Up next in 10
Nebraska football stays busy in transfer portal; Candidates to replace the fired Ed Foley
Jan 25, 2025
Nebraska football added two commitments from the transfer portal over the weekend and also fired Ed Foley. We analyze all of that, plus look at other roster movement and a huge win for Nebraska basketball.
#huskers #GBR
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
hey Husker fans welcome back to the Husker big red YouTube channel I'm Chris Peterson and joining me as always is Danny Gillette the co-host for this
0:07
podcast and we're back for another episode and today we're going to talk about the Huskers finally moving on from
0:12
Ed Foley and we'll see about some new potential names for the special teams coach position some more transfer portal
0:18
movement we've got two new players coming in another couple of players coming out so some more movement there
0:23
and we'll talk about the offensive line and a huge win uh for Nebraska basketball on Saturday so we will cover
0:28
all that before we do pleas sure make please make sure that you hit the like button hit the Subscribe button get into
0:34
the comment section and Danny how are you doing on this Monday morning I'm doing well uh a lot of movement for
0:40
Nebraska Athletics a lot of movement for my Patriots so my fingers hurt from typing but i'm doing well I'm doing well
0:47
and uh it seems like even in the offseason there really is no offseason there really isn't an
0:53
offseason it it really does seem like that so I guess we should start maybe with I guess the biggest headline from
0:58
the weekend is the fact that Ed Foley was finally relieved of his special teams coach duties on Saturday we kind
1:05
of all saw the writing on the wall after the poll game but uh what are your thoughts about Ed fley uh finally kind
1:11
of being relieved of his duties as a special teams coach after two kind of lackluster
1:17
Seasons people want to make you know like comments about Ed Foley and he sucks and blah blah blah and he seems
1:26
like a really good guy okay and I'm not going to take that away from him he seems like a good guy guy uh he seems
1:31
like a solid dude and sometimes you just don't get it done on the field whether
1:36
it be coach or player and you know I don't wish him poorly I wish him nothing but the best just in workout at Nebraska
1:44
um I thought you know he Matt Ru did tried to do right by his guy and keeping
1:50
him for the you know past couple seasons and ultimately it didn't work out and I
1:56
know it's you know hard to fire your friends that was the downfall Scott Frost I mean we saw it with the demotion
2:03
of Marcus saterfield and he brought in Dana hogerson and now we're seeing Ed
2:08
Foley you know depart the program so it's a tough decision to make even if
2:15
you know the play on the field was poor in terms of special teams but it was a
2:21
necessary one and you know Matt Ru showed that he is not messing around with the coaching staff despite you know
2:28
knowing some of his previous coaches and I think that's a credit to him as well
2:34
so I wish Ed Foley nothing but the best and hopefully he can find a role that uh
2:39
that that suits him a little bit better because he was a good recruiter I mean I remember uh when the staff first came in
2:46
he was recruiting all over Nebraska and I remember we talked to Tristan alvano and he had you know great things to say
2:53
about Coach Foley so I wish coach Foley nothing but the best and um I'll be
2:59
interested to see who Nebraska lands yeah I mean I agree I think you
3:04
know Ed Foy was a great guy and a great kind of Representative of this program I think on the recruiting Trail and things
3:10
like that just didn't you know the results just weren't there you know it's like we've talked about before I mean you know you get paid to do a job and if
3:17
you're not doing that job or if that job's not you know getting done successfully then you're not going to have a job anymore and that's just how
3:23
it works a major college football I mean you know not that everything was his fault but at the end of the day the buck
3:28
stops with you at your desk you're the special teams coach and um so it it had to happen I think it was a good move um
3:34
you know the one name that everybody's kind of throwing out Steve Sipple and everybody else right now is Mike Eckler
3:39
I'm currently the special teams coach at Tennessee um I've seen posts that you know his contract is going to be
3:45
expiring I don't I haven't checked that myself so just you know FYI on that I don't know if that's true but I mean
3:50
either way he is from David City Nebraska he worked under balini at Nebraska so he's been the
3:57
special teams coach at Nebraska before um he's I think the special teams coach and outside linebackers coach at
4:03
Tennessee so he's got you know some multiple responsibilities there but he's done a really good job and you know has
4:09
the connection to Nebraska so it would take some money but at this point you know I mean Matt Ru should that shouldn't be an issue for Matt rule he's
4:15
got you know definitely a lot of Staff money and if they have to spend whatever you know a million dollars or whatever
4:21
to get this guy and to lock down the Special Teams then I think that's what you got to do bring back Bill Bush no but um you
4:29
know I think air would be a solid hire and um you know I think he he he brought
4:35
a lot of energy when he was on the coaching St and in in the previous years so I I wouldn't mind that at all I'll be
