• last year
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Welcome to the Carriker Chronicles,
00:10 the people show.
00:12 Checking the pulse of Husker Nation,
00:13 brought to you by DPS Concrete Construction.
00:15 Check them out at dpsconstruction.net.
00:18 Ladies and gentlemen, you may notice the scenery around me
00:21 is just a smidge different.
00:22 Now, if you watched the Big Ten show
00:24 that I put out yesterday,
00:25 Jeff Turns, take the day completely off.
00:27 Don't come to work.
00:28 That's cool, I'll carry the show.
00:29 What else is new?
00:30 Just kidding.
00:31 I recorded from the same place with the same shirt
00:33 and the same everything.
00:35 But if you missed that, go back and check it out.
00:37 We talked a whole lot of Big Ten football.
00:38 I gave my Big Ten championship game predictions.
00:40 Who's gonna win?
00:41 Who's gonna go to the college football playoff?
00:42 Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan,
00:43 what happens?
00:44 Go check it out.
00:45 But real quick, Jacob, get off your lazy butt.
00:47 Get off the bed.
00:49 He's here with me.
00:50 We're on the road together.
00:51 So Jacob's saying hi.
00:52 Maybe he'll join me at the end of the show.
00:55 All right, thank you.
00:55 - Okay.
00:56 (laughing)
00:57 - All right, so here's the deal.
00:59 Since the Nebraska-Michigan game,
01:01 I have been asked several questions,
01:03 but one question has come up more often
01:06 than any other question.
01:08 And that question is,
01:10 Adam, when will Nebraska compete again?
01:13 Okay, now we're not talking about,
01:15 hey, are we gonna be able to beat the La Tex
01:17 and the Northern Illinois and things of that nature.
01:20 Okay, I don't think that's what people mean.
01:23 Here's what I think people mean
01:24 and here's what it means to me.
01:26 Okay, what competing means to me
01:28 means winning eventually eight, nine, 10 games.
01:32 It means winning games we should win.
01:35 And even more importantly to me,
01:38 or as importantly, maybe more importantly,
01:40 actually competing against really good top teams,
01:45 not just getting killed or laying down, okay,
01:48 eventually winning some of these games
01:50 would be phenomenal as well, okay?
01:53 Being in the conversation for the Big Ten Championship,
01:57 at least in the conversation, okay?
01:59 New Year's Six Bowl games
02:00 and/or college football playoff games, okay?
02:03 As we go on and morph into the 12 team playoff
02:06 really, really quickly up in the near future.
02:09 That's what competing means to me.
02:11 Fighting, scratching, clawing, a mental approach,
02:14 a physical attitude, the way you carry yourself, battling.
02:17 It doesn't matter if you're playing Northern Illinois,
02:19 you're playing Michigan, okay?
02:21 It's going out with the same,
02:24 blue collar in your face, smash mouth attitude.
02:27 Just like I've said before.
02:28 And being able to compete on the scoreboard as well
02:31 and win some of those games and win the games you should.
02:33 All right, now if you're with me, okay,
02:37 if you look forward to even long for those days,
02:40 as weird as that sounds,
02:42 and/or believe that it's possible at some point,
02:44 any of those things, hit that like button.
02:48 All right, now I watch Northwestern.
02:51 I watch Ruckers, okay?
02:53 And I've talked about this previously.
02:56 But I watch two teams that are doing more with less.
02:58 And Northwestern's not setting the world on fire,
03:00 even in the win-loss column.
03:02 But Ruckers is four and one.
03:04 Before this season, I didn't even think
03:05 they had a power five roster.
03:08 Now they're out there, their win-loss is to Michigan, okay?
03:12 And that game was close at halftime.
03:13 Michigan had to pull away in the second half, okay?
03:17 They are doing more with less
03:19 because of how they approach day in and day out.
03:21 And Greg Schiano is doing it again
03:24 up in Piscataway, New Jersey, like he did years ago.
