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Steven M. Sipple: Eight wins is reasonable expectation for Huskers
He traveled the state in recent weeks meeting and greeting Nebraska fans, spreading good will and connecting with the football-starved masses.
But Bo Pelini didn’t actively attempt to gauge fans’ expectations for his team in 2008. Fan expectations are not his concern, he says. He wants to help fans understand what he’s trying to accomplish in his program. He wants fans to be proud of the program. He wants to create optimism and excitement.
As for measuring expectations, “I really can’t worry about that,” Pelini says flatly.
As for his own expectations, “I want to win them all,” he again says flatly.
That, of course, is the essence of Pelini. He’s confident, blunt and brutally honest. It’s refreshing and concerning all at once. It’s not always so much what he says as how he says it. But you get the feeling the first-year head coach believes at his core Nebraska really can “win them all,” no matter how preposterous an undefeated season sounds when discussing a team that finished 5-7 last season. Indeed, the Huskers played a level of defense that Big Red fans now avoid discussing as if it were a deep, dark family secret.
Predictions are hokey and meaningless and generally mindless. Predictions typically contain as much nutritional value as a batch of cotton candy. But those shiny preseason magazines, the ones containing predictions that help create fan expectations, have hit the newsstands.
Far be it for me to be above mindless predictions. So, here goes:
I’m solidly in the camp that says Nebraska will finish 8-4. I’m guessing the Huskers will wind up 4-4 in the Big 12, which last season would have been good for third in the North and South divisions. Given last season’s ugliness, I’m guessing Big Red fans could live happily with 8-4 and 4-4.
Nine wins and three losses probably would be a best-case scenario.
Seven and five would be acceptable.
Six and six would be a prelude to a brutally long winter of carping around water coolers.
Bottom line is, Nebraska fans want to see the Huskers be competitive in every game. Maybe that’s the most important thing — avoiding embarrassment. Big Red rolled over too many times last season. Rolling over is simply unacceptable unless you’re my dog Stitches.
The feeling I get is fans mostly want to see Nebraska show marked improvement in 2008 and get to a decent bowl game. Doing so would establish a nice foundation.
We broach the “expectations” discussion largely because of those glossy preseason magazines. Lindy’s and Athlon predict Nebraska will finish fourth in the Big 12 North. Phil Steele picks the Huskers to finish second in the division behind Missouri. However, Steele’s credibility diminishes greatly because he ranks NU’s defensive line among the top four in the league.
At any rate, offseason predictions and expectations for Nebraska seem surprisingly reasonable.
Bo ought to thank Bill for that.
The Nebraska program, under Bill Callahan, dipped to levels last season that Big Red fans couldn’t have imagined, even after finishes of 7-7 in 2002 and 5-6 in 2004. NU allowed Kansas to score 10 touchdowns last November. In 1996 — all of 1996 — the Huskers allowed seven touchdowns.
That’s why Nebraska’s first few games next season will be critical. You have to believe the Huskers’ confidence on defense is somewhat fragile. Pelini’s trademark swagger will help matters greatly. His confidence permeates the program. But his defenders need to see results on the field or else it might be, “Here we go again.”
Every bit of Pelini’s defensive know-how will be necessary in the nation’s highest-scoring league. Even Pelini admits he was “a little blown away” upon seeing the numbers Big 12 teams have been putting up.
Nebraska’s offense should be excellent, but it isn’t without significant challenges. The greatest might be replacing big-play wide receiver Maurice Purify. Former NU offensive coordinator Jay Norvell told me recently the Huskers never would’ve reached the Big 12 Championship Game in 2006 without the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Purify. Norvell always emphasized the value of having a game-changing receiver in a West Coast offense. Can NU recruit or develop a receiver to make plays like Purify did on third down and in the red zone?
The days of going 49-2 in a four-season stretch, as Nebraska did from 1994-97, seem increasingly unlikely considering the changing landscape in the college game. That’s a column for another day. For now, Big Red fans hold tightly to the belief that they soon will enjoy the lofty level of preseason expectations that exist nowadays at schools such as Southern Cal, Oklahoma and Louisiana State.
Of course, Pelini embraces such expectations, even if such expectations aren’t necessarily reasonable at Nebraska right now. If you listen to Pelini, you can’t help but believe such expectations at dear old NU will become reasonable soon enough.
