Husk the Hoosiers!

If you thought the Husker season couldn’t get any stranger, or worse, along comes the Big Ten schedule.  Nebraska has been awful in the Big Ten for over half a decade.  It’s hard to imagine that much will be different this season, but the schedule is intriguing enough that the Huskers could squeeze out some victories if they hit the right chords.

The question is, what are those chords?  Oklahoma came to Lincoln to take care of business and they hammered a Nebraska team that was simply running on steam.  Nebraska scored early on scripted plays, but after that series, breakdowns by the line and then missed assignments made the offense predictable.  Unable to protect Casey Thompson, the Sooners crashed the line of scrimmage with abandon and the offense stopped working.

Tee Link

Throw in a terrible defense, and you have the fixings of a good ole ass whipping.  Nebraska’s defense has so many holes, you might be hard pressed to find an actual defense right now.  Firing Erik Chinander was another move that needed to be made.  Now Bill Busch takes on a task that he never imagined would be his when he came back to Lincoln.

The Huskers have had two weeks off and although that isn’t enough time to fix everything, you can at least catch your breath.  Like it or not, Nebraska has eight more games to play.  They can either figure out that they can win a couple or pack it in and take beating after beating.  Something tells me they have a little more fight in them than that. (As always you may skip to the end to my prediction.)

Carriker Husker Giveaways!

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Oklahoma 41 Nebraska 31.  The actual score was Oklahoma 49, Nebraska 14.  As we said before, Nebraska was overmatched after the first series.  Nebraska looked like a team that had nothing left and OU took them to the cleaners.

Tee Link

Quick Notes:

Turner Corcoran…Corcoran moves back to left tackle.  He was playing left guard before Teddy Prochaska went out for the rest of the season with an injury.  Corcoran was solid as a guard, but he will need to play at another level for Nebraska to have any success in the passing game.  This may be the one move Nebraska can make some lemonade out of some lemons.  Corcoran has the pedigree and the size to be all conference.  He will need to step up and play like it.

Luke Reimer…Reimer has played like he has to do it all.  The problem is, he has unable to do much of anything.  Reimer has overplayed the run and had little to do with defending the pass.  It may behoove Bill Busch to turn the uber fast linebacker lose in the passing game to rush the passer.  He also needs to maintain his gaps and do his job.  Reimer has the best chance of any defender to play at a high level moving forward.  Hopefully he allows himself to just compete and not get taken out of plays.

Trey Palmer…So far, Palmer has played at an all-conference level.  Palmer leads the team in catches and yards.  He has the ability to stretch the field and clearly has been able to get open against a better team like Oklahoma.  Palmer will have to stay healthy to help Nebraska, but I can see him eclipsing 1,000 yards this season if he does.

Score Prediction:  Nebraska 35, Indiana 34

Nebraska needs to come out and set the tone on offense early and the defense has to make a couple stops in the first half.  If they are able to do that, I think Nebraska can ride the home crowd to a victory.  Fail to stop the Hoosiers and their go, go, go tempo and the game can get out of hand in a hurry.  Nebraska will have the nighttime crowd behind them.  I believe that this time they will come out with a Big Ten victory.  Here is to a good game and GBR!!

Tee Link

New Captain At The Wheel!

A Different Era Off and Running 

I thought about writing this earlier in the week but decided to let the dust settle a bit.  I think I was more emotional about Scott Frost being let go on Monday, for some reason that has all kind of faded away as we get ready for Oklahoma to come to Lincoln.  Mickey Joseph has taken over the interim coaching job, and I guess I feel like we are just moving forward. 

Go To adamcarriker.com For A Chance To Win Husker Swag!

What a strange feeling it was to read Sean Callahan’s report that Frost was likely going to be let go on Sunday morning.  I knew the aftermath of losing to Georgia Southern was bad, but I didn’t think it would be 7 million dollars of buy out money bad.  I was like a lot of people, if Frost was going to get fired it would be after the Indiana game and we would have 7 weeks to figure out who was going to be on the hot list of new coaches.

#1 Selling Independent Officially Licensed Husker Football Tee

After the news broke, and Mickey Joseph was named the interim coach, I also had a sense of relief.  I thought at the beginning of the season, if they made an in season coaching change that it might be Erik Chinander the defensive coordinator, who would be given the title.  While I think Chinander is a good coach, Joseph has the energy and the temperament to light a fire under what has so far been a listless team.

