1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - One-On-One with DP: November 3rd, 3pm - Sean Callahan (Husker Online)

Episode Date: November 3, 2021

One-On-One with DP: November 3rd, 3pm - Sean Callahan (Husker Online)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the Coppull Chevrolet GMC Studios, here is your host, Derek Pearson, presented by Beatrice Bakery, on 937 The Ticket and the Ticket FM.com. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Thanks for joining spending time on a Wednesday afternoon. We are live from Tanners. We'll be here until 6 o'clock.

You guys know the routine. 402, 468-8-5-685. You can call in to the Honda-Lincoln hotline or you can text in to the Sartar-Hamond text line. You can follow us on the Sartar-Hamond live video stream. Check it out. Facebook, YouTube, Twitch. Can do that.

I want to thank the folks from Beatrice Bakery for making additional smiles. And I want to give credit because I know Tom and Bach gave away some smiles during their show and make folks smile just to make the day a little bit better. we brought some of the Beatrice Bakery goodies down here to Tanners, and the staff here is smiling because they are enjoying themselves. So we gave them, let's see, the strawberry daquiry cake, the key lime pie, key lime cake, sorry. And then the peanut calycahita cake.

So the staff here, they cut it up, they smiled. We'll get them to take a picture. They're happy with tummy's full based on that. So well done. Again, you know the routine at Tanners. Today we have a Dean Steinckelor signed jersey that we will raffle off sometime in the next three hours. So you have until a little before six to get here and get your name in the box. It doesn't cost you anything, but you might as well come and hang out.

And depending on the turnout, now again, again, it's based on the numbers. If you guys show up here in large numbers, I may or may not be able to add another jersey to it, just because you're showing up in large numbers. So you have time. You have time to get here. You have time to get registered. It doesn't cost you anything. A couple of things to go through.

With today's news, of course, Aaron Rogers is the story in the NFL, test positive of COVID-19, will miss the big matchup against Kansas City. And it's a missed opportunity. This is a missed opportunity. this was one that folks were looking forward to, and that matchup between Mahomes and Rogers won't happen this week. We don't know who's to say whether it happens down the road. But again, we know the story.

We know the space that folks are working in. So no need to go there. I'm also on a big week here in Lincoln to understand the pace and energy of what's happening. Lots of things to question and a lot of things that we'll have more answers for. The coaching situation? Wow. You know, it's all over the place. Mailman Dan, the raffle tickets are free.

We're literally giving it away. You just have to come and register, put your name in the box, we'll draw one name out of the box. That's how that works here, Tanner's. That's what we do when we do these remotes. It just doesn't cost you anything. Just come sign up. Put your name, your name of the box.

And if you're here at 6 o'clock and we draw it, it's yours. Makes a great gift. It should look really good on your wall. Get it framed, put up. It might be a great gift for somebody. Spent some time in the morning going through Ohio State film. And it's all the boxes that you need to check for Ohio State, right? that the things that they do well,

but they have weaknesses and they have flaws as well. Are we willing to take advantage of it is the question. Things that Nebraska does well actually create problems for Ohio State. We'll get into that. Sean Callahan from Husker Online will join me shortly and I want to save some of this conversation for him

to ask his opinion on some of this stuff. So again, 30th in Yankee Hill will be here till 6 o'clock for a chance to win $25 on the Tanner's gift card. Just go to Tanner's Facebook page, find the post that is promoting the giveaway, and guess how many points Nebraska will score against Ohio State. You can text me that stuff. Let me see what you guys think Nebraska is going to score this week against Ohio State. Tag a friend in the post for who you'd spend the gift card with.

Day specials, I think the Book of Mania for 899, half-pound burger with fries, $5 for the 20-ounce blue-moon drafts. And again, remember that we will also be here for the postgame show Saturday, 90 minutes after each Husker's game conclusion for the rest of the season. It's good stuff. Let's bring them in. It's a great resource for everything that we need to talk about. So let's bring in Sean Callahan for Husker online. Sean, how you doing, brother?

So you got a nice plate of wings there, D.P. Nice. Nice. Char buff? Char buff. This was, and I have to give them a shout out, whoever's cooking in the back. today, this is the best set of wings I've ever had. They chart them up.

Yeah, this is the best set I've ever had. So, bravo, bravo. Well, I had never had them that way in the day when I can use that, I get them and take them home, but got them hot, well-seasoned, bravo. Bravo. Excellent wings here. Yeah, man, yeah. So how you feel?

