Leaderboard

Were you at the game?

Drop the burrito on the floor, grind your heel into it, all while staring your coworker in the eye. Turn around and walk away.

@NUance has spent the last few years building up an immunity to cyanide precursor.

I mean ... we're in his top three with an in-state school that finished #2 in the country last year and a team that finished #10 after beating the previously-mentioned in-state school and the national champions. We were 4-8. All in all, I'm not going to be that picky.

That didn't take long. N

I keep hearing that year after year, but is Northwestern that "tough of a team". Hear me out. Northwestern has had good records and has beaten NU a number of times since NU has joined the Big Ten. But, I think those Nebraska losses were more due to coaching incompetence and mistakes. Northwestern is not going to "out-talent" Nebraska, or a lot of teams in the Big Ten. Where Northwestern wins games is by keeping the scores relatively close and counting on the other team to make a mistake, and capitalize on that mistake. The worst NU team in the past 60 years should have beaten Northwestern last year. NU was up by a TD with the ball in easy FG range. If Riley runs the ball up the middle 3 times, NU probably makes a FG and goes up by 10, and NU wins. I say all that because Nebraska has hired a coach which should be smart enough and have the team play better so Nebraska isn't giving away football games. There may be an adjustment period in 2018, and there may be mistake-filled games that happen once a year, but isn't this why NU hired Scott Frost? If Frost gets NU to the point where they are beating the teams NU should beat on a regular basis, that is the first step. The next step is winning the toss-up games more often than not, and NU is a championship contender.

My son was conceived at half time of the 1987 Oklahoma State game - does that count?

Funny how when you have a bad team your schedule looks really tough.

There just aren't enough +1's

To those thinking that's too much weight to gain in one offseason, you're probably right:

We wouldn't be the first team to fall asleep against NIU. Or this year's version: Troy. Maybe the hardest lesson is that Nebraska can no longer intimidate lesser programs based on reputation alone. We need to be the team playing balls out like an underdog.

I also agree. This schedule did (past tense) look "brutal" when viewed through the perspective of it being a Riley coached team. Now not so much. The only opponent I would call brutal is tOSU. Michigan, Wiscy and MSU are simply tough games. I wouldn't be near as worried about Michigan if it were later in the season or at home. And I don't care where we play Iowa, NW or Purdue, those are no longer brutal games. Riley & Co. had a knack for making every team on our schedule look brutal. Yes, I realize we will have a new QB and be learning new systems so there will be growing pains but I really feel the floor is 8 wins in our current situation with this schedule. I really am anticipating 9 wins. That is not to say I will be disappointed with fewer. I'll be happy as a pig in sh!t if we just play hard and have a coherent plan, which we do and will.

Was that 9-4 record because we had good players or because we played bad opponents? Nebraska's best win that year was against 9-4 Minnesota, whose SOS was 65th in the nation. We played seven teams with a winning record and went 3-4. The nine teams we beat had a combined record of 47-67. Against teams above .500 we were outscored 154-210, and got beat by two or more TDs three times. It's numbers like that that make me hesitate to get too giddy about wins & losses this year. I think everyone putting a number on wins is brave. It's hard to say what we'll see. All I'm expecting is more fight, different schemes, tons of procedural penalties, and some really fun football (at times).

This thread seems to have turned into a "what if....?" about the 1997 Huskers vs the 1997 Wolverines. And many people have noted that Michigan had the best scoring defense that season while NU had the best offense (both true statements), therefore setting up the "who wins? best defense or best offense?" argument. I think what gets lost in the 1997 NU vs Mich argument is this: Mich #1 scoring defense NU #8 scoring defense That's right...whenever the `97 Huskers vs the `97 Wolverines argument comes up, we don't hear much about NU's defense...a really good defense. Ask Peyton Manning. NU #1 scoring offense Mich #29 scoring offense Yes, that's right....NUMBER TWENTY-NINE....not good. So, yes Michigan had a great defense, but so did Nebraska...a top 10 defense. I think I might make the argument that since Nebraska played far fewer close games, NU's points allowed might even be slightly inflated by the fact that starters are out early in a lot of NU games, while Michigan HAD to keep their first team in due to close games. Michigan only managed to put up scores in the 20s in 9 of their 12 games, while Nebraska scored in the 30s or more 11 of 13 games (in the 40s three times, in the 50s three times, 69 once and 77 once). Michigan's three highest scoring games were against unranked Baylor (38 points), unranked Indiana (37 points) and a little more impressive Penn State who finished ranked #17 (34 points). Nebraska, on the other hand, scored 49 against that same Baylor team, 56 against a K-State team that was 11-1 and finished #8, and 42 against Tennessee who finished ranked #7. Even if Michigan could have held Nebraska under their scoring average (and that's a big if), how the hell would they ever beat Nebraska if THEY couldn't score? Look, if Peyton...effing...Manning couldn't score on Nebraska's defense, how the hell was Griese going to score on them?

