TGHusker

Yeah, but Alabama passes the "eye test." That is my problem with this whole thing. They have the best talent in the country. How many losses will it take for them to NOT pass the "eye test"?? 4? 5? Yeah, I know. Chris Brown who writes for SmartFootball.com had a good column about the CFP rankings distinguishing between "best" and "most deserving," which I agree is where the divide is on the matter. I also tend to fall into the "most deserving" camp. I figure if you're truly among the "best" you will also be among the "most deserving." I don't have a problem with Iowa being at #5. I think Okie State should be ranked ahead of Stanford though for sure. And Notre Dame belongs down the list as well. watching all of this from Tulsa - OU plays Baylor, OSU plays Iowa State and then Baylor and finally bedlam against OU. So OSU has the clear opportunity to play in the playoff - just win out against one poor team and 2 very good teams. OSU should have been in the NC game a few years ago when they lost in OT against ISU via a missed field goal - the day the women's basketball coach and others were killed in a plane crash. They went on to beat the Andrew Luck led Stanford team in the Fiesta Bowl, If I recall, Alabama got in the game instead.

Good analysis. I think the one thing that stands out for Steve Taylor was that I always thought he was a good leader on the field. Wtout sooner magic, he probably would have led us into 2 NCGs. Gdowski - we hardly knew you - but wished you could have started 2 or 3 years. Very good all around QB - I think he was somewhat of a surprise - didn't have the hype coming in that I recall. My personal ranking always has Frazier # 1 just because of leadership and what he accomplished as a 4 year starter - a couple of blown calls by the refs against FSU and he would have been the QB of 3 NC teams - as it stood, he was the MVP of those 3 games Gill as # 2 - could play in any offense - he could run if needed and he was a great passer - should have won the NC 2x. (PSU out of bounds catch spoiled it in 82 and we all know what happened in 83) Regarding pure QB (not dual threat)- Gdowski, Ferragamo, Tagge, Zac Taylor, Gatz

I hope it clicked. I missed watching the game due to another commitment and I was shocked when I saw the final score (I had seen that we were behind by 12 late in the 4th). I hope this is a wake up call to the staff - you need to establish the run 1st to establish the passing game here in Big 10 country. Kudos TO TA, Westy, Riley who caught that last TD pass. Kudos to the fans in the stadium who rocked the place and stayed wt the team. As I mentioned in a previous post, my best case scenario would be that we end the year 11-2 and my worse case 6-6 and I would be ok wt the 6-6 transition season. I said 3-6 was a disaster - but maybe I gave up on the team to quickly. 4-6 wt a good chance of 6-6 + bowl gets us back into transitional acceptable position in my opinion. If we finish 7-6 wt lesson's learned (like this is Big 10 country not Pac 12 - stop making bonehead play calling, get a new DC??), the poison attitude removed, a great red-shirt group ready for next season, and a much improved recruiting class - then there is hope that we are going in the right direction and that this MR experiment might work. We should beat Rutgers now there is a bit of hope we can also beat Iowa. The stadium should be buzzing for that one. I hope Iowa is still unbeaten at that point and we have the chance to knock off 2 top 10 teams. It will go along way to heal the wounds of the games we should have won.

Talking to KSU, OU and OSU - Stillwater - fans here in Tulsa they are disappointed in our fall from the top. They and I think college football is not the same without NU in the mix nationally. Everyone has a hard time wrapping their brains around a NU team wt a 3-6 record at this stage. They expected it of Univ of Tulsa the past few years but even UT is 4-4 and could finish 7-4 with Baylor's x offensive coordinator has its new year 1 coach. Funny, or not so, so many schools being turned around by coaches who are new and yet NU goes backwards wt an 'experienced' coaching staff. I have a hard time wrapping my brain around it as well. I'm not going to the Okla Husker Club this weekend - I've missed more this year than previous years. Not because I want to miss but when the team plays this way - I can't stomach the poor performance. - this could become a problem when others find more important things to do as well and the sell out streak ends.

This - height of arrogance

Good post. I think Americans need to grow some b...s and not be so easily offended. It goes back to our legal system in which everyone is suing everyone for the smallest things.