It's a, yeah, a lot's going on. You know, it's obviously been an interesting week. I mean, there's no other way to say it. unpredictable week. And I told Jake and Sip this morning, I go, I think what's frustrating about this season is there's a point where you just want predictable, where you're like, you know what, Nebraska's playing Purdue. Nebraska's got better players than Purdue. They're at home. They're coming off a by.

Let's go out and execute a clean game and win and feel really good about what we're watching. And obviously that didn't happen Saturday. And it didn't happen against Minnesota. It didn't happen against Illinois. Those are the games where you want a predictable Saturday, and unfortunately it hasn't happened. Sean, do we know now who this team is? I mean, I think they're a team that's got some material on defense, but they lack getting to the quarterback at times with the four-man rush.

I think they're a team that is boom or bust. I mean, the craziest stat of that game last week was Nebraska average 9.3 yards per snap on first down on 30 first down snaps. And they average 7.9 yards on their third down snaps. How does that happen? And how do you not get second down right? Yeah. So they were really good on first down in that game,

but really bad on second down, whether it was penalties, negative plays, or whatever. Sean, I guess I should ask you about this. So Matt Lubick said yesterday, he was explaining some of that second down situation. And he said, well, you know, we got, we got, it was second and one. And we thought we'd take a shot, you know, we thought we take a shot. And then he said some words that when I hear them in coaching rooms,

the top of my head almost pops off. Because he said, worst case scenario, it's third and one. And I went, oh, no, that's not the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is a false start, a holding penalty, a blown pass pro, or a poorly run route. How can they simplify what they do? Because they've got ammunition in the belt, right? That they simply could move the chains, reload, and redo what you just did. Yeah, and I don't know why they just can't seem to be physical at the point of attack.

on the line of scrimmage on offense. You know, they've got accomplished recruits, athletes. Is it the scheme and how they're taught in those situations? I don't know. But I think a lot of people are like, I wish Nebraska this line up there and say, I'm bigger and stronger than you. I'm going to get up there. I'm going to knock the crap out of you and we're going to get two yards.

And it just seems like it's so much more complicated than it needs to be like in Minnesota, your first and goal at the one. And you can't go under center. And then they go under center. week and they got a first down on when they fumbled the next one so I mean just we want predictable like give us some predictability with what we would expect football execution to look like I think that is probably the biggest complaint I have is you know I went in that game Saturday thinking all right here we go this is going to be a nice you know this is going to be Nebraska this is a team of things

you're going to be it's beautiful weather full house 2 30 game no 11 a.m. excuses you know you You know, you're going to take care of business coming off a buy week. I'll tell you, though, Martinez got hurt early in that game. Matt Davison on the radio call noted he's like, oh, boy, he took a shot to the leg. I don't know if that messed something up with him, but he just didn't obviously seem like himself in that game Saturday. It's funny you said that because I saw there was another play in the first quarter. He was on the sideline, and the defender, he was down on the ground. Defender jumped on top of him, and you could see Adrian's head bounce off the turf.

and I thought, okay, that's one of those moments where, hey, check your guy. Check your guy. So to see that, and it happens several times a game. Look, nobody has to defend Adrian Martinez. You feel how you feel about him. But that young man has taken a beat. Oh, yeah, jaw, ankle. I mean, you name it.

And Scott Frost has been open about these now. I mean, I think when those injuries first happened, they tried to keep some of it guarded, but I think he's been a little bit more transparent. But then I think it leads to the question, why not Logan Smothers? And I think it tells you the gap between Martinez and Smothers is fairly significant that a four interception Martina is with a bad jaw and a bad ankle is still better than Logan Smothers. But that, see, that's that that's kind of where I bang my head on the table. To tell me that you've had this young man for 18 months.

You've had Smothers for 18 months. At least. And to tell me that you can't get him to the place where he can maneuver you through a game. Because remember, you're almost pointing the arrow at him anyway by the workload you're giving Martinez and the beating he's taken. So you know that you have to get this young man ready. What's the delay? What's the problem? Pressure in your job.

