tmfr15

The fans are tremendously loyal. Here's hoping that the product on the field gets better. Fans are told to stick with a team through thick and thin. We've had a long run of thin. Now is the time for some thick.

Good points. I know that it's hard to find a JUCO guy who is good enough to start and willing to compete, but we have to look. And to the point of an open competition, I believe that it is open. Adrian beat out Tristan. But Tristan left. Getting another competitor in could help keep up the competition as hot as possible. Luke is likely not ready to do that. I am hopeful that Noah is ready to go and that his understanding of the offense is a good thing. But I am not sure. Maybe finding out how much the separation was between Noah and McKenzie Milton might shed light on this QB race. Could someone speak to that?

No one is saying Martinez should be benched for the next two years. What I am saying is that a JUCO should be brought in to compete with Adrian because 1) Luke is developmental and should red shirt. 2) Bunch probably isn't going to push Adrian and there's no guarantee he comes back next year. 3) Noah is an unknown factor. And, finally, 5) If we don't have a JUCO and Adrian gets hurt again next year, we might end up repeating the trouble of 2018 in 2019. Adrian is a competitor. That's great. He should compete for the job. If a JUCO comes in and beats him out, then the JUCO should play. If a JUCO comes in and competes with Adrian and Noah but Noah ends up winning the job, then Noah should play. This idea that we finally recruited a good QB, and that, because he won a legit battle with Gebbia, he's automatically our four-year solution at QB is a head scratching moment for me. I thought Bobby Newcombe was going to be our solution at QB. Crouch ended up winning the job and winning the Heisman. I was wrong about a super talented Bobby Newcombe. We could be wrong about a super talented Adrian Martinez. The bottom line is that you have to continue to recruit, continue to develop and continue to keep the competition live all the time. If Martinez ends up being the man, that's fine with me. Four years with a super star QB, or at least three, because a guy like that might go to the league, would be awesome.

I don't understand this talk about the Huskers being Martinez's team. We are in transition at every position and there is a group of guys who are not buying in. If the team belongs to this freshman, it means that his exit from the game demoralizes at least the offensive side. That's simply not true. We struggle with or without him in the game. And the idea that, two games into a career, with neither being a full game, indicates we have found a four year guy, that's just silly. We certainly will have Luke coming in next year but it would be nice to red shirt him (Callahan called Luke a developmental QB on Big Red Wrap Up). Noah will be eligible but we don't know what he brings. That leaves Martinez and Bunch, if he doesn't quit or transfer. If we can get a juco guy in here, we should. The idea that Martinez sitting for a year or two makes him want to transfer so we shouldn't bring anyone in, is rediculus. He could use a red shirt next year and end up with a year or two of development that would make him ready to take us to a champ game and win it and set his future up in the league. If he's willing to quit like Gebbia, then he's not the competitor we thought he was.