Meanwhile on the global cooling front - look to buy some heavy coats during the 2030s http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/616937/GLOBAL-COOLING-Decade-long-ice-age-predicted-as-sun-hibernates

Can't be any worse so it has to be better. But again, this year my range went from 11-2 (complete buy in, experience coaches motivate and train players to greater efficiencies than Bo did) to 6-6 (complete transition disaster). Well we fell below my disaster point. I hope that the offseason will bring in buy in by all players, better recruits and lessons learned by this staff (not so confident there due to the continued forcing the square peg into round hole and no rotation of players on OL and little development of RBs). To go out on a limb - we loose to Ducks, Bucks, Hawks (if Iowa is more than a 1 season wonder)+ one more that we shouldn't lose to. Lose bowl game 8-5 Year 3 of MR experiment - 11-2 (If he succeeds year 2 and keeps his job. )

NUance, I respect your opinion. I think we are all very frustrated. I don't know whether to cut bait or to wait regarding MR. Yes, the AD holds the cards, but who holds him? It will take the board to move to make any changes this year. Realistically, it will probably take a total collapse in the final 3 games for that to happen. I believe MR will be back next year, but we cannot afford another year like this one - less we become Kansas 2.0

Losing your starting RB, and being down by 30+ points, and only getting around 2.2 ypc will do that to a team. Take out Fyfe's -35 yards rushing, and we averaged a little over 5 ypc. We ran the ball well enough early, especially on the edges. I'll give you that being down a bunch is a reason to throw more, but we were also down because we gave Purdue short fields off of INTs. Not excusing the defense because they still need to come up with a few stops. Starting a backup QB with 18 career passing attempts versus the #100 ranked rushing defense on the road? When your team still has a glimmer of hope of making it to a bowl? How many passes do you attempt? If there was a game that should have had an 80/20 run/pass ratio, this was it. You have to face it Nebraska has no identity you can say take out Fyfe's -35 yards but it still shows up on the stats sheet. Look at the defensive stats for the game look at how many of the secondary made tackles during the game. This says one of two things the ball is getting thrown on them like crazy or the defensive line is getting owned and the back is making it to the second level. You look at the team as a whole-the offensive line looked horrible just about every time Fyfe got the ball snapped to him in the shotgun the snap was high disrupting timing during the play. You look on the defensive side of the ball and just about every time you saw a pass thrown to a Purdue receiver our safety and cornerbacks were 5-7 yards off of the receiver-if this is Banker's way of coaching lookout when MSU and Cook show up to the party. I knew at the beginning of the game when the defensive line jumped offsides on the extra point by Purdue things weren't going to be good-why I felt this way I don't know I gave Riley and his staff the benefit of the doubt when brought on board...to be honest I was shocked when Pelini was let go but felt he needed to go. When you watch games on television and they interview Barry Alvarez and he said something to the effect of Nebraska has the best facilities in the country other programs are coming here to model their facilities after Nebraska's and you put that product out on the field somethings a miss. You don't have world class facilities and hire a third world country coach! I sure can't argue wt the bold. We've invested toooooo much into this program - money, emotion, reputation to let it fall into oblivion like state of the Kansas and Purdue (opps, we're already below Purdue) of the world.

I actually wanted Johnson when Bo was hired by Tom. I think he would have done well here. This year for him, not going well but overall he's done well at GT.

I agree wt the spirit of the OP - MR is hard not to like. I like the image change over Bo. NU doesn't need a MR Rogers however to have a successful team and a successful image. We did just fine wt Devaney and he and Tom were polar opposites.