Nebraska is in a bad place right now.  I feel like the pressure to perform had killed whatever joy there was in the team and coaching at Nebraska for Coach Frost.  He brought a lot of that on himself.  He never seemed to embrace the job, all the work that it entails and the actual fun of coaching college kids.  It was more as if he wanted to be home, be around friends and old college teammates, but really wasn’t interested in putting in the time that is required to be a topflight Big Ten coach.  Nebraska never really seemed to bring him the joy that he had at the University of Central Florida.

These jobs are intense.  You need to have a one-track mind all the time, trying to make your team better, no matter what.  Frost didn’t act like he wanted to do that.  He made massive changes to the offensive staff, but it was probably two years too late.  He failed to upgrade certain position coaches with better coaches when some chose to go elsewhere.  Frost never seemed like he wanted to go after the really big fish in recruiting and the losing certainly brought down the cache that Frost had earned at Central Florida.  Not everyone can be successful being a big-time college football coach.  There are multiple reasons why it didn’t work for Frost, but to be honest, the next person will probably have to grind twice as hard to help this program get back to the level it was before Bo Pelini was fired.

Whatever is going to happen in December, when the new coach is hired, there will be optimism in place once again in Lincoln.  How much optimism will be short lived unless that new coach can make a huge splash in recruiting or come out and win multiple games out of the gate next season.  Nebraska is in a major slump right now.  The next coach certainly will have his work cut out for him.  Hopefully it will provide some excitement for the beat down fans that are simply losing faith that anyone will turn it around.

(Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 38, Georgia Southern 28.  The actual score was Georgia Southern 45 Nebraska 42.  It felt like going into the game that the defense might give up a lot of points, but this was astonishing.  I would say that this was the most devastating loss in Husker football history, but honestly, losing to Troy State and Northern Illinois had softened me up for this one.  I sat in disbelief watching the “Blackshirts” give up big play after big play.  You can’t imagine how bad you need to play to lose a game to a Sun Belt conference team, while your offense puts up 42 points and basically has there way with them.  Nebraska still found a way.  Like I said, astonishing.

Quick Notes:

Casey Thompson…I tweeted it out after the game on Saturday, but Nebraska is wasting a star on offense.  Thompson may be the best quarterback at Nebraska since Eric Crouch.  Thompson has had a couple of rough drives, but he is a college player, and you expect some of that.  Thompson continues to make the passing game look simple and is remarkably accurate.  I just shudder to think what Thompson would have been like with a defense like last years Husker team.  The offense is almost single handedly winning games for Nebraska.  He just needs some help from defense and special teams.  Will he ever get it?

Blackshirts…I don’t know what to say.  Smarter football people than I can explain the scheme problems that plague the Huskers so far.  The one thing I do know, you will never win games if you allow the opposing teams’ quarterbacks to sit in the pocket as long as they like.  Nebraska should be getting a pass rush and they need to figure it out now.  The personnel are supposed to be adept at that, but they have failed immensely.  Right now, nothing is working, so it’s possible we need to see different players out there because the current group simply isn’t good enough.

Next Coach…I will go on record today, if I’m Trev Alberts, my first call would be to Urban Meyer.  I understand the background on Meyer, and I get why people would have trepidation.  If Nebraska wants to be a big time program, Meyer would make it that the day he put on the “N”.  My second call would be Lane Kiffin.  Kiffin would be a home run hire.  He recruits at a high level, is a phenomenal offensive mind and he would surround himself with great coaches and staff.  After that, I’d look at Dave Aranda at Baylor.  He has turned that program around and is very familiar with the Big Ten and all that it entails.  

bleedhuskerred.com

I think all three of those choices would have Nebraska competing for the Big Ten west division title in 3 years or less.  Nebraska is not an easy place to recruit at, and all three of those coaches have proven their abilities to coach and recruit at a high level.  They all have some type of tie to Nebraska as well, be it through current staff, or former staff that they have worked with in the past.  

I get that people are going to say that you might want a dependable program builder like Lance Leipold at Kansas or Matt Campbell at Iowa State, but if you don’t try and hit a home run this go around, you may not get another opportunity if you are Trev Alberts.  And for good measure, I’d steal Kendal Briles from Arkansas as my offensive coordinator while I’m at it.

Score Prediction:  Oklahoma 41, Nebraska 31

I would love to see Mickey Joseph come out and waste the Sooners in his debut as Husker head coach.  Nebraska should see an increase in juice in Memorial Stadium this weekend.  I just don’t think that will be enough.  Oklahoma has a strong defense and great pass rush.  Nebraska’s offensive line is playing better, but they still are about average at best.  If Nebraska puts up more than 35 points, they have a great shot to win, but I think we may just come up short.  I’m all aboard the Mickey Joseph train, either way! GBR!!

