Are you sold on Hilinski?

[Steveelement]

I almost got the sense that the coaching staff was surprised at how well he played. I still think they don’t fully trust him as evidenced by their play calling in the 4th quarter.

I guess I am still skeptical given how good Hunter looked in week 1 last year.

Ryan seems like a great kid, but he was tough to watch last year.

Some observations:

He may have the best supporting cast we have seen in a while (OL, WRs, TEs, HBs)

His mechanics are still a mess.

 

[DaCat]

Just win, baby!!!

 

[Pasadena Bound]

I know for a fact that the coaching staff is very high on Ryan. He worked very hard in the off season (including the weight room & nutrition). Remember that he was new to our program last year and the off season gave him more time to familiarize himself with Bajakian and our system. Lastly, his supporting cast on offense is pretty damn good.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

I almost got the sense that the coaching staff was surprised at how well he played. I still think they don’t fully trust him as evidenced by their play calling in the 4th quarter.

I guess I am still skeptical given how good Hunter looked in week 1 last year.

Ryan seems like a great kid, but he was tough to watch last year.

Some observations:

He may have the best supporting cast we have seen in a while (OL, WRs, TEs, HBs)

His mechanics are still a mess.

Why do you hate NU??

 

[HappyNUyear]

Relax

Hilinski I trust.

 

[BFDCat]

Yes

 

[mkilla]

Hilinski was the clear #1 in fall camp. Sullivan a distant second due to being turnover prone.

 

[gocats8992]

Yes. He is our captain. The coaching staff needs to trust him when we play better teams. Running the ball 19 times in a row and we will lose to better teams

 

[Bwm57]

I trust Hilinski a lot more than I trust your comments right now.

 

[Gladeskat]

I almost got the sense that the coaching staff was surprised at how well he played. I still think they don’t fully trust him as evidenced by their play calling in the 4th quarter.

Fitz loves to run the ball to burn clock when he can, then rely on his defense to close the game out. It's not about lack of trust in Hilinski as it is about trusting the running game & defense to finish off opponents. This end of game strategy has been successful for him so why change?

 

[CardinalFib]

Yes. He is our captain. The coaching staff needs to trust him when we play better teams. Running the ball 19 times in a row and we will lose to better teams

I don't think Fitz's mindset changes even if Ramsay or Thorson were in the game. I think he runs the ball in that situation in that particular game.

Now, with Persa or Colter, Fitz might QB speed option keeper.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Hilinski was the clear #1 in fall camp. Sullivan a distant second due to being turnover prone.

Thanks for all you insight into the team. Do you have any info on injuries? You were right on Mangieri being out. I’m guessing they were being very cautious in not playing him as I had heard he was set to play.

Curious about Gold, Olsen and Mangieri in particular.

 

[JournCat]

Hilinski was the clear #1 in fall camp. Sullivan a distant second due to being turnover prone.

Dave Revsine went on Feldman and Mandel's podcast this week and admitted what the BTN crew was implying during their training camp tour: We looked really bad and Hilinski struggled mightily. Revsine said they came away expecting Sullivan to start. But the big caveat was the team had practiced hard the day before. I think it's possible Fitz may have sandbagged BTN to surprise Nebraska. But I also think Hilinski may not have figured out everything and the coaches know they have to protect him.

 

[gocats8992]

I hope Hilinski stays another year to help with the Aidan Gray transition. Gray is the future

 

[zeek55]

Fitz loves to run the ball to burn clock when he can, then rely on his defense to close the game out. It's not about lack of trust in Hilinski as it is about trusting the running game & defense to finish off opponents. This end of game strategy has been successful for him so why change?

Yep. This is how Fitz coaches. Has nothing to do with Hilinski.

Fitz has coached like this the entire time he's been HC but it didn't work as well early on as it has in the past 5-7 years.

49 wins in one score games says it all.

 

[GrandRapidsCatFan]

Yep. This is how Fitz coaches. Has nothing to do with Hilinski.

Fitz has coached like this the entire time he's been HC but it didn't work as well early on as it has in the past 5-7 years.

49 wins in one score games says it all.

He's the anti-Scott Frost, really...

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

I hope Hilinski stays another year to help with the Aidan Gray transition. Gray is the future

Funny. I hear Lausch is the future.

 

[DaCat]

Dave Revsine went on Feldman and Mandel's podcast this week and admitted what the BTN crew was implying during their training camp tour: We looked really bad and Hilinski struggled mightily. Revsine said they came away expecting Sullivan to start. But the big caveat was the team had practiced hard the day before. I think it's possible Fitz may have sandbagged BTN to surprise Nebraska. But I also think Hilinski may not have figured out everything and the coaches know they have to protect him.

Hilinski looked really good against Neb. I thought his first few throws were a little shaky but Washington and Navarro made good catches, and I think he settled down from there and got comfortable in the pocket. He finished the first half 20-23, but only 7-15 in the second half. Hope he continues to improve.

 

[DocCat2]

I saw two bad tendencies:

1. He throws off his back foot and while stepping back from pressure.
2. He had a few throws behind his intended target- credit Malik for making great catches. He needs to hit his WR in stride more.

