np_husker

That's exactly how he sounds.

I'm not sure if I have the spelling correct or not, but what does everyone think of Gary Java on Big Red Reaction on the radio? I can't stand him. He doesn't sound professional and I think he's rude to callers who don't tow the party line.

The members of Husker Nation have every right to criticize this program if we aren't happy with how things are going. We fill the stadium year after year, we buy the merchandise, and we donate to the athletic program. Being critical of the coach, A.D., etc., does not make us bad people or bad fans. It's no different than criticizing the President if you don’t agree with what he's doing. This program is being pulled into the mud and for no reason. Did you listen to any of the national media after the game today? I heard two different announcers on two different networks say that change has to be made because this isn't working. One announcer on the ESPN Radio national show said Nebraska is now less than average. But… lets not be critical, right? Our only streak left is the sell-outs. How much longer will that last if we continue down this road?

The sell out streak is pretty much the only streak we have remaining (hopefully we don't start a new streak of years without a bowl game). Because of this, the seats being added to Memorial Stadium concern me. If we continue to play at this less than average level, how long will it be before the fans stop spending money to get to Lincoln for games? Nebraska is a small state and I would rather the stadium remain "small" as compared to Michigan Stadium, etc., but continue to sell out year after year.

I pretty much agree with BigRedSmitty. Little if any progress has been made this season and it's very upsetting. We fool ourselves during spring ball. The spring game rolls around and we're excited and want something positive, so we fool ourselves into thinking we'll play like that in the fall. It's not happening.

Assuming Taylor finishes this season as the #1 QB, who starts next year, Taylor or Beck? My guess is it will be Beck. What do you think?

Anyone know when we might hear whether or not the KU game will be televised?

I missed a tiny bit of the 4th quarter. Did Taylor get hurt and miss a series and if so, what QB went in? I was talking to a friend who thought Taylor was taken out, but I hadn't heard anything about it. Please let me know what happened? Thanks

I thought the time had been set for the Oklahoma game, but I guess not. Does anyone know when the time and network (hopefully), will be announced?

I followed Danny Woodhead when he was in high school and I continue to follow him at Chadron State, although I have not seen him play since he enrolled at Chadron. Woodhead continues to amaze, running for over 300 yards recently. Just wondering if any of you think Woodhead could have made it at Nebraska. To my knowledge he never got a look from Solich, which is a shame. He's similar in size to Cory Ross and I can't help but think he could have made it at NU.

In his column on usatoday.com, Erick Smith made a comment about Texas Tech being untested. Excuse, but the Red Raiders didn't exactly walk over Nebraska. Obviously Nebraska is down, but I'm amazed at the total lack of respect by the media. Other programs have been down over the past several years, but it seems to me that few have lost all respect like Nebraska.

It stinks that the Baylor game isn't being televised. I wish they would offer it on PPV at least.

One more thing... it stinks that this game isn't being televised.

Even though I was impressed with what I saw yesterday with the Huskers, I'm still worried about next week. You know Baylor has to be waiting for us and will be up for this game, especially with it being at Baylor.

Gary Java was doing the post game radio stuff last night, so apparently he's John Bishop's replacement. I can't stand listening to Java. You're right in that he can't get a sentence out and he never seems to have any insight. A caller can ask a good question and Java has no clue.

Does anyone know what ever happened with Spain? I'm not sure of his first name, Terrell, maybe?

I heard today that John Bishop is no longer the host of Sports Nightly. According to what I heard on 1620 in Omaha, it was not Bishop's decision to leave. I'm just wondering if anyone in Husker land knows what happened. I really liked Gary Sharpe as host of Sports Nightly and didn't like it when he got the boot. I'm wondering if somewhere Bishop failed to follow the partly line of Pinnacle Sports and was booted in the same manner as Sharpe.

I was encouraged by what happened last Saturday. Finally some offense! Having said that... I can see us winning the rest of our games, but I can also see us losing some of those games. We still have a ways to go.

I agree with what you say about SI, but I have to admit that I'm frustrated with the fact that we are seeing pretty much zero improvement from week to week. In fact, we might be taking a few steps backwards.

