JJ Husker

Hate to be pessimistic but;

Minnesota WIN

Michigan LOSS

Other 4 could go either way so I think we come out of those 2-2 or 3-1 best case.

3 or 4 losses on the season with outside chance at meeting Wisconsin again.

A lot can change for the better in the next 2 to 4 weeks (I hope) but I need to see it before I get my hopes up.

I think our offense will continue to improve and give us legitimate chances to win. I've got my reservations about our D doing the same.

I don't know why most of you seam surprised that Crick is struggling and especially in the first two B1G games. I tried to tell you all that both he and Steinkuhler would struggle in the B1G because they are both undersized DT's. They were perfectly sized for big12 style offenses, but now can't get off blocks or fight through double teams and are basically getting pounded on.

Some of you may think they're underachieving, but I just think they're struggling with the physicallity of this league.

I would agree with that. Also it is very hard to hold Crick to any reasonable standard of play. He was so over-hyped that we expect Suh type results. When it doesn't happen (hasn't yet and probably won't) we are more disappointed than we should be. I think he is doing a pretty good job, just no where near what we expected or experienced with Suh. He for sure isn't the biggest problem this D has. I have my doubts that the 2 gap system will pay many dividends in the B1G.

I've got to say no. I think Miller leaving and Bauserman coming in hurt them mentally, probably even more than the drop off in QB skill. Sure we got some big MO from the David strip but if Miller stays healthy and mobile I think they continue to move the ball on our D and I also think their D doesn't drop off as much as it did. I liked the way our O line played later in the game but I have my doubts that we wore them down or started playing light years better. I think Miller going out deflated their confidence to a level our guys could deal with. We started opening holes but it still didn't seem like we were controlling the line of scrimmage. BTW- Miller hurt his ankle cutting on the turf before the sack. I'll sure take the W but I think they gave it to us more than we earned it.

You aren't the only one.

I can appreciate the W as much as anyone but how you get it and who from has to figure into the equation.

This kind of follows a "what did we learn" type thread.

1- I was somewhat impressed with our offense, more so with Taylor, and extremely more so with Rexy. We seemed to wear down and move the ball against what is purportedly a good defense. The O-line really struggled controlling the line of scrimmage the first half but managed to open some holes in the 2nd half. I still don't feel like they "controlled" the line but still very glad they didn't quit and got the offense moving. How much of that was the result of tOSU getting gassed remains to be seen.

2- Also on offense I was very pleased with the play calling in the 2nd half. I think Beck shows a lot better ability to adjust in game, especially at halftime, than Watson ever did. But, as happy as I was with 2nd half play calling I was even more disturbed by the first half play calling. It seemed some of the more critical lessons from the Wiscy game were not properly learned by the coaching staff. They did not shy away from putting Martinez in the very same, apparently unwinnable, situations that he was put in the Wiscy game particularly towards the end of the 2nd quarter. It was virtually like a replay of the Wiscy with the interception and then giving up a field goal. Should've went in down 17-6 and regrouped.

3- I learned that momentum in college football is maybe the most important intangible. The David take away, Miller getting injured and Bauserman coming in were huge. I can't get over the feeling that this win had alot more to do with their meltdown than it did with our play. I always feel better when we control our own destiny and it didn't seem like that is what took place.

4- Our defense is not good. The preseason hype was misplaced. We have playmakers here and there but the overall effectiveness is, well, ineffective to say the least. Tackling is bad. Secondary play (yes I realize they are young) does not seem to follow good fundamentals, and we appear very slow considering it was thought we would be so much faster in the B1G. I have serious doubts about the 2 gap system working in the B1G or even working anywhere without a Suh type player. We can not and have not gotten any pressure with our front four. Our D line has looked extremely slow against every QB we have faced. Bauserman may be the only exception to this but plainly put, he is not good. We lose containment regularly. IMO Carl called a totally worthless game for our defense. I realize they have some serious execution problems but did they not watch any film from the MSU-OSU game the week prior. OSU had severe problems dealing with blitzs. So what do we do, we don't blitz. Terrible effort on the part of our DC. Last thing is size. Not much we can do about this for awhile but I will be really surprised if we can continue to have any success in the B1G with under-sized LB's and D-line. I like the idea of being a bit smaller and quicker but I'm not seeing the speed and I am definitely seeing the line push both Wiscy and OSU got against us. Week after week, I think the size/weight difference is going to take a toll on us. The D is the huge elephant in our room. It will be a long year or two if that doesn't get rectified and quick. Luckily I still believe in the Pelini's for defense but another couple game plans like this one and not sure I'll feel the same level of confidence in their ability to adjust.

