+1
I'm going to talk about Michigan State; not in an attempt to invalidate what you said, but instead try and draw a parallel between the Spartans and Nebraska. Each program is different, composed of different players from different walks of life with different skill sets and mentalities. Each program also has a different set of coaches with different philosophies and mentalities and ways of interacting with fans, players, and media. Each program should be judged in a vacuum because all those differences make it hard to draw accurate comparisons. But we know that is not the case, the only way we can gauge our standing is in comparison to other teams.
Anyways, in 2013 Michigan State opened the year against Western Michigan, a team that managed 1 win in 2013. Their offense sputtered their way to 297 yards on their way to a 26-13 win that was more the product of their defense than their team. People surely thought they would be in trouble. Those fears weren't ameliorated after MSU's 21-6 win over USF, a team that won 2 games in 2013. The offense didn't change. The defense was fine--better than fine actually--as they carried Sparty to a 2-0 start. Remind me how Michigan state did last year. No, you don't have to, because they didn't fade away into oblivion. They won all but one game (and you could argue they should have won that game as there were many a questionable calls favoring ND) on their way to winning the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl.
There was cause for concern in East Lansing, but they survived those two games and figured it out along the way. Nebraska can, too. We are still 2-0, and everything this team wants to achieve is still achievable. Beating McNeese State didn't hurt our chances for anything, and good performances from here on out, especially @ Michigan State and @ Wisconsin will erase the nightmare that was this game.
Before you talk about how this has been a system of Pelini teams, let me remind you that being good but not great was a staple of Dantonio teams as well.
But we don't have to use a Dantonio team for comparison. Let's look at the 2010 Huskers, who played another FCS team, South Dakota State. That game was hard to watch. We ended up winning 17-3. The sky was falling. But we racked up some pretty big wins @Oklahoma State and against Missouri on our way to a Big XII championship game that we really shouldn't have lost.
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I don't have much to say to the rest of your post other than talking about Clinkscales and Stringfellow and the like of players who committed to Nebraska, but switched. Clinkscales switched to Kansas State; if I'm remembering correctly, he grew up in Kansas and has family in Kansas. The allure of playing for the home team, especially if they've had recent success like Kansas State has, is powerful; and there's not much Nebraska could ethically do to keep him here.
I bolded ethically because it speaks to the next recruit that Nebraska lost: Stringfellow. We lost DeMorea to Ole Miss, who despite no success in the SEC is all of a sudden pulling in these big recruiting classes. I'm going to stereotype here, and I'll apologize to the countless of athletes who aren't this way (they probably won't read this), but most don't give a damn about education and are more interested in all the free stuff (especially $$$) that they can get. Most don't care about tradition unless it's a tradition of getting free "unauthorized" stuff. Ole Miss, and most SEC schools for that matter, are doing stuff and it's somehow being swept and kept under the rug.
Oh, remember the whole idea that playing for your home team is a dream? Guess where all that talent calls home? Either the South or the West. I think we recruit the West well, but our options in the SE are limited to finding some diamonds in the rough because all the good talent goes to the SEC teams who literally treat their squads like NFL teams, cutting players in favor of better talent. I would be okay with that, if the SEC was in the NFL. But they aren't, and over-signing is something that should not happen. That is, however, the nature of the game today, and it's an adapt or die situation.
The only way we get the cream of the crop in SEC territory is if we offer more than what they're offering. I think we have the means to do just that, but that would be a breach of ethics that most of us would frown upon. So what are we to do? How are we to answer this dilemma?
They say winning heals all wounds. That's not always true. Just look at Ole Miss.
