BigRedSmitty

I will say Wagner will be ok for at least 1 more year. I have seen this coach when he was at Wayne State. His players re-wrote the record books, and when he was at Fresno State...his offensive line blocked for David Carr, who is in the NFL (I know for the Texans.) Between those 2 programs, I know of 2-3 players who have made the NFL...one has even one a Super Bowl with Denver (Byron Chaimberlin.) He can develope talent...but why I say 1 more year because we are a power house for O-Lineman, and if they continue to go backwards, next year may be his last.

Let me begin by saying, I am glad we are going to a bowl. It will be nice to see the BIG RED back on the football field during the holidays. However can we look at the whole season. We did start 5-1, but who did we beat...Maine, Wake & a very down Pitt (may I remind you that was by a blocked field goal.) Then the next few games we fell behind by large margins, only to have to fight back and come up short. This started a streak I never thought I would see...3 losses in a row, consecutive losses at home, and a defeat at the hands of Kansas. The thing that concerns me of this game...is I am hearing the defense (who was a huge reason we started 5-1) is now admitting they did not show up. Husker fans, I would love it if we defeated Colorado, but we are going on the road...Boulder. Colorado lives for this game...they mark it on their schedule. We better hope we get the defense that played when we were 5-1, and not the defense that is admitting not showing up for the Kansas Game. 6-5 and a bowl game is not progress, when you look at the whole season. I believe there is talent on this team...however we have not seen a complete game out of this team yet, and it's going to take a complete game to beat Colorado. We made our bowl, we are going to have a winning season, but this team is not much better than last year...even with a Top 5 recruiting class.

huskerNtexas...i appreciate your enthusiasm, i want him gone as well. however, since we qualified for a bowl game, people are going to think thats progress. this program is still in a world of hurt, and something needs to be done. when you get your butts handed to you by kansas (who i never thought i would say this, BUT WAS BETTER THAN US.) and you get your jock-straps handed to you by a 1 man missouri team, your not making progress. nebraska has not played a complete game, and from what i read about the kansas game, the defense never showed up. i am glad we are going to a bowl game...i am still concerned about going on the road to boulder. to repeat an article i read in the OWH after the KU game...6-5 is not progress, considering we started out 5-1, and you go on a losing streak against some teams that we should have beat. so, i am counting with you, i just believe it might be more than 14 games and counting.

I agree with Junior...especially on the comments related to who our rivals are. Awesome post Junior.

To the Board...there is a Forum titled "Fan From Alabama...Fire Callahan" and I am listed as the forum starter, but I am not. Either the forum title was changed by another member, or my name was accidently put on a forum I didn't start. My post is first, but the title I used was "Callahan's an Embar"A$$"ment" Was it changed or was there an accident. Can my name be removed it is not to be there.

I have one question...WHY???

Nebraska is not a good team anymore...it's not like they were NO.1 and defending National Champs.

Notre Dames boosters spoke up and Willingham lost his job, where is our boosters. Someone needs to step up, because when you get your A$$ handed to you by KU...you know the program is going in the wrong direction.

I agree with the thread about Coach C being a loser. However there has been so many responses I will add my comments here...and see what y'all have to say. Let me begin by saying...some of you on here have put down Coach Tom O saying he was part of the reason why we are in the state we are in. I'm not sure where you get this...he won 9-10 games every year, graduated his players, had his teams in position to win championships over 3/4ths of his NU career, when things weren't going his way and they were losing bowl games, him and his coaching staff changed their approach to the game and recruiting. He has coached some of the greatest players in college history...Rozier, Gill, Fryar, Remmington, Frazier, Noonan, and the list goes on...he was the coach of possibly the best team in college. I can go on if you would like. His resume will go down as one of the best in the history of the game...and here is the point I would like to make. Coach tom would never embarrass the program by calling other fans "hillbillies," or making a hand gesture to the officials. the only thing he did that I would question is allowing L. Phillips to come back as soon as he did, but even that shows what kind of a man he is by giving someone a second chance. Coach O's teams were never in trouble with the NCAA, and you never heard of him in controversy. He was a "God-fearing man (that is not meant to start a religious conversation) who loved three things...1. God 2. His family and 3. Football. He coached and lived knowing he was in the spotlight, and people were watching him. I don't believe Coach C cares if people are watching him. Not only has Callahan taken this team down, I'm not sure the Nebraska coaching position is an attractive one anymore. I have said it before and I will say it again...I want Coach C gone, and I will be happy when that day comes. In the mean time I guess I will have to wait for more "hillbilly" comments and "hand gestures," because at this point...this is BIG RED football.

