HuskerfaninOkieland
Heisman Trophy Winner
Didn't see this posted anywhere yet
What it means to be "Back"
What It Means to Be 'Back'
Commentary: With 2009 success comes pressure and expectation in 2010
by Samuel McKewon
January 03, 2010
“Nebraska is back and we’re here to stay.”
-Bo Pelini, after NU’s 33-0 win in the Holiday Bowl
Just in case you presume he hasn’t been listening to the media during the last two years. Just in case you think his offhand, almost dismissive air regarding questions of the Cornhuskers’ place in college football was an accurate inventory of his actual thoughts.
Bo Pelini was paying attention all along. He didn’t have an ear to the ground. He didn’t have a finger in the air. But he was listening. And waiting.
He just didn’t want to address it until his team had earned it. The Holiday Bowl, with NU’s muscular, thorough thumping of a lean, brittle and careless Arizona team, merely confirmed what Pelini sensed weeks before: The Huskers, at least on defense - where it counts most - had figured it out. Like a chess shark in Central Park - or Robert Downey’s character in “Sherlock Holmes” - Bo, Carl and crew had predicted the moves in advance, swamping the Wildcats with an unusual approach - max pressure coverage with a occasionally (just slightly) delayed four-man rush - until Arizona tipped over its king onto the board.
Really, Nebraska was “back,” in terms of notoriety, somewhere in the first quarter of Big 12 Championship, when the Blackshirts slugged Texas quarterback Colt McCoy for a couple picks and a couple sacks.
When the burnt orange blushed red, and UT’s haughty fans assembled in the gaudy palace of Cowboys Stadium squirmed in their seats and delayed that trip to the concession stands.
When America - its sportswriters, punditocracy and casual fans on a Saturday night - settled into their couches and decided they had to see this, a team with one arm tied behind its back, whaling away at an armored truck of talent - and winning!
WKRP Cincy, that close to a trip to Pasadena!
Until a combination of bonehead errors and controversial calls - so reminiscent of the 1994 Orange Bowl that I half expected Bobby Bowden had taken Mack Brown’s place as UT coach - sunk NU’s chance at victory.
But not its confidence. Clearly not.
Pelini spent the last two weeks chuffed and fired up like one of Flannery O’Connor’s characters set for the inevitable fall - it seems ill-timed at best, doomed to punchline at worst - only Nebraska fulfilled his words and more. It’s fun to be wrong when 33-0 is the result.
When a coach has that kind of read on his team, when they’re that positively in sync - that’s a scary thing. I recalled Florida’s unusual certitude before the 2007 BCS title game, USC’s certitude before just about any bowl game, and Nebraska’s certitude after the 1994 Orange Bowl for, oh, the next six years or so. Like Alexander’s army before they hit India.
Is there an India out there for NU in 2010? I suppose, after 33-0, we chew on a modified version of that question for eight months now:
Can Nebraska, with all the variables happily lining up next year, pull off a natty champ in Bo’s third year? Damn straight.
One cannot help but look forward. In the Big 12, Texas takes a step back. Has to, right? Oklahoma State does, too. Oklahoma must replenish a big chunk of that defense. Texas Tech looked like a foil until Mike Leach let his ego get him fired. Missouri visits Lincoln with a spread offense that can’t score inside the 20-yard line. The biggest road games - Washington, Texas A&M, Kansas State - seem eminently manageable.
Nationally, Alabama will be there. Florida won’t. USC has an offensive line to rebuild. Oregon is a myth. Ohio State is probably the truth, with Terrelle Pryor finally beginning to tap the deepest veins of his remarkable talent. Boise could be preseason top 5. TCU will put in its two cents. Virginia Tech again. Watch for Clemson, even without C.J. Spiller.
But all of it lines up right, you know? That 2010 will not be 2008 or 2004, when there were four or five teams worthy of the national title. Winning the Big 12 crown, of course, remains at the top of the list. But, as new Kansas coach Turner Gill so sagely pointed out a few weeks ago: You win the Big 12, and you’re usually right there for the national title hunt. In 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009 that was true. Had Missouri beaten Oklahoma in the 2007 Big 12 Championship, it would have been true there, as well. In 2006, OU was a ripoff loss to Oregon away from supplanting Florida in the 2007 BCS title game.
