pctopeka

Fans at Northwestern don't have expectiations because the program there is historically poor. You are right about the "NFL attitude". That couldn't be due to the coach and part of the staff coming from the NFL, could it?

The fact that it's a winnable game is not a problem, the fact that it's OBVIOUSLY a winnable game is the problem.

I sure hope so...

:yeah

You're going to be in Topeka? Sorry...don't forget your flak jacket and tard repellent. This isn't the end of the earth, but you can see it from here.

sorry about the prior, man...just frazzled. Agree wholeheartedly with your feelings. I think a lot of these kids simply don't understand the dedicatoin and determinaton it takes to be a the top levels.

lets not forget the back to back 6-4 seasons that had alot of Husker Fans back in the day, calling for Devaney to be fired. If the AD at the time would have followed the wishes of the fans then, NU doesnt win the NC in 70-71. More than likely TO never becomes the HC at NU either. Jerry Murtaugh brought this up on the Blackshirt Roundtable just a couple of weeks ago. You have to take TO's record each year with a grain of salt. Sure he never had a season that was worse than 9-3, but each season was padded with cupcakes in the non-conference schedule, and wasnt limited to 85 scholarships. Hell he even had a freshman team where all the freshman that didnt make the varsity squad, played on to get game experience at a higher level. Callahan may or may not be the coach to bring NU back to a NC. He does need to make some changes on his staff, and some changes toward the teams game week preperations. He has a contract extension through 2011 so i doubt that he is going anywhere anytime soon, and I do feel like NU can be a very successful team with him as HC, but he has to make some tough decisions that have nothing to do with friendship, its just business. I remember some of Ozzy's nonconference cupcakes: LSU, Penn State, Alabama, Auburn, UCLA, Washington, Baylor (when they were a really good Southwest Conference team), Florida State...among other teams usually ranked in the top 10 when we played them. Usually won the game, very close if not. Guess what? None of these other teams were limited to 85 scholarships then, and all had freshman teams, too.

The option dead now, you can't run it the players are bigger faster meaner and their not like the slow plodders of yesterday Grant Winstrom, Mike Rucker, Ray Lewis, Carlos Polk, Peter Brothers, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Mike Brown. those guys would be your average player now. I mean sure you could run on those types of players but to try it now would be another disaster. Then you could have your small lineman and pancake but now you need those 6'6" 340 pound guys to open those big holes. Look could you really see Will Shields playing now? He be lucky to make second string on USC team. I'm sure more of my fellow the option is dead fans will have more to add to the list. Give player and coaches time it's not like their going to miss the playoffs or allow anyone to come into Memorial stadium and treat them like bitches. What you fans want? To have the freshman play and lose more games? I think it's time for another Black out!! Who is with me? I would sure hate to have a defense stocked with the "slow plodders" that you mentioned. If they are so average, how come many of them have been all-pro for many years? Poor, little, slow, untalented Will Shields...all-pro his entire career. Just retired. You don't have a clue what you're talking about. You can't base the whole offense on the option any more than you can base it entirely on the prissy dink pass. A good offense blends zone blocking, trap blocking, iso plays, draws, screens, short passing and vertical passing in a comprehensive package. This is what Ozzy's offfense did for many years; they simply executed the power running game so well that it was almost impossible to stop. The difference is that Ozzy, as opposed to many other coaches, would stick to something until it was stopped. He also adjusted to his personnel. Maybe you weren't alive at the time, or were still wiping the snot out of your nose, but NU led the nation in passing a couple of times in the 70's. A 4.4 40 is the same speed as it always was, and there are very few who actually run it. Put pads on, and almost noone does. Football speed comes from desire, attitude and determination. Desire, attitude and determination are a product of motivation and pride. Motivation and pride come from two sources: from coaching and from the players themselves. "Black outs", or "white outs", or whatever else you want to call them, are pathetic gimmicks employed by drunken losers to try to feel important and to disguise their lack of knowledge about the game. :asshat

Is it just me or is anyone else getting sick and tired of hearing about average talent? Suh bench presses over 500 pounds. When he was recruited, he was a top 50 player. I don't think he's average. Bowman average? Lucky average? We have some players on this team that a lot of other teams wanted. Just because the coaching staff has made these players look and feel average doesn't mean they are average.

