Can We Handle the Truth?

[Billyball]

Many fans and a few scribes thought we were an elite football team heading into this season. The coach stoked those flames. With our early success many were using ink instead of a lead pencil to put us into the NCG. We explained away SDSU by claiming that we "played down to our competition". We looked for scapegoats in the loss to TU and blamed playing at home, the OC, etc. It was obvious from a loss to a team that has proven to be as weak as Tejas, that we had problems. Yet with a couple victories, many were back on the NCG "we are the greatest" bandwagon.

 

Iowa State was not taken as another warning sign that we have major flaws. People were concerned at who wecouldjump in the top 5 as we run the table and won the CCG.

 

So we lost at ATM. We got a couple of terrible calls. But instead of looking at the deficiencies in our team, we go into total meltdown with conspiracy theories that would make any of the black helicopter crowd proud. Our HC and his brother were out of control and unprofessional in losing and fed the conspiracy theorists. Only die hard fans who are near sighted, don't see the damage the behavior and the paranoia do to the reputation of our FB team, it's fans and the University.

 

If the basketball Huskers go on the road and shoot two free throws and the opponent shoots sixteen, I'm sure that the coach likely will get a T for complaining, but he wouldn't be screaming at officials between every play instead of coaching his team. He would hopefully not chase the officials yelling at them after the game. I would hope if his brother, an assistant coach would not in a post game temper tantrum, grab someones camera and break it. If he did I would expect him not to lie about the circumstances. I would expect the head coach not to repeat the lie at a pressed. I would expect the coach to condemn the behavior without being threatened by the Chancellor. I would expect the coach to clear the air, explaining that there is no conspiracy of the league office or the big 12 officials. I would expect him to say, " The only reason we lost was that we did not coach and play well enough to win. The University of Nebraska will never look for scapegoats or excuses. We have more games to play and our sole focus will be on being a better football team"

 

We are getting a rep as a whiney team with a whiney fan base. That should not happen. "Woe is me, "they" don't want us to win." is for losers and we should not exinit that behavior on any level of Big Red athletics.

 

We have been the most penalized team in the big 12 since Bo has been here. We averaged over 7 per game the first two years and we are averaging over 8 this year. Did the league start penalizing NU in 2008 because the knew in 2010 we would get a big 10 offer? Cue the black helicopters!! We play very aggressively on defense and often very carelessly on offense. Thar is a recipe for a lot of penalties. That does not excuse poor calls like the late hit call at ATM or picking up the flag on their PI call. And Bo and Carl's big mouths and inability to have their fit and move on during a game will cause you to likely be on the short end of close calls. Zebras are human. They expect passion and anger on a call or two during a game. They don't expect harassment between every play. It is embarrassing to the program and self defeating.

 

I am hoping that instead of a pity party that the staff is working to stop CUs running game and mount an offense instead of the inept performance that is what truly cost us the game in college station. No TDs=Losing. Nearly every time. I hope the fans are there cheering on the Big Red instead of whining about calls and then sitting on their a** quiet if we have some adversity. And win lose or draw, the staff and fans should credit the two teams playing for the outcome and not whine or make excuses! End of rant.

[dergibog]

Well said. Although the disparity in penalties between NU and the opponents is interesting, it doesn't explain why we can't convert a 2nd and 2 and a 3rd and 2 against Kansas in the opening drive. It doesn't explain why our o-line couldn't block an artery. It's time we quit complaining about the things we can't control, and focus on improving the things we CAN control.

[HuskerJosh]

Depends what you think is the "truth". I see a lot of opinion and not a lot of facts.

[Husker NoNo]

I am not so sure why everyone is getting SO angry about this loss. Yes it hurt, yes the fact that the same refs that made odd calls in the UT game made terribly odd calls in the A&M game, yes this did destroy and chance at the MNC; but how many ACTUALLY believed that we were going to win the national title this year? It was a ton of fun drinking the kool-aid and being realistically in the conversation for the first time in a long time, but I remember tons of preseason predictions (many many of those on this board) of 10-2 & 11-1. We are still right on track to achieve to goal of the BIG XII title which I sincerely hope Bo & Co. will proceed to shove up a certain commissioners derrière. That said, if the same hi-jinx occur Friday and this team continues to fold like a deck of cards whenever they are punched in the mouth first, my blow-up will make Pelini's on Saturday look like a 9-year-olds dance recital.

