2011 vs 2003

[Stumpy1]

What are the differences between the schemes of Pelini as DC in '03 to now? Was it 2-gap then? It seemed like the 'skers played more aggressive and attacked more in '03, forcing record amounts of turnovers. Were Ruud, Bullocks, and co. just that good? Did they have a better supporting cast? Or did he use a scheme that Solich wanted him to run and the scheme now is totally his own?

we blitzed/applied pressure - we caused turnovers. we have 10 interceptions this year. Bullocks had 10 himself in 03'. 32 total for the team. Add in 15 fumbles and we caused 47 turnovers compared to 18 this year. And that is the difference between 03' Pelini and 11' Pelini. Imagine if we caused almost 2.5 more turnovers per game this year. We wouldn't be sitting at 9-3.

And this is what I don't get about his scheme the last couple years. He said that we run it to make the offense work for their yards and hope for a mistake by them to give us the ball back. Why not try to force them into making the mistakes by going after them and hurrying their decisions. I think Pelini can scheme like no other, but sometimes he needs to mix it up alittle.

[kchusker_chris]

you're right. if this year proves anything - in the B1G, waiting for the other team to make a mistake isn't going to yield turnovers. Not enough to swing the game. Averaging 1.5 turnovers a game? That number just doesn't have a big enough impact on the outcome. Averaging 3.5? That'll win you games.

[junior4949]

I also think it was pretty important that one of the drubbings that year was K-State and it was at home, IIRC. I remember at some point reading an article in the paper that said Pedey was going around telling people (boosters?) that "we're doing something about this."

 

I don't know why this game would have been the tipping point. K-State more than likely would have played for and potentially won the NC that year had El Roberson not gotten hurt during the season missing a couple games where they struggled. K-State completely laid the wood that year to OU who was thought to be one of the best teams ever until K-State took them to the shed. K-State was a better team in 2003 than Wisconsin, Michigan, and Northwestern in 2011.

[Blaze1up]

2011 are steps in the right direction. 2003 were two trains traveling down the same track head on.

[Hammerhead]

I still remember the newspaper cartoon with a guy standing by the side of a lake, sopping wet, with Pederson looking at Pearlmann and saying, "He can't walk on water. He's not qualified."

 

Husker Nation was definitely shocked that Solich was fired.

 

It might not have been the wrong move to give Solich the deuces, but the timing (and the subsequent house-cleaning and hiring) was strange.

[DJR313]

If Pelini stays in the 8-4/10-2 range, he will never get fired here. That mistake was made once, and I don't think it will ever be made again. It will be a little disappointing to not get back to National Title level, but the coach will never get fired for keeping things in this range. I still think we need to strive for titles, but firing 9-3 coaches will most likely not happen again, provided the coach is representing the state and University well, and the program is otherwise clean.

[JJ Husker]

I was driving across the state of Iowa today and was thinking of Husker football. For some reason I got to thinking of how this season, at least on the surface, compared to 2003 which resulted in the firing of Solich. In both seasons we finished 9-3, in both seasons we had just revamped our coaching staff, in both seasons we had some very ugly losses, in both seasons we lost late to get knocked out of the ccg, and in both seasons our regular season final ranking was in the 20's. We actually had a worse loss this season than we did in 2003, but we also had a close loss this season which we did not have in 03. The two seasons seem surprisingly similar.

 

I cannot imagine seeing Bo fired at this point, but we saw that happen in 03 and it was not shocking. Looking back, I'm not sure we are much different now than we were then, but our road has been much worse than it would have been had Solich not been fired, imo. With all we have been through and all the changes I just find it interesting to see that we've gone "full circle." And for the record, this is not intended to be a fire Pelini thread, it is just an observation that I find interesting.

I think the similarities end with the records. It did appear in 2003 that the program was in decline and IMO that is not the case in 2011. I am in no way defending canning Solich when and how Pederson did or the ensuing fiasco but, if he had fired Solich at the end of the previous season, I think there would have been a lot more buy-in from the fans. And, who knows, we might've been lucky enough to not acquire Clownahan 1 year earlier and possibly Pederson gets hit by a train before having the opportunity to dismantle everything..... Personally, I sense no similarities between the 2003 & 2011 seasons or the trajectory of the programs at those times. Talk of getting rid of Bo at this time is, and should be, reserved for a few on the irrational radical fringe.

