Nebraska Football 2013

[Coyote]

I'd just like to point out what everyone else already knows... Ohio St. is #2 for one reason, and that is because EVERYONE knows they are going to walk through the BigTen, face an over-rated/under-coached foe in the Rose Bowl (Mich or Neb), and play for a possible Nat'l championship (thus, #2). As a Nebraska fan, it pains me to say. But it's true.

(queue HuskerMike telling me how stupid I am)

Um... Facing Nebraska/Michigan in the B1G Championship..., and Stanford/Oregon in the Rose Bowl, while Alabama and Oregon plays in the BCS National Championship game?

[nebugeater]

How about we at least start the season first.....

I'd just like to point out what everyone else already knows... Ohio St. is #2 for one reason, and that is because EVERYONE knows they are going to walk through the BigTen, face an over-rated/under-coached foe in the Rose Bowl (Mich or Neb), and play for a possible Nat'l championship (thus, #2). As a Nebraska fan, it pains me to say. But it's true.

(queue HuskerMike telling me how stupid I am)

[S33]

How about we at least start the season first.....

I'd just like to point out what everyone else already knows... Ohio St. is #2 for one reason, and that is because EVERYONE knows they are going to walk through the BigTen, face an over-rated/under-coached foe in the Rose Bowl (Mich or Neb), and play for a possible Nat'l championship (thus, #2). As a Nebraska fan, it pains me to say. But it's true.

(queue HuskerMike telling me how stupid I am)

You're right.

I'd just like to point out what everyone else already knows... Ohio St. is #2 for one reason, and that is because EVERYONE knows they are going to walk through the BigTen, face an over-rated/under-coached foe in the Rose Bowl (Mich or Neb), and play for a possible Nat'l championship (thus, #2). As a Nebraska fan, it pains me to say. But it's true.

(queue HuskerMike telling me how stupid I am)

Um... Facing Nebraska/Michigan in the B1G Championship..., and Stanford/Oregon in the Rose Bowl, while Alabama and Oregon plays in the BCS National Championship game?

I'm thinking Oregon's happy days may have left with Chip Kelly, at least in the near future.

Edit: Rose Bowl = Big10 champ. not sure why in the heck I said Rose Bowl.

[Coyote]

...If they play in the Rose Bowl (as you suggested), they will not be playing in the BCS National Championship game...

[S33]

...If they play in the Rose Bowl, they will not be playing in the National Championship game...

Yes, for some reason I said Rose Bowl when I was actually implying Big10 champ game.

[Coyote]

The big wrench will be Louisville going undefeated and skipping over a once defeated Pac12/Big10/SEC team.

[S33]

What I want to know from fellow Husker fans is, if Pelini lays another egg with such a weak schedule, on year 5, do we still support his effort? (as you can tell, I'm skeptical of Pelini these days)

[jessep28]

What I want to know from fellow Husker fans is, if Pelini lays another egg with such a weak schedule, on year 5, do we still support his effort? (as you can tell, I'm skeptical of Pelini these days)

Shun the non-BOliever.

[S33]

Do you honestly BOlieve Bo will win a conference championship anytime in the near future? In year 5, he's in a position of whether to play athletism or experience on defense, not both. It's Nebraska, it should be both.

Who knows, maybe this is the year.

[jessep28]

I suspect that NU's move to the Big 10 extended his shelf life somewhat.

[Omababe]

I suspect that NU's move to the Big 10 extended his shelf life somewhat.

I also get the impression that the Big 10 opponents are a bit tougher and more competitive.

[MadMartin8]

Do you honestly BOlieve Bo will win a conference championship anytime in the near future? In year 5, he's in a position of whether to play athletism or experience on defense, not both. It's Nebraska, it should be both.

Who knows, maybe this is the year.

Bo just isn't the guy to get it done. To win big at Nebraska you need to be a GREAT coach, and one who knows how to recruit to his system...Bo does not have either quality, sadly.


But, I suppose we'll see.

[S33]

Do you honestly BOlieve Bo will win a conference championship anytime in the near future? In year 5, he's in a position of whether to play athletism or experience on defense, not both. It's Nebraska, it should be both.

Who knows, maybe this is the year.

