Storied Programs

[junior4949]

I just read where Penn State, Alabama, and Notre Dame are all in the top 10. It has been many, many years since this has happened. Neither of the 3 above mentioned have had the success that we have had at Nebraska in the last 10 years, but all are having more now. Alabama and Notre Dame both have different coaches than they had 4 years ago. I believe Alabama is on it's 4th coach in 4 years (that's counting Price).

 

Alabama has had numerous violations and had probation from NCAA. Alabama is working from reduced scholarship numbers. Yet, they're ranked in the top 10. It's phenomenal if you think about it the way Alabama has responded. Franchione bolted out of Alabama once more infractions were uncovered after the 2002 season. Price came in, and we all know how that situation erupted. These players have been through a lot, yet they have prevailed. Alabama hasn't had a top 10 recruiting class for quite some time, but they continue to do one thing: WIN.

 

Notre Dame has had a lot of ups and downs the past 10 years. They fired their coach last year who some thought had the program going into the right direction. It was discussed extensively before the year started how tough it would be for Notre Dame to win due to their extremely high academic standards. Many analysts felt like it was a no win situation because the best athletes more than likley wouldn't be able to meet those strigent academic standards. Urban Meyer passed on what he once was quoted as saying was a "dream job". In comes Weiss (sp). He said he didn't care about the academic standards because he needed extremely intelligent players to run his scheme. Notre Dame hasn't had a top 10 recruiting class for quite a while either. Yet, they are in the top 10.

 

Penn State has been catching a lot of flack the past 4 years about having a coach that was too old and out of touch with modern day football. He's coming off of a 4-7 season. Many alumn's and fans were calling for Joe Pa's job begging him to step down. They are 6-0, and they are in the top 10. He has changed his offense to a spread option, and he had an outstanding recruiting class this year. He has many freshmen making immediate impacts with 3 having stellar years. It has been said that the best recruits won't come to Penn State because they aren't as flashy as some of the other colleges running the WCO. Yet, Penn State is undefeated and ranked in the top 10.

 

None of us know how any of these teams will finish out the year. However, I think we can draw some distinct differences between those teams and ours. NU is a storied program just like the 3 above mentioned, but NU has not had nearly as much adversity of any of these schools. Only one of the three has helped turn around their teams with recruits. The other two are doing it through coaching, scheme, and probably some luck. We have been sold a bag of goods by Steve Pederson. We were told that great recruiting would bring us back to the promise land. We were told that we needed a pro style offense to get these great recruits. Alabama and Notre Dame are not winning because of recruits. Penn State is not winning with the WCO.

 

Football is just like anything else in life. In order to succeed, you must first believe. Football is still 70 percent mental and 30 percent physical. We do not need to have the best recruits in the land to return to excellence. Tom Osbourne never had a top recruiting class, but he found a way to win with what he had. It really doesn't matter what offense is ran as long as it is executed correctly. If Notre Dame had recruited the same class we had coming into this year, 1/3 of those recruits never would have made the academic standards. Oklahoma has fallen on hard times this year. It is not due to a lack of talent as they've had top 10 recruting classes the last 4 years. It's due to lack of confidence, leadership, and execution.

 

Nebraska may make it back on top, but it won't be because we have the best athletes or because we have the WCO. It will be because our players believe in each other, believe in the coaching staff, and they believe they will win no matter what. We're getting there one game at a time. However, it must be noted that we are relying more and more from recruits that were not BC's. BC is learning a lot about the college game right now. He's learning that pieces or the puzzle can't simply be found in the off season. He's learning to rely more heavily upon veteran players. He's learning that college kids don't have the time or motivation to devote their undivided attention to football. The team is growing together right now, but we're still fragile. One big set back could easily have a hangover affect for the rest of the season as happened last year after the TT game. We're getting there, but we're not there yet. The point of all this is: 1) the WCO is not what will make us contenders again. 2) great recruits are just that, but they are not necessarily a recipe for winning as they will never be bigger than the game itself!

[skersfan]

Most felt Notre Dame would have been winning this year with the talent they have gotten the last couple of years. They did not change their system, somewhat WCO by both coaches. Weis just did not have to do the work that BC has had to do.

 

Penn State got two or three 5 star recruits this past class and they are playing. I can not say much about Alabama. But they have been down the longest.

 

We had a great game Saturday. NO we did not win. But the future was displayed.

 

But this is not new for Nebraska. We have lost many games we should not have lost when the storied Coach was here. Iowa State, Missouri, Kansas State, Colorado, all have risen from the dead during the watch of Osborne and Solich. Pairity is happening.

[Eric the Red]

Back on

[IrishAZ]

I heard something interesting on the radio today. Of the Top 10 teams, 9 of them have won National Championships in the past. The exception being Va Tech.

