Utah_Husker

Why, did he pay for it himself? He might have to if the money doesn't start rolling in. Geez, BC gets one big win and suddenly everyone's been assimalated into the Pedersen Borg. You'll never take me, I tells ya.

I only saw one USC game, at the Collesium in LA. It was early 2003, so they were just going on their big run. I was there to cheer on BYU, and everyone was extremely respectful, right down to the drunken students. It was a happy drunk as opposed to the drunken rages we see from CU fans. Maybe things have changed and there are more punks after the two (maybe three) titles in a row, but my experience was great.

I can tell you he's the real deal. I've seen his team on TV plenty out here and once in person. He does amazing things with what could be considered inferior talent. And it's not all offense. He has put together some decent defenses over the years as well.

Ballsy, yes. Even more ballsy was firing him without having a frickin' clue as to who he was going to hire. I know that the ship on which we all argue weather or not the firing should have happened has sailed, so I won't go there. But I will say that Pedersen sure botched the whole thing. The fact that most people in the country even knows who he is tells you he's screwed up. Do any of you know the AD's name at USC? Probably not. If an AD makes national news and his name sticks, it's probably not a good thing. He's an egomaniac...I agree you have to have a healthy ego to do a job like that...confidence in your decisions is a must. But he takes it to a whole new level. So to summarize, no comment on weather he made the right decision on the firing, but he handled the firing like an ass and then botched the coaching search. IF BC works out, it won't be because of Pedersen's vision, it will be because he (Pedersen) got extremely lucky. Oh, and I have to agree with Benard on the whole 'all we care about is the product on the field' part. I sure hope that's not all we care about anymore. Wouldn't surprise me, though.

Um, this is NEVER going to happen.

I don't see a problem with it. As has been said, JUCOs are a great way to address immediate needs. I don't see much difference between JUCOs who give us two really good years and five star high school recruits who will have one adjustment year, give two good years and then have a really good chance of skipping their last year for the NFL.

You'll find that's been a theme in Husker nation the past couple of years.

Those are the first two times I've actually seen his face. Every time they show him on the sideline, his nose is buried in the playbook, regardless of what is going on in the game.

Here we go, blaming the officials. You may file a grievance with the NCAA if you wish. NU slipped by Mizzou, like Michigan did Washington state. Or did Michigan just have a bad night? Sniffle, Sniffle I assume we're referring to the kicked ball at the end of regulation? Anyone who's officiated knows that the rule only applies to intentionally kicking a ball. The ball can ricochet off a foot and it isn't illegal. I have heard that Wiggins admitted he kicked the ball to keep it alive, but I have never read that anywhere. But even if it was on purpose, there's no way to tell that even in slow motion replay. In other words, no ref in his right mind would have ever made that call, especially in that situation. Calls that require the ref to make a judgement on the intent of the player usually have to be pretty blatantly obvious before the flag is thrown.

Can't say I don't expect it considering some Penn State fans are still bitter about 94. We're into our second decade with that one folks.... well, many Husker fans are still bitter about getting jobbed by the refs in '82... also, Big 10 fans generally feel they deserve the best of everything b/c they think they're god's favorite conference. really, they're just the media's favorite conference but they don't really know the difference. I used to get annoyed with everyone drooling over the big ten. I always thought that top to bottom they are a solid conference, but the big 12 was far superior. Not this year, though. We have to face the fact that we were in an incredibly weak conference this year and the big 10 is much better even though I hate to admit it. The big 12 is Texas and then everyone else. I wouldn't be surprised if the big 12 had only won 2 or 3 out of their 8 bowl games this year.

Big 12 North has sucked the past two years and its only getting worse with all the coaching changes. Anything less than a big 12 north title will be a failure of a season for the Huskers next year.

That's a hell of a sentence. I commend you. Off topic, Dave: Your avatars always make me bust up laughing. I think your latest is the best one yet.

I can understand where he's coming from. Other than 1 great recruiting class, he hadn't seen much to get excited about when it comes to the direction of the program. The game against Colorado was great, but it remains to be seen if it is a sign that the team has finally turned the corner. A good effort in the bowl game would go a long way to prove that, as would more wins akin to the Colorado game next year.

I don't know if it will happen like that. Oregon is #7 in the BCS AHEAD of Notre Dame. LSU and VT lose and that should put OSU at #4, Oregon #5, ND #6. This means that there would be 3 teams that are in the top 6 that are not conference champs guaranteed at large bids. What the heck are they going to do now? I think the rule is that if you're in the top 6 AND a conference champ, you are guaranteed a BCS spot. This is the "mid-major" rule and it's how Utah got in last year. If you are in the top 4 you are guaranteed a bid even if you aren't the conference champ.

I agree. I've already said I want to play Michigan because we haven't played them since '83. I think Newearth said their pass defense isn't very good. True, but it's not nearly as bad as Colorado's. Something like 55th vs 95th. I'm not saying that to say we don't have a chance, but I don't think we'll move up and down the field like against Colorado.