03:27 I think he, at one point, about 15 years ago,
03:29 had them number two in the country.
03:30 Now, that didn't last long.
03:33 But my point is, you watch Northwestern,
03:35 you watch Ruckers, you watch how they play,
03:36 you watch how they approach.
03:37 You watch Northwestern versus Penn State last Saturday.
03:40 And people can say,
03:42 Penn State had to travel halfway across the country.
03:44 It was an early morning game.
03:45 It was yada, yada, yada.
03:46 You know what it was?
03:47 It was close.
03:48 And then Northwestern just got outmatched.
03:50 But with everything they've had going on this off-season,
03:53 okay, I actually kind of enjoy watching them.
03:55 They fight, they scratch, they claw, they compete.
03:57 They've figured out a way to win a couple of games
03:59 when they may not should have won any so far,
04:02 in my opinion, just based on what's going on
04:04 and the talent that they really don't have.
04:06 But you watch those teams and they compete.
04:09 Now, I would like Nebraska to compete like that,
04:11 get game in and game out.
04:12 But I'd also like to win some big games
04:15 and more games and compete against higher-ranked teams
04:18 and win some of those games eventually down the road as well
04:20 or sooner rather than later would be okay.
04:22 But at least eventually at some point.
04:24 I do want to give some final thoughts on the last game
04:26 and then we're going to move on.
04:27 Okay, the option kind of disappeared in that game.
04:30 And you can argue it wouldn't have dictated
04:32 the outcome of the game.
04:33 You'd probably be right, but where'd it go?
04:35 Where'd our quarterback runs go?
04:36 Okay, maybe you're trying to protect the quarterback,
04:39 but if it's part of our offense, it's part of our offense.
04:41 I don't ever remember somebody trying to protect
04:42 Tommy Frazier or protect Scott Frost or anything like that.
04:46 Okay, with the play calling anyways.
04:49 So, Harburg, you know, I'm a former pitcher.
04:52 I'm a former quarterback.
04:54 I couldn't help but notice, was he side-arming,
04:55 short-arming some of those throws?
04:57 My point is, you got to stay on top of the mechanics.
05:00 Kickers a lot of times struggle
05:02 because of what's right here.
05:03 Okay, but also the mechanics of kicking,
05:05 which I know nothing about that.
05:07 Okay, very important.
05:07 It's the same thing with the quarterback.
05:09 You got to stay on top of those mechanics.
05:10 I think we got to use Jeff Sims better.
05:12 Here's the deal.
05:13 We're short at running back.
05:14 Yeah, Joshua Fleets, way to step up, dude.
05:16 Did this guy at one point have some weight issues
05:20 in the off season?
05:21 I'd have to go back and double-check that,
05:22 but somebody mentioned that to me.
05:24 This dude goes from wide receiver to running back scores
05:26 our only touchdown in a game on a 74-yard touchdown
05:28 run with about five minutes to go to preserve
05:30 our not-being-shutout streak.
05:32 Okay, but what about Jeff Sims?
05:33 We're short at the running back spot.
05:34 I think he could do some great things.
05:35 What if we put him at receiver?
05:36 We don't have anybody to stretch the field right now.
05:39 Okay, he's a big, tall, fast, freak-athletic guy.
05:42 I don't know if he can catch.
05:43 Let's work on it.
05:44 Plus, think of some of the trick plays
05:45 that you could put in.
05:46 And I know if you're building for two, three, four years
05:49 down the road, you want to work on those things?
05:51 And it was mentioned, you know,
05:53 all due respect to Matt Ruhl,
05:55 but he mentioned in the press conference,
05:56 Nebraskans are scared to lose.
05:57 I don't think we're scared to lose.
05:58 I think we're sick of losing.
06:00 I'm all for building two, three, four years down the road,
06:02 but I'd like to get some wins along the way as well.
06:04 That's also allowed.
06:05 Just my thoughts.
