Nebula

Exactly! +1 good sir. Also....stay mean. We've had an edge to us since the OSU debacle...this team has kind of had a pissed-off vibe ever since. Bring that down to Iowa City, crack 'em in the jaw a few times early on, and silence a crowd that's used to seeing their birds get sick all over the field this whole season. That statue they've got behind center looks like a perfect candidate for Bo's Graveyard. These are the types of guys who wilt under our D the last few years. Hit 'em hard, hit 'em early...and make sure to wrap up low on that Mack truck of a running back. That kid is a good football player.

Is it normal that I felt equally both a little creeped out and turned on when I read that? "Shloppy."

No...no name. Doesn't mean it can't have special significance or anything. But unless somebody comes along with something a hell of a lot better than The Corn Bowl or Farmegeddon, I'm definitely in the anti crowd. There's more than rural agriculture in our respective states, anyway. I mean, why don't we just call it the "John Deere Bib Overall Jamboree Festival Featuring Folks Farming Food For Future Finances?" I nominate that, actually. If that fails, we can call it the Annual Bird Murder. Or we can call it nothing. I just want to call it the game that solidifies our spot in the CCG.

I'm just happy you guys liked the post, honestly. You all put up with some really long winded bs from me at times...I never mean for them to be so verbose, but I can't help myself sometimes. So I really took a hard look at this before I posted, because I didn't want to subject my HB mates to yet another loooong post. But I felt really passionate about it, and I also felt like I wanted to put it out there that a lot us support the hell out of this staff and these kids. That gets lost in some of the more negative opinions that float all over the fan base sometimes. And I know damn well this board has a legion of folks who appreciate these kids, *see them limping to the sideline and come back out just a few snaps later and making physical plays, and who believe in this staff and support them...and furthermore, recognize just how much they've accomplished. (*Enunwa immediately jumps to mind, Jackson popping his friggin shoulder back into place and daring anyone to try and keep him off the field) There's more of us out there than you might think based on call-in stuff and certain posters who's entire schtick is aggressive denigration of our players and our staff. That's a loud group, but I think we're a pretty large group, honestly. Just not heard as much. Thanks for all the kind words guys, I genuinely appreciate it. I wanted to write a post for all of us who support this team rather than tear it down when things don't go the way we want. I know I'm not alone, not by a long shot. So I wrote that for all of us who care about these kids, who realize how much Bo has matured and grown. (I love how the Stafford exchange seems to have maybe really been about Stafford telling Bo what was going wrong on the field. Not pissed at Pelini...pissed they weren't playing like Blackshirts. And Bo goes on the radio and puts it all on himself. It wasn't, "we didn't execute." It was, "I put our kids in bad spots, and I wish I hadn't done that to them." Not, "I wish I hadn't put us in that hole." It was almost saying I hate the fact I let my kids down. You think they don't notice that? Players wanting an extra media opportunity to stand up for a guy who's painted as someone he clearly is not leads me to believe that, yeah, they notice. Players turning down Blackshirts because they want to earn them. I suspect that maybe, just maybe, a big part of that was wanting to truly earn them in the eyes of their coach. Here I go again, getting riled up Again...thanks for really giving me more credit than I probably deserved. Plenty of folks could've written that. And I know a ton of us are fans though the good and the bad. It's good now, but this post was made with those of you in mind who weren't tearing people down when things were bad. That's what a true supporter does. And we've got a ton of that ilk on this board. Thanks for making being a fan of NU the special experience it is. GBR my friends!!!!

EZ Everybody is saying you were wasted when you wrote this, but I feel like I've read about 200 posts that basically said the same thing over the course of the season. And everyone assumed those posters were stone sober. I actually agree, though. MAC level maybe. Kenny Bell? Ameer? Stafford and Martin? Sorry, but I can't say I see those guys fighting their way onto the two deep at Buffalo. It's not impossible...but not overly likely either. We're terrible and everyone associated with the team, including the fans, should be force fed Jonestown refreshments. And I mean that as a gesture of compassion, not malice. We just...suck. I'm still pissed we got rid of Jennings.

