Did you want Osborne fired around this time???

[kchusker_chris]

I'm too lazy to go back through the old results again, but if I remember right...while Osborne wasn't winning the big ones, he rarely lost a little one. They happened occassionally I think, but not like the last couple years. His losses in the late 70's were usually to highly ranked Oklahoma, Alabama or other opponent...or were by a few points to a Missouri type team. Plus, he never finished worse that #10 in the final polls.

 

Pelini getting smoked at home by Tech in '09, fumbling away a win against Iowa State, losing one of the most hyped games in years at home against a 5-7 Texas, screaming his way to a loss against A&M, blowing a huge lead against Oklahoma, and then the that was Washington? That's a lot head scratching losses in a short time frame. A hard faught loss I can take...one of Pelini's shining moments was the loss last year (err 2 years ago) to Texas - but when we're constantly asking ourself WTF after most of the others then we begin to have issues.

[Apathy]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm only 27 so I wasn't old enough to realize what was going on and all I have to go by are stories that I hear and was pretty surprised when my dad gave me his input.

[hskerprid]

I believe after the 1978 Bluebonnet bowl. A booster approached T.O at at an after bowl party and shook his hand and said something to the effect that " It's a good thing you won Tom cause' you wouldn't of been here if you didn't". TO was on thin ice at the time.

[REDSTEEL]

I believe after the 1978 Bluebonnet bowl. A booster approached T.O at at an after bowl party and shook his hand and said something to the effect that " It's a good thing you won Tom cause' you wouldn't of been here if you didn't". TO was on thin ice at the time.

Which is probably, funny because I couldnt see Bob Devaney firing TO because of a booster crying.

 

 

Everyone used to bringup the 8 bowl losses but never mention that Nebraska was the underdog in most of them and were playing the number 1, 2, 3rd rank teams in that 8 year span.

[The Dude]

I'm too lazy to go back through the old results again, but if I remember right...while Osborne wasn't winning the big ones, he rarely lost a little one. They happened occassionally I think, but not like the last couple years. His losses in the late 70's were usually to highly ranked Oklahoma, Alabama or other opponent...or were by a few points to a Missouri type team. Plus, he never finished worse that #10 in the final polls.

 

Pelini getting smoked at home by Tech in '09, fumbling away a win against Iowa State, losing one of the most hyped games in years at home against a 5-7 Texas, screaming his way to a loss against A&M, blowing a huge lead against Oklahoma, and then the that was Washington? That's a lot head scratching losses in a short time frame. A hard faught loss I can take...one of Pelini's shining moments was the loss last year (err 2 years ago) to Texas - but when we're constantly asking ourself WTF after most of the others then we begin to have issues.

Methinks Pelini concurs, and cut out that cancer.

[huKSer]

I remember as a child when some fans wanted Devaney fired as coach. After several very successful seasons, some poor recruiting caught up with him, and he had a couple of 6 and 4 seasons in 1967 and and 1968. To make matters worse, his '68 team got clobbered by OU and Steve Owens 47-0 to close the season. Two years later, he shared won the NC with UT.

UTerus illegitimate championship did not count the bowl game they LOST to Notre Lame

[huKSer]

I'm too lazy to go back through the old results again, but if I remember right...while Osborne wasn't winning the big ones, he rarely lost a little one. They happened occassionally I think, but not like the last couple years. His losses in the late 70's were usually to highly ranked Oklahoma, Alabama or other opponent...or were by a few points to a Missouri type team. Plus, he never finished worse that #10 in the final polls.

Don't need to research this, I know that TO lost to ONE sub-500 team - ISU in '92

[Hercules]

I remember as a child when some fans wanted Devaney fired as coach. After several very successful seasons, some poor recruiting caught up with him, and he had a couple of 6 and 4 seasons in 1967 and and 1968. To make matters worse, his '68 team got clobbered by OU and Steve Owens 47-0 to close the season. Two years later, he shared won the NC with UT.

UTerus illegitimate championship did not count the bowl game they LOST to Notre Lame

 

Does Texas take credit for that championship? Maybe we should start taking credit for the 1983 national championship, and I bet at least one poll had us #1 before the 1994 Orange Bowl against Florida State... THREE PEAT!

[Hercules]

I'm too lazy to go back through the old results again, but if I remember right...while Osborne wasn't winning the big ones, he rarely lost a little one. They happened occassionally I think, but not like the last couple years. His losses in the late 70's were usually to highly ranked Oklahoma, Alabama or other opponent...or were by a few points to a Missouri type team. Plus, he never finished worse that #10 in the final polls.

Don't need to research this, I know that TO lost to ONE sub-500 team - ISU in '92

 

His loss to Missouri in 1978 was a bad one too. After his first win against Oklahoma (Barry Switzer's best OU team, at that, featuring Billy Sims), Nebraska was a leader in the national championship race. The next week, we lost to unranked Missouri, and the Orange Bowl decided it would be "fun" to rematch us against Oklahoma. They didn't fumble the ball 9 times in the rematch...

