Husker_x

Unfortunately Vals and Runza are not stadium-only establishments. The more I think about this the clearer it becomes. The only boycott of value will be when people stop buying Nebraska merchandise, stop purchasing PPV telecasts, and, most importantly, stop going to the games. The sellout streak is our only weapon. Personally I'd be willing to have the stadium half full for the rest of the season if it means we can get an option coach like Gill primed and ready for next year. I think we might have to start calling some radio shows and putting this idea out there, or e-mailing them. Most of the sponsors are far to big to be hurt by a small boycott––it probably wouldn't even be noticed, actually. No, it's the seats or bust. X

And the only way the big money guys are going to do something is if the advertisers lose their targets (a.k.a. you). If there's no one at the games, there's no money to be made. People realize that the fanbase will not accept this any longer, then they either take steps to correct it or end the football program. Which do you think will happen first?

I know this has been discussed in some other posts, but I just think when Nebraska tried to go to the West Coast Offense they lost their identity. The thing that made Nebraska great and in my mind better than other "power house schools" like Florida and others is the continuity the program had and the option running game. It just seems like some of that tradition has been lost which has resulted in this lack of heart. I truly hope you guys can get it back. I still hope Mizzou can beat you, but I hope you can get it back. Well, unfortuantely, Solich was no Osborne - especially in game planning. There's not many people that could run the option like TO. The problem with hiring Gill at the time, other than no HC-Coordinator experience, was he'd probably keep a lot of the aging staff who couldn't get out and recruit. Gill models himself after TO, and he wouldn't really replace anybody. So... a new offensive philosophy has to come into place. And... it's not working. If Gill can run and teach a solid running game, fire up the troops, and get a DC in here who makes madmen out of Nebraska blood, I'll take him.

It's kind of weird...the air even smells different. X

Look, the bottom line is the fans are the only ones who can do anything about this nightmare of a program. The extensions are the downfall of anything short of a snapped sellout streak. I know its going to suck for it to come to that, but let's be real. Pederson isn't going anywhere until the money's not there to pay him (or there's a clear, visible danger of losing the money soon). I'm more concerned about reclaiming our tradition, too. I want the old blood back in power, people who understand Nebraska football. Enough of this pro-factory nonsense. Win 10, go to a good bowl, play for the guys before you. X

If bars stopped getting the game that could be big, too. Especially in Lincoln and Omaha. Effectivley tune out Nebraska ball, all the advertisers would be burning red hot. X

Okay, I think this might be a necessary post. We hear a lot of panicing but not a lot of thinking. So for now I'll offer my idea as to what we should do to go into the future. Go ahead and feel free to trash it if you think it's ridiculous. That's okay. That's what this is for. Just put some ideas out there (that means you, too, Bugeater) and we'll try to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Step 1: Realize where we are At this point I think everyone needs to see the true state of affairs. We are a sinking ship with no hope for the future. Our recruits, provided there are any left by the end of the season, are ultimately useless because of the coaching. All the talent in the world means nothing when there is no TEAM to put them in. Callahan has no wins of value, no motivational prowess, and his scheme is pathetic. The WCO has washed out. Let's face that, right here, right now. It just doesn't work. If we can't score a TD against the 95th ranked defense in the nation, then what do we expect against the likes of Oklahoma or LSU? Moreover we have seen no improvement in four years, the total demolition of our many proud traditions, and a usurping of our Nebraska way (which does exist and always has). Bottom line: this is not the staff for us. Maybe they'd have more success in the pros, I don't know and nor do I really care. I want what is best for Nebraska, not Bill Callahan or his unbendable philosophy. I was an ardent Callahan supporter, but this is it for me. I can't support him because I have no reason to believe he can turn this around, not even with a good D coordinator. Our players are complacent, void of emotion, and quitters. This is where we are. Step 2: Options for the future Now we need to open the discussion to legitimate replacements, pros and cons. Who would be right for the job? Who would understand our traditions and remember them from the first day he steps foot in his office? Personally I agree with Tony Soprano: "You STAY within the family." We are Nebraska; it's us against the world. We'll run the damn option no matter how old it is, no matter how 'dead' it is, and watch what happens against those highbrow Os like the 95 Florida team. My personal preference is a return to a power running game, phased in with an emphasis on passing until we can recruit the right guys. Blain Gabbert could maybe be an option QB, I don't really know. He's big and fast from what I hear, and he can throw. He might be the answer, he might not. I would rather lose running the option than lose running the WCO. At least then we'd LOOK like a Nebraska team. Step 3: Action All this talk means nothing unless we are willing to do the hardest thing imaginable. I'm talking about not going to games or paying for merchandise. Pederson and Callahan have recently been given extensions, and that was a big, big mistake. But money is louder than these setbacks. I know it seems like you're turning on the Huskers, but you're not. You're simply doing what has to be done in order to see the program salvaged from the wreckage. Vote with your feet, show that you do not support players who quit, or coaches who are incompetent. Hit the advertisers. Call them if you want to. Once the money starts to dry up, Pederson will be hurled out faster than Rush Limbaugh at an ACLU ralley. The greatest message is silence. It's either that or booing the team from the minute they step on the field until the minute they step off. Boo the coaches, especially, and Pederson. I don't know what else will get the message across. But I do know that sitting complacently will do absolutely nothing. These things will not work themselves out. Pederson has got to go, today if possible. Money is all that will make that happen. --- Those are my ideas, feel free to rip them apart or add your own. X