[junior4949]

I was driving across the state of Iowa today and was thinking of Husker football. For some reason I got to thinking of how this season, at least on the surface, compared to 2003 which resulted in the firing of Solich. In both seasons we finished 9-3, in both seasons we had just revamped our coaching staff, in both seasons we had some very ugly losses, in both seasons we lost late to get knocked out of the ccg, and in both seasons our regular season final ranking was in the 20's. We actually had a worse loss this season than we did in 2003, but we also had a close loss this season which we did not have in 03. The two seasons seem surprisingly similar.

 

I cannot imagine seeing Bo fired at this point, but we saw that happen in 03 and it was not shocking. Looking back, I'm not sure we are much different now than we were then, but our road has been much worse than it would have been had Solich not been fired, imo. With all we have been through and all the changes I just find it interesting to see that we've gone "full circle." And for the record, this is not intended to be a fire Pelini thread, it is just an observation that I find interesting.

I think the similarities end with the records. It did appear in 2003 that the program was in decline and IMO that is not the case in 2011. I am in no way defending canning Solich when and how Pederson did or the ensuing fiasco but, if he had fired Solich at the end of the previous season, I think there would have been a lot more buy-in from the fans. And, who knows, we might've been lucky enough to not acquire Clownahan 1 year earlier and possibly Pederson gets hit by a train before having the opportunity to dismantle everything..... Personally, I sense no similarities between the 2003 & 2011 seasons or the trajectory of the programs at those times. Talk of getting rid of Bo at this time is, and should be, reserved for a few on the irrational radical fringe.

 

The records were basically the same. I'm not sure how you can say the program was in decline. Solich overhauled his staff after the 02' season. We either led the nation or were very close to leading the nation in takeaways in 2003. The defensive side of the ball looked very bright during the 03' season. How does the defensive side of the ball look this season? If Solich was fired for his coaching ability, he should have been fired after the 02' season. It made absolutely zero sense to fire him for his coaching ability after the 2003 season when some of his assistants were in their first year. We had some great young players especially on the defensive side of the ball going into the 2004 season. I just don't get the program in decline argument when you factor in that BC inherited more top three round NFL draft picks from Solich than Solich inherited from TO.

[JJ Husker]

I was driving across the state of Iowa today and was thinking of Husker football. For some reason I got to thinking of how this season, at least on the surface, compared to 2003 which resulted in the firing of Solich. In both seasons we finished 9-3, in both seasons we had just revamped our coaching staff, in both seasons we had some very ugly losses, in both seasons we lost late to get knocked out of the ccg, and in both seasons our regular season final ranking was in the 20's. We actually had a worse loss this season than we did in 2003, but we also had a close loss this season which we did not have in 03. The two seasons seem surprisingly similar.

 

I cannot imagine seeing Bo fired at this point, but we saw that happen in 03 and it was not shocking. Looking back, I'm not sure we are much different now than we were then, but our road has been much worse than it would have been had Solich not been fired, imo. With all we have been through and all the changes I just find it interesting to see that we've gone "full circle." And for the record, this is not intended to be a fire Pelini thread, it is just an observation that I find interesting.

I think the similarities end with the records. It did appear in 2003 that the program was in decline and IMO that is not the case in 2011. I am in no way defending canning Solich when and how Pederson did or the ensuing fiasco but, if he had fired Solich at the end of the previous season, I think there would have been a lot more buy-in from the fans. And, who knows, we might've been lucky enough to not acquire Clownahan 1 year earlier and possibly Pederson gets hit by a train before having the opportunity to dismantle everything..... Personally, I sense no similarities between the 2003 & 2011 seasons or the trajectory of the programs at those times. Talk of getting rid of Bo at this time is, and should be, reserved for a few on the irrational radical fringe.

