Bo Pelini and the Write Off Season of 2012

[Nebula]

Coming into this season, I saw reasons for some tempered optimism and reasonable reservations. I saw a likely 8 win season, a 9 win total if we caught a break or two, and a 7 win year if we dropped a game we shouldn't.

 

Here is a guy in only his fifth season as a HC, facing a second straight BRUTAL schedule with a defense that was thin as a result of logical recruiting setbacks in his first two years, yet here we are; looking at a possible 10+ win season. He has a 2nd year OC who has done nothing other than construct the scariest offense in our conference. (OSU could bang on the door there, and they'd deserve to be let in to make a very persuasive case of their own for that distinction.) He put another guy at DC who had shockingly little experience to achieve such a lofty position. Seems like the guys are responding well to him. (Although I still don't know why he puts that tape on his fingers. And I don't care. I like him.) And he brings in some apparent random from the world of golf to work with the WRs. I'd say that has turned out pretty well.

 

I wrote this year off. I figured we'd get gashed on the ground often, claim a scalp or two, (I thought Wisco or MSU were the most likely candidates for a quality win) put up some highlight scoring plays and some pretty rough defensive numbers. All Nebraska has done is *win out since their head coach took the extremely rare if not unprecedented step of privately and then publicly challenging his team to win every game from the OSU loss on. This wasn't "focus on next week," "stay the course" coach-speak. This was a bold gambit, a take two or three shots to land that chin rattling hook. A risk a coach takes criticism for alone if things fall short, a reward everyone shares if they come through and put up the wins. And they've not only done that, they've done it with a resiliency and heart that is frankly as frustrating as it is exhilarating to watch. And in a way that shows one, undeniable trait: Fight. Fight till the final bell, fight after you've been on the canvas for a 9 count that almost reached 10. Teams don't keep swinging when all seems lost for leaders they don't respect. Bottom line.

 

*(SO FAR. Iowa is like a deranged, scorned woman who has nothing left to live for but our suffering. They're dangerous, regardless of what their record shows.)

 

You don't have a season like this if you're a raving lunatic who is so out of control that you're on the cusp of assaulting your own players and officials at all times. You don't take that '09 offense and get it to where we are now by luck. You don't risk the criticism of putting an untested and scar-less Beck at the helm of the O without savvy and good intuition. (And a sturdy spine.) There is only one way you could take this schedule, with this green of a coaching staff, and put together a year like this: You're a pretty damn good football coach.

 

I hope Bo has listened to those who have supported him since '08, rather than the folks who've been quick to express the opposing viewpoint. This guy is putting something together that has the potential to be special. I hope he's completely sold on Nebraska being the place he'll plant his flag and craft his legacy. It's a helluva team to lead. It isn't easy. But those with great ability, those rare football minds? They become eternal legends here. You're carved into a pantheon of permanence that's placed in the most prominent position when you reach the peak at Nebraska. Devaney might fade with time as decades pass at other places...never here. As for TO, I think he reached a level above the erosion of time, frankly. He should have. Innovation wise, he's one the elites. Very little company in that penthouse. (Tom would leave early anyways for a field out in the country on a nice day, just as soon as he could. He's not really a penthouse kind of guy.)

 

Bo? That's what waits for you too. Nebraska football stands alone here. And the giants live forever. I think you've got it in you to achieve that level of accomplishment. Do it in Lincoln, Nebraska, coach. The well never runs dry here. And the greats never die, and they never, ever fade.

 

2012 was supposed to be a flyover year into the Illinois-Purdue 2013 changeover season. I guess we should've known better. After all, Bo Pelini makes the CCG in a full half of every season he's at the helm. Take care of an Iowa team living to see us hurt, and go fight for the conference title ahead of the schedule we set for you that you all collectively dismissed. GBR!

[BigRedPowerWagon]

That was awesome.

[HuskerThor]

+1 Well said!!

[lo country]

After UCLA I thought we might go 6-6. Bo and this team proved me wrong. From the guys we had playing to the staff that he had assembled. That is why he is a coach and I am an internet guru!