4:42
interested to see who uh they select and you know I think whoever it
4:48
is is going to have an interesting kind of situation to work with with the
4:54
emergence of John Hall and of course Tristan Nano's injuries you know how that kind of played out last season so
5:00
um it's going to be interesting to see who it is and what he does to the Special Teams unit um another name I
5:07
think that's worth mentioning um Mark Scott is his name he's currently um
5:13
Quality Control special teams for Baylor but he was um the Special Teams coordinator under Dana hogerson from
5:19
2020 to 2023 um and has done a pretty good job so that might be another name to uh keep under keep in mind um it also
5:27
could be somebody with no connection to Matt ruler Daniel hogerson we have no idea but those are just a couple of
5:32
names um that have kind of been tossed out so uh we'll see how that search kind of progresses I would think it would
5:38
happen you know relatively quickly I mean uh obviously Spring ball is not till March so you have a little bit of
5:43
time but I would think within the next couple of weeks we would have you know a special teams coach in place and then um
5:50
beyond the coaching staff there was a lot of things that happened this past weekend with roster movement and one of
5:56
the first I should say is Thomas fedon has now left the program we don't know for sure if it's for the NFL draft or
6:03
the transfer portal at this point um I've heard you know on the michig I've heard that you know potentially he could be connected to Michigan you know people
6:09
have have thrown out Iowa obviously because he's from Iowa but um to me I definitely think he could use another
6:16
season of college football so that'll be interesting to see um but what what are your thoughts or reactions to Thomas
6:21
fedon leaving the program because it kind of seemed like he was going to come back I mean I thought after him playing in the bowl game I thought you know
6:28
maybe he'd go to the NFL draft but I did think there was a chance he would come back to Nebraska if he didn't go to the
6:34
draft you know what as much as this sucks to say I'm kind of glad he's gone
6:40
because this isn't a personal thing but you you saw the injuries take effect on
6:47
his play he had trouble running he had lost his speed he wasn't the same player
6:52
that was recruited out of high school and he would have been a nice veteran body at tight end but to me I felt like
6:59
the W was on the wall uh during that Wisconsin week when hogerson kind of called him out for maybe not practicing
7:06
as hard as he should have and to his credit he bounced back and he contributed uh well in the offense from
7:13
that point on but I do think Nebraska has a solid but young tight end room and
7:21
I think that opens the door swings open the door for a guy like Carter Nelson to
7:27
come in and make an impact right away not to mention people mentioned mck
7:32
marway as well he was hurt during um uh
7:37
summer camp or preseason camp last year and now he should be back and fully
7:43
healthy so there's a lot of options at the tiend room now yeah it'll be interesting to see if they move Carter
7:48
Nelson back to tight end um they haven't really said that they're going to but um hopefully they do I mean I think that
7:54
that would make sense and then Hinrich harberg obviously will have to you know be one of those guys to step in and play
8:00
a lot next year at tight end so um we'll see I mean if it's if they move Carter
8:05
Nelson there then yeah I think it could still be a you know like a a threat on offense but without outside of him I
8:12
don't know if there's anybody that's really you know too exciting in terms of like the passing game but I think harber
8:17
has has a chance but um yeah it'll be interesting to see uh you know what they do if that's a position that they target
8:24
I feel like probably not um I feel like they'll probably just roll with what they got at tight end I'm going in the
8:29
next season season if they didn't have the depth that they do at wide receiver I could see it but I feel like they're
8:34
just going to roll with what they have because um in terms of pass catchers you know just in general they they really
8:40
don't need one at the tight end position it would be nice to have one and maybe harberg will emerge or someone will
8:47
emerge out of the room but you know this is kind of um this is kind of made
8:52
easier by the fact that they do have a ton of depth at the wide receiver spot yeah I guess the one thing I worry about
8:58
with tight end is is just you know from a blocking perspective you know they use those guys quite a bit but um you know I
9:04
think hard I think Kindra could do fine in that regard um you know Carter Nelson
9:09
you know I think he still has some transition to make and he did have hip surgery over the weekend too should be noted but um he did yeah I think um I
9:17
think he'll be a fine blocker and I think more of a move in line tight end so it'll be interesting to see what he
9:23
can do um once he gets healthy and then you know even more transfer portal
9:29
commitment I guess we should mention Gabe Irvin did commit to to Kansas State so you know that's kind of I mean I in
9:35
some ways now that Dante Dowell is gone I mean there could be a spot for Gabe uh Gabe bban on this roster so I don't know
9:41
