Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Time for Husker Buzz with our Husker insider Sean Callahan
and Sean welcome back to the show. Let's just go
ahead and call it what it is. Another disappointing lass here.
But what's kind of the inventory you've been able to
take in the forty eight hours since we watched this game?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, you know, I think when we talked about this Friday,
I thought Nebraska is going to be able to make
a close game, a competitive game, a back and forth game,
and that's how it played out. But it came down to,
I mean, USC had the better skill players to win
the one on one battles, the third downs, the situations
that quarterback in the run game, and then what he
marks the running back. I mean, Nebraska just did not
(00:37):
have an answer for just the different things they were
doing on some of the passing plays and the key
moments where they would match up a six to sixth
guy on a smaller Nebraska dB and then find that
matchup or what he marks the way he took over
in that late drive and the fourth quarterman Jada Maeva
had the early mistakes, but he was able to finish
it off with a key run and then the touchdown
(00:59):
run as well an option play in the touchdown run,
and that was the difference. Nebraska just didn't get that
out of their offense. I do think it was an
improved effort on offense. The line played well, they found
some new wrinkles in the running game, but again, you're
just not going to win a lot of games, especially
against quality offensive opponents, by only scoring thirteen points as
an offensive unit.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, I gotta tell you, I mean, you take away
that pick six, which was obviously a miss throw and
a good play by see your right, but you take
that away, and there's not a whole lot that I
felt super great about on this new offense for Nebraska.
Was there anything to you that felt different or was
kind of just like, Okay, this is Dana Holgerson really
(01:40):
kind of putting his stamp on this offense with this
this personnel. Because there also were a couple of moments
where I was just like, what in the world is
going on out there, especially on that you know, you know,
in the in a situation where they call time out,
put the offense back out there to pretend like they
were going to go for you know, a fourth down,
didn't really even tried to draw them off side, then
(02:01):
took a delay of game penalty anyway, and then punted
the ball back to them anyway. Like there was stuff
like that that was still going on that I just
couldn't figure out. Can you kind of explain to me,
you know what, what you saw that was different with
the you know, coaching change.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, I just think the pacing, the alignment, what they
were doing looked better, the operation of the offense getting
some key players open, and some of the concepts they
were doing. Now in that situation with the timeout, yes,
I think it's fair to be critical of that situation,
but it was a part of the game where they
essentially had four timeouts remaining, a two minute warning and
(02:36):
three to go. That was a key for it down.
They they kind of went back and forth, and I
think initially they were going to run a fake punt
and and and then the look that they came out
with usc they called the fake off and then they
called time out, and then they lined up and they
were going to go for it if the look they
wanted was there. Well, the look wasn't there, and then
(02:56):
they took the five yard penalty and punted it away.
But it was definitely a frustrating moment as a fan,
because you know, you're just you're feeling victory, you're seeing
victory in that moment, and they could not take advantage
of and I believe that was the possession after the
fumble recovery. UFC only had four possessions of the entire
second half. Two of the four were touchdown drives. The
(03:17):
other two ended in the fumble recovery in the block
field goal. So Nebraska stood up strong. It was a
weird game in that sense. Nebraska's defense couldn't get off
the field on that final drive, and USC put together
a near eight minute drive to kind of ice the game.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Uh yeah, we're speaking of Callahan here. Uh Husker buzz.
USC didn't look super clean. Obviously, they made a quarterback change,
and they were desperate because they needed to get a
couple of wins to get to BAWL eligibility, which was
far below the expectations that that program had going into
this season, considering the stability and the coaching staff, but
(03:53):
also the fact that top twenty five team, and especially
after Week one when they were able to beat LSU,
people are like, hey, this is a team that could
be compete at the top of the Big Ten conference
and that just has not materialized. They're win against Nebraska
makes them three and five in conference play. You feel
good about kind of the the end result against an
opponent that has a lot of talent but certainly seemed
(04:14):
to be reeling the way that the season had gone
in the last you know, month month plus for them.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
They're deceiving because all their losses were close. I mean,
all they had to do to beat Penn State was
get one fourth down stop. Penn State completed a fourth
and ten and a fourth and eight to send the
game to overtime. They they ran out of gas and
fell apart in those losses to Maryland and then and
then the loss obviously to Minnesota. Those are the ones
you really look at closely. But they have played with
(04:42):
everybody they wanted Madison, they beat Wisconsin, you know. So
they're a team that, yes they're not having in order
the records that good, but they're the way they scheme
and the way that the skill players they have on
their roster, they they can play with anybody. It's just
they can't get over the hu for whatever odd reason.
