Husker Football Entering Precarious Period
- Thread starter Mavric
- Start date
SuperBigFan69
Head Coach
My buddy, a big Riley backer, says he is worried about a struggle to get 7-8 wins this year and a collapse in '18 resulting in Riley "retiring"
JJ Husker
Assistant Coach
I didn't read the whole article but I would agree with the writer in the OP snippet. I can't imagine there are many who would be okay with 7 or 8 or any lack of significant on field improvement. This year is vitally important to show that improvement and get the victories because it does get so much tougher beginning next season. That is when some patience with the W-L record may be required...if we're playing respectably.
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There is also a significant difference between a team that looks to be on the upswing and happens to only win 7 games and a team that is stuck in the mud and happens to pick up 9 wins. That first team may also win 10 or 11 games - we will wait and see. The team that was stuck in the mud lost 4 each year - we do know that.
For about 40 or 50 college teams that aren't in the top 10 or bottom 50 - there are going to be 4-6 games a year that are coin flips and some of those coin flips will come down to one play either being successful or not. Seems like for the long term it would be best to not get too fired up in either direction on those coin flips. Iowa and MSU are perfect examples of how a season can go good or bad by the smallest of margins.
Also a 7-8 season would be a disappointment, however doesn't mean it is time to light a match. Heck even a 9-10 win season could be disappointing depending on who the losses were to and how that outcome occurred.
For about 40 or 50 college teams that aren't in the top 10 or bottom 50 - there are going to be 4-6 games a year that are coin flips and some of those coin flips will come down to one play either being successful or not. Seems like for the long term it would be best to not get too fired up in either direction on those coin flips. Iowa and MSU are perfect examples of how a season can go good or bad by the smallest of margins.
Also a 7-8 season would be a disappointment, however doesn't mean it is time to light a match. Heck even a 9-10 win season could be disappointing depending on who the losses were to and how that outcome occurred.
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84HuskerLaw
All-Conference
After twenty years of too much "wait until next year' because we will be much improved, there is no doubt a real dose of reality setting in. I also think that a large block of the fan base has finally come to realize that a good head coach and staff don't come around easy and it will take time to rebuild what was lost many many seasons ago. At one point time, the great majority of fans were excited for Frank Solich and believed he could do the job. The same was true of Callahan although he never had the level of fan support that Frank had early on. Then of course Bo came along and he had a great deal of support by vast majority as well. But Riley has less of this early mass fan support than any coach since Osborne. But ironically, in many ways, I see Riley as much more like Osborne than any other coach in our lifetimes. The difference between Riley in year 3 and Osborne in year three is primarily that Tom inherited a national championship level program and Riley inherited a number 35 to 40 level program. Tom came into the Big 8 (which was actually the Big 2 / little 6) and Tom had the advantage of being able to "schedule" about 8 wins with at most a couple challengers in the non-conference and a couple in conference. A bowl win was always tough iF he won too many in the regular season but became easier in those 'down' years.
By comparison, Riley came into a very shaky program without critical depth and talent to compete in the nation's top conference with a number of very challenging opponents and the league has scheduled us in the disadvantaged positition more often than not to 'iniate' us into the league and put us in the back seat. We are having to pay our 'dues' and this decade long guantlet is quite different that the schedule Osborne had to cope with in the 70s.
I think these reasons, along with the fact that Riley is quite genuine and likeable and Husker fans are fatigued by the hire and fire merry go round that has not proved successrful in returning us to glory. The losing seasons were attrocious under Callahan and the tantrums and embarrassment of Pelini were as distasteful as any blowout embarrassing.
I think fans also understand that the talent gap is glaring and won't be fixed in a season or two. Now, Riley needs to make progress - over time - but he has a more tolerant fan base of support than Callahan or Pelini.
By comparison, Riley came into a very shaky program without critical depth and talent to compete in the nation's top conference with a number of very challenging opponents and the league has scheduled us in the disadvantaged positition more often than not to 'iniate' us into the league and put us in the back seat. We are having to pay our 'dues' and this decade long guantlet is quite different that the schedule Osborne had to cope with in the 70s.
I think these reasons, along with the fact that Riley is quite genuine and likeable and Husker fans are fatigued by the hire and fire merry go round that has not proved successrful in returning us to glory. The losing seasons were attrocious under Callahan and the tantrums and embarrassment of Pelini were as distasteful as any blowout embarrassing.
I think fans also understand that the talent gap is glaring and won't be fixed in a season or two. Now, Riley needs to make progress - over time - but he has a more tolerant fan base of support than Callahan or Pelini.
Dagerow
Special Teams Player
I guess your perception and my perception are two entirely different things. I don't see a team on the upswing. The next two years are not going great. (And despite the ranting of some, a 9 win season in not something to laugh at. It is an accomplishment and not easy. And I'm willing to beat that any of Bo's NU teams could beat any of Rileys).
NUance
Assistant Coach
Yeah. Especially when you consider that a lot of our 9 and 10 win seasons came back when we were only playing 11 or 12 games per year.
OTOH, the average team goes .500, right?* So it's pretty difficult to win 80% of your games year in and year out.
* Slightly more than .500, with FCS games in the mix.
It does look like our perceptions are different - which is fine. I based my perception on what i have seen over the last 2+ years. Based on your post you are basing yours on what you think will happen during the next 2 years (how can you say "the next two years are not going great"? we haven't played a single down in the first of those two years)
Nice idea to try to "bet" on something that can't actually happen.
So we are betting on hypotheticals and counting future predictions as facts.
Dagerow
Special Teams Player
Actually, my perception is not largely based upon what I think will happen in the future. It is primarily based upon what has happened, and how people's narrative had changed over time. You simply characterized the 9 win teams as stuck in the mud, and a 7 win team as on the upswing. I was simply responding to your post.
SuperBigFan69
Head Coach
The idea that 7 wins can be looked at as improvement ONLY makes sense if you are returning most of your team and especially at really important spots.
Now...why some posters won't face a few simple facts is sort of funny and sad. If this team wins 6 or 7 games it will mean that it will have had to have lost some combonation of games that includes, most likely, these teams:
OSU
PSU
Wisconsin
Now, that leaves 2 or 3 more losses. Which means those 2 or 3 more losses will come from:
NIU
Oregon
Iowa
Purdue
NW
Minny
Ark St
Rutgers
Illinois
So, the "7 wins can show progress" crowd would really be okay with 5...3 from the "obvious" list and 2 more from the lame list? Stop it...just stop.
Now, I can TOTALLY see Riley pulling a Riley...Losing to Oregon, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue and NW...but beating OSU and PSU and everyone creaming themselves.
Now...why some posters won't face a few simple facts is sort of funny and sad. If this team wins 6 or 7 games it will mean that it will have had to have lost some combonation of games that includes, most likely, these teams:
OSU
PSU
Wisconsin
Now, that leaves 2 or 3 more losses. Which means those 2 or 3 more losses will come from:
NIU
Oregon
Iowa
Purdue
NW
Minny
Ark St
Rutgers
Illinois
So, the "7 wins can show progress" crowd would really be okay with 5...3 from the "obvious" list and 2 more from the lame list? Stop it...just stop.
Now, I can TOTALLY see Riley pulling a Riley...Losing to Oregon, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue and NW...but beating OSU and PSU and everyone creaming themselves.