 

The records were basically the same. I'm not sure how you can say the program was in decline. Solich overhauled his staff after the 02' season. We either led the nation or were very close to leading the nation in takeaways in 2003. The defensive side of the ball looked very bright during the 03' season. How does the defensive side of the ball look this season? If Solich was fired for his coaching ability, he should have been fired after the 02' season. It made absolutely zero sense to fire him for his coaching ability after the 2003 season when some of his assistants were in their first year. We had some great young players especially on the defensive side of the ball going into the 2004 season. I just don't get the program in decline argument when you factor in that BC inherited more top three round NFL draft picks from Solich than Solich inherited from TO.

I pretty much agree with everything you just said. In fact I think you basically repeated what I was trying to say. I do not in any way, shape, or form think that Frank should have been fired when or how he was. I misspoke on the decline statement. I meant to say the "perception" of many was that the program was in decline and I believe much of that was due to the prior season and the season ending debacle in Boulder. I don't necessarily think the program was in "decline" at that time but, there is no arguing that it was "down" from the mid to late 90's heyday. It is a lot easier to put it in the proper perspective 8 years later than it was at the time. And, for full disclosure, I was not much of a Solich fan at the end of the 2002 season. I could've accepted his firing at the end of 2002 but not when they did. I probably can't expain my feelings any better but I simply sense no similarities between 2003 and 2011. Might just be that I am just more hopeful with Bo than I was with Frank.

[huskerjack23]

What are the differences between the schemes of Pelini as DC in '03 to now? Was it 2-gap then? It seemed like the 'skers played more aggressive and attacked more in '03, forcing record amounts of turnovers. Were Ruud, Bullocks, and co. just that good? Did they have a better supporting cast? Or did he use a scheme that Solich wanted him to run and the scheme now is totally his own?

we blitzed/applied pressure - we caused turnovers. we have 10 interceptions this year. Bullocks had 10 himself in 03'. 32 total for the team. Add in 15 fumbles and we caused 47 turnovers compared to 18 this year. And that is the difference between 03' Pelini and 11' Pelini. Imagine if we caused almost 2.5 more turnovers per game this year. We wouldn't be sitting at 9-3.

This is what I'm trying to understand. What was it about '03 that made Pelini's defense a turnover machine versus now and the inability of today's defense.

[junior4949]

I was driving across the state of Iowa today and was thinking of Husker football. For some reason I got to thinking of how this season, at least on the surface, compared to 2003 which resulted in the firing of Solich. In both seasons we finished 9-3, in both seasons we had just revamped our coaching staff, in both seasons we had some very ugly losses, in both seasons we lost late to get knocked out of the ccg, and in both seasons our regular season final ranking was in the 20's. We actually had a worse loss this season than we did in 2003, but we also had a close loss this season which we did not have in 03. The two seasons seem surprisingly similar.

 

I cannot imagine seeing Bo fired at this point, but we saw that happen in 03 and it was not shocking. Looking back, I'm not sure we are much different now than we were then, but our road has been much worse than it would have been had Solich not been fired, imo. With all we have been through and all the changes I just find it interesting to see that we've gone "full circle." And for the record, this is not intended to be a fire Pelini thread, it is just an observation that I find interesting.

I think the similarities end with the records. It did appear in 2003 that the program was in decline and IMO that is not the case in 2011. I am in no way defending canning Solich when and how Pederson did or the ensuing fiasco but, if he had fired Solich at the end of the previous season, I think there would have been a lot more buy-in from the fans. And, who knows, we might've been lucky enough to not acquire Clownahan 1 year earlier and possibly Pederson gets hit by a train before having the opportunity to dismantle everything..... Personally, I sense no similarities between the 2003 & 2011 seasons or the trajectory of the programs at those times. Talk of getting rid of Bo at this time is, and should be, reserved for a few on the irrational radical fringe.

 

The records were basically the same. I'm not sure how you can say the program was in decline. Solich overhauled his staff after the 02' season. We either led the nation or were very close to leading the nation in takeaways in 2003. The defensive side of the ball looked very bright during the 03' season. How does the defensive side of the ball look this season? If Solich was fired for his coaching ability, he should have been fired after the 02' season. It made absolutely zero sense to fire him for his coaching ability after the 2003 season when some of his assistants were in their first year. We had some great young players especially on the defensive side of the ball going into the 2004 season. I just don't get the program in decline argument when you factor in that BC inherited more top three round NFL draft picks from Solich than Solich inherited from TO.

