quitou

So... what's not mediocre? 1 more win? 2 more? That's not mediocre, that's top 5. Your expectation are sad, and you're the problem with NE's fanbase.

We fired Coz because his D sucked, same with Cally, Wats, Bohl etc...... It was them last year and before. Now it is the kids fault. 4 yrs of the same crap tells me it is the staff. They're not prepared a few times a year. It's not the same as being terrible the entire year. THAT is the difference between Cos and Bo. Just saying that with Coz, folks blamed the poor D on him. The players got a pass. This year, the staff stinks at "it is the kids not tackling, dropping passes etc".... I'll still take this over the Callahan era any day. It's disappointing, perhaps even embarassing for the team. I don't like Beck's schemes and ability to stick with what works, and yet I still want him to stay and hopefully get everything in place, maybe even have time to work everything out rather than crucify him in year one. Perspective...

We fired Coz because his D sucked, same with Cally, Wats, Bohl etc...... It was them last year and before. Now it is the kids fault. 4 yrs of the same crap tells me it is the staff. They're not prepared a few times a year. It's not the same as being terrible the entire year. THAT is the difference between Cos and Bo.

Because the defense has been on the field for 3/4 of the game and are tired.

Agreed Yeah, the Defense had nothing to do wtih it... Think it has more to do with the offense having one third down conversion all game. Defense can only hold the fort so long.

Well, that's game. Defense was on the field way too long, too many (questionable) penalties, the secondary was terrible the second half, and Beck can't shake up his offense to save his life until the game's already over. That's the game in a nutshell.

bullsh#t!! That is all...

I can't put this on the defense right now. They're injured and have been on the field WAY too long. Beck still hasn't gotten the hang of his own offense, and I don't really get that. You have that flexbone formation that gave you your only touchdown (until just now), and we've never seen it again this game. Beck's NOW trying new stuff, and it's too late. You're too far behind, the defense is tired, and you simply don't use these plays enough. Beck is an outstanding OC when he decides to TRY. He just has to learn to start that in the beginning, now when you're down by 2+ touchdowns.

I will say this... Beck will learn very quickly that being conservative and keeping his playcalling simple will not win him any points at all. He was hired to replace someone who would do that on a nightmarish level, and fans have a short fuse when it comes to seeing an OC doing ANY of that right now. People want to see change, and we are seeing it, but clearly he needs to get used to staying aggressive the entire game. And that NEEDS to happen, or the fans WILL turn on him... people don't want to watch a new offense just to see a Watson 2.0 waste it.

Umm... sorry, but maybe I'm missing something here. I don't remember there being a time when NE recruited really well, as in top 10 well. Someone please help me out if I"m wrong. Starting from 2011 down, here's the Rivals rankings. 17, 28, 30, 13, 20, 5, 27, 42, 40... That one top ten class was in 2005, during Callahan's era. Back before the days of the internet I know that recruitment and rankings weren't that easily obtainable, but I'm pretty sure back in the day Nebraska was more well known for taking the mediocre and turning them into studs. That was due to a strength training system that's since been caught up by everyone else. Personally I don't think NE ever had top 10 recruiting classes; they just beat or cheat the system... something that doesn't work anymore. Really, this has been talked about forever... the top guys don't come to Nebraska because other than football... you can't offer them anything else. In the middle of nowhere, the weather sucks... geographically NE is handicapped, and that will never change. Stop thinking that someone can come in and recruit better than USC or Florida, you're suffering from a very grand delusion.

Hey, I got an idea... let's compare this with Tom Osborne's first four years. 1972 (4)- 9/2/1, lost to UCLA(15) and Oklahoma(2), tied with Iowa State(Unranked) 1973 (7)- 9/2/1, lost to Missouri(17) and Oklahoma(3), tied with Oklahoma State (Unranked) 1974 (9)- 9/3, lost to Wisconsin(Unranked), Missouri (Unranked), and Oklahome(1) 1975 (9)- 10/2, lost to Oklahoma(1) and Arizona State(7) Next year Tom Osborne would lose to an unranked Iowa State. And Tom took over the program after Bob Devaney won back to back national titles. But no... let's just all pretend that Bo Pelini's the only coach that loses to teams he shouldn't.

Beck is absolutely bipolar when it comes to his playcalling. Northwestern consistently put 8 guys on the line, and Beck kept thinking that Burkhead could blow past them like he's superman. Beck figured it out by late in the third quarter, but by then it was too late. Defense got into a rhythm by the half, but I think a combination of a fresh mobile quarter back and NE's offense leaving the field so quickly left the defense tired and unmotivated. Apparently the referees decided that holding wasn't a penalty this game. It happened on both sides, but am I to believe that Northwestern actually played a game with just, what... 1 penalty? The offense still needs to gel, Beck needs to learn what works quicker, Bo needs to understand that his scheme doesn't work against mobile QBs, the D-line should've been playing a lot more standing up like against MSU, and the coaches need to learn that Burkhead alone will not win your games.

