Braun post game video - way to go coach Braun!
- Thread starter Eurocat
- Start date
I just want to say...I am absolutely not yet on the "remove the interim tag" train yet, but today went a long way to getting me there.
Today showed me three things:
1. Tangible progress from last week. I didn't think we'd win another game without Bryant, and Sullivan is still an absolute nightmare to watch as he scrambles 10 yards in the wrong direction and takes a lifetime to juke and cut, but he had some decent throws today. If our offense showed a stitch of this mojo last week we'd be 5-3.
2. The defense is legit. They looked great last week but Nebraska sucks. This Maryland team has three giant brains coaching offense (Locks, Sumlin, Gattis) with a pretty decent QB taking the snaps...Braun coached head to head with these guys and won.
3. We can win the squeakers. The Minny win on its own could easily be a flop. Pair it with this win and we start to look like the Northwestern of old - a program that wins the close ones more often than not. I put a lot of this on the coaching.
Win two out of the next four - either Purdue or Illinois because those are definitely winnable, or a stretch vs. Iowa (to give us our first Wrigley win) or Sconnie and he has my vote.
Today showed me three things:
1. Tangible progress from last week. I didn't think we'd win another game without Bryant, and Sullivan is still an absolute nightmare to watch as he scrambles 10 yards in the wrong direction and takes a lifetime to juke and cut, but he had some decent throws today. If our offense showed a stitch of this mojo last week we'd be 5-3.
2. The defense is legit. They looked great last week but Nebraska sucks. This Maryland team has three giant brains coaching offense (Locks, Sumlin, Gattis) with a pretty decent QB taking the snaps...Braun coached head to head with these guys and won.
3. We can win the squeakers. The Minny win on its own could easily be a flop. Pair it with this win and we start to look like the Northwestern of old - a program that wins the close ones more often than not. I put a lot of this on the coaching.
Win two out of the next four - either Purdue or Illinois because those are definitely winnable, or a stretch vs. Iowa (to give us our first Wrigley win) or Sconnie and he has my vote.
Re Sully "decent throws", some were REALLY good. He had some crap throws but some really good ones
That game at Wrigley might be 10-7 one way or another.
Huge improvement over last week. If he continues in that direction, yeah, then that's sustainable.
What's not sustainable is continuing to take big hits to get a couple extra yards. He'll be back in street clothes in no time.
The best thing Sully did on Saturday was avoid a lot of dumb sacks and negative plays.
I totally agree...and if Braun can lead the team to a win, that (to me) is what NU football is all about - winning the close ones. We really got away from that over the past few years, but I love that being a part of our brand and why people who aren't necessarily NU fans tune into us (and why aspiring, big-dreaming fans of the Iowas, Wisconsins, and Nebraskas of the world dislike us).
If Braun can show us he can win one more squeaker against mid-tier B1G teams, he's got my vote.
And also, Sullivan went 16 for 23, 265 yards and two TDs yesterday...those are solid stats and I just wanted to give the kid his flowers because honestly, if you asked me to guess his stats for the Maryland game, I woulda been way, way off.
We were so bad the past two years that we were rarely in close games, let alone in a position to win them. I think we had two Big 10 games last year that were still competitive in the 4th Quarter.
So the fact that Braun has this team (with arguably a worse roster than the pat two years) competing each week (and actually winning some) is a huge testament to his leadership. I'm pretty firmly in the "give Braun the job" camp at this point.
So the fact that Braun has this team (with arguably a worse roster than the pat two years) competing each week (and actually winning some) is a huge testament to his leadership. I'm pretty firmly in the "give Braun the job" camp at this point.
To borrow a quote from Mark Twain, this season has been a thunderbolt out of a clear sky. Who amongst us expected four wins at this point in this season? Furthermore after the feeble showing at RU, and the beating at Duke, I still expected them to limp to 2 wins. To me holding the team together and achieving those 2 wins was quite an accomplishent. To have a Rock fight with Penn State for 2 and a half quarters and another for the whole game against Nebraska, In addition to 2 tough wins, is pretty impressive.
Look at the roster. I doubt that we will have 4 NFL players next spring.
I can't get enough of this team. By the end of the year I will have gone to 7 games. They deserve the support.
Look at the roster. I doubt that we will have 4 NFL players next spring.
I can't get enough of this team. By the end of the year I will have gone to 7 games. They deserve the support.
Agreed. And the biggest negative of this team - the offense (at least before Maryland) - shouldn't be held against Braun because he inherited Bajakian and probably has no ability to do anything about it while interim.
If we had ANY offense against Rutgers and Nebraska, those were two winnable games because the defense played so well. Penn State is the only conference game to date that did not seem winnable (and even that game we kept it close through three quarters).
If this team somehow wins six games (and that is a huge if), then Braun may win Big 10 Coach of the Year.
If we had ANY offense against Rutgers and Nebraska, those were two winnable games because the defense played so well. Penn State is the only conference game to date that did not seem winnable (and even that game we kept it close through three quarters).
If this team somehow wins six games (and that is a huge if), then Braun may win Big 10 Coach of the Year.
