BYU

[lo country]

Doesn't matter the opponent. Losing on opening day and ending that streak would create a melt down of epic proportion. The Bo crowd will be out in full force. Those questioning the Riley hire will draw first blood with the whole "splash hire" .504 winning etc.....some supporters will go into the same tired (insert past 3 coaches here) new system, new staff, BYU, was more ready etc.....

 

Anything less than a solid win sets things up for a long season and splits the board and fan base immediately. Nothing will solidify faster than seeing solid play and a win....

[BigRedBuster]

First of all, this "Bo crowd" is extremely small in the fan base now. I honestly can't even remember the last time I had a conversation in real life or on this board with a group of people pissed off that Bo was fired and that think he should still be here.

 

Second, if losing one game at the very beginning of a coaching change creates this much "sh*tstorm" there is something seriously wrong with the fans who are in the middle of the "sh*tstorm". Get real.

 

One game is not going to define the season or Riley's tenure here no matter if it is the first game or the tenth game.

[Saunders]

 

 

I will legit not be surprised if we go .500 next year, including an opening-day loss to BYU. Everything is up in the air. We have no idea what Riley is going to be able to do with this team.

 

 

BYU is going to come into this game with a huge chip on their shoulders, playing for their suspended teammates, all fired up to beat Nebraska in Lincoln & break that winning streak. They'll be running the same system they've always run, with players recruited to run that system, and they'll have their big-game quarterback.

 

Meanwhile, we're breaking in a new system, we got nothing to prove against a mid-level team like BYU, and we're going to be trying to figure out how to replace a super-stud RB.

 

If we win it'll be a testament to our better athletes, or Riley & Co. being damned good coaches, or BYU just having a bad game or bad breaks in the game.

yup, i see us not ready for this game........but hoping for 7-5 season.

 

That seems a bit pessimistic.

 

I'm expecting a minimum of 9 wins, no excuses.

[Saunders]

First of all, this "Bo crowd" is extremely small in the fan base now. I honestly can't even remember the last time I had a conversation in real life or on this board with a group of people pissed off that Bo was fired and that think he should still be here.

 

Second, if losing one game at the very beginning of a coaching change creates this much "sh*tstorm" there is something seriously wrong with the fans who are in the middle of the "sh*tstorm". Get real.

 

One game is not going to define the season or Riley's tenure here no matter if it is the first game or the tenth game.

I'd agree with that. But I think the national perception will be "they fired a guy who wins 9 games for this?" almost immediately. And it would stick all season long barring a title. The schedule isn't that hard, and we get the best teams at home. Anything less than 9 regular season wins is a massive failure.

 

I want Nebraska to be relevant on the national stage again. Look at the amount of attention Michigan and Harbaugh have gotten compared to Riley at Nebraska. Not even comparable. I have faith that Mike can do it, but he needs to prove it.

[BigRedBuster]

 

First of all, this "Bo crowd" is extremely small in the fan base now. I honestly can't even remember the last time I had a conversation in real life or on this board with a group of people pissed off that Bo was fired and that think he should still be here.

 

Second, if losing one game at the very beginning of a coaching change creates this much "sh*tstorm" there is something seriously wrong with the fans who are in the middle of the "sh*tstorm". Get real.

 

One game is not going to define the season or Riley's tenure here no matter if it is the first game or the tenth game.

I'd agree with that. But I think the national perception will be "they fired a guy who wins 9 games for this?" almost immediately. And it would stick all season long barring a title. The schedule isn't that hard, and we get the best teams at home. Anything less than 9 regular season wins is a massive failure.

 

I want Nebraska to be relevant on the national stage again. Look at the amount of attention Michigan and Harbaugh have gotten compared to Riley at Nebraska. Not even comparable. I have faith that Mike can do it, but he needs to prove it.

 

He needs to prove it and I don't expect anything less than 9 wins either. That isn't an ultimatum type statement. It's simply the fact that I think we can be that good. These players know how to play football. The O line isn't as bad as some make it out to be. The QB situation isn't as bad as some make it out to be. The defense isn't as bad as some make it out to be...etc. Now, if that doesn't happen, rational people will look at the season at the end of the season and decide if Riley was a complete failure or if it was a result of things out of his control.

 

One point in my comments above is that I'm sitting here reading this thread about what a sh*tstorm this will cause because of all these people who still support Bo....bla bla bla....and thinking....Hmmm....the only ones I see getting all worked up are people who are claiming all these "Believers" are going to cause such problems. It just seems like in a thread in March with snow on the ground, people are getting awfully worked up about a game that we may or may not lose.

 

As for national perception, I really don't give a sh#t as it pertains to losing one game. If we lose this game then go on and win 9, 10, 11 games it won't mean squat. If we win 7-8 games, people might question something but it's not going to be this all out bashing and gnashing of teeth on everything Nebraska. If we win less than 7, the discussion will get more nasty with every loss. But, that would happen even if Bo was still here and it should be way worse in that case than in the first year of a new head coach.

