JJ Husker

I would say every game we have won, against similar or superior talent, was because of the coaching staff (and the players). Don't ask me who or how many that is- so far this year I would say Michigan about covers it. I understand the tendency (because I have it myself) to blame the coaches for losses to inferior talent but, IMO we have to hold the players and coaches alike responsible for all wins and losses. It just sticks out more when we witness a loss, or even a close call, where it is evident that poor personnel or play calling decisions were made or certain adjustments were or weren't made. It is easy to blame the coaches for that and I think some of that is well earned and fair. Likewise it is pretty hard to sit back and watch us blowout a team like Southern Miss and think it was because we out coached them. I guess to be fair we have to give the coaches credit for all the wins, even if in some cases for no better reason than they didn't prevent us from winning.

Note to Landlord- recognize when the folks are hankering for a dick measuring contest.................and then don't mention it.

Conspiracy theory- Get the father to make comments bolstering the "he's done playing" story. MSU won't know what to do when he takes the field. The shock and awe will be worth seven easy points.

Huskers 31 Spartans 10 Land 200 Air 160

I don't see a problem with Casey commenting directly to the press on this issue, especially if they are fairly certain Taylor has already taken his last snap as a Husker. I am a little disappointed that they passed on the opportunity to dangle the possibility of TM playing at any given time. Could've at least made our opponents commit some prep time for the possibility. I suppose the NFL dream dies hard and this is a very tough way to end a wonderful college career. No reason to think that isn't extremely hard on his father as well. I wish them both the best.

That's kind of what we do here on a message board; pose what ifs and hypotheticals, look ahead, look back, etc. We're not the players or the coaches and we have no influence over the outcome of games. I think we'll be alright wondering about bowl matchups and the like. It would get pretty boring around here if we waited for the games to play out before posting anything.

This question will be much easier to answer after the MSU game. If the defense plays like the last two weeks and keeps improving..... If the offense can keep the sticks moving and Beck doesn't go full Watson...... Why we can win out- We really only have to figure a way to move the ball and score on MSU's defense. Their offense should not cause us too much concern. We should be able to win both sides of the ball vs PSU and Iowa.

Consisering all the injuries, the o-line performed admirably today. I just hope these guys stay healthy and possibly get 1 or 2 back for MSU. I have a feeling that is going to be a whole new challenge. Hopefully they've got another game of answering the call in them. Our o-line will be the most critical element this week.

The defense stepped up big time today. I am so glad the coaches unleashed some guys and sent pressure. Hopefully thay have turned some kind of corner here and the aggressiveness is here to stay. Great job blackshirts.

Excellent opening defense series. And Westerstache is on fire.

I should have specified- nothing life threatening or paralytic. Just a run of the mill blown out knee, innocently acquired. A sort of karma type thing. Hey- I'm no animal :-) I thought he was talking about wanting to see Hoke with blown out pants.... Yes, I can see how that could also be deemed extreme. It could get mighty ugly indeed. But I'm carefree and reckless so I'll stand by that wish.

I should have specified- nothing life threatening or paralytic. Just a run of the mill blown out knee, innocently acquired. A sort of karma type thing. Hey- I'm no animal :-)

I want to see- The team come out fired up and ready to play. Four quarters of effort. Aggressive nastiness and blitzing from the D. Establish the run and pound the rock on O. Sensible in game adjustments on both sides of the ball. Lewan carted off the field. (Edit-nothing serious or done on purpose) Hoke bends over and the seam in his pants tears (caught on camera) Bo smiling.

Absolutely. And "jack of all trades, master of none" is the best description of this current offense that I've ever seen. I'm really feeling nostalgic after watching every play of that Stanford game. I just like hard-nosed, in your face football.

Duke- I did not mean to imply that the Nebraska of old did not do many things (multiple) but it was significantly different than what most people interpret as "multiple" today. Sure on the surface it looked simple and much of it like the same ole thing but, when you delve into it, it was extremely complex, required flawless execution, and was 100xthe more multiple than anything Beck has shown. I would love to get back to some smashmouth football like Stanford played last night. Oregon knew exactly what they were going to do and could not stop it. I don't think that would be all that hard to recapture.

Wisconsin hasn't had that much success. They've been OK...and Nebraska's been OK. Stanford has had that much success. Why? Probably because they had one of the best coaches ever in Harbaugh, handed it off to what looks like a tremendous success in Shaw, and along the way one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. That's the "formula" -- identifying incredibly talented program-building coaches and hitting on the hires. Not "recruiting power" and "selecting the right offensive playbook." I agree with some of this (getting a good coach and hitting on hires) but strongly disagree that recruiting power wouldn't work. The whole point of this op is that Stanford today is very similar to what Nebraska was under Osborne. It worked then and it is currently working for Bama and Stanford. I would love to see the Huskers get back to that style of play but, you have to commit to it and create an identity around it. Being mediocre at multiple things isn't doing us any favors. Pick something, recruit for it, and get damned good at it. I guess that is why I am now disillusioned with Bo- I thought that's what he was going to do.

