
there's been some just bad luck with how the draw came,
but Nebraska's also not helped themselves. But I'm not worried
about that because I think these guys understand. I mean,
the fan base here won't let you quit. He'll be
(08:22):
called out for it, and the fans will hold you accountable.
That's what makes Nebraska unique. When the play falls off,
the fans are still there, the stadium is still full,
and you know, if you can't play hard for eighty
six thousand people a week from now that show up
for you still despite the struggles you had, you know,
you got to look at yourself as a player and
it's like, man, these people are still behind me. I
got to deliver for them too. And that's what makes Nebraska,
(08:44):
in my opinion, so unique, because very few places still
show up like Nebraska with what we've seen the last
few years.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And that is such a great point Nia and the
sellout streak speaks for itself as part of the lore
of Lincoln. Nebraska. Well Sewn Callahan tomorrow will get a
game pick from you. And I don't know what it
is about this particular game, but there's just like a
notot in my gut. I just want it to be
over with already, because I just I personally feel like
this is a great opportunity to kind of get everything
(09:12):
back on the right track. We'll get your thoughts on
what you think the scroll will be tomorrow, and we
really appreciate the coverage today.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Thanks Hemmy.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, I love talking to that guy because I love
football and I love talking about football. I want to
see my football teams do well. But it's been been
a rough month. You can't say it any different way
than that, coming off of a bye week, you really
would like to see this turnout to be what you
hope it to be a bowl season for the Huskers,
and you only have three shots at getting that final
(09:41):
win to get yourself into that game. And you know,
USC they got bull eligibility as well, kind of on
their mind. I'm sure they had bigger thoughts than that
going into the season. They thought they would be a
playoff contender. But they are two wins away from Bull eligibility,
and they have Notre Dame still on the schedule at
the end of the regular season, so Nebraska and UCLA
(10:02):
on the schedule. They're looking at that we need to
win those games. We do not want to have to
take that to a Notre Dame game on the last
game of the season to try to get to that
sixth win and make it to a bowl game. It'll
be interesting to see how hungry those Trojans are when
they come out having lost four of their last five games.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Emery Sunger on News Radio eleven ten.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Kfab Matt Case. I appreciate you for what you bring
to the show. As always, It's always fun talking to
you about different things, and I love to give you
the floor in a platform to give your opinions on
a lot of random stuff. And you kind of were
hinting that you have kind of a pretty hot, heated
take about the state of Nebraska football right now, and
(10:46):
I just figured i'd give you some time here to
let it air out. So fire away.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
So often I am dreadfully wrong, like the time that
I picked Nebraska to beat Indiana. But this is something
that I've been thinking about for a while that I
do believe has been generally unaddressed or at least unmentioned
in the spheres that I occupy as I consume Husker
sports media. You know, get that from Sean Callahan and
(11:11):
so many other writers, great writers that cover the sport
and pontificate with friends and family. Basically, the question is
what's going on? What happened? Like I said, Like I
mentioned in the last segment, I was born into Husker
football at a really great time for the program, the greatest, honestly. Yeah,
(11:32):
three championships in four years, you know, Heisman Trophy winners.
Eric Crouch is my all time favorite player. I'm a
huge Husker guy. I just am you know, I love
the Huskers. That said, I'm sitting on an opinion. My
caveat is this opinion applies if Dana Holgerson doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Okay, so we are kind of fast forwarding through like
what does what does that mean? Like? What defined what
is defined by not working?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I'll explain it by explaining what my personal thoughts have
been for a while. Now, Okay, Now, I'm excited about
Matt Rule for a lot of reasons. I'm also reserved
and have been for a while for a lot of
reasons as well. I'm not on or off the Matt
Rule bandwagon. I'm just observing how it goes. That's kind
of where I'm at right now. Okay, Now, if you
(12:25):
want me to get as spicy as I did off
air for a little bit. Yes, why not if.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
You're willing to accept the people are going to have
opinions about your opinion. Yes, absolutely, I hope I'm wrong
about all this, but you know what, Yolo, I'm just
going to say what I think. I love it. Fire Away.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Matt Rule was the head coach of Temple. That doesn't
really matter to me. That's the AAC. Okay, Scott Frost
succeeded in that same conference, came to the Big Ten,
didn't work out fair enough. It's a lot of people
who have been able to make that jump. But I
don't want to hear about the exception. I'd rather get
to know the rule. And I'm going to discuss the
rule in a second. I'm not talking about Mat rule.
