junior4949

DaveH, What is halftime for? I thought you were supposed to make adjustments at halftime. It was in the second half when things really got out of hand. I'm sure Coach Cosgrove thought we were well prepared going into the game. If more blitzing is what we needed, why didn't we do it the second half? I don't really think it was necessarily the defense's fault. I remember when we got beat by Penn State a couple of years ago. Everyone blamed the defense. Well the defense can't be on the field 3 out of 4 quarters and stop a team when the offense turns the ball over in the other team's red zone. The defense did give up, but the trouble started on the other side of the ball! Would the defense have given up last year? No! Pelini was a better defensive coach than Cosgrove, but this isn't why we lost this game.

Franchione has only been at A&M two years, the same number of years as Bill. Yeah, they turned it around and are now ranked. Franchione has built his reputation on building winners. What reputation does Callahan have? He took an outstanding team to the Super Bowl his first year before totally losing control the next year to finish bottom of the division. I don't call this rebuilding a team. Steve Pederson is the biggest jackass in Nebraska. We all know he offered the head coaching job to five guys before Callahan was hired. The only reason he hired Callahan was because he was desperate. Everyone kept turning us down, and he needed a coach with name recognition. Why did everyone turn us down? Because jackass Pederson fired a coach after going 10-3. He totally cleaned the cupboards of anything left by Tom Osbourne. In my opinion, Pederson put Callahan and the Nebraska football team in a lose lose situation. Callahan only has had a couple years of head coaching experience, and now he is trying to implement a passing attack in a run oriented school. Callahan is not a very good coach, but Pederson is a horrible AD. I don't live in North Platte, but I'm not far from there. I'm embarrassed SW Nebraska developed such an idiot!

I'll have to agree with you Benard. How many recruiting classes has Mack Brown ohad that were either number 1 or in the top 5. A LOT! This past year, he lost a lot of recruits from Texas to who? OKLAHOMA! Coaching does matter and to some extent talent does also. Look at the Mackovicka brothers. Neither one of them was given a scholarship to come play for Nebraska. They had to walk on and earn their scholarship. A lot of other players were the same. Everyone says we had superior talent in the mid-90's. Yet, none of those recruting classes ranked very high. Coaching matters. We used to take big guys and make them offensive linemen. We would take the running quarterbacks that no one else wanted. Before the game, Jim Rose was saying how we have enough talent this year at Nebraska to beat Oklahoma. Today, he said we lost the game because we don't have enough talent. It's amazing that when you win you have excellent talent, but when you lose you have inferior talent. Guys are saying that you can't be one dimensional and win it all. What about Florida? What about Miami? The list goes on and on with teams the last 10 years throwing in Nebraska that were one dimensional. How about this year? Who is USC's running back this year? You probably don't know because they don't use him much. Look at Oklahoma. They physically dominated Texas how? BY RUNNING THE DAMN FOOTBALL! I don't buy that you can't win if you're not balanced. The Florida's, Miami's, Oklahoma's, etc. were all pretty much one dimensional. They would run the ball a few times just to keep the defense honest. I remember after McCartney retired from Colorado. Colorado tried to do what Nebraska is trying to do now. They fell hard and fast. I remember when Oklahoma with Cale Gundy tried to do what Nebraska is trying now also. They pretty much had the same fate as Colorado. I remember Texas trying with Sims what Nebraska is trying now. We know how well that worked out. What am I missing? We're not the first Big 8 or 12 team to try the fun'n gun. However, we may be the last because most teams have learned from others mistakes. Oklahoma is predominately a rushing team this year as they learned last year that throwing with an immobile quarterback down after down will eventually get you beat. Texas is running a lot with Vincent Young and Benson.

