Nebraska could be 10-0 and still questionable

[NamelessHusker]

Nebraska could be 10-0 and still questionable?

By ######

 

Nebraska's football team has had its up and down moments this season, but one thing remains constant and intact, criticism of who they've played and when will we see what this team is worth?

 

Nebraska's Bill Callahan during his press conference Tuesday said "We still have a long ways to go and we need to maintain that consistency on the field". Johnny Rodgers seems to agree with him

 

"We're 4-0, but it's very questionable. We haven't played anybody yet. Wake Forest had a chance to beat us at the end and drove the length of the field. They had a bad snap on a field-goal try, on third down, and had a chance to kick again. They missed.

 

Through the first 3 games, Nebraska beat teams that did not have 1 win coming into Lincoln. Maine, an above average DIV-AA team managed to give the offense more then it bargained for. Nebraska expecting Maine to lay down as Western Illinois did last year apparently forgot to send the memo out to them. The struggling offense caused a chain reaction among fans wondering whether this was just first game jitters and several new freshman playing, or was this a sign of things to come.

 

Wake Forest came knocking next. A team that had taken several ACC teams to the wire last year, including ACC champ Virginia Tech failed to deliver any kind of offensive production against Nebraska and Nebraska failed to score. It was on the heals of the vaunted Blackshirts that the game outcome rested. As the defense played with passion, one player emerged as the leader of the defense. The most troubling fact of the game was the offense was getting worse by the second game then improving. Coach Callahan praised his defense, but took the blame for the offense

 

"We need to get better. We need to sustain drives and score points" Bill Callahan said. "We haven't done that so far and we need to improve. We are a few blocks away from finishing drives".

 

The third game of the season against Pittsburgh was the worst offensive production in Nebraska history in a while. A team that had been known throughout college football as a "in your face" type of attitude could not put together a complete drive. Yet again, the defense stepped up, and one thing was becoming obvious. The leader who emerged in the second game was becoming more vocal and teammates began to play with his same attitude. Not only did he fire up the defense, he also entertained journalist in post game interviews.

 

Nebraska in it's 4th game finally began to show signs of life, and a team that had not won in Lincoln since 1977 left with that record still intact.

 

"We did not come here to play good or look competitive" Dan McCarney said with anger. "We did not come here hoping to put on a good game. We came here for one purpose and one purpose only and that was to win. The loss is unacceptable and if anyone expects me to pat them on the back and say it's ok, you played hard, i wont. We should have won this game but we didn't.

 

Now fans are wondering, Is Nebraska really back on track or were the first 4 wins a fluke? So far, the general consensus among fans is "We haven't played anybody yet".

 

Texas Tech is coming into town, and the majority of fans are expecting a win against Texas Tech after the way Kansas managed to keep the game close. If Nebraska wins against a team that won it's first 4 games against the likes of Indiana St (DIV-AA), Sam Houston St (DIV-AA), Florida International (DIV-A newcomer) and a team (Kansas) that has been a bottom feeder in the Big12 North, will Nebraska actually have played anyone? Will it be Big12 south bottom feeder Baylor or a below average Missouri team which was blown-out at home by Texas? What about a struggling Oklahoma team which could come into Lincoln with it's 4th loss on the season. Kansas and Kansas St are also struggling and Kansas st fans are already looking ahead to next year.

 

Could Colorado be our true test of the season? That remains to be seen

 

*some quotes were used from presses conference releases and Johnny Rodgers quotes was obtained from SunHerald.com

[KansasHusker]

"Nebraska could be 10-0 and still questionable?"

 

I like that, something to think about...

[TheKiD]

If we are 10-0, there's no damn question about it, we're a goot football team. Now, I'm not saying that means we're a NC contender yet. But it means, that in 2 years BC has put a radically different system sucessfully. It's still gonna take a bit for us to be NC contenders.. but I think we'll be in control of the North for quite a while again. I don't even think we have to go 10-0 to know we're on our way back. So yeah, 10-0 is definitely an accomplishment, maybe not indicating we're NC contenders again.. but we'll find that out next year, but it will show we are dominating the North again.

[formerfan]

Good post, I really couldnt agree more. IMO, Tech is not top 15 material, top 25 yes, but I dont think that they are quite that good.

 

If NU goes 10-0, I think that everyone would feel that this season has been a success on some level, and I think that it would mean that NU is a pretty good team.

 

Lets just hope to see more improvement and consistency in all facets of the game

[Washusker]

Beating Oklahoma would make us legit, even if they have three losses at the time. I'll admit, we are catching a break with this schedule, but if we are 10-0 heading into the CU game, it will be legit.

 

 

Do I think it will happen? No. Missouri will be a tough game for us. We don't know how this team will respond on the road. Oklahoma still has a bunch of talent.

 

 

But if we head into the CU game 10-0, we will be the real deal.