 

Go Big Red! Beat the Buffs!

[husker_hurdler]

I believe the truth is coming into the light. A 10-2 season is right where this team should be and around #11-#15 in the polls.

[NEBRASKANHEAT]

I believe the truth is coming into the light. A 10-2 season is right where this team should be and around #11-#15 in the polls.

 

 

Agreed. Not sure who the OP was referring too, but I haven't considered us elite. And, by no means, did I brush over the N. Dakota st. game. In fact, that game was an eye opener that even with Martinez, this offense was still capable of imploding at any point, vs. any opponent.

 

 

We're about where I thought we would be.

[NoLongerN]

Enjoyed your post BillyBall. How I wish 95% of the "conspiracy posters" would read this post. Fact is ... most of these "fans" don't come back to Huskerboard.com until the next "melt-down". The funny part is the "melt-down" is caused by these so-called "fans" who come out of the closet when the Huskers look like they could be at the top once again.

 

My opinion has and continues to be that this is around a Top 20 team. Now if/when that is being said when we are undefeated then I'm not a Husker fan ... and when the Huskers turn out to be who I thought they were then ... well, you get my point.

 

Post more often .... please.

 

SheepdogMark

[HANC]

Pretty accurate post....

 

I am very guilty of becoming angry at the discrepancy on the penalties. The fact that the same crew did the Tex, ISU, and AM game and the opposing teams had 9 total penalties and NU had 32 total penalties does make me scratch my head and wonder how that could be possible.

 

As for the "meltdown" and the "woes me"...season over BS.... JUST STOP PLEASE.

 

I, like many, thought that 10-2 would be were this team would be. A win Friday = 10-2. Anyone who truly believed in their heart that this team was going to make the NCG prior to the season needs to take of the glasses.

 

10 - 2 , possible 11-2 headed to Fiesta Bowl = 12-2......not too shabby

 

now, lose Friday, = 9-3, headed to ? and finish 10-3 (ok, but no North title) or 9-4..then you can say it was disappointing.

[gobiggergoredder]

I agree as well. I just can't read the entire post. Way too long for my message board attention span.

[schuhbdoo]

Many fans and a few scribes thought we were an elite football team heading into this season. The coach stoked those flames. With our early success many were using ink instead of a lead pencil to put us into the NCG. We explained away SDSU by claiming that we "played down to our competition". We looked for scapegoats in the loss to TU and blamed playing at home, the OC, etc. It was obvious from a loss to a team that has proven to be as weak as Tejas, that we had problems. Yet with a couple victories, many were back on the NCG "we are the greatest" bandwagon.

 

Iowa State was not taken as another warning sign that we have major flaws. People were concerned at who wecouldjump in the top 5 as we run the table and won the CCG.

 

So we lost at ATM. We got a couple of terrible calls. But instead of looking at the deficiencies in our team, we go into total meltdown with conspiracy theories that would make any of the black helicopter crowd proud. Our HC and his brother were out of control and unprofessional in losing and fed the conspiracy theorists. Only die hard fans who are near sighted, don't see the damage the behavior and the paranoia do to the reputation of our FB team, it's fans and the University.