Probably the same one he used to contain Brad Smith. Sorry, couldn't resist. I wouldn't want any part of USC, Texas, or any of the BCS teams this year. I think the teams that are in the mix to play us are about right. It will be a good measuring stick to see if we really have progressed this year as much as some think. If we played USC or Texas, we would just get shredded and that wouldn't do us any good. I really want to play Michigan just because we haven't played them in so long.

So what you are saying is that other teams didn't "figure out" Nebraska and start making them one dimensional? Take a team that runs the option, shut them down on the run, and you pretty much have made them one dimensional. How many times during CU's 62-36 win did we see defenders from CU flood the line of scrimmage and pretty much shadow the option? Miami did the same thing. Crouch was the only one really producing (if at all) during that game. Once the pitch man got the ball he was on his back. I am basing this off of memory. I'd really love to watch those games again so I could be 'player specific' on my references. Um...do you realize we had over 550 yards of offense in the blowout at Colorado including almost 200 yards passing? Doesn't sound like Colorado had the option 'figured out' or we were one-dimensional. Again, the offense wasn't the problem that game. I'll agree we got shut down against Miami. But I maintain that was one of the greatest, fastest college football defenses of all time. They held their opponents to under 300 yards and 10 point per game. Their average margin of victory was more than 30 points. Saying Nebraska's option offense didn't work because they got shut down against Miami is like saying Florida's offense in '95 sucked and should be scrapped because they got blown out by us in the Fiesta bowl.

If you're saying the option's dead because all of the best talent doesn't want to run it, then fine. I'm not arguing with that. In fact I agreed with people who have said that. Nameless has said on more than one occasion that the option won't work because defenses are too fast. That is what I disagree with.

Wow, there's some new smilies on here.

Sometimes you get a little too excited. Does anyone else feel like it's going a little too far to make statements like this after we just played our first great game all year?

Again OU's defense that year was one of the better ones in the past 10-15 years. And you can't compare our performance against perhaps the fastest defense ever as the sole reason why the option is dead. I don't think there's been a defense as talented or fast as Miami '01 since, and there probably won't be for a while. I wasn't saying the option attack is dead. I was saying that is the game people refer to when they say there needed to be a change made. I do think the plays Frankie was calling were very predictable and tired. That was not the option attack everyone around here loves. It seems against average teams we could do no wrong and against good teams we struggled. Even in 03 with the so-called "Barney ball" we stunk against good teams. The option could work but Got Frank's wasn't. If you watch ISU at all Cotton doesn't run it that much either with an ideal QB for it.(I guess though if I had Todd Bythle I would throw it every down as well.) Maybe it was Jammal Lord but I also believe Dailey would not have been any better at it. If there is no fear of passing teams will just kill your running game. I can see what you're saying and partially agree with it. I was as frustrated as anyone with Frank's playcalling the last couple of years. I don't think that '03 was Barney Ball though. Again, I think they were very limited as to what they could do with Lord. The playcalling became much more limited between '01 and '02.

I totally agree. And thanks for the very objective analysis. I don't have my panties in a bunch because the option's gone, and my perspective isn't so limited that I think Nebraska isn't Nebraska if they don't run it. It just hits a sore spot when people say it won't work any more. Very naive in my opinion.

Miami (many considered this team one of the greatest ever, especially their defense. How many NFL starters were on that defense?) I think this is the game many people point to as when the NU option attack died. We looked slow compared to Miami. How many times did Crouch break through the line only to get caught by a LB or DB? He was one of the fastest ever at NU and he couldn't out run those guys. I know of at least two runs where I thought he was gone only to get caught. Maybe I'm crazy but this might be what the "option is dead" crowd is referring to. Speedy Defense vs power football. It was that way against OU that year as well. I know we won that game but it was due to a trick play not because of the option attack. We didn't win the OU game because of the trick play, that's how we iced it. I thought that was one of the best games Solich ever called. We played field position and tough defense and took what we were given. Again OU's defense that year was one of the better ones in the past 10-15 years. And you can't compare our performance against perhaps the fastest defense ever as the sole reason why the option is dead. I don't think there's been a defense as talented or fast as Miami '01 since, and there probably won't be for a while. And the next person to put together a defense will probably win the NC no matter what offense their opponents run.

Yet they still lost. I love the option as much as the next guy but what we were running in 02-03 wasn't that good. It was predictable. Don't come back with the either has the last two years. Am I the only one who thinks that Lord was the problem? Great athlete, poor decision maker and unbelievably predictable. Don't tell me the problems started in 2001. We ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense in 2000 and 2001. The two game we lost were to Colorado (wasn't an offensive problem) and to Miami (many considered this team one of the greatest ever, especially their defense. How many NFL starters were on that defense?)

Texas A&M seemed to have some success aginst Texas running their option attack, which opened up PA passes. The option doesn't work anymore. You're a bad fan, too.