And they made the quarterback change. So that is a
(05:04):
team and they close with Notre Dame and UCLA. So
it's going to be interesting to see because I do
I'll say this, I do think they could beat Notre Dame.
I really do. I think that I wouldn't be surprised
if that game ended up being an upset for the Trojans.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
All right, So, Sean, I got to like just to
finish our recap of Saturday's game because I want to
focus on Wisconsin because you made it very clear even
a couple of weeks ago we talked about this, you
feel like the Wisconsin game specifically was the best, you know,
of the three games obviously to try to get to
Bowl eligibility, and that's still hanging in front of them.
But as far as this game, how do you come
(05:39):
out of this game? Because obviously, you know, morale within
the fan base is getting lower and lower, three one
score losses to Big ten opponents while you're sitting one
win away from you know, Bowl eligibility, and the offense
continues to struggle to put up points. They haven't scored
more than twenty points in any game since they barely
did against Purdue, and we know that that was kind
(06:01):
of a struggle on a slog to watch. So what
would be your message to the fan base here that
has sat through these painful losses one way or the
other and trying to stay motivated and excited about the
possibilities of still achieving gold number one of the season,
which is go to a ball game.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, it's tough because they've been in this five win
purgatory for seemingly a long time as a program. I
can't bust through the wall, but I do think this
is a real winning opportunity their favorite this week. Unlike
last week. They weren't a favorite at Indiana, they weren't
a favorite at Ohio State. So of their previous four losses,
they were dogs in three of the four games, and
(06:42):
this is an opportunity for them at home where they
were a favorite against UCLA and fell short in that game.
But this is one you know, with the coordinator change.
Wisconsin has fired their coordinator Phil long Ago this week
and they're gonna call plays by committee. It's been kind
of a disaster. They can't throw it very well. They've
got some injuries with two of their better players that
(07:04):
are up in the air appauling their wide receiver and
Woldner their safety two really good NFL level players that
may not even be available. So I do think optimistically
you can look at some things that play in the
hands of Nebraska and the team, though, has to come
out and play at a high level early. You can't
be on the field like we've seen. The stadium wants
(07:25):
this team to do well, but you've got to give
them a reason to cheer and get behind it. A
UCLA game with a disaster in that sense because they
couldn't get off the field early in the game, and
then at that point, the crowd is this drain and
it was just hard to get the crowd to become
a factor. And they really need the crowd to be
a factor because they everybody wants the six win. It's
a big deal for a lot of people, and they
(07:46):
want the program needs to get over this hurdle because
it's been just kind of this plague that they can't
get rid of.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And there's no doubt about it, right And you talk
about you know, Wisconsin and the way that you know
they kind of sit there at five and two and
they want to get to a bowl. You know, it
feels I'm sure Wisconsin fans feel like this is kind
of weird territory because we're used to competing for a
chance to go to a Big Ten championship game in
the old Big Ten West, and now that's not a
(08:14):
non factor for them. And they don't even know if
they're going to a bowl game. So they know that
they have to win one of their last two against
either Nebraska or they have a home game left against
Minnesota to try to get themselves there. And we're going
to be following that kind of storyline throughout the rest
of the week before the Huskers and Badgers play in
Lincoln on Saturday. Sean Callahan or Husker Insider, thanks so
much for the info, Seawan, We'll talk tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Hey, thanks, Hemmy, appreciate all right, it.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Is five sixteen. We appreciate you for listening to us.
