Nebraska: Poor, poor Nebraska. We aren’t even sure what to say anymore. Well, we can say this. Mike Riley’s honeymoon lasted all of a month. Nice guy, understands Nebraska, brings experience, comports himself with maturity and class, blah, blah, blah, blah. Sure, some of those things factored into Nebraska's decision to sack Bo Pelini and bring in Riley, but let’s get real. The fix was supposed to be getting Nebraska out of its rut of 9-4 seasons. So far, it’s not happening.

The Huskers are 2-3 with losses to BYU on a Hail Mary, at Miami in overtime (after playing awful for three quarters, then mounting an insane comeback) and Saturday at Illinois 14-13 after giving up a touchdown with 10 seconds left. This one will stick to Riley because it was horribly bungled at the end. Illinois was out of timeouts. Nebraska, up 13-7 and in Illinois territory, should have been in run-out-the-clock mode, holding the ball with a minute to go. If Nebraska just runs the ball on third down, Illinois can’t stop the clock, which means Illinois’ best-case scenario would be getting the ball back with 15 seconds, maybe less, and needing to drive 70 yards to win.

Instead, inexplicably, Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong threw a pass. It was incomplete. Illinois got the ball back, needing only 41 seconds to drive 73 yards and deliver yet another gut-punch. According to Riley, Armstrong was supposed to run the ball. So he probably decided to pass it on his own.

Still, if the quarterback isn’t on the same page with the coaches in such a critical situation, that's on the adults. It’s inexcusable. And now Riley has dug a hole with the Nebraska fan base before his tenure has even gotten off the ground. You can’t lose games that winnable to opponents that mediocre in a fashion that crushing. Not at Nebraska. Not ever.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2015/10/04/misery-index-week-5-texas-miami-nebraska-notre-dame-georgia/73340980/