5- I am disappointed in some of our fans. Whether or not a fan has the right to boo their own team is not the issue. At Nebraska, it simply isn't done. Period. If you don't like it you can pack it where the sun doesn't shine. If you've got nothing better to offer than booing your own QB or coach or play selection then stay the F home. If you want to act like so many of the other classless organizations in sports then it is as simple as attending their games instead. Don't tell me how much you support the team or how much you paid for your ticket. I don't care. This is not to say you can't criticize. I have been doing it every week in front of my television set. The difference is the players can't hear it. If this game showed you nothing else it should have showed you that they actually do care and are trying. The players aren't quitting on us and we cannot quit on them.

Bauserman must b the key to making our d finally look good

Wisconsin 2.0

Take away a facemask penalty and 2 kick returns and this joke is 17-0 with nothing good. Sounds like they're falling apart on sidelines too. Done being angry. This is just sad.

F&co this. Game is going off. I'm gonna watch something more manly than this defense. Momma Mia should work.

Next 11 please. No blackshirts this year. I am worried about every game on the schedule. D flat out sucks.

Our D is making them look like an offensive juggernaut.

well done....only one small hiccup during the prayer there...

Sorry. I did not realize this was a set deal. I thought it was an ad lib. My bad I guess. But ya got to admit, never knowing defeat fit in there.

Last week NU got introduced to the B1G. Well today is the day the B1G gets introduced to the Big Red. Sorry tOSU, you're the sacrificial lamb.

Never knowing defeat.

Anybody who is under 30 years old and doesn't pick RRR simply dislikes Texas (btw that is good enough reason for me). Anyone who is over 35 and doesn't pick NU-OU, either has Alzheimers, doesn't like college football, or is a dbag longhorn fan. The big 12 cast a shadow over the true rivalry we had with OU in the big 8 days.

This isn't my fondest memory but I like the story. 81 or 82 I'm a student at UNL. We get student season tickets for something like $36 or $45, can't remember exactly. Anyway the Oklahoma game is big money maker for selling student tickets so I sell mine and go home for Thxgiving and watch it with my parents on TV. We win the game and tear down the goal posts. When I return to Lincoln on Sunday and head to my rackroom in the frat, a 12 foot section of the curved goalpost is in my bed.

I say if you want to return to the "glory" days of the Bill Callahan era, then you go right after Gilbert. If, however, you want to be realistic and acknowledge where our true weaknesses are and admit that this team can and would win just as many, if not more, games with Martinez as our QB, Then gilbert becoming available means absolutely nothing. Control the line, play lights out defense, and limit detrimental down & distance issues and this team, with Martinez (Carnes-whoever) will be just fine. Some of you may be too young to really remember when the Huskers were truly dominant. We didn't need or even want the type of QB who could go on to the NFL. Gill, Frazier, Frost, Crouch, etc. I believe Martinez is much closer to being that type of player than any QB who played for us during the Callahan years even if they typically could throw the ball better. What I hear when I listen to people wanting to get rid of Martinez is; We need to get back to the good old times of Husker football circa 2000-2008. That tells me those people don't understand the 70's, 80's, & 90's of Husker football or that they just want to head in a different direction than that. If you can't accept a bad game now and then by certain players then I suggest you enroll in college and suit up or apply for Bo's job and show us all how it should be handled.

First of all, yes, I am a first time poster, but am someone who has read this board (and others) religiously for years to get info, to keep up with, and just be amongst other rabid husker fans year round. Time allows me to read, but to not post, so i have refrained this whole time. I am not a troll, but am someone who is ready to post after finally reading enough of this BS. First I have to ask, what makes a Husker fan? Is it someone who openly supports their team through good times(90's) and bad(2000's), no matter the criticisim they recieve at work, from rival fans, etc., or someone who can sit in their living room and badmouth the team, coaches and whoever else that doesn't live up to their expectations, all while not having to show their true face or name? I am all for an active debate on topics such as defensive alignments, offensive plays, the gameplan for upcoming opponents, etc., but to continuously and negatively spew the bs that has come about on this board and many others is starting to show our true colors as the spoiled and entitled must win society that we have become.

