Cy the Cyclone

Did you seriously just predict we would lose to Iowa State? Take a look at next years returning team and some of the recruits. ISU is definately going to be a competitive team. Chizek has it going over here. A few wayward transfers and lost recruits from Nebraska isn't going to hurt matters either

To be brutally honest...the Huskers sucked this year both defensively AND offensively for various reasons. My unbiased opinion for what it's worth as a Husker fan stuck in Cyclone Land: Defense: The entire defensive squad was a joke. They popped people maybe three times the entire season. They got shoved around and pushed down...they got no respect and they didn't really deserve any. The D-Line was weak. Couldn't stop the run. Didn't attack or shoot gaps...just a bump and then flow. No disruption at all. No fire or leadership from any of them. It embarrases me when a runner breaks off 7 yards up the middle then our guys help the guy up! What the hell?!?. These guys...or the next batch...need so more weight and a lot more strength. I want to see guys with guns who don't get blown 3 yards off the line when the ball is hiked. The linebackers were not good...they were too light, even when they blitzed, a 190 lb halfback could usually handle them..on sweeps tackles and guards buried them. Pursuit to the ball was horrible. They weren't fast enough to cover backs or ends so dropping them into coverage was a failure most of the time. They didn't act, they reacted. They let the opponent dictate to them. There wasn't an animal out there. Looked like a bunch of autobots the whole season..."If receiver A goes here, I must go there". These guys never popped anybody either....all arms tackles, when they tackled anybody at all. The DB's had too much pressure on them the whole time. No line or backers made them play close so they could shut down the runners that leaked through. There was talent back there but, again, these guys were pretty dinky. Aren't there any DB's available over six feet and 180 pounds out there? However, there is hope for the DBs. If they had a line that could put some pressure on the QB, they would have been adequate. All in all, the defense was a train wreck, but that's what you get for throwing a Big 10 guy into a Big 12 league. They lined up too far off the ball, they read instead of attacking, they continued to drop back in coverage when it was apparent that it wasn't shutting off anything....just a wreck. Offense: There are a lot of people that think Ganz is the second coming and he might be but from what I've seen, he needs to have a lot simpler system to work with. Against Colorado he spent so much time running back and forth to the line making adjustments that I was wondering if he was ever going to beat the play clock. Give him or whoever is the QB a system that's not so complicated and a decent running game and maybe he can do away with trying to shove a ball into double or triple coverage. Ball control was bad...very bad. But, when your offensive plan consists of "Throw three passes and hope one of them is completed for a 1st down", you aren't going to burn much time off the clock. You're up 35 to 17...run the damn ball! Grind out some yards! No offense to Marion but the ground game needs an injection of "punishment" in it...a big power back who, even if he only gains three yards...still busts some chops when he hits the line. The running game disappeared this season...very disappointing. The O-Line played fairly decently once Ganz took over. Keller held the ball in one place way too long. Ganz's mobility helped a lot. The line didn't have a dominating look to it though. Wasn't the frightening line I'm used to. Just a bunch of kinda fat guys. Power rushers and quick DE's got by them way too often. And maybe if they didn't stand foot to foot all the time they could spread the defense a little more and maybe open a few more holes. I think this group could come along with some strength and conditioning along with a different offensive philosophy. I may be the only one to think this but I'm totally relieved that Mo is gone from the receiving corps. He was already a pro anyway. He had "Throwing up the hands and looking for a ref everytime he dropped a ball" down already along with spotting all the TV cameras. Too bad he let so many passes bounce off his hands. If the QB would have thrown a TV camera instead of a football, he probably would have been the best receiver in football. Possession receivers like Swift are great. He was the unsung hero of this group. Catches the ball well...takes a hit. A few more guys like that...along with maybe throwing the ball to the TE once in a while, and the receivers would be pretty decent. Do the Huskers even have a TE? The most important job for the new coach, whoever that may be (my vote is still for Switzer...Osborne can make sure he doesn't rile up the NCAA too much), needs to find himself some leaders and instill some ferocity onto this team. No one feared Nebraska this year. Everyone came in knowing that if they hit the Huskers hard a couple of times, they would collapse like a house of cards. Ferocity and confidence both on offense and defense. The teams needs to come out in 2008 and knock some other guys down...and then kick them a few times for good measure. Once we get back the Killer Instinct, everything else will start to fall into place.

I think Cos is...if the NU defense doesn't show up and Hawkins is serious about his threat. It's on page 7 of the Big 10 Defensive Play Book...under "Alternative Paths to Victory" heading.

