Head Coach Mike Riley is billed, in big and bold letters, as an “OFFENSIVE GENIUS” (yes, it’s in CAPS LOCK) in the Nebraska Cornhuskers most recent game day program. In that home contest, a 30-28 loss to Northwestern, Riley’s team managed just 2.2. yards per carry.
In a 55-45 loss to lowly Purdue this past weekend, Mike Riley’s team managed just 2.7 yards per carry. If Riley is indeed an offensive genius, then where is the running game?
Nebraska is now 3-6, 1-4 in league play. Two of their three remaining games are against top ten competition, hosting #6 Michigan State on Saturday, #10 Iowa on November 27th. In other words, a 4-8 season is your best case scenario now. Riley has already accrued the most losses by a NU team in a season since 2007 with six.
I guess now would not be the best time to bring up what else is in the program on the Mike Riley page(s). It also says “WINNER” in ALL CAPS.
Not this year he’s not. Given that Riley had a career record of 93-80 before he got to Lincoln, he’s now 96-86 in his lifetime. That’s just 10 games over .500, and that is not up to the lofty standards of Nebraska football. In a place where every home game feels as special as a bowl game, there will be no bowl game for the Huskers this postseason (barring a major miracle).
So what does the future hold for Nebraska football under the guidance of Mike Riley? Well that could largely hinge on the future of Husker athletic director Shawn Eichorst.
An absolutely must-read piece here by Steven M. Sipple of the Lincoln Journal-Star.
Here’s an excerpt:
Eichorst, who unilaterally hired Riley, is in a bit of a fix. His key supporter is a lame-duck chancellor, Harvey Perlman, who’s not exactly a popular figure with a significant share of the eight-man Board of Regents. Perlman, set to retire June 30, unilaterally hired Eichorst. If push came to shove, and Perlman was asked to fire Eichorst, my guess is he wouldn’t.s.
I’m told Eichorst has very limited support among the upper-level administration, and support continues to wane with each loss. This one was especially damaging, considering Purdue (2-6, 1-3) scored more points against Nebraska than it did in its previous three Big Ten games this season combined.
It all sounds like an athletic department in flux, where the A.D. is feeling his seat warming up. There’s some similarities to what’s going on right now at another Big Ten school- Illinois. Illini Athletic Director Mike Thomas is under siege by his base and deservedly so. UI was forced to make the extremely rare sacking your coach a week before the season starts maneuver.
It doesn’t look like interim coach Bill Cubit will be keeping his current job beyond December either. Thomas has less job security than Eichorst. Of course, Illini football standards are much lower than Nebraska football standards.
The NU game day and stadium experience is top five nationally (here’s more on that). Like I said before, every home game is a bowl game. However, Mike Riley’s on-the-field product is making NU the worst it’s been since 1958.
That’s the last time Purdue beat NU. It’s also the last time the Huskers started 3-6. NU is among the worst five in penalties (73) nationally. They have the 2nd worst turnover margin (-8) in the Big Ten. All season long the school that proudly produced the “Blackshirts” has been described as possessing the worst pass defense in the nation.
The huskers surrendered a double nickel against the Boilermakers, who had never scored more than 43 under Darrell Hazell.
So much time will Mike Riley be given? Eichorst came out today and gave Riley the public vote of confidence, for what it’s worth. Not sure, that statement was really newsworthy though as it seems like Riley and Eichorst will sink or swim together.
Yes, there have been 40 missed starts combined from injury. That’s 20 different starters on offense, to go with 20 different starters on defense. That’s obviously not Riley’s fault; at all. No one is saying Riley should be or will be fired just yet.
However, you just don’t go 3-9 or 4-8 at Nebraska. You can’t do that there. NU is fourth all time nationally in total victories, second in national titles since 1970. They have the nation’s best sell out streak, at 345 games. What’s happening under Mike Riley right now just doesn’t happen here. It’s still way too early to declare this a Tim Beckmanesque “disaster hire,” but the early returns indicate that it very well could be.
If 2016 doesn’t see a major change of course in Lincoln, then Nebraska could degenerate into being the Spice Girls of college football- peaked in the ’90s, and it’s been mostly just nostalgia since then.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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