Even if NU loses in Seattle, the real game is afoot in October and November. Shoot the moon there, and every significant goal is intact for Dallas 2010.
What we’ll examine over the next couple days: How the Huskers get there, and what questions need to be answered - first in the offseason, then in spring ball - to achieve it.
Because there’s the pressure of expectation now. That’s what 33-0 does. The problem with playing your best football - or close to it - is that fans, pundits, coaches and players have now seen what it looks like to execute at an elite standard. Anything below it elicits tougher questions, more fingers, harder decisions, and even more pressure.
Bo knows so much - and he must also know that, now, in declaring “Nebraska’s back” on the podium in San Diego, he’s marked his words.
Because Husker fans know what “back” looks like. They lived the 1990s.
“Back” is dominating the Big 12 and playing in the BCS. It’s been 10 years since NU won a league crown. Eight since it played in the BCS.
“Back” is winning big non-conference games on the road. How long has it been? Pittsburgh in 2004? Notre Dame in 2000?
“Back” is maintaining the defensive excellence Pelini developed over two years.
“Back” is having an enviable offense that punishes and challenges most defenses.
“Back” is having top-flight kicker and punter (Consider that done.)
“Back” is recruiting the six states surrounding Nebraska like a fiend, with a supplement of big-timne talent from Texas, California and elsewhere, as needed.
“Back” is signing the quarterback you want - not the quarterback you’re left with.
NU’s commander-in-chief has completed most of the major combat operations in restructuring the Huskers to his brand of attitude, work ethic and athleticism.
Now it’s time to stomp out the fires in Fallujah. Beat Texas. Win the Big 12. Storm the doors in Scottsdale.
The 2009 Holiday Bowl wasn’t the end of anything. It’s only the beginning of one dramatic season - for good or ill - to come.
What it means to be "Back"
What It Means to Be 'Back'
Commentary: With 2009 success comes pressure and expectation in 2010
by Samuel McKewon
January 03, 2010
“Nebraska is back and we’re here to stay.”
-Bo Pelini, after NU’s 33-0 win in the Holiday Bowl
Just in case you presume he hasn’t been listening to the media during the last two years. Just in case you think his offhand, almost dismissive air regarding questions of the Cornhuskers’ place in college football was an accurate inventory of his actual thoughts.
Bo Pelini was paying attention all along. He didn’t have an ear to the ground. He didn’t have a finger in the air. But he was listening. And waiting.
He just didn’t want to address it until his team had earned it. The Holiday Bowl, with NU’s muscular, thorough thumping of a lean, brittle and careless Arizona team, merely confirmed what Pelini sensed weeks before: The Huskers, at least on defense - where it counts most - had figured it out. Like a chess shark in Central Park - or Robert Downey’s character in “Sherlock Holmes” - Bo, Carl and crew had predicted the moves in advance, swamping the Wildcats with an unusual approach - max pressure coverage with a occasionally (just slightly) delayed four-man rush - until Arizona tipped over its king onto the board.
Really, Nebraska was “back,” in terms of notoriety, somewhere in the first quarter of Big 12 Championship, when the Blackshirts slugged Texas quarterback Colt McCoy for a couple picks and a couple sacks.
When the burnt orange blushed red, and UT’s haughty fans assembled in the gaudy palace of Cowboys Stadium squirmed in their seats and delayed that trip to the concession stands.
When America - its sportswriters, punditocracy and casual fans on a Saturday night - settled into their couches and decided they had to see this, a team with one arm tied behind its back, whaling away at an armored truck of talent - and winning!
WKRP Cincy, that close to a trip to Pasadena!
Until a combination of bonehead errors and controversial calls - so reminiscent of the 1994 Orange Bowl that I half expected Bobby Bowden had taken Mack Brown’s place as UT coach - sunk NU’s chance at victory.