But his reads were good and decision making was sound. And on some throws his placement was very good- where only the NU guy had a chance to catch it, such as the Navarro TD

 

[TheC]

Yep. This is how Fitz coaches. Has nothing to do with Hilinski.

Fitz has coached like this the entire time he's been HC but it didn't work as well early on as it has in the past 5-7 years.

49 wins in one score games says it all.

I am happy with the wins, but its also likely that some of those one-score games should have been two or more score games, but that isn't Fitz' style.

 

[rmndcat]

Not necessarily sold. But cautiously optmistic and impressed. A few more games are required to be solidly sold.

 

[zeek55]

I am happy with the wins, but its also likely that some of those one-score games should have been two or more score games, but that isn't Fitz' style.

This is true and we lost a lot of big leads early on in Fitz's career (I was in the stands for some of those) when we had weaker teams without the kind of talent and better depth we have now.

But it's a learning process, Fitz has become a lot more aggressive as a coach in terms of 4th down decisions and generally that has paid off.

The conservative end game approach won't change.

Fitz has always been a "Tressel-ball" proponent in terms of getting a lead and then pounding the air out of the ball on the ground.

It's worked a lot more often than not in the past 5-10 years so it's hard to complain.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I almost got the sense that the coaching staff was surprised at how well he played. I still think they don’t fully trust him as evidenced by their play calling in the 4th quarter.

I guess I am still skeptical given how good Hunter looked in week 1 last year.

Ryan seems like a great kid, but he was tough to watch last year.

Some observations:

He may have the best supporting cast we have seen in a while (OL, WRs, TEs, HBs)

His mechanics are still a mess.

Sold? No. Much more hopeful than a week ago? Yes.

The difference between Hilinski’s 2022 week one performance and Johnson’s 2021 week one performance is in that you could clearly see Hilinski work through progressions while Johnson was still locking onto a single WR. Surely a seemingly-improved OL helps a whole lot in that regard, but the “eyeball test” was just different.

Johnson also racked up a whole lot of yards when everyone knew we were throwing the ball while coming from behind.

Frankly, I don’t think Hilinski’s mechanics are all that bad nor are they materially worse than what I saw out of Johnson last year, even against MSU when he was putting up a ton of yards. Johnson was constantly throwing off his back foot with an “all arm” motion, which I flagged numerous times as a potential issue that, unfortunately, turned out to be a big part of his shortcomings.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I hope Hilinski stays another year to help with the Aidan Gray transition. Gray is the future

1) There’s zero chance Hilinski leaves early.
2) Jack Lausch is going to have a big say in “the future” based on what I’ve heard about his early career

 

[rwhitney014]

1) There’s zero chance Hilinski leaves early.
2) Jack Lausch is going to have a big say in “the future” based on what I’ve heard about his early career

Go on...

 

[SmellyCat]

Funny. I hear Lausch is the future.

And I heard that children are the future.

 

[phatcat]

Hilinski was way way better than I'd thought or hoped. I can't think of any upperclassman, except Kafka, that made that much improvement YOY. Perhaps he won't do as well against a team brining actual pressure (no one does as well under pressure), but we play enough teams with sus defenses that he will likely be ok.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Go on...

He’s good.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Go on...

I’ve heard good things. That’s it.

 

[phatcat]

Yep. This is how Fitz coaches. Has nothing to do with Hilinski.

Fitz has coached like this the entire time he's been HC but it didn't work as well early on as it has in the past 5-7 years.

49 wins in one score games says it all.

I thought you meant in past years in which we have gone 5-7

 

[NUCat320]

Hilinski’s freshman year performanceincluded only five total interceptions, including two over his final eight games, a total of 287 passes. (One was a blowout loss to App St, one was a tightish loss to Clemson.)

Last year being what last year was, that ability to protect the football fits in very well with what NU is trying to do.

So, while I’m not “sold”, I’m pretty optimistic. The pieces around him put him in a much better position to succeed.

Also, one game flipped me from 3-9 to 9-3. Such is life as an NU fan.

 

[usopen30]

Sold? No. Much more hopeful than a week ago? Yes.

The difference between Hilinski’s 2022 week one performance and Johnson’s 2021 week one performance is in that you could clearly see Hilinski work through progressions while Johnson was still locking onto a single WR. Surely a seemingly-improved OL helps a whole lot in that regard, but the “eyeball test” was just different.

Johnson also racked up a whole lot of yards when everyone knew we were throwing the ball while coming from behind.

Frankly, I don’t think Hilinski’s mechanics are all that bad nor are they materially worse than what I saw out of Johnson last year, even against MSU when he was putting up a ton of yards. Johnson was constantly throwing off his back foot with an “all arm” motion, which I flagged numerous times as a potential issue that, unfortunately, turned out to be a big part of his shortcomings.

R Hilinski won his opener this year, H Johnson lost his last year. Enough said (at least so far).

 

[Gladeskat]

Yep. This is how Fitz coaches. Has nothing to do with Hilinski.

Fitz has coached like this the entire time he's been HC but it didn't work as well early on as it has in the past 5-7 years.

