defining moment of the season

[Glendower]

Only when BC was fired. Still in shock over that one. Definitely out of left field. Then they hired someone else and I knew Callahan was done here. You don't fire a coach if everything is going well.

[REDSTEEL]

Only when BC was fired. Still in shock over that one. Definitely out of left field. Then they hired someone else and I knew Callahan was done here. You don't fire a coach if everything is going well.

 

I can't believe you actually thought that Callahan might come back....oh wait thats was sarcasm. Well Done, Bravo I say Bravo. True Master in the making

 

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

I kinda had a feeling in the back of my mind during the USC game. But part of me believed it was just that USC was a monster team this year.

 

The Ball State game I thought was just a hangover from the USC game. The way the season was going through out college football with all these top teams getting upset, I thought, Ball State was playing the game of their lives and Nebraska just wasn't completely there that day.

 

Then, the Mizzou game. I knew Mizzou was going to score their points. But then I saw our offense fall flat on their face against a defense that, at the time, I think was rated worse or pretty close to our defense was rated. That's when I definitely knew. Something was terribly wrong.

[NUpolo8]

The USC weekend.

 

It was all lined up for the team and the staff. A USC team that was not as good as advertised, coming off a creampuff opponent, in Lincoln, with a team seemingly ready to make the jump, with a fanbase that was going crazy and was READY. In years past, that would have been more than enough. It all seemed to dissapear with a few huge runs. I would have been able to accept it a little more if the coach at the time wasn't so smug and all knowing about the whole deal, then proceeded to lay eggs for the rest of the season.

[Texan in Nebraska]

the Wake Forest game hands down, IMO anyway.

[knapplc]

The USC weekend.

 

It was all lined up for the team and the staff. A USC team that was not as good as advertised, coming off a creampuff opponent, in Lincoln, with a team seemingly ready to make the jump, with a fanbase that was going crazy and was READY. In years past, that would have been more than enough. It all seemed to dissapear with a few huge runs. I would have been able to accept it a little more if the coach at the time wasn't so smug and all knowing about the whole deal, then proceeded to lay eggs for the rest of the season.

 

Wow. Damned near exactly what I was about to write. That game, and in particular the first quarter of that game (I think it was USC's first drive?) where their decent-but-not-good RBs were streaking down the field between amazingly huge gaps in our D-Line, with linebackers nowhere to be found, was what told me this team didn't have it.

[junior4949]

I knew all was not right in 2004 when at the Abomination of Desolation in Lubbock. I knew we were in for some dark years.

 

 

 

 

I don't care whether or not you have your own players or not. You do not send a freshman QB with ZERO experience and let him keep lobbing shots up and having 5 of them picked off. This game showed Husker Nation what a prick we had on the sideline. His stubborness is what cost him his job. When the game is out of hand which I think 3 TD's is getting out of hand, you don't keep throwing gasoline on the fire. We saw this somewhat with Ganz this year during the Kansas game. The game was out of hand, yet we keep throwing bombs away and getting them picked off.

 

After that game in Lubbock, I knew there would be more games just like that one in our future. Other than scoring a few more points, we had our games just like that one this year which were a plenty.

[macroboy]

Wake Forrest I thought was just a bad game- DENIAL

USC, I thought we just came out flat and they were that good- LET DOWN BUT DENIAL

Ball State- VERY Uucomfortable, something needs to be done on defense, DENIAL

Mizzou- Pissed, we were on the road, Mizzou is really good, DENIAL

OK State- You've got to be F'in kidding me!!! Time to clean house and start over

 

 

In looking back I stayed in Denial as long as I could.

[BuzzardBilly]

This game (2004 Tech) showed Husker Nation what a prick we had on the sideline. His stubborness is what cost him his job.

 

After that game in Lubbock, I knew there would be more games just like that one in our future. Other than scoring a few more points, we had our games just like that one this year which were a plenty.

 

 

 

I agree 100%. Screw this year. I knew a few games into 2004 (namely at Tech) that we had hired a total loser. I'll never forget that sick feeling leaving the stadium in Lubbock and I told my wife "you know this isn't the same Nebraska. They may have the "N" on the helmet but that's about it."

 

We had a 2 hour drive home (we live in Texas) and we were both in a stupor the entire way.

[Glendower]

I knew all was not right in 2004 when at the Abomination of Desolation in Lubbock. I knew we were in for some dark years.

 

 

 

 

I don't care whether or not you have your own players or not. You do not send a freshman QB with ZERO experience and let him keep lobbing shots up and having 5 of them picked off. This game showed Husker Nation what a prick we had on the sideline. His stubborness is what cost him his job. When the game is out of hand which I think 3 TD's is getting out of hand, you don't keep throwing gasoline on the fire. We saw this somewhat with Ganz this year during the Kansas game. The game was out of hand, yet we keep throwing bombs away and getting them picked off.

 

After that game in Lubbock, I knew there would be more games just like that one in our future. Other than scoring a few more points, we had our games just like that one this year which were a plenty.

 

Yeah, he was trying to get blown out by TT-- the scary thing is that he was trying NOT to get blown out by KU.

[Cy the Cyclone]

January 9th, 2004...

[RealSangSung]

First half of the USC game--all downhill from there (except for KSU).

[husker4ever07]

SC raised doubts, Ballstate confirmed them.

[DCHusker]

Went to the Wake Forest game and felt that we had a lot of things to get straightened out if we were gonna win 8-10 games.

 

After the USC game I concluded that having all new starters along the D Line was making the entire defense look bad, this was not going to be a great season, but that if that unit could improve over the course of the year we could still win the Big XII. Ha!

 

Against Ball St. there was still no defensive improvement and I was starting to lose patience

 

Mizzou, expected the D to play poorly and really didn't expect to win, did not expect offensive impotence, still had a shred of patience left, because I thought Mizzou was pretty darn good

 

The first half against OSU sealed the deal. That game was the quintessence of Callahan-style coaching.

[FriscoTXHusker]

 

 

For me it was when Corey McKeon performed his melodrama during the news conference back in September or early October.

 

I think this was a key indicator that things were heading into the crapper. Folks on here were ticked at CM's behavior but it made me wonder what the heck is going on? Turned out that there was apparently a lot going on that was yet to fully manifest itself. I think CM's feelings and attitudes were reflective of a huge morale problem that was either pervasive or soon to be. I'm not sure what the causes were or what the coaches needed to do to head it off, but apparently neither did the coaches.

 

Bowman giving up his blackshirt and nobody following was also a sign of problems.