I wish I kind of wish he was still on the team to be honest with you I do too but at the same time there's been a spot
9:48
for Gabe Irving on this roster for the last 17 years and you know he just hasn't been healthy I mean I hate to be
9:54
a jerk but it seems like he just hasn't been able to put it all together he did have a little bit of a Red Zone back
10:00
roll in 2022 I believe it was but I mean he just
10:06
he just was never able to find his footing here and he's had his opportunities he just never been able to stay healthy I remember uh the season
10:13
opener against Illinois in 2021 it looked like he was back to himself and it looked like he' be counted on as a
10:20
number one back but he just could never stay healthy and that was always the knock on him so I mean do I wish he was
10:26
here now for depth you know yeah but but at the same time you know I feel like
10:31
moving on from him isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world either yeah it'll be interesting to see if they add
10:37
another running back we ke kind of been talking about that since Dowell left but they haven't been connected to any
10:43
running backs so we'll see lots of time still in the transfer portal though obviously but um one addition they did
10:49
make starting on Saturday Marcus Watson shren somebody we talked about before um
10:54
was the defensive player of the year in the Sun Belt Conference um 5'1 two 220 PBS has 27 career tackles for loss six
11:02
sacks six Force fumbles he had four Force fumbles in 2024 six career pass breakups so I mean this is a guy that I
11:09
think can play you know all three Downs you know in terms of being able to cover it a little bit in pass coverage um you
11:16
know a really good tack for 365 tackles and I just think it solidifies that
11:21
linebacking group even more uh you need depth in the Big 10 um to get through a season and now I feel like you've got
11:28
you know Watson Trent you got Jason McCulla you've got Vincent Shavers um you've got mahe and then you got the two
11:33
freshman coming in that can have an impact as well and I just feel like it it allows um Nebraska to be really
11:39
versatile too with Jason Mulla I mean he could play some more Edge he could play you know what I mean he could play Jack
11:45
um so I just feel like this gives them two really good solid inside kind of linebackers with Shavers and Watson
11:52
Trent and then you know maybe Christian Jones in that mix and then you've got three c three three dudes who can kind
11:57
of rush the passer in D Mulla um Dawson Merritt and then um also M so I like
12:04
that you have three guys who can kind of play inside three guys who can kind of rush the passer and I feel like this
12:09
linebacking core is definitely been upgraded from last season no doubt yeah absolutely it's one of the I'm I'm going
12:15
to say probably one of the best linebacking groups in the Big 10 but um
12:20
you know you mentioned the versatility Nebraska can mix and match with these names you know they they can have
12:26
several combinations they can go to and Watson Trent actually had 11 tackles against Nebraska during the uh ill-
12:33
fated Scott Frost game I know uh I know we were watching that one together but um he's such a dynamic player he's a
12:40
proven player uh he's a stud and Nebraska clearly made it a point of
12:45
emphasis to get veteran linebacker depth in the portal this off season and they've filled that
12:51
goal and then um they clearly were you know interested in adding players to the secondary too you know we've seen them
12:57
Target a few but they out of Jamir Khan from Southern Illinois another guy who played for Jamar mosy um at Le some at
13:05
North and Missouri I'm 6 foot 180 pounds has two years of Eligibility left but um had 59 tackles last season which is
13:12
quite a bit for a corner um six pass breakups he's played on special teams he played right away as a freshman um you
13:19
know he's a guy that probably could play you know multiple spots I think he could probably play safety but to me I guess
13:24
the way that I look at it you know they' added Andrew Marshall they've added uh Khan now you know you've got um blly
13:31
Hill in the cornerback room you got Donovan Jones Larry Sanders um I feel
13:36
like you know it's kind of setting up for Malcolm Hartzog to move like fully to safety um you know with deshun
13:43
Singleton leaving and Isaac gford leaving I feel like he could play more of that free yeah him and if
13:50
you have him and Marcus Buford yeah yeah Marcus buford's another that you know
13:56
they can they can play Corner if they absolutely have to but you know it's I think we've seen that Nebraska wants to
14:03
shift away from that so I mean if you look at you know I think Marshall's going to start I think right and then maybe Donovan Jones or one of these
14:09
other guys and then you know if you have harzog and Buford maybe as your two safeties I think that's a pretty solid
14:15
lineup right there and let me be clear I don't hate uh hardzog or Buford you know as players I don't think they're Corners
14:22
so now you have that corner depth and it gives Nebraska the flexibility to put um
14:28
put Buford and SG at positions they're more comfortable in because I thought hard doog was actually a pretty decent
14:33
coverage safety you know and I thought that the ability to kind of not
14:39
freelance at safety but to have more freedom at the safety position to use that athleticism to make a play instead
14:44