One of the things I have said several times...we are no longer expected to win games. This is how much we have gone backwards...we now have to worry about KU. 5-6 is a great possibility.

For the first time this season, I have nothing to say. I don't even know where to start. I can't even talk about how disappointing this season has been. The state of football in Lincoln is at an all-time low. To think we are worried about KU. Folks it is very possible we could lose the remaining games on our schedule, which totally throws out any talk of progress. As I read some of the threads on this site, people are finally seeing what I have seen all year long...this is not a good team. We put ourselves in impossible situations, and then cheer the fact that we made it close after falling behind 21 pts. Earlier it was discussed that we could have gone to the Big 12 title game...I'm glad we won't go, Texas would kill us. Husker Nation, we need to be realistic 5-6 is very possible. Keep in mind something I said last week...we have no leaders to step up and say...DAMN IT THIS IS NEBRASKA. This team does not make statements, it hasn't all year, why should we think they would start now. If they weren't concerned about saving a simple thing like a "winning season" streak and a "bowl streak" what makes you think they will get up for a tough road game in Boulder. We the fans understand the season is hanging in the balence (we do don't we) but do the players. For once, I wish they would get off their @&& and play 60 minutes of Husker Football. I understand there aren't a lot of Wagner fans, but I was at Wayne State when he coached there, he is a passionate coach that gets in his players faces...it's time for the coaches to scream, throw medicine tables, grab some face masks. Husker Nation, our AD, whom some of you like (which I don't understand) said he would not let this program fall into mediocrity, well there is a knock at the door, and as I look out the peep hole...Mr. Mediocrity is there. And since some of you want to look ahead to the future. Next year should be fun with both Texas and USC on the schedule. I know there are some who will disagree (which I don't understand) but I want Coach C gone. The progress this team has made has been so small, that it would take 5-7 years to put us back on the map. At this rate I would take Joe Pa...he's old, and nearly took the program he built up down with him, but they are competitive this year. We are the laughing stock of college football...the tradition is gone, and it simply makes me sick to my stomach

For me, this is the game I circle on the schedule. I have for years. If we don't win this game our season will be shot. We will need to beat Colorado, and we are not a good road team. There has been a lot of talk about improvements this year, however if the record at the end of the year is close or even the same as last year, no one will notice. In college football, its all about W & L's. This team has had a difficult time coming out and making a statement when they needed to. Case in point...we didn't exactly dominate Maine and Wake...then a very disappointing Pitt team came in (a great time to make a statement...Nebraska football is back) we win 7-6. We don't play 60 minutes of football. I mean against Tech, we were down 21-0 before we showed up and played...Missou, we came back and tied the game, only to self-destruct in the second half. Somewhere on this site I read a quote (forgive me, I don't have it in front of me) it goes something like this..."Somewhere someone on this team has to say...DAMN IT THIS IS NEBRASKA." My concern is, we don't have leaders on this team, players who will get in each others face and say we need this game. Boys, we do need this game...we aren't the program we used to be, where every game we were expected to win, every game is a dogfight...so may we ALL remember...DAMN IT THIS IS NEBRASKA.

I HATE OKLAHOMA...we should win, but we should have defeated Missouri.

Sine it only takes one player to beat us...probably

Can we get through this year first...we have a lot of work this year to accomplish, before even mentioning next year.

When we lost to Texas Tech, some of you said that we really didn't lose the game...one person even made the stupid comment that the coaches should tell the players we're still undefeated. Well, let me quote former NFL Coach Buddy Ryan..."That there my friends was an old fashioned butt-kickin, and we provided the butt." 17 pt loss on the road, I thought we were making progress. Some on this site even thought we should have been in the Top 25. I have read threads related to this game that said that we couldn't hold on to the ball, 3rd down was a problem for us, and the offenseive line struggled. Most of the comments here have been that Brad Smith was the reason we lost. One guy beat a team that is making progress. Last time I checked there were 11 men on both sides of the ball. Missouri is not 17 pts better than Nebraska, maybe even competition. You know, I live in California and don't get to hear or watch the game...all I get is the score and the stats, it simply tells me we haven't made as much progress as we think. I am embarrased by this performance...I know this will upset some, but come on...if you honestly think this is good progress, and your happy about the state of things in Lincoln, I question your passion for this team. Somebody told me the Missouri fans rushed the field after the win, HOW STUPID...rushing the field after beating a team not ranked any more. After this performance, Oklahoma doesn't scare me...KU scares me.