 

If the basketball Huskers go on the road and shoot two free throws and the opponent shoots sixteen, I'm sure that the coach likely will get a T for complaining, but he wouldn't be screaming at officials between every play instead of coaching his team. He would hopefully not chase the officials yelling at them after the game. I would hope if his brother, an assistant coach would not in a post game temper tantrum, grab someones camera and break it. If he did I would expect him not to lie about the circumstances. I would expect the head coach not to repeat the lie at a pressed. I would expect the coach to condemn the behavior without being threatened by the Chancellor. I would expect the coach to clear the air, explaining that there is no conspiracy of the league office or the big 12 officials. I would expect him to say, " The only reason we lost was that we did not coach and play well enough to win. The University of Nebraska will never look for scapegoats or excuses. We have more games to play and our sole focus will be on being a better football team"

 

We are getting a rep as a whiney team with a whiney fan base. That should not happen. "Woe is me, "they" don't want us to win." is for losers and we should not exinit that behavior on any level of Big Red athletics.

 

We have been the most penalized team in the big 12 since Bo has been here. We averaged over 7 per game the first two years and we are averaging over 8 this year. Did the league start penalizing NU in 2008 because the knew in 2010 we would get a big 10 offer? Cue the black helicopters!! We play very aggressively on defense and often very carelessly on offense. Thar is a recipe for a lot of penalties. That does not excuse poor calls like the late hit call at ATM or picking up the flag on their PI call. And Bo and Carl's big mouths and inability to have their fit and move on during a game will cause you to likely be on the short end of close calls. Zebras are human. They expect passion and anger on a call or two during a game. They don't expect harassment between every play. It is embarrassing to the program and self defeating.

 

I am hoping that instead of a pity party that the staff is working to stop CUs running game and mount an offense instead of the inept performance that is what truly cost us the game in college station. No TDs=Losing. Nearly every time. I hope the fans are there cheering on the Big Red instead of whining about calls and then sitting on their a** quiet if we have some adversity. And win lose or draw, the staff and fans should credit the two teams playing for the outcome and not whine or make excuses! End of rant.

Here is a quote from another poster that say a lot. It was from the Rivals free board.

Re: For guests to this board, you might find this interesting.... Reply

how about this stat as well - for 194 snaps officiated by the same crew that did the A&M, TX, and ISU games ... not a single penalty was called on the opposing defense - zero penalties on the defense, zilch, nada, zip ... only calls on the defense were dead ball fouls - but not one during the course an offensive play - no offsides, interference, holding, roughing the passer etc.

This is only part of the problem. I am not trying to say whoa is me but pointing to a fact that the numbers above are inconceivable. Cody Green and Taylor missed open receivers all night and we only needed one TD to beat that team. Personal foul penalties on touchbacks is unacceptable. Personal fouls on the sidelines because you have lost your mind is unacceptable. O-line penalties, holding and false starts that kill drives is unacceptable. Our only shot to win that game was to run the ball. I have looked at the passing numbers but I wish when Taylor was out, we would've had the Wildrex a little more.

 

Looking at the stats. T A&M was 2 of 13 for 3rd downs. You can't score 3 fg's without the help of the next stat. 16 penalties. The only way you can score a 3rd FG was to recover a fumble or intercept deep in NU territory. None of that happened. Something is not right here. Too bad a really really good defensive performance was overshadowed by NU's poor play and the horrible officials.

 

 

Team Stats

Nebraska Texas A&M

First downs 15 19

Rushing 9 9

Passing 6 7

Penalty 0 3

3rd Down Efficiency 5-15, 33% 2-13, 15%

4th down efficiency 1-2, 50% 0-1, 0%

Rushes-Yards 37-142 41-138

Passing Yards 164 172

Return Yards 23 36

Completions-Attempts-Int 17-28-2 19-29-0

Sacks-Yards Lost 2--10 3--23

Punts 6 7

Punts-Average 40.8 31.4

Fumbles Lost 2-0 0-0

Penalties - Yards 16-145 2-10

Time of Possession 31:13 28:47

[Chuck_G_23]

I agree with OP in theory, but the fact remains that when our offense is as inept as it has been the last 3 weeks, it just shines an even brighter spot light on the officiating..and we're not talking about a few terrible calls, it's a lot of terrible calls...if the saying "where there's smoke, there's fire" holds true, than there is most certainly some shenanigans abound...I'm not saying that this is a BIG 12 CONSPIRACY!!, but there is officiating bias..at least there appears to be.

