Stickney

I'd like to see more Heard. I hope Cross develops, but I think he should have redshirted. If Heard is in the doghouse, well, for a guy who fought academically to get to NU and then switched to DB and back, I'd like to think he gets some leniency.

What difference does it make if Stein landed on him or not?

Fitz Touissant killed NU last year. Run the ball. Stop the run. Intercept D-Rob's floaters. Tackle.

Hitting is overrated. Tackling is underrated.

Until NU demonstrates it is something other than what it appears (mediocre) this will remain true. Beat Michigan.

Comparing TO to BO is foolish. However, these lines are apt -- TO was nice to reporters. TO understood that the media was the outlet to the fans. BO still struggles with that. But, comparing TO to BO is rather pointless. BO will either work through this or not.

Some have criticized this cheering as unbecoming of NU fans. Well, if that is the case, then a similar slur can be directed toward this team -- that it is unbecoming of NU teams. There was nothing wrong with cheering. Good for you. This team is frustrating to watch whether you are in the stands or at home. And yeah, the TV production can really change the perceived atmosphere. Should be interesting on Sat whether OU's or ND's fight songs are played more incessantly. That's like the battle of the all-time fight songs, haha.

Although I don't agree with Allen Iverson on many topics, I do tend to agree on his infamous "We're talking about practice" rant. Bo's teams have for 4+ seasons consistently made the kinds of mistakes that should be "coached" or "practiced" out by the end of fall camp or after week 1. Any excuse made about poor practices or needing to solve in practice is a complete indictment of the coaching staff. The mistakes made by this team are largely mental. Kudos to the team for rallying back for the win. But they tend to make things far harder than they need to be against mediocre competition. Bo is praised for his "passion" and "fire." But the one quality I'd prefer to see is discipline and mental toughness. That is how you begin playing complete games and not sleep walk through 3 quarters.

Ding Ding. We have a winner.

Kenny Bell would make any coach look good. Which is not a critique of Fischer. I suspect he would say the same about Bell. Bell is a gamer. Turner, Enunwa, etc, all are playing well.

I think this team is a mirror image of the coach. Erratic. Mistake prone. Undisciplined. Unwilling to change. 4+ seasons of games sorta prove that fact. Against mediocre competition, NU has been able to remain competitive and win. But, that formula will continue to be tested against stouter competition. Here's hoping they play well against Mich. But history informs me not to put much hope in that idea.

You are allowed to kilter off the scrimmage line a little bit, and it depends on the refs on how much they allow. After watching that game, they were definitely sticklers on staying strict on it, because you really never see it called in other games. We consistently do this in every game. Like I said, depends on the refs. Some allow it more than others, and simply put, these guys didn't allow it at all. On the second call, Reed is lined up way ahead of Sirles. The ref had to throw the flag. A win is a win I suppose. But this team continues to play uninspired, mistake prone, listless football for quarters at a time. If they do that against Michigan for any amount of time the result will NOT be in NU's favor.

I will give some credit to Bo, he often has players in the "area" to make plays, however, the D-Line is, and has been, atrocious at getting off of blocks. Also, open field tackling has been abysmal since Matt O'Hanlon and company left. O'Hanlon was widely ridiculed his first season to season and a half, but became exemplary by the end. It just doesn't seem like anyone on Defense has developed like he, Dennard, Hagg, Asante, Prince, etc . . . . The common thread? Marvin Sanders? Makes you wonder.

If only the Nebraska media were the problem at 10th and Vine.

I realize some will say football is cyclical and the B1G will be relevant again and it may be (only in the form of the singular Urban Meyer led Buckeyes). But, the B1G, outside OSU, has not been competitive for a national title for a long, long time (ironically, about the same time Nebraska was relevant). To me there is a downward trend, not a cycle repeating. Here's hoping climate change forces all those sun belters back to the rust belt and they bring some FB talent with them, haha.

Mack Brown just isn't a great Xs and Os guy. How that happens with that much talent is crazy. With that said, it also shows that Xs and Os still matter.

It is a bit telling we are looking at SOS stat lines to provide some peace of mind ahead of NW. As a IA fan pal said after last year's NW game, "Welcome to the B1G! Friggin Northwestern."

