Nebraska Football and the Obituaries

Hagg

Hagg

Starter
I get the feeling that the "nobody understands" generation is dying off.  People not from Nebraska would hear that in a conversation about how or why Nebraska football was so important.  "It's just that it's all you've got" said by the outsider was often met with "that's just part of it, there's something else and you'll never understand what that is."  

It seems uncanny how the trail-off in wins beginning after Dr. Tom left has been fairly steady, culminating in what now may be the first 3-win season since 1961 under Bill Jennings.  That steady decline in wins may be somewhat connected to the steady loss of a generation (or two) as they (we) age and die. 

It may not matter who the coaching staff is.  We're gradually losing that specialness that took us away from the realization that we're a sparsely populated state in the mid west that has just a college football team to believe in.  We love Nebraska football because we love Nebraska, but we're seeing Nebraska change as a state and we're seeing the Huskers change, too.  As a state we're being absorbed by out of state interests, etc, even politically, but that's a subject for a thread in a different area of the forums.  Just mentioning it because I do feel that a portion of Husker football woes has to do with the thinning out of what we call "Husker Power," as we see a couple of previous generations die off and their grandchildren playing football in ways that Tom Osborn and Bob Devaney would not have allowed. 

 
“...how or why Nebraska football was so important. ‘It's just that it's all you've got’ said by the outsider was often met with ‘that's just part of it, there's something else and you'll never understand what that is.’”

People outside of Nebraska just don’t think about Nebraska. Since football is America’s true game of choice, football gave the World a way to identify and think something of the State. And because the Huskers were GOOD for so long and had that yearly monster game matchup with the Sooners... people paid attention to Nebraska due to the football team. 

That answers for outside the State boundaries. But what about inside the lines of Nebraska? Why did this State come to love this team so much? That’s a different conversation. You can be good and still not become so beloved. There is something about the game of football and the acclaim that the Huskers brought to the State that came together and made the Huskers all members of people’s families. And once you’ve become part of the family it’s hard to ever find a reason to let you go. There is something about the teamwork and toughness of football that Nebraskans admire. Maybe it’s the rural farm culture at work here because teamwork and toughness is what family farming is all about.

“It seems uncanny how the trail-off in wins beginning after Dr. Tom left has been fairly steady...”

You’re only as good as your Leader. He (or she) sets the culture and tone and standards of an organization. And once that Leader goes, things will decline rapidly if you can’t find a replacement of the same high competence. Everyone has seen this in the business world with bosses and CEOs. It doesn’t take much to drive the highly-tuned machine right into the ditch if you don’t know what you’re doing.

“That steady decline in wins may be somewhat connected to the steady loss of a generation (or two) as they (we) age and die.”

What about Alabama (and others)? They went just the opposite way. They went from largely in the pack years ago to the top of the heap and have stayed there for a long time. They go through the same change of generations as everyone else and yet they (and others like Oklahoma) just keep staying on top of the World. It’s all about who is driving the bus and where are they driving it to.

“We're gradually losing that specialness that took us away from the realization that we're a sparsely populated state in the mid west that has just a college football team to believe in. We love Nebraska football because we love Nebraska, but we're seeing Nebraska change as a state and we're seeing the Huskers change, too.”

It may seem trite to say that ‘Everything has a Season’. Trite maybe, but also true. Nothing is promised to anyone. Success, especially. Teams and programs that used to be great (like USC, like Texas) have done nothing but struggle and can’t find their way back up the hill.

Nebraska has had success over the years that VERY FEW programs have ever had. Programs like an Illinois or Vanderbilt or Kansas or a hundred others would love to have had the success that the Huskers have had. They have to live with the mediocre legacies that most football programs already have that are not in the favored-program class of teams like the names on top we all know.

The old Huskers are never coming back. The move to the Big Ten has forever changed the trajectory of this team and program. Instead of the Huskers being a big dog in the Big 8, they are just another program in a league that will always favor the Michigan to Pennsylvania region. 

“... we see a couple of previous generations die off and their grandchildren playing football in ways that Tom Osborn and Bob Devaney would not have allowed.”

You made some very perceptive and valuable points. Younger Husker fans will not have such a perspective on how the program and State have changed because they only know the recent past.

Be thankful for what the Huskers have meant to you and the State and for all the great times they have given so many people over the years. 

 
Nebraska football is not dead, and never will be. Defeatist attitudes like this abound, and it's part of the overall problem. 

Husker football is nearly as old as the state of Nebraska. From the beginning, the Man-Eating Mastadons, Bugeaters, and finally, Cornhuskers were rough, tough, and a team of guys not to be trifled with. Even before the forward pass, Willa Cather herself was a huge fan, saying, 'You, Nebraska, can conquer!' 

There's FAR too much history in all of it, too much money and tradition to even MENTION an obituary. The record isn't good, but we honestly aren't far off. With better coaching, we'd have a respectable record. I'm not defending Frost, because he definitely seems in over his head. But it isn't like we're getting routed every week. It's literally a few plays. 

Nebraska football was beloved by this state because, yes, it's the main thing we have in this sparsely populated patch of flyover country. But they were big, strong, tough. They could take on nearly anyone. It was something to be proud of when we don't have much else. 

