Wistrom Disciple

Factually incorrect. Mike Riley took a winning program with solid players and turned it into a program that had zero business in playing football at this level. Proving harder than hell to restore any sort of winning confidence.

Can we get a running clock in the second half?

Can we get a running clock in the second half?

Defense doesn’t look good, but offense is inconsistent and setting up for poor results defensively

Can’t blame Frost for this play calling. Running the ball was working and we controlled the clock fairly well to start. Gotten away from that and OU knows it. Five guys in the box and we refuse to run it right at them…

He has the speed and athleticism, the key that coaches will need to figure out is the ability to consistently put forth max effort every play. Since he is currently bigger, faster and stronger than the players facing him, he tends to slack off pretty often when on plays designed to get someone else the ball. I suspect his college coaching staff will pull the max effort out of him or he will not see the field very much. All that said, he has some amazing potential at this stage in his life.

You do need some kind of evidence or else it is all gossip. The substantiation is coming from who… Radio personalities who are hearing things second (or third hand)? Could be some truth to it all, I’m just skeptical it was as bad as some are leading people to believe. The allegations of being drunk in bars several times without anyone (ANYONE) having a picture/video runs contrary to common sense in today’s social media era. Again, I’m not saying he didn’t have faults, but suggest fans pump the brakes on adding fuel to the fire.

Yeah contractually that’s fine. You’re telling me that with the numerous social media platforms out there, not one post of him doing any of the alleged activities? Look I’m not saying he did or didn’t have a vice that he was dealing with. But the anger directed at him from “fans” and ridicule he’s getting over all these alleged activities is beyond normal. What is gained by addressing every allegation? He kept his inner circle extremely small… if that circle were larger and his wrongs so rampant as alleged, there would be video/pictures to provide any credence to these activities. I’m not suggesting he was a choir boy or didn’t have his own personal issues, but his reputation is already being dragged. He lost his dream job in the most public way possible, best to just leave the guy alone as he figures out his new normal.

There were, and I don’t recall seeing evidence (of any sort) then, or now. Some of the stories I’ve heard the past 24 hours are so unrealistic that I can’t help but question them all. Could he drink too much? Sure. Did his father passing add to it? Sure. But (as a fan base) let’s pump the brakes on some of these accusations being thrown around about him as justification for why he wasn’t successful as head coach.

Ok let's take off the psychologist hat here. All these rumors are coming out now, 24+ hours after he was fired from his dream job. A role in which everyone assumed he was going to be a smashing success. In a state that obsesses over the program like few others, wouldn't there would be much more substance if the rumors/allegations... I mean more than a radio host and online allegations? With how prevalent social media is today, I find it hard to believe many of these rumors floating out there. Could be some truth, but to the extent where all these fans and sources are popping off with "facts" certainly seems like sour grapes.

You’re using revisionist history to taint what he did while he was coach here. Bo was set up to fail by Eichorst & Perlman and yet he still found ways to win consistently. Remember how grudgingly Eichorst said Bo’s contract was extended by a year after his second to last year? Can’t imagine how those recruiting calls went over during that time period. While Pelini was no Nick Saban or Kirby Smart, he was far better than some of our fans will ever give him credit for.

We must not have seen the program the same during Bo’s time. In my view, making the conference title game every other year was a pretty good performance. Despite the administrative hurdles and that little conference realignment thing, he continued to win. Would have been really neat to see how good he could have been with support from his AD and the Chancellor (and local media not feeding the fire). As a side note: Bo led his team to the FCS title game in his second year with the Penguins. Fell off after that, but clearly he was doing something right. I do agree with your assessment that our program should be better and not just because we’re Nebraska.

So three conference titles games between the Big 12 and Big Ten was not progress? Do you see any similarity to what you’re saying about Bo and what was said about Osborne? ‘Can win 9-10 games but can’t beat Oklahoma…. Then can win in the Midwest but can’t beat Florida Speed… then chokes in the big game for all the marbles.’ If you only focus on the faults, you ignore the quality of the good. Sustained success is far more impressive than occasional excellence.