Will Nebraska’s Run Game Grant Us Another Win?

As Nebraska gets set to play Georgia Southern in the last “pre-season” game before the regular season kicks in, the Huskers have one last chance to work out the kinks.  I think for obvious reasons, going to Ireland was very costly to the Huskers.  They took a hard loss in Dublin, then followed that up with an asleep at the wheel performance to open the home season in Lincoln. (As always you can skip to the end for my prediction)

Bleedhuskerred.com Apparel

It would be easy to see that there are many issues that Nebraska will have to overcome to be a bowl eligible team.  You could argue that they may look like a three-win team again.  

I’m going to wait a couple weeks to go down that road.  One thing that we have learned since Bo Pelini left Lincoln is that the non-conference games are not always a cake walk, but they can be a harbinger of things to come.

Go To adamcarriker.com For A Chance To Win Husker SwagI

I did see something in the second half that gives Nebraska fans some hope.  Anthony Grant and to a lesser extent, Ajay Allen.  Nebraska has suffered at running back since Devin Ozigbo went to the NFL.  They haven’t had a 1,000 rusher since 2018, which happened to be Ozigbo.  When Scott Frost came to Nebraska, I was fairly certain that Nebraska would run the football at an epic clip.  Unfortunately, most of that came from Adrian Martinez and it was far from epic.

If Grant and Allen can stay healthy, they could between them, easily eclipse 1,700 yards rushing this season.  If they can do that, Nebraska can keep their head above water in the Big Ten.  This is a big if, but after two games, I feel confident in saying that it could happen.  Taking pressure off Casey Thompson will be a great counterbalance for the Husker offense.  This hasn’t happened since Frost’s first year, which is arguably the most complete season Nebraska has put together after they started 0-6.

I know the defense has a long way to go, and I understand that the offensive line must compete better than they have the first two games, but for the first time in a long time, the best player on a Husker offense might be a running back.  We haven’t seen that since Ameer Abdullah left Lincoln.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 38, North Dakota 28.  The actual score was Nebraska 38, North Dakota 17.  I wasn’t surprised about the first half of the game to be honest.  It was a short week for Nebraska, and it looked like they weren’t ready to go in the first half.  The great part of last week’s game was that Nebraska put it together in the second half and ran away with the game.  I expect more fire from a Nebraska night crowd this week.  Although the opponent may be a bit better, Nebraska should rebound from last weeks game much quicker as well.

#CarrikerLive on Facebook, Sunday at 8pm CST

Quick Notes:

Anthony Grant…Grant is the one.  The one that we have waited for.  I know, people keep saying it was against Northwestern and North Dakota.  The thing about that is, those types of runs are runs you can earn against better teams as well, if you have blocking.  If the offensive line can improve enough to be above average, Grant will be in the mix for an All Big Ten pick.  The best part is, Ajay Allen looks like he is going to be a player as well.  The entire season likely rests on Nebraska’s ability to run the football.  This was a huge lift of hope for the Huskers.

Omar Manning…As much as Omar was hyped coming out of Junior College and as much as he teased fans last year with some great looking catches, it was a relief just to see him last week.  Manning has the build of an NFL wideout right now.  Very few players on the team walk off the bus looking like a star.  If Manning can give Nebraska 30-40 snaps each week, that would be a tremendous boost for the team.  Manning can block as well as anyone and he is a bear to cover in the open field.  I hope for his sake he is able to take over more as he gets more comfortable in the Mark Whipple/Scott Frost offense.

Garrett Nelson…Nelson is the fire in the Husker belly.  I see people bashing him for celebrating early game tackles and just making regular plays, but be honest with yourself, should he not try to get them to play with that type of energy for the entire game?  Nelson is the best player on the defense, he is their leader.  Let the kid play with his heart on his sleeve.  I can guarantee the Blackshirts from the 90s love his enthusiasm.  They probably wish more players would step up like that.

Timmy Bleekrode…There was a moment that I choked a little hard during the game and that was when Bleekrode missed his first field goal in Memorial Stadium.  Nebraska has struggled so bad in the field goal kicking game the last half decade, I thought maybe Bleekrode had earned part of the curse himself.  He certainly redeemed himself with a 46-yard field goal in the second half.  If Bleekrode can give Nebraska enough of a threat of points every time they cross the 35-yard line, it gives Nebraska confidence to try bolder plays, knowing that Bleekrode is a safety blanket.

