A Common Cycle

[Bruleif]

Over the last 4 or 5 years UCLA has played and beaten Tennessee (twice), Texas (1-1) and Nebraska. During this time I have noticed a common cycle of expectations and reactions from the fans of these OOC opponents. It goes like this:

 

1. Phase 1 - Before the Game: "We will clobber UCLA. They have a weak program and they were those silly blue uniforms and they are just a bunch of soft Hollywood types and surfers. We will win by 20 or 30 points."

 

2. Phase 2- After the Game: "We stink. We need a new coach. How can we lose to those wusses from the West Coast?"

 

What bothers me is that very rarely do I ever see any acknowledgement that UCLA might have played a good game or that the Bruins might have some good athletes. I am not complaining...this is a common thing among ALL college football fans but I am reminded of the Confederate general who was asked why the Army of Northern Virginia lost the Battle of Gettysburg. His response was "I think the Union Army had something to do with it."

 

Nebraska was in the game until the very end. The offense played a good first half and had some chances in the second. Martinez looked great in the first half and Abdullah looked good througout. OK, so the defense did not look so good, but part of that was due to UCLA's ability and gameplan.

 

I know your expectations for your program are very, very high but if you win the Big 10 conference yesterday's loss will not be the end of the world. And I do not see any team in the Big 10 that Nebraska could not beat on any given Saturday. Ohio State, maybe?

 

Anyway, good luck to the Huskers for the rest of the year. I admire the devotion and intensity of your fans.

[I AM FOOT FOOT]

Ucla got plenty of props after the game,they pounded us ,congrats on the win and best of luck this year, your schedule looks promising for a big year

[lo country]

Out played and out coached. A re-occuring theme for the past few years. Y'all played great.

[zoogs]

What bothers me is that very rarely do I ever see any acknowledgement that UCLA might have played a good game or that the Bruins might have some good athletes.

+1 — I can't understand how we get from phase 1 to phase 2, and it's incredibly frustrating.

 

But you know what? Mora is turning a hell of a football team over there at UCLA. You guys have the looks of a very bright season ahead of you. They did a great job last night. But it isn't like our team didn't show up — they did.

 

UCLA was simply much, much better than we thought.

[huskerjch]

When they showed the remaining schedule for UCLA on the tv last night they have alot of very winnable games. But before UCLA gets to excited it will be interesting to follow them to see how all them young guys handle a hostile road crowd. They seemed to be very athletic and physical last night. I'm pulling for them in the Pac 12 so this lose doesn't look so bad come November.

[FriendlyLurker2007]

we got beat by a bunch of freshman...B1G sucks this year....ucla is better than i thought...defense is soft...offense will be fine....kicking game needs some work....i could honestly care less if ucla does good this year, no amount of wins on their part will cover up the 6 or 7 hundred yards freshman put on us. end rant ps. i agree with the original poster, that i dont see any team in the B1G that we cant beat on any given satuday

[mwj98]

UCLA played lights out.......some positives......our offense is lethal. We can score.....typically 30 pets is enough to win. And, its early in the season. We have to get better up front......our line is soft, no push and our linebackers are slow. No. 6 (lb) shows promise, but I'm disappointed in Compton and whaley. Look, pelini will step in and get it done...he will make changes. 600 yds is crazy. I'm upset, but positive.....

[Nebula]

+1

 

I'm guilty of exactly what you're talking about. I thought we'd handle the Bruins, and after we didn't, I immediately thought this is going to be a long season. You guys were 6-8 last year, though. I don't know how much of your current team resembles last year, but that was one of the things that made the loss feel worse for me.

 

You guys played a great game, though. Good luck going forward!

[Nevada Husker]

Another common cycle? Husker fans trying to console themselves after a loss by building up the opponent in their minds to take away the sting of an embarrassing loss.

 

There is no way to sugar-coat giving up 653 yards to a team starting 3 Freshman Offensive Lineman and a Freshman Quarterback.

[Paul in WI]

Does this sound like us? Our common problems are happening in Florida. It must run in the family.

 

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/sports/middle-tennessee-state-defeats-fau-31-17

[rawhide]

ouch

 

 

GBR

[Bruleif]

When they showed the remaining schedule for UCLA on the tv last night they have alot of very winnable games. But before UCLA gets to excited it will be interesting to follow them to see how all them young guys handle a hostile road crowd. They seemed to be very athletic and physical last night. I'm pulling for them in the Pac 12 so this lose doesn't look so bad come November.

There appear to be 4 good teams, other than UCLA, in the PAC-12:

 

USC

Oregon

Arizona State

Arizona

 

Did I leave anyone out?

 

Anyway, we do not play Oregon this year. Of the remaining 3 teams, Arizona State is the only one we play on the road. Still, it would be a very big challenge to run the table.

 

I have believed for many years that it is harder to beat 3 or 4 good teams than 1 great team. Any team can get lucky in one game, or come up with a great one-off performance, plus turnovers can turn any game on its head. But with the up and down emotions of 18-22 year olds and the impact of injuries in college football it is very hard to beat a series of decent teams. So we will see.