From www.si.com written by Mark Beech The 'system' isn't the problem Ex-NFLers Wannstedt, Callahan are failing in college Posted: Wednesday September 21, 2005 11:26AM; Updated: Wednesday September 21, 2005 11:26AM A few weeks ago, my colleague Austin Murphywrote in SI that the Sept. 5 tilt between Miami and Florida State (won by the Seminoles in a 10-7 barnburner) was a game that set offensive football back several decades. If that's true, then the boundaries of time travel were severely tested Saturday by Nebraska's shockingly awful 7-6 victory over Pitt. It was a game of startling ineptitude, featuring more penalties (15) than points scored (13), as well as a bizarre game-winning field goal attempt in which the Panthers' kicker caught an errant snap off of his holder's helmet and threw an incomplete pass. How to explain such shenanigans? There's always plenty of blame to go around, but there's no way to avoid laying most of it at the feet of the respective coaches, Pitt's Dave Wannstedt and Nebraska's Bill Callahan. Both have extensive NFL head-coaching pedigrees. Both were expected to do great things in their current jobs. And now it's clear that both are failing. We keep hearing that the problem is the kids aren't getting the system. Pitt, which scrapped the wide-open attack of former coach Walt Harris, is 0-3 after starting the year ranked in the top 25. Panthers quarterback Tyler Palko, a star last fall, is currently the 95th-rated passer in the country and has thrown one touchdown against four interceptions. Nebraska is in its second year of learning the West Coast offense, with no visible progress. Callahan's team was 5-6 in 2004, and though the Huskers are 3-0 at the moment, folks in Lincoln can't be happy with a passing offense ranked 108th. Tell me, why haven't I heard the "not getting the system" excuse at Notre Dame? New coach Charlie Weis made a name for himself in the NFL as an offensive genius, after all. Why haven't I heard it from Florida, where coach Urban Meyer has taught his complex spread option offense to a bunch of kids who weren't even recruited to play it? If you believe Meyer, he isn't even all that happy with the way his team is running the thing -- yet the Gators still beat an excellent Tennessee team Saturday night. We haven't heard "not getting the system" from either of those schools, for the simple reason that Weis and Meyer haven't just installed a system. They have taught it. The trouble I see for Pitt and Nebraska is I don't think either program is in the hands of men capable of much more than stewardship. There's little in the head-coaching pedigrees of Wannstedt and Callahan, who both have won championships at the collegiate and professional levels as assistants, to suggest they are the kind of head coaches who make teams better. Let's start with Wannstedt. In six seasons with the Chicago Bears, who, to be fair, weren't that good before he showed up, Wannstedt went 41-57. During that time, he participated in some truly awful draft-day decisions (anyone remember Curtis Enis?) and presided over some truly awful teams. He did better in Miami a few years later, going 43-33, but most of those wins came with Jimmy Johnson's players. By the time Wannstedt left, nine games into the 2004 season, things were falling apart. Wannstedt made his name as a defensive coordinator. His offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh is Matt Cavanaugh, who served in a similar capacity last year for the Baltimore Ravens -- the same Ravens whose passing offense ranked 29th in the NFL in 2004. Gone are the four-receiver packages and pro-style pass patterns that Harris had the Panthers running in 2004 -- when Palko threw 24 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Pitt fans aren't quite sure what has taken their place, except that nothing seems to be working right now. Like Wannstedt, Callahan established himself as an assistant. A student of the West Coast offense, he took over the Raiders after Jon Gruden left for Tampa Bay in 2002. With a team of established veterans -- including Tim Brown, Rich Gannon and Jerry Rice -- Callahan led Oakland to the Super Bowl XXXVII, which it lost 48-21 to the Buccaneers. The next season, after a few injuries and a little adversity hit, the team collapsed like a wet taco. Callahan was fired less than a year after reaching the pinnacle of his profession. Undaunted, the powers-that-be in Lincoln brought him in to replace Frank Solich, who had had the temerity to go 9-3 in 2003. Solich lost his job because the school didn't think his option game -- the same one he had been coaching under Tom Osborne for decades -- was capable of winning national championships. Callahan promised to start winning, and soon, with a West Coast attack. After the Huskers finished 5-6 and ranked 81st in the country in passing offense last fall, fans were told that it was exceedingly hard to turn a running team into a passing team. Things were supposed to be different this fall, with strong-armed quarterback Zac Taylor. Things are different, all right, but not in the way fans in the Corn Belt were hoping. Nebraska ranks 106th in total offense, 104th in passing. And that 3-0 record has come at the expense of Maine, Wake Forest and pitiful Pitt. Of the two men, I suppose Wannstedt has a better chance of turning things around this year. He has great talent at quarterback and receiver, whether he's comfortable with it or not. I'll be curious to see how things go in a few years, when he plugs his own recruits into his own system. I could always be wrong, but I expect that Pitt will muddle through those seasons, like Wannstedt's teams always do. As for Callahan, I don't know if he has much more time. Against Pitt, the Cornhuskers were called for six procedure penalties, two for setting up with only six men on the line of scrimmage. Nebraska looks lost out there, which is not a vibe I get when I watch Notre Dame or Florida. I know these Huskers were recruited to run the ball, and Callahan might have more success if he tried to do more of that, but something tells me his problems go deeper.

Here's a portion of Barfknecht's article in the World-Herald today. I agree with what he says. A person can be a fan, love the Huskers and root for their success, but should be allowed to be critical of the team when they (coaches & players) aren't playing "Nebraska football". From omaha.com: Stop! Hush! How dare you, we're told. It's un-Nebraskan to challenge this coaching staff, which is only in its second year of major change. Actually, folks, it's your duty to ask questions. Blind loyalty is dangerous. You are Nebraska football stockholders, whether you donate $1 million a year or simply own a beat-up red hat you wear while listening to games on the radio. You have invested financial and emotional capital in this program for a long time. Like any good investors, you need to periodically review your stash and assess your rate of return.

I like the "black out" idea, but I can see people getting their undies in a bunch over it. People will think of it as being anti-Husker or something. I think it's a cool way to support the Blackshirts and might be a great way to motivate them.

I don't have a problem with playing Beck this season, as long as he plays soon, like against Iowa State. Assuming Josh Freeman follows through and comes to NU, I think Beck should be playing this year and next, and then he and Freeman can battle it out.

The spring game is a great recruiting tool and it gives Husker Nation a chance to enjoy a game day setting during the off season, but I don't believe it gives us any real insight into how the team will do when falls rolls around.