Coach Riley at Big Red Today Breakfast

[nebcountry]

Here's the article from the OWH. And some snippets pulled from the article:

“We have to run the football,” Riley told about 300 fans Tuesday. “Physically, we want to impose our will. Running the ball is the best way to do that. So that is a major emphasis of what we want to do.”

He said senior Terrell Newby, sophomore Devine Ozigbo and sophomore Mikale Wilbon will open training camp in a three-man rotation at I-back. True freshman Tre Bryant may join that mix, too.

Riley noted, too, that tight ends, H-backs and fullbacks will all play a role in the rushing attack.

Quarterback Tommy Armstrong has made strides in the film room with Langsdorf this summer.

Banker said his staff's most important priority this offseason was to examine why Nebraska allowed so many big plays defensively....The Huskers surrendered 77 plays of 20-plus yards. Only 14 teams allowed more.

Riley wants recruits to look at Nebraska as an NFL factory.

It's an interesting article, and I'm excited to see this season get started.

 

[GBRhuskers_rivals203711]

He said senior Terrell Newby, sophomore Devine Ozigbo and sophomore Mikale Wilbon will open training camp in a three-man rotation at I-back. True freshman Tre Bryant may join that mix, too.

May the best man win.

Appreciate the notes!

 

[rez dog 70]

 

[Cornicator]

Did they really need to dig deep to figure out why they allowed so many big plays?

- Davie was a great athlete but plagued with the football instincts and ball skills of a track sprinter. Jon Rose was a better football player but had the character of dude doing 20 in San Quentin.
- Byerson Cockrell, while very good in run support, was outclassed in coverage. Byerson was really an undersized Outside Linebacker playing Free Safety.
- Dedrick Young was a true freshman.
- Mike Rose- Ivey only played in 6 games.
- When Chris Weber went down, by Banderas was forced to play virtually every snap.
- Marcus Newby had basically never played a snap at LB prior to 2015.
- Your primary rush ends were walk ons Jack Gangwish and Ross Dzuris.
- Chris Jones never really played a down at Corner prior to the Wisconsin game.
- Josh Kalu was a Nickel back for 2 years with no real Man coverage experience.
- Greg McMullen took plays off.
- Kevin Williams was injured all the time.
- Vince Valentine was largely ineffective on passing downs.

 

[nebcountry]

Did they really need to dig deep to figure out why they allowed so many big plays?

- Davie was a great athlete but plagued with the football instincts and ball skills of a track sprinter. Jon Rose was a better football player but had the character of dude doing 20 in San Quentin.
- Byerson Cockrell, while very good in run support, was outclassed in coverage. Byerson was really an undersized Outside Linebacker playing Free Safety.
- Dedrick Young was a true freshman.
- Mike Rose- Ivey only played in 6 games.
- When Chris Weber went down, by Banderas was forced to play virtually every snap.
- Marcus Newby had basically never played a snap at LB prior to 2015.
- Your primary rush ends were walk ons Jack Gangwish and Ross Dzuris.
- Chris Jones never really played a down at Corner prior to the Wisconsin game.
- Josh Kalu was a Nickel back for 2 years with no real Man coverage experience.
- Greg McMullen took plays off.
- Kevin Williams was injured all the time.
- Vince Valentine was largely ineffective on passing downs.

I suppose if they want to try and fix the problem, then "yes" they needed to spend some time diagnosing and coming up with potential fixes for the problem.

Or they could just blame inexperience, lack of talent, "having" to play walk-ons, lack of drive, low character, and shrug it off hoping doing nothing will make us better.

Against MSU 8 of these 20+ yd plays occurred. 2 were runs, 6 were passes. MSU was a good team, and they got more than their fair share of 20+ yd plays. But it was late in the season, plenty of time to work out the kinks. I'm glad the staff took time in the offseason to look for areas to make improvements/needed additional focus. Whatever was breaking down needs to be fixed.

 

[Buicklife]

Ready for games to start.

 

[otismotis08]

3 yards and a cloud of dust

 

[leodisflowers]

Did they really need to dig deep to figure out why they allowed so many big plays?