I'll be honest... when I watched it at the end of the half, I thought he was waving off to Tim Beck in the booth. I assume that was him silently remark how stupid of a play it was. I could be wrong though.

I'll make this simple. If your D can't stop your opponents O, your O needs to stay on the field. What part of the first quarter did you miss? TM is DIRECTLY responsible for 21 points going to Wisconsin. But Beck keep having him pass even when he was clearly rattled. Capishe? Makes complete sense. Run 3 times for 6 yards and punt. Bring the D that is getting punished right back out on the field. So what's worse for the team, going three and out and putting the opponent on the 25 again, or throwing a pick and putting them on the 45? That's not counting the mental breakdown that occurs.Martinez can't pass well. He can't find open receivers well. His throwing motion is garbage. Throw to open the run even when he's already thrown two picks? If they're stacking the box, how about calling an option? Maybe even to the long side of the field so you have more room. Maybe run to the sideline, or a power run, or an option fake.How about something that might confuse them, instead of putting Martinez in the shotgun and hoping he forgets he's Martinez? You're exactly right. Throwing an awful pick that no QB at this level should throw is far worse. I see... so we put in Carnes. And the 6 plays he probably knows by now will surely win the game.Martinez ain't a great QB, I'll agree with you there. But that's all NE has right now, and you're delusional if you think otherwise. You don't throw Carnes to the wolves after 6 months of learning the entire offense.

I'll make this simple. If your D can't stop your opponents O, your O needs to stay on the field. What part of the first quarter did you miss? TM is DIRECTLY responsible for 21 points going to Wisconsin. But Beck keep having him pass even when he was clearly rattled. Capishe? Makes complete sense. Run 3 times for 6 yards and punt. Bring the D that is getting punished right back out on the field. So what's worse for the team, going three and out and putting the opponent on the 25 again, or throwing a pick and putting them on the 45? That's not counting the mental breakdown that occurs.Martinez can't pass well. He can't find open receivers well. His throwing motion is garbage. Throw to open the run even when he's already thrown two picks? If they're stacking the box, how about calling an option? Maybe even to the long side of the field so you have more room. Maybe run to the sideline, or a power run, or an option fake.How about something that might confuse them, instead of putting Martinez in the shotgun and hoping he forgets he's Martinez?

Uhhh, no. The offense does have an identity. It's the spread. It's 'run the ball to open the pass', last time I checked.If that's the case, why did Martinez throw 17 times in the first half?The point of the offense is to run a lot so that Martinez can occasionally throw an easy pass. Beck forgot that for a quarter and a half, and never recovered. He needs to explain why.

I learned that Wisconsin is the real deal, a complete package with an awesome quarterback, a monstrous offensive line, and a defense that will make you pay for every mistake. I learned that Bo has to answer a lot of questions about his defense. We knew the secondary was a weak link, but the front line is not playing up to par at all. Something needs to change for them to remain viable, and he hasn't found it yet. I learned that someone on the coaching staff needs to motivate these kids. There's been one or two games every season with Bo in charge where the team wasn't ready, wasn't there to play, and no one could change that. THAT is squarely on Bo... if he can't do that, he better find or hire someone who can. Otherwise this will happen every year. I learned that Martinez isn't and never will be a passing quarterback, and Beck needs to finally come to terms with this and start running plays with him that work with his strengths. I learned that Beck either has a really small playbook, or he folded right along with the team. I was expecting something different from the offense this time, plays I never saw, plays that might confuse, different formations. I expected Beck to understand that this was the most important game of the season, and that he needed to put it all on the table for NE to stand a chance. He was either grossly overconfident, or grossly unprepared, and he needs to man up and admit one of those. And finally... I learned that in the end, it's just a game, played by college kids, and while it stings now... a half hour after the game's over, I will get over it by tomorrow morning.

I might get flamed for this, but... can we consider Burkhead as a potential QB yet? Whether they play zone read or spread this next year, hasn't Burkhead proven that he can handle being behind the center enough to give him a shot at something other than an occasional switch to shake up the opposing defense? He was, in my mind, the most solid performer on the team last year, and did next to nothing that I didn't like. He ran well, he played QB well, he didn't cough up the ball, he consistently made plays. Despite all of the new blood and competition coming in, I think they're wasting Burkhead's talent judging by what he's done for the team the last few years.

