California Husker

I want to believe you're correct, but that Northwestern game is looking a lot tougher after this past weekend.

I think the Huskers have talent. I have faith that Coach Frost is the guy to turn this around. I just think when he said it would be a 2-3 year project, he knew what he was talking aobut. Of course my thread title is a little sarcastic, but seriously, are there any sure wins on the schedule...or if not sure wins...any that we are more likely than not to win? Well, other than Bethune Cookman. Thoughts?

Purdue Pete may even be a little more creepy than that awful OSU cowboy or the Burger King.

I HATE the referees. I don't think they are a necessary evil. I just think they are evil. Of course, we have to put up with them, but it is astounding to me how often they just plain get things wrong. Case in point (and I know it wasn't going to change the outcome of the game), the play where they called a double pass on Martinez. Granted, Martinez did look as though he tried to catch the ball and then realized that he needed to bat it down...which is exactly what he did. The refs said he got possession and then threw another forward pass. That was simply wrong. If you want to test my position, ask yourself if they would have called that a completion had he been a receiver on that play. Of course, the answer is no. And in that situation, once he threw the pass, he does become a receiver. So the correct call should have been: Incomplete pass. Just because he considered catching it and then realized that wasn't the right thing to do, doesn't mean he should be penalized for what he ALMOST did. So here's the reason I bring this up here. The last thing I need when I'm watching a college football game is for them to have a former ref in the studio to give me his bad takes and support the decision on the field nearly 100% of the time with his ridiculous justification for the bad calls being made by game refs. If we are going to talk about bad things we saw/heard on FOX Saturday, the place we can start was with anything that came from Dean Blando. I swear, every time I'm watching a game and they say "Let's hear what our expert _________ has to say about this call.", I just cringe. I don't give a rodent's backside what the expert former ref has to say. It is always either something so obvious that seeking his opinion is insulting, or he is wrong. Getting rid of the expert official in the studio would be one immediate improvement they could make in ANY college football broadcast.

Coach Frost told us that it would be a 2-3 year process to turn this around. Many of us (I am very guilty of this myself), thought he was just underselling. Keeping expectations low so that if (or when) we lost to some of the stronger teams in the conference, we wouldn't be disappointed. But he told us. He said it would take time. I trust him. He's been successful. He was a big reason why Oregon was so successful under Kelly. He took over an underperforming UCF team and a year later had an undefeated season. It is not as if we just hired a washed-up NFL head coach, or some guy with zero head coaching experience, or some guy who was a career .500 coach. Coach Frost has been a winner at the college level. Many people have said that you can't totally blame this on the previous coaching staff for this start. However, this team looks slow. Most of the players don't look very good. Frost has brought in 50 new players, but now you have a mix of players from a bad team, with inexperienced players. And I'm not sure what the lack of "buy-in" is exactly that Coach Frost keeps talking about, but we know Riley's team was completely undisciplined. So, can it be that the MOST talented players among Riley's recruits are also the ones that WON'T buy in? I don't know. I realize there are people here on Huskerboard who are "in the know" (and love to tell us about it). But what I know for sure is that Coach Frost told us he was going to turn the program around and he told us it was going to take time. The admin hired him knowing that. So now he deserves time. Not saying we cannot critique the decisions he makes from time-to-time, but in my opinion, we finally have a coach in whom we can have faith. So this is a coach, at least this Husker fan, is willing to give that time. As frustrating as that waiting may be.

I believe this idea that Michigan played so many more ranked teams is propaganda spread by Michigan. Those teams were ranked when they played, but many of them were over ranked. I am pretty sure when you do a composite of the two poles that most people used back then (AP and Coaches), at the end of the season, when it counts, Nebraska had actually beaten more ranked teams than Michigan. As far as the Colorado game goes; Michigan got them at home at the beginning of the season. Nebraska was playing a division rival and had to play in colorado where there is no air. That's a whole different ball game. The fact is, Nebraska was a #1 offense and a top 10 defense and in Michigan, they would have been playing a #1 defense and an offense that couldn't even crack the top 25. You have to score to win and as I've said elsewhere, the Nebraska defense shut down Payton-Effing-Manning (who should have won the Heisman that year), who on earth thinks the Blackshirts wouldn't have been able to shut down Brian Griese? Seriously?

Pretty much quotes from an O-lineman who probably got embarrassed by Suh at every practice. Suck it up and play better and Suh won't work you....Slauson. It's not Suh's fault that you didn't live up to expectations.

Absolutely! Dirty play, and what else could he have been doing other than to intentionally try to cause an injury?

Oh hell yeah! #44 was definitely trying to cause an injury. Dirty football from a program that is traditionally one of the dirtiest in college football.

Wow....just WOW. I can't believe this post. That team yesterday looked NOTHING like a Pelini coached team. We have the first really good head coach that we've had since Osborne retired. I just can't believe this criticism. Unreal.

My son was at the game sitting on the east side about 40-yard line 35 rows up. He (like me) is from California and gets back to Lincoln for games very infrequently. Of course, the rain delay (and later cancelation) was a great disappointment. However, he called me during the delay and he said the student section was awesome. He said the big party that spontaneously erupted in the stadium (mostly the student section) was the only thing that made the wait bearable. Kudos to the students...one segment of the greatest fans in the world.