Totally agree, the post was a response that “settling” for nine wins a year was unacceptable. Nine wins means a division title every other year or so. To me, that seems satisfactory with the assumption that over time, we have a few outlier seasons and pop for a playoff run.

Would you say we were making progress with Bo or not? Three conference titles games in seven years (across two vastly different conferences). Add in the fact that his boss and his boss’ boss hated the guy and undercut him at every turn? I would say it was miraculous that the team kept winning during that time.

I never said nine wins was the ceiling. In fact, that was the floor for Bo. Yes Ohio State, Oklahoma, Bama and Georgia are current programs we aspire to be. However, those programs did not become top 10 programs overnight. Instead, they committed to sustained success with 8-10 win seasons, occasionally popping off for a 11-12 win year while always remaining in the hunt. If “settling” is 9-10 wins a year (every year), sign me up. I wouldn’t compare volleyball dominance to football very much. Nebraska has several advantages that other Power 5 programs won’t offer in volleyball. In football, those advantages are less prominent in comparison to peers.

I think +90% of the fanbase would happily take a "Bo Like average." Hell, I think 99% of college football fans would take the nine wins a year at their programs so long as it was consistently nine or more. Nine wins a year often gets you to your conference title game fairly often. And if you are playing for your conference title regularly, it indicates that you're performing at or above the level of your peers. The "games that matter" mattered because we took care of business against the teams that had less advantage/talent/coaching. Expecting the dominance of the 80s & 90s is not reasonable for our program in this day and age.

What about 67-27?

Agreed, the talent is there. Talent is in the program to win the Big Ten West this year. Also could be the bottom of the division this year. It's a rollercoaster (one very frustrating rollercoaster). Though I like Fisher, I haven't been impressed with the secondary this year. If they turn their heads around, they would likely catch several additional interceptions. Instead we face guard a lot and run into Defensive PIs too much. Buford's turn around tonight was perfect, could have had more with Hill & Q doing the same. I do think the offense turned a corner today, they looked to be humming for most of the game. Defense was terrible at all levels for most of the game. Sadly, it feels like a boat with a thousands holes, never knowing which hole is going to be the one to sink the ship week to week.

Maybe its the sick humor I'm feeling after the game tonight... but I'd go after Bo F*&!*@% Pelini. Get him, keep Mickey and a couple assistants and this team plays in the Big Ten title game in two years. The Bo revenge tour would be magical and humorous.

We had that guy, his name was Bo Pelini. Though I agree with some of what you wrote, I think at this stage most of the fanbase is just looking for a team that can be respectable and be a team that achieves a record above .500. Beat the teams deemed to be notably "weaker," and avoid embarrassing meltdowns of the basics. Sadly, we have struggled with those basics immensely over the past few years and can't seem to find the right buttons to push to play complete on both sides of the ball. It feels as though it's wack-a-mole week to week. Tonight, the offense looked like it finally started to figure things out, while the defense spent 3/4 of the game looking no better than a high school JV team.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Thought maybe I need to check the carbon monoxide detectors. It is wild to me how we can defy statistics so often and still find ways to make every game a rollercoaster (whether weak or strong opponents). What I'm really hoping to see is us beat Oklahoma. Sure for the big win, but more so to see how it would put most of the fanbase in a mental pretzel.

I learned that the Sun Belt is going to be a beast this year... good news for us is that this will only be the third best win in their conference this weekend.

*Mike Riley has entered the chat*

Not necessarily learned in this game alone, but reaffirmed that controlling the clock and tempo will be the key to a successful or unsuccessful season. Another game with the opponent controlling the pace of play and eating time of possession followed by our insistence on quick plays and high tempo. Burns out the defense and we are gassed by the 3rd quarter. For reference, the Minnesota defense faced a total of 33 snaps in their entire game. We had faced 33 snaps today by 3 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin play complimentary football. It’s boring and ugly, but it is incredibly effective with their offenses sitting on the ball and their defense getting off the field quickly. We must embrace slowing tempo and giving the defense a break. We haven’t had that understanding since Pelini’s final couple of years. Can’t leave the defense out to dry all season long.