49 wins in one score games says it all.

Agreed. I also think Fitz deliberately ran the ball behind his now decent OL rather than toss a play-action pass to expose their weakness (DL) and challenge Frost and Nebraska to beat us. He was making a statement: "We're not the team that lost by 49 points last year. To be more than fair, after that stupid onside kick, we'll run the ball down your throats on 3rd and long and even give you one last chance on offense so we can shut you down yet again." Frost & Nebraska folded.

It drives me a crazy sometimes, but I love Fitz when we win that way in the 4th quarter, particularly against Nebraska and Iowa. He knows it's a game requiring enthusiasm and emotion. That's why the team responds to him. He gave them back their confidence and swagger running the ball down UNL's throat while changing the media narrative about NU football.

If you've followed Nebraska for decades as I have, there's nothing more humiliating for that program than stopping their running game and running the ball down their throats like that to run out the clock. We should have called a few time outs during the kneel downs in that last minute. LOL.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

R Hilinski won his opener this year, H Johnson lost his last year. Enough said (at least so far).

Reducing starting quarterback performance to team wins is a terrible way to evaluate QB play.

 

[DaCat]

Agreed. I also think Fitz deliberately ran the ball rather than toss a play-action pass to expose their weakness (DL) and challenge Frost and Nebraska to beat us. He was making a statement: "We're not the team that lost by 49 points last year. To be more than fair, after that stupid onside kick, we'll run the ball down your throats on 3rd and long and even give you one last chance on offense so we can shut you down yet again." Frost & Nebraska folded.

It used to drive me nuts but I love Fitz when we win that way in the 4th quarter, particularly against Nebraska and Iowa. He knows it's a game requiring enthusiasm and emotion. That's why the team responds to him. He gave them back their confidence and swagger running the ball down UNL's throat while changing the media narrative about NU football.

Fitz protecting a lead can be a thing of beauty when his keepaway tactic works. It's a slow death for the opposition, knowing what's coming but not being able to stop it. One of the best images from last week is the Neb fan YouTubing from his bathroom, admitting that he was crying as he helplessly watched Northwestern run the ball down the throat of the Neb defense. Now that was awesome.

 

[zeek55]

Agreed. I also think Fitz deliberately ran the ball rather than toss a play-action pass to expose their weakness (DL) and challenge Frost and Nebraska to beat us. He was making a statement: "We're not the team that lost by 49 points last year. To be more than fair, after that stupid onside kick, we'll run the ball down your throats on 3rd and long and even give you one last chance on offense so we can shut you down yet again." Frost & Nebraska folded.

It drives me a crazy sometimes, but I love Fitz when we win that way in the 4th quarter, particularly against Nebraska and Iowa. He knows it's a game requiring enthusiasm and emotion. That's why the team responds to him. He gave them back their confidence and swagger running the ball down UNL's throat while changing the media narrative about NU football.

Yeah Iowa is another great example of that. 5 of the last 6 Iowa games have been one score games and we've won 4 of those.

Fitz really has gotten a good handle on how to coach tight games. I think the flip from losing a lot of close bowls to winning a lot of close bowls shows that as well.

 

[Gladeskat]

Yeah Iowa is another great example of that. 5 of the last 6 Iowa games have been one score games and we've won 4 of those.

Fitz really has gotten a good handle on how to coach tight games. I think the flip from losing a lot of close bowls to winning a lot of close bowls shows that as well.

Look at how we won those last two Iowa games. We ran the ball down their throats with battering ram Bowser in the 4th quarter in 2018, and then came back from a 17-point deficit and stoned them with good defense in the second half in the 2020 rock fight.

As an aside, I like the expression "rock fight". Takes me back to my early childhood in Montpelier, VT when snowballs, dirt-clods, and cow manure were the preferred projectiles in our Italian stonecutter neighborhood skirmishes (Rock of Ages granite quarry is nearby). Sneaking a rock in a snowball was risky, akin to using forbidden chemical weapons, and punishable by severe parental beatings.

The mean streets of Montpelier - where even the Governor wasn't immune from "snowball violence" coming out of church (not me, my brother).

 

[TheC]

I’ve heard good things. That’s it.

 

[SmellyCat]

Fitz protecting a lead can be a thing of beauty when his keepaway tactic works. It's a slow death for the opposition, knowing what's coming but not being able to stop it.

I was thinking of this a lot last night in the fourth quarter of the Purdue game. Purdue's passing offense is better than their rushing offense, but the fact that they threw one incomplete pass after another when trying to salt the game away was crazy. They really blew a chance to win over the evil Penn State. And as a result, they're now already one game out of first in the Big Ten West.

 

[Gladeskat]

Fitz protecting a lead can be a thing of beauty when his keepaway tactic works. It's a slow death for the opposition, knowing what's coming but not being able to stop it. One of the best images from last week is the Neb fan YouTubing from his bathroom, admitting that he was crying as he helplessly watched Northwestern run the ball down the throat of the Neb defense. Now that was awesome.

Yes, the guy crying in the bathroom and the poster complaining about the "Irish refs" biased toward Fitz were the winners for this year's Nebby game fan meltdown award.