of just focusing on coverage for hard soog was a lot better for him and I think I think uh he'll be able to excel
14:52
better in a safety role and same thing with Buford and I think with heart soog what he does well I mean he's good at finding
14:59
the football and I think he's good at you know kind of following the football and reading the quarterback's eyes those are all things that you're able to do
15:05
more as a safety like as a quarterback you're playing your man and sometimes you're having to turn and find the ball
15:11
it seems like he's just better when he can play safety and kind of follow the quarterback's eyes make plays on the
15:16
ball so not that you never cover I mean you can cover tight ends and you know your safties are still going to be in covered situations and so I mean it's
15:23
good to have guys who can cover who can do that in a pinch but I I definely think that would be a much better position for him to be in and then um
15:30
yeah I expect Caleb Benning to be in the Mi two ramir Stewart you know is another one um and it's yeah I think we're
15:37
really going to see the benefit of having you know John Butler back there an NFL caliber uh secondary coach so I
15:43
like both of those additions Nebraska is now up to 14 in the transfer portal how many more how many more uh additions do you think
15:50
they're going to
15:55
make I'd say three or four maybe I mean because we do need offensive lineman and
16:02
I know we were joking off there about it but we do need offensive lineman um maybe another running back and then they
16:08
always like to take two players that they like to take for just pure talent I've noticed that in the last couple
16:14
classes but um you know shout out to Matt rule for and actually this is the
16:19
point I wanted to get to that I just remembered uh Matt rule at the beginning of his tenure was focused on being a
16:25
developmental coach get kids out of high school learn to develop him have him stay four years blah blah blah the whole
16:33
nine yards you can't do that in college football anymore even just when Matt rule was hired the transfer portal has
16:39
completely changed the trajectory of the development process for college football
16:44
and we've seen much like Fred hyberg who will get to in a second Matt rule adjust
16:50
on the fly with the transfer portal and I think this off season he's done a really good job because I know he loves
16:56
to develop kids and I know he loves to you know build programs but the reality of it is the transfer portal is getting
17:04
in the way of building a program and having a kid stay for four years that's not the case anymore I mean we've seen
17:09
it at Colorado we saw it at at Indiana last season so shout out to Matt Ru for changing his Philosophy for what was
17:15
probably kind of difficult for him to do yeah definitely uh you know you have
17:21
to to function in the transfer portal um and Nebraska's been very active in that 14 editions so far the if you look at
17:28
the roster um Husker online put out you know a scholarship chart and there's still like 30 players over so there's
17:33
going to be you know there's a lot of walk- on types and that's the thing is Nebraska is going to have you know some
17:39
of the most transfer portable departures because they have more Walk-Ons than most teams so like you know it's not surprising when you see a graphic that
17:45
shows Nebraska having the most because they have they kind of have more spots they gave out more spots than other
17:51
teams did generally so a lot of those players are still going to have to move on I'm not sure if you know they're
17:57
going to announce it but one important addition before we move on to um our next topic which we'll mention some
18:02
offensive linemen but Jaylen gramstad um according to Sean Callahan will be back next season 2025 for Nebraska football
18:09
and I think that's a important pickup you know to have him serving as the backup quarterback for Dylan Rola
18:15
instead of you know TJ Latif or one of these younger guys and I think that also further cements that the fact that you
18:22
know Hinrich Harbor does not need to play quarterback at all in practice he can focus on tight end and help short up
18:28
that position so I like the fact that Jaylen Graham stead will be back for one more year yeah I mean you look at uh Dylan
18:36
Rola Marco deila um you know TJ Latif coming in then you have the veteran and
18:43
jayen grad kind of the veteran of the room and I do like the fact that he's coming back one year because like you
18:49
said this means that harur can now focus at the tight end position they don't have to they don't have to try out
18:54
positions and then switch them back to quarterback like I remember they played him out wide receiver at the beginning of 2023 so he can now fully focus on the
19:02
tight end position they have a full quarterback room and they have a guy with experience who can help mentor and
19:08
lead the younger guys all right everybody so now we'll get toh the topic we're all wondering
19:14
about offensive line which probably should have let off the show with that instead of 20 minutes in but um so the
19:20
are my guy famili whatever F Mo however you say his name from Washington State he has he's committed to Wake Forest so
19:26
he was the number two offensive tackle on the board Bo um Michigan and Nebraska were right there and then his old position coach went to Wake Forest and
19:34
that's how they got him because I guarantee I guarantee you that uh Nebraska had a bigger nil offer on the