Bo just isn't the guy to get it done. To win big at Nebraska you need to be a GREAT coach, and one who knows how to recruit to his system...Bo does not have either quality, sadly.


But, I suppose we'll see.

I guess I don't know enough about college football to pinpoint what the problem is, but I re-watched last year's Wisc/Neb B1G champ game, and I still cannot believe what I was watching. I mean, I wasn't expecting Nebraska to win the game after the first 7 minutes, but Pelini couldn't even stop the bleeding. That was his 4th year at Nebraska, and still, HIS team could not even compete with an improved Wisconsin team. It was a Nebraska vs. Pacific, circa 1995, beatdown.

I cringe to think of what the last 4 years would have been like if the Big12 and Big10 hadn't been so weak.

[guitarguy]

Alright so lets hypothetically say Bo is fired right now... what do you propose we do? It's ridiculous to think that if we fire him and try to bring in another coach that things will get better. Firing a coach that is one of the very few with 9+ wins in the last 5 seasons is not going to ensue confidence in potential new hires... in fact we would most likely get an even worse coach. I honestly think that given the last 5-6 games last year was the equivalent of running through a gauntlet and we just ran out of gas and Wisconsin wanted to whoop our a$$es bad. So I'll ask again.. Bo is fired.. what's your plan to turn our program into the 90's again.

[S33]

If a team's (actual and realistic) goal is to win a conference championship, maybe even a national championship, then what have we got to lose? After this year, we may find out that Bo probably isn't going to win any championship in the foreseeable future or otherwise. Wouldn't you rather the athletic department take a shot on someone else? Or should we all be content with 9 win seasons, and mix in some embarrassing losses?

I'm not saying fire Bo, but pending this season, I might be.

[MadMartin8]

Alright so lets hypothetically say Bo is fired right now... what do you propose we do? It's ridiculous to think that if we fire him and try to bring in another coach that things will get better. Firing a coach that is one of the very few with 9+ wins in the last 5 seasons is not going to ensue confidence in potential new hires... in fact we would most likely get an even worse coach. I honestly think that given the last 5-6 games last year was the equivalent of running through a gauntlet and we just ran out of gas and Wisconsin wanted to whoop our a$$es bad. So I'll ask again.. Bo is fired.. what's your plan to turn our program into the 90's again.

I think Bo Peep is going to do something, say something to someone he shouldn't one day and that might be his end here at Nebraska. As far as firing him before that, yes you are right, it appears we are stuck in limbo ( or dare I say mediocracy? Haha)

[Coyote]

Pelini proud of where program is right now

"I'm proud of where we are as a program right now," Pelini said. "I'm always hungry. I don't make any apologies for what we've done over my first five years."

[guitarguy]

I still stand by the fact that the first 3 recruiting classes under Pelini were garbage due to the fact we had no clue what offensive/defensive systems we were sticking with for the foreseeable future. However the last 2 recruiting classes have been packed out with talent and this is the first year players from the first good recruiting class under Pelini will see the field. Last year Pelini made the tactical error of redshirting way to many players and by the time we needed them it was really late in the season and it would have been a waste. So I'm sure thats why the end of last year seemed like the defense sucked so bad... but we had a ton of talented players on the bench.

Obviously this year has more questions than we have answers to but I can't imagine having real athletes on the field again rather than a team full of mediocre talent will be any worse than last year and also has the potential of being much better than last years defense. I feel Pelini was stressed out royally his first few seasons since he had no head coaching experience and reacted with anger ( you can't tell me the 2010 Texas a&m game wasn't a screwjob when we had 16 penalties to their 2 and this game was the game his anger seemed the most obvious ). I think he loves his players and is one of the very few coaches that takes the honest approach to being a big time college football coach. I have confidence in him still since we've all seen him field a national champion level defense in 2009 and the same for the offense in 2012 and this coming year it's just a matter of getting them on the field the same year.

[S33]

I really hope last year's red shirt players will make the difference.

[Coyote]

Bo Pelini is on the Jim Rome Show today during the 1:00 segment...

[S33]

Is that 1620am?

[Coyote]

Is that 1620am?

Rome was moved to 1180 'the deuce'.

[Coyote]

I think I heard yesterday that in the past 5 years Nebraska has been the out right dog in 6 games, losing all six.
They won't be back in 'national prominence' - they were saying - until they can pull off one of these upsets.