My name is Emery Songer. We'll come back. Got to
get more into the news here a little bit. I
do want to have another little quick opinion air out session.
If you're interested in you can email me Emory at
kfab dot com with your Husker takes. Now. I like
feeling kind of what the pulse is of Nebraska nation.
(08:59):
A four straight laws is three of which are one
score losses, one of which that UCLA game that really
stings right now ahead of a winnable game against Wisconsin
this Saturday, we'd love to chat with you right here
on news radio eleven ten kfab.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Em Ry's songer on news Radio eleven ten kfab.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
As a Nebraska Cornhusker fan, what's the morale for you
after Saturday's loss?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
You see, there is a really good reason why I
don't come in here after the game on Saturday and
do a postgame show, because no one would want to
hear that. I'd just be belly aching and complaining. I
am so glad I get a couple of days to decompress,
walk it off, and come in here more with the
sense of commiseration. I think is how many longtime Husker
(09:43):
fans are feeling. I'm I'm not giving up on this program.
I will never give up on this program. It saddens
me that my kids are not growing up with the
same level of success that I was really blessed to
have growing up here as a Husker fan, and I'm
always hopeful we can get back to that. My favorite
(10:04):
moment of the year was the girl that showed up
there at the Colorado game. With a sign that said,
so this is the Nebraska football my dad talked about
since we went to halftime at the Colorado game. We
haven't seen it and we can play with anyone. Unfortunately,
we play to the level of our opponents, but find
a way not to get it done there late in
the fourth quarter, as we've seen time and time again.
(10:28):
I just I'm commiserating with Husker Nation right now because
we so badly want to be able to win these
football games, and I absolutely believe we will starting this
Saturday against Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I appreciate your realism, which is also kind of like dashed.
There's a dash of the you know, optimism of a
longtime Husker fan that things could still get better, and
we have to be realistic about what the goals the
program are right now. It is a rebuild. Whenever you
fire a guy at the beginning of a season, like
(11:05):
you did Scott Frost, you are behind the eight ball
for the rest of that season and then of course
trying to get into the recruitment the following season, especially
in the cutthroat world that college athletics is at this point,
when you bring Matt Ruhlan at the end of a
regular season like they did a couple of years ago.
He still isn't going to have a full on legitimate
recruiting class because he didn't have all season to kind of,
(11:28):
you know, show off what Nebraska football could be to
potential recruits. So his first year obviously is going to
look a little bit weird. And we know how that
ended last year in a five and seven record, and
he felt like, you know, we took some steps, but
we also missed some opportunities to potentially become Bowl eligible,
which for Nebraska, out of you know, the last decade,
that has become an issue. Then now you look at
(11:49):
this season, the problem is this is also like a
stepping stone rebuild year. Your three is always kind of
the year, like, man, it'd be cool to get to
the year three and see what it looks like, but
you have to take the next step forward. And for
this program, unequivocally, this year is a failure regardless if
they don't get that sixth win. Now, at the same time,
we have to be realistic and understand things that it's
(12:10):
not all the coach's fault that things are happening out there.
If Dylan Roilo doesn't throw a pick six to start
the UCLA's games. The second half of the UCLA game,
who knows how that game ends up. They lose by
seven points. That game turned out to be one of
the big moments of the game, and Nebraska was unable
to overcome that situation and math rule didn't throw that pass,
(12:31):
and at the same time still felt responsible enough for
what the offense looked like over the last month that
he demoted his longtime buddy and coach like fellow coach
in Marcus Sadderfield and brought in a guy like Daniel
Holgerson who wasn't at a head coach at a program
for the first time in fifteen plus years. I have
to feel like that kind of urgency needs to count
(12:53):
for something. And I don't know what we were expecting
on Saturday with the guy who literally has had the
Nebraska playbook in his hands for less than two weeks
and has only been given the play calling operations, at
least publicly for less than a week. I don't know
what we possibly could have expected to look that different
with this offense of a bunch of players he didn't
recruit in a playbook that isn't his trying to figure
(13:15):
out the best way to put a game plan together
against the team that has an awful lot of talent
that is able to use Los Angeles as a recruiting tool.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, but let me tell you this about Holgerson and
the change I saw that was glaringly evident from the
USC game on Saturday to UCLA. Before that, Ucla, we've
got it, you know, in the red zone, several times
we're settling for field goals. We're not able to punch
it in. We were, we were running bad plays down there.
