A few reminders for the Nebraska fans on the ledge...

[VectorVictor]

...of the capital building or Oldfather Hall...because frankly, there aren't any other buildings in Lincoln tall enough.

 

1. With apologies to 1970, 1994, and 1997, the 1995 and 1971 teams are/were special for a reason--they only happen once every 30-40 years. By all rights, this gives Bo until 2035 to produce a team that can beat Sister Mary Immaculate of the Blind *and* the whole of the SEC by 50+ points. Until then, we will continue to have close calls, just like the 1970, 1994, and 1997 squads had.

 

2. Even Dr. Tom had down games where our superior lines and talent just didn't materialize--1992 Iowa State and the infamous 1997 Missouri come to mind. Sometimes we can overcome with sound coaching, and sometimes even God's own Dr. Tom couldn't even change how things are going.

 

3. We need to remember that these players are kids learning how to become men. Many of them, including some on our O-Line and backfield, couldn't smoke up or play Powerball (the lottery kind--not the A&M kind) until just a few months ago.

 

4. Bo is in his fourth year of coaching. Again, using the anointed St. Osborne the Pure as someone to measure against, Dr. Tom's 1976 results were as follows (with thanks to HuskerMax):

 

Date Opponent Site Result AP Rank Att.

NU/Opp

09/11 Louisiana St. Baton Rouge T 6-6 1/ 70,746

09/18 Indiana Bloomington W 45-13 8/ 41,289

09/25 Texas Christian Lincoln W 64-10 6/ 74,981

10/02 Miami Lincoln W 17-9 5/ 76,155

10/09 #Colorado Boulder W 24-12 6/ 53,538

10/16 #Kansas State-HC Lincoln W 51-0 3/ 76,150

10/23 #Missouri Lincoln L 24-34 3/17 76,051

10/30 #Kansas Lawrence W 31-3 9/ 58,050

11/06 #Oklahoma St. Lincoln W 14-10 9/13 76,272

11/13 #Iowa State Ames L 28-37 9/ 51,500

11/26 #Oklahoma Lincoln L 17-20 10/8 76,247

12/04 Hawaii Honolulu W 68-3 13/ 33,737

12/31 +Texas Tech* Houston W 27-24 13/9 48,618

 

In hindsight, it's no wonder Nebraska fans were ready to run Dr. Tom out on a rail to Boulder--he was horrible against unranked LSU, Miami, and of all things holy, Iowa State. (Note--flubbed this up originally and said La. Tech. Apologies to all 10 La Tech fans in existence.)

 

Were we to have the visionaries on this board back in 1976, we could have simply discarded with this dead weight Osborne and hired someone with a prolific offensive mind. [/sarcasm]

 

5. Pat Hill is a respected coach and tactician, folks. His Fresno State teams have beat better schools on their home turf. The man is building a legacy there, and in his 13 years, he's only had one (IIRC) losing season. And that's in spite of having to schedule the upper-crust BCS schools as non-cons to do it.

 

Give the man some credit--he's been doing this longer than Bo and Carl have, and yet Bo/Carl were able to overcome.

 

6. Rome wasn't built in a day, and after Nero's reign, it took about four to six years (some say more) to right the ship known as the Roman Empire. Like Rome and their efforts to wipe Nero's existence away from the annals of history, we're still feeling the effects of our Nero to this day--our fragility as a fanbase still exhibits this, not unlike the political fragility of Rome that followed Nero's ouster.

 

7. If you've ever been in the bottom of a dogpile, it's very hard to breathe. Let's not dogpile on Bo, Beck, Carl, et al--no one has fumbled the ball just yet.

 

Just some thoughts. Hope it takes someone off the proverbial ledge, if for but a moment.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

So much of this season is still up in the air, I find it hard to believe people are willing to jump off the edge after just 2 games. This game against Washington will prove how ready we are for the Wisconsin game. If we suck there, I'm going to be concerned. But I have the feeling Nebraska is going to come out firing on all cylinders and just dominate UDub

[arkiehusker]

[RedDenver]

+1,000,000 to you, sir. Fans seem to have forgotten or blocked out all the times TO's teams weren't perfect. I think the tremendous run to end his career has blinded many to all the criticisms of Osborne that came before. Heck, even during the run fans and media were all over Frost and what a terrible QB he was despite the fact he was 11-2 as a first year starter.

 

This team is not where fans hope it is, and probably never will be no matter how good they are. This is a sport played by young men, not professionals, so enjoy all the drama - good and bad - that comes with it.

[typ3kal]

I only jump after losses. Close wins don't push me over.

[VectorVictor]

So much of this season is still up in the air, I find it hard to believe people are willing to jump off the edge after just 2 games. This game against Washington will prove how ready we are for the Wisconsin game. If we suck there, I'm going to be concerned. But I have the feeling Nebraska is going to come out firing on all cylinders and just dominate UDub

 

And because of a less-than-stellar showing against Fresno State, no less.

 

We've seen Fresno State, in lesser years for their school, take down higher-ranked teams. That we engineered (escaped?) with a 13-point win with WAC officials that make Big XII officials look competent would be celebrated elsewhere.

 

Plus, it could be worse--we could be Iowa, Indiana, or Ohio State.

 

Or worse yet, we could be Baylor and realize no matter how many game we win, we're still going to Conference USA.

[junior4949]

If we were willing to give coaches until "2035", Solich or Callahan would still be on the sidelines. College football has changed considerably in the past 30-40 years. Right or wrong, everything is about wins, losses, and money. Look at how close we are to super conferences. As time goes by, college football is looking more and more like the NFL every day. Win now, or go home. We're not there yet. I'd like to think Bo has at least another four years coaching the program before we make a decision. We're in good shape for the most part this year. Iowa just lost to Iowa State. Ohio State nearly drizzled one down their leg to Toledo. The sun is still shining over Nebraska.

[irafreak]

I would just like to take this post to say i find great irony in an exaggerated thread title in response to overreaction by fans.

[Lil' Red]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Louisiana St. LSU?

[knapplc]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Louisiana St. LSU?

 

That's their alias when they're running from the cops.

[theknife]

[okaive]

I remember seeing during the game that they had listed some coaches and how many years it took to get their first MNC. I think 4 was the lowest and 8 was looking to be the average.

 

In no way am I calling for Bo's head, even if we lose this game. If it takes 8 years to win the MNC, then it does (just hope to win a conference title though). But I'll be damned if I won't be criticizing him for near misses and losses.

[walksalone]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Louisiana St. LSU?

 

That's their alias when they're running from the cops.

 

or after they lose to Arkansas

[Hunter94]

If we were willing to give coaches until "2035", Solich or Callahan would still be on the sidelines. College football has changed considerably in the past 30-40 years. Right or wrong, everything is about wins, losses, and money. Look at how close we are to super conferences. As time goes by, college football is looking more and more like the NFL every day. Win now, or go home. We're not there yet. I'd like to think Bo has at least another four years coaching the program before we make a decision. We're in good shape for the most part this year. Iowa just lost to Iowa State. Ohio State nearly drizzled one down their leg to Toledo. The sun is still shining over Nebraska.

 

and Michigan beat the Domers in a game ND should have won....Kelly won't last long unless he gets it going....

[OmahaPlaya]

Awesome thread and a great reminder to the short memory fans.