There is no such thing as a holiday around Nebraska football, as Mike Riley found out when he found the usual cast of suspects at his weekly press conference on Labor Day.
"Don't you folks know it's a holiday?" Mike Riley says as he greets the media for weekly news conference. #Huskers
— Steven M. Sipple (@HuskerExtraSip) September 7, 2015
Riley opened by discussing Saturday's loss to BYU.
Riley described it as a "totally awesome" experience, except for the outcome.
— Steven M. Sipple (@HuskerExtraSip) September 7, 2015
Riley described Saturday as a "bitterly disappointing loss." But he saw several "teachable moments." #Huskers
— Steven M. Sipple (@HuskerExtraSip) September 7, 2015
Riley: "I like our team a lot." #Huskers
— Brian Christopherson (@HuskerExtraBC) September 7, 2015
Mike Riley has a list of key improvement areas: Run game production w/ the I-back, penalties, big plays on D & kicking game
— Jon Nyatawa (@JonNyatawa) September 7, 2015
Riley: "We want to run the ball better with the tailback. We need to be that team."
— Brian Christopherson (@HuskerExtraBC) September 7, 2015
Riley makes it clear the onus not just on backs with run game. Says #Huskers not very clean or dominating up front vs. BYU
— Rich Kaipust (@RKaipustOWH) September 7, 2015
Riley says "need to run ball better with tailback." Hints at more QB run game. #Huskers
— John Bishop (@JohnBishop71) September 7, 2015
I think they realized that at halftime; I wonder if the game got away from the coaches in the second quarter when things went south. By that, I wonder if they didn't go to things they were more comfortable calling instead of things they thought the team could succeed with. This is a learning curve for both players and coaches.
Riley said 10 of the 12 penalties Nebraska incurred were "easily correctable."
— Samuel McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) September 7, 2015
One hopes. It's worth noting that Oregon State also struggled with penalties the last two seasons, so this might be something we need to get used to.
#Huskers Coach Riley announces that Jack Gangwish, and David Sutton are out for a few weeks. Sam Foltz is week to week.
— Nebraska Huskers (@Huskers) September 7, 2015
Gangwish was hurt earlier in the game, but reinjured himself on the final play of the game. So yeah, that Hail Mary was a double punch-in-the-gut.
Freshman Freedom Akinmoladun will take Gangwish's starting spot at defensive end in his absence with injury. #Huskers
— Jake Sorensen (@937JakeSorensen) September 7, 2015
I liked what I saw about Akinmoladun on Saturday; here's hoping that we spell "Akinmoladun" as instinctively as we learned to spell "Ndamukong" a few years back. (Cue Mel Gibson "Freedom!" gif.)
Excellent news on Sam Foltz. Mike Riley said he is week to week and hopes he can play this Saturday. #Huskers
— Greg Smith (@GregSmithSports) September 7, 2015
Our David McGee makes a good point here...
This is a week when you shouldn't need punter Sam Foltz. If you can sneak a week off to heal, that's not a bad thing.
— David McGee (@dpm917) September 7, 2015
Mike Riley injury update: DE Jack Gangwish out 3 weeks (arm) TE David Sutton out a number of weeks, possibly 8. P Sam Foltz week to week
— Channel 8 KLKN-TV (@Channel8ABC) September 7, 2015
Sutton's extended recovery time hurts tight end depth. We noticed that at least one offensive lineman (Paul Thurston to #81) changed his jersey number on Saturday before the game, which would indicate a possible move to tight end.
On suspensions, all but one will be available this week. Coach Riley will announce the one with a two game suspension later this week.
— Nebraska Huskers (@Huskers) September 7, 2015
I suspect we may have a good idea who remains suspended once the media observes players coming and going from practice, just by monitoring the status of Blackshirts. In any event, it's good to know that the suspensions will be over for the Miami game. As long as everybody behaves themselves, that is.
Tommy Armstrong's chop block "was awesome," Riley says. "He just plays the game." #Huskers
— Steven M. Sipple (@HuskerExtraSip) September 7, 2015
Riley on K Drew Brown: "I like that kid. He’ll come back."
— Samuel McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) September 7, 2015
Doesn't do any good to get mad at kickers. Might make the coach feel better, but probably won't make the kicker better.
Tyson Brokemeier got his moment in the spotlight. He did well, considering the situation.
That's backup punter Tyson Broekemeier in there. #onlyinNebraska pic.twitter.com/OwV0XGbu16
— Brian Christopherson (@HuskerExtraBC) September 7, 2015
Tyson Broekemeier just held court w/ reporters as #Huskers presser wrapped. Backup qb didn't start punting at NU until Bondi hurt last year
— Rich Kaipust (@RKaipustOWH) September 7, 2015
Freshman I-back Mikale Wilbon finally got a chance to speak, now that he's played.
Mikale Wilbon is a sharp and sort of funny guy. Not intimidated by his first big interview session. #Huskers
— Brian Christopherson (@HuskerExtraBC) September 7, 2015
About the RB competition, Wilbon smiled: "It seems like everybody's a four-star now." #Huskers
— Brian Christopherson (@HuskerExtraBC) September 7, 2015