Proud Walk-On Tradition Tee

Score Prediction:  Nebraska 38, Georgia Southern 28

I know, same score as last week’s prediction.  I think Nebraska’s offense has figured out their strengths enough that they will put much more than a touchdown on the board in the first half.  I also think that they will have this game in hand much sooner.  Georgia Southern will throw the ball all night and the Husker secondary is still trying to find their sea legs.  I expect a few fireworks from Georgia Southern.  I also expect Nebraska to have a lot of yards in this game and could possibly score into the 50s.  All I care about is a clean win. As always, GBR!!

Let The Craziness Of Husker Football Begin!

Welp…normally you could say that any press is good press, but I’m convinced that’s not the truth after last week in Ireland.  (Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

With about 11 minutes to go in the game and Nebraska up comfortably, I felt like this is it, Frost has new coaches and a new quarterback and the light is turning on!  And then we went down the same damn rabbit hole we have gone down every week before with Scott Frost coaching Nebraska.

Frost can’t get out of his own way.  I won’t rehash the onside kick, mostly because I didn’t think it lost Nebraska the game, but the kind of “get it all back right now” attitude is not helpful when you are behind, and it certainly wasn’t helpful when you are ahead.  

Get Some Swag at bleedhuskerred.com!

It was more than that though.  The Blackshirts, after so much improvement last year, were destined to reload through the transfer portal and home-grown talent.  Instead, they imploded, got no pressure on the quarterback, and couldn’t stop the run when they needed.  Northwestern figured out they didn’t have to do anything different to come back. They just let Nebraska beat themselves.

And therein lies the problem.  Other eyes, other ideas and new players were supposed to help fix these issues.  Now the spyglass is clearly only on Scott Frost.  He needs to be more mature with the media this season.  He needs to understand that Nebraska fans are out of patience.  He says he didn’t charge his phone last weekend.  That’s smart if you want to block out the people that worry about you the most.

Frost has eleven games to turn around this narrative that he is an awful power five level coach.  For three quarters I was convinced.  It only took one quarter to remind me that it’s going to take a lot more than this for Frost to have any hope of being in Lincoln in 2023.

Carriker Live on Facebook Every Sunday Night At 8pm CST During Football Season

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 31 Northwestern 16.  The actual score was Northwestern 31 Nebraska 28.  Nebraska’s offense looked like a thing of beauty for 2 and ½ quarters.  It was silent in the fourth.  We have come to expect that from Frost, but Mark Whipple having the same issue is a bit alarming.  Nebraska must find a way to run the ball consistently until the defense has their feet under them.  If they don’t, there isn’t a game left on the schedule outside of the next two that Nebraska will be favored.

bleedhuskerred.com

Quick Notes:

Casey Thompson…In all the direness of last week’s loss, if there was a bright spot it was Thompson.  He struggled a bit in the second half, but he was so on the money in the first half he seemed superhuman.  Thompson is the most polished passer at Nebraska since Joe Ganz and could set a lot of records this year.  He needs more help from his wide receivers.  He also needs another tight end that can catch.  Travis Vokolek’s injury may be the biggest loss of the season last week.  It made teams defend the middle of the field.  When Vokolek went out, Northwestern was able to sit on the downfield throws and shut off the outside of the field.

Anthony Grant…Grant is clearly the number one back in the Husker depth chart.  He had multiple nice runs, including a 46-yard touchdown run.  He breaks tackles and can break past the linebackers for long runs.  Grant should be a great addition.  I was disappointed that Rahmir Johnson didn’t play more against Northwestern.  Nebraska is going to need to use his speed to keep defenses honest and allow Grant to have more room inside.

Tommi Hill…You couldn’t pick out many bright spots in the Blackshirts in the second half, but Hill looks like a keeper.  He made multiple pass breakups and played well in man-to-man coverage.  I think Nebraska has the talent to play more man.  They certainly didn’t play zone well enough to win.

Brian Buschini…I was going to bring up Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, who had a great game, but Buschini was such a welcome sight to Husker fan’s eyes, I couldn’t leave him out.  Nebraska has struggled with the punt game about 90 percent of the Scott Frost tenure.  To see Buschini be able to give the Huskers an edge in special teams gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.  When it’s 20 degrees in November and Nebraska needs a lift, I think this new punter might save a game for the Huskers.