I mean, I think you're coach, Coach Frost, like, got to make this work. And I think they believe Adrian is the guy that can give them the best. best chance. But when Adrian can't run those like 30, 40-yard runs, he's just like any other quarterback, but he doesn't see the field and misses on deep ball. But

this is, all of this, these are things that should have been adjusted, fixed, tweaked to the point where it works. You can't tell me that you have a quarterback that you haven't taught how to read defense is not to throw high across

the middle, not to throw late across the middle, not to go single hand with the ball in a stressful situation where there's chaos around you. What's going on? Well, the checkdowns aren't there either. And when teams are dropping seven, you know, you have to check it down a lot. You can't, your read may not be there. And if you're max protecting with extra bodies to help cover up your O line, that's less receivers going out.

And they got seven people guarding those guys. Sometimes checking it down to Ramir Johnson for five, six yards is the smart play. It's been, it's there. And there are those fans that will complain that, well, why are you taking the short game? Well, because, one, it's the best way to protect Adrian Martinez. Two, it's the best way to not expose a leaky offensive line. Third, it's not, you're going to force receivers to run winnable routes short on the route tree. And then finally, yeah, give your runners a free ball out in space.

well, they can break a tackle and make something happen. This isn't complicated, but it's been made complicated. For you, is there anything that you scream? What I want to know is what you scream out at the TV most often. Like, what do you scream at, like in your head? Like, you're in the press box, you can't scream it out. But what's the thing in your head as you watch this team that you say is a simple thing that they could get right?

Man, I mean, just watching Martinez drop back an obvious passing situation. Sometimes you just cringe when you see the pocket collapse so quickly and the tackles get beat off the edge. And you're just like the play has no chance. Like you can blame Adrian, but he holds the ball too long sometimes as well. But just the dropbacks when he's getting back there. Like there's just too many of these when they're only bringing four people that they're getting in and disrupting the play. And it's hard to, they're, they're, they're, they're need a running game. I mean, if you don't run the football, it's going to be really hard for this offense to work. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, right? That you get the sort of connection to it where

you understand the coach's thinking. You talk to the players, so you understand where their heads are. I'll ask you, from your perspective, how is this locker room? Is this locker room, are they together? Are they connected? Are they worried? Are they upset? Are they frustrated? What do you think It is. Well, I think guys are down and hurt. I mean, I don't know how you couldn't be, but I haven't since quit, but these are the kinds of games where you fear it could come. You know, when you play Ohio State and if they jump up on you 21-0 like they've done before, you know, that's when you really worry. And that hasn't happened this season. Every loss, as we know, has been by eight or less points. And it's not been like blowout 55 to 10 type deals. and, you know, you fear that's the next step. Can they avoid that? Can they play better against three ranked teams down the stretch? I mean, it's hard to really, you know, have a read on that at this point because they have played well against ranked teams.

They just haven't won those games. What really upsets you is they've played poorly against the teams that you would expect them to beat. That's, it's all remarkable. Like, each thing, if you told me this thing existed, I would go, wow. Like, that's enough. but it's all of this stuff and it's continual in a constant circle right i am i try not to get frustrated but i was listening to some conversations earlier and i thought it can't just be me right like i'm not going crazy by thinking this offense needs a running game so did we spend the week

preparing ohio for ohio state and setting up a run game where you can keep their offense off to field for a greater amount of time than the 25 minutes they got the 35 minutes they were on the field last week. Yeah, it's just such boom or bust. I mean, it's a one-yard gain or a 15-yard gain or 10-yard gain, like the way the running game works and that consistency. And you look at Purdue last week. They average on their running back place 3.2 yards per carry.

And you kind of sticker at that. But that's all they wanted to average. I mean, they were in second and seven, second and six. And then they pre-snap red in Nebraska and said, all right, where's the soft spot? We're going to take six yards and get a first down. But that's a thing that every team could do. Why doesn't Nebraska take what's given?

Yeah, I don't know. Because you think that there's more? Yeah, but more gets you beat. No, I know, but I think you believe that you can get more. And that's the, because Nebraska does have elite skill guys. And it just. Do they? Well, the Northwestern game.

I mean, I don't know. you look at it now, but you can't deny that. That was the most yards Pat Fitzgerald's ever given up and the most points he's ever get up in his career. And, you know, that was a snapshot of what this all could be. The problem is one out of 10 days doesn't work. Especially when you know that you only have 10 or 11 days to get this thing right. Yeah.

