All their eggs were in this basket

[TomDace]

Plus, just how seriously is anyone going to take us after watching the Whisky film?

(although Mark Richt is a Husker native and closet Husker fan so he might be more inclined to take a knee than the affable Mr. Beliema)

 

What was Bielema supposed to do? Start kneeling in the third quarter? That would've been more embarrassing than what happened last night.

 

On second thought....if Wisconsin would've thrown a pass in the second half that might've been taking the foot off the gas. They threw 10 passes in the entire game.

[ILikeNUAlot]

Do you guys think that if we compete and beat Georgia it will wash the stank off the program remaining from the CCG? A bowl win and 11-3 season would sure make it a BETTER offseason.

 

I hope they pull it together for January. You know, for the kids.

 

 

Considering mass majority was that we would go 7-5 this season, I don't know why people are so glum. Yes, it would make a much better offseason, and would be a very good season.

 

I agree. We played pretty good defense considering the lack of talent we ha at DL and LB. We all knew we had a suspect front 4. Too many lingering injuries and not enough depth. Winning football games are hard. And speaking of 7-5 --- Hello preseason #1 USC.

 

Want to trade records even if you had to take these blowout losses? I bet you would.

 

 

[Flood]

You're right about Osborne not talking about winning. But there was a little more to it.

 

Osborne placed his highest values on education and character, but placed nearly equal value on individual performance. Individual performance resulted in team performance, which led to victories.

 

I recall a few post-game interviews, following losses, which usually contained one of two points:

 

1. We played well. The other team played better. The better team won, and we did our best, played to potential and simply weren't good enough. I don't recall Tom getting much heat over this, because it was usually apparent that he was right, and the fans and media appreciated the honesty.

 

2. We just didn't play as well today as we are capable of. We did not earn a win. In this case, there would be rumblings, and discussions about what went wrong. Usually, it was one phase of the game that faltered, O Line, D Backs, Special Teams, whatever. We rarely saw a breakdown in every phase of the game on both sides of the ball, like we did with Wisconsin last night.

 

That is troubling, but I am still on Bo's side for a couple years. It took Tom a long, long time, to match Bob, and I am certain a big chunk of fans were ready to move on. I am glad we didn't, and think Bo will get it done.

 

In the 90's I recall the OWH running special columns after losses. Columns that talked about helping fans recover mentally from the letdown. They would consult psychiatric experts on grieving from the university, the med center, and so on. Seriously, enough fans cared so deeply that the paper was really doing a community service. Having lived through those times, I truly believe a lot of us, me included, were in way too deep. The obsession was rampant, and it was just like an addiction. Winning cures all, they say, but it brings its own problems, too.

 

Hopefully we give UGA a fight and don't get behind too far too soon.

[robsker]

god, what a team to face...georgia will blow nu off the field i am afraid....

 

Georgia --- if they wanted to --- would beat the Huskers by 50+ points. But it is unlikely that they will. They will view this as a month of practice for next season, a chance to get some reps for the inexperienced players, and an easy laid back vacation where they can go to a bowl game have some fun and maybe even play a little hung over and cruise to a worry free win. Sort of a glorified practice against a scout team caliber opponent.

 

They will take this one off, mellow out and listlessly cruise to a 21 point or so victory and lay off the gas once they are up by 3-4 scores. They will not ravage the Huskers and beat us by 50 --- though they could if they desired --- they simply will not have that desire. They will sleep walk through this game. Expect some of their players asleep on the sidelines.

[Comish]

"What was Bielema supposed to do? Start kneeling in the third quarter? That would've been more embarrassing than what happened last night."

On second thought....if Wisconsin would've thrown a pass in the second half that might've been taking the foot off the gas. They threw 10 passes in the entire game."

Wasn't suggesting that he should take a knee.  Used that as a symbol of his history of running it up in the past. (I firmly believe if we don't want to get embarrassed we need to get better.)  I was using the analogy of Beliema (who I don't care for) vs the character of Richt. Sorry if that wasn't clear enough for you.

[robsker]

With Nebraska accepting a Cap One bid and a matchup with most likely Georgia, I can't help but think how badly Bo has made January 1 for himself. He and his players spent the whole week saying "if we don't win Saturday, all this was for nothing" and after the game "this was a failure, we set out for a championship and we failed."

 

Take a defeated attitude into a month of bowl prep and you will not be prepared to play your best. Now add to that an opponent in Georgia. 4 yards from playing for the 'ship. Screwed themselves over with horrendous clock management. Those boys are gonna be fired up.

 

The talent disparity alone would be enough to make this game a potential blood path (if you thought Wisconsin was running circles around NU, wait til them southern boys start runnin), but add onto it the two different frames of mind, oh boy. You may not want to watch Jan. 1.

 

If what you say is true... if Bo actually said if we don't win on saturday this was all for nothing... well then Bo is more of a monumental fool than I thought. Any middle school coach is wise enough never, ever, ever, to say such a stupid thing. I hope that he really never did say what you state he said... I honestly do not know if he did or not... but if so... wow... one can hardly be any more foolish than that...

[Sparker]

With Nebraska accepting a Cap One bid and a matchup with most likely Georgia, I can't help but think how badly Bo has made January 1 for himself. He and his players spent the whole week saying "if we don't win Saturday, all this was for nothing" and after the game "this was a failure, we set out for a championship and we failed."

 

Take a defeated attitude into a month of bowl prep and you will not be prepared to play your best. Now add to that an opponent in Georgia. 4 yards from playing for the 'ship. Screwed themselves over with horrendous clock management. Those boys are gonna be fired up.

 

The talent disparity alone would be enough to make this game a potential blood path (if you thought Wisconsin was running circles around NU, wait til them southern boys start runnin), but add onto it the two different frames of mind, oh boy. You may not want to watch Jan. 1.

 

If what you say is true... if Bo actually said if we don't win on saturday this was all for nothing... well then Bo is more of a monumental fool than I thought. Any middle school coach is wise enough never, ever, ever, to say such a stupid thing. I hope that he really never did say what you state he said... I honestly do not know if he did or not... but if so... wow... one can hardly be any more foolish than that...

 

He said it at the post game conference "our goal was a championship and we failed" (Paraphrased)

[HuskerShark]

Sorry, screwed up my math. He won 13 conference championships in 25 years, leaving 12 where he didn't. So Tom Osborne failed at his job almost half of the time, by our standard of championships or bust.

 

Why would we keep someone employed who could only accomplish their standard of success one out of two years?

Because in his 6th year, Tom Osborne finally beat Oklahoma. 1978. Finally got it done. That bought him more time.

 

Winning a conference title once every other year is a tremendous success rate. Nobody's mad at Pelini because he hasn't won a conference title every other season. They're upset because he hasn't won one in five years. No different than how Osborne was nearly fired before that breakthrough in 1978.

 

IIRC, Bo won a conference title in 2009 but doesn't get official credit for it.

 

 

 

In Osborne's first 5 years, Nebraska finished #7, #7, #9, #7, and #10.

 

Pelini's teams don't even come close.

 

Not a valid argument. The landscape of college football is completely different, and there is more parity than there has ever been.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Then everyone stop comparing him to TO as Bo can't hold a match to one of TO's butt bubbles. Not even close!