- Davie was a great athlete but plagued with the football instincts and ball skills of a track sprinter. Jon Rose was a better football player but had the character of dude doing 20 in San Quentin.
- Byerson Cockrell, while very good in run support, was outclassed in coverage. Byerson was really an undersized Outside Linebacker playing Free Safety.
- Dedrick Young was a true freshman.
- Mike Rose- Ivey only played in 6 games.
- When Chris Weber went down, by Banderas was forced to play virtually every snap.
- Marcus Newby had basically never played a snap at LB prior to 2015.
- Your primary rush ends were walk ons Jack Gangwish and Ross Dzuris.
- Chris Jones never really played a down at Corner prior to the Wisconsin game.
- Josh Kalu was a Nickel back for 2 years with no real Man coverage experience.
- Greg McMullen took plays off.
- Kevin Williams was injured all the time.
- Vince Valentine was largely ineffective on passing downs.

That one seems to be our biggest flaw in my opinion. I agree with all of the other points, but if the QB has all of the time in the world, it is going to be hell to try and defend. Until we get a consistent good rush, we are going to struggle. We may not be terrible, but won't be near the unit we could be.

 

[Pennsyhusker_rivals246774]

That one seems to be our biggest flaw in my opinion. I agree with all of the other points, but if the QB has all of the time in the world, it is going to be hell to try and defend. Until we get a consistent good rush, we are going to struggle. We may not be terrible, but won't be near the unit we could be.

Yes! We need a pass rush. Period. Good quarterbacks with good receivers will pick even a good secondary apart if given enough time.

 

[mpbrown27]

I attribute most of the big plays allowed to a lack of pass rush. Improved secondary play will help a little, but we need to do a much better job of putting the quarterback on the ground. How will the staff accomplish this in 2016?

 

[Husker Sledge]

I attribute most of the big plays allowed to a lack of pass rush. Improved secondary play will help a little, but we need to do a much better job of putting the quarterback on the ground. How will the staff accomplish this in 2016?

John Parrella.

 

[Pennsyhusker_rivals246774]

John Parrella.

Coaching only goes so far before talent has to kick in. We do not have a single difference maker on our defensive line. It is by far the weakest position on the team. I doubt our pass rush will be any good this year either.

 

[HBK4life_rivals100467]

Coaching only goes so far before talent has to kick in. We do not have a single difference maker on our defensive line. It is by far the weakest position on the team. I doubt our pass rush will be any good this year either.

I think its a little early to say we don't have a single difference maker on the D line. I think Stoltenberg is gonna be a great one when healthy, Davis twins just need reps, K Maurice is steady and we have 3 young rush ends to team with Freedom who has proven he can get to the QB. Last year LB was the inexperienced thin group, now its a strength. I think you will see the same thing after a year with JP and will soon be a strength.

 

[Pennsyhusker_rivals246774]

I think its a little early to say we don't have a single difference maker on the D line. I think Stoltenberg is gonna be a great one when healthy, Davis twins just need reps, K Maurice is steady and we have 3 young rush ends to team with Freedom who has proven he can get to the QB. Last year LB was the inexperienced thin group, now its a strength. I think you will see the same thing after a year with JP and will soon be a strength.

Hope you are right. But Stoltenberg and the Davis twins are totally unproven. So there is NO WAY you can call them difference makers just yet. As for Maurice? You called it: "steady". But a "difference maker"? I think not. And the new defensive ends are also totally unproven.

 

[HBK4life_rivals100467]

Hope you are right. But Stoltenberg and the Davis twins are totally unproven. So there is NO WAY you can call them difference makers just yet. As for Maurice? You called it: "steady". But a "difference maker"? I think not. And the new defensive ends are also totally unproven.

Right, just like Chris Weber and Marcus Newby were unproven last year now they are solid players. All those young guys have the talent to be difference makers. Now its their time to shine. I'm more than confident JP will have them ready. If Hughes were still here I'd be worried.

 

[Charlie Marlow_rivals363743]

Well, we are paying them millions so I am hoping they are digging deep to improve. Anyone can come up with a bullet list of obvious flaws, but I am sure that there is more to it than that. The devil is in the details.