 

The frustration for me is that it's like ever since Bo was fired, there is a large number of people who seem to now be extremely negative and exaggerate question marks on the team to make various players or units out to be totally worthless and incompetent. They are neither. There is improvement that is capable of happening and it's needed. Simple as that.

 

Losing one game at the beginning of the season doesn't mean a good coaching staff can't correct problems and improve the team as the season goes.

[RunMickeyRun02]

I was born in 1981, the first game of my life was an opening game loss to Iowa. My brother and only sibling was born 4 years later, the first game of his life an opening week loss to Florida State. No opening week losses since then,...until.........

 

My first child is due in July, the BYU game will be the first of her life.....

[Hunter94]

 

 

 

I will legit not be surprised if we go .500 next year, including an opening-day loss to BYU. Everything is up in the air. We have no idea what Riley is going to be able to do with this team.

 

 

BYU is going to come into this game with a huge chip on their shoulders, playing for their suspended teammates, all fired up to beat Nebraska in Lincoln & break that winning streak. They'll be running the same system they've always run, with players recruited to run that system, and they'll have their big-game quarterback.

 

Meanwhile, we're breaking in a new system, we got nothing to prove against a mid-level team like BYU, and we're going to be trying to figure out how to replace a super-stud RB.

 

If we win it'll be a testament to our better athletes, or Riley & Co. being damned good coaches, or BYU just having a bad game or bad breaks in the game.

yup, i see us not ready for this game........but hoping for 7-5 season.

 

That seems a bit pessimistic.

 

I'm expecting a minimum of 9 wins, no excuses.

 

i hope you guys are correct, but i am really concerned with our O line and no Abdullah......hope we can overcome those concerns.

[commando]

I was born in 1981, the first game of my life was an opening game loss to Iowa. My brother and only sibling was born 4 years later, the first game of his life an opening week loss to Florida State. No opening week losses since then,...until.........

 

My first child is due in July, the BYU game will be the first of her life.....

if that pattern holds...we can expect 3 titles in a 4 year stretch about 15 years from now.

[wildman]

Doesn't matter the opponent. Losing on opening day and ending that streak would create a melt down of epic proportion. The Bo crowd will be out in full force. Those questioning the Riley hire will draw first blood with the whole "splash hire" .504 winning etc.....some supporters will go into the same tired (insert past 3 coaches here) new system, new staff, BYU, was more ready etc.....

 

Anything less than a solid win sets things up for a long season and splits the board and fan base immediately. Nothing will solidify faster than seeing solid play and a win....

 

If we get beat bad yes I agree that would start a lot of bickering and split the fan base. But if we come out play hard for 4 quarters, gave it everything we had and only lost by 10 pts or less. Mean while not having any of the typical Bo moments of blowing up at fans, media, players or refs. Unnecessary penalties like slinging your hat at a ref. Stupid play calling or all of the false starts we've seen with the previous coaching staff. Would that you think that would still split the fans? I don't think it would. We would still have the Bolievers come out and make comments. I don't think any result in the BYU game or maybe the entire season would stop that.

[BaytownHusker]

Lets see, new offense, unbalanced position alignment, poor tackling, undisciplined O-Line & dough boy syndrome. This is just a few issues and this is supposed to be fixed in 6 months?

 

Yes thats why he was brought here with a whole new staff.

[zoogs]

It will demonstrate nothing but irrationality if fans are less forgiving of a meaningless record broken in game 1 of a transition in scheme on both sides of the ball as well as program culture, than they are of 408 rushing yards and a 3rd in division team not trending upwards in year seven.

 

That "Bo" crowd has to be imaginary, at this point. Right?

[Hunter94]

just remember guys, a whole new system is being installed this spring........no one has the experience playing in Riley's system so we would be foolish to think there won't be a significant learning curve........x2 for these kids and what they need to learn and execute......as long as we see a methodical march to improvement, realistically, that should really be enough. 7-5 or 8-4 would be very good, indeed.

[RunMickeyRun02]

 

I was born in 1981, the first game of my life was an opening game loss to Iowa. My brother and only sibling was born 4 years later, the first game of his life an opening week loss to Florida State. No opening week losses since then,...until.........

 

My first child is due in July, the BYU game will be the first of her life.....

if that pattern holds...we can expect 3 titles in a 4 year stretch about 15 years from now.

 

That's a very positive way of looking at it :-)

[admo]

NUance is right...a loss in the first game would be a freaking mess

 

1. Bo lovers would go bonkers and tell us how much of a mistake it was hiring Riley

2. Riley lovers would pretend like everything is okay and that its just one game

3. Bickering all the time

With sports and college football, that's just the nature of the beast.

 

If the Huskers were to win the division and play for a conference championship, the non-conf results will not mean as much in hindsight. Even if they come out 2 and 2.

 

Looking at the schedule I can very well see 2-2 with the previous staff with the same ol' questions. With the new staff, I am more optimistic. There will be new questions.

[Haspula]

Who the hell put BYU as a first game?