HuskerNBigD

See this is always interesting to me. If you sit down and take a look at many of the teams in the final rankings, from 15-25, you would have trouble picking "signature" wins. Many of these teams simply rack up wins on lesser teams for the most part. I know this is Nebraska, and I'm not decreasing my standards at all, but 11 wins wouldn't be something to scoff at. I completely agree, there is a lot of parity between those teams which makes it hard for me to hang my hat on my argument. I guess my main concern, how many top 15-25 teams get blown out in the same fashion that Nebraska does when we play like opponents? Hell, even OU suffered an embarrassing loss to Baylor this year, but that was an anomaly for them where that has become the norm here. And from a wishful thinking standpoint, I would the program to be above the middle of the pack Top 25 teams - which means that we should be winning more games against top competition than we are losing.

11-2 as standalone record seems great from a high level overview. But when you dissect the schedule, which is how a national perception comes about, it really isn't. We are discredited as a powerhouse - deserving so - based off of our performance in the 2-4 losses we encounter a year. The program is known to reach a certain benchmark number of wins due to the attrition of our schedule. Until we are competitive in every game, I will not be satisfied. Again, as I have stated elsewhere, I am not calling for wins in all of those tough games - just play competitive football. That is how you work towards rebuilding the brand.

I know that sounds good to you, but what happens if he turns this program into a bigger disaster than Bo? Bo's pretty f'ing far from perfect, but he's coached in the NFL and been on a NC staff, which is more than Joe... Honestly with our schedule - I don't think there is a coach that would end up with a record much worse than Bo's. If you were to look at our schedule we have a guaranteed 7 wins a year, based off of purely inferior teams, another 2-3 games where the end result could go either way, and 1-2 games that usually could be chalked up as a loss before we step on the field. I am willing to take the risk of a 8-4 season, or hell even 7-5, in a new coach's first year or two if I were able to see measurable progress in the close games. What is measurable progress? I see measurable progress as Nebraska competing in hard-fought games between ranked teams, where we truly played up to our talent level. I'm not calling for winning every game in this scenario because, as we have seen, college football is at a point where in a match-up between ranked opponents, either team could win on any given Saturday. But I would like us to at least be competitive. There is a big difference between the results of games like Ole Miss vs. Alabama or Ole Miss vs. LSU and the result we saw in Madison. I only bring those examples up because of the over used, "well even Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss lose". They do, but it is very rare they lose in the fashion we do. The top teams compete in back and forth games, with the final possession usually proving a critical point to the outcome. However, I don't think that argument is any excuse to Bo's 0-7 record because he has shown year in and year out that when we get into the spot-light we are not competitive, hell even look at the Michigan State game this year. I think the record of Bo's past seasons, his over glorified 9-4 consistency, overshadows how truly fortunate we were in some of those games. The more I begin to realize Bo cant win the top 20 match ups, the more I am willing to take the risk of a coaching change with a subsequent down-period.

How close have we been once we didn't have 4-5 future NFL guys (mostly Cally recruits) on the defense? In four years in the mediocre Big 10, we have appeared in ONE title game, and we lost in embarrassing fashion to the #2 team in the Leaders division. jesus Sip. Really? This staff? No Carl. No Ekeler. No Watson. No Sanders. No Gilmore. Then, Beck was RB coach, Papuchis was rush ends, Cotton was oline, warren wasnt here. Garrison wasnt here. Fuscher wasnt here. Els wasnt here. Ron brown was TE coach. This staff today is nothing that it was then except for Bo. And they still crumbled in critical moments then too. Its all at the top. If you want to go ahead and feel worse about the situation, listen to 1620 the zone. Sip is backtracking on his comments from Saturday / Sunday. He is talking about how he has been use to this since 2001 against CU and that he cant wait to see how these kids respond against Minnesota & Iowa. Give me a freaking break man. This program is exhausting.