Right. We're talking to Sean Callahan Husker online. If you went room by room where we thought they would end up before the season, is it fair to say that we have not reached maximum capacity in any of the groups that we've talked about, especially offensively? I think tight-ins have gotten there. I mean, I think, you know, Austin Allen's the highest ranked tight-in. I think pro football ball focus in the conference. He's one guy.

I think you can really point to that's had a good year. But, yeah, other than that, I mean, there's been too many ups and downs. I mean, Toray looked like he was an all-big-ten caliber guy. and he's disappeared the last few weeks. See, that's another one. So that was another thing that was had in the conversation. A Lubick said, well, we need to get him the ball more. Well, who's responsible for it?

Like, you can't call plays where your best player is the third option so much that your best offensive player disappears from the game. I guess, like, why can't there just be quick slants and hitch routes that happen? Like, one, two, three, throw. One, three, throw. I mean, just get rid of the ball. Go. Take the yards.

Go. I mean, why can't they do that? Why does everything have to be so developed? You know, and the guys get open, but it takes about a half hour for the play developed. I mean, yeah, I mean, they're beautiful plays against Fordham when everyone's, when Martinez was able to sit back there and you can watch these long developing crossing routes. But you're asking a lot of this own line if the run game's not there to protect. So how many losses do they have to go through?

before they choose substance over style. Like, how long does this thing go? Yeah, it's, you got to realize what your team is, I think, too. And I go back to 2009 when Nebraska had, and this is, I wouldn't call Nebraska's defense an elite defense right now. I called it a good defense. In 2009, they had an elite defense. And they said, you know what?

We're going to change what we do to protect our defense and win games. and they're often struggled before that. And they started just running basic vanilla plays. And Sean Watson, the former coordinator said, he goes, you know, kind of like what Jim Tressel would do at Ohio State. We're going to keep it simple and execute and win. And they won down the stretch. They didn't lose that whole final stretch of the year

other than the Big 12 title game in Texas. And they just lined up under, they beat Oklahoma running the eye formation in the entire game. Sean, is there enough urgency to win? I guess my other question would be do enough of these guys know how to win at this level. High school level winning is one thing, but knowing how to win at this level and this league, when you're seeing elite NFL talent and high-level coaches, it's tough.

Is knowing how to win, is that a coach's task? Is that a program or culture thing, where does that thing come from? Well, the players, I think ultimately have to control that, the culture within the locker room. The coaches can set you up to get everything you need to win, but the players still have to build that culture and kind of build the team to win on the field. The coaches call the plays they think should work, and the players need to execute them. I think the players, too, are responsible to building that winning mindset and executing when it matters.

And Nebraska has struggled, as we know, to close out games to win games. And that's the play. I mean, Scott Frost can't get out there and run the place, but he can get them better, maybe prepared and practiced in those situations as well. That's the next question is if they need to execute, have they been given the tools to execute? I mean, I don't know why they haven't. I mean, it's hard to say, though. It's such a hard question. I mean, I'm out of practice every day.

So you don't really know kind of what they do, but I know they've tried to change some things up and what they do. It's just like it's just mind-blowing to watch week to week and to listen to this fan base. Who's split? They're firmly split in this is not acceptable. and it's not acceptable, but I'm willing to ride with it. And I think that's, is that not a fair assessment of where you think this fan base is?

Well, this fan base has been through so many coaching changes since 2002. And I think you fear, well, when Scott Frost is hired, everyone's like, wow, Nebraska is so lucky that Scott Frost is a native son. He could have gone to Florida. He could have gone to Tennessee. Maybe he could have waited out and gone to Florida State. but he's going to Nebraska he's from Nebraska and I think there was this fear

like if they didn't get Frost and they fired Mike Riley who were they going to get at that time you know who were the candidates out there that they would have tried to bring into Lincoln and I think the continual cycle of coaching changes here it's not healthy I mean you look at the division of what you're going

it's Paul Chris Kurt Ferrence I mean these guys are going to be at their stops PJ Fleck just got a new contract today I mean, you're going against stability and continuity and blowing it up every four years in this division. Because these teams are the masters of executing four-yard plays. And it wins against Nebraska. And Nebraska's got to figure out a way to build a consistent product. And changing coaches every four or five years is not how you do it.

So how do you suggest the change of direction happens? because if they, one, they feel like they have the players and the players just aren't executing, and they don't want to make a change, right? We don't want to roll. Download our app by searching 93.7, the ticket in your app store. You're listening to one-on-one with DP on 937 the ticket and the ticket FM.com.