Husker_x

As a fan, I am not the least concerned about our ability on paper (or on film) to beat Michigan State. They are a very solid football team, but so are we. If you're not afraid of Ameer Abdullah, you're not paying attention. If you're not afraid of Randy Gregory (and hell, the rest of that line), you're not paying attention. One of Bill Callhan's famous proverbs is relevant here: the football is a funny-shaped ball. A lot can happen in a game. You can beat yourself. You can have a few game-changing calls go against you. Little mistakes turn into big disasters. It's football. Which means for a player, you don't need to read anything. You don't need to watch TV. You don't need to consider the national ramifications or the image of the program. Don't give it a thought. You need to spend every moment this week practicing at maximum effort (including and especially the film room, DBs), and preparing to play a full four quarters with total attention and discipline. If we do that and lose by three, I'll tip my hat. This is a good team we're about to play. They deserve our complete respect. In this age of college football going undefeated is increasingly a luxury; let's just try to not self-harm out there and give away a signature win.

I was with you up until the last sentence. I would never pencil Iowa as a gimme for this reason: I watch a lot of Iowa football, and if there is one thing that can be said for that televised anesthesia, it's that Iowa rarely loses by a lot or wins by a lot.

Like pot, I don't know that there is such a thing as an overdose of skepticism. The main thrust of this case makes itself. As of this moment, the 2014 Nebraska Cornhuskers have no trophies to their name and no major accomplishments. We've uncovered a few holes on the defensive side of the ball and injuries are beginning to accrue far too early for my tastes. Our defense is young. There are true freshman out there playing real-time snaps for the second season in a row. Nevertheless, with all our woes we're 4-0 looking to go 5-0 (stay focussed, fellas), and we will have our moment in prime time to find out if Pelni has figured a thing or two out. Should things not go our way, the wing of the party that's wanted Pelini's head for a few seasons will return. They may even have a case if the game turns ugly. My own personal optimism is more big picture. Most people in the recruiting world believe we have upgraded our overal talent level and are continuing to attract at least a few top players every cycle in addition to a few gems (see: Ameer Abdullah). The game Tim Beck called against Miami is something Nebraska fans have been waiting to see for years now, but there is no guarantee that Beck won't be Beck if we go down ten on the road at MSU in the first quarter. My sense, though, is that we are trending upward, and whether or not we rock Michigan State's world is peanuts in the larger scheme of things. We have a chance to win our conference, which is down. Next season we will see an unusual injection of NFL-level talent (Rose-Ivy, Jackson (?), Moss, Alexander) that could easily take this defense up a notch. And this is in addition to the talented youth we already have. Imagine if Gregory decides to stick around one more year and complete his development at this level. Like I've already said, Nebraska is not on the mountain top yet, but we're climbing. If we catch a few breaks, a few things go our way, this season could turn out to be special, or failing that, a springboard into the future. I surely do hope something like our offense game plan last week turns out to be our long-lost Identity. It would complete the picture for likely future success, though nothing is ever certain in this era of college football (ask Texas, Florida, USC, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, etc., etc., etc.).

The motto of this season is improvement. It should be visible on film, week to week. We can rave all we like about this or that player, but our defense is young across the board. A few players we absolutely would have counted on to plug holes are unavailable. Worrying about stats is for another year. Winning however we have to should be this team's only focus, and if that means giving up a few bonehead plays, so be it. If the LB corps creates takeaways like last week, a lot of our concerns will no longer exist however many yards they give up.

We can't be quick to forget there have been reasons to be jaded from this staff. But when they said they did some soul searching in the offseason, I'll admit I believed it was more than the usual bullsh#t. Now the test is consistency. Let success breed success.

He did have a rough night.

Maybe I'm missing just exactly what it is about Sparty that has some so extremely concerned. We have lost to them once in football. Ever. That team we played last year that won all the hardware could have easily gone down were it not for our own dumb play. That's not a knock on their talent or scheme––which I respect––but I don't feel Nebraska is a helpless underdog. We'll be showing up to play.

Well...Duke Johnson is probably the second best running back we will see this season and Miami found ways to get him in space. They ran quick routes and tunnel screens to try and let their speed work to their advantage. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. On the other side, we played one of the best MLB we will play this season and I don't remember seeing him make any plays. Like at all. I had to keep pointing out who made the tackle just to make sure I wasn't missing him. I think Beck got something done during preparations because we completely neutralized Perryman. Add on top we ran the ball something like 80% of the time and that is crazy. We do appear to have a slight tackling problem MLB comes to mind. But it's a good question: how many athletic teams like Miami are left on our schedule? Will the defense improve overall as a unit and eventually compensate? Will other players (coughinteriorlinemencough) start making more disruptive plays? I was surprised we weren't blitzing more, but then I suppose Miami's screen game (which worked well at times) would probably limit the amount of send-the-housers you'd try. Gregory had a nice night at the office rushing four.