“If they’re not reasonable, I don’t want to be here,” he says, confident as always.
He traveled the state in recent weeks meeting and greeting Nebraska fans, spreading good will and connecting with the football-starved masses.
But Bo Pelini didn’t actively attempt to gauge fans’ expectations for his team in 2008. Fan expectations are not his concern, he says. He wants to help fans understand what he’s trying to accomplish in his program. He wants fans to be proud of the program. He wants to create optimism and excitement.
As for measuring expectations, “I really can’t worry about that,” Pelini says flatly.
As for his own expectations, “I want to win them all,” he again says flatly.
That, of course, is the essence of Pelini. He’s confident, blunt and brutally honest. It’s refreshing and concerning all at once. It’s not always so much what he says as how he says it. But you get the feeling the first-year head coach believes at his core Nebraska really can “win them all,” no matter how preposterous an undefeated season sounds when discussing a team that finished 5-7 last season. Indeed, the Huskers played a level of defense that Big Red fans now avoid discussing as if it were a deep, dark family secret.
Predictions are hokey and meaningless and generally mindless. Predictions typically contain as much nutritional value as a batch of cotton candy. But those shiny preseason magazines, the ones containing predictions that help create fan expectations, have hit the newsstands.
Far be it for me to be above mindless predictions. So, here goes:
I’m solidly in the camp that says Nebraska will finish 8-4. I’m guessing the Huskers will wind up 4-4 in the Big 12, which last season would have been good for third in the North and South divisions. Given last season’s ugliness, I’m guessing Big Red fans could live happily with 8-4 and 4-4.
Nine wins and three losses probably would be a best-case scenario.
Seven and five would be acceptable.
Six and six would be a prelude to a brutally long winter of carping around water coolers.
Bottom line is, Nebraska fans want to see the Huskers be competitive in every game. Maybe that’s the most important thing — avoiding embarrassment. Big Red rolled over too many times last season. Rolling over is simply unacceptable unless you’re my dog Stitches.
The feeling I get is fans mostly want to see Nebraska show marked improvement in 2008 and get to a decent bowl game. Doing so would establish a nice foundation.
We broach the “expectations” discussion largely because of those glossy preseason magazines. Lindy’s and Athlon predict Nebraska will finish fourth in the Big 12 North. Phil Steele picks the Huskers to finish second in the division behind Missouri. However, Steele’s credibility diminishes greatly because he ranks NU’s defensive line among the top four in the league.
At any rate, offseason predictions and expectations for Nebraska seem surprisingly reasonable.
Bo ought to thank Bill for that.
The Nebraska program, under Bill Callahan, dipped to levels last season that Big Red fans couldn’t have imagined, even after finishes of 7-7 in 2002 and 5-6 in 2004. NU allowed Kansas to score 10 touchdowns last November. In 1996 — all of 1996 — the Huskers allowed seven touchdowns.
That’s why Nebraska’s first few games next season will be critical. You have to believe the Huskers’ confidence on defense is somewhat fragile. Pelini’s trademark swagger will help matters greatly. His confidence permeates the program. But his defenders need to see results on the field or else it might be, “Here we go again.”
Every bit of Pelini’s defensive know-how will be necessary in the nation’s highest-scoring league. Even Pelini admits he was “a little blown away” upon seeing the numbers Big 12 teams have been putting up.
Nebraska’s offense should be excellent, but it isn’t without significant challenges. The greatest might be replacing big-play wide receiver Maurice Purify. Former NU offensive coordinator Jay Norvell told me recently the Huskers never would’ve reached the Big 12 Championship Game in 2006 without the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Purify. Norvell always emphasized the value of having a game-changing receiver in a West Coast offense. Can NU recruit or develop a receiver to make plays like Purify did on third down and in the red zone?
The days of going 49-2 in a four-season stretch, as Nebraska did from 1994-97, seem increasingly unlikely considering the changing landscape in the college game. That’s a column for another day. For now, Big Red fans hold tightly to the belief that they soon will enjoy the lofty level of preseason expectations that exist nowadays at schools such as Southern Cal, Oklahoma and Louisiana State.
Of course, Pelini embraces such expectations, even if such expectations aren’t necessarily reasonable at Nebraska right now. If you listen to Pelini, you can’t help but believe such expectations at dear old NU will become reasonable soon enough.
“If they’re not reasonable, I don’t want to be here,” he says, confident as always.