 

I remember the years of Osborne and how he struggled to win the bowl games against speedier opponents. I remember the ones in which a call here or there decided a championship, or just another top five finish. The thing that set it apart from today, was that fact that the criticism was done in local coffee shops, in the stadium, or at someone's home during the game.....IN PERSON. If you criticized, everyone saw who it was and you had to back up your claims. Now, anyone can come on here and spew hate and criticisim knowing that no one will know who they are and that they cannot not held accountable for it, which is unlike what the players and coaches have to answer to, because they cannot hide. If you yelled at a quarterback in the past at a game, they could see who it was, as could several hundred fans around you, thus keeping things in check. Now, that same person can Boldly(insert sarcasm) comment on here and remain anonymous.

 

I am as frustrated as anyone and as competitive as anyone when it comes to not only Husker football, but life, but I have realized that negativity does nothing but break down people and solves absolutely nothing. If you have kids, you should know this. Speaking of which, those of you criticizing, would you be doing and saying the same things about replacing the quarterback, safety, etc,. if it was your son, or would you want to encourage and support them to get better? So i go back to my original question, What makes a true Husker fan? Only you can answer that i guess, but please think about it, because these players and coaches have enough to worry about week in and week out from the other teams and fans throughout the country and national media, without having to also deal with it from their own.....so called fanbase.

 

Ok, I'm done, I hope some of you think hard about this and begin actually supporting the team and not being part of the problem. I for one will be at the game tomorrow, standing, cheering and supporting my team, because they need it, and as a fanbase, so do we.........

Very well put 1/2fullhusker. I couldn't agree more even though I slip up from time to time in the heat of moment. It is one thing to offer constructive criticism or even to join in some humorous anecdotes but it is another thing entirely to pile on when it is clear things are beginning to snowball.

God I will be so relieved after we whip OSU and some of this nonsense gets put to bed for at least awhile. What a bunch of hair-trigger, fair weather fans. One friggen loss to a better team and people go into meltdown mode. Sure the loss was bad, worse than it needed to be, ugly, and embarrassing to some extent but in the end it is only one loss. It's really friggin easy to sit back and armchair quarterback and talk like you could coach better. One suggestion; Until you've actually done it better, shut the F up. Go ahead all you know-it-alls, tell me how you could do it better, what they are all doing wrong, and how important you are in the grand scheme. Don't worry, you'll only come across as idiotic once again. If your self perception is so wrapped up and tied solely to Nebraska football, then all I can say is you need to get a life.

I'm surprised Bo is able to maintain his composure as well as he does. If I was in his position, some people in the media would be in traction and I'd be in jail.

Hey, if we're going to fantasize, I'm bringing them both back. If you insist on only one it has to be Suh. I love Tommie but that is not the side of the ball with the biggest issues. In fact, considering we have Martinez, I would probably take virtually any of our past highly decorated O linemen back before TD Tommie. We get the good ole pipeline laying down pancakes and we would never have to pass if we didn't want to.

You're right knapplc, they don't need to be moving on. I was just getting a little irritated with the "our sh%t don't stink" attitude. The discussion started out with them acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, their students gameday behavior might find some disfavor with visiting fans. After reading about said behavior I simply made the comment that they were off the list of possible schools for my son and then the fit hit the shan. Seems some cannot accept the fact that there are other fine schools and a person does not have to attend UW to be successful. I got rubbed the wrong way when badgerfan insisted that my son was not good enough for them anyway. Of course he knows nothing about my son and assumes he is from the midwest, or Nebraska, which is not the case.

One of the stats badgerfan left off his list about academics, in a sports forum no less-

Academic All-Americans;

All time, all sports combined Nebraska 291 (#1 in the country) Wisconsin 99 (tied for 21st) BTW-Penn St is #2 with 172.

Football only Nebraska 99 (#1 in the country) Wisconsin 23

This year Nebraska 14 (#1 in the Big Ten) Wisconsin 3 (tied for 7th in the B1G with Purdue, behind Penn St, Ohio St, Mich, Mich St, & Minn)

Isn't it about time for these badger fans to be moving on? I don't think an NU football forum is really the place to be promoting their little unfriendly party school. Oh God! That ones probably good for another 2 pages of meaningless stats on the Wisconsin backwoods.

Not to be a smart ass but maybe that is why Beck thought we could move the ball by having Martinez drop back and throw from the pocket. Our secondary play has not been anything a person should use to judge their offensive prowess.

