SMQ: Nebraska Coaches Choke Again

It’s time for the Holgorsen Era to end. Abandoning the run (again) leads to a 4th quarter meltdown (again.) This nonsense has to end.

Nebraska’s coaches came into this game knowing that failure was not acceptable. Whether it’s using timeouts correctly (nope), playing coverage when it’s needed (nope), or running the ball on a consistent basis (nope), the coaching staff needed to show their competence. Once again, we saw that when push comes to shove, Nebraska’s coaches will inevitably make the wrong decision.

Here’s the game plan for anyone playing Nebraska. 

1 - Fence Colandrea in (he doesn’t seem to be able to audible, so just fake pressure and sit in coverage), 

2 - wait for the Nebraska coaches - especially the offensive coordinator - to do something dumb (like abandon what’s working), and 

3 - snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. High school teams are less predictable than the Huskers.

In the real world, you pay for repeated incompetence with your job.

Let’s face it, Matt Rhule is too expensive to fire. Even the Cornhuskers would have trouble swallowing a $70 Million buyout.

Someone has to pay for this nonsense.

SMQ’s vote? Dana Holgorsen.

Holgorsen’s insistence on deep throws over plowing runs is well known. After all, it’s hard to keep the “genius” label if all you do is pound the opposition into submission. You might win a lot more games, tho, by emphasizing what is working. 44 passes versus 29 runs is an idiotic ratio, especially when exactly TWO of the passes were to running backs. “Pass to set up the run” is a failure.

Holgorsen said last week that the Big 10 is a “race to 21 points.” Absolutely wrong. Did Indiana “race” to beat the Huskers? Did Oregon? Did Washington? No, no, and heck no. Because it’s not a race - it’s a slugfest. Grinding is what wins. Wear a team out, and the 4th-quarter scoring will be there. When it really counts, Holgorsen abandons the grind and goes for the race….with predictable results.

That sort of approach works against teams like Bowl of Cream. It’s a failure in the Big 10.

For that, Holgorsen has got to go. The plan doesn’t work and the coach doesn’t want to adapt. Keeping Jamal Rule on the bench for most of the 3rd quarter was borderline malpractice.

Coach Rhule is protected by his contract. He’s 2-26 versus ranked teams. People keep thinking “he’ll figure it out”. If someone told you that a boxer with a 2-26 record was going to “figure it out, you just have to trust the process”…you might have doubts.

Here’s one thing SMQ has learned about football - try not to let the other team’s best player beat you. Yet - when it’s 4th and 18 with the victory on the line - Washington’s best player was left in single coverage. On the next play, he was left all alone. It’s almost unthinkable that these sorts of things happen. Yet they do, again and again and again. The Nebraska fans deserve better.

Throwing things on the field shows that the fans have had enough of this nonsense. We need change and we need it fast. Before the Huskers are just part of the past.

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