They were 29-6 in games they were out right favorites...

[guitarguy]

I know the Huskers are suppose to be one of the elite teams in the country but its so frustrating always hearing the questions about when the Huskers will be back to national prominence. When one of the most legendary coaches of all time retires and you fire the guy who was continuing his legacy for no reason we honestly deserve having a crappy last 10 years.

[Coyote]

AP Pre Season Poll

Rank Team Record Pts Last Week
1. Alabama (58 ) 0-0 1498 --
2. Ohio St. (1) 0-0 1365 --
3. Oregon        0-0 1335 --
4. Stanford        0-0 1294 --
5. Georgia (1) 0-0 1249 --
6. South Carolina 0-0 1154 --
7. Texas A&M 0-0 1104 --
8. Clemson        0-0 1083 --
9. Louisville        0-0 1042 --
10. Florida        0-0 894 --
11. Florida St.        0-0 845 --
12. LSU                0-0 802 --
13. Oklahoma St. 0-0 755 --
14. Notre Dame 0-0 748 --
15. Texas        0-0 677 --
16. Oklahoma        0-0 579 --
17. Michigan        0-0 531 --
18. Nebraska        0-0 382 --
19. Boise St.        0-0 328 --
20. TCU                0-0 323 --
21. UCLA        0-0 286 --
22. Northwestern 0-0 199 --
23. Wisconsin        0-0 185 --
24. USC                0-0 134 --
25. Oregon St. 0-0 129 --
Others Receiving Votes:

26.    Michigan St. 95,
        Baylor 92,
        Virginia Tech 86,
        Miami (FL) 85,
        Arizona St. 53,
        Kansas St. 43,
        Fresno St. 36,
        Vanderbilt 19,
        Washington 17,
        Northern Illinois 16,
        Mississippi 11,
        Utah St. 8,
        Georgia Tech 6,
        Arizona 3,
        North Carolina 3,
        Cincinnati 3,
42.    Penn St. 2,
        BYU 1

[Coyote]

[youtube][/youtube]

[guitarguy]

I absolutely LOVE this!! I don't care what the Win/Loss records are every year.. I'd damn proud to have Pelini as our football coach. You can really tell how much he loves the players on his team.. with this prank and the Harlem Shake vid I love how Pelini is rewarding the players hard work with an element of fun once the players have earned it.. Heres to a great football season!!  :mrgreen:  :mrgreen:

[Zilla]

Alright so lets hypothetically say Bo is fired right now... what do you propose we do? It's ridiculous to think that if we fire him and try to bring in another coach that things will get better. Firing a coach that is one of the very few with 9+ wins in the last 5 seasons is not going to ensue confidence in potential new hires... in fact we would most likely get an even worse coach. I honestly think that given the last 5-6 games last year was the equivalent of running through a gauntlet and we just ran out of gas and Wisconsin wanted to whoop our a$$es bad. So I'll ask again.. Bo is fired.. what's your plan to turn our program into the 90's again.

Bill Callahan...that's what we'll get.  If we go and fire another coach with a winning record, we're not getting anyone worth a damn in here at that point.  We're going to spiral down further for another 10 years.  I guarantee it.  We won't have the kind of money necessary for the big names that someone people would want.  Fortunately, the new AD is on board with Bo and he's not going anywhere.  Especially when you add on all the great things Bo has done off the field for the program.  Things like Team Jack, record.....RECORD GPA's and Graduation rates, etc.  Things the media continues to ignore completely (aside from Team Jack of course).

Pelini is not doing any worse than Osborne in his first few years, and TO had the benefits of inheriting a NC caliber team and the recruiting benefits we had back in the day.  People need patience.....which I know is hard to have in this ADD world we live in now.

I still stand by the fact that the first 3 recruiting classes under Pelini were garbage due to the fact we had no clue what offensive/defensive systems we were sticking with for the foreseeable future. However the last 2 recruiting classes have been packed out with talent and this is the first year players from the first good recruiting class under Pelini will see the field. Last year Pelini made the tactical error of redshirting way to many players and by the time we needed them it was really late in the season and it would have been a waste. So I'm sure thats why the end of last year seemed like the defense sucked so bad... but we had a ton of talented players on the bench.

