Brandon Vogel

Chattanooga

Writer and Blogger at Freelance

Writer, mostly of college football things | Co-author of "Dream Like a Champion" | Newsletter: https://t.co/rElVMzagrM

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Articles

Cook had a plan for everything

2 months ago | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

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He met the gridiron test

Nov 25, 2024 | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

Nebraska has had bigger offensive outbursts in its recent past than Saturday’s 44-25 win over Wisconsin on 473 total yards. There were the 657 yards in a 56-7 win over Northwestern in 2021, 620 against Rutgers in a 28-21 2020 win and 659 against 2018 Minnesota for a 53-28 win. The Huskers’ bowl-clinching win wasn’t one of those in good ways. For one, none of Nebraska’s bigger-number games since 2016 came against a top-20 defense by SP+.
The facts are getting sicker, even sicker, perhaps

Nov 18, 2024 | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

By most measures, Nebraska’s 28-20 loss at USC was by the book. The Huskers were about 8-point underdogs by kickoff and lost by eight. The College Football Nerds model projected 6.5 yards per play for the Trojans and 4.7 for NU. The teams averaged 6.6 and 4.9 respectively. That same model pegged Dylan Raiola at 27-for-38 passing with 253 yards. Nailed the attempts and completions, exactly, but Raiola only hit for 191 yards.
Can Nebraska out-coach its way to something good?

Nov 11, 2024 | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

Well let’s get to it, shall we? Hope everyone enjoyed the week off from Nebraska’s current three-game losing streak and is now ready for a three-week stretch that could define the future of Husker football. Too dramatic? Might be, but I like to think in terms of odds and the odds of a favorable future don’t improve if the Huskers look momentum-less at the end of Year 2 under a well-regarded head coach.
Can Holgorsen be a can of Red Bull for Nebraska's offense?

Nov 7, 2024 | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

Dana Holgorsen is here to fix Nebraska’s offense with three games remaining in the season. The former West Virginia and Houston head coach was raised by the Air Raid, playing for the system’s creator, Hal Mumme, at Iowa Wesleyan. Mike Leach was also on that staff, and when Mumme and Leach departed for Valdosta State, Holgorsen went along to break into coaching. He would eventually coordinate Leach’s offense at Texas Tech before holding the same position at Houston and Oklahoma State.
Is this the room I'll live my life forever?

Nov 4, 2024 | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

Picture L.A. The smog is smothering but you have to admit it makes for glowing pink-orange sunsets that perfectly backlight all those problematic palms. That smoky light reaches your eyes through the smoked lenses of some cool sunglasses. You’re listening to something cool while driving something cool. Or, at least, sitting in something cool. Good set design, L.A. It is somehow gnarly and glamorous simultaneously. At least that’s what the movies have led me to believe.
Beat the Bruins and the Huskers have a shot at a strong final act in 2024

Oct 31, 2024 | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

The good news: UCLA (2-5, 1-4) visits Lincoln off its bye week having scored 17 or fewer points in six of seven games this season. Nebraska (5-3, 2-3) is 10-3 under Matt Rhule when allowing 17 or fewer. The Bruins’ natural state on offense, at least from a points perspective in 2024, is right in the zone the Huskers have needed to be since last season. The bad news? Could be that UCLA’s outlier performance came the last time out.
Was you satisfied?

Oct 28, 2024 | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

On paper going into last Saturday, Nebraska-Ohio State was a matchup of a top-10 defense against maybe the No. 1 offense. That was the generous-to-NU, heavily redacted version because the Buckeyes had every other head-to-head advantage as well, but if you wanted to really boil things down that was a view supported by all the evidence. Nobody really wanted to buy it based on the latest evidence, Indiana 56-7, however. I couldn’t sell myself on it for that reason.
Old flames, they can't warm you this week

Oct 21, 2024 | counterread.com | Brandon Vogel

Indiana delivered a bunch of hard truths to Nebraska Saturday, but honesty machine Curt Cignetti had a few more after the 56-7 destruction was done. “Good win against a team that’s got a lot of good history and tradition that a lot of people thought was a good football team,” the first-year Hoosier head coach said in his postgame press conference. I’ve spent 24 hours trying to determine if I’m misreading things, but the “a lot of people thought…” part remains wedged in my writer/editor brain.
Old flames, they can't warm you this week

Oct 20, 2024 | open.substack.com | Brandon Vogel

Old flames, they can't warm you this weekDid Nebraska's catastrophe at Indiana undo everything we thought we knew about the Matt Rhule era? Some things to consider. By Brandon Vogel