TouchdownTommie

If all else fails, flapjacks and maple syrup is my fall back position.

and I'll dub this thread "Fair Weather Defined". The highs and lows after wins and losses among us Husker fans is disturbing. The win over CU doesn't erase the debacle in Lawrence or the other truly disgusting losses in the last two years. What made this win over CU so special? The best four teams CU played this year they lost to: Texas, Miami, Iowa State and Nebraska. Who did they beat? I'm as ecstatic as everyone else that our huskers came together and won a big road game, but until this team shows some level of consistency from week to week I am not jumping on the "buy my tickets for SoCal" bandwagon. Enjoy the bowl game and let's hope recruiting finishes up well. I look forward to antoher 7 or 8 win season next year. "This team has improved so much over last year that they went into sCUm country and dominated in every aspect of the game." Um, didn't NU do that the last time they went there? Improvement over last year does nothing for me, I'm looking for improvement over 2 years ago. This team is still not back to that level.

Can anyone tell me with a straight face Kansas has more talent than Nebraska? If we can all agree that is not the case, I think we can all agree NU is getting outcoached. Atleast we are not settling for mediocrity. The problem is we are on the wrong side of that line.

Blame the refs or blame the bad coaches for teaching kids poorly, you choose. It is the biggest coincidence in the history of the world that the stupid mistakes and penalties followed BC from Oakland.

This is absolutely pathetic. Sorry Bill Callahan, I think you are a nice guy but you need to go. .500 might be alright where you are from but we won't stand for it here. Losing to Kansas is completely unacceptable. Welcome to Nebraska's version of the Gibbs era at OU. I have to go puke now.

If Matt Herian ever plays football again he will consider himself fortunate. The type of break he had was basically an amputation below the knee. At the very least we should not expect him to play at the level he once did. Hard and cruel but the truth.

Now that all of Blake's kids are gone are we seeing just how good Stoops is?

Yeah, a start like NU had against TT would have caused former Husker teams to go into the fetal position due to the lack of a passing game threat. This is simply a false statement. It sounds great in support of BC and the current team and I can appreciate that but to even come close to insinuating that past Husker teams couldn't come back or the option couldn't recover a deficit is completely ludicrous. Hell, even the 7-7 team from 2002 came from 10 points down at Texas A&M in the 4th quarter. With the athletes NU had on "former husker teams" you could have run a Pop Warner offensive scheme and won. Its all about the athletes and that is where this staff needs to be commended and praised, not by saying this offense is superior to the previous one. This outdated argument for the option has been going around since the wishbone left Oklahoma, pretty sure NU won some NC after that with the option. Its all about the athletes.

I never said I expect the defense to get a 3 and out every time, I was referring specifically to the gameplanning. Tech is obvious - corners off on a team that throws 3 yard passes, a soft zone when all Pitt needed was 30 yards was pathetic. I will take my chances that a QB can't hit a 30 yard pass over the top vs. 3-10 yarders any day. Baylor's first drive should have ended in an INT, yes, but let's not forget they were ALREADY deep in NU territory by the time that happened. I can understand giving a cushion (reluctantly) but giving 7 yards on 3rd and 5 makes absolutely no sense. Overall I'm satisfied and again I think they are making adjustments better this year, but I still see alot of poor gameplanning and in my opinion getting outcoached. ISU's adjustments at halftime were very simple and resulted in nearly 350 yards in the second half and Coz is still trying to figure out how to adjust to it.

Visions of John Reece (Mr. Pass Interference) are racing through my mind........

I'm not going to give Cosgrove any credit for last year and I'm still not sold on him. Last year was a disaster in terms of dealing with players and gameplanning. And we still have some problems in gameplanning (i.e. first quarter against Tech, first drive against Baylor, last drive against Pitt). These were errors in judgement by Coz. We have to remember there were significant changes on who does what on this side of the ball from last year (Elmo and Busch) and the "Base End" set is new this year as well. Were these changes Cosgrove's ideas or did Callahan say shape this up or you are gone? I don't know. I like what I see now and I like that he we are showing more of an ability to adjust to what other teams are doing, but there are still some obvious tactical errors being made under the head sets.

Huskers 55, Baylor 14 Passing - 420 Rushing - 130 We're gonna see Joe Ganz for the first time Saturday.