 

[mpbrown27]

With all due respect to those who have posted their optimism, Nebraska ranked #80 in sacks and #83 in tackles for loss in 2015. I don't think it's realistic to expect a complete turnaround in these categories with both a new position coach and predominately underclassmen players who haven't played a lot of meaningful snaps at NU. Further, while I truly believe the coaches have an eye for talent and the ability to develop, if you were to objectively look at the players who are most likely to step into major roles on the defensive line, we're talking about mostly consensus low to high three star players. It's not a group of four and five star blue chip players stepping in. These are just the facts. Make no mistake, when these guys suit up and the whistle blows, I will be cheering my hardest for them to succeed, but at the same time, it seems like this is going to be a tall mountain to climb. I think the fans will need to be patient with the production this year and I also think the coaches need to make a bigger splash in DL recruiting so that we can begin to turn things around long-term.

Outside of QB play, there is no bigger factor to overall success in my mind than the ability for the defensive line to put pressure on the opposing QB. I don't think it's possible to compete for conference championships (or national titles) with substandard DL play. Until we start sniffing Top-20 territory, we are going to struggle to reach the upper echelon of college football. What I would like to see from our team this year is the following:

1) Top 20 rushing defense (we were #9 last year) - it seems the scheme lends itself towards stopping the run before everything else and I think that should continue to be priority #1

2) Freedom Akinmoladun increases his sack total to 8 or more. He had 4.5 last year in 11 games. Let's see if he can take the next step as a sophomore and get to this mark. He seems like the mostly likely candidate to become the edge rusher this team desperately needs.

3) Get the overall sack production and tackles for loss into the top 45 nationally. We had 24 sacks last year. I think we'd need to be in the 30-32 sack total range in order to accomplish this goal. I mentioned Akinmoladun in point #2. Where else can this production come from? Perhaps a healthy linebacker crew can provide a few more sacks? Maybe one of the youngster defensive ends can become a third down specialist?

I think these a realistic goals and if the team can accomplish them then it will lend itself to more wins and quite possibly a legitimate chance at the B1G West.

 

[dockentwo]

Hope you are right. But Stoltenberg and the Davis twins are totally unproven. So there is NO WAY you can call them difference makers just yet. As for Maurice? You called it: "steady". But a "difference maker"? I think not. And the new defensive ends are also totally unproven.

You will benefit by getting to fall camp; you usually are much more optimistic. Just saying, I usually enjoy your positive slants. WAY:
- By Boyd's testing standard, the twins are the best physical specimens on the team ( one won, because the other was sick that day ='s 1+2 ).
- The younger D linemen are going to explode to be awesome, at least two will do this.
- Some Mag or online just picked Maurice and Newby to be two of the six D Surprises of the B!G this year; they have to be hearing something.
- I still believe some bailing and transferring came from coaches updating players on where they stand ( including how their chances looked vs the young guys ). Plus maybe more important ; they are seeing the development first hand.
- The D-backs were playing the ball way better later in the year; and are due some big leaps
- The lb's are still blowing up, properly picked blitzes are going to be near impossible to be less than a hurry.
- A lot to ask of freshmen; but a few may work in: their film looked spliced together to show them flying around; they covered a lot of ground and played fast : making plays all over the D backfield.
- The endless comments on another year in the system, and a " no bo on the phone attitude ". Sometimes there is a positive reason we were blessed with quotes of days gone by. Cliches can be a positive thing.
- Safety play will take a jump; IMO including Gerry, who is being mentioned by many as a budding star. He had a few bad angles or something resembling such ; that had him waving.
- Its proven that there will always be positive surprises every year; we don't always know what the surprise will be for sure - but there are clues and tendencies.
Thank-you for your posts. GBR

 

[bigboxes]

I don't think anyone would discount our injuries and lack of depth at LB this past season. This year it may be crisis mode at DT. At this point we are looking to lay patchwork until recruiting fills those holes left by the previous staff.

 

[Denvrhuskr]

Coaching only goes so far before talent has to kick in. We do not have a single difference maker on our defensive line. It is by far the weakest position on the team. I doubt our pass rush will be any good this year either.

