Feel bad for the players

[NU Line]

I feel bad for our players. I actually think we have a good squad and perhaps our best defense in over a decade. Unfortunately, our offensive play calling does not put players in position to make plays. We have had several injuries but so has almost every other program in the country. Fitz will use injuries as an excuse to retain all our offensive coaches and not consider shaking up the staff.

Nebraska does NOT have a good defense. They gave up 38 points to the Illini. The status quo is unacceptable. McCall's offense is stale and unimaginative and we need some fresh ideas.

 

[curdog]

I feel bad for our players. I actually think we have a good squad and perhaps our best defense in over a decade. Unfortunately, our offensive play calling does not put players in position to make plays. We have had several injuries but so has almost every other program in the country. Fitz will use injuries as an excuse to retain all our offensive coaches and not consider shaking up the staff.

Nebraska does NOT have a good defense. They gave up 38 points to the Illini. The status quo is unacceptable. McCall's offense is stale and unimaginative and we need some fresh ideas.

Yeah, 10 points against this defense is just unacceptsble

 

[Titanium999]

Yeah, 10 points against this defense is just unacceptsble

Nasty! Total regression!

 

[NJcatsfan]

Ten points against THAT defense is totally unacceptable. Except to the man in charge, apparently.

 

[techtim72]

Man, I just want to tell all the naysayers to shut up. Hard to listen to all the negativity from those that have no clue. Competitive, hard played game by both teams. Perfect, no, but a great all out effort by the coaches and players.

 

[Catslash]

Good game players performed to their best coaches schemed to benefit from players skills.

 

[NJcatsfan]

Yeah, all those dumb naysayers. Negative nellies who are pissed off at 1-4 (0-3), with two losses to verrrry middling opponents & an unwatchable, historically bad offense. Shut up, you ingrates!

I am not giving up on this team or program, but this is really frustrating to watch.

Man, I just want to tell all the naysayers to shut up. Hard to listen to all the negativity from those that have no clue. Competitive, hard played game by both teams. Perfect, no, but a great all out effort by the coaches and players.

 

[Catreporter]

Love the team, hate the offense which can't create ANY big plays!

 

[curdog]

Man, I just want to tell all the naysayers to shut up. Hard to listen to all the negativity from those that have no clue. Competitive, hard played game by both teams. Perfect, no, but a great all out effort by the coaches and players.

Yeah all those naysayers on the fox pregame who said NU offense sucked. They don’t know what they are taking about

 

[Gladeskat]

Yeah all those naysayers on the fox pregame who said NU offense sucked. They don’t know what they are taking about

Fix the OL and the offense will be fine.

 

[NURoseBowl]

Fix the OL and the offense will be fine.

Anderson's working on it. It's not gonna happen overnight, but I'm optimistic that his OL recruiting/coaching will ultimately start to pay noticeable dividends - hopefully sooner than later. Doesn't look pretty right now, but I'd like to think there's light at the end of that tunnel.

 

[AtlantaCat]

Man, I just want to tell all the naysayers to shut up. Hard to listen to all the negativity from those that have no clue. Competitive, hard played game by both teams. Perfect, no, but a great all out effort by the coaches and players.

We are 1-4 and lost a ridiculously winnable game.

 

[CrippleCat]

Fix the OL and the offense will be fine.

Bingo

 

[curdog]

Fix the OL and the offense will be fine.

Good lord.

 

[freewillie07]

Fix the OL and the offense will be fine.

Broken record.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

Man, I just want to tell all the naysayers to shut up. Hard to listen to all the negativity from those that have no clue. Competitive, hard played game by both teams. Perfect, no, but a great all out effort by the coaches and players.

Great victory for the cats!
Its all about graduation, anyways! Remember?
Great game and great offense! A's for everyone!

 

[High Hopes Cat]

Fix the OL and the offense will be fine.

OL played their best game of the year today. particularly in the second half. First half wasn’t great but overall 1 sack, 4 yards / carry, ok time when passing. Still a lot of progress to be made and far from a strength but we didn’t lose today because of the OL.

 

[CatQ]

I’m usually highly positive, and we are pretty competitive... thanks to a stellar defense. That being said, guessing our 129th (out of 130 teams?) in the nation in yards per play and 128 in points is going to stay the same after this weekend. For those who think there’s a simple fix on offense, those rankings give lie to those ideas. There’s a lot to do at almost every position when we have the ball. Anybody who thinks we’re close on the offensive side must not be seeing those rankings.

I hope I’m wrong and some magic switch will be turned on and we will find some mojo as we have in past seasons. L

 

[corbi296]

Yeah all those naysayers on the fox pregame who said NU offense sucked. They don’t know what they are taking about

We all know the offense sucks. That’s obvious, Captain. The trick is figuring out why.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Man, I just want to tell all the naysayers to shut up. Hard to listen to all the negativity from those that have no clue. Competitive, hard played game by both teams. Perfect, no, but a great all out effort by the coaches and players.

