Husker_x

Damn man, can I ask you a personal question? Why do you even post around here? You and I Bleed Red and Pooh Bear should go start your own forum, and you three can sit around and wallow in misery all day. I appreciate opposing thought on any issue, but at some point I just have to ask the obvious. You're not Man of the Year here at HuskerBoard, to say the least, so what ARE you here for, exactly? And USC must be razed to the ground.

Sorry

The USC Trojans, named so for the ancient people on the coast of the Agean, carry much in common with the nation whose name they share. They were stout, hearty, led by magnificent heroes, and at the height of victory were torn down by arrogance and stupidity. Little did the king know when he brought the horse into the city––the people dancing and in a maddened frenzy all around it––that inside were a select group of warriors who threw open the gates, and at the hour when no one expected, the Greeks sacked the mightiest city on earth. Today with this football game we have a similar situation. Albeit we aren't playing the Trojans on their turf, the basic moral of the story remains the same. The Trojans are the haughtiest team on the planet, and in this day of football when talent is so spread across the field, they have less to revel in than the Nebraska of the 90s. They are led by a weak quarterback. Fundamentally speaking he is a capable athlete, but mentally I've seen nothing in his games that indicates a Heisman hopeful; rather a soft-bellied cry-baby who can't come back from pressure or interceptions. The entire football world has given the Trojans the National Championship trophy. Pundits like Mark May and the ESPN crew have dubbed them the "greatest team of all time," (this before a single snap) an unbeatable force on offense and defense. Their fan base is comprised of many such thinkers, who can't read the omens in games like UCLA or Oregon State. But despite all this, despite the overwhelming favoritism and general biased presupposition from the entire football world, what we need to understand this week (and forever after) is that any team on any day, no matter how good, no matter how stacked, no matter how unbelievably fast, strong, precise and seasoned––any team can be beaten. And I believe the reason USC will fall at least once, and probably more than once, this season is that they are a team with 'entitlement mentality.' They believe, like their propoganda channel ESPN, that they shouldn't even have to play the game to win championships. Let me be perfectly clear: teams that believe their own hype are destined to be knocked off the throne. USC is coming into the Sea of Red, perhaps the most hostile environment they'll ever see. The entire state is going to pulse and beat with raw energy in favor of the Huskers, and the rest of America will be right behind them. I think we're going to see our players perform with an unmatched intesnity, a carnal ferocity that Booty won't know what to do with himself. Many teams have played USC, some have won, most have lost, but Nebraska is playing for more than just a W against a top-ten team. These guys are playing to define our program, to cement our coach, and to bring us back into our rightful place amongst the best college football teams in the nation. The Trojans have already called this game. They're an easy 10 point favorite, and they've got boggling depth at key positions. But they're untested. They're overconfidant. They won't play with the heart that Nebraska will. With a few lucky breaks, tenacious performances on D and in the running game, and a sound coaching strategy, I see no reason why we couldn't take this one home. Yes, realistically speaking we should not win, but there's reality, and then there's college football. This Saturday is any given Saturday. And USC must be razed to the ground.

They will always be breaking in a new QB now. You will not see a Fresh/Soph running this offense. A Junior at the youngest and that is if there isn't a Senior with more experiance. If your statement is true --- that NU will always have a Jr. or Senior at QB, always breaking in --- well, then NU will never be a top 10 team (at the close of the season). You may be right. If so, then the system must change. I hope that you are wrong! If Gabbert comes at semester like some reports are indicating he might, I think we might see a freshmen at QB. This kid might just be all the hype. I've seen him run a few times and holy moley. He's big. He's fast. He can throw. And he wants nothing less than to earn the starting job on his first outing. And USC must be razed to the ground.

Do I think it was planned? No, not to the extent which we kept the score as close as it was. But lemme tell you this: that playbook was all but closed on that game. Despite the passing, there was very little motion. USC won't be able to observe what the shifts indicate for this coming week. I think we would have opened up that team a loooot more for the run if we would have shifted in and out of different looks. The game was all but a home game, so I don't think you can account for it with the crowd factor. Anyway, I doubt that was intentional. But If it was, and we see a whole different team come Saturday, then we'll have to call Callahan the most brilliant coach in history, with balls the size of Texas (and we all know everything is bigger in Texas). Kind of interesting to think about, though.... And USC must be razed to the ground.

Is it just me noticing this, or does ESPN (Trojan Central) have a non-stop barrage of sh#t all over the screen when you're trying to watch the game? They've got peple introducing stuff, interviews off the field, graphics, ill-time replays, etc, etc, etc... There were several times, especially in the first quarter, where I was wondering when the hell they were going to show the game. It could just be me, but I haven't been that impressed with ESPN coverage of games so far this season. They've got players names wrong, missing stuff constantly, and generally provide little insight into the game itself. They just blather in between interruptions. I don't know if there's a better network, but surely there can be a better presentation of this great game than what ESPN provides. And USC must be razed to the ground.

And we care about as much as we did last week.

Callahan is not to blame for everything that happened today. Yes, by proxy if anything on the team goes wrong you can blame him, but Osborne had a lot of close ones, too. You have to look at the whole season before we get too edgy about him. And USC must be razed to the ground.

