grapevine7

Agree with the last post - Osborne > Saban - in so many different ways. Also agree with the title of the post -- the trend is undeniable. Two decades ago, the trend only existed in baseball, but now is dominating the football landscape. This is a Big Ten issue.

Four points. One, a rivalry game will definitely help Nebraska. OSU-UM, OU-UT, FSU-UF, AL-AU, UW-WSU, and so on. Even ND, a national program, seemingly above the rivalry fray, has USC as their big game. Nebraska does not need the rivalry to excel, but it definitely helps. But the second point is this -- it's troubling that Iowa is being made to be our rival because they are a mediocre program. And even more troubling that we've gone 3-5 against them since we joined the B10. Except for one year, Iowa has not been that great of a team. Even their undefeated regular season was held together with duct tape and baling wire. And yet, the state of our program has been less -- in some respects, much lesser -- than Iowa. As a result, the annual Nebraska-Iowa game has not come close to achieving national prominence, in spite of the Black Friday setting. If Iowa had national prominence, it would be a totally different thing -- we would desire that rivalry. Third -- Nebraska's first step towards achieving national prominence is beating Iowa, not because they are our rival, nor because we want them to be our rival, but because they've beaten us 5 out of the last 6 years. Frankly, it should have been 6 out of 6. That needs to change - Nebraska needs to beat Iowa in 2019 - PERIOD. Perhaps some might think this gives too much emphasis to the next Iowa game - so be it.... Beating Iowa has to one of the first benchmarks for Frost going forward. One final point -- I've heard and seen the chirping out of some of our players before this last game. Sure, confidence is nice, but whiteboard material for the opposition appears silly, and reflects poorly on Nebraska. God, it's so pathetic. It's now the off-season - boys need to shut-up and hit the weight room. Speak softly and carry a big stick.

The last sentence here is a very foolish statement. Iowa is a solid program- something we haven't been for years. They will compete. Iowa's offensive and defensive lines are presently so much better than Nebraska. And Iowa isn't going backward on that front next year. We are lucky to even have had a shot at that game. Which leads to the main point -- Martinez and Frost. Wow. Martinez had that one mistake, but gave it his all. Frost totally out-coached Ferentz.

Remaining 3 games: -Illinois -- NE wins -- see other thread on this subject. I think Martinez will continue to grow - should go wild. -Mich St. - Will try to put NE in a box, and should succeed, BUT watch for MSU turnovers. NE loses. -Iowa -- Watch the NW-IA game closely. If IA loses, they pack it in and NE beats IA. Otherwise, NE runs into a buzz-saw on Black Friday.

We have to take our opponents as we find them. SOS is out the window. I really don't care how we compare with other teams. It's how we are developing internally. Will we minimize penalties? Will we start to see an identity of a Scott Frost team? Will we start to see that focus? Today's game can be a stepping stone towards that.

This was a good win. Glad to see the stuff on the sidelines between the coach and his players.

Incorrect - I am not comparing our program to '95. That's exactly the problem with so many who have no patience with our coaching staff. The title to this thread is a reflection of our lack of patience. It has exhibited itself again and again. We need to establish consistency, we cannot fire this coach, he gets a pass for at least 3 years, I don't care if he has 3 consecutive losing seasons. Also, I do not imply that our program has been a perpetual dumpster fire. But it is one right now. We have a pretty darn good QB, but that's about it.

The topic of this thread is absolutely important. But we could substitute the coach's name with any of our past coaches. Would Solich have survived 0-6? Would Pelini have? At the end of the day, this program is a dumpster fire because we've always looked to fire the coach. No consistency in this program. It's Scott Frost, folks. He's the coach. I don't care if he has three losing seasons in a row. It doesn't matter. We are not elite, not even close. Frost needs a lot of time to get us out of this quagmire. We need to place a lot of trust in this coach. Can we do that? Doubtful. After Frost's second losing season (yes, I feel we will be a losing team next year), we'll see the stupidity happen again ("fire Frost, let's hire ________".) Give this kid time, real time -- he'll do it.

While I can understand many here who reject the notion of being like Iowa - who would want that - I simply cannot understand why Wisconsin is not an acceptable model. They have identity. They have consistency. They have success. Iowa - well, they've been a couple steps off Wisconsin, but their program appeals to me because of their consistency. Don't look now but another Ferentz appears to have been able to figure out how to coach. Once he takes over, that'll be another 20 year coach. Think of that -- 3 coaches over 60 years. Iowa can continue to mold players that will come thru their program. Iowa will get all the best tight-ends - that's who they are, but they may start to specialize in other areas as well. Wisconsin, of course, has the great O-line, year in and year out. They have clear identities. What is Nebraska's identity? That's our problem. Nobody can answer that question, except Scott Frost someday. It would feel better if another program stole our identity, because it just ticks me off that we just gave it away. Alright - rant over.

Primary culprits: Wisconsin. Close second: Iowa. Who here wouldn't want what they've got - honestly. Perhaps "steal" is not the word - we've screwed our own pooch. We have continually questioned our coaching staff, our AD - ad infinitum - until one or the other is fired. Our athletic administration has failed to withstand pressure from the fanbase. We had stability in the 70's, the 80's, the 90's. Contrast the last two decades. There is absolutely no stability at Nebraska and HS recruits know it. The idea of taking scores of Nebraska farm-boys and developing a solid, reliable running attack is, perhaps, forever gone. It has been said many times and I agree totally: We are all in with Scott Frost. But I'll take it one step further -- If he doesn't work out, Nebraska's identity will be forged for years to come. Save the criticisms of Frost; the situation here is dire; it's time to rally around the coach. Was it stolen, or did we just give it away? I'm of the opinion we just let Wisconsin and Iowa take it from us. Isn't that worse?