Nebraska comfortable with title talk

[Saunders]

Asked what would qualify as a successful season, safety P.J. Smith spells it out clearly.

 

"Win it all," he said. "First start off winning our first couple of games, winning the conference games, winning the Big Ten championship, winning the national championship. If we don't win that, it's a disappointing season."

 

....

 

"It's a big jump to go from a 9-4 to a 13-1 or a 14-0 season," wide receiver Kenny Bell said. "But if you don't believe wholeheartedly in a goal, there's no point in trying to chase it. As a collective group, we're really starting to believe that we can win championships around here. We've got the talent. Now we've got to buckle in and finish.

 

"Last year, we absolutely beat ourselves out of a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl."

 

http://espn.go.com/b...with-title-talk

 

 

This should be fun...

[ADS]

I love the confidence they have in front of a microphone, but for god's sake prove it on the field. We heard the same thing in 2010 when Texas came to town. Mental errors are not what a 13-1 or 14-0 team does. I do think this team will be improved compared to last year, and winning 10 games is not out of the cards.

[kchusker_chris]

haha - here we go again saunders

 

at the end of the day... what else would you want them to say though? "we're really going to try hard to get 10 wins this season". naw, this is what every college football player in the nation is saying right now. only 1 team gets to accomplish their goal...many have a much, much better chance at it than we do, but we have a better chance than most of the 120 so at least we've got that going for us.

[robsker]

you ask what I'd like them to say... here goes...

 

"We as a team have not proven anything yet and have not earned the respect of anyone. We come from a proud tradition of excellence at NU and what we currently are trying to do is play to the level of what is worthy of NU. We want to lift harder than any of our opponents --- to study film more rigerously, practice harder, play with more passion, heart and drive than anyone in the nation. Our goal is to earn respect on the field. One game at a time. effort, intensity and focus --- every player, every play of every game. One game at a time. No goals regarding rankings or anything --- our goal is to make night and day improvement in every area. Total dedication to the task. Championships and all that take care of themselves --- all we can control is our dedication to improvement --- and if we can improve as we think we can good things should happen."

 

Path not position should be in view. Process rather than destination. What you can control rather than pie-in-the-sky crazy talk regarding championships and things you cannot control.

['SkersRule]

"Last year, we absolutely beat ourselves out of a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl."

 

Never have truer words been spoken. '11 Nebraska literally took themselves out of championship contention with stupid mistakes.

[robsker]

"Last year, we absolutely beat ourselves out of a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl."

 

Never have truer words been spoken. '11 Nebraska literally took themselves out of championship contention with stupid mistakes.

"Last year, we absolutely beat ourselves out of a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl."

 

Never have truer words been spoken. '11 Nebraska literally took themselves out of championship contention with stupid mistakes.

 

 

Hmnn.... last year the lack of focus, the lack of intensity, the lack of fundemental execution and the lack of solid preparation did cost the Huskers a great deal. But... we were beaten by several teams that had superior coaching, preparation, and focus --- they were simply better than NU.

 

Again... if I were a coach at NU and one of my players held the view that "we beat ourselves" --- I'd use that as a teaching moment and tell them this --- comments like that reflect a weakness that we should not have associated with our thinking... the weakness is an arrogance that says that we are somehow better than we played... that we are better than this, better than those who obliterated us. No... you are not better. They played harder than you. They were focused --- you were not. They played with passion... you did not. They outcoached us --- and that is our fault as coaches. So... what do you do? How do you respond? Shut up about being better than you are and work at improving. Lift, watch film, work on the basics and we as coaches will dedicate to getting better too. If you were that good.. if we were that good... we would not have gotten obliterated. Give our opponents their due. they were better than us. If you don't like that than good... I don't like it either... so change things... get to work and get better. Shut up and improve.

[HuskerShark]

Gotta love sofa coaches.

[Saunders]

"Last year, we absolutely beat ourselves out of a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl."

 

Never have truer words been spoken. '11 Nebraska literally took themselves out of championship contention with stupid mistakes.

"Last year, we absolutely beat ourselves out of a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl."

 

Never have truer words been spoken. '11 Nebraska literally took themselves out of championship contention with stupid mistakes.

 

 

Hmnn.... last year the lack of focus, the lack of intensity, the lack of fundemental execution and the lack of solid preparation did cost the Huskers a great deal. But... we were beaten by several teams that had superior coaching, preparation, and focus --- they were simply better than NU.

 

Again... if I were a coach at NU and one of my players held the view that "we beat ourselves" --- I'd use that as a teaching moment and tell them this --- comments like that reflect a weakness that we should not have associated with our thinking... the weakness is an arrogance that says that we are somehow better than we played... that we are better than this, better than those who obliterated us. No... you are not better. They played harder than you. They were focused --- you were not. They played with passion... you did not. They outcoached us --- and that is our fault as coaches. So... what do you do? How do you respond? Shut up about being better than you are and work at improving. Lift, watch film, work on the basics and we as coaches will dedicate to getting better too. If you were that good.. if we were that good... we would not have gotten obliterated. Give our opponents their due. they were better than us. If you don't like that than good... I don't like it either... so change things... get to work and get better. Shut up and improve.