I think his team showed plenty of weakness on Saturday. Admitting it frustrated them would hardly make it any worse. I said his in game demeanor has improved. However, spitting mad rants on the sideline don't show "football passion" they show a person incapable of controlling their temper and I fail to see how this "quality" has done much to fire up the team. Lying, in my experience, is a bad idea all around. It's a sad reality that telling the truth is seen as "showing weakness." That's where we have our differences, if someone blows their cover, multiple times, I don't have a problem with him ranting on the sideline to that said player. You do wrong, you point it out. Now people take the context of him yelling last week, just like they did against the TAMU game with Martinez. Discipline is a thing he has enforced and will continue to force. Your a STARTER, you shouldn't be making mistakes like that. I have not seen Pelini lie, but I have seen him avoid an answer, which is something ALL coaches do when they are frustrated. He has stated that its his fault, the coaches fault for that loss at OSU, and it trickled down to the players, what else do you want? Want him to go on Dr. Phil and express his true feelings? OMG...a football coach yelled at a player on the side lines. This should make ESPNs 30 30 program. My quibble is not that Bo yells at players, it is that fans call this "passion." It's not passion, it's a guy yelling at a player. Passion is Bo getting up at 4 am and working until midnight. Unfortunately, Bo's passion hasn't translated to the level of performance that he, I, and most (if not all) NU fans would like.

I think his team showed plenty of weakness on Saturday. Admitting it frustrated them would hardly make it any worse. I said his in game demeanor has improved. However, spitting mad rants on the sideline don't show "football passion" they show a person incapable of controlling their temper and I fail to see how this "quality" has done much to fire up the team. Lying, in my experience, is a bad idea all around. It's a sad reality that telling the truth is seen as "showing weakness."

Bo is quoted in the Journalstar today saying "Honestly, I don’t listen to what people say. I don’t know what they say. I could really care less what they say." This line speaks very accurately to flaws that I would like to see Bo improve upon: 1. This is a lie. We all know it is a lie -- see Chatelain, Dirk, press conference last season. see references to "message boards." Bo does hear what "people" are saying. Big deal. How about say, "I know what people are saying. They are frustrated. I am frustrated. The team is frustrated. We are working to improve." But stop the nonsensical blather that you don't hear this stuff. You do. We all know it. It's ok to admit that you see/hear/read it. 2. This is truth. Maybe Bo doesn't listen to anyone. He professes to have really studied what was wrong with stopping mobile qbs all offseason. But I think he still believes his system works to stop mobile QBs. In theory, perhaps it does, but in practice, oi, it doesn't. Perhaps it is time to really listen to some new ideas. I hope Bo succeeds. In year 5, it remains hard to see improvement in some of Bo's coaching flaws beyond that he hasn't had a spit-spewing meltdown on the sideline (or perhaps the TV cameras have chosen not to highlight it). The offense remains a turnover machine. The defense looks barely more credible than Cosgrove's unit.

Interesting how no matter which side of this debate you are on the one consistent thread is how far NU fan's expectations have fallen. The Program is faltering crowd - "All we want is to not lose by so much" The Program needs more time crowd - "The landscape is different. Bo needs more time. Football is cyclical." With that said, I do agree with Bo's statement on Saturday "We need to win out."

Wow, I actually agree with Knapplc on something. Harvey, by in large is a solid chancellor. The Steve Pedersen hire, at the time, seemed like a perfect fit and was roundly applauded both locally and nationally. Had Harvey NOT hired him, Harvey would have been roundly criticized (hence why Harvey was allowed to purge Pedersen and not lose his job). I do think that the continued Stagnation of the Program under Pelini -- not the losses, but the WAY NU has been losing -- remains VERY problematic for Bo's long term employment (boosters) -- even in the face of 9 win seasons. And Bo knows it. Hence his admission that they need to WIN out.

Solich backed into that title game. The memories not doing so good is it, because we got flat out handled by sCUm in Boulder to the tune of 36-62... I love when people bring up that game. Colorado was ranked. That should be noted. Plus, they had a great plan against us and definitely caught us at a weak moment. Call it a trap game or whatever. It isn't the first time an accomplished team got rolled by a lesser and yet rated foe. It won't be the last. And it should also be noted that you, me, the rest of Husker Nation....NOT ONE OF US saw that one coming. After the CU game in 2001 I was devastated for weeks. After the OSU game on Saturday I turned the channel to How it's made on Science Channel. My expectations have fallen dramatically. After reading this thread it sure sounds like that is true for most of us.

That. I don't get all the coach apologists. Football ain't rocket science. And NU fans, by and large know what is happening on the field. And giving up 63 points is BAD. Bo's defense continues to stagnate or regress. He's supposed to be defensive genius but he continues to fail to stop mobile qbs. You start to wonder if scheme has something to do with it.

This post is direct to the point -- Football is a TEAM sport. A great D rarely can overcome a bad O, and vice versa. Bo has chosen to run a bend but don't break Defense that gives up yards instead of points (in theory). And he has chosen to run an offense that I dare say no one would describe as "ball controlling." To me this is hugely problematic. One of the HUGE problems on D under Bo has been the inability to get off the field (even that '09 D suffered from that). Hence they get tired. And the O has done little in the name of long grind it out time killing ball control to give the D a rest. The 90s Defenses were great. But they were great because they played with leads and the O protected them with long drives and time killing. 2.5 seasons of T-Mart has shown, pretty much what you are gonna get with him at the helm. Could it be better with someone else? Could it be worse?