Obviously this year has more questions than we have answers to but I can't imagine having real athletes on the field again rather than a team full of mediocre talent will be any worse than last year and also has the potential of being much better than last years defense. I feel Pelini was stressed out royally his first few seasons since he had no head coaching experience and reacted with anger ( you can't tell me the 2010 Texas a&m game wasn't a screwjob when we had 16 penalties to their 2 and this game was the game his anger seemed the most obvious ). I think he loves his players and is one of the very few coaches that takes the honest approach to being a big time college football coach. I have confidence in him still since we've all seen him field a national champion level defense in 2009 and the same for the offense in 2012 and this coming year it's just a matter of getting them on the field the same year.

Let's also not forget that this is the first year that Pelini actually has a stable coaching staff, especially on the Offense.  There's been coaching turnover pretty much every year that Pelini has been here.  That causes a lot of problems with coaching styles, fundamentals, strategies, coach's focus, and unfortunately....recruiting.  Pelini mentioned in one of the recent articles how he's comfortable with where their offense is at now and the coaches that he can turn his focus back towards the defense.  Which should be good news to anyone.

[guitarguy]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130827/H ... ble-in-red

“I really didn't know what to expect,” Martinez said. “I didn't know how the media was. No one really told me how to speak to the media or anything like that. I wish someone would have helped me out a little bit. It was rough. I didn't know how, especially as a redshirt freshman.

“That's why I didn't talk to the media much. I didn't want to say something wrong and frustrate the fans or anything like that. I maybe should have talked to the media more my freshman year but, at the time, I thought it was the best for me. I was still young. I was trying to figure things out.”




A good read on Tmoneymagic and his trials and tribulations at Nebraska

[MadMartin8]

So, are we pretending the almost loss to Wyoming last night didn't happen, Husker Fans?


I'm surprised there aren't more posts.  :P

[Coyote]

So, are we pretending the almost loss to Wyoming last night didn't happen, Husker Fans?


I'm surprised there aren't more posts.  :P

I think most of us are still trying to wake up after a late night. And those of us at the game had to deal with the accident on the interstate last night that shut the place down for a while...

[S33]

So, are we pretending the almost loss to Wyoming last night didn't happen, Husker Fans?


I'm surprised there aren't more posts.  :P

they were awful. there, I said it.

[guitarguy]

Not really sure what happened other than us sucking but I will say that the game plan for the Huskers was the most vanilla game plan I've seen in a while... Also I found out that I love being back in Nebraska for Husker games! Nothing like being around other Husker fans for the games  :mrgreen:

[S33]

The defense, it's just...well, terrible, and I don't understand why. Pelini looked like a defensive genius, until Callahan's recruits graduated.

[guitarguy]

Pretty easy too look like a defensive genius when you have Suh playing on your D line.. that man was a wrecking force of all wrecking forces.. I'm still optimistic for the season though since regardless of what the Huskers do I'm still gonna have a great time with my friends..  8)

[Omababe]

So, are we pretending the almost loss to Wyoming last night didn't happen, Husker Fans?

I'm surprised there aren't more posts.  :P

There were a few upsets this past weekend, and I was almost expecting us to be one of them!

[twiztid1]

Bo's defense is absolute |expletive|.  His two gap system is too passive and doesn't work unless you have an elite line which is tough to produce consistently.  It requires a player like Suh or Dorsey, and they don't come around often.  His 'bend but don't break' philosophy allows opponents to move the ball up and down the field all day.  The Huskers' hurry up offense makes things even worse.

Rather than adjust to the talent Bo has or will get in the future, he runs the same |expletive| and makes excuses for the poor defensive perfmances.  He's as stubborn as Callahan was.  Last year's Big Ten title game alone should have been enough of a reason to scrap his system.  

[guitarguy]

I agree with everything you say.. I feel like Bo has never made the transition to being a HEAD coach and still has his roots set in being a Defensive Coordinator.. What Bo really needs to do is stop hiring/promoting his buddies and use the purse strings this University has to bring in a top level DC and change to a more administrative/mastermind role and let the OC/DC take care of the moving parts...