[VA Husker Fan]

I'm too lazy to go back through the old results again, but if I remember right...while Osborne wasn't winning the big ones, he rarely lost a little one. They happened occassionally I think, but not like the last couple years. His losses in the late 70's were usually to highly ranked Oklahoma, Alabama or other opponent...or were by a few points to a Missouri type team. Plus, he never finished worse that #10 in the final polls.

76-77 were the tough years. 3 losses each year plus a tie in 76, and back to back losses to unranked (but pretty good) Iowa State, and a loss to unranked Washington State and former coach Warren Powers. 78 started with a real drubbing at Alabama. I'll admit, as a teenager at the time, I remember thinking it might be time to give someone else a shot, that this guy was a good but not great coach. *might* being the key word, I wasn't too vocal about it.

 

Again around 1990 I started thinking the game had passed him by but I don't remember thinking he should be fired. By now I was thinking that he had sustained a pretty darned good record over the years, and we probably wouldn't find someone who could do better in Lincoln. I sure didn't expect what would follow in the mid 90s.

 

Here's the thing though, I wouldn't say that most coaches would be able to follow Osborne's track.

[VA Husker Fan]

One more thing about the Iowa St losses come to mind. I was at the one in Lincoln. They ran all over us, which was frustrating. Then late in the game, we were having to pass to have a shot at a score, and our QB was sacked, and I looked at our receivers and they were walking back from deep routes, burning a lot of time. Obviously they didn't realize the clock was running, but they should've. It was more than just that we lost a game we shouldn't have, it seemed like a real half-assed effort out there, and it's not out of line to put some of the blame on the coaching staff. In retrospect it's easy to wonder how anyone could ever have wanted Osborne out, but not so much at the time.

[skersfan]

In honesty, most wanted him gone or the record to change. He lost regulary to Switzer and could not win a bowl game to save his life. We beat up on nobodies as a rule and when the talent showed up we folded. We were winning games, but not the ones we wanted to. A lot of pain in losing those Oklahoma games. Tom was not happy about being here at the time either and could have gone to Colorado or Michigan State, actually quite close on both.

 

Whether Pelini is the quality of Osborne, who knows, but it is way to early to put him in the category. He has not won a single game of importance to this day. He has not shown he can put an offense on the field that is capable of winning games. He is the 13th highest paid coach in the country. And has yet to win a conference championship, that is pretty amazing. Potential is there, but until he puts it together he is over paid. Do the job, reap the rewards. He has yet to do the job he is being paid for, period.

[mnhusker]

I think I am a bit to young to have an apprecation, I lived in lincoln and was an avid fan but I don't think Fans were quite as sensitve at that time. It may be more that fans were the same but without the internet for us all to enjoy 24/7 people would settle down a bit faster. I do recall always wondering what game or 2 we would lose even though I thought we were invincible.

[cb1954]

Are there other Husker fans on this board that felt the same way that Tom should've been fired for failing to beat Switzer and losing 8 bowl games in a row?

 

Younger fans might not be aware, but for at least the 70s and for some until the mid 90s success, T.O. would have been shown the road by a lot of fans. Especially after he went to Colorado and interviewed for the job there. There were many fans who would have been happy to help him move once it came out he talked to the Buffs. and I probably would have been one of them. He was known as the coach who couldn't win the big game.

 

Probably the only thing that saved him in the 70s was his overall w/l record was good and he won most of his bowl games (and Bob Devaaney).. The long losing streak in bowls didn't start until the mid 80s. There was even some speculation he might be fired when Bill Byrne's was hired as AD prior to 1992 season.

 

I've always thought that if Turner Gill did not come to NU and went to OU like he originally planned, Tom might not have lasted. With Gill NU was undefeated in the Big 8 for 3 years and should have won 2 or even 3 NCs (Gill missed the last couple games his soph year with injury). He was 28-2 as started and NUs only 3 time first team All Conference QB

 

Of course NU fans started a petition to get Devaney fired (and one for Charlie McBride)

[huskerscott]

I'm too lazy to go back through the old results again, but if I remember right...while Osborne wasn't winning the big ones, he rarely lost a little one. They happened occassionally I think, but not like the last couple years. His losses in the late 70's were usually to highly ranked Oklahoma, Alabama or other opponent...or were by a few points to a Missouri type team. Plus, he never finished worse that #10 in the final polls.

Don't need to research this, I know that TO lost to ONE sub-500 team - ISU in '92

 

His loss to Missouri in 1978 was a bad one too. After his first win against Oklahoma (Barry Switzer's best OU team, at that, featuring Billy Sims), Nebraska was a leader in the national championship race. The next week, we lost to unranked Missouri, and the Orange Bowl decided it would be "fun" to rematch us against Oklahoma. They didn't fumble the ball 9 times in the rematch...

One of my bosses was on that 78 team for Mizzou...... we dont talk much since I found that out.