Nebraska fans aren't perfect. And I cringe when I hear the words, "Best fans in College Football!" We are fans, cut us a break already. This is what I know though,. This fan base has been extremely loyal. I hope it continues and think that our sell out streak is awesome. It's the kind of investment that deserves a return and Frost is working hard to deliver that, but, in the meantime, what's a fan to do? If we're honest with ourselves, we probably figured that season one would be a 'burn it' kind of year. I mean, I felt all the excitement when Frost was hired, but there was a sinking feeling too. I didn't want to make a change because change means reset and reset means more time. Now, don't get me wrong, Riley HAD TO GO. But it was that feeling of.... Here we go, this is going to take a while. And we've been saying that since the early 2000s. To the fans that go to the games, thanks so much for supporting the team. I think fans appreciate the effort and the monetary loyalty of other Nebraska fans. When you go to Lincoln for the game, you burn a day. You're not going to do much else but go to the game, especially if you are traveling from a border state, from western Nebraska, or beyond. Every year there has been a time when I have gone to the stadium and wondered if that was going to be the day that Memorial would be half full. It never has been. There have been small pockets of no fans, but the stadium always felt, for the most part, full. Considering what we got in front of us, if fans don't want to go to games for awhile, I understand. It's not fun right now. Of course, if you bought tickets, you are forfeiting money and it's anything but certain that you'll get your funds back by selling them from home or at the stadium. You might lose money, but that's up to you. At the end of the day, I get it. To the fans at home. I know there's quite a few people who think true fans go to the games and that watching or listening at home takes something away from fan credibility. That's just wrong. Fans devote time, maybe not the whole day, but a significant portion of it going to watch parties or hosting them or just sitting at home watching. And we are all, or a great deal of us, are emotionally invested and spend money on Husker gear. I am wearing some now. It's hard to watch these games and I totally understand if someone doesn't really want to watch for awhile. That's OK. You are not any less of a fan if you decide to skip a few games and just watch highlights. The bottom line is that Scott and the coaches are just going to work right now. Hammer, nail. Hammer, nail. Not a lot to see here and it can kind of look messy. It's kind of like building a new house or a bridge. The workers are working hard but the site is less than attractive. And days and days go by, it doesn't seem like much changes. And then you get to see that building or that bridge in its final state and you're glad. It was worth the wait. For those of us who really don't want to come stare at the mound of dirt and the heavy machinery that are at the site of Husker football now, feel free to distract yourself doing other things, watch other games, go fishing, play video games. Do whatever. When the Huskers come back, you can read all about how the process played out. And you'll do it with a smile on your face and without critical comments from the likes of me. Husker fans have paid the price and can make the decision that makes sense for them. If you're OK watching the current product with the feeling that someday it won't be this way anymore, then by all means, enjoy. But if it's making you miserable to watch and you tend to start thinking negative and start feeling that it will never get better, save yourself the misery. There's no trophy given to fans who endured every bad moment in Husker history. Ok, there should be one, but there isn't. GBR!

Isn't the award related visit going to be in December or January. I was just hoping he would be able to come out sooner.

It was November, 2003, and a certain coach had just returned home from Colorado after leading the Huskers to win No. 9. He was unceremoniously fired by an out of control AD. This week Colorado visits Lincoln and Coach Frank Solich's team, the Ohio Bobcats, have a bye week. We need to call Frank and bring him back to Lincoln. I know that Frank meant a lot to Tom and Scott. Let's recreate the Akron energy by welcoming home a man who gave so much of his time and energy to the Nebraska program. Come home Frank and receive appreciation you richly deserve!

It's going to be fun to see where this team can go in 12 games. I think we'll be a lot better in November. But, at times, this is going to be U-G-L-Y. Guys are going to be good at times and lost at others. They're going to compete well at times and then get distracted and regress. We have to learn to compete. We have to develop comfortable confidence with the play calls. We have to find out what guys are the answers and where we need young guys and more recruits. People are saying that nine wins is perfectly reasonable. Listen to the interview again. Frost is speaking the truth and he is saying that there's a lot to do before we get to where all of us want the program to be.

I read about expectations. I hear talk about how many wins we will have. And I shake my head. What? How do we know ANYTHING about this team? All I know is that, because of Frost, I have hope for the program for the future. This year? All new coaches come in to correct a failed culture and a system of losing established over not just three years, but all the way back into the Pelini administration where guys were flat giving up, see Wisky Big title game 2012, and Wisky in 2014 at their place. We are not sure about the players we have. And we added a bunch of new guys. Where do they fit in? And what about all the bad habits we have to break? We are not sure that all the players we have will demonstrate full commitment. Oh, yea, and then there is the new schemes and we don't have a returning quarterback and of the QBs we do have none have taken a meaningful snap. People say we have six games where we are going to be way better than the foe. Colorado missed a bowl game last year by one win. Troy beat LSU. Minnesota handed us our lunch. Then there is the other six, all on the road save for Michigan State. Those look VERY imposing to me. But then again, I just don't know ANYTHING about this team. We will know as it unfolds. I can't have expectations because I have nothing to base them off of at this point. I am just trusting Frost. What comes this season, whatever that is IMHO, will be the record that I am satisfied with.