Even if that is true (and it isn't), who's to blame for recruiting deficiencies? Santa Claus? Completely agree. Couple things: a) it is illogical to say we are playing with 2-3* only, which we aren't. We talked about how talented this program is, more so than the Wisconsin team we just got plowed by, that doesn't come with 2-3 star players. We have our fair share of 4* athletes. Even so, we should have the ability to develop these 2-3* players with the money that is pumped into the program (i.e. ticket sales, that fancy weight room - hell that might just be a recruiting gimmick and not actually used, research center) b) When the top teams lose, they at least play a competitive game against other ranked teams. Lets play a number game, look at Bo's record against top 20 teams and then look at the point differential. The numbers don't lie and we are at a point where we are completely irrelevant and noncompetitive. As a top revenue generating program we expect and, honestly, deserve better production on the feel.

Or a head coach that is competent enough to send the struggling coordinators out to pasture.... Which we will always lack with Pelini in charge.

We're in bigger trouble if fans are more worried about our possibility of backing our way into what would sure to be an embarrassing championship game performance, instead of being worried about the systematic issues surrounding the program. I believe it should be to the point that Bo should be fired if we lose one of the next two games. If it were me, he's gone today.

He'd be more effective at QB than he is on the line. I cant wait for any player with the same name of a coach to be gone. They are absolutely horrible, looking at Cotton and Pelini, and there is definitely favoritism/preferential treatment going on there. There has to be, I mean I can not think what else it could be. Well, other than the pure stupidity that radiates through the mind of our coaching staff.

Is it legal to rail coke in your lib state? I want to party with this guy.

thank you. He can handle the heat.its the cold weather but he will be fineHeck, with the talent we have on the team and the class coming in - let's hope he'll spend a majority of his Decembers and Januaries down south prepping for big time bowl games!

This is awesome...Welcome Monique!

Great help from the Busseys... When people on this board start to realize that KB has been peer recruiting NOLA hard for us, maybe they will stop acting so paranoid that he's leaving when the next SEC school comes through. I, for one, am really excited to see a lot of guys coming from NOLA - there is some great talent down there. Kuddos to the coaches on working that angle.

Wisconsin was 25

13th in the new poll.

half surprised to not see Florida in either poll.

TCU it is

15th... I'll take it

Saucy!

I can't stop being me, so I'm going to say you need to get over yourself. Couple things: a) as someone mentioned above you're bringing up issues from the BIG XII days - that over three years ago at least. We've all seen Bo mature quite a bit over that time frame, hell even in the last year he's matured quite a bit. It's a bit unfair to criticize him on past events now. Why not bring it up then, or just let it go? b) I'd much rather have a coach that is able to yell and scream at his players when they mess up, isn't that the point of coaching? Unless you want to see a program like UT's last few years with Brown or the issues up at Michigan where coaches are essentially cheerleaders. No thanks, this is football and if someone screws up you make sure they don't do it again. One thing to consider, he might get after a player or coach - but from what I hear a lot of those guys like playing under him. He's obviously doing something right.

Winner winner chicken dinner

Play the hot hand, at this point I see them having the starting spot. Not only that, but maybe this will be a wake up call for the "1st string" line. If you create that sort of competition, I think that provides a spark in practices and is overall better for the team.

Not to mention the fact the last few games, for whatever reason, against NW have been extremely close - they were probably elated to get that monkey off their back.

Hell, why not celebrate? I know that we all wish that we could go on the road and take care of business in a machine like fashion - but it has been how long since we had full faith in doing so? At the end of the day, these are college kids enjoying the moment. This isn't any different than Abdullah running over to the student section at the end of a home game and thanking them for support. Honestly, I'd rather see the kids celebrating and interacting with fans compared to them walking off the field like it's no big deal. I'm sure the players were thankful for the supporters that turned out and just wanted to make sure they acknowledged the crowd.

I learned that whoever posted that video to YouTube doesn't know the difference between Tommie and Tommy.

All whites for the rest of the road games this year!