Hercules

Yeah, thank God it's gone and not coming back. Now we've got all those awesome horizontal passes and a running threat that does great vs SunBelt teams. TO or Solich for 31 years never had an offense that could match last year. Notice I said at Nebraska, the option offense by itself isn't a miracle worker, but it can be effective. It just ticks me off when people think the option itself made Nebraska effective, it was TO and the coaching staff that did it! There were TONS of teams in the 70's, 80's and 90's that ran it with little success. Heck, even when TO didn't have the proper athletes it sometimes didn't work, especially in big games. And it was even worse when Solich took over, our 2003 offense was arguably worse than our 09 offense, and our 2002 offense was pretty bad also. The problem we had in big games (bowl games) in the 80s were generally a result of our defense more than our offensive system. Everybody thought we needed to switch to an air-it-out offense like Florida State and Miami in order to beat them, and TO thought in order to beat Miami and Florida State, we needed to play defense like they did. The switch to the 4/3 and getting way more speed on the defensive side of the ball while basically keeping the offense the same = 60-3 record from 1993-1997 with 3 national championships. Similarly, it's a little tough to compare the 2002 and 2003 offenses to the 2009 offense, because both of those teams had defenses that were far inferior to the one we fielded last year. If we had either one of those offenses playing along with last year's defense, forget about it. Big 12 champs, at least. Jammal Lord nearly single-handedly beat a good Texas team without the help of Ndamukong Suh (just now thinking about him scrambling for 30 yards on nearly every pass play we called may have just made me change my mind and hope that Martinez wins the job...) What made the 2009 offense truly memorable was just how awful they were even with all of the opportunities afforded them by our fantastic defense. The opposite of this, of course, would be the 2007 team, where the defense was SO bad that they gave up touchdowns in the same amount of time it would take last year's defense to get a 3 and out. So, the offense could score 51 points and still lose by 2 touchdowns.

We had large, athletic linemen. It's a minor thing, but something I noticed. On some of those mid-90's teams, Nebraska's linemen were plenty big, but not the kind of linemen other teams recruit. If you're running a pro-style offense, you're looking for guys that were 6'6" or 6'7" and have huge wingspans. Nebraska's dominant lines in the mid-90's were more stout, and they had great feet. They generally ranked more in the 6'2" range. So it is a different type of athlete. However, I have no idea if the type of athlete we had on offensive line in the mid-90's was any more rare than your typical pro-style offense lineman. As far as the option offense goes, it's still the toughest offense to defend when it's run correctly.

Good lord, I want a true freshman running back like THAT again. Ahman Green ftw.

Cheap shot, AND I think those who placed all of the blame on O'Hanlon were wrong. The CB/LB was just as much to blame. Just because one person is close to the person who makes the catch does NOT mean that it was their sole responsibility. Quite to the contrary actually. That person might be trying to correct a coverage mistake by someone else. O'Hanlon and Asante were both VERY good. They won't be easily replaced. Edit: toned down a bit . . . I'm not trying to dump on O'Hanlon, or Asante, and I'm not trying to say that they'll be easily replaced. My point was that while they were "lights out" at the end of the year, they weren't perfect at the beginning of the year (the V-Tech debacle was just the most prominent example of a mistake being made). I also think that if you look at the past, Pelini and Sanders have been able to get a high level of play from inexperienced safeties in a short period of time. In 2003, Pelini's first year as defensive coordinator, the Bullocks brothers had a great year, with Josh Bullocks pulling down 10 or so picks. I also think that when you put O'Hanlon and Asante in perspective, they're not as tough to replace as many safeties Nebraska has had in the past. That's more what I meant when I said not to put them up on a pedestal. Asante went in the lower rounds of the draft, O'Hanlon wasn't drafted, and Nebraska is a school that has had to replace the likes of Mike Minter, Eric Warfield, Tony Veland, Mike Brown, Josh Bullocks, etc etc. Replacing O'Hanlon and Asante will be tough, but I kind of feel like fans are fretting about it just to fret about something. Given the coaching ability and the athletic ability in the defensive backfield, there's absolutely no reason to think that this year's secondary won't be just as good as last year's. It'll probably be better.

The pickle juice is supposed to help with muscle cramps.