(13:44):
And with Holgerson, we had that moment there against USC
where he devised a play that had a guy wide
open to Rayola's left there almost to the end zone,
wide open. It looked like Dylan looked at him and
maybe because he was worried, I can't throw these interceptions
down here in the red zone. For whatever reason, he
(14:05):
didn't throw that pass. It looked like he looked right
at him and didn't throw it. Now, Holgerson set up
the play. He got the playmaker open. We need to
free up Ryola to have the confidence to throw that
pass to give the playmakers a chance to make plays.
On the defensive side, though, I really think the defensive
backs coach has to work with defensive coordinator Tony White
(14:25):
and get these defensive backs in a position where we
were just getting boxed out constantly. I mean, teams I
think are realizing that their wide receivers go down there,
run you know, eight to sixteen yard comeback routes, and
box out our defensive backs. It seems like that play
is open over and over again, and that's so frustrating
(14:48):
to watch.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yeah, and that's it's definitely the weak point of the
defense for sure, and that's not a great spot to
be in. This was not a guy that was a
regular starting quarterback who was hot. This is a guy
who literally for was called off the bench to start
for the first time this season, and he made a
couple of bad plays. He obviously overthrew a receiver in
through a pick six to Sierra, right, But like if
(15:10):
it's not if that pick six doesn't happen early in
the game, I mean, Nebraska puts up less than fourteen
points as an offense. After that, like, I mean, the
offense didn't score any more points, And you're right, at
some point, we also have to realize we're putting a
ton of expectations on a five star quarterback. But he's
also a true freshman. I mean, this is a young player,
(15:31):
and we don't expect a true freshman most of the
time to look like he should be an NFL caliber player.
You know, I remember Trevor Lawrence's true freshman season at Clemson.
He looked like he was a pro. That was unusual.
That's not the norm. There aren't many true freshman quarterbacks
at any program in America, especially at a power conference
(15:53):
team like Nebraska, is that looks like, hey, this is
a next level player. It's a tough position to play.
So we also have to, I think, give a little
bit of grace to the fact this is a young
player who's trying to learn, especially with some of the
trials and tribulations not only that he's had with his
turnovers over the last month, but also he was coming
(16:13):
off of a back injury. We weren't sure what his
status would be for the game. We don't know how
mobile he even was for that game. They didn't really
tell us what his ability to run was. And then
all of a sudden, you change his offensive play caller
and try to make a rapport with that. I don't know.
The optimism still needs to be there, although I do
think we have to start asking harder questions. If Nebraska
(16:34):
loses these last two games and missus a bull for
what the eighth or ninth consecutive season, I mean, we're
losing count at this point.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Yeah, this is the all true. But I feel like
we could expect as much as Riola expects from himself.
He's the guy out there. This coaching staff put him
out there. And what you were saying there about USC
brought a guy on off the bench. That is the
kiss of death for a Husker nation. Over these last
several years, we have made more backup court and those
(17:01):
who are getting their first start because the other guy
got injured or pulled or whatever. We make these guys
look like Randall Cunningham every single week. And there that's
just me sharing my frustration. I'll go back to commiseration
and renewed optimism. Now I'm finding my happy place.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Hey, ten points for you for the Randall Cunningham drop.
That's a good one.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
That's a good thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah. So either way, well, we have a chance to
go get him again on Saturday. How about that we
can all agree on that.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Emerson on News Radio eleven ten kfab
Time for Husker Buzz with our Husker insider Sean Callahan
and Sean welcome back to the show. Let's just go
ahead and call it what it is. Another disappointing lass here.
