When did I cry because Callahan was gone? I thought he should be fired for retaining dud coaches. What I am saying is watch the Texas, Washington, Iowa state, OU, A&M, Wisconsin, Northwestern games and tell me Nebraska is improving
I'll raise you this year's games against PSU, MSU, '10 and '09 Missouri, '09 Arizona, and '09 Oklahoma. All wins, all good teams.
Let's just go ahead and put the clamps down on this "We are Nebraska" B.S. that you and so many others talk about these days.
We are Nebraska, but that doesn't mean much of
anything in the scope of college football today. Everybody has athletes now unlike two decades ago. Coaching is far more sophisticated. Game film review is far more advanced. Schools that didn't have money are making more of it. Furthermore, we're in the middle of the U.S., subjected to frigid winters and stifling summers. We're not going to ever be able to recruit like the LSU's and Florida's of the world. We're just not. And inadvertently demanding that we should be better than everybody else just because we're Nebraska is naive and unfocused.
Second of all, go back and look at T.O.'s first years, and recall the fact that he was almost fired after the first several years of his coaching tenure. He took over a championship winning team, had big wins, had bad foul ups and could never beat Oklahoma. I'm sure you're glad we held onto him, aren't you?
you will raise me PSU this year? Seriously? A team that not only lost their head coach and Programs 50 year mascot but played for a program most of the Nation saw as child raping enablers? I bet those practices were really focused and the preparation was top notch. It would be like being a boxer that KOed another boxer that just got hit by a truck. Zona? Really, as in the Mike Stoops was fired for being terrible Zona? I could possibly give you that weak OU team but thats digging. This years MSU is and always be MSU. Great win for sure but touting a win against Michigan state and using that as an argument to counter our completely horrid losses against Texas , Northwestern, Iowa State and other sludge teams AT Home come off WAY more ridiculous than stating " We are Nebraska"
Trust me I understand we aren't the Nebraska Brand we were in 97, not even close. I do doubt recruits are fighting to get here but if you can't build off of N'Suh and our amazing secondary and produce anything other than this years defense, there's issues. Being in the top 10 all-time wins does the same thing for recruiting it does for Michigan, tOSU, Notre Dame, that are in a lot colder regions than Lincoln will ever be. So you're say there is no "We are Nebraska" and basically the same as Hawaii as a brand except Hawaii gets better recruits because of the weather? There is a Brand and tradition that constitutes not having linemen on both sides of the ball not being manhandled by Div 2 teams IMHO
This diatribe is becoming useless, but lets break this down into segments.
First, PSU has a Top 10 defense (scoring and total yards). Regardless of extenuating factors, they're a good defensive football team. Second, I'm failing to see your point about Stoops. Things didn't pan out for him, but that '09 Arizona squad came within a field goal in double overtime of defeating then #11 ranked Oregon. They also beat #18 ranked USC 21-17 before the Holiday Bowl, finishing the season at 8-5. Great football team? No. Good football team? Yes.
Your MSU comment is just as naive as your "We Are Nebraska" diatribe and the overtly/not-so-well-concealed pessimism in your name. MSU has a good squad that beat both Michigan (a team favored against us this weekend at home) and Wisconsin (a team we failed to beat). "This years MSU is and always be MSU." Really? It's quite obvious you're putting Nebraska on a pedestal here, yet you seem to be inadvertently saying that we're bad? Your clarity is poor here.
Your final paragraph perfectly exemplifies the issue many people on this board simply don't comprehend - football is different today than it was 20 years ago. You say you understand, yet you think we should be able to build off one of the best defenses in '09 two years later? Players leave and coaches leave. In today's game, it's near
impossible to reload every year, especially with scholarship limits. You're going to have down years. Remember how everybody wanted to fire LSU's Les Miles a couple of years ago, and now all of a sudden he's God down there again? That was coming off of a championship season. This should be more than enough evidence to you that fans can be completely full of themselves and completely unrealistic about today's college football.
Lastly, ND and Michigan are more tradition rich programs than we. tOSU is almost geographically similar to Nebraska on a map - their winters are no different, but they're right in the middle of a fantastic recruiting hot bed and are one of "the" premiere programs in the country. Maybe not today, but they were the last several years. Nebraska hasn't been there since the late 90's and early 2000's. You misunderstand me. We're better than Hawaii and we do have a tradition of excellence here
. However, recruits are going to a lot of different places now and recruiting is tougher today than it ever has been. As far as the lines are concerned, I'll be the first one to tell you I believe Cotton is the sole reason our offensive line isn't consistent. Defensively, we're undersized and undermanned right now. We're transitioning from a new conference where size wasn't as big of a deal. What more does your unrealistic and over-demanding world want from Nebraska?