I have been accused of being a card carrying member of the PKK, and all I got to say is it is really hard to watch this offense nearly EVERY season. Once we stop blaming the OL, it will be the QB, then it will be the WR. There is a disconnect between players and this offensive staff. Former players and I Would expect current players as well.

 

[curdog]

We all know the offense sucks. That’s obvious, Captain. The trick is figuring out why.

Coaching!!!!! if you replaced McCall with literally anybody, we couldn’t be worse.

 

[cat inkansas]

Coaching!!!!! if you replaced McCall with literally anybody, we couldn’t be worse.

That is what I said on a different thread. It couldn't be worse.

 

[curdog]

That is what I said on a different thread. It couldn't be worse.

For reasons that I can’t fathom, there are still people who defend mccall

 

[Gladeskat]

OL played their best game of the year today. particularly in the second half. First half wasn’t great but overall 1 sack, 4 yards / carry, ok time when passing. Still a lot of progress to be made and far from a strength but we didn’t lose today because of the OL.

Then I must be recalling those whiffs and matador blocks in the first half, I guess.

 

[CatManTrue]

Fix the OL and the offense will be fine.

Then I must be recalling those whiffs and matador blocks in the first half, I guess.

They just need to run the touchdown play more often now. That’ll fix our team good.

You’re joking, right? I didn’t see the /s with your posts but presume you’re trying to get a bigger rise than Turkerpark.

 

[Gladeskat]

They just need to run the touchdown play more often now. That’ll fix our team good.

You’re joking, right? I didn’t see the /s with your posts but presume you’re trying to get a bigger rise than Turkerpark.

I'm serious. I could be seriously wrong, too, but I believe overall talent as being the primary issue with our offense.

I don't care for the "fire the bum" crap. Hated it when I was at NU, too.

 

[CatManTrue]

I'm serious. I could be seriously wrong, too, but I believe overall talent as being the primary issue with our offense.

I don't care for the "fire the bum" crap. Hated it when I was at NU, too.

Ok... but after 13 years with McCall, and 15 years with Fitz, who do we blame for the offensive talent on the team? Our defense doesn’t need excuses, and our defense sucked when I was on the team.

It’s not Anderson, at least not yet. His “cup of coffee”, as some put it, with the program is still warm. Same with Lou Ayeni.

Heffner is our superbacks coach and helps with the OL, but from what I’ve heard is not the problem. Plus he’s our only viable OC replacement if McCall is fired mid season.

So where does the buck stop? Fitz, McCall, or coaches who have departed? We keep hearing how many P5 offers our OL have, yet they’re a sieve. So is it the position coach, or is the offensive system & recruiting philosophy?

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I think people being upset with the current state of affairs show they care. People have different opinions on why NU’s offense is historically bad, but I have yet to see someone say they are happy with the offense.
So IMO, when people start talking about Negative Nellies they really mean posters that specifically rip on McCall. These people are viewed as Negative because other posters disagree with their opinions. Everybody is negative when it comes to NU’s offensive performance.

 

[corbi296]

Coaching!!!!! if you replaced McCall with literally anybody, we couldn’t be worse.

You are wrong about that. We could be worse or we could be the same. I highly doubt we'd be better. Change just for change's sake is rarely a good idea, especially when you don't have a good handle on what the root problem truly is. Change under those circumstances is just grasping at straws and there is plenty that could go wrong when that happens.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

You are wrong about that. We could be worse or we could be the same. I highly doubt we'd be better. Change just for change's sake is rarely a good idea, especially when you don't have a good handle on what the root problem truly is. Change under those circumstances is just grasping at straws and there is plenty that could go wrong when that happens.

Disagree to some extent. I do agree that you could bring in Lincoln Riley and we wouldn’t suddenly be an offensive juggernaut. However, I think we would be better, quite a bit better. Of course, NU won’t get somebody the quality of Riley but they can get a lot of guys that at worst are equal.

iMO, the noise around this both outside and inside the program necessitates a change. Could McCall be a scapegoat, yes he could. If the narrative continues it will kill NU’s recruiting on offense. Personally I can’t see us ever being a top tier Offense with McCall at the helm. I have had double digit seasons to form that opinion. I know you disagree. Complimentary Offense is a farce. If teams expect to consistently contend for titles they don’t have either side of the ball be complimentary to the other. We have seen in recent years that if NU gets behind by more than one score they typically are in major trouble. This style will occasionally produce a very good team but it will never produce a great team.

 

[corbi296]

Disagree to some extent. I do agree that you could bring in Lincoln Riley and we wouldn’t suddenly be an offensive juggernaut. However, I think we would be better, quite a bit better. Of course, NU won’t get somebody the quality of Riley but they can get a lot of guys that at worst are equal.

iMO, the noise around this both outside and inside the program necessitates a change. Could McCall be a scapegoat, yes he could. If the narrative continues it will kill NU’s recruiting on offense. Personally I can’t see us ever being a top tier Offense with McCall at the helm. I have had double digit seasons to form that opinion. I know you disagree. Complimentary Offense is a farce. If teams expect to consistently contend for titles they don’t have either side of the ball be complimentary to the other. We have seen in recent years that if NU gets behind by more than one score they typically are in major trouble. This style will occasionally produce a very good team but it will never produce a great team.