Yes, yes, but now what are we going to DO about it?

Pedersen has to go for things to change. He isn't going to be gone and we all know that. Look, I don't like him either, but he's right. Sure, he's immature and doesn't really contribute anything, but forget about him and work with the idea. We just need to ask, "What needs to happen for this staff to be let go?" With their extensions, it's very tough. But money is still money, and it comes through ticket sales, and advertising. Take them down, the staff goes down.

Yes it would make Husker fans look like fair weather fans if all of a sudden when the team is down that people stop showing up. The change would have to go one higher if you ask me. The Chancellor is the one that gave Pederson the job then after seeing all the programs get worse he goes and gives him an extension. That in cause gave Pederson a chance to extend Bills. We're backed into a corner man. If you love Nebraska football, if you really love it, we're going to have to do something drastic, something no one thought would ever happen. Pederson is the devil, and he's planted himself firmly in the destruction of this program, and he's not leaving of his own accord. Money is all that talks, but it is loud enough. Break the streak, break Pederson. X

It's what I've been saying all morning. The advertisers are the ones that need to be hit, and that happens when the fans walk out. These players have quit on us as much as the coaches have wrecked everything we've built here. There's nothing left to support. Follow the money. Hit the advertisers. Don't buy Fairbury hotdogs, don't eat Vals Pizza, call them if you have to. But whatever you do, don't show up to that stadium in support of what's going on. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. I see no other way to take Pederson down. X

I hope for your sake that was a joke.

EX-ACTLY. I actually want teams to run it up on us all season. I want this to get as ugly as possible. I hope we don't win another game. I know it sounds awful, believe me, but in order for this coaching staff to be ousted before they drag us down for five more seasons, we have to hit the advertisers. That will only happen with the fans turn on the program. BC has done everything his can to alienate our fanbase this season, and a couple more of these woodshed beatings will hopefully push him into resigning. X

The problems are more then just the terrible defense. Exactly. I'm finally waking up to it. And it's more than just terrible offense, as well. BC just cannot motivate the players. He's not getting in their faces; they're quitting out on the field; they look lost, frustrated, and bitter. You can't play like that. You have to believe in what you're doing. It's time to clean house. I'm not a fire-coach-button-masher by nature, but for the sake of our tradition, it's time to wake up and get this done before it gets any worse, which it certainly will this season. I now expect the Huskers to lose and lose big.

For awhile I was tempted to take that safer stance of waiting for a year, but I just don't think we have that kind of time. I think people want to believe Callahan is going to get it done, but not all faith should be blind. I have no REASON to think he will. Just look at our offense last night against a defense as porous as the Mexican/American boarder. And did you see a shred of adjusting at the half on either side? Sure, he changed a few things up (clock burning plays), but got demolished even more handily than before. Our O-line is just as horrendous as our D-line. Keller was munching turf all night, and these guys are HUUUUGE. But worst of all, the most disgraceful thing about this team, is that there is NO. RUNNING. GAME. We've got a stable of backs, all of them pretty much useless, except maybe Castille, who looks hungry for blood. BC needs to go. It's time that we just face it, suck it up, and start thinking about what we can do to see what needs to happen happen by next season.

A Turner/Pelini ticket kind of catches my eye, but I doubt Pelini would want to come back...considering. Basically my feeling at this point is that whoever it is, I would really like to see us return to our running roots. It's what we built our mansion on even after the option was supposedly dead (was it ever alive?). I think I'll turn this idea into a longer post because I have a lot of questions for people who dismiss the option as a viable offensive strategy (and yes I know it itself is actually not an offensive strategy, but we use the term anyway). POWER RUNNING as a ball control theory, mixed with fierce and raging defense, should work if executed properly, regardless of time or place. But anyway, I'll put more into it and post something later on. X

That really bothered me, too. It's not that we're losing, it's that we're quitting. Back in the day the Blackshirts (know where they are, by chance, because I haven't seen them) kept fighting regardless of what happened. And at least you got a sense of purpose. These guys are jokes, on both sides of the ball. I can't even call them Huskers, because players who play for Nebraska at the very least respect themselves. X

It's the first time for me, too. I don't want him taken out, though, until I have an idea who's going to replace him. I know everyone's down on the option, but I'd take losing while still looking like a Nebraska team than losing and looking like a freakshow experiment of dragging pro skills into amateur players.