I say you move McKeon outside and let Dillard play MLB. Its his natural position and I don't think he quite has the speed of McKeon. Still have McKeon running things and calling plays but let Dillard play his comfortable spot and the spot he should be playing in the future.

My point if you are going to blitz as much as we are and giving the type of cushion we are giving you are just giving away the "hot" route read for the QB. In the 90's, blitzed alot and played bump and run. Or zone blitzed and made the QB find that "hot" route before the blitz got to him. I like our chances alot better on a QB trying to make the deep throw under pressure than making an obvious hot route read on a corner whose is 12 yards off the ball.

I have so many questions after Saturday. I have to start by saying I haven't been much of a supporter of Callahan/Norvell's offense thusfar, so here goes: Do you believe in this system now? Almost 500 yards of offense, appeared to really take advantage of the opponents weakness, consistency, were all there Saturday. I still don't know if this staff has the ability to adjust in game but I no longer have any doubt in this system's ability. Any negatives about the offense are nitpicking at this point. The red zone play was disturbing and then I listened to Peyton Manning talk about Indy's struggles to score TD's in the RZ. I beleive the WCO will always struggle in the red zone because it loves to work in space and their just isn't much there. I am a firm believer that Lucky and Glenn are going to make a big difference next year in the red zone because there are guys that can move the pile. Much the way the Raiders used Tyrone Weatley in their Super Bowl year, when you get in the RZ, you need a guy that can push the pile. I love Cory, one of my favorite Husker backs of all time and a great fit for the WCO, but he's not going to move the pile. Playing Possum? I couldn't get over the playcalling on Saturday. Was the coaching staff holding back in the OOC schedule? Did we see 1 crossing route in 3 games? I can't believe you would jeopardize a loss OOC to save your best for the B12, but I also can't believe you learn execute this many new plays in 2 weeks. Congdon needs gonged? Kid looks scared out there and frankly so am I. I think you need to play this by the seat of your pants the rest of the year. If the Skers stay in the B12 north hunt you have to have the big kicks by Dyches, atleast 35 yards in. Never should have gone to OT with ISU if we hit a chip shot. I realize you don't want to kill the kid's confidence, but this is a huge transition year for the program. 8-3 and a B12 north title vs. 6-5 and a bowl WILL make a difference in recruiting this year. We can't afford to lose a game or two on FG's. Is Coz the man? I still really despise his soft coverages on the corners. Particularly when you are going to bring the house 2 out of every 3 plays. But Coz has alot of McBride in him in that he refuses to let the running game beat him. I love the prospects of Bowman as a senior next year and Green and Leon at safety, but we need another lock down guy. I have to believe this is still a priority with the incoming class. As bad as Green looked yesterday I still believe Grixby is the guy who needs to be off the field. He's not just lacking experience, I'm not sure he's going to ever be a good corner at that size. Receivers? Just how good would this offense have been Saturday if your go to guys were Spain, Brooks, Nunn and Hardy instead of Swift, Nunn and Mulkey? That being said, I think Swift can be that real possession receiver in this offense and a tough guy over the middle. Where did this Taylor come from? His accuracy was insane on Saturday. I can only remember one throw that wasn't on the money (3rd down he had Fluellen open at the marker). Kid was amazingly accurate and showed awesome pocket presence. His scrambles were well timed and devastating. What I want to know is if coach Anderson is available to stop by this week and teach Zach how to slide.....ouch, a couple of those hits were jarring. Call me crazy but I loved the attempted black out. Call me even crazier but I'll take NU and the points big this week. NU 27, TT 17.

You can't be serious. NU lost to Michigan in the 1985 Fiesta Bowl and then PSU in 2002, in between, the Huskers went 17 years without losing to a B10 team (6-0). The B10 is consistently overrated year after year and Texas proved it again this year by beating the B10's best at home.

I still love Berringer taking a knee on the 2 to end the game. That was classic. It would have been less of a dagger in Spurrier if we had just run it in. It was like, we can't garauntee our 4th stringers won't score on you, so we'll just kneel on it to save you the embarassment of a 45 point loss.......as opposed to the 38 point drubbing.