But what's kind of the inventory you've been able to
take in the forty eight hours since we watched this game?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, you know, I think when we talked about this Friday,
I thought Nebraska is going to be able to make
a close game, a competitive game, a back and forth game,
and that's how it played out. But it came down to,
I mean, USC had the better skill players to win
the one on one battles, the third downs, the situations
that quarterback in the run game, and then what he
marks the running back. I mean, Nebraska just did not
(00:37):
have an answer for just the different things they were
doing on some of the passing plays and the key
moments where they would match up a six to sixth
guy on a smaller Nebraska dB and then find that
matchup or what he marks the way he took over
in that late drive and the fourth quarterman Jada Maeva
had the early mistakes, but he was able to finish
it off with a key run and then the touchdown
(00:59):
run as well an option play in the touchdown run,
and that was the difference. Nebraska just didn't get that
out of their offense. I do think it was an
improved effort on offense. The line played well, they found
some new wrinkles in the running game, but again, you're
just not going to win a lot of games, especially
against quality offensive opponents, by only scoring thirteen points as
an offensive unit.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, I gotta tell you, I mean, you take away
that pick six, which was obviously a miss throw and
a good play by see your right, but you take
that away, and there's not a whole lot that I
felt super great about on this new offense for Nebraska.
Was there anything to you that felt different or was
kind of just like, Okay, this is Dana Holgerson really
(01:40):
kind of putting his stamp on this offense with this
this personnel. Because there also were a couple of moments
where I was just like, what in the world is
going on out there, especially on that you know, you know,
in the in a situation where they call time out,
put the offense back out there to pretend like they
were going to go for you know, a fourth down,
didn't really even tried to draw them off side, then
(02:01):
took a delay of game penalty anyway, and then punted
the ball back to them anyway. Like there was stuff
like that that was still going on that I just
couldn't figure out. Can you kind of explain to me,
you know what, what you saw that was different with
the you know, coaching change.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, I just think the pacing, the alignment, what they
were doing looked better, the operation of the offense getting
some key players open, and some of the concepts they
were doing. Now in that situation with the timeout, yes,
I think it's fair to be critical of that situation,
but it was a part of the game where they
essentially had four timeouts remaining, a two minute warning and
(02:36):
three to go. That was a key for it down.
They they kind of went back and forth, and I
think initially they were going to run a fake punt
and and and then the look that they came out
with usc they called the fake off and then they
called time out, and then they lined up and they
were going to go for it if the look they
wanted was there. Well, the look wasn't there, and then
(02:56):
they took the five yard penalty and punted it away.
But it was definitely a frustrating moment as a fan,
because you know, you're just you're feeling victory, you're seeing
victory in that moment, and they could not take advantage
of and I believe that was the possession after the
fumble recovery. UFC only had four possessions of the entire
second half. Two of the four were touchdown drives. The
(03:17):
other two ended in the fumble recovery in the block
field goal. So Nebraska stood up strong. It was a
weird game in that sense. Nebraska's defense couldn't get off
the field on that final drive, and USC put together
a near eight minute drive to kind of ice the game.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Uh yeah, we're speaking of Callahan here. Uh Husker buzz.
USC didn't look super clean. Obviously, they made a quarterback change,
and they were desperate because they needed to get a
couple of wins to get to BAWL eligibility, which was
far below the expectations that that program had going into
this season, considering the stability and the coaching staff, but
(03:53):
also the fact that top twenty five team, and especially
after Week one when they were able to beat LSU,
people are like, hey, this is a team that could
be compete at the top of the Big Ten conference
and that just has not materialized. They're win against Nebraska
makes them three and five in conference play. You feel
good about kind of the the end result against an
opponent that has a lot of talent but certainly seemed
(04:14):
to be reeling the way that the season had gone
in the last you know, month month plus for them.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
They're deceiving because all their losses were close. I mean,
all they had to do to beat Penn State was
get one fourth down stop. Penn State completed a fourth
and ten and a fourth and eight to send the
game to overtime. They they ran out of gas and
fell apart in those losses to Maryland and then and
then the loss obviously to Minnesota. Those are the ones
you really look at closely. But they have played with
(04:42):
everybody they wanted Madison, they beat Wisconsin, you know. So
they're a team that, yes they're not having in order
the records that good, but they're the way they scheme
and the way that the skill players they have on
their roster, they they can play with anybody. It's just
they can't get over the hu for whatever odd reason.
