Jump to content


pctopeka

Members
  • Posts

    484
  • Joined

  • Last visited

pctopeka's Achievements

Three-Star Recruit

Three-Star Recruit (4/21)

2

Reputation

  1. While I am very pleased with Nebraska's last several wins, I am haunted by the fact that Nebraska's players are never mentally and emotionally ready to play a football game, especially on the road. Penalties, turnovers, bad special teams...these are all symptoms of a team with a lack of focus, discipline and mental toughness. This is something that cannot be "turned on" at will, it has to be developed in the spring, throughout the summer and in fall camp. Nebraska's players simply never got the focus, never felt the hunger, never had the determination to dominate. They have consistently had more talent than the teams that they have played, and that is what has gotten them to this point. Ohio State was the exception...Ohio State has a similar level of athletic talent, and Nebraska's lack of focus, discipline and mental toughness caused them to be blown out. It is a real shame...if this team had the same focus as Kansas State or Northwestern, they would be unbeaten and unchallanged. I know that there will be some that point to the come from behind wins as a measure of mental toughness, but that is really more of a matter of superior athletic talent in those games (as well as more than a little luck). Hopefully, Nebraska's underclassmen will learn from this season and will really set their minds to 2013. They could be dominant. If they approach the season the same way they have 2011 and 2012, they will be anywhere from 5-7 to 10-2 depending upon the bounce of the ball.
  2. College and pro teams from around the country have come to Nebraska since the 70's to learn from Epley...Devaney invited Fairbanks from Oklahoma to see the program in 1970. The real problem may not be in the precise formulation of exercises, sets and reps...it may be in the effort expended by the players themselves. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. When will this bull sh#t end? Now we are incriminating the players? When does the witch hunt stop? Oh, come on...posters on here (including you) question the players all the time. The players themselves say that they should have "played harder" after a loss, Why could they have "played harder"? No one is being "incriminated", don't be overy dramatic. The last time I checked, the players are the ones that do the conditioning, are the ones that do the blocking and tackling, and they are the ones that ultimately are responsible for the way the team plays. It sounds like you want to give them a free pass... The fact of the matter is this. Nebraska has a mediocre football team this year, even though all signs pointed to the team being very good. It is apparent that the players are often not ready to play the game. During the game, there are many mental errors made. Preparing to play and making the proper decisions during the game is ultimately the players' responsibiity. If the players are not giving full effort preparing for and playing the gaime, what makes you think that they are giving full effort during conditioning?
  3. Not really...Crick gets a pass due to his pec tear during the season. But other Nebraska players have stunk on the bench at the combine, save Suh. Offensive linemen, in particular, emphsize the push of the bench press. The Nebraska players' scores in the explosive tests were really mediocre, too... Has Nebraska had an first team all-conference offensive lineman since Epley was shelved, let alone an All-American?
  4. College and pro teams from around the country have come to Nebraska since the 70's to learn from Epley...Devaney invited Fairbanks from Oklahoma to see the program in 1970. The real problem may not be in the precise formulation of exercises, sets and reps...it may be in the effort expended by the players themselves.
  5. This has been a thought plaguing me for a few years, and the debacles in the big games against good teams for the last couple of years made me think of it again...what has become of the Nebraska strength and conditioning program? For years, Nebraska had the premier strength and conditioning program in the nation under Boyd Epley. No team was better conditioned, no team was stronger player-for-player. Nebraska beat up and wore down other teams. Nebraska recruited a number of 2- and 3-star players who became physically dominant. The linemen were physically dominant and overpowered their opponents. All-Americans on the offensive and defensive lines were common... After Pederson and Callahan shelved Epley, there has been as steady decline in the physical prowess and strength of Nebraska's players. Players rarely seem to get physically better during their time at Nebraska. Injuries have seemed to increase in both their frequency and severity. Now Nebraska's players get pushed around by the opposing players. Even South Dakota State's offensive line blew open big holes a couple of years ago... The telling facts of this decline show up in the combine each year. Excluding Suh, who is not a human being, Nebraska's players consistently show poorly in the strength phase of the combine. For example, Nebraska's top NFL offensive line prospect last year, Marcel Jones, benched 225 a grand total of 13 reps. Hell, I'm 55 and still push 225 8-9 times! Lavonte David didn't do much better...Dennard didn't lift. Crick can be excused, as he had a torn pec. The players in the 2011 combine fared no better. Perhaps Nebraska should look to revamping the conditioning program, rather than looking at the head coach, coordinators or position coaches...
  6. What are my expections for Nebraska football? I would like Nebraska to have big, tough players that go out and work hard, expect to win games and lose very hard. I want players that refuse to get beat, who have a lot of pride. I want Nebraska's players to be the ones who intimidate by their play and presence, not the ones being intimidated. The wins and competing for championships will then take care of themselves...and the occasional losses will not be embarrassing.
