Goal-line

Tonight's BCS/MNC game really highlights two things relevant to Nebraska football.

 

1. A defense like we had in 2009, swarming, hard hitting and quick got us 1 mythological second from a shot at that national title..Alabama has that kind of defense on the field tonight.

2. When a defense know it does not have to show concern for even a minimally consistent down-field passing threat, it will overwhelm an offense that is otherwise talented. Between dropped balls and passing inconsistency, teams this year were able to just line up and come at us.

 

Personally, I think both of those things can be fixed for next year. Young studs on defense and the offensive line in addition to Taylor Martinez advancing as much as he did this year. I'd love to see this fleet of young, fast backs turn into receivers out of the backfield next year. Hey...it could happen....

If you cannot block and cannot tackle, you cannot win. In order to do those two things, we need better athletes at those positions. End of story.

Question: What is the criterion ESPN uses to rank teams?

This!

Option football requires offensive line blocking, which in turn requires athletes that can actually have the talent to do that, speed, agility, smart, and agressive. I recently watched some clips with the teams of the 90's. The simple difference between this current Husker offensive line and the line in the 90's is light years apart. None of the current players could have started on those teams. Football is a rather simple game. If you cannot block and you cannot tackle, you cannot win no matter what kind of super stars you have at the skill positions.

No way was Sanders dismissed because he wouldn't question Pelini. I don't get this: where did this whole Pelini hires assistants who will only say yes to him idea come from? Was it just something that you all collectively decided to pull out of your asses and try back it with meaningless, unsubstantiated, unrelated facts?

Are you kidding me? Dude, a little reality check here! Pelini hires? John Papuchis as defensive coordinator? Hell he could not even coach the special teams. Just look at the bowl game, (essentially, those were his guys), a missed extra point (resulting in a two point swing for the opponent), a long kick off return, and a missed field goal. Also, what about our receivers coach, Rich Fisher? What the hell is it that NU cannot catch and hold on to a pass? Marlow's dropped ball ring a bell? Something has been critically missing in the receiving corps the last couple of years under Pelini's hires. Moving your receivers coach to a position, (running backs coach), who has never coached that position before? What the hell is up with that? All these things are meaningful, substantiated, and related to winning the damned game. Pelini's hires? And, this does not even address the ineptness of Barney Cotton as the Offensive Line coach. They are weak at best.

crouch was good, and badly wanted to play in the pro,s- but who doesn,t......he also played when nu had some decent looking uniforms, and not the stupid stripped things they were today..ugly as heck

Crouch should be the QB/running back coach at NU. Then, we could learn to run the option like it is supposed to be done.

Ain't this a kick in the head. We're ranked.

 

AP = 24

BCS = 20

Coaches = 24

 

Gotta say I'm shocked. I figured for sure that we would be unranked.

 

Sagarin had us at #25, with the 26th-ranked SOS, our most difficult schedule since 2007.

Well, I am surprised that we are ranked, also. However, there was only one game that we should have lost and that was Wisconsin. All the rest we simply peed down our leg. We could have beaten any of the other three teams, especially Northwestern and the bowl game. 12 and (1 actually 13-1 if we would have played in the Big 10 Championship game and won) would have had us in the top 10 and most likely in the top 5. Oh, well!

Did anyone watching the game last night notice how Pissed off Saban got when they got a penalty. Why is it ok for him to go pissy on his players and tv but not pelini?

Because he was pissed at the player, not the ref?

 

#7. Tough as nails and fast as lightning. One of the all-time Husker greats!

What do you notice about this clip? The receivers are actually catching the ball. Makes a difference, don't ya think?

And one other thing! The O line also does an awesome job of blocking! Another strange concept we have been missing in recent years.

 

#7. Tough as nails and fast as lightning. One of the all-time Husker greats!

What do you notice about this clip? The receivers are actually catching the ball. Makes a difference, don't ya think?

Ron Brown should join Turner at Liberty University.

Nebraska secondary coach Corey Raymond said the Husker defenders knew what they were supposed to do, but didn’t do it.

 

“It was explained to them right there before the half,” Raymond said. “We just have to execute. That’s all it is. It’s a mental breakdown.”

 

http://www.theindepe...6c.html?photo=0

 

 

>> The most interesting interview after the game was with Corey Raymond. The secondary coach wasn’t convinced Nebraska had enough talent to beat South Carolina, especially in the secondary.

“Just be honest,” Raymond said. “Look at them, look at us. It’s pretty obvious.”