In a way it feels like since Bo created one of the most dominant Defenses we've ever seen at NU back in 2009 he's addicted to the feeling of that but the defensive coaches that made that happen are long gone and we are left with a patsy DC in Papuchis who clearly has no idea what he's doing and stubborn head coach who's still trying to get back the glory years of his 'guru system'.. even though it seems as if opposing Offenses have figured out how to expose Bo's magical system.

[Zilla]

Good lord, does nobody understand the importance of having a stable coaching staff!?  You're already ready do send Coach Papuchis packing?  This is year 2 for him?  Not even that....year one and ONE GAME!!  You're not going to get anyone worth their salt to come in when you aren't going to give them the time to build anything.

In 2008, everyone was wondering why Pelini couldn't stop the fast paced spread. OU hung 60, Missouri 50, others often in the 20/30s range. Pelini sucks. O'hanlon, omg he's terrible.

In 2009, we ran a more ball controlled offense, limited turnovers, had two 5th year seniors on the DL and a 4th year junior, a 5th year senior at MLB in the Nickel/Dime, two 5th year seniors at S. O'Hanlon went from everyone's whipping boy to all conference. Dillard went from a guy most wanted to see leave in the off season to a star. Suh went from a pretty good player to monster. Asante went from stiff guy who couldn't cover to assassin.

Experienced talent and an offense that doesn't give the ball to the other team makes defensive coaches look pretty smart sometimes. We finally have some stability in the coaching staff but we have 7, count them, 7 true freshmen/redshirt freshmen on the D.  This is their first 60 minutes playing together in a real game.  It's the first game of the season....everyone needs to calm down.

The below is actually from another poster on another forum, but I think it sums things up pretty well....

Saturday, had we scored to make it 44-21, or converted 4th and 1 when it was 37-27 and go in and score there to make it 44-27, we're ranked about 17th and people are talking about it just being kind of dead and hot on opening night instead of making bonehead call after bonehead call offensively in the 4th quarter and failing to put the game away. The defense had given up only about 145 yards in the 2nd half up until Taylor's int. They got the other half in the last 6 minutes after momentum swung back wildly, because of the offense.

It's scheme and execution. always is, always will be. What it comes down to is this--do we need to move a safety up and stop the run as a fundamental premise of spread defense, and in doing so trust our CBs and nickels/dimes to live on an island man to man in press coverage most of the time on the WR's/slots?

Do we go cover zero and bring extra pressure and just force the QB to make quicker decisions, and maybe force some turnovers, and also live with giving up a couple of easy td's a game?

or do we play 2 high and live with a team being able to run against us unless our DL are just beating their men frequently head to head, and in doing so, count on the MLB and safeties to execute when the back or QB gets past the first level?

Those are the choices you have to make against a spread. The choices depend upon how big and good the wr's are, how accurate the QB is, how experienced he is, how well he can run a designed QB running game (and how well he can flush and scramble), and what kind of RB they have.

Most DC's are going to go conservative first against a 4 WR spread (2 high, try and stop the run with 5) and count on safeties to fill and prevent big plays. If that fails, they will begin to disguise coverages and work in some man - free with 2 high and bring a safety up on occasion, trusting their CBs, and if that results in the QB picking us apart with accuracy and/or highly skilled WRs, then we'll start to mix in cover zeros and force the QB to abort, flush, get sacked or turn it over with quick decisions.

We tried all 3 on Saturday. The latter two were having the desired effect and the game should've been comfortably put away by your dominant (so called) offense in the 4th quarter. They screwed up and it didn't happen, resulting in a tired and already mentally distracted unit to go back in and after momentum swung back to Wyoming.

That's what happens with inexperience.

[Zilla]

Even better, from what's fast becoming one of my most favorite sites: http://www.tunnelwalkofshame.com

(cleaned up as there is some cussing involved)

5 Minutes

Ranging from full-blown panic to wait-and-see pacification, everybody’s got an opinion on Saturday night’s near-death experience in the Wyoming game. Excuse me, did I say “game?” I meant “5 minutes.” That’s what we’re reacting to. Not 60 minutes. But 5. Let me explain…

With about 7 minutes left, Taylor Martinez threw his first pick and gave the ball back to the Cowboys. Brett Smith - who was terrific all night - led a two-play drive punctuated by a gorgeous TD pass over our secondary. Then, rinse and repeat. Huskers stall on offense, fumble and give the ball to Smith, who leads another ruthless drive down the throats of the Husker D that he again punctuates with a 47-yard touchdown pass. Finally, the Huskers stall again thanks to some unimaginative play calling, and Wyoming has the ball back with 1 minute remaining to ruin the Big Red’s day. The defense holds. And the state takes a collective, long, eye-rolling sigh. And a shot of whiskey.