I think 3 and 2 should be reversed. Keller made some great throws - he is skilled. Swift and co. made some great catches. I believe a lot of our problems on both sides of the ball have to do with coaching not drawing out the talent of the players. Given the parity among D1 these days, it really seems like the big difference will be the coaches, and their ability to implement game plans that work. I mean, look at USC's loss today. Look at OU and UT last week. It is about the coaches. Now, any team can and will have a bad game - and that is also part of D1. But this game seems to be a cumulative problem, rather than something that was a glitch. So I find it very hard to blame the players outrightly- it starts at the top. The players drive must be facilitated through the coaching staff - it is never just about one player being Mr Leader. The coaches have to facilitate and allow it to happen - set the boys up to do well. on the radio postgame: 3 or 4 running plays. I agree. We need new plays, new angles. Something needs to change. Also on the radio: Who is NU? What is our motto? What do we do, what do we hang our hat on? What is our identity? Where do we draw our confidence from? Not that much right now. I don't know what I'm more depressed over, the lack of adjustments, or the basic lack of heart and identity in the players. This is I guess what I'm saying. The whole team's guts are cancer filled and dying. There's no reason for us to think that it's going to be better next year or the year after. I wonder if this is what is was like in 2002/2003? NC in '09? Haha! I don't think this staff can change. I now believe only in what I see. There will be no turnaround this season or any other, not with this staff. That's, I guess, my point. It's time to seriosuly think about the future. x

It's the fourth quarter and I'm sitting here perfectly calm, almost detached. I'm not really upset, even, about the loss––I don't get upset for long. At first, yeah, I was really getting emotional, but my mind takes over and it quickly abates, leaving me in a position to discern where we are and what the most logical steps need to be. Look, basically everything Bugeater infers is confirmed. I don't like the guy––I don't think many people do––but even in his infantile one-liner posts he's got something right. There is just too much Rose-colored vision impairing Husker Nation right now. So, now having my hopes for this season and our program's future thoroughly crushed and irrefutably so, I will now attempt to open a REAL discussion about our future. This is where Bugeater and I differ––I will attempt to discuss instead of malign (although I imagine there will be plenty of bile in this one). Callahan is now in his fourth season. The stats are well known. We have basically no wins of value, and despite all the opportunities granted us, our program is now a vast, sinking ship. "Not even God could sink this ship" is the famous line attributed to the Titanic. Very much like it is the mentality of Huskers. Nothing could happen to ruin our program, but guess what, it has. If only, if only, if only––if only the captain had listened to the warnings, "Ice ahead," he might have saved the ship. I don't know where we are, figurativley speaking, but it might not be too late to save ourselves. We just have to fess up to the warning signs and I mean right the f#*k now. 1) Our defense is bar none the worst I have ever seen in college football. Granted, I'm not a long-time fan of this great sport, but I have tried to learn quickly, and have studied the defenses of USC, LSU, and the former years of Husker dominance. In any case, look at the scoreboard against Ball State and Mizzou if you need any further evidence. There is NO emotion, NO scheme, and NO adjustments which can bring us back into it. Everyone is out of position, there is no pass rush, and our secondary even with 16 guys dropped back and a one-midget rush can STILL not defend the pass. 2) The offense, people, listen to me and listen good. The offense is a myth. We have created the myth of Keller and the offense in order to deceive ourselves into believing that this team has a hope. It just is not true. We have ABSOLUTELY NO RUNNING GAME, and in the passing game, a good portion of the passes are dropped, underthrown, overthrown, or just plain thrown away. At best they are mediocre, and in reality they are a lower-end Big XII North offense. 3) Coaching. Bad play calling, bad play calling, and more bad play calling. The players look dazed and confused, like they are in a cloud of an over-complicated scheme. This is not the pros, people. We can't expect NFL effort or ability. Even if we have 4-5 good draft picks, there's still the rest of the team to consider. And on Defense, I just have nothing to say. Cosgrove's record and performance speaks for him better than I ever could. Now, I don't want this to turn into a whining Sollich-fest. I don't know whether or not it was a good idea to fire him. At this point it's so irrelevant that if there is an ounce of brain within any of you, you won't speak his name again. That horse is dead, rotted, and forgotten. What we need to do now is enter into a very serious and thoughtful discussion about what options are open to us. I will reserve my opinion at this point, as I would have to research it more. But for those of you who have an idea, I'm all ears. Make it rational, make it real. I'm listening. If there are any of you Callahaners left, I'm not attacking you for your opinion, but please, let's be honest with ourselves. Nebraska is a team on life support, and by the end of the season our sellout streak will likely be broken. I don't like it any better than you do, but I'll take my chances with a revolving door than surrender all together. NEVER SAY DIE! X