 

http://sports.omaha....ch-bites-jan-3/

 

Wowza.

 

Edit, I see you added more in your post. I tend to agree with a couple things he said, but he is basically publicly saying they aren't talented. Not sure how I'd feel about my coach saying that. Hopefully it motivates them but knowing our guys it will probably have the opposite effect.

The proof is in the pudding. They messed up pretty bad. Nothing like calling it for what it is. The coach is correct and so what if the players don't like it. Either do your job or find a bus out of town.

This is my 3,231st post, and I think Taylor is the guy for the job.

I just wish we could find someone who could consistently catch the damned ball. Dropped passes have cost NU a number of important games. Catching the ball and holding on to it should be a relatively simple task, especially if it hits you in the hands or on the numbers.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

9-4 IS NOT MEDIOCRITY!!!!

 

AVERAGING 9.5 WINS A SEASON IS NOT MEDIOCRITY!!!!!!!!!

 

BEING ONE GAME FROM A BCS BOWL (MICHIGAN) IS NOT MEDIOCRITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

BEING 4 POINTS FROM TWO CONSECTUTIVE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS IS NOT MEDIOCRITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

SHARING A DIVISION TITLE A YEAR AFTER BEING BOWL INELIGIBLE IS NOT MEDIOCRITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The only thing mediocre around here seems to be the football acumen of several posters....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

.....there, I feel much better.

 

Sure, I wanted the Huskers to win the B1G and play in a BCS bowl. Yes, I was disappointed with the big losses. However, I will never call this team (2011) "mediocre". This team was ranked in the top 25 all season long, that means they are in the top 20% of division 1 college football.

You are correct! This is not mediocrity. It is abject failure. Top programs do not go 9-4, they win conference championships and they compete on a high level for national championships.

The media sells for itself, not for the actual facts. On the other hand, maybe Bo needs to be a little kinder to the press, as well as to the fans. Then, writing negative spew would not take place.

Just curious, how many people bashing Jason Peter now were cheering him on when he was taking Callahan to task for his coaching performance?

Exactly! Jason Peter knows what the hell he is talking about. I would put him up against any one of the D line we have now. He would kick their Azzzzes.

You have to admit one thing, Billy C's offense could score points. The problem was with the defense. And, I might add, he recruited some top notch talent.

 

I have only agreed one time in my life with Lou Holtz. (Actually, I cannot stand the man.) That is when he said (referring to Bill Callahan's defense), "The most difficult thing for a head coach to do is to fire his friends, even if it costs him his job."

 

I do not think Bill Callahan was the man for Nebraska because he did not belong to this culture. He was a "no connect" to the fans and players. I wish Pelini could recruit the talent that Callahan had here because I believe he could coach them. Callahan could not.

Six points against Missouri, 14 against Okie Lite, and 14 against Texas A&M. Offense definitely wasn't the problem that year, but those three games were still pathetic performances.

 

Cactusboy, you're quite clearly ignorant to the Bill Callahan era, and there's truly no nicer way to say it. The state was divided and in an uproar, our players flat out gave up on the season, there was little unity and the program was in shambles. There is no bone in my body that things Callahan remaining on as HC would have been a good thing. All that "talent" brought in was underutilized and poorly developed, and there's absolutely no argument to be made against that.

 

You're just wrong. Flat out, undeniably, inconceivably wrong about this.

You have to admit one thing, Billy C's offense could score points. The problem was with the defense. And, I might add, he recruited some top notch talent.

 

I have only agreed one time in my life with Lou Holtz. (Actually, I cannot stand the man.) That is when he said (referring to Bill Callahan's defense), "The most difficult thing for a head coach to do is to fire his friends, even if it costs him his job."

 

I do not think Bill Callahan was the man for Nebraska because he did not belong to this culture. He was a "no connect" to the fans and players. I wish Pelini could recruit the talent that Callahan had here because I believe he could coach them. Callahan could not.

 

Who?

Everybody we sent to the NFL in the last couple of years was a Billy C recruit. Not supporting this thread at all, but it's the truth.

Yeah but, I'm just trying to remember both of them...Suh and Bowman?..

 

Slassen?

 

Sam Keller?

Suh, Slauson, Hagg, Amukamara, Dillard, Gomes, Helu, Potter, Nicks, Henery. Probably a couple others I missed.

How about Josh Freeman and Blaine Gabbert who both bailed on NU?