  7. There are a number of posters who say that not wanting to schedule teams like LSU makes people whiners, or that they "hide behind their mother's skirts"... Nebraska's players seem to have fairly thin skins and fragile psyches as it is...a couple of good ass-kickings in the non-conference season with these types of players (and this is the type of players that Nebraska has seemed to have had since 2002), and we'll all get to enjoy a bunch of 2-10 or 3-9 seasons. Winning breeds winning, and losing breeds losing...and losing big breeds losing really big. Nebraska needs to show that they can win big games, expecially on the road, before we puff our chests out and schedule the non-conference big boys.
  8. LSU would beat Nebraska worse than Ohio State did...if that's possible.
  9. The circumstances are completely different...Callahan was arrogant and defiant, and I think Pelini is trying to figure out how to get these guys to play. Callahan had lost the team, where the players still seem to love Pelini. Let's face it...if we take off the scarlet and cream glasses, Nebraska is not a very good football team right now. They have talent on the team and a lot of potential. For the last two years, Nebraska has not come close to meeting that potential. I don't know if it is a lack of confidence, a lack of pride or a lack of desire. Pelini always preaches "execution", but the players do not "execute". They miss blocks, tackle poorly, make tons of mental mistakes and seem to be intimidated by Big Ten road games.Some on this board are still predicting a possible Big Ten championship, and some are even predicting a 10-2 record. I have watched every play of every game so far this year, and Nebraska wouldn't be able to win the MAC championship playing the way they do.. I started the year predicting a 11-1 or 10-2 record based upon the returning players and the reported team "unity". Now, unless the attitude of the team changes, I am afraid that a more realistic record may be 7-5 or 6-6. If Nebraska goes to Northwestern and loses, and especially if they get beat handily, this team may fall off the cliff. That, I am afraid, is the current state of the program. I hope that the bye week helps the fragile psyche of the team.
  10. Nebraska under Pelini has won some "big" games, but have also lost some "small" games. For the last two years, any road game has become a "big" game. Nebraska has looked exceedingly bad in most road games, especially in games against team with similar or better talent. Last year's game against Penn State really doesn't count...Penn State was in shock last year. Nebraska has talent. But for some reason, Nebraska's players are shook up, even intimidated, on the road. They make silly mistakes, commit stupid penalties, blow assignments, commit stupid turnovers...they are tight, nervous, perhaps even scared. The physical difference between Ohio State and Nebraska was slight, but the mental difference was vast. Ohio State players KNEW that they were going to beat Nebraska badly, and Nebraska's players gave in to that feeling. 63 points...think about that for a minute. I believe that OSU scored every time they had the ball in the second half. Simple running plays were impossible to stop. The last score was on a basic off-tackle run that the back wasn't touched on. Nebraska didn't merely lose, they were absolutely embarrassed and humiliated...and didn't seem that upset or surprised. Is it a lack of pride? Is it a lack of confidence? Or is it a lack of mental toughness...the kind of determination that makes competitive people refuse to be humiliated? At some point in time, the players have to step up and just get tough. Pelini can't play the game for them...he can"t go out and block and he can't go out and tackle.
  11. Been going to and watching Nebraska football since 1961...the 2002 team was the first Nebraska team that I ever saw get intimidated and actually give up during games. It was a scene repeated with regularity during 2004-2007. That changed from 2008-2010... That trend reared it's ugly head again last year and this year...
  12. This team could win all of it's games, with the proper attitude... That's my point...mistakes, penalties, turnovers, blown assignments, bad angles, etc. In the second half last night (just like at Wisconsin, Michigan and in the bowl game last year) you could see it in the players' eyes and faces. They were intimidated and shook up. The game was too big for them...THAT is why I say they lack mental toughness. Until that changes, the "big" games will always be too big for them. What was the last "big" game that Nebraska won away from Lincoln? Penn State last year doesn't count...their team was in shock and wasn't that strong to begin with. I don't know what the answer to this problem is, I wish I did.
  13. 10-2? Wow...I hope you're right. I really do... If you look closely, you'll see I said "on the road"...we'll see what happens in Chicago, East Lansing and Iowa City. We'll also see what happens when Denard Robinson comes to town...he's quicker and shiftier than Braxton Miller.
  14. Nebraska has speed. Nebraska has size. What Nebraska lacks is mental toughness, Nebraska lacks guts. Nebraska goes on the road, gets intimidated and panics. They reach for the reset button, but it's not a video game. There are a few tough players like Burkhead, but most are not. Unless the guys change their attitudes, this season could easily go to 7-5,-6-6 or even 5-7. That woulld be a real shame, as this group of players had the POTENTIAL to be unbeaten in the regular season...
  15. I guess that I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Drinking early? The same could be said about your post and thread I guess I assumed that people might be intelligent enough to have a discussion here. i guess that I was wrong. Have fun bitching about inconsequential, trivial things...
×
×
  • Create New...