19:39
table like you know Michigan wasn't very Michigan wasn't very confident I think it's because of the money Nebraska was
19:45
thrown around so like they're trying to get these guys um it's just you know Wake Forest had the relationship so they
19:51
were able to get him but there's two other names that have emerged since then um Elijah pritchet who was the starting
19:58
tackle for Al abama this season started 12 games um you know one start at uh or
20:03
he played excuse me played 12 games he had a start at right tackle and a started left tackle um he entered the portal and uh according to Sean Callahan
20:11
of husker online that's a player that Nebraska is trying to throw their money at um so that would be one um a guy
20:17
who's at least started some games then another one um Ohio State's George Fitzpatrick entered the transfer portal
20:22
um six foot six offensive tackle played in games this year played in the Rose Bowl I don't know if he's still going to
20:27
finish with the team or the next two games it doesn't really say but um he is in the portal now he was ranked 228th
20:33
overall coming out of high school um a guy that pretty similar to uh pritchet has played some hasn't played a lot he
20:40
played all 12 games this year but you know hasn't started any games but does have a lot of experience and it seems
20:46
like those might be the next two options on the board what do you think about um you know if Nebraska's able to add one
20:51
of these dudes it's kind of crazy how the portal Works isn't it two games away from a potential national championship
20:57
and you're in the portal but um yeah but um I would be happy with either I would
21:03
be happy with either I mean you talk about experience you talk about guys that have played in games they're not project players they're guys that can
21:09
come in and play right away um Ohio State and Alabama you know two premier programs uh even after the departure of
21:17
Nick Sabin or the retirement of Nick Sabin I should say so I would be happy with either of them and uh we'll have to
21:23
see what happens because we do need an offensive lineman but it's not like and I want to stress this it's not like
21:28
Nebraska is completely ignoring the position and is not trying offensive linemen are are at a premium period so I
21:37
mean they're gonna have to battle and they're going to have to fight and sometimes you lose guys because their
21:42
position coach is that we forced I mean you know like like you reported um a
21:47
couple weeks ago they had more money on the table for what was it is Isaiah
21:53
world and he went to Oregon so I mean you know there trying it's not like
21:59
they're ignoring it they're trying and uh so yeah but I'd be happy with either of those guys I mean you know uh playoff
22:08
pedigree premere programs they would immediately feel a need and they would start day one so we'll have to see how
22:14
that plays out but yeah I mean offensive linemen are you know like like finding I
22:21
don't know a diamond you know and it's going to be tough but hopefully Nebraska
22:26
can get something done yeah good offensive tackles so it's like they're like gold in the transfer portal I mean
22:32
you're going to see this pritchet dude who started like two games last year and people are going to be on him like white on rice so I mean and that's the thing
22:39
is it's not just Nebraska like you know Michigan is after like the same offensive lineman because they're doing
22:45
the same thing like EV almost every team could use help on the offensive line somewhere I mean that's just the reality
22:51
of it so um you know Emanuel pregnan or whatever his name was Nebraska was
22:56
interested in him last year um from USC he entered the transfer portal um he's more of a I don't know if he's a guard
23:02
tackle type but he some thought that he might go to the NFL draft was like an early round pick so he would be a huge
23:09
nil um you know paycheck if they were able to uh land him but they were interested in him last year I can't I
23:16
think he was from like Rhode Island or whatever but he was a big deal in the portal last year I think they mayed for
23:22
a visit yeah but so maybe maybe they get in the mix with him too um I think they
23:28
need at least one they need at least a tackle I think like they could figure it out at guard um and maybe they could do
23:34
a tackle with like a grant bricks or somebody but uh it'd be nice to get a veteran though and they just they don't
23:39
have a ton of experience and God I hope they don't have to like fall back on on a Teddy prashka or Turner Turner Cork
23:46
Room there that would be that would be not a great situation but so you brought up a good
23:52
point you know they have options they're just young and inexperienced or you're
23:58
going to have to to fall on Turner Corran or Teddy prash again so it's not
24:03
like from a numbers perspective they don't need linemen because they have numbers however you need a veteran you
24:09
need a proven veteran and so you know push comes to shove and they don't get
24:15
one we do have the numbers and we do have the guys like a grant bricks who I'm very excited to see play I don't
24:20
know if he's ready yet but I am excited you know and um so getting a veteran is going to be important but they do have
24:27
numbers if need be hopefully he doesn't get to a emergency need be type of situation but yeah but but Grant bricks
24:35