It's the fourth quarter and I'm sitting here perfectly calm, almost detached. I'm not really upset, even, about the loss––I don't get upset for long. At first, yeah, I was really getting emotional, but my mind takes over and it quickly abates, leaving me in a position to discern where we are and what the most logical steps need to be. Look, basically everything Bugeater infers is confirmed. I don't like the guy––I don't think many people do––but even in his infantile one-liner posts he's got something right. There is just too much Rose-colored vision impairing Husker Nation right now. So, now having my hopes for this season and our program's future thoroughly crushed and irrefutably so, I will now attempt to open a REAL discussion about our future. This is where Bugeater and I differ––I will attempt to discuss instead of malign (although I imagine there will be plenty of bile in this one). Callahan is now in his fourth season. The stats are well known. We have basically no wins of value, and despite all the opportunities granted us, our program is now a vast, sinking ship. "Not even God could sink this ship" is the famous line attributed to the Titanic. Very much like it is the mentality of Huskers. Nothing could happen to ruin our program, but guess what, it has. If only, if only, if only––if only the captain had listened to the warnings, "Ice ahead," he might have saved the ship. I don't know where we are, figurativley speaking, but it might not be too late to save ourselves. We just have to fess up to the warning signs and I mean right the f#*k now. 1) Our defense is bar none the worst I have ever seen in college football. Granted, I'm not a long-time fan of this great sport, but I have tried to learn quickly, and have studied the defenses of USC, LSU, and the former years of Husker dominance. In any case, look at the scoreboard against Ball State and Mizzou if you need any further evidence. There is NO emotion, NO scheme, and NO adjustments which can bring us back into it. Everyone is out of position, there is no pass rush, and our secondary even with 16 guys dropped back and a one-midget rush can STILL not defend the pass. 2) The offense, people, listen to me and listen good. The offense is a myth. We have created the myth of Keller and the offense in order to deceive ourselves into believing that this team has a hope. It just is not true. We have ABSOLUTELY NO RUNNING GAME, and in the passing game, a good portion of the passes are dropped, underthrown, overthrown, or just plain thrown away. At best they are mediocre, and in reality they are a lower-end Big XII North offense. 3) Coaching. Bad play calling, bad play calling, and more bad play calling. The players look dazed and confused, like they are in a cloud of an over-complicated scheme. This is not the pros, people. We can't expect NFL effort or ability. Even if we have 4-5 good draft picks, there's still the rest of the team to consider. And on Defense, I just have nothing to say. Cosgrove's record and performance speaks for him better than I ever could. Now, I don't want this to turn into a whining Sollich-fest. I don't know whether or not it was a good idea to fire him. At this point it's so irrelevant that if there is an ounce of brain within any of you, you won't speak his name again. That horse is dead, rotted, and forgotten. What we need to do now is enter into a very serious and thoughtful discussion about what options are open to us. I will reserve my opinion at this point, as I would have to research it more. But for those of you who have an idea, I'm all ears. Make it rational, make it real. I'm listening. If there are any of you Callahaners left, I'm not attacking you for your opinion, but please, let's be honest with ourselves. Nebraska is a team on life support, and by the end of the season our sellout streak will likely be broken. I don't like it any better than you do, but I'll take my chances with a revolving door than surrender all together. NEVER SAY DIE! X

Good, a dose of realism is just what the doctor ordered. Your limb is infected, you cut it off. Cut it off, Mizzou, and display exactly what this coaching staff is––the very death of Nebraska ball. Every tradition has been crushed. I'd rather have it crushed running the option––at least then we could say it LOOKED like Nebraska ball.

No coaching. None. That's how. Fire is only worthwhile when it's controlled. Our talent burns itself and everyone around it. There's no direction, no plan. Just nothing. So we are one giant red chinese fire drill. Look bud, I know, I want to be with you. But look, you try something and you give it time. We've had, what, four seasons now? Things are not getting better, they are rapidly getting worse. Everything about this team is wrong––absolutely everything. I'm more willing to risk our rep for potential gain than guarantee the loss of it with Callahan and Cosgrove.

No coaching. None. That's how. Fire is only worthwhile when it's controlled. Our talent burns itself and everyone around it. There's no direction, no plan. Just nothing.

I know, we need them to put up 80. We WANT Mizzou to score as much as they can. That is the only way things are going to get better––first they much get much, much worse.