I know the feeling, but I think Michigan State has as much to fear from us as we do from them. That's a huge change for me as a fan. It will be a big time challenge to go on the road and take them down but I think we are more than capable.

I feel like we're approaching the phase where we have talent, and the potential to pile on a lot more with a good season. A few guys who are missing this year will be a boon next season when they're healthy, too. There are too many variables in championship runs to know for certain what's about to happen, but as far as program-level analysis, I think we're in better shape than we have been since . . . well . . . the late 90s? And the offense and defense appear to be about on equal footing talent-wise, a first in the Pelini era.

Great post. We've got a few tough ones coming up, but looking at the big picture, we are in a very good situation (but oh how I wish Michael Rose was still available).

I'm thinking and coming up empty on scenarios where you're expected to applaud someone giving you the finger.

Yes we will. Hard game to peg but I think Nebraska has every tool it needs to get a W.

They were running plays away from him......which is by definition "planning around him"....that in itself is disruptive. There's also a reason Valentine is getting in the backfield more since Gregory's return. Great comment. Randy's job when he's not sacking people is to scare the sh#t out of them. He does that, therefore he is a successful component of the defense regardless of his stat line.

College football is a seasonal thing. As a fanbase, we spend out winters rehashing the omens––good or ill––from the season before. Spring finds sports writers and their laziest and least informed. It's not their fault, this drought of truly useful information, but so many eye catching headlines destined to be forgotten are printed here. Summer is potential and hearsay congealing into the shape of a football team. We get our depth charts, our final rosters, and count the days until kickoff. Then there's fall. Fall is reality. I've been along for every year of the Pelini tenure. Seven trips on the merry-go-round, so to speak––enough to make me hesitant about grandiose predictions before seeing a full non-conference schedule fill in the gaps. Being a part of the Nebraska fanbase during this time has been nothing if not instructive. We have seen some incredible things––again, good and ill––during Pelini's time. And while this post should not be mistaken with the Nebraska football program standing on the mountaintop, after so many trips around this seasonal thrill ride, an inkling I had in spring may turn out to be real. I think it's finally safe to say it's happening. Nebraska is taking the shape of the team it needs to be to bring trophies back to Lincoln. You start with Ameer. Who wouldn't? Barrels of ink will be spilt praising his performance last night, but speaking for myself (and avoiding a string of well-deserved adjectives), this guy is beyond. Talk about his play, talk about his leadership. Talk about the fact that gravity seems to leave him the f*ck alone. Talk about whatever, but thank the football gods he's on our side, and credit our staff for finding him wandering around somewhere in Alabama. Tim Beck. You've caused a lot of damage to my liver since you became coordinator (I learned in AA step one is to always blame other people for your problems). At times I thought your plot to kill me would succeed, but at some point between Taylor Martinez making his merciful exit and last night, you had a revelation. That revelation was to win games at Nebraska, you need to commit to a physical, option-oriented run game––and don't leave it for another woman. I commend you for your game plan and the discipline you showed in sticking with it for four quarters. I hope you stick with it for the rest of your career. You bludgeoned and demoralized a mouthy, trashy team and sent them packing back to Miami. I suspect we are waiting for a more consistent #2 at tailback, but Ameer will get some rest another night. Maybe next Saturday. Tommy Armstrong is a player we've been waiting for. He's good-not-great, exactly what I thought he'd be, but he does a few simple things well, and his unselfish, intelligent play is the axis around which the offense rotates. Our defense has a weakness or two, but my sense of the game was that Miami was simply doing some things right. Kaaya was on the money several times last night. You do have to tip your hat. You also have to tip your hat to a secondary that forced game-closing turnovers. Barring too many injuries, Pelini defenses tend to get better the more they play. Let's hope the trend continues. There is some eye-popping talent on that side as well, and the distance between where they are and dominance is not so far as it may appear. One sportscaster likened the first three games to quizzes and the Miami game as the final test of the non-con. We completed 3/3 and passed the test with flying colors. We're 4-0. We're talented, tested, and the offensive blueprint is in place at long last. It's a long march to the end of the season, but I have not been this optimistic about Nebraska football and the direction of this program in a very, very long time. As of today, everything is in front of us, including a spot in the final four. I could not be more f'ing proud of this team.

Don't care. We can go up, down, sideways, yoyo or spin in circles. This program has a clear goal: win the conference. The national media will not be able to ignore an undefeated team with a salty defense come November. If we win our conference, everything else is gravy, but we have a long way to go before then and Pelini teams have the characteristic of getting in their own way at some point. Stay focussed on the task at hand and do not let Miami sneak one out in Lincoln.

Oh yeah.

This is where a team gets demoralized. A play like that puts this game a long ways away.

Wow. We have been waiting for you, buddy. SPECIAL teams.

Good news all around. If we get up on Fresno, keep him healthy. I'm just sayin.

I am fed to the teeth with Beck. It's the same song every year. To this day I have no clue what the identity of his offense is or what it is he thinks he's trying to accomplish.