Score Prediction:  Nebraska 38, North Dakota 28

Can the loss to Northwestern have the opposite effect on this year’s Husker team?  I don’t know, but we do know that there are certain players on the Huskers that are working hard to turn this thing around.  If Nebraska has a close game this weekend, don’t let it dampen your spirits.  The Huskers have a lot of newness to work out.  Their offense should take advantage of a smaller North Dakota defense and the Blackshirts will have their hands full with a veteran quarterback.  I expect Nebraska to have the game in hand, but it will be closer than the spread. GBR!!

Coach Frost Hoping To Dublin His Wins This Season

     Tis a season of either firsts or lasts.  Either Scott Frost finally has his first winning season at Nebraska and rolls into a bowl game, or the trap door that almost fell open at the end of last season, blasts open and the prodigal son returns out into the wild. (Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

bleedhuskerred.com Tees!

     Such is the wildest, most interesting season in Nebraska football since Frost’s arrival four seasons ago. 

     Nebraska may have lacked wins the last six seasons, but they haven’t lacked drama (best 3-9 team of all time) or scrutiny (Covid practices, fighting with the Big Ten) or painstaking mediocrity (15-29 under Frost, 19-19 the last three years under Mike Riley).

     Now it is basically put up or get out time.  Trev Alberts allowed Scott Frost to redo his contract at the end of last season, decreasing his buy out, but giving Frost a little more rope to try and right the Husker ship.

    Frost responded by firing multiple coaches in the offseason and doing something that a lot of fans have asked for.  Frost brought in a seasoned veteran in Mark Whipple to run the offense.  Forever people have suggested that Frost needed an assistant that had seen it all to help him with the rigors of coaching in one of, if not the, most elite conference in the country.  Frosty also hired a new offensive line coach in Donavan Raiola, that needed to happen.  Multiple times rewatching games, offensive lineman had no idea what their assignment was on certain plays and simply just ran around looking for someone to block.  If Nebraska can correct ¾ of those problems, they should improve offensively at least to be more consistent.

    Nebraska also hired Bryan Applewhite to coach the running backs.  Applewhite remade the room, grabbing junior college star Anthony Grant and pulling in highly regarded Ajay Allen from high school.  The current running backs in the room, like Rahmir Johnson, Gabe Ervin and Jaquez Yant all needed a different coaching style than what has been happening the last four years.

Will any of this make enough difference for Frost to keep his job going into 2023?  I’d say that it should help a lot.  Whipple has been around the block, coaching in the NFL and everywhere you could think in college.  Last year with Pittsburgh he helped Kenny Pickett become a Heisman Finalist and the Panthers were one of the hottest scoring teams in the nation.  Whipple is a quarterback guy, and his newest pupil, Casey Thompson, should provide an ample canvas to work with.

Our Facebook Page Has Moved Here

    That brings us to arguably the best hire that Scott Frost made, bringing back Mickey Joseph to coach the wide receivers.  Joseph has been the best receiver coach in the country the last four years, putting countless players in the pros that have turned out to be budding stars in the NFL.  Joseph may not have all the horses he had at LSU, but he will maximize the play of what he does have, and he does have talent.

     So where does this leave Scott Frost and Nebraska?  Well, you could argue that Frost has the easiest schedule he has had since he came back to the Huskers.  The only catch with that is the back end is probably the toughest group of four games you could ask for.  Nebraska needs to make hay early, or the good will that Frost has earned over again could be washed away by a brutal stretch of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa to close out the season.

     Nebraska simply must do something they have failed to do in Frost’s tenure so far, win a lot of games.  Nebraska wins the offseason as well as any program in the country.  It is time to win during the regular season, or Frost will be looking for a new place to live.  It’s unfortunate for this original feel-good story, but at this point Nebraska fans need a winner.

Tune into Carriker Live on Facebook Every Sunday Night At 8pm CST During Football Season

ON WITH THE REWIND…

    Last game prediction was Iowa 23, Nebraska 21.  The actual score was Iowa 28 Nebraska 21.  Logan Smothers cam out last season and played admirably against Iowa.  Nebraska was it’s own worst enemy again the second half, with bad special teams play and the inability to make first downs when needed the most.  It will be interesting if any of that changes this year.

Quick Notes:

    Scott Frost…I’ve already said a lot about Frost’s tenure, but this truly is a make-or-break season for the coach.  He either will have a long career in Lincoln as the head coach or he will be back out looking for an offensive coordinator position or analyst position on Nick Saban’s staff.  There really isn’t much in between right now.   