But it was more than that. It was the tough, ground-based offense. The smashmouth attitude that even impressed Brian Bosworth when he said, 'I liked playing Nebraska. They would line up and say, okay, let's see who's tougher.' It was the kids off the farm, from  small towns that happily signed on, and through the strength program, became monsters on the field. Even a few walk-ons that worked their way to the top, and would have these unknown places announced on national TV. It was the steady, run-after-run pounding that Devaney and Osborne guided, until eventually someone broke through for a big one. The opponents' will broken by the end of the 3rd quarter because they didn't have anything left in the tank to stand up to these behemoths pushing them around.

This may never happen again, and that's okay. But we DO need to get back to that hard-nosed, workman-like attitude that was emblematic of the state as a whole. Get an option coach that gets these kids to push the ball down the field through sheer will. We need to be unique, different, instead of the same as every other spread team that's beating us. 

We just want a bowl game at this point, and the fact that all the millions poured into this program can't even accomplish that is a colossal failure.  

 
We were dominant at a time when our program did things differently. We invested in facilities, strength and conditioning, and developed a walk-on program tha twas the envy of the nation. The rest of the country caught up and we didn't evolve. I think it's just that simple. While we sit and talk about how good we used to be...Alabama , Ohio State and others are busy BEING good. We cannot compete in recruiting because we have little to offer. Not anymore. Back in the day...sure. but not anymore. Expectations are too high. It's a mess.

 
Establish an identity, develop a strategy to support that identity, and then find personnel, both coach and player, who can implement.

Think of just how much football evolved in the time between 1968 (6-4) and 2002 (7-7).  During that 34 year span we consistently enjoyed 9 or more wins each season despite all of the changes taking place in the game.

Get the right coach and this program could be awakened...

 
hagg said:
I get the feeling that the "nobody understands" generation is dying off.  People not from Nebraska would hear that in a conversation about how or why Nebraska football was so important.  "It's just that it's all you've got" said by the outsider was often met with "that's just part of it, there's something else and you'll never understand what that is."  

It seems uncanny how the trail-off in wins beginning after Dr. Tom left has been fairly steady, culminating in what now may be the first 3-win season since 1961 under Bill Jennings.  That steady decline in wins may be somewhat connected to the steady loss of a generation (or two) as they (we) age and die. 

It may not matter who the coaching staff is.  We're gradually losing that specialness that took us away from the realization that we're a sparsely populated state in the mid west that has just a college football team to believe in.  We love Nebraska football because we love Nebraska, but we're seeing Nebraska change as a state and we're seeing the Huskers change, too.  As a state we're being absorbed by out of state interests, etc, even politically, but that's a subject for a thread in a different area of the forums.  Just mentioning it because I do feel that a portion of Husker football woes has to do with the thinning out of what we call "Husker Power," as we see a couple of previous generations die off and their grandchildren playing football in ways that Tom Osborn and Bob Devaney would not have allowed. 
Click to expand...
I think about it when I read the obits from my hometown. Most of the 50-100 year olds list being a lifelong Husker fan. maybe that’s also the cause of death. 

 
I don't know.  I honestly think this has something to do with the steady decline in the program.  If we as Nebraskans have claimed to be connected to and a part of the reasons for the greatness of the past, then we're also connected and are a part of the reasons for the decline. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
the program has been meh for 20 years after very high. old people dying off. Omaha and Lincoln aren't small cities anymore. lots of people not from Nebraska here. they dont give a s#!t about nebraska football. young people haven't seen success. the world changes and thats ok. 

 
hagg said:
I don't know.  I honestly think this has something to do with the steady decline in the program.  If we as Nebraskans have claimed to be connected to and a part of the reasons for the greatness of the past, then we're also connected and are a part of the reasons for the decline. 
Click to expand...
You're more right than you know. The 7-7 season wasn't great, but I think a lot of people were calling for Solich's head at that time. 9-3 in '03, and I think there were still people campaigning for a new coach. 

Same song and dance with Pelini. We booed pretty loudly at halftime of the Ohio State game in 2011, and Pelini was probably job-hunting after that. We weren't content with the 9-10 wins every year, and this is where we've ended up. 

 
Youre an idiot. People still care. I see 20 year olds with Husker gear in Mississippi. Im die hard Husker no matter what and im 26. Everyone I know from where I'm from is the same. Maybe our team just sucks, stop looking for some greater connection

 
Nebfanatic said:
Youre an idiot. People still care. I see 20 year olds with Husker gear in Mississippi. Im die hard Husker no matter what and im 26. Everyone I know from where I'm from is the same. Maybe our team just sucks, stop looking for some greater connection
Click to expand...


Reading comprehension is essential to productive dialog and to distancing yourself from appearing as an idiot.  Give it a shot.. it may take some time but I guarantee it's well worth the effort.

 It's not about people not caring.  Read the OP carefully;  it's about fewer people caring as deeply as decades ago.  It's gradually diminished along with the W vs L percentages. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
hagg said:
Reading comprehension is essential to productive dialog and to distancing yourself from appearing as an idiot.  Give it a shot.. it may take some time but I guarantee it's well worth the effort.

 It's not about people not caring.  Read the OP carefully;  it's about fewer people caring as deeply as decades ago.  It's gradually diminished along with the W vs L percentages. 
Click to expand...
And I think that idea is a load of crap myself but go on a big long rant about it all you'd like. Reading comprehension doesn't matter when you can't read past the 3rd sentence. I'm not going to read your novel if I don't agree with the premise.

That said, I should clarify. You are not an idiot and I apologize for saying so. The post however...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top