Guy Chamberlin

On what planet would relatives of ANY influential politician not try to play it to their advantage? Off the top of my head: Billy Carter, Michael Reagan, the entire Bush family, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, the entire Bush family again, the entire Trump family.

I'd take Zac Taylor and Joe Ganz any day. If you're suggesting we abandoned the run and dual threat quarterbacks in 2004, you'd be missing all three total yardage leaders in Nebraska football history and three of our Top 6 running backs.

I honestly thought Haarberg looked pretty good. Not sure why they never called the designed QB draws for him that had worked so well. There were some big gaps for the taking on those drop backs. Seriously. I'm not kidding. HH threw some sharp passes today. Coulda done better with better parts, and maybe more than 40 frikkin offensive plays.

You're not the only one, of course. Use to be a feller name CM Husker who posted pretty much the exact same line of thinking. Wait a minute.......

Just curious, why did you dip back to Jeff Kinney for your Husker name?

I'm watching Iowa vs Michigan State and they both deserve to lose. Lotta ugly grindy inconsistent football out there.

Honestly, I understand the concept, but I'm not sure about the design and execution of advertising a super specific offense reliant on a smaller local recruiting base. It relies so much on a single player -- a strong armed or strong-legged quarterback -- and I'm unclear how the rest of the positions shake out.

I was there, and I can assure you that Tom Osborne got heat from the fans in very similar language to the heat given Bo Pelini. It wasn't just internet cranks back then, it was enough people that Osborne applied to be head coach at Colorado in 1978. In that college football landscape, a 9-3 record might still get Nebraska and Osborne a Top 10 ranking, but it didn't stop some grumbling.

I mean, I don't disagree with your numbers or your larger perspective. The unprecedented claim is probably a statistical fact. But Bo's record against ranked teams and the often one-sided nature of those blowout losses shouldn't be part of revisionist history, either. We may look selfish and entitled in hindsight, but the "9 wins is mediocrity" opinion was, for better or worse, shared by a lot of Husker fans at the time, including Bo supporters. I don't recall a single fan or media pundit at that time who suggested we should be content with the 9 win consistency. The biggest Bo supporters would invariably argue that Bo just needed a few more seasons to get us over the top. Not that we needed to be happy where we were. The argument that firing Bo Pelini wasn't a mistake is also backed by strong evidence, given Bo's subsequent career. The wake up call for Husker fans is that our HC position wasn't the plum college football job we assumed it was.

I think it's an answerable question. There are maybe a dozen programs that can currently dangle the Lamborgheni at the 4 and 5 star recruits. Every other Power 5 will have a lesser vehicle. But that whole system is reliant on the ratings systems, and there are thousands of recruits to work with. Given that most of them are 17 or 18 when they declare, most of them haven't grown into their final bodies yet, or their maturity, or dealt with athletic adversity. So no matter what the ratings agencies say, there are thousands of recruits that might be closer in skill than you think, not to mention under or over valued. You can run any system you want, and just be a little more clever -- or lucky -- in your recruiting. Things quickly went south for USC for a few years there, even when they had every advantage. Alabama and Clemson are starting to look less shiny, too. It's kinda crazy how much hinges on one player -- the quarterback. You're Cam Newton one year and you win a National Championship. Cam leaves, team tanks, coach gets fired. We all envied Matt Campbell at Iowa State, but look how much his success hinged on Brock Purdy. Also seems to be the case with identity-based offenses; 98% depends on your choice of quarterback. You still want to recruit the best possible running backs, receivers, and offensive linemen. Osborne could still recruit pretty good receivers because they knew that while they'd never get the stats, the would play for a winner, on a well-scouted team that played on national tv a lot.

Is it genetic or ingrained? Or is he making an effort to channel his father's cadence, and arrogance without evidence strategy?

Whoa. That's incredibly cool. Turns out you were lucky after all. We have considered bushwacking, but our ultimate destinations in Zion and Bryce are miles from the entrances.

Ask the Seattle Seahawks.

You earn it by hiking in rugged canyons.

Thanks. My wife learned yesterday that during the last federal shutdown, Utah and Arizona were the only states that paid to keep their national parks open because the tourism money was so vital.