You have to admit one thing, Billy C's offense could score points. The problem was with the defense. And, I might add, he recruited some top notch talent.

I have only agreed one time in my life with Lou Holtz. (Actually, I cannot stand the man.) That is when he said (referring to Bill Callahan's defense), "The most difficult thing for a head coach to do is to fire his friends, even if it costs him his job."

I do not think Bill Callahan was the man for Nebraska because he did not belong to this culture. He was a "no connect" to the fans and players. I wish Pelini could recruit the talent that Callahan had here because I believe he could coach them. Callahan could not.

Per Matt Shick's twitter, "If you're gonna act like that and you're gonna be that sort of ass, then you'd better start winning championships and you'd better start competing for championships."

I have always liked Jason Peter. He does not mince words and tells it like it is. I respect him for that. I have personally met him and even though he has had some difficulties in his life, he has his act straightened out. I often thought he should be coaching our D line. Unlike most of the folks on this board, he actually knows what it is (what it takes to compete) for and win Conference/ National Championships. He was on a team that kicked rears and took names. The teams he was on at NU competed at the highest level. And believe me, they competed on every play. It is what we lack on our recent and current team. He told me once that when you put on that helmet with the block "N" on the side, you were all in, completely committed. We could use a heavy dose of that immediately.

Hope he did and I hope he gets it. Bo would make a wonderful Buc coach, because right now he sucks as a Husker coach. IMHO!

A lot of people on your train, Thor!

Not one sane person would have picked nu to win a national title. Most preseason picked us to go 8-?/9-?....so what's the fuss about? We have a young team and young staff and can't recruit sec top atheletes at every position every year. It took the great Tom osborne 20 years to get it just right to win. People need to settle down. Did I expect to win them all?....yep...will we win them all?...nope. Be patient and let coaches be coaches. It's obvious certain things need addressing but its not as doom and gloom as it seems. Firing all your coaches for going 9-4 is exactly what set nu back a decade. We don't have the ability to recruit and bounce right back from a program overhaul in a year or two. It is a 5-10 year upward battle to build a program back up. People forget nebraska is not a tourist destination. Kids don't come here easily. Can't wait for next year! GBR

The fuss is about the reason you play the game,----------- to win! Getting beat in a hard fought battle and the score is 20-17 vs getting pummeled 45-10 with lack luster effort, inferior talent and coaching, are two different animals.

October 1 Nebraska vs Wisconsin Nebraska 17 Wisconsin 48

November 19 Nebraska vs Michigan Nebraska 17 Michigan 45

January 2 Nebraska vs South Carolina Nebraska 13 South Carolina 30

Winning all the games is a tough assignment, but it also the goal. If you go out on the field expecting to win 8-9 wins, that is what you will achieve. The goal is to win them all. Any goal less than that is not acceptable to an athlete or program that is a legitimate national contender.

It makes it a lot easier to pay $450 for a season ticket if you have an high quality undefeated team vs a 9-4 team of perpetual mediocrity. Winning is the only goal, the only option!

Pelini set the table for himself when he went off on Taylor Martinez, on national TV, for a matter that was not even connected to the game. He should have handled that in his office, after the game. He is the one responsible for his own image, (which is not good). It will take a long time for him to rectify the situation and clean up his perceived hot tempered persona. You reap what you sew.

I have coached various sports from little leagues to high school head coaching assignments and I can tell you with out a shadow of a doubt that your players will take on the demeanor of the coach, both as players and as citizens. If you use the excuse of blaming the referees for your own teams' inability to perform, then you are playing right into the hands of the opponent. The downward spiral happens quickly.

Officials are part of the game. Do they always get the subjective calls correct? Not all the time. Can they do a better job? Yes, they can. Will they respond to a hot headed coach or player with a positive outcome? No, they will not. Discipline is crucial in any sporting event. Staying focused is paramount. When you don't do those things, even in the face of adversity, then you are simply asking for trouble.

Pelini needs some anger management classes. He definitely needs some PR instruction. People treat you like you treat them. If you want to make your own problems, you will sustain those problems. It never ends well.

Analysis/Summary

Not enough quality players. End of story!

The simple fact is that we do not have the athletes to compete at a top level. Most complain of mediocrity, but we have dipped even below that level. Until we recruit better players, expect the same as we are currently accomplishing . Recruiting is a coaching responsibility. We also need better position coaching. Get rid of the dead wood. Hire quality assistants who have proven track records.

Cotton is dead wood (no pun intended). He should be kicking rocks down the road.