Casey Thompson…Out of the frying pan and into the fire?  Leaving Texas was probably not where Thompson saw himself last year, but their loss is Nebraska’s great gain.  Thompson will be an entirely different quarterback than Adrian Martinez.  A much more controlled passer and much more accurate, Thompson should allow the offense to be much more balanced with the running back run game.  The real question is if the offensive line will give him enough time to let routes develop.  Keeping teams honest should allow for play action and possibly more screen game and bubble game.  If that happens, Nebraska will have plenty of opportunities in the red zone, which is where Thompson’s accuracy should finally allow the Huskers to be an efficient passing team.  You could argue it has been since the days of Tommy Armstrong that Nebraska has had a solid passing threat inside the ten-yard line.

     Garrett Nelson…The captain from Scottsbluff has come a long way from being a freshman that really should have redshirted, to being a possible NFL draft pick after this season.   Nelson has never been questioned about his Husker heart, he truly does bleed red, but now he has the game to match.  The improvement of Caleb Tannor and the addition of All Big Twelve edge rusher Ochaun Mathis should lesson the attention that Nelson will receive this year.  If Nelson is close to being an all-conference selection by the end of the season, Nebraska will definitely be playing in a bowl game this winter.

Transfer Central…Nebraska has gone out and added arguably a top ten transfer class in the off season.  Nebraska will be relying on players at wide receiver, running back, defensive tackle, edge rusher, quarterback, kicker and punter to elevate their game.  If those players pan out, Nebraska could have a mirror of what Michigan State experienced last season.  If not, it will be a struggle in Lincoln.  A strong culture should help the team absorb all of these changes.  If the transfers do not come out and help immediately, Nebraska’s season could be over before it begins.

Season Predication:

     Fourth verse, same as the first.  Nebraska under Scott Frost has been awful in one score ball games.  The common denominator in that has been Adrian Martinez.  Martinez is off to Kansas State, so now we find out which one of them was more likely the culprit.  Love him or hate him, Nebraska went as Adrian went and Frost did little to help him out in his four years.  If Nebraska has any chance at a winning season, they must win the 50/50 games.  Nebraska has the most favorable schedule they’ve had in years.  If they don’t start the season 6-2 at a minimum, it is likely that Scott Frost won’t be around next season.  Nebraska has a floor of four wins and a likely ceiling of nine.  Last season I felt like the floor was four wins and they failed to even reach that.  

     I will go even further, I think if Nebraska fails to win more than six games, this will be the final season for Scott Frost.  I hate to split the difference, but I think Nebraska will finish 7-5 and make it to the first bowl game in Frost’s tenure.  If that happens, it’s likely he gets one more year.  Anything less than that and Nebraska will be looking for a new coach in November.

Our Facebook Page Has Moved To This Link

     Score Prediction:  Nebraska 31, Northwestern 16

Nebraska played their best game against Northwestern last season, and I really felt like that was going to be a springboard to a great year.  Turns out it was Nebraska’s last win, and they would go on to crush Husker hearts all over the country by losing close games every week.   I’ve been wrestling with this prediction all during preseason camp.  On paper, Nebraska should crush Northwestern, but breaking in a new quarterback, new offensive coordinator and new offensive staff, there will likely be some stumbles.  All that being said, I still think Nebraska has enough explosive talent on offense to pull away in the end.  I’m going all in on this Kool-Aid!  Let’s go Huskers and as always, GBR!!

Happy Thanksgiving Husker Nation!!!

Since we have hammered the Scott Frost angle all season, trying to figure out why close games continue to go against Nebraska, this week we will start by giving “Thanks” to some people that deserve it.

Adrian Martinez will likely end up having the worst winning percentage of any Nebraska quarterback of all time.  I’d say you can blame about 5% of that record on him.  He has never had the type of players around him that Tommy Armstrong had, let alone Tommie Frazier.  He has made plays that are reminiscent of Taylor Martinez.  He will wind up with more total yards than Eric Crouch.

20% Off Or More At bleedhuskerred.com!

Unfortunately, he will likely go into the Joe Dailey category on one end, but he was simply as electric as any player we have had this decade on the other.  I will miss watching him and wish he had better results because the effort was always there.

I watched Austin Allen at state basketball his senior year.  I had a hard time envisioning him being a tight end, but I know that high school ability doesn’t project so easily.  Since that time Allen has developed into arguably the best receiving tight end in Husker history.  He has been fun to watch and should be a good NFL prospect.  I’ve enjoyed his growth as much as any player in recent memory.