 

You're probably spot on with this observation JJHusker1. If Martinez was hitting open receivers against our 2nd string it possibly could have given Beck a false assessment at Taylor's progress in the passing game. I know we practiced a lot 1's vs. 1's during Fall Camp, so it kind of amazes me that they would go away from that once the season started. I understand you don't want to get your top players hurt in practice, but at the same time you also don't want your players to gain a false sense of themselves by how they perform in practice if they are going up against 2nd string talent.

Actually, my intention was to point out that going against our first string, the way they have been playing, probably isn't going change much. Trying to be humorous but unfortunately also realistic. I am currently much more down on our D than I am our QB play. I realize that 3 picks against a team the caliber of Wiscy will kill you but our highly touted D has not lived up to expectations. Based on their hype and last years performance they should have stopped 2 if not all 3 of the subsequent scoring drives. Then maybe Beck doesn't panic and go all Air Correlle(sp) on us. The D needs to start bringing the pain. The real solution in my eyes is to limit putting Taylor in the position where we HAVE to throw deep. I think we get there with much better D, and fewer O-line mistakes. Field position and manageable down and distance. I don't blame Taylor because he isn't that type of QB. Never will be. The people piling on him need to start accepting this fact and temper their criticism with this knowledge.

BTW- I enjoy your comments.

People need to learn how to comprehend what im saying a little better. Where did i say Callahan would have an impact on coaching or being around the players? All im saying is that Callahan's RECRUITING expertise would be combined with Bo's coaching. Never, in this sentence, did i say bill callahan would be a coach, coaching players or be at the practices/games. I mean, Callahan did recruit the players of one of the best defenses we had of all time. We are just taking his recruiting abilities and putting that in bo. I still dont understand how you guys think his coachig ability, or lack thereof, comes into the equatioo. Did I ever say "Callahan's coaching ability, or lack thereof?" No, I did not.

I'm pretty sure I understand what your trying to say, I just disagree with it totally. The MO for Nebraska has not historically been to recruit high numbers of nationally high ranked prospects nor do I think it ever should be. You can't just look at what some blue chip report says was a good recruiting class without also looking at the on field results. Even if Callahan could get us the top 20 prospects every year, I wouldn't want them in our program. Those types of players typically (and the Bill years proved this) do not play with heart. I'll take the junkyard mutt over the pedigreed best in show every time. I don't want that clown associated with NU football in any way, shape, or form, even if it is limited to recruiting. He and that idiot AD ruined a dynasty. Period. It's not even funny to imagine it. I don't care how limited you claim his involvement would be. Not cool. Just my opinion of course.

We have been going through the process of selecting a college for our HS senior son. Wisconsin was one of the schools we were looking at. It's off our list now. It is apparent wiscy is not properly helping to develop well rounded people. Hopefully you get a handle on dealing with your problems.

 

 

You just denied your son a shot at success...

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure he'll be just fine. Denied a shot at success? Simply because he will not be attending Wiscy. Me thinks you exaggerate too much. I went to UNL and I am successful. Not going to Wiscy didn't hurt me one bit. And don't worry, I doubt if I would have got accepted there anyway. You went to a whole bunch of trouble (way too much in my opinion) to prove your point but it had virtually nothing to do with what I was saying. My point was, it doesn't matter how many peace prize winners (BTW if Obama can get one the way he did, the validity of that whole thing is up in the air for me) or your rank in some arbitrary poll of best places to get a burger, if the environment doesn't promote good sportsmanship and basic manners, there are better places for a young person to attend college and learn how to interact with others. I'm not impressed with Wiscy. Not in the least. Just so you know, he has the grades, class rank, and ACT's to go virtually anywhere he wants.

Also, very convenient how you list football accomplishments since 2000. How'd you do for the 30 years prior to that? Thought so. And, I'll take Husker fans over Badgers any damn day of the week. We know how to win or lose with class and dignity. Some people struggle with losing and that may be understandable in the heat of the moment but not knowing how to win without capping it off with jerkish behavior is beyond my comprehension. I guess I haven't been exposed to it like those in Madison.

Favorite and best are two different things. Gill and Frazier are my favs but they had help. Crouch did the most with the least. I wouldn't even include Ganz, Steve Taylor, or Zach on the list. Where's Humm and Ferragamo?