['SkersRule]

If, and I realize this is kind of a big if, but if this Husker team does not beat themselves with penalties, turnovers, and other assorted mental errors this team could absolutely win it all-14-0. Now I realize that's a very big if but from a potential point of view this team is soooo close.

[Hunter94]

"Last year, we absolutely beat ourselves out of a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl."

 

Never have truer words been spoken. '11 Nebraska literally took themselves out of championship contention with stupid mistakes.

"Last year, we absolutely beat ourselves out of a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl."

 

Never have truer words been spoken. '11 Nebraska literally took themselves out of championship contention with stupid mistakes.

 

 

Hmnn.... last year the lack of focus, the lack of intensity, the lack of fundemental execution and the lack of solid preparation did cost the Huskers a great deal. But... we were beaten by several teams that had superior coaching, preparation, and focus --- they were simply better than NU.

 

Again... if I were a coach at NU and one of my players held the view that "we beat ourselves" --- I'd use that as a teaching moment and tell them this --- comments like that reflect a weakness that we should not have associated with our thinking... the weakness is an arrogance that says that we are somehow better than we played... that we are better than this, better than those who obliterated us. No... you are not better. They played harder than you. They were focused --- you were not. They played with passion... you did not. They outcoached us --- and that is our fault as coaches. So... what do you do? How do you respond? Shut up about being better than you are and work at improving. Lift, watch film, work on the basics and we as coaches will dedicate to getting better too. If you were that good.. if we were that good... we would not have gotten obliterated. Give our opponents their due. they were better than us. If you don't like that than good... I don't like it either... so change things... get to work and get better. Shut up and improve.

 

 

good post, several games we were flat, out-played, out-hustled and obviously out-coached........Beck and the neophyte coachs were schooled like choir boys.

i am tired if the "we beat ourselves" excuses........that assumes we had superior athletes, a superior game plan and over the top game planning......nothing could be further from the truth, we were beaten soundly by some all around superior teams.....drink all the koolaid you want, these kids talk like all they need to do is quit making mistakes, it goes a helluva lot deeper than than, boys!

[Hunter94]

If, and I realize this is kind of a big if, but if this Husker team does not beat themselves with penalties, turnovers, and other assorted mental errors this team could absolutely win it all-14-0. Now I realize that's a very big if but from a potential point of view this team is soooo close.

 

 

sorry, we are nowhere near close...........

[Saunders]

good post, several games we were flat, out-played, out-hustled and obviously out-coached........Beck and the neophyte coachs were schooled like choir boys.

i am tired if the "we beat ourselves" excuses........that assumes we had superior athletes, a superior game plan and over the top game planning......nothing could be further from the truth, we were beaten soundly by some all around superior teams.....drink all the koolaid you want, these kids talk like all they need to do is quit making mistakes, it goes a helluva lot deeper than than, boys!

The only team that was head and shoulders better than us last year was Wisconsin. We self destructed against Michigan (horrible TO's on kickoffs and bad ST play), Northwester (Two fumbles that cost us TD's) and South Carolina.

 

If Nebraska plays a clean game, they win at least 2 more games each of the last 3 years.

[sd'sker]

If, and I realize this is kind of a big if, but if this Husker team does not beat themselves with penalties, turnovers, and other assorted mental errors this team could absolutely win it all-14-0. Now I realize that's a very big if but from a potential point of view this team is soooo close.

 

 

sorry, we are nowhere near close...........

i'd say we are a year away, yet. i think we look better this year, but maybe only win 1 or 2 more games than last year. 2013 should be our year to do something special.

['SkersRule]

i am tired if the "we beat ourselves" excuses........that assumes we had superior athletes, a superior game plan and over the top game planning......nothing could be further from the truth, we were beqten soundly by some all around superior teams.....drink all the koolaid you want, these kids talk like all they need to do is quit making mistakes, it goes a helluva lot deeper than than, boys!

 

I wonder, do you actually watch football? When two teams meet and they are matched equally it is often the smallest mistakes that can sink a team. Conversely, one team capitalizing on their opponent's mistake(s) is often the difference between winning and losing. Take the game against Michigan for example. We were trailing by 7 at the half and received the opening kick-off to start the 2nd half. Kenny Bell then fumbles and Michigan gets the ball on a short field scores a TD and then they're up by 14. The we had a punt blocked because the punter didn't catch the snap properly and that gave Michigan yet another short field and easy TD opportunity now the Wolverines are up 21. The we had a very ticky-tack "roughing" the Michigan punter called against us which then put the defense back on the field after they had initially stopped the bleeding. The Wolverines were then able to move the ball down the field and score a TD and now they're up 28.