Subscribe To Carriker Chronicles on YouTube
When Cam Taylor-Britt arrived at Nebraska, I thought that he was the type of player that Frost would bring in over and over.  He played quarterback in high school and was the best athlete on the field no matter where he played.  He was the type of hard-working kid that Nebraska was known for.  Taylor-Britt has not disappointed in his Husker career.  Cornerbacks are always noticed when they screw up, but Taylor-Britt goes long stretches without even a mention.  He has been the best player of the Scott Frost era in many ways and will be one of the hardest players to replace next season.

 There will be a lot of other players moving on after this game, some more of my favorites include Marquel Dismuke (one of the original California kids that Mike Riley brought in, one of the only ones that panned out), Deontai Williams, Ben Stille and Samari Toure.  It’s ok not to name them all, but all Huskers will hold a special place for many of us as they move on.   Instead of worrying about the fate of Scott Frost and the replacement staff, I’ll choose to remember this group that played the game as hard as they could.  They continue to represent the best of what Nebraska is about.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Wisconsin 30 Nebraska 21.  The actual score was Wisconsin 35, Nebraska 28.  Typical of Nebraska versus Wisconsin, Nebraska moves the ball up and down the field, but can’t stop the Badgers big bad running back.  So many questionable calls make this one frustrating.  Don’t get me wrong, Nebraska continues to step on their own foot on special teams and questionable red zone strategy.  That makes the blown calls all the more glaring, but if Nebraska would clean up their own mess, those bad calls would matter way less.

Quick Notes:

Logan Smothers…When Nebraska recruited Smothers, it was another lifetime ago.  He was a Rivals top 250 player and a top ranked dual threat quarterback coming out of high school.  He has two full years learning the offense and is a coach’s son.  I can’t tell you he will beat Iowa, but I can tell you, I have more confidence in him that I’ve had in a back-up quarterback starting his first game in a long time.  He is super athletic.  Hopefully Coach Frost can find ways to get him in the open field, it could go a long way toward winning on Friday. 

Free Shipping On Orders Of $50 Or More At bleedhuskerred.com Thru Cyber Monday!

Brody Belt…Belt didn’t start against Wisconsin, but he made the most of his opportunities.  He exploded into holes and was patient and didn’t run into the offensive lineman without a plan.  It sounds like Jaquez Yant will be starting against Iowa, but I look for Belt to take a dozen touches in the game.  If he plays like he did last week, that will be a good sign.

Samari Toure…Toure has been the best treat for Nebraska fans.  I’ve mentioned him in this blog more times than I can remember.  He has been the explosive playmaker that Nebraska has looked for since Stanley Morgan was here.  Every week teams have looked silly trying to find him down the field and every week it seems like he delivers a huge play when Nebraska needs it the most.  It was a short time in Lincoln for Toure, but he will be missed by Husker fans for a long time.

Garrett Nelson…I’ve argued since he got here that Nelson is the kind of kid that was hurt by a lack of depth his freshman year.  He played and played so hard, but he had no idea what he was doing and would have benefited from a redshirt.  Now, he is playing like and old All Big Eight type of hard-nosed linebacker that many of us remember from the old days.  It’s likely he will lead the team in sacks and tackles for loss.  A lot of people have complained early that he wasn’t that good, but if there were a dozen more players like him on the roster, it’s doubtful Nebraska would suffer on the scoreboard like they have. 

Follow Cornhusker Memmes on Twitter

Score Prediction:  Iowa 23, Nebraska 21 

It pains me to say this, but after watching this team all year, I can’t help but acknowledge that they will have a lead in this game with under a minute to play and lose it by a field goal.  Don’t ask me how I know, I just know.  If by some miracle, Nebraska doesn’t give up two touchdowns by turnover or special teams, they will win this game.  Iowa just makes plays based on the other team’s mistakes.  This Nebraska team just can’t help themselves.  Sounds like a warm day is in store, so I still look forward to spending my last fall day in Memorial Stadium.  Here is to better days ahead, and GBR!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING NEBRASKA!!!

So Now What? And Who?

What a bye week right?  We went from having a full staff and wondering if Frost would be kept after the Iowa game, to knowing he is coming back, but the offensive staff will be completely new in 2022.

There are a lot of reasons that Scott Frost probably should not have been brought back after this season.   After having a season with the best Blackshirts defense in a decade, a fourth year starting quarterback and what we thought would be a rebuilt special teams unit, Nebraska has underachieved this season.  This is the fourth season in a row that Nebraska will have failed to finish above .500 under Frost and failed to make bowl game.  It’s the worst start to a career at Nebraska in the last 50 years for a head football coach.  That’s really difficult to stomach.

bleedhuskerred.com

So why would Athletic Director Trev Alberts keep Scott Frost after all of that?  

