But it was, Riley and Langsdorf conceded, a botched play. Tight end Cethan Carter was supposed to be on the side Armstrong rolled to, and he was on the other side. As a result, Armstrong immediately got pressure as he rolled out. He tried throwing the ball to Ozigbo. "I think he got surprised by a guy off the edge, I believe," Langsdorf said.
Armstrong declined comment after the game. He walked out of the locker room with headphones on and initially walked by reporters waiting for him. He was flagged down by a reporter as he went to the bus, and said he wasn't talking.
That left it, essentially, to Ozigbo to explain from the players' perspective. A true freshman. And, frankly, Ozigbo was muddled in his own answers. He referred to the play as a fourth down — which it wasn't, because Andy Janovich, not Ozigbo, was the intended receiver on fourth down. Ozigbo said Illinois had a lot of crowd noise in that end, and he didn't hear the play call well.
"I ran the wrong route," Ozigbo said, believing the play did have a pass option to it. "From what I was paying attention to, I thought it was going to be thrown, from what I heard of the play, but it wasn't supposed to be."
Langsdorf said Ozigbo was "pulling the flat defender out to run the ball." Langsdorf added that coaches made it clear NU shouldn't throw the ball in that situation.
"There is no route combination," Langsdorf said. "We have to practice it and continue to hit it and talk about it situationally. I've got to stay with him ... we just can't have that. It's costly."
Not at all. Im just trying to put perspective on how bad of a loss this is for Nebraska. No intent to offend, it's just one guys opinion. Lunt's in a system that suits him, and he stinks. Armstrong is learning a pro system, leading the Big Ten in passing, when he's suited for the zone read. If Illinois had Armstrong, he'd be starting.
Something is rotten in denmark. No qb post game remarks. I think the coaches busrolled it's team leader. The FB up the middle was good for 3 yards and most of the game clock. The OC laid that fucking egg throwing 31 times with a swirling wind when the other team could have been had physically. UNC laid the foundation, but these coaches are out of their element. This Pac 12 philosophy wont work. Riley's in over his head. Thats 3 games with clock management issues with 2 losses because of it.
Im not much of a drinker. One or two scotches. But if you must know, yes Im upset about this loss. This is a bad loss. One of the worst in Nebraska history. Im sorry if that's an insult to you. Nebraska lost, Illinois won. It does gappen in competitive sports, but It doesnt change my mind how bad of a loss this is. Illinois is a bad team. 45 and 39. Thats how many points NU scored the last two games vs Illinois, same qb as today. This coaching staff round-holed a square peg. Nebraska gas shut out 3 of its opponents at half, and is 2-3.