I pretty much agree with everything you just said. In fact I think you basically repeated what I was trying to say. I do not in any way, shape, or form think that Frank should have been fired when or how he was. I misspoke on the decline statement. I meant to say the "perception" of many was that the program was in decline and I believe much of that was due to the prior season and the season ending debacle in Boulder. I don't necessarily think the program was in "decline" at that time but, there is no arguing that it was "down" from the mid to late 90's heyday. It is a lot easier to put it in the proper perspective 8 years later than it was at the time. And, for full disclosure, I was not much of a Solich fan at the end of the 2002 season. I could've accepted his firing at the end of 2002 but not when they did. I probably can't expain my feelings any better but I simply sense no similarities between 2003 and 2011. Might just be that I am just more hopeful with Bo than I was with Frank.

 

Is the reason you're more hopeful with Bo than Frank have anything to do with Frank followed TO and Bo followed BC? If we base the current state of the program to the mid-90's, Nebraska's program will always be down. I highly doubt we ever see a run like that again.

[JJ Husker]

I was driving across the state of Iowa today and was thinking of Husker football. For some reason I got to thinking of how this season, at least on the surface, compared to 2003 which resulted in the firing of Solich. In both seasons we finished 9-3, in both seasons we had just revamped our coaching staff, in both seasons we had some very ugly losses, in both seasons we lost late to get knocked out of the ccg, and in both seasons our regular season final ranking was in the 20's. We actually had a worse loss this season than we did in 2003, but we also had a close loss this season which we did not have in 03. The two seasons seem surprisingly similar.

 

I cannot imagine seeing Bo fired at this point, but we saw that happen in 03 and it was not shocking. Looking back, I'm not sure we are much different now than we were then, but our road has been much worse than it would have been had Solich not been fired, imo. With all we have been through and all the changes I just find it interesting to see that we've gone "full circle." And for the record, this is not intended to be a fire Pelini thread, it is just an observation that I find interesting.

I think the similarities end with the records. It did appear in 2003 that the program was in decline and IMO that is not the case in 2011. I am in no way defending canning Solich when and how Pederson did or the ensuing fiasco but, if he had fired Solich at the end of the previous season, I think there would have been a lot more buy-in from the fans. And, who knows, we might've been lucky enough to not acquire Clownahan 1 year earlier and possibly Pederson gets hit by a train before having the opportunity to dismantle everything..... Personally, I sense no similarities between the 2003 & 2011 seasons or the trajectory of the programs at those times. Talk of getting rid of Bo at this time is, and should be, reserved for a few on the irrational radical fringe.

 

The records were basically the same. I'm not sure how you can say the program was in decline. Solich overhauled his staff after the 02' season. We either led the nation or were very close to leading the nation in takeaways in 2003. The defensive side of the ball looked very bright during the 03' season. How does the defensive side of the ball look this season? If Solich was fired for his coaching ability, he should have been fired after the 02' season. It made absolutely zero sense to fire him for his coaching ability after the 2003 season when some of his assistants were in their first year. We had some great young players especially on the defensive side of the ball going into the 2004 season. I just don't get the program in decline argument when you factor in that BC inherited more top three round NFL draft picks from Solich than Solich inherited from TO.

I pretty much agree with everything you just said. In fact I think you basically repeated what I was trying to say. I do not in any way, shape, or form think that Frank should have been fired when or how he was. I misspoke on the decline statement. I meant to say the "perception" of many was that the program was in decline and I believe much of that was due to the prior season and the season ending debacle in Boulder. I don't necessarily think the program was in "decline" at that time but, there is no arguing that it was "down" from the mid to late 90's heyday. It is a lot easier to put it in the proper perspective 8 years later than it was at the time. And, for full disclosure, I was not much of a Solich fan at the end of the 2002 season. I could've accepted his firing at the end of 2002 but not when they did. I probably can't expain my feelings any better but I simply sense no similarities between 2003 and 2011. Might just be that I am just more hopeful with Bo than I was with Frank.

 

Is the reason you're more hopeful with Bo than Frank have anything to do with Frank followed TO and Bo followed BC? If we base the current state of the program to the mid-90's, Nebraska's program will always be down. I highly doubt we ever see a run like that again.