(13:00):
I'm talking about the rule of my argument. Okay, separate rule.
This one doesn't have an h Okay, Matt Rule also
succeeded at Baylor. I'm less worried about that as well,
because sorry, not sorry, Yah, the Big twelve is not
that big of a deal to me. Okay, they don't
really play defense the way they do in the Big
ten or the SEC. That's my point, and my point
is he then went on to Carolina and it didn't
(13:23):
go so well. That's a separate league, the NFL. We're
going to take that and remove it from the pot.
I decided that since we last talked, because that's just
a different league. It's not fair. There's a lot of
coaches who failed in the NFL but were great in
college Nick Saban chief among them, maybe the greatest college
football coach of all time, didn't go so well with
the Dolphins.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Okay, that's fair.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
So what I'm saying here is this, if Matt Rule
doesn't work, or if Dana Holgerson doesn't work, then maybe
we need to consider finding a fit for this team
that has already found a way to win either in
this conference or the SEC. Why Because those are the
two conferences that have absolutely unequivocally separated themselves from the
(14:05):
rest of college football. And if we keep trying to
win in the Big Ten by finding someone good in
the Big twelve, to win in the Big Ten, by
finding someone good in the AAC or the Pac twelve,
it's not going to work. Why Because we're asking ourselves
to find how we can become the exception to the rule.
And it hasn't happened yet for us for a lot
of reasons. And I think that we are under more
(14:28):
constraints than other programs just because of the history, because
of the lore, because of the excitement. Teams get up
to play Nebraska like they don't you can't sleep around.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Does that mean does this make the Does that same
excuse reasoning make the job less attractive because of the
pressure that will be put upon someone who's in that position.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Maybe, but it's also more attractive in the converse way.
So I don't really worry about that. This is a
beautiful job and it's great for all of its reasons,
but it is hard to bring a giant back to
where it needs to be, especially with the difficulties that
surround everything making that happen. But the big thing that
I haven't seen yet, whether it's Mike Riley, whether it's
Scott Frost, whether you know now it's it's it's Matt Rule,
(15:08):
the big thing I haven't seen is the fully embracing
of where we're at and who we need to win here.
What I'm saying is, if Dana Holgerson does not work
as the offensive coordinator, as the offensive coordinator what I
want to see as a fan. I want to see
us go out and get people that can keep this
team together with Matt Ruhle, but get people who are
making the decision the decisions with this program, who have
(15:31):
proven that they can win either in the Big Ten
or the SEC. Now Indiana right undefeated, very possibly headed
to the College Football Playoff in the first year of
their first year head coach, which is wild, right, Kurt Signetti,
But where did he bust his chops at, well, besides
James Madison. Besides James Madison. Yeah, wasn't he an assistant
for saving Yeah, So he knows what it's like. He
(15:53):
knows how to get people ready for big boy football,
That's what I'm saying. So Dana Holgerson, you know, has
been a successful head coach and coordinator, but he's never
really done it against the Big Ten conference. And so
here's my hot take. I think if the Huskers are
going to get to six, they better hope to get
it against USC because it's going to be a lot
harder against Wisconsin and Iowa Because, in my personal opinion,
(16:15):
based on all the times I've watched so many games
playing defenses, playing against defenses, and offenses, but defenses for
the most part in the Big Ten and obviously in
the SEC as well, is just different. It's just different
than going up against the paper defense of the Oklahoma
State Cowboys or the Baylor Bears or the Texas Tech Raiders.
It's just different.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Let me just push back a little bit, a little bit.
The Big Twelve has evolved in a way that I
think it is clearly the third best conference and I
don't think there's an argument to be made against it,
and it is definitely third behind the Big Ten and SEC. However,
there have been really solid coaches that did come from
there and have made moves to other programs in some
(17:00):
regard and had success. Now, what has happened to Nebraska,
I think is fairly unique. It is a former blue
blood school that has had many misfires in this regard,
and just the administrative situation Trev Alberts, the whole Trev
Alberts thing is kind of wild to me as well.
(17:22):
How much time do you need to know if something's
going to work. I think we need to put some
definitive boundaries and guidelines on that because I don't know
what you can possibly expect to be different. Yes, that
he's going to bring in a completely different philosophy, but
he's known these players for two weeks. I mean before this,
he was just hanging out with TCU and working as
(17:44):
like an assistant for them, like they called him up.
He was just sitting down there in Texas, like, Hey,
you want to be on the staff and he's like sure.