 

This team, although mistake prone at the worst possible moments, won't quit. That is an awesome trait and characteristic to instill in the young men under his charge. It serves them well in the game and even better in life.

 

Good post!

[NoLongerN]

Loved the post. The only thing that hit me differently was the "BRUTAL SCHEDULE" comment. I think this schedule was pretty easy and the B1G sucks in football this year as in the past. To me, it is the weakest in years.

 

[RotoRiot]

I heard that JP uses the tape for sending in plays, kinda "highlights" his fingers so they are easier to see for the players

[BigRedBuster]

Third toughest schedule nationally.

[JJ Husker]

Loved the post. The only thing that hit me differently was the "BRUTAL SCHEDULE" comment. I think this schedule was pretty easy and the B1G sucks in football this year as in the past. To me, it is the weakest in years.

 

The conference as a whole may be a little "off" this year but there is no denying we definitely had the most brutal schedule, by design, within the B1G. I also think, as the season progresses, it is being revealed to not be quite as weak of a conference as it may have appeared early on.

 

Excellent post Nebula.

[Huskerlambs]

rousing speech!

[HuskerThor]

Loved the post. The only thing that hit me differently was the "BRUTAL SCHEDULE" comment. I think this schedule was pretty easy and the B1G sucks in football this year as in the past. To me, it is the weakest in years.

The B1G may be off this year, but it is still in the name. Ohio St., Michigan, Mich. St., Penn St., those are some big, well respected names in the world of college football.

[Chaddyboxer]

Awesome post Nebula!

[HuskerShark]

I heard that JP uses the tape for sending in plays, kinda "highlights" his fingers so they are easier to see for the players

 

It's the same type of thing that some catchers do in baseball so that the pitcher can see how many fingers he has up.

 

But great post! I kind of skimmed it, but when I have more time I will read it in its entirety. Great perspective!

[knapplc]

Our schedule wasn't as tough as some (me) had feared early in the season, but it was as difficult as it could have been. We were one marquis non-conference opponent away from having a top-tier SOS. As it stands now, we've played the #31 SOS in the country (Sagarin). The only other B1G team to play a tougher schedule was Michigan State, but only because Notre Dame has had a lights-out year that nobody expected. They chipped in at #26.

 

Based on straight wins/losses, the NCAA has us at the #3 overall SOS, which is amazing considering we've played two teams (Southern Miss and Idaho State) with a combined 1-21 record. Michigan State is second in the conference, according to the NCAA, at #5.

 

We've played seven of the top nine teams in our conference (minus ourselves and Purdue), and we've gone 6-1 against them, a feat I'll put up against any team in any other conference.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

That may be one of the best posts I've ever read on here..............................nice work! NOW LET'S KICK SOME IOWA A$$!!!

[HuskerNationNick]

Loved the post. The only thing that hit me differently was the "BRUTAL SCHEDULE" comment. I think this schedule was pretty easy and the B1G sucks in football this year as in the past. To me, it is the weakest in years.

 

I wouldn't say Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State or Ohio State would be easy wins for anyone. Preseason really made us (as in the conference) look horrible, but a lot has changed within most of these teams since. Wisconsin isn't going with O'Brien anymore, 3 of those losses came under him. Stave was doing a tremendous job, but due to that injury Phillips is in, which he is doing a great job as well. I think if you started either of those two from the beginning of the year, their record would be way different. Same goes for Michigan. If they would have started Gardner from the beginning of the season, I believe they would be a 1-2 loss team. They would have beat Notre Dame. Penn State, they found a groove after their first two losses, and it had to be ended my tOSU and us. Northwestern, they are some tough SOB's. The games they have lost, have been to credible teams, and it wasn't by much at all. Ohio State's record speaks for itself, and Michigan State... they have a stellar D, despite the hurting we put on them, and they are playing much better than the beginning of the year as well. I don't think a single one of those teams are a pushover or "weak", besides maybe MSU in general.