"His nostrils are a foot and a half wide." --- Artist Say it to his face.

the press confrence "they(nebraska) made a spectacle of it" he's also including the regents meeting in that as well as "unnessary" Amusing. I imagine KU and MU would have acted in a more "professional" manner had they received the offer. Please dont group MU in with this idoit. He is a KU product. Got canned in STL not long ago and 810 wouldnt take him back (for good reason) he was nothing more than an annoying sidekick on 810 for years. I have hated him for a long time. He is a rambling idiot he's a foolish dolt he's a vociferous schnook.

I like how one of his arguments is that Nebraska should want to stay because the Big 12 North is so weak. Way to dump on all the schools you're rooting for.

Smith played some very quality time against Oklahoma when Asante went out hurt, and people should be careful not to put Asante and O'Hanlon up on a pedestal. They were lights out at the end of the year, but there were holes early on (Virginia Tech anybody?) I highly doubt that 2 days of practice have led the coaches to any decisions on who might be their top 2 safeties, and I'm guessing that regardless of who ends up starting, they'll begin the year at a higher level then O'Hanlon and Asante did last year.

I agree with this. QB/O-Line is where our biggest weaknesses are, so I would think that improving one of these positions would improve the offense the most. I am unsure of how much of an impact one lineman could make when the rest are average, so I say pick a QB. And our playbook and personnel are built perfectly for Joe Ganz. We aren't built to run triple options anymore, so I don't think a Frazier or Gill would be as effective as they were when they actually played. Defensively, biggest weakness is clearly linebacker. Demorrio Williams, Carlos Polk, Trev Alberts, etc. Either one of those would be exceptional. I'd hope Watson would be able to adjust his Offense to the players he was delt (unless Callihan's inability to adjust rubbed off too much on him)...I think he could do some damage with a Turner Gill or Tommy Frazier pulling the trigger. It's probably also unfair to compare our current Offensive line to our great ones of the past..In the past, we were blazing new trails in weight training/conditioning/creative medicine..Our Great Offensive Linemen were going against much weaKer competition relatively speaking whereas now the competition has more than caught up. But then I also fail to see what was so special about Ganz or Z.Taylor..They were more than servicable, but I doubt much better than Lee will be..But how well will he be at not getting hurt again? Few teams make it with the same guy starting through the whole year. I highly doubt this thread would even have mention of Ganz or Z.T. ten years from now. That's because we've seen them succeed in this offense before. All of the other QB's haven't played in this offense, so how do we know they will succeed or not. I know we could just go by their strengths, but that doesn't neccessarily mean that they would succeed in this offense. Would your rather have a QB that we know has been successful in this offense or one that we aren't so sure how well they would play in this system. I would take Frazier or Gill in ANY offense over Zac Taylor or Joe Ganz. And frankly, no one outside of the team/staff knows what "this offense" is going to look like. It's not going to look like it did last year, or in 2008, or in 2006. The best hint at where this offense might be going is the Holiday bowl, and recent recruiting (Brion Carnes, Jamal Turner, Bubba Starling)... Still can't believe people are arguing for Zac Taylor and Joe Ganz over Tommie Frazier, Turner Gill, Vince Ferragamo, Brook Berringer, Jerry Tagge, Dave Humm, Scott Frost, Eric Crouch, Dennis Claridge etc etc etc...

Well, according to previous posters, Mitchell and Middleton got into some trouble this summer... Kenny Bell has a hamstring injury, and Pelini said he was about 10 days away from being healthy, so they decided to give his fall camp spot to someone else that could make the most of the camp. As for the others, I haven't seen any details anywhere.

Lazari Middleton is also not on the roster.

Wrong.

Whatever the case, I hope reporters start asking about it as soon as possible. I think it's Bo's favorite question to get, and I'm sure he can't wait for the Blackshirt intrigue to start again.