And they made the quarterback change. So that is a
(05:04):
team and they close with Notre Dame and UCLA. So
it's going to be interesting to see because I do
I'll say this, I do think they could beat Notre Dame.
I really do. I think that I wouldn't be surprised
if that game ended up being an upset for the Trojans.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
All right, So, Sean, I got to like just to
finish our recap of Saturday's game because I want to
focus on Wisconsin because you made it very clear even
a couple of weeks ago we talked about this, you
feel like the Wisconsin game specifically was the best, you know,
of the three games obviously to try to get to
Bowl eligibility, and that's still hanging in front of them.
But as far as this game, how do you come
(05:39):
out of this game? Because obviously, you know, morale within
the fan base is getting lower and lower, three one
score losses to Big ten opponents while you're sitting one
win away from you know, Bowl eligibility, and the offense
continues to struggle to put up points. They haven't scored
more than twenty points in any game since they barely
did against Purdue, and we know that that was kind
(06:01):
of a struggle on a slog to watch. So what
would be your message to the fan base here that
has sat through these painful losses one way or the
other and trying to stay motivated and excited about the
possibilities of still achieving gold number one of the season,
which is go to a ball game.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, it's tough because they've been in this five win
purgatory for seemingly a long time as a program. I
can't bust through the wall, but I do think this
is a real winning opportunity their favorite this week. Unlike
last week. They weren't a favorite at Indiana, they weren't
a favorite at Ohio State. So of their previous four losses,
they were dogs in three of the four games, and
(06:42):
this is an opportunity for them at home where they
were a favorite against UCLA and fell short in that game.
But this is one you know, with the coordinator change.
Wisconsin has fired their coordinator Phil long Ago this week
and they're gonna call plays by committee. It's been kind
of a disaster. They can't throw it very well. They've
got some injuries with two of their better players that
(07:04):
are up in the air appauling their wide receiver and
Woldner their safety two really good NFL level players that
may not even be available. So I do think optimistically
you can look at some things that play in the
hands of Nebraska and the team, though, has to come
out and play at a high level early. You can't
be on the field like we've seen. The stadium wants
(07:25):
this team to do well, but you've got to give
them a reason to cheer and get behind it. A
UCLA game with a disaster in that sense because they
couldn't get off the field early in the game, and
then at that point, the crowd is this drain and
it was just hard to get the crowd to become
a factor. And they really need the crowd to be
a factor because they everybody wants the six win. It's
a big deal for a lot of people, and they
(07:46):
want the program needs to get over this hurdle because
it's been just kind of this plague that they can't
get rid of.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And there's no doubt about it, right And you talk
about you know, Wisconsin and the way that you know
they kind of sit there at five and two and
they want to get to a bowl. You know, it
feels I'm sure Wisconsin fans feel like this is kind
of weird territory because we're used to competing for a
chance to go to a Big Ten championship game in
the old Big Ten West, and now that's not a
(08:14):
non factor for them. And they don't even know if
they're going to a bowl game. So they know that
they have to win one of their last two against
either Nebraska or they have a home game left against
Minnesota to try to get themselves there. And we're going
to be following that kind of storyline throughout the rest
of the week before the Huskers and Badgers play in
Lincoln on Saturday. Sean Callahan or Husker Insider, thanks so
much for the info, Seawan, We'll talk tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Hey, thanks, Hemmy, appreciate all right, it.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Is five sixteen. We appreciate you for listening to us.