I had this happen to me for about 9 or 10 years...food was constantly put on my plate without my expressed permission and I rarely had a say in what I was going to eat. Sometimes, get this, I was force fed and sometimes I was verbally threatened...I was told that if I didn't finish everything on my plate I would not get any snacks later. It sucked and I didn't know how to handle it so I just waited it out until I got to college. I just had to wait it out...Moms can really be tough.

I went through this a lot when I started my new job almost two years ago and it was a big cultural shift from my previous job - people here eat a lot of junk food, bring treats all the time and generally are less aware of their health. My advice is to stick to your guns, set the tone and, if necessary, be forcefully direct. One thing that stopped people from harassing me was they would see all the healthy food I brought for lunch and realized that I just wasn't going to partake in a lot of unhealthy eating habits. Another strategy is to just be up front and honest with them by saying something like - 'Healthy eating and watching what I eat right now is very important to my health, so it would really help me if you all respect these decisions and no longer try to get me to eat things I've repeatedly said I don't want to eat.' Last resort, head to HR. Hopefully it doesn't come to that but it may be necessary.

Most fun: 1992 Halloween game vs. Colorado. Both teams ranked #8, we hadn't beaten Colorado in three games and they were HUGELY c$%ky, and we just trounced them. Sleet/rain all night, cold, miserable conditions to watch a game, but the crowd was HYPED all game long. Most Satisfying: 1994 championship game vs. Miami. Loudest: 2011 Ohio State, 2015 Michigan State, 1992 Colorado... there's a lot of these. Most Disappointing: Too many to count. Best OT: 1997 Missouri. The Tiggers gained -3 yards and Nebraska wins, eventually winning the National Championship Eric Hagg saved that game. His break on the two-point conversion attempt was insane. The guy in the blue circle is the receiver. Look at the separation just after the snap. Hagg made up all that ground for the winning INT. Fantastic play.

I'll just focus on games I've been to, to help narrow down the choices! Most fun? 2008 Nebraska vs. Colorado. It was my freshman year at UNL. I remember being in the south stadium and going absolutely nuts when Henery nailed the 57-yarder. And then, amazingly, finding a way to go even more bonkers when Suh picked off Hawkins and then kneed him in the face on the way to the end zone. Most satisfying? 2006 Nebraska vs. Texas A&M. Admittedly, I was being the worst fan ever. I had turned off the game, gone to my room and sulked. Then, my mom calls me back into the living room because she said Nebraska is in scoring position. When Purify caught that touchdown, I jumped straight up in the air and both my hands went directly into the ceiling fan. Hurt like hell, but that ending was amazing. Loudest? This one is a bit more difficult. I remember '06 Texas being pretty loud, same with '08 Colorado and '09 Oklahoma. Most disappointing? 2009 Big 12 championship game Best OT? I don't remember many of these, but maybe 2010 Iowa State.

The plot can still be coherent.

According to what/who?

Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Captain America: Winter Solder and Black Panther disagree with you. Hell, 3/4 of the MCU disagrees with you.

i can't recall a season when i wasn't excited for football to start

I'd heard the story before. Still think it's kinda weird to carry it onto a sports field.

I don't remember being this excited for the football season to start in a long time. Even when we lose this season I am confident we will play hard and won't be hanging our heads on the sideline. It feels like everything has changed and we are slowly getting back to where we should be. I'm excited to read about the players, coaches, and even to see what silly alternate uniforms we might be wearing, LOL! Go Big Red!

I take this to mean he's gonna make it. Excellent news.