By the strict letter of the law of sports broadcasting, Kent isn't the greatest. But he sure was entertaining to listen to. Touchdown, Touchdown, Touchdown Nebraska!

Name drop doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Callahan and Riley could name drop, and did, with the best of them. They tried to say, "Look, I know what I am doing because I coached under (FILL IN THE BLANK). That said, I would definitely like to see FROST. Give him a contract that would be impossible for Nebraska to buy their way out of four five years. That way, we have to stick with Frost and give him a chance. I am ready for a big time commitment and FROST is going to be the guy I want.

We really need to find out what's going wrong and why. Hard to see it at this point, but maybe Moos and Riley come to some agreements on a direction for the program and then tell us in such a way that we have confidence things are going to change. Even if we have to change the coach, we need to know why Coach Riley didn't work out so that we don't repeat the same mistake. Maybe the information we gather will lead us to hire Frost or lead us to hiring someone else other than Frost. It's a process and that's the hard part about all of this. The process doesn't involve fans directly and can be extremely frustrating. We all want to see results. Truth is that the product we see on the field is the result of strategy and decisions made well before any season starts and deep within the football offices where none of us fans have access.

Sometimes when things are bleak, it's hard to see any daylight. I am thinking that Notre Dame fans must have been pretty much on the fire Brian Kelly train as they skidded to a 4-8 record. That's just awful. There is part of me that fears losing Riley because I fear losing Gebbia. As a true freshman QB, he just looked freaking amazing and I was thinking that he could be that difference making signal caller we have been looking for .... well, since Crouch left us.

This season is horrid and the Huskers seem destined for an 5-7 season. So fire the coach. There are certainly plenty of good reasons. But maybe, we should think about this angle. Brian Kelly took over for Charlie Weis in 2010 and recorded back-to-back 8-5 seasons before going on a somewhat magical ride to a 12-0 season. During that year, ND beat quite a few so-so teams just barely, but ended up in the title game, only to get run out of the building by Alabama. Kelly followed that with a 9-4 season and then went back to 8-5. He did get to 10 wins in 2015 but then went 4-8 last year. Notre Dame chose to keep him and the Irish are in the midst of a one-loss season that could land them in the national title game. We have a quarterback who seems to be getting better and better. We have a couple of quarterbacks that seem to be really good. Tristian seems to be more than good. The 3-4 defense is struggling, but Coach Diaco and the squad have been working through growing pains. Maybe this unit could be pretty salty by next year. I know I am probably crazy for saying this, and I have a hard time thinking that Riley will be there next year, but, what if we keep him and things work out? Don't know myself. I am just throwing it out there.

It’s like a hangover without the party

As Nebraska navigates through another tough season and probably a transition, there seems to be those fans and talking heads who want to put the focus on the fan and to somehow make the case that its our fault, the fault of the fan, that the program is in the shape it's in now. Enough of that. Damon Benning's talk on NET's Big Red Wrap got my blood boiling. He was talking about how we all need to just come together and tell everyone that the University of Nebraska comes first. We are not supposed to advocate for OUR guy in terms of favorite coach. If you like Scott Frost for HC, you aren't supposed to talk. Talk positively on any other coach but Mike Riley and prepare to get shamed. Also, don't leave the stadium early while we are getting blown out. Don't boo if you don't like what's happening on the field. And don't be critical of anything. Stop complaining and fall into line behind the program. News Flash! It doesn't matter how many fans fall behind the program in robotic fashion, it will still come down to whether or not the University of Nebraska wants to hire a new coach or not. It comes down to whether or not the University of Nebraska hires a good coach or retains a good coach. It comes down to recruiting. It comes down to players doing their jobs. It comes down to the difficulty of opponents. It comes down to luck at times. It comes down to a 1,000 other things. The fan is about 999th on the list. As Ohio State beat Nebraska, there were fans around me who got up and headed for the gates. I didn't. I stayed the whole game. There were some fans who booed. I didn't. I tried to stay positive. There were some pretty upset people. I wasn't. I internalize that stuff. And so Damon Benning thinks if everyone will just act like me, then our problems will be solved. He's wrong. I get why people want to go home. Maybe they had work on Sunday. Maybe they just were not having a good time. And I am OK with that. I sure hope that we get this thing rolling in the right direction and those fans come back. I am sure that they will. Nebraska fans have stuck behind this team. In the many times since, oh, about 2002, when we get drilled, I go to the stadium the next week and think that will be the week that the stadium is half empty at kick. Husker fans just keep showing up and keep cheering. Kudos to you guys. And even if, at some point in the future, the fans stop coming.... it won't be because they don't want the team to be successful. It will be because the games are simply too costly and not enough fun to make sense as an investment of significant dollars. Ohio State is in the books. And we march on to Purdue hoping for the best. In the meantime, if Nebraska struggles, I am hoping that people will keep it down with the "Fan is to blame!" nonsense. It's hard on this fan's ears.