I understand the concern some have over the DL. Having said that I believe we have talent. Barring injury I think we will be better at getting to the passer. Maurice was our most explosive DT. Will he be able to keep it over the course of a whole game? If the twins can play enough snaps to keep him fresh Im optimistic he can cause some pressure. Freedom, staying healthy is key. I think we have some options at the other DE. I believe there is talent, how quickly do they get up to speed? Cant wait for Oregon.

 

[dockentwo]

I understand the concern some have over the DL. Having said that I believe we have talent. Barring injury I think we will be better at getting to the passer. Maurice was our most explosive DT. Will he be able to keep it over the course of a whole game? If the twins can play enough snaps to keep him fresh Im optimistic he can cause some pressure. Freedom, staying healthy is key. I think we have some options at the other DE. I believe there is talent, how quickly do they get up to speed? Cant wait for Oregon.

The twins also excel at track; one or both can do standing backflips - what are we playing against? Supermen ? Opposing o-linemen may begin to think they are. These are 300 lb REDSHIRT freshmen; who have bought into coach P's 2% a day improvement and are guided by Boyd Epply and his new legion of scientist ( team leading rocks of agile muscle ) ; we have some advantages, that are about to come to light. We also practice against a very physical o-line. You can believe there are more on the d-line achieving at a high level. What the coaches and team of the overall athletic department did with lb's last year was miraculous; the d-line may be less complicated to achieve. GBR

 

[Pennsyhusker_rivals246774]

The twins also excel at track; one or both can do standing backflips - what are we playing against? Supermen ? Opposing o-linemen may begin to think they are. These are 300 lb REDSHIRT freshmen; who have bought into coach P's 2% a day improvement and are guided by Boyd Epply and his new legion of scientist ( team leading rocks of agile muscle ) ; we have some advantages, that are about to come to light. We also practice against a very physical o-line. You can believe there are more on the d-line achieving at a high level. What the coaches and team of the overall athletic department did with lb's last year was miraculous; the d-line may be less complicated to achieve. GBR

Sure hope you are correct! I would love to see the Davis twins just explode onto the scene.

 

[dinglefritz]

Sure hope you are correct! I would love to see the Davis twins just explode onto the scene.

I'm actually more concerned about the O line's lack of experience than I am the D line. Maybe I'm drinking the KoolAid but it appears we have the physical tools at DT and DE. IMO experience is less of a factor for a DT than an O lineman.

 

[tro80]

I chose to believe that the departing D linemen knew they wouldn't see much playing time this year as the younger players were going to pass them by. Might be a new D-line, but it will be an upgrade across the board. But maybe that's just me -- lollipops and lemon drops

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

John Parrella.

I hope so. He needs to prove it immediately, or hit the road.

 

[Jarvis]

3 yards and a cloud of dust

Let's do 4 yds and a cloud of dust and avoid those 4th and 1s.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

I don't think that many true and RS freshmen DL make a huge impact but I don't think they need to be big impact guys right away I think they just need to be steady.

 

[tone1017]

Our d line is a huge concern. We have almost no proven talent or depth in a spot where injuries nearly always occur. Look at the championship game last year, Clemson had Dodd and Lawson, bama had Robinson, Allen, Williams, reed, hand, etc. The most important thing to have in college football besides maybe an elite qb is a great d line and d line depth and we have neither. We may in a few years, but when's the last time a champ had a d line this unproven? We can talk about how good our receivers are or how we expect the linebackers to be, but without an elite d line, there is a ceiling on the success a team can have in college football. Every champ in recent history (bama, Ohio state, Florida state, etc.) has had multiple high draft picks off their d line. If one of the Davis twins plays like Jernigan or bosa or ashawn Robinson then my concern dies down, but we have no evidence to show they will. That doesn't mean we can't have a successful season, but it is a legitimate reason to be skeptical. It's August so I obviously expect we'll run the table like I do every August but come November if we're struggling it's likely because of the d line whether it be injuries or just youth.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

Coaching only goes so far before talent has to kick in. We do not have a single difference maker on our defensive line. It is by far the weakest position on the team. I doubt our pass rush will be any good this year either.