I sure like the idea of Alberts as AD - he understands. Frost - the risk of a rookie. However, if Frost brings in dynamic DC and OC it could work. Otherwise: 1. David Shaw. His Stanford teams looks like NU of old - power running. 2. Mullen 3. Justin Fuente ( I watched him play HS QB at Union HS here in Tulsa - great player and a great rising coach - very smart) 4. Tom Herman 5. Paul Johnson (my 2007 pick - but maybe too set to make a change now)

I really don't want to go over to the dark side. While I had wished Tom had selected Paul Johnson (GT now but Navy then) over Bo originally, I was fine wt Bo until the conf championship blow out against Wisc and last year just reinforced the idea it was time for Bo to go. He didn't represent the Univ well. I liked the image of the squeaky clean Riley vs mad Bo, however, we still need results on the field. Yes, I knew there would be season 1 issues but this seems to be out of hand. I know each situation is different - Charlie Strong has had issues at Texas and then we see the turnarounds at Florida and Michigan. I thought we were buying an experienced staff that new how to deal with these transition issues and the game mgmt. issues - neither are encouraging. Sometimes I think a humble man would say - we made a mistake coming here, and the humble AD (school) would say, we made a mistake thinking you would fit. Shake hands and part ways. Time for NU to pay the money and hire a coach worthy of the tradition. And also a coach who can kick players in the butt who give a half a.. effort. Maybe the MR experiment will work but how long and how big of a price do we pay waiting to see. It took 7 years - way to many wasted with the Bo experience.

I was originally expecting a 9-4 to a 6-6 record. I never foresaw this kind of collapse. The players and the coaches are to blame. The players, for not giving effort and not earning their scholarships. If possible, I'd like to see scholarships pulled from those who aren't buying in and give it to walkons and new recruits who want to play here because it is Nebraska period. The coaches: I thought Bo was terrible at game mgmt. but to throw continually against this poor run D of Purdue's was inexcusable. The lack of development on the OL, the piss poor running game, pathetic D is on the coaches. I was originally baffled by the Riley hire, was pleased by the early buy in, the recruiting class and the change in image, but now our imaging is being damaged not by the personality of the coach but by the 3rd world effort seen on the field. We've fallen to Iowa State bad and just a notch above Kansas to use our Big 12 brothers. I wonder about the wisdom of this hire now based on the on field results. I mistakenly bought into the line "Look what he was able to do at a place like Oregon State - just think what he can do wt NU resources and players". NU football cannot survive another year like this less we fall into such a deep hole we become a place no good coach or player would want to come to - that is Kansas. If we finish 3-9 I wonder if we cut our losses and spend money as we should have a few coaches ago. Honestly, I go back and forth - he should get a 2nd year and I've thought year 3 would validate the hire but my oh my I never expected a 3-9 season and loosing to the likes of Purdue. I cannot believe the talent on the field is that bad.

The contrast of then vs now could not be any greater. I will love the day when we Husker fans can point with pride to something that occurred NOW vs 20 years ago. Who would have thought in 1995 or 1997 or even 1999 (really TO's dominant team - being coached by Frank) that we would not win another conf championship, much less a NC to this point. It will take a special coach and a special group of players to get us back on that level.

The philosophy now is to pass to establish the run. However, this is impossible wt a 50% QB at the helm who reverts back to his last year form - throwing off his back foot, lobbing passes up in the air, not able to throw a way the ball wtout getting intercepted, etc. We should be establishing the run to generate a passing game. But it appears we don't have the will or fire power to do so. Line play has been inept and our best RB is not in the game.

Well, if you go by Rivals ratings the past several years, we have more star talent than every team on our schedule with the exception of Sparty, though we're pretty even with them. Trying to make TA carry the team with his arm is a big mistake, not hard to predict, and our LB and secondary play is pretty weak, to say the least. Newby can't break any tackles, so I think they should've moved to Wilbon or Ozigbo a few games ago. Whatever happened to Wilbon? Yes what happened to Wilbon, Taylor and Ozigbo?? Great ??s I do know that there has been a lot of attrition from Bo's recruiting classes so we can't think that the recruiting rankings are true to today's reality on the field. Talent wise we should be competitive wt the average teams on our schedule however. I think TA has reached the top of his game - he looked like a much improved player at first but has reverted back to all of his bad habits - including the horrible decision that led to the pick 6. I'm thinking MR needs to prepare for next year at this point - give others experience and look at some changes in his staff. We have plenty of 4* talent on the team right now to be winning any game on our schedule. TA is a dual threat QB, so he should be treated accordingly--i.e., more read option game. It's like when MI was trying to force Devin Gardner to be pro style QB, same deal. Can't fit a square peg into a round hole. This team should be a run heavy team, period. If Riley's still here next year and gets that O'Brien kid going, then that might work out better for his pro/passing scheme. agree on both situations - few should be run heavy now and let's hope O'Brien is the next wiz kid who can put us back on the map.