But not its confidence. Clearly not.
Pelini spent the last two weeks chuffed and fired up like one of Flannery O’Connor’s characters set for the inevitable fall - it seems ill-timed at best, doomed to punchline at worst - only Nebraska fulfilled his words and more. It’s fun to be wrong when 33-0 is the result.
When a coach has that kind of read on his team, when they’re that positively in sync - that’s a scary thing. I recalled Florida’s unusual certitude before the 2007 BCS title game, USC’s certitude before just about any bowl game, and Nebraska’s certitude after the 1994 Orange Bowl for, oh, the next six years or so. Like Alexander’s army before they hit India.
Is there an India out there for NU in 2010? I suppose, after 33-0, we chew on a modified version of that question for eight months now:
Can Nebraska, with all the variables happily lining up next year, pull off a natty champ in Bo’s third year? Damn straight.
One cannot help but look forward. In the Big 12, Texas takes a step back. Has to, right? Oklahoma State does, too. Oklahoma must replenish a big chunk of that defense. Texas Tech looked like a foil until Mike Leach let his ego get him fired. Missouri visits Lincoln with a spread offense that can’t score inside the 20-yard line. The biggest road games - Washington, Texas A&M, Kansas State - seem eminently manageable.
Nationally, Alabama will be there. Florida won’t. USC has an offensive line to rebuild. Oregon is a myth. Ohio State is probably the truth, with Terrelle Pryor finally beginning to tap the deepest veins of his remarkable talent. Boise could be preseason top 5. TCU will put in its two cents. Virginia Tech again. Watch for Clemson, even without C.J. Spiller.
But all of it lines up right, you know? That 2010 will not be 2008 or 2004, when there were four or five teams worthy of the national title. Winning the Big 12 crown, of course, remains at the top of the list. But, as new Kansas coach Turner Gill so sagely pointed out a few weeks ago: You win the Big 12, and you’re usually right there for the national title hunt. In 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009 that was true. Had Missouri beaten Oklahoma in the 2007 Big 12 Championship, it would have been true there, as well. In 2006, OU was a ripoff loss to Oregon away from supplanting Florida in the 2007 BCS title game.
Even if NU loses in Seattle, the real game is afoot in October and November. Shoot the moon there, and every significant goal is intact for Dallas 2010.
What we’ll examine over the next couple days: How the Huskers get there, and what questions need to be answered - first in the offseason, then in spring ball - to achieve it.
Because there’s the pressure of expectation now. That’s what 33-0 does. The problem with playing your best football - or close to it - is that fans, pundits, coaches and players have now seen what it looks like to execute at an elite standard. Anything below it elicits tougher questions, more fingers, harder decisions, and even more pressure.
Bo knows so much - and he must also know that, now, in declaring “Nebraska’s back” on the podium in San Diego, he’s marked his words.
Because Husker fans know what “back” looks like. They lived the 1990s.
“Back” is dominating the Big 12 and playing in the BCS. It’s been 10 years since NU won a league crown. Eight since it played in the BCS.
“Back” is winning big non-conference games on the road. How long has it been? Pittsburgh in 2004? Notre Dame in 2000?
“Back” is maintaining the defensive excellence Pelini developed over two years.
“Back” is having an enviable offense that punishes and challenges most defenses.
“Back” is having top-flight kicker and punter (Consider that done.)
“Back” is recruiting the six states surrounding Nebraska like a fiend, with a supplement of big-timne talent from Texas, California and elsewhere, as needed.
“Back” is signing the quarterback you want - not the quarterback you’re left with.
NU’s commander-in-chief has completed most of the major combat operations in restructuring the Huskers to his brand of attitude, work ethic and athleticism.
Now it’s time to stomp out the fires in Fallujah. Beat Texas. Win the Big 12. Storm the doors in Scottsdale.
The 2009 Holiday Bowl wasn’t the end of anything. It’s only the beginning of one dramatic season - for good or ill - to come.
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ower :hookerhorns :koolaid2: :corndance 