um Preston tamua Gibson pile uh Sam Sledge I mean they've got they've got some guys coming up um but yeah it'd be
24:43
nice to get you know just a a good offensive tackle to replace uh you know
24:48
benhardt but um we'll see you know we'll see what happens there's also the spring window there's a lot of time and you
24:53
know they're doing the best that they can they're trying like we said so um you know yeah they are hard to get and
25:00
they're uh you know still hosting that nose tackle I think today that we talked about from um shoot I'm blanking on
25:06
where he's from now State app App State so hosting him today so I mean yeah nose
25:12
tackle offensive line you know maybe a running back I mean but I think they're kind of narrowing things down um but
25:18
overall I very impressed with the work they've done in the transfer portal and uh last segment of the show we'll wrap
25:25
it up Nebraska basketball on Saturday huge win was it 6658 I want to say was
25:30
the score and just a tremendous defensive effort they held UCLA to 088
25:36
0.88 points per possession and this was just a really good UCLA team um the Bruins basically lead college basketball
25:42
in fource turnovers per game and Nebraska only had 13 um they didn't foul very often they had 16 fouls compared to
25:48
24 for UCLA they won the offensive rebounding battle and Jaan Gary was spectacular and man if this guy is not
25:55
on the all big 10 defensive team this year like he got screwed last year I I don't I can't even say he'll get screwed
26:01
this year because like that doesn't even justify it like this dude is one of the best defensive players in the Big 10 and
26:07
I think he should be in the running for Big 10 defensive player of the year yeah Gary was spectacular Bryce Williams had
26:13
another solid game Andrew Morgan continues to play well and this was encouraging on a night when the normally
26:19
hot- handed Connor aian a little you know struggled a little bit 21 minutes uh two points and he had a little bit of
26:27
an off game which happens you know and his teammates were able to pick him up against a very good UCLA team uh and I
26:34
think there's some sort of aura or Mystique around the Vault because Nebraska just can't seem to lose there
26:40
and it is a tough place to play I think it's one of the best environments in the Big 10 and Nebraska was able to get it
26:46
done um on Saturday and when you look at quad one wins and the wins that they've
26:54
had over the past you know couple weeks you you have Oregon State you have UCLA
26:59
you know you have two very good quality wins just in the past two weeks alone
27:05
and I believe that that adds up to just generally speaking the season four quad
27:12
one wins on the season if I'm not mistaken yeah so they've got two now
27:17
quad wins so kraton is a quad one and UCLA is a quad one um Oregon State's
27:23
close they need Oregon State to be in the top 50 for that to be a quad one victory then there's one other one um
27:29
Indiana Indiana's close too um I think they need them well I shouldn't say close because they beat them at home so
27:36
they would need them to be like in the top 25 but they've still beaten four teams in the top 75 right now in the ne
27:43
rankings so and they and the thing about it is they've won th you look at those four games three of them they won by
27:49
double digits and this one they won by eight points and like I know that that people don't think that that matters but
27:54
when you're talking about the N rankings which the committee uses it does matter like margin of Victory matters and when
28:00
you're playing these other like you know group of five or these bu games or whatever like the the margin in those
28:05
games matters too so and the Big 12 kind of taught everybody that over the past few years like that's how they really
28:11
cranked up their NE rankings is just beating crap teams by a lot but Nebraska
28:17
you know has done that and they've beaten good teams by a lot too so you have to feel really good about this team
28:22
and where they're right now they're projected as a 10 seed in the ESPN Bracketology um but that was update
28:29
actually that was the third so what we on the fifth so that actually was before that was before Nebraska even beat UCLA
28:36
they were up to a 10 seed so once once Joey brackets Updates this again I would think Nebraska would have to be up to an
28:43
eight or a nine seed because beating UCLA the way they did that was a really impressive win I thought as of Sunday
28:50
afternoon they went from 43 to 34 in the natet rankings over uh following the
28:56
victory over over UCLA they're 8-0 in you know wins above bubble they went
29:02
from 39th to 33rd in the Ken pal rankings and aside from all the numbers
29:08
here's you know some here's some just facts they're 41 and 16 over the last 57
29:15
games this includes win o wins over 15th ranked UCLA 14th ranked kraton sixth
29:22
ranked Wisconsin you know top ranked Purdue and four straight wins over
29:27
Indiana and at this time I want to say it was three years ago or so I was
29:34
calling for Fred hyberg to be fired and this this coaching staff to get an
29:39
overhaul and get redone and uh during that time period hoyberg has completely
29:45
sh you know shifted how he does business here both with his team and in the Big
29:51
10 and it's paying dividends 72% win percentage and you look at some of those
29:57
wins UCLA kraton Wisconsin produ four straight wins over Indiana he's found a