He had like, I'm sure he's caught up on the staffing,
like as a staffer, he's watching tape and all this stuff.
But he's not been there until two weeks ago. He's
not been there for a single game day yet, and
he's going to be calling plays that aren't his playbook.
(18:05):
This isn't the Dana Holgerson playbook. This is the Matt
Rule Marcus Sadderfield playbook, right, this is he doesn't have
a brand new player, just got healthy and all of
a sudden it's going to change things now we help
Riyola is as healthy as he possibly can be, but
he hasn't looked great. And you can blame the game
plan only so much. The players have to go out
there and they have to perform at a certain extent
(18:27):
as well. You have to give them, you know, you're
recruiting these guys. This guy's a five star quarterback. He's
looked good for the first four or five games. The
last month has not looked so good for him. And
if things don't turn around, there's a chance that he
just decides to jump in the portal and find somewhere
else that makes him look like a star.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Yeah, And that's the worry, honestly, it is. And some
people have pontificated that maybe this is why they're making
the move right now, because they want to keep him
here and just to show that they're committed to making
this one.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Look at Florida State, they're in the process of having
their worst season in sixty years. Yeah, and they're losing
recruits left and right that we're going to come to
that school for twenty twenty five that are decommitting because
they're looking at what this program is right now and
they have no idea what that's going to look like
by the time next year rolls around. You don't want
to be in that situation.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
My point here, though, and I feel like is further
proven when you look at Dylan Royola. I think that
he can be great, and I think he's shown signs
of being able to do that with some of the
amazing things that he's done. Especially against Colorado, he looked great,
and there are other times when he looked great. But
I just feel like that welcome to the Big Ten moment.
He got into the Big Ten and defenses and defensive
coordinators kind of started to figure things out. And I
(19:33):
also think that Marcus Saddlefield, for anyone who wants to
defeat my point by saying that Marcus Saddlefield, the former
OC now just tight ends coach of the Cornhuskers. He
came from South Carolina, which is the SEC. I don't
think he was widely successful there. In fact, many of
the fans of South Carolina would tell you that they
were very glad that he that he moved on because
(19:54):
they did not have an offense that was working very well.
And I just think that I don't know. I just
think you need to find people who can put the
pieces together, who know how to win in this conference,
and the Huskers have yet to do that since they
got here. The closest they got was with Bo Polini
when he came here, and I think that he had
enough time. I mean, he worked for Ohio State for
(20:15):
a while. He understood enough about the Big Ten that
he was able to make it work while he was here.
He got to nine wins every year.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Well, you look at the bull drought itself kind of
speaks for itself. In an era where there's eighty teams
that are Bowl eligible every year, Yeah, and you're not
one of them and haven't been one for like eight years.
That's startling. I just am unsure that the next three
games I'm going to be willing to make a verdict
on Dana Holgerson with this offense. And I don't think
(20:42):
two years is enough time for a guy like Matt Ruhle.
If you're going to have this much overhauling with the
people above him in the athletic department and potentially in
the staffing below him, and if he doesn't get that
sixth win, we should be asking questions. There's no doubt
but his previous success, even if it's not in the
Big Ten Conference, I think warrants one more shot at
(21:04):
trying to get this right. From a perspective of a
recruiting class, a staff that gets through spring practice intact,
through the summer into the fall, and then you can
put all the chips on the table for the twenty
twenty five season, and it is make or break for
Rule and anybody underneath him. I think, to me, regardless
of how the last three games play out, and trust me,
(21:24):
they need that sixth win, but even if they lose
all three of these games, overhauling is needed. I don't
know if you're going to gain much by firing that
rule in that scenario.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
I don't disagree. I completely agree. The only thing that
I want to say here is that I'm really tired
of hearing people expect similar results to the past when
the present and the future has different measurables and different variables.
It drives me bonkers. And that's what I mean is
that it doesn't matter to me as much that Matt
(21:54):
rule has succeeded in the AAC Conference, the American Athletic Conference,
and the Big twelve Conference, because those are just flat
out different conferences than the Big Ten and the SEC.
And so if we can't get it figured out and
get to a bowl game this year, my call right
now is just tiny little fan Matt case out here.
My call is, let's get some people in the house
(22:16):
who know how to succeed in this conference, if not
this one then sec because we need those voices in
around that locker room matt case, ladies and gentlemen, hot
takes for days. Emery Songer will be back in a
moment on news radio eleven ten kfab
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