Who is talking about compensation? I really don't follow you logic at all. So NFL players are getting bigger signing bonuses? Great, good for them. "I almost forgot to mention, there were some players and some fans who weren't even convinced Frazier was the best QB on the 95 Husker team." This borders on ridiculous and is obviously argumentative. Furthermore, if Frazier was the second best QB on his team and finished 2nd in the Heisman, wouldn't that punch a huge hole in your talent argument? "With the way USC handled OU last year, I would think the 2004 USC team could be labeled as dominant as the 95 Huskers." And you would think wrong. Sagarin rates the 04 USC team at 103.37. This year's team he rates at 104.63. Elo-chess, the new BCS computer poll, (98.98) feels even less strong about this group of Trjoans and actually thinks LSU and FSU are better teams. Billingsley says 2004 USC is 10th best all time with NU 71, 94, 95 and 97 1, 3, 4 and 9 respectively. Frankly, I don't even think this group of Trojans is better than the '72 group. This group's defense is beatable. You can weight the pros and cons of each of these sources, but the fact is they get paid for their opinion....obviously, if we are indeed talking about money. Incidentally, I found this a bit interesting, NU has been voted National Champions 12 times, by one poll or another. 1997, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1971, 1970, 1915

I just read on <edit> Huskers.com <edit> that Dr. Jerry Punch is doing the play by play and Terry Bowden is doing the color. Did I read this wrong? I've never seen either of these guys in this capacity.

Again, I say its tough to remember just how good a team was. "As far as players are concerned, they win hands down. They potentially have the number 1 and number 2 players when the Heisman is handed out. We had one contender, and he didn't win." This is a joke, or you are really young or you just don't remember. Saying USC's players are better than that group of 95 Huskers is blasphemy and grounds for a lynch mob where I'm from. Tommie Frazier finished #2 in the Heisman voting, a little more than just "he didn't win". His 200 yards rushing in the Fiesta put a stamp on his "robbed" status. Lawrence Phillips would have easily won the Heisman had he played the entire season. We easily forget Phillips rushed for 1800 yards as a SOPHOMORE. He rushed for 160 yards in the Fiesta Bowl playing about half the time. Ahman Green was a BACKUP, Jay Foreman was a BACKUP....two NFL pro bowlers. Brendan Stai, Zach Weigert, Aaron Graham, Rob Z all started in the NFL within 2 years of graduation. Peter Brothers, Wistrom, Tomich................. This is a really really bad argument to make in the case of USC being the greatest ever. NU wins hands down the way its stands today.

If any of you went to the Penn State game a few years back you'd know why I vote for them. Worst fans BY FAR I have ever met.

I've been hearing this banter for weeks now and I simply don't agree. I think it is too easy to label a team the "Best Ever" and too easy to forget just how good a past team was. USC is now doubt prolific, but against who? ASU is extremely overrated and my guess is they will end up a 3 loss team. UCLA beats OU, who by the way lost to TCU, and suddenly is this powerhouse? This is still UCLA we are talking about. If they don't loss 3 games I will eat my hat. Seriously, they may not face a top 10 ranked team until their bowl game. NU put up 40+ points on all 4 top 10 teams they played in '95 (CU, KSU, UF, KU). NU played on the road at two Pac Ten teams that year and scored 77 on ASU and 35 on Wash St. They went at Mich St. and hung a half dollar on them. the toughest game USC will play in '05 might be at ND, and I wouldn't take this year's ND team over any of those 4 opponents NU played in '05. USC might be the best ever, but against the level of competition they are going to face this year, they better not just break '05 NU's records but completely demolish them before I put any "Greatest Ever" label on them.

Some are calling for a "Black Out" in the student section for the ISU game in support of the Blackshirts. I think that's awesome. If we can make any connection to this year's team its with this group of blackshirts. Our yelling and screaming won't help the WCO but we can absolutely be the 12th defender at home. We are going to go as far as they take us.

What the hell happened to the swing pass to the backs? Does NU even play TE's? How about a jail break screen? I am seeing very few ATTEMPTS at running the WCO from this team. I thought the whole scheme was creating mismatches and getting players in space 1 on 1. For having an offensive genius at the helm, it looked pretty basic on Saturday. And I will say I sat in the student section for the first time in 9 years and I cannot believe the difference. It is sad how things are falling off.

NU 37, Wake 17 NU 218 yards rushing NU 313 yards passing