The only thing missing from rap is the "c"....

Feathers weren't ruffled...just had to go shovel the goddamn snow Looks like God's gonna start thinning the herd early this year what with all the morons in the ditch today.

Well ya know...I've followed the Huskers from the days of Glover, Dutton, Blahak, Kinney...through Tagge and Humm, Rozier, Redwine, Hipp...through the good years, the better years...and this year too. I've been a fan from Devany through Osborne to Solich to Callahan. Sure...I like to spout off about the Clones now and then...somebody has to support them after all...but I grew up with Husker football. But, since you're obviously offended by the presence of a Clone fan on a Husker board, I'll go on over there..unfortunately there are not a lot of people there since football ended for ISU last week. Cheers!

I noticed almost all of the guys named on the Big 12 Academic 1st and 2nd teams had hometowns located in the Midwest...says a lot about the Midwest's educational system...along with their sense of values. Only 2 on three on either team from CA and 1 from FL??? I thought that's where ALL the best "student athlete" recruits came from

I think your reasoning is flawed...if the game were in Lincoln, there would be no tickets available because the Nebraska fans would have bought them all because that's what true fans do whether their team is good or bad. Since the game is at Colorado, there are still tickets available because the Colorado fans don't really give a flying f*ck regardless of the consequences of the outcome. Five inches of snow, television and a holiday might also explain why some of the Nebraska fans will be watching the game from home too...but that's beside the point.

You sure talk a lot of crap considering you root for a team that has managed to find a way to choke everytime they have ever got near the chance to win a conference title. Say...I think your team accidently left their hopes for a Bowl bid over in our stadium last weekend. You might want to come get that before next year...

Using the proven scientific method of "Whose Mascot could kick the other Mascot's Ass", my predictions are as follows Bet the House: Arizona State – Devil beats a Greek LSU – Tiger beats a Pig Texas – Steer beats a Collie Dog Boise State – Horse beats a whatever the Hawaii guy is Virginia – Cavalier beats a Bird Kentucky – Wildcat beats a Coon Dog UCLA – Bear beats a Duck Oklahoma State – Gunslinger beats a couple of Horses Missouri – Tiger beats a Bird Hedge Your Bet: Florida – I think the Alligator would probably get the jump on the Indian Toss Up: If Herbie is deflated and Harry comes back - Nebraska If Herbie spends the game prancing around the sidelines - Colorado.

I have satellite but I don't want to watch the Insight Bowl. You're welcome to use the house while I'm gone...just leave some beer in the fridge for when I get back.

I think they were actually disgruntled CU sexual assault victims looking for closure.

I find that the Missionary position is the...uh.... Damn...the thread title threw me On subject though, you are right. Hate to keep harping against Iowa but every year they suffer a large number of season ending injuries during fall practices, non-conference and early season games. By the end of the season the team is usually made up of a bunch of Freshmen mainly because of the lack of a decent strength and conditioning program. It breaks them every year like clockwork.

You can go fetch your own damn slippers from now on Sincerely, Your Dog My wife won't left me have one. That sounds like something a Big 10 guy would say!!! Do yourself a favor...go out, buy yourself a puppy, name it Bill Callahan...then kick it. You'll feel lots better.

You're a EDITED BY MOD, don't ever post on this board again!! And while you're at it go ahead and becoming a Colorado or K-State fan, they'll love your attitude. Name calling is a board rule violation. Warning level increased. Round these parts that's known as a term of endearment.