If I am reading correctly...this guy is on board. I went to huskersillustrated.com and noticed that all our recruits are 3-4 stars, with one at 5. I also noticed our recruiting class is 29th nationally. What is up with this, or does the rankings need to be updated. Someone said they might be after the juco's committ.

Let me say one thing related to the polls...If you have read any of my threads, I make a lot of comments related to the past glory days of Husker Football. I believe national media is thinking the same thing...Nebraska used to dominate, what has happened. Like me, they expect to see shades of the old Huskers, and then when they don't...the result is Not being Ranked. People are not used to mediocrity in Lincoln. I agree with one thread...we have not played anyone except Tech, and the rest of the schedule has gone downhill throughout the year. If we are going to be ranked, and NOT "STILL RECEIVING VOTES" then first of all we must win, then keep improving, and maybe bring in a touch of some of the old GLORY DAYS...Dominate the opponents we are supposed to. And in response to the comment about teams with 2 losses. Even though it does not seem fair...let's look at the facts...Notre Dame would beat us, Ohio State would beat us, Michigan State would beat us. With our schedule and the teams that are already in there, we are right where we should be.

Last time I read polls in the paper...if you were 26th and 29th you were in a section "Still Receiving Votes." From my perspective we are still on the outside. Now for a positive note...I did read somewhere we were supposed to crack the Top 25 in the BCS...that would be cool. But let's call the numbers what they really are.

SCORE NU27 MU17 PASSING NU 295 MU 234 RUSHING NU 175 MU 130

Sounds like we may need another tipped catch for a touchdown...wait a minute wasn't that the Missou game a couple of years ago...we won in Missou on a tipped pass (off our players shoe if I remember right.) to win the game. WOW, wouldn't that be a co-winkee-dink.

First of all, let me say that it is very clear that the BIG 12 is not the same conference as it was when it started. It appears that most of the teams have improved and become more competitive than they were several years ago. With the exception of the obvious like Texas, Oklahoma, A&M, and occasionally K-State, Nebraska was expected to beat any team in the conference, and usually won pretty easily. After seeing the final score of the Baylor game (understanding we are improving, and doing some good things.) this was not your same Baylor. Of course you could say this is not the same Nebraska. I feel the conference has caught up with Nebraska. We might be improving, but you can't say Nebraska is expected to win most conference games anymore...and even though we are improving, if the conference is catching up with us, then we must be going backwards.

mcrooks, you have just made my point for me...you are ok with a loss, because to you they didn't even lose the game. Buddy all that matters is the final score in the record books. A team could go 0-12 and make improvements all year, they still did not win. OK we did not get blown out, we came back and made a game out of it, and did some good things...but at the end of the day...IT IS STILL A LOSS. You have to play for the whole game...we fell one play short. We fell one play short in the Orange Bowl in the 80's...it still went down as a loss, and we even lost the national Championship. As I mentioned in another thread...the players did not walk out of the locker room saying we played better...I'm sure it hurt that they did not win...I'm sorry last year sucked, losing games we should have won, not seeing our team in a bowl game, and seeing years of winning go down the drain. Mainly because that is all I ever seen of the Huskers...winning...year in and year out. Wake up and smell the coffee...the Huskers lost...say what you want to, they lost. I do hope they win this week, and the week after, and the week after...but I know a loss when I see one.

mcrooks...I am glad you are a husker fan and on our side, but you said your pretty new at this...well it shows. You see for some, Husker football is like Red Sox baseball, a passion. The state shuts down when it is football Saturday. No one ever thought we would see days like we have over the last couple of years. Your right, all teams loose...Coach Osborne lost, Coach Solich lost, even the great Bob Devaney lost. However, we are loosing more often, and in a style that is not common for most fans. There is no professional team in Nebraska, and we take pride in the Big Red and their traditions...things like sell-outs, walk-ons, and standing up and cheering on the other teams...it is ALL Husker Football. As I have said on other threads...there are some who have the attitude that loosing games is ok because we are re-building, so we are to be patient. Well I can't...I'm only 32 and they have always won, not every game, but have always won. There was a day during our streak of consecutive bowl losses that I thought we would never see a National Championship, and I have seen 3. I hope Nebraska wins every week, and every year. Before your make a comment like be patient and look to the future, keep in mind there are some who remember the past, and that's why it hurts so much.

Hey bigredhusker...go ahead and tell them that are undefeated...the problem is...THEY ARE NOT.