Guy Chamberlin

Seems like every story about a Dad who grooms his son from infancy to be a star quarterback has an unhappy ending. Except when the son is really really good. We can overlook all kinds of bad behavior and primadonna attitude when a player is scoring touchdowns for our team.

Agree with Spartness. And the Mizzou dude has some valid points. The great equalizer is smart recruiting, customized for the program. The fact is, for every star recruit the glamour programs try to seduce, there are probably a half-dozen players who will go on to have better football careers. By the time some of these high school kids are five-star recruits, they already have entourages turning them into fragile head-cases. Still, I'd like to see a program instituted where coveted recruits visiting Lincoln get sexed up by our hottest coeds. Let's make our Capitol Building stand for something.

Good rule of thumb in determining your outrage: Replace the word "Nebraska" with "Texas" in any story about football players run amok, and see if you would refuse to pass it along as scurrilous rumor.

Can't blame you young people for being young, but no way is this anyone but Junior Miller.

He shouldn't crack the top 3, but still good to see Frosty Anderson listed. He had one monster season, although that could be the hazy recollection of my youth. And his name was Frosty. And that was cool.

I'm talking about people voting for football programs they DON'T respect in the top 10, so as to deny the Huskers' legitimate contenders. But yeah, it's fan voting. So if Nebraska loses to another program whose fans have figured out a faster way to refresh and revote online, we must bow to their clear superiority.

What would he say about Nebraska fans gaming the system by obsessively and dishonestly voting? Why yes, that will teach him to respect Nebraska.

And remember, it's entirely possible Helu and Castille will finish their careers platooning with if not outright replaced by some hotter RB on his way up. Despite the flashes they've shown, I'm not sure either would rank with the go-to guys on Osborne or Solich teams.

WCO playbook can be big because it uses every available option to an offense. But a coach can always edit it down as necessary. It doesn't have to be complicated. In some ways it's more like the sandlot football a lot of kids grew up with. I don't see it detering younger players, though I do think it requires an especially savvy quarterback confident enough to call some of his own shots.

Well if it's a matter of what you choose to see in your mind, I like to remember Nebraska kicking ass and Oklahoma failing, too. Just not sure what it has to do with the subject.

Speaking for everyone, I accept your apology.

While I'll happily come to the defense of Tim Tebow against all this catty housewife sniping, in no way does it diminish my view of Joe Ganz. We only had Joe as a starter for a year and change, and they weren't the most memorable Husker seasons, but with respect to Mr. Deed, he most definitely goes in my Top 5 QBs, well ahead of Humm, Taylor, Crouch and Frost. Or to put it another way....imagine Joe Ganz leading an offense with Ahman Green in the backfield, and being backed by a defense that ranked somewhere north of the bottom 50.

Okay, let's play a new pointless game. Could Tommy Frazier start for this Nebraska system?

Without Callahan bringing in the WCO, Lucky doesn't get to set any records as a receiver, and he wasn't going to set records as a rusher, either, though as mentioned he had a good year with Callahan as a multi-faceted feature back, and that is the only reason he will get consideration in the NFL. Lucky did play under Pelini, and even respecting his injuries it appeared that Pelini considered Marlon no better than a valued role player in a running back platoon. Pelini and Callahan were both right. If Lucky played under Tom Osborne, he would not have started a single game. Marlon Lucky did everything asked of him during some troubled times and did it without whining. I wish him the best.

To be honest, after that Oklahoma blowout I couldn't argue that this team was any better than last years' team. Maybe in terms of the locker room and the alumni mood and the overall Callahan fatigue. But on the field? No. Not really. Then they made their run, and by the end of the season I was cheering for the defense. Ganz & Co. carried the team most of the way, but that Clemson victory belonged to the D. That's a HUGE change, and it came about through development and adjustments. Defenses win championships and having Pelini in charge bodes well for the Huskers in this conference. I still think we have to be ready for an improved defense and a new quarterback to offset each other next season, and we could be looking at another 9 - 4 campaign - or worse - in a conference that won't be any easier. And we still need to consider it progress.

Wait. You need one more post to address this. Tim Tebow could start for Nebraska and run the system. But the highly flexible WCO system would adjust for Tebow's skillset. And Tebow would likely show improvement as he learned the system. The Huskers would probably pass a little less and run a little more. Tebow would break off a few big runs, be a sure thing inside the 10 yard line, and even General Blackshirt would be sporting a huge woody for Tim Tebow in Husker red, the same way we overlook some of the statistical shortcomings of Tommy Frazier because HE LED THE TEAM TO TWO NATIONAL FRICKIN' CHAMPIONSHIPS. And my 100% sure-lock guarantee? If Tim Tebow started for Nebraska, this board would be full of people claiming Sam Bradford's Heisman win shows an appalling lack of respect by the media for Tim Tebow.

Looks like we've wandered way off the patience of Tom Osborne (and it wasn't really patience) but the nice thing about the West Coast Offense is that it's a big playbook of high percentage options. So you take what a defense will give you. And that can change from game to game.

Let's not forget that he averaged 4 yards a carry in the Gator Bowl.

None of this happens without Bob Devaney.

And the professional QBs coming out of the Nebraska system would be........? Face it. We would have worshipped Tebow and the system had they been racking up wins for Nebraska. And Tebow washing out as a pro remains a distinct possibility.

Yeah, I can see Nebraska beating a couple of those teams ranked 20 - 25. But wouldn't guarantee they beat Cal or Tulsa either. Not a lot of argument from me on the Top 20. I hate making Texas happy, but there's something right about them being ranked above Oklahoma. Three years ago this same Husker team makes the Top 25 based on legacy. Maybe that was unfair to some teams beneath them. Truth be told..... I'm kinda enjoying the Huskers coming into things as underdogs. Color me happy about this Nebraska football season.

Frost was a tough SOB, surprisingly fast and hell to defend against, but he wasn't a good passer. In fact, he was a bad passer. That "funny" throwing motion was a late release that pointed the ball down instead of up. I can't remember why Joe Theisman would have been doing a Nebraska game, but he pointed this out about Frost using replays. Frost could complete passes to his wide-open receivers, often on simple slants, but they rarely got many Yards After Catch despite being wide open, because Frost often put the ball at their feet and rarely hit them in stride. And those were the completions. I don't recall anyone remembering Scott Frost for his touch or accuracy.

Or to look at it another way: Of course Tebow could run this offense. He would run better than Ganz (but Ganz ain't bad), not pass quite as sharply, but make fewer interceptions. And when we all come back to this post in a few years, it remains entirely possible that Ganz is playing somewhere in the NFL while Tebow is not. That's not a slam on Tebow. It's just a simple fact of Heisman winners.

Imagine Scott Frost being able to pass. And coming to the defense of a woman being attacked.

Or would you bump Nutt to the top spot?