Every week this season seems to be its own one act play. This week is no different, yesterday a bombshell was dropped with the firing of Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst. Nebraska football is at a crossroads again, but this time we are all left wondering what the next scene will be.
I’ve been someone who wasn’t in Eichorst’s corner very often. I felt like when he was hired it was mainly to be the guy that fired Bo Pelini. When it didn’t happen after one of Bo’s multiple flair ups in 2013, I couldn’t help but wonder, what is the AD doing? Bo had torched every bridge he came upon and yet Eichorst let him coach one more season and it felt like a lame duck year. It had a huge detriment on recruiting and it drew the fanbase into a split of Bo-leavers and Bo-lievers. Had Eichorst came out and discussed the situation with the press and let the fans know where his thought process was, it would have made everyone a lot more comfortable with the process.
Eichorst followed suit last season with basketball coach Tim Miles, basically leaving him and the program dangling on the hook during a rough season. Miles should have been given a vote of confidence earlier if they planned on keeping him, instead Eichorst basically waited until the Big Ten tournament to give him a vote of confidence and a lot of hand wringing was done for nothing.
Take us back to last week, after a disaster against Northern Illinois (more on that later) Eichorst came out in a CYA (cover you’re a**) moment trying to tell everyone that the outcome of the game was not acceptable. Well, I hate to tell you, everyone that has ever cheered on the Big Red already knew this was unacceptable and it was happening on your watch.
On top of that, throw in a crazy situation with Connie Yori and women’s basketball two years ago, along with the one man search committee for hires that have been made for the athletic department, it simply came down to one man being in over his head. The new chancellor and the new president of the university reviewed the situation and decided we needed different, better leadership.
So where does that take us with Mike Riley? Unless this season devolves into a 3 or 4 win season, I’m on board with keeping Coach Riley another year. That of course would be under the premise that some changes be made on the coaching staff. I feel like the time is now to finish the purge of the Oregon State ties to the program for Coach Riley. Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh and Offensive Coordinator Danny Langsdorf need to look for employment elsewhere. If Nebraska can somehow right the ship and get to a bowl game, this recruiting class could be salvaged and hopefully this defensive staff will gel and look like we have the start of something really good.
Last week’s game was a disaster, not much you can say about it otherwise. Was that the reason Shawn Eichorst was fired? No, it wasn’t, but it was the impetus for the firing to happen when it did. The first half against Northern Illinois was the worst half of offensive football I’ve ever witnessed at Nebraska. That includes the Oklahoma State game during Bill Callahan’s last season and the 23-0 drubbing in the Orange Bowl against Miami while Tom Osborne was roaming the sidelines.
Nebraska fans, whether people think we are hicks or not, know what effort looks like. That’s really at the crux of all the issues faced in the athletic department right now, the fire, the desire to compete at a high level, all the time, every time, seems to be missing right now. We don’t ask for national titles every year, or even a conference title every year, but by all that is holy, we ask that you look prepared, you play hard and you don’t get beat by being stupid. Against Northern Illinois, the offense looked tepid, uninspired and when the chips were down, the offensive line simply panicked or didn’t give effort. That to me is unacceptable.
This week, Nebraska will be missing at a minimum 9 starters from what they imagined their opening day roster would be. I understand, the injury bug is going to bite and we have to overcome that, but this staff has not done a good job preparing the team out the gate. That needs to change, I don’t care if your grandmother is playing linebacker, she better come ready to compete. If Mike Riley truly wants to coach at Nebraska past this fall, he needs to find a way to get to that point, or he will follow Shawn Eichorst out the door.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Our previous score prediction for the Northern Illinois game was Nebraska 28 – Northern Illinois 24. I sensed that the game would be close, NIU had a lot of strengths where Nebraska was weak and after watching the team the first two weeks I felt like it could be a trap game. I thought Nebraska would hold on, but they simply played uninspired. That can’t happen this week. Period.
Quick Notes:
Injuries happen, so who steps up? From Josh Kalu to Matt Farniok, from Chris Jones to Tre Bryant, this team has had some bad breaks again for injuries. The problem has been, whoever comes in to replace them, often looks unprepared and unsure of what they are doing. Nebraska has too many kids that were recruited by a lot of schools for that to happen. Our offensive line needs to step up this week. Injuries can be an excuse, but effort should happen regardless.
Tanner Lee needs a good game. I keep expecting Lee to break out, but when? He has had the smoke beat out of him this season, he looks tentative and is starting to bail out and make bad throws when I feel like there is only phantom pressure. That will happened when you are getting nailed every time you drop back. If Tanner Lee is ever going to be the player we see in practice, the line simply has to give him a pocket. If they don’t this week, I’m afraid we may never get to see the kid flourish, which is too bad.
Score Prediction: Nebraska 36 – Rutgers 14
Call me crazy, I have a feeling that the team will come to play against a Rutgers team that it simply can’t afford to let stick close. I think Nebraska will run the ball consistently and I feel like the defense will have some big takeaways this week, in fact I predict at least one defensive score. Mike Riley needs this, the kids need it, you could say the entire state of Nebraska needs it. It will be blowout city this weekend. It will calm the waters…for at least a week. GBR!!
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