Well, if you go by Rivals ratings the past several years, we have more star talent than every team on our schedule with the exception of Sparty, though we're pretty even with them. Trying to make TA carry the team with his arm is a big mistake, not hard to predict, and our LB and secondary play is pretty weak, to say the least. Newby can't break any tackles, so I think they should've moved to Wilbon or Ozigbo a few games ago. Whatever happened to Wilbon? Yes what happened to Wilbon, Taylor and Ozigbo?? Great ??s I do know that there has been a lot of attrition from Bo's recruiting classes so we can't think that the recruiting rankings are true to today's reality on the field. Talent wise we should be competitive wt the average teams on our schedule however. I think TA has reached the top of his game - he looked like a much improved player at first but has reverted back to all of his bad habits - including the horrible decision that led to the pick 6. I'm thinking MR needs to prepare for next year at this point - give others experience and look at some changes in his staff.

Like everyone else, I'm very frustrating by the results. It is very apparent that our talent level is far below what a all time top 5 team should have. The talent is not worthy of the tradition. I blame Bo for this. However, to loose 5 games to 5 very average teams regardless of the margin, is not acceptable. There are too many issues that cause me to shake my head - the run/pass ratio, RB selection - is Newby really the best we got?; burning Stevenson's red shirt just to watch a ball bounce through the end zone, putting Armstrong in position to fail - we got the square peg, round hole thing going here, conditioning, no rotation on the OL, few sacks, poor coverage and game mgmt. I was all for getting rid of Bo, was shocked by the MR selection, was mildly pleased by his personality, was greatly pleased that he had a good recruiting class in spite of or maybe because of the coaching change, but I've been greatly disappointed in the on field results by an experienced coaching staff. When we hired Bo, I was hoping for Paul Johnson who understood the impact of a power running game - he's done very well at GT and would have done great here wt the advantages of Nebraska. Now I wonder, what kind of $$s would it take to get Shaw from Stanford - his team resembles the NU of old and he get's it. You set up the pass wt a powerful running game and not the other way around - esp here in the upper Midwest in Oct and Nov. My first take on the year was that we might be 9-4 and was willing to accept 7-6 and hoped we wouldn't end up 6-6. Now 6-6 is a dream. I thought that better coaching, which I think we were all expecting, with a relatively easy schedule would provide us the chance to compete in the west and end up at a decent bowl game. I also have said we need to give MR 3 years. That year 3 would be the year to prove MR's worth. I'm not sure NU's long term recruiting can stand 2 years of sub 500% performances. Unless O'Brien starts as a true freshman and turns out being the next freshman stud QB, I don't see next year as being much better than this and the schedule is more difficult with Oregon and Ohio State replacing Miami and MSU. So either we strap on our safety harness keeping us from jumping out of the building and accept below 500 play for 2 years or we cut the strings quickly after this season and spend a lot of money to get the right coach. I suspect the former & not the later will be how it plays out.

I've always thought John Ruud's hit was the best and the refs steal the fumble away from him - so apparent. Suh had the best shot putt move - throwing McCoy like a rag doll. Rucker and Bell tied for the best block.

This is a real hard one to rank. Suh best one season in my opinion - I've never seen anyone bull rush like he did. He got QB sacks just by throwing the OL into the QB (Oklahoma game). GW was a star among stars. He had a great supporting cast but so did Glover. 4 year career - I lean towards GW - just so consistently dominant over a full career of 3 years and a strong contributor the 4th year. Now if we talk pound for pound you have to go wt Glover. Of course guys weren't as big back then but he did a lot with his 'small' body. Found this on NUance's post in the best hit thread - this is the exact SUH play I mentioned above. Thanks NUance!

Makes one wish for that kind of dominance again.