Good column by Dirk Chatelain Omaha World Herald reprinted below:
Or see http://www.omaha.com/huskers/chatela...0878cd57d.html
"Let’s cut right to the chase.
Third-and-7 at the Illinois 28-yard line. Nebraska leads 13-7. The play clock drips and drips and drips to one second. There’s 1:01 when Tommy Armstrong takes the snap. Before we state what did happen, here’s what should’ve happened.
Armstrong hands the ball to a running back, who falls forward for a couple of yards. The whistle blows. The 40-second play clock starts at about 55 seconds. It drips all the way down to 15. Mike Riley calls time out. On fourth down, he runs the ball into the line again (or punts). Illinois takes over with absolutely no more than 10 seconds left and no timeouts. Its only hope, at that point, is if Red Grange comes back to life.
Now here’s what did happen. Tommy Armstrong rolled right into pressure and saw a wide-open Devine Ozigbo. Armstrong was supposed to run the ball. Against the wishes of his coaches, he tried to complete the pass. He did not. Like most of his throws on a blustery day, he was off the mark. The clock stopped with 55 seconds left.
Following an uninspired fourth-down call — wouldn’t a punt have been more effective? — Illinois marched 72 yards and won the game.
The honeymoon is over, folks. Nebraska is 2-3. Mike Riley and Danny Langsdorf lost this football game with dreadful mismanagement, not just of the clock, but of the entire offense.
Over and over, rather than feeding Ozigbo and Andy Janovich, they let Armstrong heave deep balls like a fourth-grader playing “500” at recess. This was Bill Callahan at Iowa State in 2004. This was Shawn Watson at Missouri in 2009 (luckily, Ndamukong Suh bailed him out that night). This was a debacle far worse than Texas ’09 or Wisconsin ’12.
Sure, those games had higher stakes and bigger audiences — lucky for NU, nobody in America cared about Huskers-Illini on Saturday. But you’d have a hard time finding a game in which the coaching staff could’ve so easily prevented defeat.
The rationale for hiring Riley wasn’t just his friendly personality. It was his experience. His competence. The guy had been in the business for 40 years. He’d coached all over the United States. He was supposedly the perfect antidote for a coaching staff deemed too immature and unprepared for Nebraska.
Well, in the first month of the first season, Nebraska lost on a Hail Mary because A) it rushed only three defenders, and B) still didn’t have defensive backs in the right spot. Then Nebraska went to Miami and nearly got run out of the stadium by an ordinary opponent.
NU consistently flubbed little details, leading the nation in penalties and mismanaging the clock. A week ago, Southern Miss trailed 36-28 and had no timeouts with 2:15 left. Nebraska needlessly passed on second-and-goal, a mistake that could’ve given Southern Miss 40 more seconds. Luckily, Jordan Westerkamp caught the ball.
Now Nebraska has lost to Illinois, surely one of the worst teams to beat the Huskers ever. Yes, ever.
And the irony is, the Blackshirts’ awful pass defense played well most of the day (with a little help from the wind).
Bottom line, this one falls on Riley and Langsdorf.
Even if their quarterback ignored instructions on the critical third down, it still comes back to them. Part of the coaches’ job is to teach situational football. Make Armstrong understand that an incompletion is NOT an option. It’s the latest in a string of hard lessons.
This was never going to be a championship season. This renovation was always going to take time. Nebraska fans could accept that. But part of the Husker tradition is treating every game like a big game. Winning when you’re supposed to win. Anything less is unacceptable. Bill Callahan learned the hard way in 2004. Riley has started down the same path.
Oregon State fans might forgive and forget these sorts of gut punches. Nebraska fans have longer memories.
In late February, Riley had lunch with Tom Osborne at Misty’s. Wisely, the new coach asked the Nebraska icon for a few bits of advice. They talked Blackshirts. They talked recruiting. And then they talked offense.
“He thought it was important that a team run the ball,” Riley told The World-Herald later. “If you’re a team that has to count on throwing 60 times per game, some games might be difficult.”
Riley chuckled. “That’s what he said. And I get that.”
Saturday, in a game Nebraska had no business losing, Riley didn’t get that. Not for the first 59 minutes. And certainly not on the one play that mattered most."