Blatchford: I groaned when I saw you on the field and you made me look like an idiot with your play out there. I'm happy to say that I shouldn't have doubted you. You might not clock the fastest time in the 40, but it takes a tough kid to get flagged like you did in East Lansing, shake it off, and cover their monster target again at a crucial moment and make the play you did. Turner in the corner was awesome. But without Blatchford in coverage we quite possibly may never have seen it. Keep it up. You see a crossing route coming your way this Friday, light that bird up. And good Blackshirt choices. Our secondary is laughably good. And it's going to stay that way for awhile. Wait till Rose, Brown, Alfalava, and Santos grow into their full frames. If McMullen and Valentine live up to what we're all hoping they will, maybe Peat rises, maybe Rome starts making noise hitting his Jr. year, we could be a legitimate shut down unit in the next few years. (And that happens at that DT spot sometimes...by that 3rd-4th year those kids suddenly get their full man strength and start blowing plays apart.) I'm still not over the fact they declined those Blackshirts, then went out and earned them against the Wolverines. That's something I'll always remember about this season and this group of young men. Nails.

Coming into this season, I saw reasons for some tempered optimism and reasonable reservations. I saw a likely 8 win season, a 9 win total if we caught a break or two, and a 7 win year if we dropped a game we shouldn't. Here is a guy in only his fifth season as a HC, facing a second straight BRUTAL schedule with a defense that was thin as a result of logical recruiting setbacks in his first two years, yet here we are; looking at a possible 10+ win season. He has a 2nd year OC who has done nothing other than construct the scariest offense in our conference. (OSU could bang on the door there, and they'd deserve to be let in to make a very persuasive case of their own for that distinction.) He put another guy at DC who had shockingly little experience to achieve such a lofty position. Seems like the guys are responding well to him. (Although I still don't know why he puts that tape on his fingers. And I don't care. I like him.) And he brings in some apparent random from the world of golf to work with the WRs. I'd say that has turned out pretty well. I wrote this year off. I figured we'd get gashed on the ground often, claim a scalp or two, (I thought Wisco or MSU were the most likely candidates for a quality win) put up some highlight scoring plays and some pretty rough defensive numbers. All Nebraska has done is *win out since their head coach took the extremely rare if not unprecedented step of privately and then publicly challenging his team to win every game from the OSU loss on. This wasn't "focus on next week," "stay the course" coach-speak. This was a bold gambit, a take two or three shots to land that chin rattling hook. A risk a coach takes criticism for alone if things fall short, a reward everyone shares if they come through and put up the wins. And they've not only done that, they've done it with a resiliency and heart that is frankly as frustrating as it is exhilarating to watch. And in a way that shows one, undeniable trait: Fight. Fight till the final bell, fight after you've been on the canvas for a 9 count that almost reached 10. Teams don't keep swinging when all seems lost for leaders they don't respect. Bottom line. *(SO FAR. Iowa is like a deranged, scorned woman who has nothing left to live for but our suffering. They're dangerous, regardless of what their record shows.) You don't have a season like this if you're a raving lunatic who is so out of control that you're on the cusp of assaulting your own players and officials at all times. You don't take that '09 offense and get it to where we are now by luck. You don't risk the criticism of putting an untested and scar-less Beck at the helm of the O without savvy and good intuition. (And a sturdy spine.) There is only one way you could take this schedule, with this green of a coaching staff, and put together a year like this: You're a pretty damn good football coach. I hope Bo has listened to those who have supported him since '08, rather than the folks who've been quick to express the opposing viewpoint. This guy is putting something together that has the potential to be special. I hope he's completely sold on Nebraska being the place he'll plant his flag and craft his legacy. It's a helluva team to lead. It isn't easy. But those with great ability, those rare football minds? They become eternal legends here. You're carved into a pantheon of permanence that's placed in the most prominent position when you reach the peak at Nebraska. Devaney might fade with time as decades pass at other places...never here. As for TO, I think he reached a level above the erosion of time, frankly. He should have. Innovation wise, he's one the elites. Very little company in that penthouse. (Tom would leave early anyways for a field out in the country on a nice day, just as soon as he could. He's not really a penthouse kind of guy.) Bo? That's what waits for you too. Nebraska football stands alone here. And the giants live forever. I think you've got it in you to achieve that level of accomplishment. Do it in Lincoln, Nebraska, coach. The well never runs dry here. And the greats never die, and they never, ever fade. 2012 was supposed to be a flyover year into the Illinois-Purdue 2013 changeover season. I guess we should've known better. After all, Bo Pelini makes the CCG in a full half of every season he's at the helm. Take care of an Iowa team living to see us hurt, and go fight for the conference title ahead of the schedule we set for you that you all collectively dismissed. GBR!