 

Against South Carolina, Nebraska had a 13-9 lead. Ameer fumbles about 5 yards from scoring a TD and Carolina recovers. That could have put NU up 20-9. Then Taylor Martinez throws and INT inside the redzone thwarting another potential TD because to that point Nebraska's offense was moving the ball up and down the field offensively with relative ease. They score there and it's 27-9 and then Brett Maher misses a FG which could have made the score 30-9. That would have been a 21 point lead agaisnt South Carolina going into halftime.

 

The point: Nebraska's self-inflicted mistakes have sunk them. To ignore the flow of the game and to fail to put what happens into context, and simply parrot the same old, tired, boilerplater, "just about every team we play is superior in talent/athletes" reflects a level of pessimism and self-loathing that you should probably seek professional, clinical help with.

[robsker]

i am tired if the "we beat ourselves" excuses........that assumes we had superior athletes, a superior game plan and over the top game planning......nothing could be further from the truth, we were beqten soundly by some all around superior teams.....drink all the koolaid you want, these kids talk like all they need to do is quit making mistakes, it goes a helluva lot deeper than than, boys!

 

I wonder, do you actually watch football? When two teams meet and they are matched equally it is often the smallest mistakes that can sink a team. Conversely, one team capitalizing on their opponent's mistake(s) is often the difference between winning and losing. Take the game against Michigan for example. We were trailing by 7 at the half and received the opening kick-off to start the 2nd half. Kenny Bell then fumbles and Michigan gets the ball on a short field scores a TD and then they're up by 14. The we had a punt blocked because the punter didn't catch the snap properly and that gave Michigan yet another short field and easy TD opportunity now the Wolverines are up 21. The we had a very ticky-tack "roughing" the Michigan punter called against us which then put the defense back on the field after they had initially stopped the bleeding. The Wolverines were then able to move the ball down the field and score a TD and now they're up 28.

 

Against South Carolina, Nebraska had a 13-9 lead. Ameer fumbles about 5 yards from scoring a TD and Carolina recovers. That could have put NU up 20-9. Then Taylor Martinez throws and INT inside the redzone thwarting another potential TD because to that point Nebraska's offense was moving the ball up and down the field offensively with relative ease. They score there and it's 27-9 and then Brett Maher misses a FG which could have made the score 30-9. That would have been a 21 point lead agaisnt South Carolina going into halftime.

 

The point: Nebraska's self-inflicted mistakes have sunk them. To ignore the flow of the game and to fail to put what happens into context, and simply parrot the same old, tired, boilerplater, "just about every team we play is superior in talent/athletes" reflects a level of pessimism and self-loathing that you should probably seek professional, clinical help with.

i am tired if the "we beat ourselves" excuses........that assumes we had superior athletes, a superior game plan and over the top game planning......nothing could be further from the truth, we were beqten soundly by some all around superior teams.....drink all the koolaid you want, these kids talk like all they need to do is quit making mistakes, it goes a helluva lot deeper than than, boys!

 

I wonder, do you actually watch football? When two teams meet and they are matched equally it is often the smallest mistakes that can sink a team. Conversely, one team capitalizing on their opponent's mistake(s) is often the difference between winning and losing. Take the game against Michigan for example. We were trailing by 7 at the half and received the opening kick-off to start the 2nd half. Kenny Bell then fumbles and Michigan gets the ball on a short field scores a TD and then they're up by 14. The we had a punt blocked because the punter didn't catch the snap properly and that gave Michigan yet another short field and easy TD opportunity now the Wolverines are up 21. The we had a very ticky-tack "roughing" the Michigan punter called against us which then put the defense back on the field after they had initially stopped the bleeding. The Wolverines were then able to move the ball down the field and score a TD and now they're up 28.

 

Against South Carolina, Nebraska had a 13-9 lead. Ameer fumbles about 5 yards from scoring a TD and Carolina recovers. That could have put NU up 20-9. Then Taylor Martinez throws and INT inside the redzone thwarting another potential TD because to that point Nebraska's offense was moving the ball up and down the field offensively with relative ease. They score there and it's 27-9 and then Brett Maher misses a FG which could have made the score 30-9. That would have been a 21 point lead agaisnt South Carolina going into halftime.

 

The point: Nebraska's self-inflicted mistakes have sunk them. To ignore the flow of the game and to fail to put what happens into context, and simply parrot the same old, tired, boilerplater, "just about every team we play is superior in talent/athletes" reflects a level of pessimism and self-loathing that you should probably seek professional, clinical help with.

 

 

And indeed Ohio States self inflicted wounds cost them the game against us. They would have crushed Nu had they not self destructed.