Did you watch Iowa lose Saturday night?
That was another incredible Saturday night game. Penn State did exactly what they needed to do at the end of that game. And credit to Iowa for playing as well as they did on defense, and keeping the game close all the way through. Josey Jewell might be one of the best players in the nation.
Michigan shut down Purdue's offense, limiting the Boilers to 30 yards rushing and 159 yards passing. The Boilermakers had a first-half lead at 10 – 7, but couldn't score at all in the second half. The Wolverine defense looks pretty good, but the offense is still pretty shaky. Michigan doesn't run the ball as well as you'd think, and Saturday Wilton Speight was replaced by John
O’Korn (I have to laugh every time I see this guy's last name. I still don't think it's real.) after Speight suffered an injury. There is no word yet on how long Speight will be out.
Speaking of injuries, everything went to hell for Maryland after they lost Kasim Hill Saturday. Hill was the true freshman quarterback who came in after Tyrrell Pigrome was lost for the year against Texas. Scott Frost's UCF team beat up on an injured, listless Maryland team that couldn't do anything on offense. I wouldn't read too much into it – injuries can take a toll on a team and they pretty much already destroyed Maryland’s season.
I tried to watch the Michigan State – Notre Dame game but the Irish were beating up on Sparty every time I change the channel so I didn't watch much of it. Was a battle of teams that did not have good seasons last year and the Irish easily came out on top.
Other than that, Indiana destroyed Georgia Southern 52 – 17, and Ohio State mauled UNLV 54 – 21 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.
There was, of course, the Nebraska game.
I remain of the opinion that Shawn Eichorst should not have been fired. I know that his firing was popular, I don't care. It still seems premature to me. I understand why it had to happen - if they are going to have another athletic director who evaluates this program before the end of the year to determine whether or not Mike Riley should be retained, then they had to fire Eichorst at the time at which they did. I don't care – I still don't like it.
As for Mike Riley, I’m not sure I care. I know, I know. It's an odd statement relative to the previous paragraph. I just feel like it's beyond my control so why care or worry about it. I'm going to do exactly what this Nebraska team is going to do and take it one week at a time. There's a part of me that feels like Riley is not the right coach for Nebraska. Then there's a part of me that hopes the Riley pulls the season together in such a way that he makes it difficult for Hank Bounds to fire him.
Bounds was seen on Nebraska’s sideline Saturday talking to recruits. Perhaps this was a one-time deal, where Bounds felt that he needed to show leadership for Nebraska since there was no athletic director to be found. We'll have to watch and see whether Bounds was only there for single-game or whether he fancies himself to be Jerry Jones.
The other thing that bothers me about firing Mike Riley is that it won't matter who the next head coaches – fans won't like him. We place too many qualifications on our head coaches.
"I'll like Big Name Coach if he runs the ball most of the time."
"I'll like Big Name Coach if he uses a fullback."
"I'll like Big Name Coach if his win percentage is high enough and he's shown already that he can win championships."
"I will like Big Name Coach if the athletic department spends enough money on the hire."
Do you do this in all your relationships?
I couldn't help but notice that during the post-game thread there a few of you that wondered what was going to happen when we play a team like Ohio State since we struggled against Rutgers? I find those kinds of comments rather amazing.
My God, people. Do you not enjoy anything in your life? It was a win. It might not be impressive a win as you want, but it did solidify us as not being the worst team in the Big Ten. If you want to hang onto next year's recruits, Mike Riley or not, that's kind of important.
You can't just enjoy the moment? At your kid's fifth birthday party, do you wonder how bad it will be when they're 17 or do you just enjoy the cake? (I say this knowing full well that some of you probably worry about your children at 17 while you're celebrating their fifth birthday…) Maybe you should think about that. It's okay to plan for tomorrow, but worrying about it is just… I recently saw a quote that stated, "Worry is down payment on a problem you may never have."
It's a waste of time and energy.
Maybe keep that in mind when you’re watching Nebraska football.
I receive questions from people on twitter as to why Tanner Lee was not benched Saturday.
I have no idea.
The guy is a turnover machine, so the logical answer is…
Patrick O'Brien’s performance is even worse than Lee OR because he doesn't know the plays OR our coaching staff is full of idiots.
Nebraska should've found its winning formula for the rest of the season in the fourth quarter against Rutgers - a short passing game and running the tailbacks over and over and over and over. I think at this point we discovered that we have three pretty decent running backs.
Nebraska's defense has played extremely well since that horrible first half against Oregon. That's pretty phenomenal. If our defense can play at that level for the rest of the season, then the Huskers might get away with just running the backs over and over and over and over.
NEWS
Ozigbo Brings the Lightning in Standout Game Against Rutgers | Hail Varsity
Despite not seeing in-game work, and not really knowing why he was being passed over on the depth chart, Ozigbo kept working in practice. He talked with his friends back home in Texas, his brother and his dad. When he found out the week before the season opened that Nebraska was going with a featured tailback and scrapping the by-committee approach, Ozigbo said he initially got down, but then thought of something.
Blackshirts rolling since first-half debacle in Oregon | Husker Extra | journalstar.com
In the past 10 quarters, the Huskers are allowing 4.1 yards per play. They’ve allowed just 31 total first downs, a 22.6-percent third-down conversion rate, two 20-plus-yard passes and 17 total points.
Huskers Tie No. 7 Nittany Lions, 1-1 - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
In a match that featured a two-hour and 32-minute lightning delay, the Nebraska soccer team (6-3-1, 0-1-1 Big Ten) played No. 7 Penn State to a 1-1 draw at Hibner Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Huskers Sweep South Dakota - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Lincoln, Neb. --- The Nebraska softball team swept South Dakota 11-3 and 1-0 on Sunday at Bowlin Stadium to kick off its fall season.
HuskerMax™ Nebraska Cornhuskers Videos
Barry Switzer tells a story about getting the bird from hundreds of fans at once
PENN STATE 21, IOWA 19: THE MORNING AFTER - Black Heart Gold Pants
Don’t be sad that it’s over. Be glad that it happened.
B1G Stats From Saturday’s Loss to Michigan - Hammer and Rails
It was tough to take the loss, but it was still a great day to be a Boilermaker.
MMQB: Is Saquon Barkley the Best Penn State Player of the Big Ten Era? - Black Shoe Diaries
Is it safe to call Saquon Barkley Penn State’s best player since joining the Big Ten in 1993?
Gopher Volleyball Home Win Streak Ends at the Hands of the Spartans - The Daily Gopher
Minnesota split their two watches this weekend, beating Michigan and losing to Michigan State. The loss to the Spartans snapped the Gopher’s home win streak which dates back to October 2014, ending it at 40.
Then There’s This
This is better than anything at the cinema at the moment. pic.twitter.com/nz1L4nmVje
— Captain Kidd (@kidd_kong78) September 23, 2017