Crouch cocky? Have you ever met the guy before and actually had a few conversations with him? He is not cocky. To those who picked Frazier.... I think Frazier is a horrible pick for this team. He was born and raised to run the option. Watson would not call enough option plays for him to thrive on this team. Remember how most of Frazier's passes had to be dug out of the ground? It took someone as short as Abdul Muhammad to scoop most of those shoe lace passes. Remember a team commanded by him without 8 turnovers lost to a very bad Iowa State team.... If we were an option team still, then without a doubt I would pick Frazier. On offense I pick Shields. On defense Wistrom. Compelling argument. As someone who did vote for Frazier, I guess I'll have to go to my 2nd choice... who is also Tommie Frazier. 33-3 record as a starter (even while missing most of his junior year), and 2 national championships (a shanked field goal away from 3 straight). The MVP in three consecutive national championship games. End. Of. Story. I'll also buy Turner Gill or Johnny Rodgers. But Will Shields? Or Zac Taylor to you others?! You had EVERY player from Nebraska football history to choose from, and you pick Zac Taylor????!!!! Our offensive line play was pretty horrid for most of the year. With a player like Shields, it would buy more time for Lee who I think is a far superior passer than Frazier. It all starts in the trenches. For those of you who picked Frazier, I think you are all concentrating on his last game versus Florida. You guys do that for Frazier, but some refuse to count the game Lee had versus Arizona. Now I am not anti Frazier. He just would not add much to this team with the offensive style we have. I understand picking Shields, but I don't think adding just one superb lineman makes a huge difference. If you look at our great offenses, you think of multiple great offensive lineman (83: Steinkuhler, Rimington, 94/95: Wiegert, Taylor, Zatechka, etc). And in terms of passing ability, or whatever, I just don't care. Frazier was an underrated passer his entire career (I can still hear Chris Collinsworth - "He can't throw! He can't throw! It's tied.") Bottom line is this: With the game on the line, who do you want to have the ball? Who do you want controlling the huddle? I will go with Frazier EVERY SINGLE TIME. He rallied against Florida State. He rallied against an amazing Miami defense. He completed the two point conversion in the same endzone that Gill misfired in. He dominated Florida, and every other team he faced that season. I want him in the huddle with the game on the line. Frazier was a winner, a big-game baller. Zac Taylor, great guy, couldn't move the ball an inch on Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. Joe Ganz threw away the Texas Tech game, and nearly blew the Colorado game if it hadn't been for Henery's kick. Frazier = 4 Big 8 championships, 2 national championships, 3 national championship game MVP's, Zac Taylor = 1 Big 12 North Championship Joe Ganz = 0 championships I'm sorry, they're great guys, but Taylor and Ganz are little league QB's compared to Frazier.

Crouch cocky? Have you ever met the guy before and actually had a few conversations with him? He is not cocky. To those who picked Frazier.... I think Frazier is a horrible pick for this team. He was born and raised to run the option. Watson would not call enough option plays for him to thrive on this team. Remember how most of Frazier's passes had to be dug out of the ground? It took someone as short as Abdul Muhammad to scoop most of those shoe lace passes. Remember a team commanded by him without 8 turnovers lost to a very bad Iowa State team.... If we were an option team still, then without a doubt I would pick Frazier. On offense I pick Shields. On defense Wistrom. Compelling argument. As someone who did vote for Frazier, I guess I'll have to go to my 2nd choice... who is also Tommie Frazier. 33-3 record as a starter (even while missing most of his junior year), and 2 national championships (a shanked field goal away from 3 straight). The MVP in three consecutive national championship games. End. Of. Story. I'll also buy Turner Gill or Johnny Rodgers. But Will Shields? Or Zac Taylor to you others?! You had EVERY player from Nebraska football history to choose from, and you pick Zac Taylor????!!!!

Frazier. One of the most natural leaders I've ever seen.

Yup. Raiola is going to be HURTIN after tomorrow's practice.

I don't think there is one... I think this is the ultra-competitive, stubborn, proud side of Suh. I think that he thinks (with good reason) that he was the best player in the draft, and he knows the Lions think so (because they said as much), and he wants them to show him every ounce of respect that he deserves. While people may see that side of Suh as a flaw, it's also what makes him great. Right now though, I'm with Raiola. If they're offering him 40 million or more, just sign the deal and go out and try to make your team better.

Suh's definitely losing the battle in the press. Not only has the head coach expressed impatience, but former Husker and current Lions center Dominic Raiola just called him out. "Just sign the contract already" If players, coaches and fans keep getting ticked, Suh better just sign. If he looks bad and the organization looks good, he's not going to get more money, he might actually get less.

Coming in at 36th was Florida vs. Florida State from 1994, when FSU came back from 28 points down in the 4th quarter to tie the game. The difference between Bowden and Osborne: Bowden kicks the PAT and takes the tie on their final score. Osborne goes for the win. In the deed the glory.

Nebraska's had plenty of painful losses, but the 1984 Orange Bowl loss was by far the most painful. Not even the 94 Orange Bowl loss comes close.

34...

As much as I'd like to blame the agents, Suh is the boss. If he doesn't like what the agent is doing, he can fire him.