Of course it would have been nice to have a "warm up" game for the Colorado game, but, we can look at a couple of bright spots. 1) Nobody got hurt last night 2) Colorado has no game tape to go over (other than our kick-off return touchback play) 3) Nebraska has game tape to review of Colorado's first game. I know, playing the game would have been better. I'm just trying to look on the bright side.

My son flew out from So Cal to see Coach Frost's first game. Plane tickets, hotel, meals, etc. He doesn't get back to Lincoln for too many games (none of us do), this was his first trip back since the Fresno State game in 2011. He's pretty disappointed to say the least.

Actually, I'm not sure what radar he was flying under. CA is one of the top recruiting grounds in the nation. As a senior at Corona Centennial Taylor Martinez passed for over 3,000 yards, had a completion percentage north of 60%, ran for close to 800 yards, and led the Huskies to an undefeated 15-0 season and won a state championship in the highest division of high school football in the Southern Section (they divide the state in a north and south since it's so big). I remember in the championship game, one of the commentators made the remark before a big play that you want the ball in Martinez's hands, he is by far the fastest player on the field. And once again that's the fastest player from the two best teams in the Southern Section.

A few people above have decided to stick with games they saw in person. I'm from the West Coast and don't get back to Lincoln for a lot of games...so my in-person memories are limited. But I'll just stick with in-person memories anyway. Most Fun? - 1984 NU vs UCLA. (went to the game with a bunch of Bruin fans and the Huskers battered them 42 - 3. And I wouldn't let them leave early...hahaha). Most Satisfying? - 2000 Fiesta Bowl (beat Tennessee 31-21 and Frankie ran the offense like the TO) Loudest? Funny story. 1998 NU vs Cal in Berkley. More than half the stadium was dressed in red. At one point Cal was backed up against the end zone and it got so loud the Cal QB went to the ref and put his hands over his ear holes to ask for relief (QBs used to do that). The ref just waved him back to the line...what was the ref supposed to do? Penalize the home team? Hahaha. Most disappointing? 2001 Rose Bowl. I know NU was outmatched so I shouldn't have been so disappointed, but it was for the National Title, so it stung. Best OT? I've never seen the Huskers play an OT game in person.

according to this article (and the official rosters on Huskers.com), Nebraska is adding some much-needed weight on the O and D lines, as well as some in the skill positions. https://www.chieftain.com/sports/national/roster-update-reveals-major-gains-of-more-than-pounds-among/article_688c1ee0-b0e0-5f6e-beaf-2c40943e8d8c.html

This thread seems to have turned into a "what if....?" about the 1997 Huskers vs the 1997 Wolverines. And many people have noted that Michigan had the best scoring defense that season while NU had the best offense (both true statements), therefore setting up the "who wins? best defense or best offense?" argument. I think what gets lost in the 1997 NU vs Mich argument is this: Mich #1 scoring defense NU #8 scoring defense That's right...whenever the `97 Huskers vs the `97 Wolverines argument comes up, we don't hear much about NU's defense...a really good defense. Ask Peyton Manning. NU #1 scoring offense Mich #29 scoring offense Yes, that's right....NUMBER TWENTY-NINE....not good. So, yes Michigan had a great defense, but so did Nebraska...a top 10 defense. I think I might make the argument that since Nebraska played far fewer close games, NU's points allowed might even be slightly inflated by the fact that starters are out early in a lot of NU games, while Michigan HAD to keep their first team in due to close games. Michigan only managed to put up scores in the 20s in 9 of their 12 games, while Nebraska scored in the 30s or more 11 of 13 games (in the 40s three times, in the 50s three times, 69 once and 77 once). Michigan's three highest scoring games were against unranked Baylor (38 points), unranked Indiana (37 points) and a little more impressive Penn State who finished ranked #17 (34 points). Nebraska, on the other hand, scored 49 against that same Baylor team, 56 against a K-State team that was 11-1 and finished #8, and 42 against Tennessee who finished ranked #7. Even if Michigan could have held Nebraska under their scoring average (and that's a big if), how the hell would they ever beat Nebraska if THEY couldn't score? Look, if Peyton...effing...Manning couldn't score on Nebraska's defense, how the hell was Griese going to score on them?

Thank you

Wow

Of course you have to play the games on the schedule. But that doesn't mean the schedule can't be brought into question. The only reason I'm even commenting on their schedule last year is that some people are using their 13-1 finish as THE reason to predict an NU loss to Wisconsin this year. I'm simply stating that due to the weakness of their schedule last year, their finish doesn't provide me with as much trepidation as, say, the Ohio State game for instance. I'm not guaranteeing a victory over Wisconsin; the fact that it's in Madison makes it even a little tougher, but I still see it as a game NU could win. That's all I was saying.

Yes, Wisconsin had a great season by Wisconsin standards. But I remember when Nebraska went undefeated "only" beating 4 top 20 teams. The Huskers got criticized for playing a soft schedule. So, congrats to the moles, or rats, or whatever Wisconsin calls their team. I'm just not that impressed with 13-1when there were only 3 top 20 teams on that schedule, one of which beat them and another that just squeaked into the top 20.

Ahhh, something about which we can agree.

I realize that strength of schedule rankings are all over the place, and I agree that winning 13 games is impressive. But, in reality, the only really tough games Wisconsin played last season were against OSU and Miami and they were 1-1.

Thanks Sigmund