We've reached halftime of the 2017 football season and, if you take a straw poll, most believe this team is headed for 5-7 and a coaching change. Games against Purdue and Minnesota look to be our only wins left on the slate with Ohio State,, Northwestern, Penn State and Iowa all figuring to be losses. If a new coach takes over, the question becomes.... How long does he need to take a 5-7 level team and make it into one that we can be proud of and one that can compete for a conference championship? ANSWER: Shorter than you might think. Steve Taylor was on the radio in post game last night and told callers into the reaction show that Nebraska would have to make an excellent hire or that Riley would have to get his ducks in order and then fans would need to be patient for as many as SEVEN seasons. That's just crazy. We don't need that much time. Bill Callahan coached the Huskers to 5-7 years in two of four seasons, which looks to be a better effort that Riley since he's going to do the same thing in three seasons. Still, Bo took over, made the team accountable, and then we had a very solid opening season in 2008 that was capped by a great bowl win and nine overall victories. A season later, that's right, IN YEAR TWO..... the Huskers went to and almost won the conference championship game. They went back in YEAR THREE and almost won the darn thing again. After a quiet 2011, Pelini's coaching staff put together a year in which we made it to the BIG 10 Championship game. I know, we got smoked, but we were in position to win titles and we did that all within four years. Pelini didn't leave Nebraska because he was a bad coach. Pelini left Nebraska because of two things. NO. 1—He couldn't close on recruits. And No. 2—He was a MASSIVE DICtator who became easily fire able by an AD who simply didn't like him. Bottom line, we can get a good coach in here and, with the right recruiting, we could be hoisting championships in as little as three years. The question, IMO, that should be asked before we make a move to fire MR should be this...... Do you have any confidence that, in the next four years, this coach will have us in position to the win the Big 10 Conference? If the powers that be feel that the answer is NO, we need to make a move.

Every year, Husker fans find reasons to be excited about the football season. And, without a doubt, at least in my mind, the Tanner Lee story is the reason for hope. This quarterback looks like a can't miss. He looked great in the spring game, but that performance has more anecdotal evidence than any other spring game performance. A great many football minds have said this kid is going to be good. And Lee came out of the Manning Passing Academy with the Mannings, Archie if I am not mistaken, saying that Lee was a better passer than Jared Goff. At the same time, I have feelings of trepidation. Remember all that was said when Mike Riley got here in the first place. A lot of Husker fans were thinking negatively. But the university supported talk soothed those nerves. Riley was a guy who had been around the world in about every kind of football. He would manage the roster right, manage the game right, put our guys in position to succeed and we would be successful right away. Most of that turned out to not be true as 5-7 would attest. We were also told that Riley would recruit great. Look at Penn State's current class. That's recruiting great. We have been backpedaling for sometime with this current class and we are out of the top 40. Coach Riley has yet to have that knockout class. This year, it's Lee. That's what we are hoping for. Oh sure, the defense is supposed to be improved under Bob Diaco, but there has to be a few rough patches for them, right? We don't have the ideal players to run this system and we couldn't line up in the base defense for the spring. That's a concern. But if Lee can manage the team, be accurate with the football and chase defenders away from the LOS with a good quick game and with savvy pocket awareness that leads to bigger throws and bigger plays ... well then we are going to be awesome. OR.... Lee could come out, be very average and throw the ball into trouble areas on the field where defenders can intercept. We know that Lee has thrown about as many picks as he has touchdowns... granted that was at Tulane. Do I want to believe in Lee? Yes. But I am also wondering if this is all a set up for a bad outcome. Anyone else feeling like this? Because, quite frankly, I hope no one, or at least very few. GBR!

