Paddock did ok, no?
Pregame: Illinois at Nebraska, Friday, September 20th, 7:00pm CT, FOX
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The ILL-INI nation is very near the corn... That sounds like a good 2 ints and 3 sack outing for a freshman QB who will learn what disguised secondary looks like.....the hard way.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Paddock did ok, no?
Paddock had over 500 career passing attempts before coming to Illinois. Leary has 5. This is not the same argument being presented earlier. But yes, Paddock provided a shot-in-the-arm at an opportune time but even then it was extremely high variance. His Indiana game was one of the best QB performances in Illinois history and the Minnesota final drive was legendary. Against Iowa he was below average and looked unplayable against Penn State in relief. But again, this was from someone with lots of experience! Leary has barely played.
Paddock had a ton of previous starting experience so not really comparable.Paddock did ok, no?
OrangeBlue98
- Des Moines, IA
But if Nebraska doesn't have to throw or can run play-action all day, those disguised secondary looks won't do a lot of good. If I'm Nebraska, I focus on establishing the run and dare us to stop them. If the Illinois D-line can at least be serviceable against the run, then there's a chance.
Not sure who or what you’re arguing. I asked how Leary looked in practice so I know how nervous to be when Luke gets hit. Relax, bro.
Yeah, I was responding to his comment about Texas being the only team with a great back-up. Not sure why you think I was comparing Paddock to Leary. I wasn’t.
Few keys I think will factor into this game and keeping an eye on......
Raiola hasn't been pressured much or had to force passes. Only sacked once and 6 rush attempts through three games against very weak defenses. I think we bring pressure but also need to have a spy on Raiola because I look for those rush attempts to go up when pressure is applied.
Nebraska D has showed up. Toughest team they played was Colorado which is one-dimensional (weakness for them). Hayden with 5 rushing attempts against Nebraska is a joke. Illinois will run the ball whether they gain 2 or 7 yards a carry. Illinois comes in with a stable of healthy backs that all bring different skill levels and change of pace.
Nebraska has played UTEP, Colorado and Northern Iowa. Illinois has played EIU, Kansas and Central Michigan. Nebraska D averaging 9 penalties/game, Illinois D 4.7 penalties/game. Interested to see if we hold to form with first game on the road in hostile environment.
I like the running back rotation, QB play and Bryant/Franklin. Hoping to see growth throughout the season from rest of WR/TE group.
Raiola hasn't been pressured much or had to force passes. Only sacked once and 6 rush attempts through three games against very weak defenses. I think we bring pressure but also need to have a spy on Raiola because I look for those rush attempts to go up when pressure is applied.
Nebraska D has showed up. Toughest team they played was Colorado which is one-dimensional (weakness for them). Hayden with 5 rushing attempts against Nebraska is a joke. Illinois will run the ball whether they gain 2 or 7 yards a carry. Illinois comes in with a stable of healthy backs that all bring different skill levels and change of pace.
Nebraska has played UTEP, Colorado and Northern Iowa. Illinois has played EIU, Kansas and Central Michigan. Nebraska D averaging 9 penalties/game, Illinois D 4.7 penalties/game. Interested to see if we hold to form with first game on the road in hostile environment.
I like the running back rotation, QB play and Bryant/Franklin. Hoping to see growth throughout the season from rest of WR/TE group.
band camp
- STL City
I keep coming back to our place kickers. They may hit 5 on Friday night. I have to think this is a big advantage for us in this game.
Theoretically we are in FG range at the opponents 40.
Idk...just a thought.
Edit: after fact checking nebby's kicking stats.
3 of 4 on the season with zero kicks over 40 yards.
Theoretically we are in FG range at the opponents 40.
Idk...just a thought.
Edit: after fact checking nebby's kicking stats.
3 of 4 on the season with zero kicks over 40 yards.
Have to disagree with BOLDED here... 14 points were negated by phantom penalties called on Nebraska in the second half that would have painted a better picture of the domination over Colorado. We can say "If you take away this or that" with every game and change the outcome. The fact is without the non-existent penalties that erased scores that game is as lopsided on the scoreboard as it was on the field.
orange100
time to hop on the wife
This is why I am generally against hiring a beloved ex-player for a coaching position, especially HC. When/If they flame out, it sours the memories and relationship, unfortunately. Can you imagine if we had hired Tim Brewster???
Illinois a medium amount.....Nebraska a medium amount.....I'm just not sure who ends up with a smidge more.....
I sure hope Henry dials up blitzes this game. Both run and pass blitzes. Our DBs are strong enough to handle their own in man coverage.
Indeed, blitzes have been known to lead to mistakes by the offense that the defense takes advantage of, such as interceptions, recovered fumbles, and pushing the offense out of field goal range.
There's the thing. Sometime a QB is the backup because there's a clear difference in talent, and other times there's a QB1a and QB1b and somebody has to start. Do you know how much difference (reason) there is? I don't. 69 others asks a valid question so we'd appreciate any insight.
Everyone has decided Luke is the 5th best QB in the league because he was 5th in one key stat (out of dozens of stats). I really like Luke and believe we're going to let him loose this week to show his true potential, but I'm hopeful Leary can be serviceable if we need him. I'm disappointed that we didn't give other QB's some experience in the CMU game.
The rumors around Lincoln were around him being back in his element and having too much fun, with some other rumblings sprinkled in.
No matter how good you are, at the B1G or SEC level, you have to be 100% dialed in 24/7 to succeed.
My bet is that he learned a valuable lesson from that experience, but then again, he walked away a very rich man, and he gets to spend time in Scottdale with his family, so it can't be all bad.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Heard on a podcast this morning that PFF currently has Luke as the 4th highest rated QB in the B1G.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
18th in the country for QBs with at least 50% of expected drop backs. Gabriel (Oregon) and Edwards (Maryland). Raiola's 4th in B1G (33rd overall).
You’re probably right about the ‘fun’ part.
But this is what I still don’t get. For god’s sake... Frost was BORN in Lincoln. He is a true Nebraska native. Everyone in that State quickly becomes aware of how important the Cornhusker football program is to the State and it’s psyche. He had great success there as a player. He played for a Legend Coach. Next to God and family, the Huskers are everything to those people.
AND YET... when he comes back to his beloved program to lead them out of their slumber he seems out of it the whole time. He seemed overwhelmed by his inability to turn things around. He didn’t seem to handle adversity on the field -- and his personal struggle.
And if your analysis is correct... his way of dealing with all this is -- Fun? (And as I said, you’re probably right about that). There is still a missing element to why he made certain choices and why he chose to handle things the way he did.
With Rhule it’s all about building the program and reclaiming success and little outside drama. Guys like Rhule (and there are a handful of them) are special because they know the secret sauce to taking struggling programs and quickly making winners out of them.
Completely agree- we have nothing to lose this game- we may as well go down swinging and confuse the QB as much as possible - maybe force him into bad decisions- would much rather lose that way, by him beating the blitz than sitting back and let them run all over us
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