Come on Dave. Just like Benard took it too far one way, you took it too far the other way. At the beginning of the season, yes everyone knew this would be a tough year. However, most everyone thought we'd be 4-0 before the L's started piling up as we started playing the better teams. Other than whooping up on a Division 2 school, every game has been a challenge. The most disgusting thing is even in the game we lost we pretty much dominated the other team. If Callahan is really interested in winning games, why in the world did he start throwing the ball so much in the 4th quarter? Ross had all but 30 some yards of the rushing yards, but he only got 19 touches. He was averaging over 5 yards a carry. When Dailey threw his second interception, go back to the run. If Callahan is more interested in getting his WCO in place, then pull the redshirts off the freshmen. I think we all know that Dailey won't be playing near as much next year. If the growing pains really have to occur by implementing the WCO, then let's get the freshmen wet behind the ears this year so we don't have two years of mediocricy. Jackson and Green had better be getting on the phone with other teams this offseason because the hand writing is on the wall. We won't even run the ball when running is working and passing is not. What do we think we will do when passing begins to work? A real coach does what is necessary to win. Right now, we're not doing that. I'm not saying we're trying to lose, but the coaches are putting us into positions that make it more possible to lose. I know our defense is good, but how long will it be before we get into a mess like we did a couple of years back at Penn State. You cannot have the defense on the field for 3 out of 4 quarters and expect them to stop everyone. The offense can and does work right now if we allow it to. I can understand passing more and trying new things when you have a comfortable lead, but we never had a comfortable lead Saturday. If we have a couple more debacles like Saturday against better teams, we'll get slaughtered. At the beginning of the year, I went through all the teams on our schedule pegging wins and losses. Now, I think I was just a little too positive. Games with Baylor and Iowa State are now all of a sudden looking a lot more like maybe's.

In my opinion, the North is Missouri's for the taking. If or until they have another relapse as they did against Troy State, they are by far the best the North has this year. I remember when the Big 12 was formed and thinking how the South was really going to drag the North down. Wow, was I wrong. I don't think the best team in the North could finish better than 4th in the South now. I know there isn't a team up North who can beat Texas or OU, and I highly doubt there is one team from the North that can beat OSU. After Saturday, I'm not sure other than maybe Mizzou that any of them can beat Texas A&M. It's a sad state of affairs in the North right now to say the least. Other than 1 or 2 teams, the Big 12 has become a weaker conference. No longer are we the toughest conference in the land.

Just when I thought maybe the coaching staff had things figured out, the balloon collapses. While watching the game Saturday, I remember looking up and seeing Dailey had thrown only 15 passes midway through the third quarter. Then, what do we decide to do? Throw the ball almost every down, and throw two critical interceptions. Ross was running all over Kansas, why in the world would you decide to start passing every down? Our defense is getting better and better which is good as we head into next week against Texas Tech. However, our offense is just not working. I have been impressed with out running backs so far this season. You can just look at Jackson and see he's got it all. Tierre Green is also impressive. Yet, they just won't get any better carrying the ball once a game. I know everyone wants to see us "air it out", but when the fun'n gun isn't working we must get back to the basics. The last time we had a "nail biter" against Kansas came when Kansas was rated and a good team. A 6 point victory against a team who is rebuilding at home was pathetic to say the least. If "Pud" was scared of mediocricy, I wonder how stable his knees are now? It is one thing when you get beat by superior teams and have close games against good teams. It is completely another thing when you get beat by teams that really aren't that good, and you have close games against teams usually in the bottom tier of the conference. If Callahan doesn't figure this out and soon, we will be lucky to finish 3rd in the North. If the defense ever has an off game, we are in serious trouble!

Bernard, You need to talk to some of the linemen who blocked for Touchdown Tommie. They all hated him as a person, but they respected him. I found it interesting as I went to UNL the same time as Tommie. In intramural basketball, Tommie had a team and Brook Beringer had a team. Tommie's team was ranked no. 1 in their league and Brook's was ranked number 2. Tommie's team was made up basically no names because very few of them were on the football team. Brook's team was made up of himself and most of the offensive linemen. If memory serves me correctly, they played each other twice. Brook's team stomped Tommie's team both times. Tommie was a hell of a quarterback in Nebraskas system, but he was a jerk. I'm not sure, but I don't think Tommie was ever even voted a captain on the team. The fans loved him and probably the coaches, but the rest of the team never liked him.

I agree with you Stevie. Speed kills, and a lack of it kills you. 15-20 years ago, it wasn't nearly as crucial to have speedy linebackers. After the glory years of 10 years ago, I think those guys showed us how much better a defense is with 4.4-4.5 speed at the linebacking position. A player who was given a scholarship from my neck of the woods, Ryan Terwilliger, is an excellent case in point. He was a big stout player, but he was extremely slow. He started a couple of games his junior year until Terrell Farley finally got the spot. Farley was extremely fast and made the defense a lot better. When Farley got suspended the next year, Terwilliger stepped in again and started in his absence. The defense just wasn't the same as Arizona State walked all over us. I saw a Tight End actually outrun him. I believe Shanle is another example. He was big and stout, but he just didn't have the speed. I realize some consider him a great player, but I never really thought much of his play. When a linebacker can't cover a Tight End, you need to find another linebacker.