Nebraska should be fine in the opener. If we struggle against the Red Wolves then it's going to be a very long and distressing season.

As you look down the names of the WRs, is there anybody that you would like to see pull the Cinderella story and have a season for the ages. Mine would be Zach Darlington. Wouldn't it be cool if that guy got into the mix in a big way after all he has been through? Likely...NO But definitely fun to think about. Other names?

If I am going to bring up any issues for the Nebraska football team, they're going to be related to depth and experience issues roster wide. Is there a place on there a place on the team where somebody won't have to step up their game in order for us to succeed? The QB is new. We are replacing Newby. We are replacing Westy. We are replacing Cethan. We are replacing Maurice. We are replacing Banderas. We are replacing Gerry. And this list could go on for a while.

We switched from the 4-3 to the 3-4 because we have talent that's supposed to be more in line with that. My hope is that Diaco will be creative up front, pressure the qb and move him off his spot and therefore cut down on the angles to open receivers. We created next to ZERO pressure last year. No defence, no matter how good the DB core is, can thrive in those circumstances. It sucks to keep saying it but the front seven dictate the success and opportunities for the defensive backfield.

I have fought this long enough. I will just start saying Iowa is our rival until eventually I believe that it's true. ETA on that occurring...............not sure if I have any idea.

Now that I posted all that, I think I missed the boat on the thread just in that I am talking fans and everyone else is talking about the way things are reported. That said, reporters, even though most claim not to be fans, are humans. And they think along the lines of what is the default mentality. Very rare that a reporter actually figures out that team "A" is about to break through and, by the same token, very rare for a reporter to see that a program is on the verge of declining significantly.

I have always said that when things are going well with a program, the idea that it could somehow being going bad is rarely accepted as fact until evidence concretely proves that. Nebraska was No. 1 and headed for a national title game appearance when Colorado beat the dog out of us. Nobody saw that coming. If someone would have told me that day that the Buffs would beat the Huskers, I would have figured it to be a three-point game with the deciding points coming on the final play of the game. A beat down? I would have never thought that possible. In our current state, the reality that most of us has been dealing with is that Nebraska struggles and that the best we can do is to win nine or 10 games. We feel that the team can't win the national title and have a less than great shot at a league crown. Is that true? It may be very true but the change of the circumstances, from being a mediocre team to a very good team that can win a conference title and contend for the playoffs, will have to be cemented before its believed. We can be headed in that direction right now. And I am starting to think we are. But to know it, we will have to see it. Positive feelings were the default state under Coach Osborne, unless we are talking bowl games, a place we struggled often before breaking through against the Canes. Negative feelings are the default state now. It doesn't make you a bad fan to have negative feelings about your team now any more than it made people good fans for believing we would have no trouble going unbeaten back in 1988. What's frustrating is that people want to jump to the conclusion that things are going to suddenly turn around because of a game or because of a recruiting class. We all want to believe that it will happen, but the satisfaction will come in seeing it take place, not imagining how good it might be when and if it does. One of my Facebook friends is on the bandwagon right now that the team is recruiting a ton better this year and that means we are going to be restored as a power program soon. In reality, the recruiting right now, five 4* players on the Rivals chart, is only one 4* ahead of where we were last year. So we hope. We have ups. We have downs. We have critical comments. And we wait, all of us, that at the end of the 2017 season we'll have game results as evidence that Nebraska is gaining ground toward where we want them to be.