The "noise" around McCall, whether justified or not, could impact recruiting and may in and of itself necessitate a change. I will say that Fitz will resist making a change based solely on public pressure and I think that is how it should be. Even if a change is made, the one thing I am certain of is that as long as Fitz is around, NU won't have an offense that will top the statistical charts because doing so would require us to play a style of football that is in contrast with Fitz's philosophy on the game. Fitz wants to play a tough, physical brand of football with an emphasis on defense and a ball control style offense that complements a dominant defense. Fitz believes that style wins the most football games and I agree with him. Given that philosophy, I don't care what OC you bring in, NU will never play the style of offense and score the amount of points that some fans around here are pinning for.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

The "noise" around McCall, whether justified or not, could impact recruiting and may in and of itself necessitate a change. I will say that Fitz will resist making a change based solely on public pressure and I think that is how it should be. Even if a change is made, the one thing I am certain of is that as long as Fitz is around, NU won't have an offense that will top the statistical charts because doing so would require us to play a style of football that is in contrast with Fitz's philosophy on the game. Fitz wants to play a tough, physical brand of football with an emphasis on defense and a ball control style offense that complements a dominant defense. Fitz believes that style wins the most football games and I agree with him. Given that philosophy, I don't care what OC you bring in, NU will never play the style of offense and score the amount of points that some fans around here are pinning for.

I am not looking for Air Coryell. However, I don’t want a feeling that it is next to impossible for NU to come back after they get down by more than one score. We are as bad as it gets in O in P5. I haven’t heard anyone pine for a switch to the Wazu offense.

 

[corbi296]

I am not looking for Air Coryell. However, I don’t want a feeling that it is next to impossible for NU to come back after they get down by more than one score. We are as bad as it gets in O in P5. I haven’t heard anyone pine for a switch to the Wazu offense.

Fix the OL, get one of our QBs enough experience and you’ll have the offense you desire.

 

[DaCat]

I do agree that you could bring in Lincoln Riley and we wouldn’t suddenly be an offensive juggernaut. However, I think we would be better, quite a bit better. Of course, NU won’t get somebody the quality of Riley but they can get a lot of guys that at worst are equal.

Someone of a Lincoln Riley caliber would bring immediate, noticeable results. McCall may be very knowledgeable but his offense just isn't very good, with years of data to show it.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Someone of a Lincoln Riley caliber would bring immediate, noticeable results. McCall may be very knowledgeable but his offense just isn't very good, with years of data to show it.

Yep, that is what I said.

 

[Rodenthater]

We all know the offense sucks. That’s obvious, Captain. The trick is figuring out why.

We do not have the talent, size, and speed at the skilled positions and with a mediocre o line this is what we get!

 

[curdog]

You are wrong about that. We could be worse or we could be the same. I highly doubt we'd be better. Change just for change's sake is rarely a good idea, especially when you don't have a good handle on what the root problem truly is. Change under those circumstances is just grasping at straws and there is plenty that could go wrong when that happens.

It just boggles my mind that someone could watch the past 5 games (and the past 5 seasons) and not want a change in the OC.

You say we could be worse and while that’s technically true, it would be almost impossible. Fox put up 4 stats that showed where NU ranked offensively out of all 130 FBS teams. I think the highest ranking was 124th with one at 130th. It’s insane that people can defend this

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

we all feel bad for the players, except those who have oaths to the establishment.
All that sweat and sacrifice to believe in a lie. Fitz has proven to be a commercial product more concerned with money.
He himself has said he dont care about the offense.

 

[DaCat]

we all feel bad for the players, except those who have oaths to the establishment.
All that sweat and sacrifice to believe in a lie. Fitz has proven to be a commercial product more concerned with money.
He himself has said he dont care about the offense.

This is complete bullsht.

 

[corbi296]

It just boggles my mind that someone could watch the past 5 games (and the past 5 seasons) and not want a change in the OC.

You say we could be worse and while that’s technically true, it would be almost impossible. Fox put up 4 stats that showed where NU ranked offensively out of all 130 FBS teams. I think the highest ranking was 124th with one at 130th. It’s insane that people can defend this

Your mind can keep being boggled because there are many, hardcore NU fans besides myself who think McCall is far down the list of problems with this offense. Fix the OL, recruit a starting Big ten caliber QB every year and then you’ll see what this team can do. I know that we won 36 games, a Big ten West title and three bowl games over a 4 year span with this offense/OC when we had an above average Big ten QB and a well above average Big Ten RB even though we had a well below average Big Ten OL. That tells me the problem isn’t with the offense or the OC. It tells me that the main difference between last year’s Big Ten West champs and this year’s team is Clayton Thorson. Give me a Clayton Thorson or better caliber QB and an above average OL and this team is competing every year for Big Ten titles with this Offense/OC. McCall is not THE problem.