30:03
formula that's worked and it's working and paying off in speed yeah and you look at one thing
30:09
that's really interesting you know if you look at the kenpom rankings Nebraska's up to 33rd which is pretty close to the net rankings but what's
30:16
really impressive if you look at their um defensive rating their adjusted defensive rating is 10th all of college
30:22
basketball 10th so this so if you're looking at a pure metrics and I think the kenpom is the best metric that's out
30:28
there for college basketball this is the 10th best defense in the and you the only team who ranks better defensively
30:34
in the Big 10 is the team we just beat UCLA that's the fourth best defense in the country and we just beat those guys
30:40
so like right now we're ranked ahead of Illinois we're ranked ahead of Michigan State we're ranked ahead of Michigan just in terms of you know your defensive
30:46
rating and so that's something that I think is going to really you know help carry this team going forward
30:51
offensively you know they're ranked 75th and I think that's going to improve you know I think they'll continue to improve
30:57
offensively as the season goes along but you know when when you can play defense this way and um you know you don't turn
31:03
the ball over and you don't foul and you make free throws I mean Bryce Williams didn't have a spectacular game from the
31:09
floor but he was 11 of 11 from the free throw line so it's like you know what I mean like they're getting to the bucket
31:14
and they're making them and it's just it's not you know like the way they beat UCLA like wasn't it wasn't fancy it
31:20
wasn't pretty they got stops they got rebounds they took care of the ball and they made their free throws and you know what like that's a formula that can
31:27
translate to every single conference game this year that's Big 10 Basketball baby that's what it is and you saw kind
31:33
of at the end of the first half Bri Bryce Williams kind of figured out hey if I can just draw some contact here get
31:38
to the line get my points I'm gonna do that you saw that kind kind kind of the light bulb go off and he did that and it
31:45
paid off he didn't try to force anything he just got to the line took care of his business and got some points so and
31:51
that's a good UCLA team I was very impressed with their defense as well you know and um I think I think that they
31:59
gave the Huskers a good test and the program was able to pass it so there you go and it was uccl was missing Eric Dy
32:07
one of their best players so I mean you know give them you know say what you will about that and uh you know it was
32:13
It was kind of interesting to me that mck Cronin kind of tried to uh like downplay the Vault but what is that 20
32:18
wins in a row now in the in the vault for Nebraska I mean I remember talking about the Vault I remember talking about
32:26
how you know what Fred hyberg and these guys needed to do was was make this place like a hard place to win again
32:31
that was the first step to get Nebraska basketball back and they've done that like beyond what I possibly could have
32:37
imagined so I I think this is the best homecourt advantage in the Big 10 right now like I'm not joking I I really
32:42
believe that I remember having that conversation with you after that Purdue game in 20 uh at the end of 2022 I think
32:48
it was and you know they have and they have and it's we can't compete with
32:54
anybody when we're at home and I know we've had struggles on on the road but we were able to win a neutral site
33:00
tournament this year so maybe that bodess well for some of the road wo from last year so we'll see uh but whatever
33:07
it is Fred hyberg hasn't figured out uh he's gone to the transfer portal he's
33:12
gotten impact players in multiple Seasons now so I mean if if it isn't broken don't fix it and then uh tomorrow
33:20
night um Tuesday night we've got a great uh matchup against Iowa and of course
33:25
fans will love this on peacock so uh just you know get uh get set for that but uh 7 I believe that's 7 o'clock
33:32
Central time tomorrow against Iowa um let me double check that you're correct on that yeah okay sometimes I get my you
33:40
know sometimes I get my times mixed up because some places you know adjust for like your time and so I'm looking at it
33:45
and it's mountain time I'm trying to so that's that's how I screwed up the UCLA one because I said that that was at the
33:51
wrong time and it was because I was trying to adjust the time when really my phone was already telling me it was in
33:57
Mountain Time so I needed to adjust for central time so sorry if I messed up anybody with the UCLA game but and I'm
34:03
gonna have to figure out my peacock log so there you go yeah good old good old
34:08
peacock um I think they've got two they've got Michigan UCLA there too so I want to see I was so I was 10 and four
34:17
um really a good offensive team 23rd offensively 126 on defense which isn't that's that's who I is they want to
34:23
shoot a bunch of Threes And um the one thing that you've got to do against Iowa
34:29
is you have to play transition defense and so that's going to be a big key for Nebraska tomorrow is you know they give
34:34
up a lot of threes and Ian wants to shoot a lot of Threes so I mean the three-point defense was good on on
34:40
Saturday and I think limiting the threes especially in transition because Iowa
34:45