 

Concerning Weis and the amount of work that needed to be done...consistent with Junior's contention, there was a ton of work required and most of it was mental. Many times Weis had commented on the fact that the team was finally starting to believe they could win - the implication being they didn't believe it before.

 

That's the beauty of college football, I think. The NFL is so overcoached and overthought it's almost clinical. College ball, however, is all about heart and belief.

 

IRISH!

GBR!

[skersfan]

Buy what you want from Weis. The talent was there to run the offense he wanted to run. Now I will say he is recruiting our butts off right now. There has never been a problem of getting talent to ND. Tyrone changed the offense just like BC. I think he would have done well this year, just like Zook at Florida. We did not have the level of talent to even win with our old offense, let alone a new one. Time corrects things.

[bigredhusker427]

I feel like Alabama is overrated. Maybe they are pretty good but I think until they beat LSU and Tennesee, they won't really be "back."

[DJR313]

I feel like Alabama is overrated. Maybe they are pretty good but I think until they beat LSU and Tennesee, they won't really be "back."

I think both of the teams you just mentioned aren't as good as the team that Alabama pummelled a week ago.

[Pedro Guerrero]

ND 02 and 03 classes had 18 and 2 guys. These kids would be their upperclassmen right now. Don't tell me they don't have talent. That is a load of crap. If I'm not mistaken Alabama has had a Top 20 class each of the last two years. I believe Penn State has been in the Top 25 the last four years. I could be wrong about PSU though.

 

If football is 70% mental then why was Troy Davis so good? That guy was borderline retarded.

[skersfan]

Teams that have the talent rise to the top no matter the coaching according to some. I guess that is some what accurate. Most refer to Texas, well I would take the job poor old useless Mack Brown has done. Every year in the top ten or top 5 what a terrible plight to have to carry.

 

It is normal for Alabama and Penn State to have very good recruiting classes compared to what Nebraska gets. Much larger population and get the home grown kids that normally rank considerably higher than Nebraska kids. Not saying we do not have talent, but the population base allows them to do a better job even if it is not rated as high. Notre Dame always has talent and always will. Too many coaching changes cause their problems. Weis inhertited a goldmine, it just was not quite as loaded ast Florida. Meyers felt he had a better chance of winning with Florida talent than ND talent.

 

Notre Dame will be hard to stop from now on. Weis has hit the recruiting hard. They have quite a few top 100 athletes and with super bowl rings on your finger it opens the door rather quickly, especially with an offensive genius doing the recuriting. They will rise to power very quickly and may dominate like SC is doing now in a few years. I think they are the only ones that have that ability due to their fan base.

 

But Alabama has been down for a long time. I hope they make it back to being a top ten school. I want Oklahoma back up there to. College football does not look right with Boise State, Louisville and Utah up there to me.

[IrishAZ]

ND 02 and 03 classes had 18 and 2 guys. These kids would be their upperclassmen right now. Don't tell me they don't have talent. That is a load of crap. If I'm not mistaken Alabama has had a Top 20 class each of the last two years. I believe Penn State has been in the Top 25 the last four years. I could be wrong about PSU though.

 

That's kind of what I was getting at, newearth...ND had good athletes, but we still sucked - and obviously so. New coach, new attitude, better results (and I'm not talking about the 8-0 start Ty had...even us diehard Domer homers knew it was smoke and mirrors).

 

I still hold to the mantra that good coaching (not just HC, but position coaches as well) can make up for even huge deficits in raw talent.

 

If football is 70% mental then why was Troy Davis so good?  That guy was borderline retarded.

[DaveH]

If football is 70% mental then why was Troy Davis so good? That guy was borderline retarded.

[bigredhusker427]

The USC game will determine if Notre Dame is "back" or not. Also Alabama has to play Tennessee, LSU, and Auburn and I think they will lose 2 of those games. Penn State may be the genuinely good team that has returned to glory this year, that is if they beat Michigan at the Big House which may be harder than you think.

[nu4everfan15]

i think psu is just winning cause they are at home... did u hear that crowd last sat... wen they play in ann arbor they will go down... i think that bama is the best team out of these three. great defense and an offense with a leader at qb and a tough rb... they will only loose once

[mcrooks7]

i think psu is just winning cause they are at home... did u hear that crowd last sat... wen they play in ann arbor they will go down... i think that bama is the best team out of these three. great defense and an offense with a leader at qb and a tough rb... they will only loose once

Watch what you say there, you could be saying the same thing about us. All of our big games have been at home.

[IndyHusker]

i think PSU is for real, they had some definite holes that got filled by freshman, and robinson is finally staying at one position. bama is a good example of believing you can win, aswell as ND. IMO i think thats why this years huskers are playing better, they believe in each other more than last year. they have developed some trust in their coaches too it IMO, which seemed like it was lacking last year.