The similarity is this:
That team lost by 5 TD's that day in a game they were expected to win, much too similar to Saturday night. They were a good, not great team, and some holes were beginning to be exposed. That malaise carried over to the bowl game and they were blasted by the co-national champ. Osborne took it to task to shift his recruiting up in the next year or so, and McBride made a change in the defense in 92, and the rest is history. I do not necessarily think Pelini is on the edge of going 60-3 in the next 5 years, but I think that when you take a step back and look at where this program is at, and realize that the defense was a patchwork, and the offense is very young and almost everyone returns, that Saturday may be a speed bump. My generation is so results-focused and has no patience whatsoever, that 5 years without a title seems like an eternity. I'm not ready to throw the towel in, and Pelini will show his true worth by how he and his staff are able to regroup, strategize and energize the players to get ready for the future. If he refuses to learn anything from that showcase, then he is a fool and that will show soon enough.