Or see http://www.omaha.com/huskers/chatela...0878cd57d.html
"Let’s cut right to the chase.
Third-and-7 at the Illinois 28-yard line. Nebraska leads 13-7. The play clock drips and drips and drips to one second. There’s 1:01 when Tommy Armstrong takes the snap. Before we state what did happen, here’s what should’ve happened.
Armstrong hands the ball to a running back, who falls forward for a couple of yards. The whistle blows. The 40-second play clock starts at about 55 seconds. It drips all the way down to 15. Mike Riley calls time out. On fourth down, he runs the ball into the line again (or punts). Illinois takes over with absolutely no more than 10 seconds left and no timeouts. Its only hope, at that point, is if Red Grange comes back to life.
Now here’s what did happen. Tommy Armstrong rolled right into pressure and saw a wide-open Devine Ozigbo. Armstrong was supposed to run the ball. Against the wishes of his coaches, he tried to complete the pass. He did not. Like most of his throws on a blustery day, he was off the mark. The clock stopped with 55 seconds left.
Following an uninspired fourth-down call — wouldn’t a punt have been more effective? — Illinois marched 72 yards and won the game.
The honeymoon is over, folks. Nebraska is 2-3. Mike Riley and Danny Langsdorf lost this football game with dreadful mismanagement, not just of the clock, but of the entire offense.
Over and over, rather than feeding Ozigbo and Andy Janovich, they let Armstrong heave deep balls like a fourth-grader playing “500” at recess. This was Bill Callahan at Iowa State in 2004. This was Shawn Watson at Missouri in 2009 (luckily, Ndamukong Suh bailed him out that night). This was a debacle far worse than Texas ’09 or Wisconsin ’12.
Sure, those games had higher stakes and bigger audiences — lucky for NU, nobody in America cared about Huskers-Illini on Saturday. But you’d have a hard time finding a game in which the coaching staff could’ve so easily prevented defeat.
The rationale for hiring Riley wasn’t just his friendly personality. It was his experience. His competence. The guy had been in the business for 40 years. He’d coached all over the United States. He was supposedly the perfect antidote for a coaching staff deemed too immature and unprepared for Nebraska.
Well, in the first month of the first season, Nebraska lost on a Hail Mary because A) it rushed only three defenders, and B) still didn’t have defensive backs in the right spot. Then Nebraska went to Miami and nearly got run out of the stadium by an ordinary opponent.
NU consistently flubbed little details, leading the nation in penalties and mismanaging the clock. A week ago, Southern Miss trailed 36-28 and had no timeouts with 2:15 left. Nebraska needlessly passed on second-and-goal, a mistake that could’ve given Southern Miss 40 more seconds. Luckily, Jordan Westerkamp caught the ball.
Now Nebraska has lost to Illinois, surely one of the worst teams to beat the Huskers ever. Yes, ever.
And the irony is, the Blackshirts’ awful pass defense played well most of the day (with a little help from the wind).
Bottom line, this one falls on Riley and Langsdorf.
Even if their quarterback ignored instructions on the critical third down, it still comes back to them. Part of the coaches’ job is to teach situational football. Make Armstrong understand that an incompletion is NOT an option. It’s the latest in a string of hard lessons.
This was never going to be a championship season. This renovation was always going to take time. Nebraska fans could accept that. But part of the Husker tradition is treating every game like a big game. Winning when you’re supposed to win. Anything less is unacceptable. Bill Callahan learned the hard way in 2004. Riley has started down the same path.
Oregon State fans might forgive and forget these sorts of gut punches. Nebraska fans have longer memories.
In late February, Riley had lunch with Tom Osborne at Misty’s. Wisely, the new coach asked the Nebraska icon for a few bits of advice. They talked Blackshirts. They talked recruiting. And then they talked offense.
“He thought it was important that a team run the ball,” Riley told The World-Herald later. “If you’re a team that has to count on throwing 60 times per game, some games might be difficult.”
Riley chuckled. “That’s what he said. And I get that.”
Saturday, in a game Nebraska had no business losing, Riley didn’t get that. Not for the first 59 minutes. And certainly not on the one play that mattered most."