I think a lot of it has to do with how Nebraska has played this year.  They are 1-6 overall in conference play, but they have still outscored their opponents in those 7 games.  That’s remarkable.  They have played every ranked team outside of Ohio State within a touchdown.  Even that game was close throughout.  Special teams have likely cost Nebraska at a minimum two more wins and probably more than that.  

Adrian Martinez has had to do too much on his own.  And while the Blackshirts have played lights out a lot of the season, they haven’t been able to get to the quarterback enough against lesser teams to create the turnovers needed to cruise in games they should have won.

You can argue that there are still holes in the overall roster that need to be addressed and maybe they can with more time.

In the end, I think that Trev Alberts sees the landscape of college football and how much it is changing.  With the new transfer rules, recruiting will become a different beast than it has been in our lifetime.  Name and Image Likeness (NIL) rules have changed what Universities can offer outside of full scholarships.  Large buyouts and recycling a new coach every three to four years has proven to be a futile exercise in most cases.  Many schools considered Blue Blood football powerhouses are out wandering the wilderness.  Florida State, Florida and Miami are in the hotbed of football prospects, yet they have failed to maintain top 20 teams this last decade.  Rebuilding a program may simply require small changes over big shakeups in this new world.

And that is why Alberts has zigged when others have zagged.  This is going to be a crazy offseason to hire a new coach.  I get the argument that it probably will be like that forever moving forward.  Frost is the hometown hero and maybe it’s wise to not throw the baby out with the bath water.  Eventually Alberts may be forced to decide to relieve Frost, but at this point, it was a calculated gamble to continue on this path, no matter how painful it might be to get to where Nebraska wants to go.  I don’t know that I agree with it, but I support Alberts for realizing the old way may not be the best way when it comes to moving forward.

Carriker Chronicles

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Ohio State 44 Nebraska 24.  The actual score was Ohio State 26, Nebraska 17.  It was the second time in the Frost tenure that he has held tight with the Buckeyes.  For whatever reason, Nebraska has played ranked teams better this season than unranked teams.  How does that help Nebraska to finish out this season?  Who knows, but this week may not be as kind as the others.

Quick Notes:

JoJo Domann…I hit on Domann in my last blog, but since he isn’t playing another game this season, I wanted to at least pay a tribute to him for his career.  He went out with a bang, playing arguably his best game ever against Ohio State.  Domann has been one of the few bright spots on the defense during his career and he will leave a big gap in the Blackshirts the rest of they season.  Not many players can play so many roles for a team, but Domann has been able to play defensive back, linebacker and edge rusher at a high level.  If Nebraska is ever going to get back to the top of the Big Ten, they need a dozen players like Domann.  

Rahmir Johnson…Johnson has proven out to be the most consistent runner in the backfield this year.  He hasn’t blown up for big gains in the running game, but he has been the best at moving the offense forward behind an average run blocking line.  Johnson has three more years of eligibility left.  It will be interesting to see if he can continue to improve at a high level moving forward

Samari Toure…He has been a lightning bolt for Nebraska this season.  He is what everyone hoped that Kanawai Noa and Wan’Dale Robinson would have been for the Huskers.  Toure will likely get a look in the NFL draft this spring.  His numbers would likely be even better if Nebraska was a little more accurate in the quarterback department.

Offensive Assistant Coaches…For three years, Nebraska’s offense has continued to perform well below expectations.  It was just a matter of time for most of the staff to be turned over.  It has cost Nebraska dearly to be inconsistent when they have played lesser opponents.  Also, their inability to run the football against the titans of the Big Ten outside of the quarterback position almost cost Coach Frost his job.  Whatever Frost decides moving forward, he must establish a better game at the line of scrimmage.  It has been this teams Achilles heel for almost a decade.        

Score Prediction:  Wisconsin 30, Nebraska 21 

I probably have this prediction too close.  Nebraska has every reason to mail it in this weekend if they get off to a slow start.  Wisconsin is playing about as well as Ohio State right now and may have the better defense.  Nebraska matches up well with their offense, but on the defensive side, Nebraska likely won’t make it to three touchdowns.  I’m going to say they make it, but it is probably because of a late touchdown when the game is already in hand.  I will be staying warm this week watching the game.  Better than freezing in Wisconsin! GBR!!

bleedhuskerred.com