Prison rules it is then. Calling all warriors.

That is freakin awesome. I am glad he has a sense of humor about things. Very nice, personable kid there.

I watched the game and I think the Ducks got beat by philosophy alone. Smothering, hardass defense and an effective smashmouth, run right at you offense will be beat wide open fancy schmancy stuff all day long. It will work against a lot of teams but not against a team that is just plain nastier and tougher. I think Bama has been the poster boy for that style working and the Stanford-Oregon game last night is more evidence that it works. That is exactly how Nebraska made their mid 90's run. Watching O play is fun but that style is no match for a team that really wants to cram it down your throat.

I agree but, with some modifications. The downfall has already occurred and it had/has nothing to do with bitching fans that know and expect it to get better. 9 wins against the competition we play, with the resources we have, should be a given. Look at our schedule- what three teams are we to be satisfied losing to? There is nobody we should not be able to give a good game. The problem is not only winning 9 or losing 4 but rather how, and to who, we are doing that. This team regularly plays only half a game. They either start well and then fade or, more often, they begin unprepared and have some crazy comeback. We aren't getting beat by better teams as much as we are beating ourselves. We are not executing to put it in Bo's terms. That lack of execution begins with this coaching staff. I am not satisfied that we are better off than the Cally days. That is no baseline to measure anything. I like Bo and hope he can get these boys playing ball but it has been extremely uninspiring these last couple of years. People who want more are not the ones at fault for not getting it. I am right along with you on the fact that our guys never show up ready it seems or lose intrest half way through the game. It is frustrating to watch and gets old. However, I am not going to put that 100% on Bo or the coaches because these kids are the ones out playing. I coach baseball and wrestling and get really irritated when my kids don't give 100% and can't explain to me why they don't. I have tried, along with other coaches to change things up but it still happens at times. I really think it comes down to the mentality of the players more then the coaches. As far as winning 9-10 games a year, I believe we are 1 of 5 other teams to do that for the last 5 yrs. Does that mean the other 4 teams have had just as easy of a schedule as we have? I would agree that the players have to bring the correct mentality so, yeah sure, some of it is on the players and not 100% on Bo. But, when I see offensive play calling that does not make sense, when I see TM left in for the whole Minny game when he is being completely ineffective, when I repeatedly hear from Bo that the defensive players are not executing, when I see poor tackling consistently, and when I see lackadaisical effort at the beginning of a game, I attribute the vast majority of that to the coaching staffs poor preparation, poor decision making, and a lack of motivation. Given these shortcomings that can be directly attributed to the coaches, I am very hesitant to place the blame on players until I feel they are being put in a position to be successful. I don't feel Bo and the coordinators are doing enough that we can simply blame player mentality for the lack of performance. If I was seeing sensible adjustments, logical play calling, and whistle to whistle effort for 4 quarters, I would feel differently. Hell, if I was seeing that, I could easily accept 4 losses, maybe even more.

I agree but, with some modifications. The downfall has already occurred and it had/has nothing to do with bitching fans that know and expect it to get better. 9 wins against the competition we play, with the resources we have, should be a given. Look at our schedule- what three teams are we to be satisfied losing to? There is nobody we should not be able to give a good game. The problem is not only winning 9 or losing 4 but rather how, and to who, we are doing that. This team regularly plays only half a game. They either start well and then fade or, more often, they begin unprepared and have some crazy comeback. We aren't getting beat by better teams as much as we are beating ourselves. We are not executing to put it in Bo's terms. That lack of execution begins with this coaching staff. I am not satisfied that we are better off than the Cally days. That is no baseline to measure anything. I like Bo and hope he can get these boys playing ball but it has been extremely uninspiring these last couple of years. People who want more are not the ones at fault for not getting it.

21 years to be exact! Well the 25 years was an estimate but that was the gist of it. Gasp- what if he was a once in a lifetime talent?

I hate to be the one to say it but 2009 is no gold standard of defense. If we're going to resign ourselves to it always being worse than that, then count me out. Sure Suh would make any defense better but hopefully that year is no insurmountable pinnacle of greatness. Suh only makes it all that more obvious that we have issues on that side of the ball. He was a once every 25s year type of player. If we need another Suh to play good defense, we might be waiting a long long time. There are eleven guys that can contribute.