Most fun? Probably @ Baylor in 97' It was rainy and nasty so the stands were pretty empty, and that team was just unbelievable to watch. They were light lightning on that turf. They also let us on the field after and I got to jump up and slap Wistrom on the shoulder pad (I was like 12 at the time so he was taller than me). Everyone was huddled around Frost getting autographs but Wistrom was my idol at that time so I was floating. I did forget to put film in my camera though so I had quite a disappointing next day lol. Most satisfying? Probably the A&M comeback in '06 i think it was. We were way up in the nosebleeds and it was a pretty crappy game right up until the end. We got lucky enough to be in the perfect corner of the endzone for the purify catch. Loudest? Ive only made the trek up to Memorial stadium once and that was 2010 Missouri. I'm sure it wasnt the loudest game ever but those late game 3rd downs the crowd was going nuts. (A&M gets a close second on this one too. That place gets damn loud.) Most disappointing? '99 vs UT in Austin. The refs were letting them get away with an insane amount of holding, and I'm not sure if it was on Solich or Crouch but it felt like we had a delay of game or close to one every play on offense. The home fans were s#!tty all game and after. Lost all respect for UT fans after that game and even heard later they threw trash at our team as they were leaving. Best OT? Never been to and OT game in person but the closest was probably the Alamo Bowl vs Michigan. That ending was weird and way too close for comfort. Hopefully Frost instills that mentality of playing every play through till the end.

The 2017 game was the outlier as NW was the dominant team in the 1st half and should have had a bigger lead. Then they had some bonehead coaching moves in the 3rd quarter, including having Thorson try to throw the ball all over the field, leading to a NU pick 6. Fitzgerald's poor coaching day in 2017 was then let off the hook by Riley and Langsdorf with that 4th quarter INT.

I guess I'll answer the questions now. I'll stick to games I've been at in person. Most fun: Probably 2003 Oklahoma State. My first game in person. Most satisfying: 2007 Kansas State. Putting the throttle to KSUcks and Josh Freeman, and knowing that it was Callahan's last game. Loudest: A tie between 2006 Texas and 2013 Northwestern. In particular, Nate Swift to Marlon Lucky and the Hail Mary. Most disappointing: 2009 Iowa State. Holy hell, that was awful. Best OT: I've only been to two, so we'll say 2005 Iowa State by default.

I'm also at the point in my Husker fandom, after seeing the journey from Osborne thru Riley, that if Frost can't get the job done at Nebraska and restore us to glory (or at least respectability), then perhaps no one can. Too pessimistic? Probably. But from that standpoint, Scott Frost's plan MUST work. It's too good of a story not to. To quote Back to the Future Part 2: Marty: "What if we don't succeed?" Doc: "We must succeed."

I think you're right. I'm ready for a rough 2018, and will be pleasantly surprised if it's good. The guys have been in a poor coaching situation for three years, and Frost's regime has been here less than a year. I don't expect magic from these coaches, and I expect the guys to revert to old habits in critical situations. It'll be better in 2019, but the schedule is pretty rugged again.

True about the HC experience. But also 13 years assistant coaching and GA experience. Plus 5 years in the NFL. That's a lot of time spent around football. That said, I think there are a LOT of Husker fans who have unreasonable expectations about the rate at which SF will turn things around in Lincoln. Just sayin..

We've seen plenty of successful comic book/hero movies in the last decade or so that successfully blend entertainment and story. Nobody is expecting them to compete for Oscars, but there's a certain level of coherence we can and should expect based on recent standards.

Um.... What are these, then?

The numbers here are just plain sad. I made 30k or less in the early 90s when everything was much cheaper, and it still wasn't good https://www.business2community.com/us-news/half-of-americans-make-less-than-30000-per-year-01369249 These are some of the scarier numbers from the report: 38% made less than $20,000 last year 51% made less than $30,000 last year 62% made less than $40,000 last year 71% made less than $50,000 last year Read more at https://www.business2community.com/us-news/half-of-americans-make-less-than-30000-per-year-01369249 18 an hour times 40 hrs a week.is 37,440 yr which puts you a little above the norm, but with the cost of living these days its still basically existance wages. Again in the 90s 9- 11 dollars and hr was regarded as competitive wages. It really wasn't then and it certainly isn't now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/24/half-the-jobs-in-america-pay-under-18-an-hour-can-trump-hel another interesting read https://wallethacks.com/average-median-income-in-america/ I tried to find accurate recent stats on individual incomes , and it wasn't an easy task. Lots more info on household income, which i think can be a misleading stat. As the OP stated "income equality" isn't a cut and dry determination that we can really make, with all the variables involved. My opinion, based on life experience and some of this data is that there are a very large percentage of working people making barely livable wages, and a very small percentage making thousands of times more. Something is wrong with that.

When I heard Riley was fired, and Moos was hired . After Moos's first press conference.

2010 or 1994.

I can. While I don’t have the speed, agility, range, hands, general football IQ, being able to back pedal, and the fact I’m 28 , I feel I could compete with how our corners played last year.