06:06 All due respect, truthfully.
06:08 I think we can utilize Jeff Sims,
06:10 as long as he's healthy a little bit more than we are,
06:12 just saying, "Hey, either you're a quarterback
06:13 "or on the bench."
06:14 I think we can do more with him.
06:17 All right, I was asked about Nebraska's two-man rush
06:19 at one point throughout the game.
06:20 They only rushed two guys.
06:21 Honestly, my thought on that is it was probably a bust.
06:24 Somebody was probably supposed to rush that didn't.
06:27 Okay, it's not very often you rush less than four,
06:30 definitely less than three guys.
06:31 I do remember a Monday night football game
06:33 way back when I was in college.
06:35 I'll watch the Patriots play the Dolphins,
06:38 and Bill Belichick had this third down defense
06:40 with no D lineman on the field.
06:42 And there were times when he'd blitz six guys
06:43 with cover zero in the back end,
06:45 and there were times when he'd rush one guy and drop 10.
06:48 That's Bill Belichick.
06:49 That's not what we're doing.
06:50 It's probably just a miscommunication.
06:53 All right, random unfortunate stat.
06:55 That's the third time this year in our last game
06:57 that Nebraska entered halftime with zero points.
06:59 We gotta start the game better is my point,
07:01 and that falls on offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield.
07:04 Okay, final thought, we're gonna move on.
07:06 I was disappointed, not shocked,
07:08 as I stated on social media.
07:10 Okay, more from a physical standpoint,
07:13 but more from a mental standpoint.
07:15 Like we just didn't compete
07:17 from the very start of the game.
07:19 Now let's move on.
07:21 All right, real quick, before we do move on,
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07:43 Now let's look at Matt Rule's history.
07:45 You know, how long before we can realistically compete,
07:48 Adam, okay, I've defined what competing is.
07:51 But what's Matt Rule's history
07:52 when it comes to getting better
07:53 and competing at a higher, higher level year after year?
07:55 All right, you may be familiar with some of this,
07:57 or maybe you're like me and you looked it up
07:59 and you were a little fuzzy,
07:59 so you had to look it up again.
08:01 All right, year one, Matt Rule doesn't do great.
08:03 Two wins at Temple, one win at Baylor.
08:05 In fact, Temple started off 0-6 his first year there.
08:08 Okay, year two, he does better.
08:10 Temple was 6-6, Baylor was 6-6.
08:12 Seeing a trend here.
08:13 All right, year three, Temple started off 7-0.
08:16 Year three at Baylor, Baylor started off 9-0.
08:18 Okay, Temple ended up with 10 wins,
08:21 lost in the conference championship game that year,
08:23 but vastly improved.
08:24 Baylor was 11-1 at some point,
08:26 all the way up to number seven in the country
08:28 at one point during that season.
08:30 Okay, again, end of the regular season, 11-1.
08:32 They did lose to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game,
08:35 but drastic improvements every year.
08:37 All right, year four, well, at Baylor,
08:39 Coach Rule went to Carolina,
08:40 but at Temple, he had 10 wins again
08:42 and he led Temple to their only second ever
08:45 conference championship game
08:46 in the history of their football program.
08:49 Okay, now this year, what are real estate expectations
08:52 for the rest of this year?
08:52 And I did this, I chatted about this a little bit
08:54 in my gut reaction after the game Saturday,
08:56 but what about next year and the year after, okay?
08:58 So here are my thoughts.
08:59 There's no excuse not to go 6-6 this year.
09:02 All right, Illinois on Friday, it's very beatable.
09:05 We should be 3-3 after this week.
09:07 Northwestern, the next game, very beatable.
09:09 They're fun to watch,
09:11 but they don't have near the, they're beatable.
09:14 They're not gonna lay down, though.
09:15 They're gonna compete.
09:16 We better come ready, but they're beatable.
09:18 Okay, we're definitely more talented than they are.