Quote: So if the FB is not a vital pos in the WCO why did a Tom Rathman have such an impact at San Fran.. playing for the father of the WCO himself?? Maybe you've answered your own question. Bill Walsh was the father of the WCO not the ugly stepchild. Walsh like many great coaches knows you have to use every weapon possible in your arsenal to win. A fullback is very vital to the team in my opinion even if he doesn't run the ball much. The fullback in most passing plays is supposed to pick up the blitzing linebacker. Because of their size, they are more able to do this better than a halfback. Also, the fullback needs to touch the ball 5-10 times a game just to keep the defense honest. If the QB gets flushed out of the pocket, they need a dump off receiver which is typically the fullback if the halfback is running a route. If I were the QB, I would want the best possible fullback available out there protecting my backside. I don't care what anyone says, the fullback is a very important position.

Some of my biggest flops actually played quite a bit, and I'm sure I will get blasted for listing them. However, these guys were just terrible in my opinion. 1. Broderick Thomas - Other than having a big mouth and falling on the pile after the tackle was made, he would have never even been heard from. He was mediocre at best. 2. Terry Rogers - Granted, he did get hurt. However, I don't think he lived up to his hype. I realize it is difficult for a son of a Nebraska Great to ever get out of the shadow, but he didn't even come close. 3. Scott Baldwin - He was a mental case from day one, and he never was a very good tailback. 4. Doug Deboise - I think that's how you spell his name. I remember hearing all these great things about him, but he never played. I think he may have been injured, but I think most of his problems came from steroid use. It was always rumored that is why he never played. 5. Mike Grant - In my opinion, he was the worst quarterback to ever wear the red and white. He couldn't pass, he couldn't run the option, he was just bad.

I don't understand what winning championships has to do with this. If I'm not mistaken, we stuck with a coach that took 22 years to win his first championship. If we really thought we were mediocre last season, we need to go back about 20 years or even 15 years. 20 years ago, we got pounded time and time again by Oklahoma. Yes, we were the second best team in the Big 8. However, the Big 8 was extremely soft compared to today's Big 12. 15 years ago, we would go and get slaughtered by a Florida school. In fact, I believe we lost 51-3 or something like that to Miama. Now those were the mediocre days. Let's face some realities. Steve Pudderson wanted his own guy, and Frank Solich wasn't his guy. In fact, Solich was Osbourne's guy. In my opinion, "Pud" is a power freak who is very intimidated by Osbourne who isn't even part of the program anymore. I believe "Pud" wanted to throw his weight around and show people he's the boss. Will it all work out? I don't know as the jury is still out. I do know we will more than likely go through more growing pains and losses this year with Callahan than we would have with Solich. However, this usually always happens when you totally revamp a system. What is done is done. I didn't like it, but hey it's done. My problem is with the West Coast Offense and Callahan himself as a coach. In another thread one poster said Notre Dame didn't catch on to the schemes as fast as we are. Well Notre Dame's best year under Willingham was their first year. They aren't improving in my opinion. The power schools now have exactly what we had during the glory years: exceptional athletes. USC has exceptional athletes and so does Oklahoma. If you have exceptional athletes, the option will and does work very effective. With the option, you gradually wear a team down. With the West Coast offense, you simply try to out maneuver them. The problem with this type of offense is that you usually end up beating yourself when you lose by throwing interceptions. Recruiting a quarterback for the West Coast offense is also a lot tougher than recruiting an option quarterback. Very few power schools run the option, so there isn't nearly as much competition as there is for a drop back passer. Have you ever wondered why Bill Snyder has never really had a drop back passing quarterback other than Chad May? Because Manhattan, KS is extremely difficult to get recruits to or much less stay. Well you know what? Lincoln, NE isn't much better or easier. In business, we are taught to do things just a little different than the rest to be successful. I don't see how football is any different!

In reply to last year's KState vs. OU in the Big 12 championship game, I actually picked in our pool KState. I really thought last year was KState's year to win it all, and they would have if El Roberson would have been healthy earlier in the year. They would have won their bowl game also if it hadn't been for some "bimbo" alleging she was raped by Roberson but soon after the bowl game dropped the charges. KState had the tools to beat OU. Hell, Missouri gave OU a good game because they had a mobile quarterback. For some reason, Snyder can put together a hell of a team only to be disappointed usually by one player who usually seems to be the quarterback. Anyone remember I believe it was 1998? The last 4 games of the season, KState averaged 4 turnovers per game. Although they were able to win a couple of the games, they couldn't overcome Texas A&M. KState is like Nebraska this year because this year is a rebuilding year. Did they get better recruits for 2004? I don't know, but I do know they did get a pretty talented quarterback. Will NU beat KState this year? I think a lot depends on how each team is doing prior to the game. Both teams could face meltdown if losses begin to rack up. Or, both teams could be pumped if they begin hitting on all 8 cylinders. IMO, both teams are vulnerable this year.