just wants to run and jack up threes really quickly so finding your guy and being able to you know get a hand up so
34:52
that doesn't happen going to be very critical tomorrow and I think if they can win that transition battle on
34:57
defense I think they'll have a good shot of winning that game it's going to be a good one it's going to be a good one and
35:02
you know uh there is no easy game in the Big 10 and the Big 10 is a heck of a
35:08
basketball conference so I'm excited to see what unfolds there um you know Nebraska's been tested a little bit this
35:15
season and so far with the exception of Michigan State they've passed the test so Iowa Iowa will be another one and um
35:22
I feel very confident in their chances just due to the fact that they play as a team they have multiple players that can
35:28
score on any given night and uh you know they seem to be playing as a unit and
35:33
they seem to be playing together man Iowa Iowa makes 10 10.4 three-pointers
35:39
per game that's crazy they shoot yeah yeah it is they shoot 28 per 27 per game
35:45
which isn't you know there's teams that shoot more than that but uh just the way they shoot the ball and the way they're always able to find Shooters kind of
35:51
amazes me but like pton they had pton s that come yeah yeah uh but but pton San
35:58
for you know averages um is one of their top guys averages 2.4 three-pointers per game and then you got his brother price
36:05
price San Fort comes in and he can shoot threes so it's like it just you know they have the mcaffrey they got the
36:10
sanfors they just they get these brothers that apparently you know they have like you know in hoers they show
36:16
like the farm that that's what these guys must do and that's like you have to have the you have to have the driveway
36:21
basketball hoop I guess to get recruited by Iowa because they just get these incredible Shooters but we'll see we'll
36:27
see other Shooters come up against our defense um I think uh I'd rather have a great defense than a great offense so
36:33
that's that's how I feel about it yeah yeah and you know I think we can go Toe to Toe with anybody in the Big 10 uh and
36:41
again I'll just stress that having so many key wins this early in the season is important because I don't think it's
36:47
going to be an easy Big 10 Slate from here on out nope and like I said I think they need to get to 11 so I mean they're two
36:53
in one right now um just you know win nine win nine game win nine of these next 17 games and I think they will be
36:59
comfortably in the NCA tournament and I feel and I feel comfortable about their chances in the NCA tournament because I
37:05
don't think and I might be wrong on this and I'll happily say I'm wrong that we can get a worse matchup than we did
37:11
against Texas A&M last year I mean that was a very very very bad matchup for us and uh but we'll see we just gota we
37:19
just gota win enough to not get to kind of get out of that 89c range but boy that Texas A&M matchup was a dooy first
37:26
game yeah that was a tough one for Nebraska but I feel like you know if they see a team like that this year I
37:31
feel like they'll be more equipped to handle that you know just I really like the defense and and Ry Worster has been
37:37
everything I thought he would be defensively but like Bryce Williams too I mean I feel like he not only has he
37:43
stepped up as a scorer this year but as a Defender I feel like he's gotten so much better this year and I just it gets
37:48
overlooked because he's scoring almost 20 points a game but like defensively he's done a really good job and so you
37:54
had the length and yeah Morgan coming off the bench going you've got you know Braxton May um you got berky like I just
38:01
I feel like you've got a really solid roster and Sam hyber too man he was awesome on Saturday I freaking love Sam
38:08
hyberg and it's just been so fun to watch that story develop you're like oh this guy's just on the team because he's
38:14
because he's uh Fred's son and that is not the case at all he has definitely earned his place like well beyond this
38:20
and so it's just he's a every time he comes in there man he makes big plays whether it's a steal or he had a great
38:26
pass for you a couple three-pointers and like you know it's an old basketball adage like the better pass you get the
38:33
better shot you're going to get and you know when when Sam hoiberg's out there man like dudes get great passes from him
38:38
so he just he just does so many little things for this team that you just can't even measure really he's just so
38:44
valuable yeah he's not just a nepo baby he's a he's a dude that can play basketball and he's kind of that lunch
38:50
paale you know nose in the dirt type of Defender and that says a lot about you
38:57
know who he is and you know what he is as a player um he knows his role he does
39:02
it really really well and um you know he's been an invaluable contribution you
39:09
know in invaluable contributor to this team so uh also shout out to Raley for I
39:14
believe scoring you know over 10,000 points he had the 10,000 point mark on Saturday so good for him yeah good for
39:21
him and good for this team so they'll be back at it tomorrow um we'll be back for another episode of our podcast later
39:27
this week um and yeah so if you haven't already you guys hit the like button hit the Subscribe button get into the
39:33
comments section thanks for joining us again and as always go Big Red go Big
39:38
Red
#Sports News
#Sports
#College Sports