We've had 10 and 11 win seasons with teams loaded with 2-3 star recruits. Winning is an attitude, not a bench press. You're right on the money

Stubbornness, pride, arrogance

Well done...very relevant

Maybe programs with a history of being losers can wait around for 10-15 years for a coach to learn how to coach. This was supposed to be a wonderful coach, one who guided a NFL team to the Super Bowl his first year. Things were going to be rough for a couple of years until he got "his" players, to fit "his" scheme. It's year four now. He has "his" players, his first recruiting class are juniors and seniors now. Last season, when Solich's last recruiting class were seniors, they played some decent ball. Now, last season is looking like a fluke and the crap we see on the field is the real Callahan Nebraska team, just like the Raiders of Callahan's second season were the real Callahan Raider team. Teacher, I've been attending and supporting Nebraska football since before you were born. Callahan did not have to build a strong program, it was already there. 42 years without a losing season, 39 years of seasons with at least 9 wins (many when the seasons were only 10 games in the '60's), 32 straight bowl games, 5 National Championships. This was the program that most schools tried to emulate, with visits from Bobby Bowden, Hayden Frye. Barry Switzer, Lloyd Carr and many, many others. We do not expect national championships every year. What we do want is a good, ciompetitive team that will be in every game they play. That is not what we have now. These players, while fine athletes, are unguided and unmotivated. That, my misguided friend, is a direct result of coaching. I'm sure that you are the "anti-husker" because your team got drilled on a regular basis by Nebraska. Go back to your purple or black or blue living room and pop in your VCR tape of a rare win over Nebraska. Just think, if you can only manage to beat Nebraska the next 50 times, the series will be even.

Better get ahead early and not have any turnovers. Over the last several years, this team has shown a propensity to throw in the towel when behind. Yes, I know there have been a couple of games that they haven't, but this seems to be the trend. For all of those who are convinced that OSU, A&M or KSU will be easy, you must not have watched many of the games this year. Ours or theirs. It used to be that teams coming into Lincoln were intimidated. Not any more.

Some of it goes to the old regime's recruiting the person as well as the athlete. Most of it is coaching.

Callahan has already lost this team emotionally. That shows in their lack of intensity. After Callahan started to attempt to run clock in the 3rd quarter, the players knew he had given up any chance of winning and was trying to hold the score down. It's hard to play for someone that doesn't believe in you.

If you can't play defense, you can't win games against decent teams. You are counting on the offense being able to score 40 points in every game, or with the defense being able to return interceptions for touchdowns in every game. Barring a surprise improvement in our defense, we lose the rest of our games, period.

I agree just get nasty and play pitch and catch out there. The "pitch and catch" mentality is exactly what is causing the problem. Line up with two tight ends and a fullback. Let the line go out and knock people down. Let the fullback break a helmet or two. On defense, blitz, blitz, blitz. That is the only way we will be able to build a tough, aggressive streak in these players. The prissy dink and dunk passing game has stripped toughness from the game. we wont be able to run against anyone if we do that. they will stick nine in the box, get the lead, and then tee off on keller At least you might be able to cultivate a little attitude in the players, instead of what we have now. It worked for 40 years, didn't it? Football is football...remember, toughness in football is measured by two things: your ability to run the ball, and your ability to stop the run. We do neither.

Callahan teaches the QB's to do this. Not by choice, obviously, but just the point that punting IS ok. There is no point in trying to force a tough pass when you can dump it off, get quality yardage, and maybe 1/3 of the times we break some tackles and get the first down anyway. Football is a battle of field position, and you can't lose that battle and expect to win, especially with our defense. Now, obviously, when we're losing, your gonna want to take a bit more risks than usual, but i think Kellers doing fine. If you say so. All I know is that we nearly lost to Ball State and Iowa State, struggled against Wake Forest, and couldn't score a touchdown against one of the worst defense in the nation. Ten-to-one that OU hangs 40+ points on Missouri next week. But, you repeated the Conventional Wisdom, so it must be true. Keller is doing as good a job as the West Coast Offense is allowing him to do. It is predicated upon the notion of the prissy short pass acting as a long hand-off. Keller's biggest problem is a decided lack of any kind of running game. If the front four of the opponent can bottle up the running game, the linebackers and secondary can always drop into coverage. Then the receivers will never get open. The real problem with this team is a decided lack of toughness. This is bred by the prissy passing game on offense and the "read and react" style of defense. It is also no coincidence that this lack of toughness started when Boyd Epley was pushed out as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach.

Who is Nebraska going to beat? The way the team is playing right now, I don't see them winning another game. Let's be realistic: Nebraska used to be the biggest, toughest, strongest, most physical guy in the neighborhood. Now they are the ones getting pushed around. do you think Oklahoma State, Texas A&M or Kansas State is going to be intimidated when they come to Lincoln? If Ball State wasn't, you can bet that they wan't be. Do you honestly believe, after watching the last four games, that Nebraska can go to Kansas, Texas or Colorado and win a game? Nebraska will be lucky to win two more games and go to a bowl game, and may end up 4-8.

I agree just get nasty and play pitch and catch out there. The "pitch and catch" mentality is exactly what is causing the problem. Line up with two tight ends and a fullback. Let the line go out and knock people down. Let the fullback break a helmet or two. On defense, blitz, blitz, blitz. That is the only way we will be able to build a tough, aggressive streak in these players. The prissy dink and dunk passing game has stripped toughness from the game.