Men amongst boys. I know it's a little early in the year to be talking about Oklahoma, but this will be the best team we face all year long. With their fierce defense and their stud freshman running back, I believe we are in for a long day unless we can make Jason White try to beat us. We supposedly have one of the better secondaries in the country. If we can cover Clayton and corps. and make White beat us by running, we may have a small chance. However, to do all this we must pack 8 in the box to stop their incredible freshman running back who seems to get stronger and stronger each week. I hope I'm wrong, but this may be the only time in the next 4 years we even have a chance to beat these guys. Their stud freshman quarterback who is in waiting is a lot more mobile than White. When he and their stud running back begin playing together, watch out College Football. Combine superior athletes and coaching staff with Bo Pelini's gift of knowing each and every player of Nebraska's strength's and mostly weaknesses, the next 4 years could be extremely rough. Possibly, there will be no Big 12 Championships here for quite a while unless Stoops moves on. I know there were some who thought Ross would be the Big 12 rushing leader this year. With the numbers Peterson is recording, I believe he will out rush even Sproles at KSU. He has the best line in the Big 12 to run behind, and Stoops seems to be very content running the ball. Now that he isn't sharing much time with Jones, Peterson will cruise his way into becoming the Big 12 Freshman of the year. In order to stand a chance against OU, we will have to play 4 great quarters of football. In the first three games combined, we have really only managed 6. The butterfingers has to stop, special teams must get a lot better, and Dailey needs to make better reads. We have quite a few games to iron out the wrinkles, but we also have a few tough ones in there with KState, Tech, and Mizzou. In my opinion, the Tech game is the most crucial game this season. If we get completely shell shocked by Tech, it could trigger a lot of doubt which could propel us into a losing season. However, a complete domination could trigger a lot of mementum which could cap off a relatively good season. A lot hinges on this game.

You give the fans way too much credit in my opinion. In 1995, I saw and heard boos from the crowd when Tommie Frazier sat down and Brook Berringer came in. This showed a lot of class from our fans after he basically handed us our chance of even getting to the championship game in 1994. These were the same fans who fell all over themselves sending cards, money, flowers, etc. after Brook was killed in an airplane crash. Fans are fickle. Believe me, if we have a losing record a majority of the "fans" will be calling for Callahan's job. As far as your academic all-americans are concerned, what percentage of these were walk-on players? Callahan has single handedly killed the walk-on program. If you go back through the years, you will find that a lot of these academic all-americans were in fact walk-on players. I've always been of the belief if "it ain't broke, don't fix it". The old era wasn't broke. We just came off of a 10-3 season, and we were nationally ranked. In my opinion, we were far from being broke and mediocre as Steve Pederson would say. Here's a news flash for you, Frank Solich was given two years after playing for a national championship. Bill Callahan will be given the same. If we have a losing record this year, we had better win the Big 12 next year or he's done!

I see all of the teams you list are along the coast where they don't have "midwest" weather. Also, from the 6 teams listed in college; I would only consider 1 possibly 2 of them being elite teams. Not a lot has changed in college football in the last 6 or 7 years. Tommie Frazier and Scott Frost couldn't pass very well at all, yet by golly we went undefeated those years winning National Championships. There have been a lot of one dimensional football teams win it all the past 10 years. Nebraska 3 out of the 10, Florida only passed and it won it all. When it comes right down to it, a team can be one dimensional and still win it all. It just takes the right personell and execution. Prior to the Frazier era, a lot of so called experts said Dr. T.O. would never win the big one because Nebraska just wasn't effective at passing. Yep, they were sure right because he didn't win one he won 3! Some of the best coaches in either pro or college know you have to run the ball to be effective. Look at the Dallas cowboys or the Denver Broncos the past decade. They have been very successful because they won the trench war. You don't wear down a lot of defenses throwing the ball 42 times a game. The Baltimore Ravens won it all a few years back with a quarterback who was terrible. Yet, they had a great defense and an adequate running attack. These are pro teams in the past 10 years who have won, and quite frankly I don't see the fun and gun West Coast offense in any of these teams. Quite frankly, I don't see the fun and gun West Coast offense at Texas any longer either. They have a very mobile quarterback, and they have a stud running back. The fun and gun with Sims, well that just worked out remarkably didn't it? One of the reasons most high school teams as well as college teams don't run the "pro style" offense is because they don't have the personell the pros do to run the offense. And, I don't think Nebraska has the pieces to run the offense either. If you want to talk about great coaches and teams, you need to find the ones who took a team in shambles and made them into something. Our current coach was handed a Super Bowl caliber team, and he managed to mess it up in just two short years. Trust me, he's no Mike Shanahan, Bill Parcells, etc.