Not saying you are wrong...but, let's wait and see how Freedom progressed from last year. He was as raw as it gets last year and ended up with 4.5 sacks. Not eye popping numbers by any means but if we are looking for a difference maker he is our best bet. I'm not including the Davis twins as its probably unfair to call them difference makers before they have even stepped foot on the field. The good news is...with the depth we have at LB now we should be able to be more exotic with our blitz packages and take some heat off the line on passing downs.

 

[jflores]

Lets also consider this isn't a binary logic problem. The debate here tends toward "it'll be bad" or "we'll be awesome".

It seems most likely we'll be "pretty good" without being "dominant". At least this year. In future years, we can debate about how much depth the Twins might get as backup to get us into "dominant" status.

 

[Pennsyhusker_rivals246774]

Not saying you are wrong...but, let's wait and see how Freedom progressed from last year. He was as raw as it gets last year and ended up with 4.5 sacks. Not eye popping numbers by any means but if we are looking for a difference maker he is our best bet. I'm not including the Davis twins as its probably unfair to call them difference makers before they have even stepped foot on the field. The good news is...with the depth we have at LB now we should be able to be more exotic with our blitz packages and take some heat off the line on passing downs.

Agree about the linebackers needing to blitz. Even McBride's great defensive lines needed linebacker blitz packages to keep offenses off balance and outgunned in pass protection. However, you better also have linebackers who have been coached properly on blitzing. Thank God we have Bray now. It was always a puzzle to me that Pelini's defenses had TERRIBLE linebacker blitzing. They rarely even pressured the QB and were picked off easily by chippy blocks. They lined up too far off the line in a vain attempt at masking the blitz, took terrible angles, and easily lost containment because they would take themselves out of the play. Linebacker blitz packages are an art and require good coaching

 

[dockentwo]

I don't think that many true and RS freshmen DL make a huge impact but I don't think they need to be big impact guys right away I think they just need to be steady.

Uh, Christian Peters // they held him back until they couldn't stop Oklahomas O-line = he went in and ate them up = D coaches said; oops we were wrong; if your physical enough

 

[NikkiSixx_rivals269993]

I think we have lots of talent on D, so I want to see us use that talent and not just stockpile it.

Personally, I would still like to see aggressive press coverage at the line of scrimmage. You cannot just let the opponents receivers run their routes uncontested like we did last year.

Yes, we need to disrupt the QB, but would like to see us disrupt the WR's too.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Uh, Christian Peters // they held him back until they couldn't stop Oklahomas O-line = he went in and ate them up = D coaches said; oops we were wrong; if your physical enough

Right...and are there MANY Christian Peter type true or RS freshmen?

 

[Denvrhuskr]

Lets also consider this isn't a binary logic problem. The debate here tends toward "it'll be bad" or "we'll be awesome".

It seems most likely we'll be "pretty good" without being "dominant". At least this year. In future years, we can debate about how much depth the Twins might get as backup to get us into "dominant" status.

If we are pretty good at DL, then I think our D will be more than pretty good. LB is a strength. I think our secondary is going to be much better overall than last year. More experience, should have some depth behind the starters. By depth I mean serious athletic talent.

 

[jflores]

As far as my expectations I think the DL will be a bit better than we expect and the lb will be solid but I have a nagging feeling the secondary won't be as good as billed

 

[dockentwo]

Right...and are there MANY Christian Peter type true or RS freshmen?

Well, excluding you; a poster is correct in so many comments are binary here. Your "are there MANY" comment; was so predictable its childish. More to the point is that coach McBride let Peter boy sit on the bench until the Oklahoma game saying he needed more theory. Coach went right to the podium after the game and drew laughs the way he presented how wrong he was. .... Despite how physical our players are and how long they have been coached; against a good o-line, many act like the best physical players on the whole team are a crapshoot - What do all these other teams have to put against them? Solid 5 star seniors on every team?

 

[dockentwo]

Right...and are there MANY Christian Peter type true or RS freshmen?

Golly don't give an interesting example ; the slobber of the broad brush is upon it.

 

[Pennsyhusker_rivals246774]

As far as my expectations I think the DL will be a bit better than we expect and the lb will be solid but I have a nagging feeling the secondary won't be as good as billed

See. We agree on something.

 

[jflores]

See. We agree on something.

Lol we probly agree about a few things