My name is Emery Songer. We'll come back. Got to
get more into the news here a little bit. I
do want to have another little quick opinion air out session.
If you're interested in you can email me Emory at
kfab dot com with your Husker takes. Now. I like
feeling kind of what the pulse is of Nebraska nation.
(08:59):
A four straight laws is three of which are one
score losses, one of which that UCLA game that really
stings right now ahead of a winnable game against Wisconsin
this Saturday, we'd love to chat with you right here
on news radio eleven ten kfab.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Em Ry's songer on news Radio eleven ten kfab.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
As a Nebraska Cornhusker fan, what's the morale for you
after Saturday's loss?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
You see, there is a really good reason why I
don't come in here after the game on Saturday and
do a postgame show, because no one would want to
hear that. I'd just be belly aching and complaining. I
am so glad I get a couple of days to decompress,
walk it off, and come in here more with the
sense of commiseration. I think is how many longtime Husker
(09:43):
fans are feeling. I'm I'm not giving up on this program.
I will never give up on this program. It saddens
me that my kids are not growing up with the
same level of success that I was really blessed to
have growing up here as a Husker fan, and I'm
always hopeful we can get back to that. My favorite
(10:04):
moment of the year was the girl that showed up
there at the Colorado game. With a sign that said,
so this is the Nebraska football my dad talked about
since we went to halftime at the Colorado game. We
haven't seen it and we can play with anyone. Unfortunately,
we play to the level of our opponents, but find
a way not to get it done there late in
the fourth quarter, as we've seen time and time again.
(10:28):
I just I'm commiserating with Husker Nation right now because
we so badly want to be able to win these
football games, and I absolutely believe we will starting this
Saturday against Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I appreciate your realism, which is also kind of like dashed.
There's a dash of the you know, optimism of a
longtime Husker fan that things could still get better, and
we have to be realistic about what the goals the
program are right now. It is a rebuild. Whenever you
fire a guy at the beginning of a season, like
(11:05):
you did Scott Frost, you are behind the eight ball
for the rest of that season and then of course
trying to get into the recruitment the following season, especially
in the cutthroat world that college athletics is at this point,
when you bring Matt Ruhlan at the end of a
regular season like they did a couple of years ago.
He still isn't going to have a full on legitimate
recruiting class because he didn't have all season to kind of,
(11:28):
you know, show off what Nebraska football could be to
potential recruits. So his first year obviously is going to
look a little bit weird. And we know how that
ended last year in a five and seven record, and
he felt like, you know, we took some steps, but
we also missed some opportunities to potentially become Bowl eligible,
which for Nebraska, out of you know, the last decade,
that has become an issue. Then now you look at
(11:49):
this season, the problem is this is also like a
stepping stone rebuild year. Your three is always kind of
the year, like, man, it'd be cool to get to
the year three and see what it looks like, but
you have to take the next step forward. And for
this program, unequivocally, this year is a failure regardless if
they don't get that sixth win. Now, at the same time,
we have to be realistic and understand things that it's
(12:10):
not all the coach's fault that things are happening out there.
If Dylan Roilo doesn't throw a pick six to start
the UCLA's games. The second half of the UCLA game,
who knows how that game ends up. They lose by
seven points. That game turned out to be one of
the big moments of the game, and Nebraska was unable
to overcome that situation and math rule didn't throw that pass,
(12:31):
and at the same time still felt responsible enough for
what the offense looked like over the last month that
he demoted his longtime buddy and coach like fellow coach
in Marcus Sadderfield and brought in a guy like Daniel
Holgerson who wasn't at a head coach at a program
for the first time in fifteen plus years. I have
to feel like that kind of urgency needs to count
(12:53):
for something. And I don't know what we were expecting
on Saturday with the guy who literally has had the
Nebraska playbook in his hands for less than two weeks
and has only been given the play calling operations, at
least publicly for less than a week. I don't know
what we possibly could have expected to look that different
with this offense of a bunch of players he didn't
recruit in a playbook that isn't his trying to figure
(13:15):
out the best way to put a game plan together
against the team that has an awful lot of talent
that is able to use Los Angeles as a recruiting tool.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, but let me tell you this about Holgerson and
the change I saw that was glaringly evident from the
USC game on Saturday to UCLA. Before that, Ucla, we've
got it, you know, in the red zone, several times
we're settling for field goals. We're not able to punch
it in. We were, we were running bad plays down there.