At 7:00 left to play, the Huskers led 37-21. With 1:32 left, the lead dwindled to three. 20 seconds of gameplay later, Wyoming had a gun to our head. That is five and a half s****y minutes, followed by one terrifying one. “What if” is a dangerous game to play, but since it’s still too early in the season to know anything, let’s do it. Say Martinez doesn’t throw that pick, and the Husker offense continues to march (that’s not unreasonable - the drive started on our 10 and ended on their 25). Terrell Newby crosses the goal line and the Huskers lead 44-21. I don’t think that’s a huge reach. (We’ll ignore that blocked extra point that resulted in the game being a field goal away from disaster instead of a touchdown). Wyoming would’ve gotten the ball back with five minutes left, down 23. They get conservative, maybe score but probably don’t, and the Huskers either win 44-21 or ride the momentum to one more touchdown and a 51-21 win, giving up about 475 yards of offense.

That’s it. 5 minutes. A dozen plays - half of which didn’t include our defense. Sure, we can’t draw a lot of conclusions from this series of hypotheticals. But here’s one thing I know: had Nebraska won that game 44-21, nobody would be worried at all. At all. “21 points and 475 yards isn’t terrible. They’ve got some real play-makers. For the first game, that was pretty good.” But no. We watched a 5-minute implosion that nearly resulted in disaster and the narrative instantly became, “This defense is doomed! Fire Bo Pelini! Murder John Papuchis!”

And both narratives are flawed. It is September 3rd, and like Jon Snow in the midst of wildlings, we know nothing. We won’t after Southern Miss, either. And if you think we will after UCLA, you’re only partially right. We won’t know everything after Michigan, Michigan State or Iowa. We won’t know because this won’t be the same team in November that it is today. They will develop and transform - positively or negatively - at a rate that will outpace our ability to actually comprehend and analyze their talent level.

So why are we losing our minds over 5 bad minutes? For the same reason we would lose our mind over 5 good ones. We have a need to feel like we know, and we can’t get comfortable with the fact that we never really will.

Look, maybe those 5 minutes were a harbinger of bad things to come. And maybe they were the exception, and not the rule. The point is, you don’t know and I don’t know and, really, Bo Pelini doesn’t know. Urban Meyer wouldn’t know, nor would Nick Saban. And Lou Holtz would probably mistake Lil’ Red for a bounce house and accidentally kill himself.

So instead of pretending, let’s embrace our ignorance and try to just enjoy watching this team strive for a season we all deem “successful.” Let’s watch for good signs and bad signs and point those out without mistaking them for SURE SIGNS OF THINGS TO COME. How about we put away both the hatred and the handjobs all at once and try to just watch the team? Don’t foster the culture of negativity with your plzFireBoPeliniToday twitter handle and don’t create unreasonable expectations with your ImaniCrossIsMySpiritAnimal tumblr (I’ll take some blame for that one). That’s what the media (the s****y parts) sometimes do because they need clicks and eyeballs and ratings. But the fans don’t have to.

Because wherever you sit on the spectrum we all have one thing in common: we want this team to succeed. If you read this blog you love the Big Red as much as I do, which is a lot. I’m not trying to lecture here, but manufacturing storm clouds over Salt Creek & Stadium isn’t going to scare this team into greatness. They’re 18-22-year-old kids who are learning to play football while simultaneously learning to become not-s****y young men. Let’s assume the best until we really see the worst. And realize that “the worst” is not 5 bad minutes from a defense that had only played 50 minutes of football together. It’s also not two bad drives from an offensive coordinator and offensive line that had thus far racked up 375 yards of rushing. Let’s cheer those guys on and hope we motivate them to not let that happen again.

That’s what the Greatest Fans in College Football really do.

It was 5 minutes. Settle down.

We’re 1-0. Act like it.

Amen