Which of the elite teams actually runs the West Coast offense? When I hear of coaches and West Coast offense, the name Rick Neuhiesel comes to mind. He ruined the Colorado program, and was well on his way to ruining the Washington program. USC and Miami do somewhat run West Coast offenses, but hey they play in good conditions. Hell, Miami rarely ever even leaves the state. Make no mistake about it, Oklahoma's offense is not a West Coast offense. Sure, they pass the ball more than the Nebraska of old. However, when they won their championship they had Quintin Griffin. Even Bob Stoopes will concede you need a stud at running back to win in the Big 12. Their runningback this year is a true freshman, and he was considered the best running back out of high school in the nation. You also need a mobile quarterback. This is what cost Oklahoma a championship last year. In my opinion, you need a Vincent Young type quarterback rather than a Jason White quarterback. Throwing quarterbacks who are extremely mobile who have good receivers and a stud running back have the best success. When you have a running back who is averaging roughly 7 yards a carry, why continue passing the ball when your young quarterback has already thrown two interceptions? I always thought wins and losses meant a lot more to coaches than simply trying to prove a point. If Callahan thinks Dailey is having troubles now, wait until November when it's snowing, 20 degrees, and the wind is blowing 20 mph. If Dailey thinks these guys disguised their defense well, wait until we play Oklahoma. I'm not against passing the ball, but come on. If we are successful passing the ball, by all means continue passing the ball. However, if passing is unsuccessful and running is successful then please run the ball.

I'm not a lot older than you, but I was there during the glory days of the mid-90's attending college at UNL. However, I also remember struggling with my ties to Nebraska football during the mid to late 80's when we would inevitably meet up with a Florida school in a bowl game and get pounded. Dr. Tom was never given anything and for most of his career was even considered a joke by many. Nebraska at that time could even be compared with K-State by lining up patsies to play on Saturdays just to pad their record. Dr. Tom nearly took the Colorado job back in the mid-70's because of the heat he was getting. How did he turn everything around? He began actively recruiting excellent athletes who had questionable characters. These guys were more readily available because most schools didn't want the problems associated with them. Dr. Tom was very good at keeping these guys out of trouble until Nebraska found success once again. We all know what happened next. In my opinion, Frank Solich was hired to head Nebraska with the main reason being to clean up the team. For the most part, he did achieve this. However, we couldn't compete with the top tier teams again because the "cleaner" athletes just weren't as good as the Lawrence Phillips's, Tyrone Williams, etc. Totally giving up on the program, Steve Pederson decided to make a change. After struggling to get anyone to even consider taking the job, we finally land a NFL burnout who went from being a hero to a zero in the NFL in just two short years. Steve Pederson took a program that had been developed and maintained by coaching longevity and cohesiveness and turned it totally upside down. For the life of me, I'm surprised that you think it is wrong now to root for another teams. I'm alumni, and I can't bring myself to root for Nebraska. I was born here and have lived here my entire life, yet I just can't accept that we gave one man enough power to totally destroy Nebraska football. I will root for anyone other than Nebraska until Bill Callahan is gone, Steve Pederson is gone, and Harvey Pealman is gone. These three will eventually KILL Nebraska football. Unfortunately for us native Nebraskans, football is pretty much all we have. Lincoln Nebraska is extremely difficult to bring recruits into. Once we fade into a mediocre team which we're well on our way, I'm not sure it will ever come back. Unlike Texas, Colorado, and even Oklahoma; we just don't have the recruiting base even in our home state. In my opinion, Nebraska football is in a lose lose situation. If Bill Callahan struggles and posts a losing record, obviously he will be fired. If Bill Callahan is successful, he will be gone also heading back to the NFL. So, why did we hand the keys to our football program to a guy who will be gone within 5 years no matter whether he's successful or not? To me, this is why a lot of fans are abandoning Nebraska right now. Pederson could have rectified the situation by giving Bo Pelini or Turner Gill a chance. Now, he just has to hope and pray Callahan leaves because of success rather than failure. Next week after we lose to Pitt., I can truely say "welcome to Nebraska Bill"!