Whoo! This annual game has some real bad blood potential. I can see the necessary ingredients present for it, too. We'll probably never embrace Iowa as a true rival, because they're like a miniature version of Colorado, when the Buffs were actually good. They've got enmity for us that we can't truly reciprocate because we honestly don't care about them as much as they do us. Iowa fans are great at talking a whole bunch of garbage, but unfortunately, their teams generally are pretty good at producing the same thing on the field. Iowa fan has had bizarre hate for us for years. I think indifference is the best way to piss them off royally. Michigan will always, always be fixated on one program in the conference. We've already seen a little of it over here, on a Nebraska board. That's legitimate, straight up hate. MSU and Michigan are in-state rivals, and that game will always, always be massive to both teams. But Sparty knows they're second fiddle to the Buckeyes in the eyes of the Wolverines. I could just see this thing turn into a yearly slugfest full of big hits and a palpable undercurrent of animosity. This keeps up for a couple of years, Michigan State could end up being one the major teams we want to beat no matter what every year. I'd love to see that develop. -FWIW, I don't agree with all the "MSU is a dirty team" talk that's going on, I gotta be honest. They play with an edge, no doubt about it. I'm not saying I'm right, it just strangely endears me to them a little. They play throwback football a little...mean spirited. It ain't like we're total choir boys either, and I don't WANT us to be. I remember Martin barking in Maxwell's face after he laid him out. The more physical the game, the more guys are gonna go after each other. And I for one like games like that. Especially when you rip their friggin' hearts out at the last second on their home turf, and piss their HC off enough to where he actually shoves a camera away from him during his grim march to midfield. Never seen Bo do that, by the way...

This is kind of my point. I'm not trying to hammer on Landlord here...again, the video itself is crafted very well. But we don't want to be those guys. You point to the areas where you failed in a loss, not point at instances where you were screwed and use that as an excuse. (Unless the game is literally stolen from you, like the A&M game in 2010. Again: In the CCG, Texas DID have one second remaining on the clock. I don't think we were robbed in that game. We just had no offense. That's why we lost. Not the one second. A&M was different. The refs gave that game to the Aggies, and I'm not hesitant to say that I believe it's entirely possible that was an agenda game. We get 16 penalties, while one of the most heavily penalized teams in the nation get 2? Laughable. The kind of laugh where you don't find things funny.) Michigan and MSU have both been a little histrionic and irrational after losing to us this year. It's been a little pathetic, honestly. Those schools both should have more pride than they have showed. They've built programs worthy of respect. Don't diminish that by going the puling route. A man points out the areas where he came up short, and thus failed. When you lack the spine to be self-honest, you look to dismiss your failings and pin your loss on something outside of what you controlled. Michigan: We beat you. Straight up. Our offense scoring had nothing to do with Robinson going down, it had everything to do with that fact that we've got some pretty good ballplayers on that side of the field. You failed to stop us. And when Shoelace went down? You were losing the game. That argument pretty much begins and ends right there. Take accountability for the errors you made on the field, and offer no excuse to make the weasel claim that we didn't really beat you, serendipity propelled us. Not so. Our offense and your meager three field goals did that. Take it like men, and get ready to exact revenge next year. Take the loss with some integrity. You're a storied program. Act like it. MSU: Find a clip of every penalty called in that game. This was not a railroad job. It's as simple as that, and if you're capable of objectivity it will be self-evident. If not, you'll delude yourself into believing that the questionable calls you received hurt you more than the questionable calls we received. (And both teams were tagged with iffy penalties that had a major impact for both teams in that game. Try and rmember how you guys were kept on the field more than once on an incompleted third down. A few of those were justifiable calls. And a few weren't. Sparty...just appraise the game as the astute football fans I've always thought you were. Was it a questionable PI on Bell in the waning seconds of the game that killed you? Or was it your inability to contain Martinez? If you're reasonable and logical, you'll have to acknowledge that Taylor's three massive runs against your self-proclaimed best defense in the conference did FAR worse damage to you than the flags you received. Bottom line. If you don't let #3 run roughshod on you, you win. But you didn't. And that's why you lost to us. Again.