Let's face it...Huskers have a coach who was, what, the 5th choice. Al Saunders didn't want the job...Mike Zimmer didn't want it...Houston Nutt didn't want it. Bo and Turner were the two who wanted the job but Pederson didn't want them! Perfect description of the Callahan hire: "He was the most well-known name we knew nothing about in the Nebraska coaching search. Bill Callahan. Super Bowl coach. Intolerable hard ass. Admirable Al Davis victim. Run out of town before he was run down by his players. In the end, his most important trait was that he was available. A Raider coach on the rebound, lugging around a 4-12 record with no prospects except some offensive coordinator offers in the NFL. That and he is a coaching enigma, which is a fitting climax to one of the most bungled big-time college searches in recent memory. A guy who is hard to peg being hired by a program that had to beg. Disclaimer: Callahan might win three national championships. He might be the Midwest equivalent of Pete Carroll. He deserves a chance, the same one Norm Chow, Frank Beamer and Mike Stoops would have gotten. But that's the point isn't it? Athletic director Steve Pederson should have/could have failed to get at least one of those accomplished college coaches. We know for certain Chow would have listened, coming off a national championship at age 57. Callahan is at least a fifth choice of Pederson. We know that Arkansas' Houston Nutt and Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said no in the last week. Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders was a hot item before removing his name. Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress was in the mix. Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt was either a candidate, a consultant or both. This was a desperation hire. Look at the timing. Callahan didn't become available until Dec. 30 when he was fired. By that time Pederson was running out of options and time. Recruiting was, and is, taking a brutal hit. Interim coach Bo Pelini was campaigning for the job, leaving his number on Pederson's answering machine at one point. Pederson couldn't give this job away and stubbornly didn't hand it to the one guy who would have killed for it. If you're going to fire a decent man like Frank Solich after he won 75 percent of his games then you'd better have a plan. Pederson had a whole lot of nothing when it came to saving a gold-plated program. The inexperience showed Saturday when Pederson felt compelled to call a press conference after nothing happened. Pederson emerged from his hole to admonish the media for attributing to him a $2.5 million offer to Nutt. Good, nice, Steve. We're irresponsible, you're in control. It's all so clear now. Callahan comes highly recommended, no doubt, by Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez, a former Nebraska player and assistant coach. It was Alvarez who employed Callahan as an offensive line coach, but that was 10 years ago. Unfortunately, Pederson was a search committee of one. Help was a phone call away if pride and inexperience hadn't intervened. After six weeks, Callahan was his answer to not surrendering the Big 12 to Texas and Oklahoma (Pederson's words). To paraphrase an old joke, the N on that helmet now stands for N-igma. Two in fact." Callahan had one thing going for him when he was hired...he was available. That'll be the only thing he has going for him when his new job search begins.

You're a edited, don't ever post on this board again!! And while you're at it go ahead and becoming a Colorado or K-State fan, they'll love your attitude. WE'LL TAKE HIM!!! Fits the Cyclone fan base to a friggin T!

Section 24, Row 10, Seats 1 & 2 at Hilton Auditorium during any home basketball game (season tickets...love that Cyclone Basketball). I'll be the only one in the place with a Nebraska jacket. You can't miss me. Oh...and while you're in the state, if you see anyone wearing Hawkeye gear, hit em in the mouth. They deserve it. Just consider it a pre-emptive strike.

You can go fetch your own damn slippers from now on Sincerely, Your Dog

Osborne and Callahan Caught in Compromising Situation After Victory.

You're right. I hate football season and can't wait for it to be over. Bring on the totally awesome off-season, full of drama! There will be lots of awesome football activities to enjoy during the off-season. For instance, I'm creating a Fantasy Former Recruit Team. I'm taking all the Husker recruits who are backing out of their commitments with Nebraska and putting them together into their own team. Then I'll take the team and play it against this year's schedule and see how they do. I'm thinking about adding transfers too once I get some more data on those. There's also Name the New Coach roulette...you load the gun with five good coaching choices for Nebraska and leave one chamber blank...aim it at your head and pull the trigger. Unfortunately, the last time I played that, I got the empty chamber and we ended up with Callahan. Then there's Musical Coordinators, (Run) Ring Around the Cosie, TAG (The Arm tackle Game), Nebraska D is Falling Down, Red Rover Roll Over and...of course...my all time favorite...Bowling only for Dollars (see my list above).

Frankly though...I don't think the Blackshirts of the 90's stacked up well against the 70's version that wrought even more havoc on their opponents. Fast and physical line that played and attacked the gaps...great pursuing linebackers. Those guys didn't have to blitz. They just destroyed people and broke stuff.

I'll be pissed if we do, I want to come out and run it down your throat, then run it down your throat some more, and then if we start to think about something else, and then run it down some more........ Don't worry, Hawkins is a smart coach. He could coach circles around Clownahan. I'm sure he's been practicing very little else besides the power running game. This game comes down to talent versus coaching. NU has the talent, but CU has the coaching. Plus, it's very hard to play in the thin air up there. I guess a lot comes down to how much lingering pain is left for you guys after the heartbreaker against ISU also. Hopefully he's been practicing his 1 second kicking drill too. Bwhahahahaha ISU 31-CU 28!!!!

D) Tom Osborne Now THAT would be worth watching!

The Mountain West, Baby! Go Air Force! Gotta show love for my Falcons too! Bah...Did you happen to notice that the University of Northern Iowa got one vote for the D-I Top 25 this week? That's more than Iowa State, Colorado, Nebraska, Baylor, KSU, Texas A&M and OSU combined!