(13:44):
And with Holgerson, we had that moment there against USC
where he devised a play that had a guy wide
open to Rayola's left there almost to the end zone,
wide open. It looked like Dylan looked at him and
maybe because he was worried, I can't throw these interceptions
down here in the red zone. For whatever reason, he
(14:05):
didn't throw that pass. It looked like he looked right
at him and didn't throw it. Now, Holgerson set up
the play. He got the playmaker open. We need to
free up Ryola to have the confidence to throw that
pass to give the playmakers a chance to make plays.
On the defensive side, though, I really think the defensive
backs coach has to work with defensive coordinator Tony White
(14:25):
and get these defensive backs in a position where we
were just getting boxed out constantly. I mean, teams I
think are realizing that their wide receivers go down there,
run you know, eight to sixteen yard comeback routes, and
box out our defensive backs. It seems like that play
is open over and over again, and that's so frustrating
(14:48):
to watch.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yeah, and that's it's definitely the weak point of the
defense for sure, and that's not a great spot to
be in. This was not a guy that was a
regular starting quarterback who was hot. This is a guy
who literally for was called off the bench to start
for the first time this season, and he made a
couple of bad plays. He obviously overthrew a receiver in
through a pick six to Sierra, right, But like if
(15:10):
it's not if that pick six doesn't happen early in
the game, I mean, Nebraska puts up less than fourteen
points as an offense. After that, like, I mean, the
offense didn't score any more points, And you're right, at
some point, we also have to realize we're putting a
ton of expectations on a five star quarterback. But he's
also a true freshman. I mean, this is a young player,
(15:31):
and we don't expect a true freshman most of the
time to look like he should be an NFL caliber player.
You know, I remember Trevor Lawrence's true freshman season at Clemson.
He looked like he was a pro. That was unusual.
That's not the norm. There aren't many true freshman quarterbacks
at any program in America, especially at a power conference
(15:53):
team like Nebraska, is that looks like, hey, this is
a next level player. It's a tough position to play.
So we also have to, I think, give a little
bit of grace to the fact this is a young
player who's trying to learn, especially with some of the
trials and tribulations not only that he's had with his
turnovers over the last month, but also he was coming
(16:13):
off of a back injury. We weren't sure what his
status would be for the game. We don't know how
mobile he even was for that game. They didn't really
tell us what his ability to run was. And then
all of a sudden, you change his offensive play caller
and try to make a rapport with that. I don't know.
The optimism still needs to be there, although I do
think we have to start asking harder questions. If Nebraska
(16:34):
loses these last two games and missus a bull for
what the eighth or ninth consecutive season, I mean, we're
losing count at this point.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Yeah, this is the all true. But I feel like
we could expect as much as Riola expects from himself.
He's the guy out there. This coaching staff put him
out there. And what you were saying there about USC
brought a guy on off the bench. That is the
kiss of death for a Husker nation. Over these last
several years, we have made more backup court and those
(17:01):
who are getting their first start because the other guy
got injured or pulled or whatever. We make these guys
look like Randall Cunningham every single week. And there that's
just me sharing my frustration. I'll go back to commiseration
and renewed optimism. Now I'm finding my happy place.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Hey, ten points for you for the Randall Cunningham drop.
That's a good one.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
That's a good thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah. So either way, well, we have a chance to
go get him again on Saturday. How about that we
can all agree on that.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Emerson on News Radio eleven ten kfab
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