09:20 Okay, Purdue, very beatable.
09:22 They've really only had one good game
09:23 out of five games this year, okay?
09:25 I talk about them every week on the Big 10 show.
09:27 They've only looked good once.
09:29 That was against Illinois this past weekend.
09:31 They're very beatable.
09:32 Michigan State should be better,
09:33 but their programs in disarray
09:34 with everything that's gone on with Mel Tucker.
09:36 Our next four games are all winnable, very winnable.
09:40 Are we gonna win 'em all? Don't know.
09:41 But they're very winnable, okay?
09:43 Then you got Maryland, you got Wisconsin.
09:45 We better be better by the time we play them.
09:49 We better have some wins under our belt.
09:51 And when you look at Iowa, the last game of the year,
09:52 I really don't know what to expect from either one
09:54 of these teams, Nebraska, Iowa.
09:55 Plus, Iowa just lost Cade McNamara.
10:00 Okay, who knows how long the injury's gonna keep him out.
10:02 I don't know what to expect out of either of these teams
10:04 week in and week out, Nebraska, Iowa.
10:05 So I don't know what to make of that game.
10:07 Other than it's rivalry, gonna be in Lincoln.
10:10 Okay, I do think with the transfer portal, NIL,
10:14 free agency and college football is what we have right now.
10:17 It's easier to turn around a program quicker.
10:20 Nebraska was not as down as Temples typically was,
10:24 or Baylor was.
10:25 Nebraska had more in the tool shed,
10:28 more tools to work with, so to speak,
10:29 for lack of a better way of putting that.
10:31 You've got NIL, you've got the transfer portal,
10:33 you've got the easiest schedule Matt Rule's ever gonna have
10:36 at his time as a head coach here.
10:38 I already talked about in the gut reaction,
10:40 again, conference realignment.
10:41 The teams we're adding to the Big Ten in a year,
10:43 they're really good.
10:44 We ain't adding crappy teams.
10:46 USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon, it's the best of the best.
10:50 So this is the easiest schedule he's ever gonna have.
10:53 Okay, I don't think there's any excuse
10:55 not to win six games this year.
10:57 College football is different than it was before, okay.
11:01 I believe improvements can happen quicker.
11:05 Year two, so I think six and six is very realistic
11:08 this year is my point, go into a bowl game.
11:10 Okay, at some point I'm gonna predict
11:11 whether we actually do it or not,
11:13 but that'll be a couple weeks down the road.
11:15 Year two, so six wins this year.
11:16 Year two, I think we can get to seven or eight wins.
11:19 Year three, nine or 10 wins, and be in the conversation
11:23 to compete with some of the Big Ten's better teams,
11:25 if not some of the best teams,
11:27 and maybe in that CFP, College Football Playoff conversation,
11:31 remember we're going to 12 teams.
11:33 We're going to 12 teams, not four, okay.
11:35 And if not by year three, definitely by year four.
11:38 All right Husker fans, let me know in the comments below,
11:40 do you agree with me, is six and six realistic this year?
11:44 Number two, what's your expectation
11:45 win loss record-wise for year two, under Matt rule?
11:49 Seven, eight wins, just like me, or do you disagree?
11:51 And is it year three, four, or five
11:54 that you realistically expect Nebraska
11:57 to be back in that Big Ten title, CFP, top 12 teams,
12:01 'cause that's what the CFP will be,
12:03 top 12 teams type of conversation.
12:05 Year three, year four, year five.
12:07 And if you don't think this is possible,
12:09 then why did we hire Matt rule?
12:11 I think it's possible.
12:13 When do you think it's realistic that Nebraska can compete
12:16 at the levels that I'm talking about once again?
12:19 And as always, check out CarrikerChronicles.com.
12:23 It's where all your football hopes and dreams will come true.
12:27 Until next time Husker Nation,
12:29 go big red, hop in here Jacob, and always remember--
12:32 These are the bounds.