Really? I never would've guessed that. Guess I'll stay away from it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSKc5sNNuOc&feature=related

If you play DT in the NFL, and all anyone can ever say about you is what a nice guy you are, you probably aren't making much of an impact on the field.

I don't care about the OP. (Just in this particular instance.) All I care about is Clip Clop the magic fairy Pony. Was shme at the game?

Nope. Anti-Pony for life.

That game was awesome...I almost didn't make it, but I was there. I have to say: That offense we rolled out onto the field that night? Not perfect.

Could be WAY worse. These could grow on me. I kinda like 'em already, actually.

Where you're frustrated, I'm oddly encouraged. We've had three defibrillator-at-the-ready come from behind wins, and none of those games featured our best play. NW was an absolute turnover fest that we tried to give away, but still managed to pull out the win. Our defense played one awful half against Wisconsin and one superb half. MSU featured a lot of penalties, and turnovers as well. Despite not playing near our peak potential, we won some tough games that a lot of teams wouldn't have been able to pull out. I think we're due. I have a suspicion Penn State is going to find themselves playing an NU team that finally puts together a relatively mistake free game. I don't know why, but I think we're jump on these guys early, and never give them a chance to get back into this thing. I like that they play a lot of big sets, I think our defense has turned a few corners in terms of run defense (yeah, Bell got his last week, I know) and we are so due for a positive turnover margin game. Just have a really good feeling about Saturday.

"Whoa...It's a big one. Seems to have epilepsy. I'm not really sure where to aim. This thing is all over the place."

He lost at me at "not the face of Nebraska." He actually could've asked a legitimate question, but he lost his credibility as soon as he made that idiotic comment. Apparently the caller is unfamiliar with the behavior of one Coach Bob Devaney. (Hint: He was a legendary drinker and he straight got after officials, athletes, you name it. He also laid the foundation for Nebraska to be what it is today.) I'm reading between the lines, but I assume this guy is talking about TO. I love Coach Osborne and respect the man immensely, and always will. But he is not the face of NU football. That's an accumulative thing, that certainly includes Dr. Tom in a position of high prominence, but also includes a litany of other things, included Devaney, the Blackshirts, the AAs, the NC's, the Heisman trophies, the Pipeline, all that and much more. Sellout....ect.) I will say, I've wondered if Bo has been the tiebreaker on some 50-50 flags in the past. It's plausible. How likely it is an entirely different matter. And I'm not going to speculate, because I have no friggin idea.

Yeah...I honestly think this makes us look like whiny little bit***s. No disrespect...actually, the video itself is very well put together. I do NOT want to become known in our new conference as the fan base that whines about physical football games. Nebraska IS physical football. We used to be chippy as all hell back in the glory days. (Still are, really. Asante glowering over an OU receiver, anyone? In fairness, once he realized the kid was hurt he backed off.) Intimidation is part of the game. The Blackshirt logo is a skull and crossbones. Our '09 D was like rec time at Pelican Bay. Those dudes played like they wanted every opposing offensive player to wake up on Sunday hurting everywhere. That's kinda how MSU looks to me. (Minus the psychotic level of talent we had that year.) Vid makes us look kinda bad. JMO.