[DJR313]

Good post, but I don't really wanna think about 10-0 right now. I just want to think about getting to 5-0. I said before this season that 8-3 would be a great season, and I still maintain that. Everything better than that is just gravy(and I love me some gravy! ). I think we shouldn't set ourselves up for disappointment. Nebraska might make it all the way to Colorado without playing a great game in all aspects and be undefeated by scratching and clawing and doing what needs to get done to win. I expect the effort to be there, but I do not expect them to win every game, this team is young and inexperienced and some mistakes are bound to happen. If Callahan keeps the O rolling up the yards and starts capitalizing more on points in the red zone and the D keeps playing great, then this season is going to be a whole lot of fun to watch!

[Eric the Red]

Nebraska could be 10-0 and still questionable?

 

I'll take my chances!!! Thanks NH

[skersfan]

Sure hope the team is not showing the lunacy of the fans. We have one game and only one game that is important. Tech, nothing should be on anyone elses mind. This is adding preasure to a team that does not need it. We have not beaten anyone that matters, in honesty we do not play anyone that matters on our schedule. Lets win them one at a time and then at the end talk about woulda coulda and shoulda been.

 

4-0!! Nothing more nothing less.

[junior4949]

Sure hope the team is not showing the lunacy of the fans. We have one game and only one game that is important. Tech, nothing should be on anyone elses mind. This is adding preasure to a team that does not need it. We have not beaten anyone that matters, in honesty we do not play anyone that matters on our schedule. Lets win them one at a time and then at the end talk about woulda coulda and shoulda been.

 

4-0!! Nothing more nothing less.

You're right about that, really no one on the schedule except maybe this game against Tech means anything. There is no one on the schedule that really anyone nationally cares much about right now. Unless you figure us playing Texas in the Big 12 Championship game, no one is really very good we play.

 

Iowa State shouldn't have been ranked especially when you consider how they played the week earlier against Army. TT hasn't played anyone, so who knows whether they're legit or not. We saw what an upper tier team did to Missouri when they played Texas and what Miami did to Colorado. The Big 12 has almost come down to a one team conference. If Texas doesn't run the table, I believe the Big 12 will be viewed as a weaker conference this year. Everyone is struggling right now except Texas.

 

Thinking about being 10-0 should be kept to yourself. It's nice to dream, but with the way we've played this year I would keep that one to myself. There's no reason we can't finish that high because the teams we face are just like us, struggling. However, until we play one complete game with each of the 3 hitting on all cylinders, we should just keep our dreams to ourselves. While the offense did get a lot of yards, we were limited to being one dimensional and just didn't finish the drives off. The defense gave up a ton of yards. Eventually, we'll put a complete game together when the offense, defense, and special teams play great. It just may not be this year.

[DaveH]

I would think about 10-0 when/if we end up 9-0 going into the KSU game. Until then, we have 5 teams to get through.

[huskerstag]

There is no one on the schedule that really anyone nationally cares much about right now.

 

I disagree. While it's true that unless we get to the CC game, at this point it doesn't appear there is anyone on our schedule that will figure into the NC hunt or a BCS bowl. However...if anyone watched the OU-KSU game, Rhett Bomar is developing into a decent quarterback. The kid played like a gamer - doing whatever he had to with his arm or his legs. He's still got some excellent players around him. If Peterson comes back healthy they'll be a much better team when they come in here than they were in Sept. regardless of what their record is.

 

People still recognize Brad Smith as a gamebreaker. People will respect a husker win in mizzou. They should/could beat Ok St. and could beat ISU, leaving them very much in the hunt for the north title.

 

It's great that every game is a big game for the team...the longer they can keep that mentality the more effore they'll give and the better they'll play. Our program is at a place right now where every win is a big win, so whether we win 7 or 10 or all of them the season has started off nicely.

[skersfan]

Victories over the teams you mention will mean absolutely nothing. They will all be 2nd and 3rd tier bowl level teams. So there is absolutely no importance to them. We need to concentrate on the job at hand and not worry about things down the road. A loss to anyone on our schedule will drop us so far down the rankings we would need a phone to reach the top. One game at a time. For this team to be where it needs to be with the schedule we need to be undefeated at the end or we will be in San Diego at best. There will be no BCS game for this team no matter the results on our schedule IMO.

[BigRedJake]

Victories over the teams you mention will mean absolutely nothing. They will all be 2nd and 3rd tier bowl level teams. So there is absolutely no importance to them. We need to concentrate on the job at hand and not worry about things down the road. A loss to anyone on our schedule will drop us so far down the rankings we would need a phone to reach the top. One game at a time. For this team to be where it needs to be with the schedule we need to be undefeated at the end or we will be in San Diego at best. There will be no BCS game for this team no matter the results on our schedule IMO.

Gotta agree there, only way we're getting a BCS bid is if we beat Texas in the Big XII game.

[NamelessHusker]

A few people in this thread missed my point by a mile, even though it was explained in detail. Oddly enough, only a couple of people bothered to take in what i was trying to point out, and one of them is former.

[BigRedJake]

A few people in this thread missed my point by a mile, even though it was explained in detail. Oddly enough, only a couple of people bothered to take in what i was trying to point out, and one of them is former.

Well I gotta admit I hadn't read your article until you said that, Nameless, and just noticed that it says Johnny said that Wake almost beat us. Did he really say that or is that a typo?

 

I don't think anyone missed your point though, Nameless. Your thread just got a little off track of what your point was.