 

I get what your saying in that, if we were better offensively we would take the officials out of it but the fact is, we're not better offensively...when we win these games it is, "haha, refs screwed us and we still won", but we don't win these games, you get what you have now....

 

We're fans, and we're fickle.

[Nebula]

Actually, I remember a LOT of hand wringing going on after the SDSU game.

 

The entire state of Nebraska spent 10 months with the looming Texas game at the forefront of their consciousness. That creates a type of pressure that is unique and can't be explained away as easily as a bad loss to a bad team. That game had heavy, extenuating circumstances that remained potent for, again, almost a full year.

 

We are leaving our conference under some less than amicable terms, and are getting an inordinate number of flags thrown on us while our opponents are receiving a shockingly small number. Skepticism is warranted.

 

So you want credit for starting out the season saying we weren't as good as everyone said we were? Ok...congratulations.

 

The way I see it, you've got one of two choices. A, be optimistic, B, be pessimistic. I will never apologize for being optimistic until I have to accept a setback. You're the guy who says Doug Flutie is way too small to ever take a team to a championship before the season starts, and I'm the guy who says this guy seems to be able to make plays. It's just a different way of looking at the world. Naysayers get the most excited when bad things happen, though. You ever notice that?

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Hey we had the hope at the start of the season the stars had aligned. While the D has been tweaked it has still put up top 10 numbers for the second year in a row. Now it is time to work on the other side of the ball. We thought early maybe that had happened because of the explosiveness of the offense. But it comes to a screeching halt too often even with Martinez behind the wheel. The O-Line is still missing too many blocks and that handicaps the backs trying to get positive yardage while being swarmed by opposing jerseys. Paul pretty much sums up the offense. At times brilliant but way too many mistakes.

[bshirt]

It's just a repeat of last year with some brilliant performances by Tmart. When he got hurt, it's 2009 all over again.

[NoLongerN]

Here is a quote from another poster that say a lot. It was from the Rivals free board.

Re: For guests to this board, you might find this interesting.... Reply

how about this stat as well - for 194 snaps officiated by the same crew that did the A&M, TX, and ISU games ... not a single penalty was called on the opposing defense - zero penalties on the defense, zilch, nada, zip ... only calls on the defense were dead ball fouls - but not one during the course an offensive play - no offsides, interference, holding, roughing the passer etc.

This is only part of the problem. I am not trying to say whoa is me but pointing to a fact that the numbers above are inconceivable. Cody Green and Taylor missed open receivers all night and we only needed one TD to beat that team. Personal foul penalties on touchbacks is unacceptable. Personal fouls on the sidelines because you have lost your mind is unacceptable. O-line penalties, holding and false starts that kill drives is unacceptable. Our only shot to win that game was to run the ball. I have looked at the passing numbers but I wish when Taylor was out, we would've had the Wildrex a little more.

 

Looking at the stats. T A&M was 2 of 13 for 3rd downs. You can't score 3 fg's without the help of the next stat. 16 penalties. The only way you can score a 3rd FG was to recover a fumble or intercept deep in NU territory. None of that happened. Something is not right here. Too bad a really really good defensive performance was overshadowed by NU's poor play and the horrible officials.

 

 

Team Stats

Nebraska Texas A&M

First downs 15 19

Rushing 9 9

Passing 6 7

Penalty 0 3

3rd Down Efficiency 5-15, 33% 2-13, 15%

4th down efficiency 1-2, 50% 0-1, 0%

Rushes-Yards 37-142 41-138

Passing Yards 164 172

Return Yards 23 36

Completions-Attempts-Int 17-28-2 19-29-0

Sacks-Yards Lost 2--10 3--23

Punts 6 7

Punts-Average 40.8 31.4

Fumbles Lost 2-0 0-0

Penalties - Yards 16-145 2-10

Time of Possession 31:13 28:47

 

Enjoyed your post as well schuhbdoo.

 

SheepdogMark