I don't think you're wrong, but the fact is that the Defense is staying more consistent through the season. They're not as good as last year, but they are consistently that good as the season goes on... perhaps even improved a bit. The Offense is better, and I still think we'll have a better year than last. But if the same moments of ineptitude are happening on the Offense regardless of how much better they get, that's not a measure of talent or experience. That's preparation to get a group of college kids to play at the highest level. That's motivating those same kids to lay it all out on the field. And if it's the Offense... that's not Bo's job, and we've known that since he got here. The moment he got here, he gave the baton to Watson and said 'don't screw up'. It's not happening often, but it's annoying when Bizarro Offense plays instead of our typical Offense at least once a season. Shawn is the man in charge of getting the Offense ready to play... physically, mentally, and play-wise. If he doesn't change this habit, something will break soon.

Hell, how about the Wildcat?? I was certain we'd see that at some point, because we have a fast quarterback and two running backs who can catch the ball. Why didn't we use that? We won a bowl game with it last year, right? More questions...

But that's the thing... I can't blame a 19-year-old freshman being green. I can blame a senior captain receiver missing half his catches. Point is, they weren't ready. And it wasn't just the QB or the receivers, but the offense across the board wasn't clicking, even when Zach came in. That's a problem with coaching and prep-work, not the talent of the students.

Let’s be honest… this isn’t about the team. In some ways it is, but you still have to remember that we’re watching groups of college kids play a sport. I don’t have a problem if the kids don’t have what it takes to win, but that’s not what we saw last game. What we saw was a team that wasn’t prepared to play; we’ve seen them play their hearts out, but for some reason they weren’t there on Saturday. And that’s the coach’s and coordinators’ job to get them ready. I’m seeing a tragic symptom with Shawn Watson. Ever since he’s been the OC of the Huskers, there’s been at least one game a year where the offense was just unprepared to play. Last year it was Iowa State at home. This year it was the last game and the embarrassing SDSU game. Shawn has floated along with his coaching capacity for a while, but I’m really getting sick and tired of watching his offense get embarrassed once or twice a year due to nothing but what seems like poor preparation. The Pelinis can stay; their defense has at least been consistent all year long and doesn’t self-destruct on national TV. My vote for concern is that Shawn Watson isn’t a consistent OC, and the Huskers need to remove the last clinging members of the Callahan era soon. If you don't think it's Watson, then riddle me this... why is it only the offense that wets the bed when NE has lost in embarrassing fashion lately?

To be honest, even though I was disappointed, I can't blame the defensive line all that much. Considering it's their first year, I'm not expecting miracles. But Ruud and McKeon should be leading by example, and they just made the situation worse. While I think the players should have done better, Carroll also proved that night you can take a freshman center and make him dominate. This was a problem with fundamentals, and most people can see it. Cosgrove's idea of tackling, where you go to strip the ball first and go to put them down after, is heroically flawed which we can all see now. His ability to not adjust no matter what happens in game is becoming legendary. Enough people, including boosters, know enough about football to know that the defense coaching is laughable right now, and if Calahan doesn't shake the coaching up on that side soon, then his own job will be in jeopardy. Friend or not, I see Cosgrove leaving... or I see Calahan leaving a bit later if that doesn't happen.

Well, I would take Keller over Booty, Lucky and Glen over any of the SC running backs, I would take Murtha, Slausen, and Byford before the SC players in those positions, I would take Purify over any of their receivers, I would take Suh and Zach Bownan, and Octavian. I guess my point is this...I am tired of people blaming the players. It is ALL on the coaches at this point. I wouldn't agree entirely with that. Keller proved tonight that he can play under pressure, and I like that. I agree that the defense looks bad because they're coached badly. As for Lucky and Glenn... I'm not letting them off the hook because they're seniors. Lucky still can't find the holes in the defensive line to run through, and Glenn would be fine if he didn't get injured so often. I personally would rather see Castille and Colbert in there by the end of the year. I do think it's time to give the new aspiring recruits a chance to shine... they couldn't have done worse than Lucky and Glenn tonight.

I agree with the recap. Really, there's no excuse for the defense being as bad as it was. USC played Idaho at home, and USC scored less than they did on our turf. It's an embarrassing loss. USC running backs averaged between 10 - 25 yards a carry, depend on whose stats you look at. That's not a bad week... that's a bad system period. And no, this isn't people falling off the bandwagon. This is Husker Fans not settling for mediocrity. This is fans not settling for coaches that can pull off a win unless they play someone good. This is fans demanding that the current generation of coaches and players not besmirch what is a history of elite college football. The average Husker fan is smart... they understand the game. They know good football when they see it. Husker fans wouldn't be so mad if games were coached and played as best as possible, but were merely outdone by a better team. Husker fans during this game saw GLARING errors in the defense, plus too much reliability on senior running backs that obviously need to sit down. Husker fans saw a badly coached game... played by a badly trained team. Recruits don't solve this problem... a change in coaching schemes or coaches in general do.