Believe it or not I am a pure-blooded Nebraskan who, after a performance like that, has a hand which twitches towards the "hang the coach" button on the recliner. However, being more than just primevil instinct, I do like to sit down and take a look at the game and actually THINK about why I'd want to point the finger at Bill Callahan when, quite clearly, not everything today can be blamed on him. In fact, not much of it at all. 1) Keller: What the hell, man? You think this is Kindergarteners Playing in the Sandbox? This is Division I, football bro. Get your sh#t together, or Joey Ganz is going to be running this offense. That said, Keller cannot be blamed for MoPure dropping everything which came in his general vicinity. His pants fell off, he dropped the hotdog he was carrying on deep routes in the 3rd, and a couple times he ran across the field, breaking his route, stepped in front of Peterson and purposely dropped HIS passes, too. And no one else looked much better. But Keller routinely overthrew the ball, fumbled two snaps, tried to thread the needle when on a couple of plays Lucky was itching his crotch while waiting. Not to mention if he even got the idea in his head for one second that a blitz was coming, the play was ruined. 2) The O-line: Same thing. This isn't Nevada. We're not at home. Pick up your damn blocks and force open some holes. With the sheer size we have on that line we should have seen a lot more production on the ground. Their pass protection wasn't horrid, exactly, but Keller felt the heat and apparently they don't blitz in the Pac 10, because he looked baffled at this newfangled monderization of defensive strategies. 3) Lucky: Still the man. Solid objects cannot pass through each other, and since the O-line felt that their beard-hair was of Norrisian caliber they figured the holes would open themselves. They were wrong. The D just had too many guys in the box and nobody was making anything happen for them. It takes about 4-5 to tango; I'm just sorry he's going to look like sh#t after today, too. 4) Defense: Despite a few errant plays, the secondary more or less took care of business. But this is where my hang the coach-ism flairs up. Cosgrove, what in the name of God....WAS THAAAT!!!!!!!! They ran the same damn sweep over, and OVER, AND OVER! Oklahoma did the same roll out last year over and over––you couldn't stop that, and you didn't stop this. Yes, there were a few plays that Doc Oc busted up, but the general tone of their offense embarrassed us today. The front 7 was humiliated. Good plays here and there aside, I just can't beleive how easy that offense made it look. 5) Callahan: I didn't see anything particularly wrong with the gameplan. It was just execution. I liked the aggressive call on 4th and 2. I like coaches who have BALLS. If we'd gotten that, it would have been the ball game. Otherwise the general scheme, while vanilla without the motions, seemed to be a good design of favored pass with supplementary run. The recievers dropped so many balls I lost count. Looking forward: I am now going to err on the side of reason and predict a loss next week with SC coming to town. Our D-line gets no pressure on the QB and their O-line is only going to be tougher. Their RBs will be faster, and their receivers will be more open and potent. It will take a game unlike any under Callahan's tenure to bring those boys down. Do we have a shot? Yes. Do we have a great shot? Maybe. Will we win? Uh...I wouldn't bet on it. It seems like we're going to have the same yin-yang team from last season. One week they can't be stopped, and the next week they can't be started. Everyone looked two steps slow and thus they played to catch up, by which time the big plays had already happened. Suh had a good showing, but one guy can't be THE LINE, unfortunately. Tackling again, that's an error of such a fundamental nature that you have to wonder what in the hell our Defensive Coordinator is made of if he can't even teach TACKLING. Like last week, I'm sure I missed something, but those are my highlights. We have little to be proud of in this game except for this: We were able to show up, suck ass, and still manage to win against the defending ACC champs. That's gotta be worth something. And USC must be razed to the ground.

GET THAT GODDAM DEFENSE OFF THE FIELD. THEY ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO NEBRASKA FOOTBALL.

GET THAT GODDAM DEFENSE OFF THE FIELD. THEY ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO NEBRASKA FOOTBALL.

Trouble is, now we have to watch our so-called "defense" come out and play football. I'm getting that sick feeling in my stomach, just knowing that some horrid thing is going to happen. No pressure, can't stop a guy who runs outside, and leaving receivers WIIIIIIIDE open all over the place. Well, maybe we'll get lucky, and then, we'll get LUCKY!

FINALLY! Lucky, dammit, you made something happen! WHOOOO!

If I were Keller, I would tell the D to just not bother. Just take the bench, let WF score, and I'll get out there and play for you. f'ers.

I was. But now I'm not very hopeful.

I'm not too worried about it. It's not like he's defending the pass or anything.

Don't hold your breath.

This game is won. We can't beat them.

I think what we are seeing is all our questions about the D answered. They are not anywhere near where they need to be.

D is moving in slow motion.

Don't know if you were referring to me. But it's hard to keep calm when I'm having a waking nightmare of last year's run game against anyone with a hint of a D-line.

We cannot drop the third QT like we did all last season. We need to explode all over the Deacons. Quick 3 and out for our D and a massive surge of power on the O-line. Kill them quick, kill them now, and ride that O-line to the last seconds with a good 2-3 TD lead.

Kunalic isn't looking himself today....

There may be hope yet! Great job, guys! Amazing drive!

GET IN THAT ENDZONE!!!!!!!!!! TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!