You guys probably don't want to hear excuses, but we have had a remarkable degree of adversity and uniquely challenging circumstances over the last six years. Callahan's (thankful) departure gutted that recruiting class and Bo came into the program as a first time HC. Tough transition, and learning through experience usually involves some scars. Bo molded that first team nicely, and frankly, that '08 team improved from game 1 to game 13 more than any other team I've seen. I was highly encouraged.
Then came '09. One of the most frustrating years I've ever experienced as a Nebraska fan, because our defense was championship caliber quality....we just beat the hell out people. We got pressure up the middle with a front four rush every time, never needed to blitz. Our special teams unit was incredibly strong as well, featuring the most accurate kicker in the history of cfb. The offense made me want to eat a bowl of broken glass every time they took a snap. If that offense had been average, we would have easily made a BCS game. That was the most futile, infuriating thing I've ever seen, zone read with Lee, loss/gain of one yard, false start, incomplete pass bouncing off of Niles...yeesh. Yet, Bo was figuring out the Big 12. We had a defense uniquely suited to counter-act the spread style of the conference.
2010 felt like a step back, even though we made the CCG again and really should have beaten Oklahoma. It was a feast or famine year offensively, Martinez either going for 80 or quick three-and-outs. The defense sagged, but when you lose a guy like Suh, that's going to happen. I've always thought Bo focused more on the offensive side of the ball that year, and the performance of the defense reflected that. (And that defense was still pretty damn solid. Just not as brutally dominant as they were the year prior.) Still, we won the (abysmal, granted) North. That whole year was one of near unprecedented awkwardness and bitterness. The league suspending our players, Beebe clearly poisonous towards our program, I mean, football is a hard enough game on its own. We had all kinds of additional BS to deal with. I don't put that on Bo or his staff.
And last year we joined a new conference. A conference that plays a markedly different style of football. Yes, football is football, and the goals and the rules don't change. But tell me you didn't watch those games last year and think "Jay-sus this is a physical conference." Bo structured his defense to eliminate the strengths of a pass happy spread, and Big 10 offenses are like the antithesis of the spread. (Except for Northwestern, of course. Who beat us. So figure that one out, because I still can't.)
I guess what I'm rambling towards is that we've had five years of extenuating circumstances that have added a trying element. Like I said, football is hard enough without the additional challenges we've faced for Bo's entire tenure. Adopting to the new conference is particularly tough. It takes awhile to formulate how you want to attack a specific style of offense, and at least a full season of play and spring and summer camps of practice to install the playbook. It takes reps and time for the players to gain familiarity with a system, a system we've had to make significant changes to due to the entirely different style of play we're encountering in the Big 10.
I'm patient, to a point. The SC bowl game left me very irritated. I pouted, bitched, said "I dunno about this guy." But I think he ought to get at least a bit of a reprieve for the conference realignment situation. I want to see consistency this year, and I sure as hell don't want to get embarrassed by Michigan again. I don't mobile quarterbacks to make us look likes pigs on roller skates...getting tired of that. But I still believe in Bo, and additionally, I think Beck will find his stride. That's all I've got. Sorry for the novel.