Yes, I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. When TO retired we also lost a brilliant Offensive play caller. Frank probably would've been ok as a head coach but it seemed he didn't figure out quite quick enough that he couldn't handle all that TO did. It isn't realistic to judge/compare anyone against Tom or Clownahan. Something about opposite ends of the spectrum. I do feel Bo has more of a competitive fire than Frank displayed and that more than anything probably contributes to my differing views-might be as simple as demeanor and stature. 3 in 4 years, with all the near misses leading up to it, would be quite the feat in todays environment. If that is what we really desire, it isn't going to be a less than 20 year project to get there. That is one of the reasons I get so frustrated with people acting like 4-5-6 years is the time horizon for a full return to dominance. I can handle a bunch of 9-10 win seasons as long as I sense things are getting on track to stay there. Sprinkle in the occasional 8 win or 11 win season and sit back and wait for the stars to perfectly align again. Coaches can create the environment to allow a run like that but they can't directly cause it happen. It takes a near perfect combination of factors, that was not easy to come by in the mid 90's and would be much tougher today. I will still get frustrated and complain every single time I feel the coaches or players are not functioning up to their potential, much the way I felt most of this season.

[bshirt]

I also think it was pretty important that one of the drubbings that year was K-State and it was at home, IIRC. I remember at some point reading an article in the paper that said Pedey was going around telling people (boosters?) that "we're doing something about this."

 

I don't know why this game would have been the tipping point. K-State more than likely would have played for and potentially won the NC that year had El Roberson not gotten hurt during the season missing a couple games where they struggled. K-State completely laid the wood that year to OU who was thought to be one of the best teams ever until K-State took them to the shed. K-State was a better team in 2003 than Wisconsin, Michigan, and Northwestern in 2011.

 

Very good point. It was one of Snyder's best to be sure.

 

That 2003 KSU team was downright vicious when healthy and 50 country miles better than 2011 Michigan & NW. Most probably better than 2011 Wisconsin too as you stated.

 

It's crazy to use that game as justification for firing our staff for "only" going 10 - 3.

[majech]

I was driving across the state of Iowa today and was thinking of Husker football. For some reason I got to thinking of how this season, at least on the surface, compared to 2003 which resulted in the firing of Solich. In both seasons we finished 9-3, in both seasons we had just revamped our coaching staff, in both seasons we had some very ugly losses, in both seasons we lost late to get knocked out of the ccg, and in both seasons our regular season final ranking was in the 20's. We actually had a worse loss this season than we did in 2003, but we also had a close loss this season which we did not have in 03. The two seasons seem surprisingly similar.

 

I cannot imagine seeing Bo fired at this point, but we saw that happen in 03 and it was not shocking. Looking back, I'm not sure we are much different now than we were then, but our road has been much worse than it would have been had Solich not been fired, imo. With all we have been through and all the changes I just find it interesting to see that we've gone "full circle." And for the record, this is not intended to be a fire Pelini thread, it is just an observation that I find interesting.

I actually disagree with that part. I thought it was very shocking when Solich got fired. As everybody else said though, the man running the show Pedey boy, was a bit out of his league. I would feel the same level of shock if Bo was to be let go anytime soon. These coaches have got to get more time to do their jobs. We don't want to look like the idiots running the program down in Kansas.

 

+1000 Majech, were you locked in a closet when this went down? It was huge and very shocking news that a 9 win coach was fired. There were many articles and comments made on ESPN in regards to it. Why do you think we had such a hard time hiring a new coach? Callahan was like our 6th pick? The previous 5 turned us down because you would have to be a complete fool to work for a guy that fires you after a 9 win season.

 

I'm not saying he should have been fired. It was ridiculous to fire a HC during a 10 win season coming off of a 7 win season. I guess what I was saying about it not being shocking is that there had been grumblings about the possibility of him being fired for some time. Even the year before, there was talk of him being fired. While if definitely ignited a fire-storm, there had been some indicators especially after the loss to KState in Lincoln. Many speculated that a win over Colorado would help, but Pedieshine had already made up his mind.

[irafreak]

The firing of FS also came BEFORE ksu pounded OU to win the title. But I agree completely. Had that team not lost Roberson to start the season they might have been facing OU in a 1vs2 matchup...