Great article...sadly!

[EbylHusker]

If you're going to ban one article/source, better ban them all. Otherwise it just becomes biased hackery. Again, not surprised. This will probably happen and the legion of lemmings will continue sucking hard with big grins. Way to go.

[Guy Chamberlin]

Is it too simple just to say that our defense needs to get a lot better?

[Guy Chamberlin]

Dirk actually brought up something that hadn't occurred to me: we used to be able to tell recruits that the Huskers would get them on national television more than most teams. That's how some guys define the Big Time. We've lost that edge.

[kchusker_chris]

It's convenient how he glosses over the struggles of the other programs he lists. "Unlike NU, they've found a way to get to 11, 12, 13 wins." Let's look at that a little closer:

 

Oregon - I'll give him the Ducks although I'd quibble with their inclusion as a "Northern team". They are obviously in quite a different situation than the rest of the list. They have been great recently but also failed to reach 11 wins from 2002-2009. 55 wins in the last 5 years.

 

Kansas St. - Bill Snyder deserves a ton of credit. 11 wins this season ... for the first time in nine years. Doesn't sound a lot different than NU to me. And they haven't won a bowl game since 2002. 71-51 in the last 10 years. 39 wins in five years.

 

Notre Dame - Yes, they got to 12 wins this year, the first time they've had more than 10 in 20 years. They've also won exactly two bowl games in the last 19 years - the Hawaii bowl and the Sun bowl. 74-50 in the last 10 years. 41 wins in the last five years. Is that the kind of success he'd like Nebraska to aspire to?

 

Stanford - Like Oregon, I'm not sure they really belong with the rest of the list but oh well. Great three year run. They also had a losing record every year from 2002-2008. 62-49 in the last 10 years. 47 wins over five years.

 

Wisconsin - They definitely have Nebraska beat recently. But even with all their success they've only had three 11+ win seasons in the last 14 years and only four in their history. Not a particularly easy mark to achieve. 47 wins in five years.

 

Virginia Tech - I'll also give him VaTech. They've been extremely consistent the last decade or so. Good thing they stuck with Beemer through some 2-, 3-, 5- and 6- win seasons to let him build the program over the last 25 years. 49 wins over the last five.

 

Ohio St. - Probably the class of the "Northern teams" for the last 15 years. 51 wins over the last five years.

 

By the way, Nebraska is 85-45 over the last 10 years, despite that time period including the worst stretch in the last 60 years. I'm aware that not all wins are equal and Bo hasn't gotten us over many "big game" hurdles but he's also gotten us to three conference championship games in four years. 48 wins in Bo's tenure puts us well ahead of K St. and Notre Dame, similar to Stanford, Wisconsin and Virginia Tech and only really behind Ohio St. and Oregon. To me, I don't think we're that far off.

I don't think he's talking about consistency over a decade. He's talking about getting over that hurdle that is 9-10 wins. I think it should be glaringly obvious to Husker fans that getting that 11th or 12th win is not easy. I see it like golf...when Pelini got here we were shooting in the lower 90's with a few rounds in the mid-80's. He's gotten us to consistently shoot in the upper 70's. Not many weekend golfers can say that. But, shaving those last few strokes to post an even par round is 100 times harder than shaving those first 20 strokes to shoot a 79 on a Saturday.

[Count 'Bility]

Dirk actually brought up something that hadn't occurred to me: we used to be able to tell recruits that the Huskers would get them on national television more than most teams. That's how some guys define the Big Time. We've lost that edge.

Maybe so, but I see it as more of a fact that literally, every team and every game is on TV one way or another. Sure some stages are bigger than others, but let's face it, with todays technology and such, you wanna watch a game on TV, you can do it. Doesnt matter who it is or when.

 

It's more about the advancement of media coverage than it is about Nebraska "losing its brand". We've played quite a few Nationally covered games over the past couple years.

[kchusker_chris]

We've played quite a few Nationally covered games over the past couple years.

...and how'd those turn out for us? I'd say 2 out of 3 biggest games of the last 2 years from a "national" coverage are

 

10/1/2011: First game of the new B1G era, ESPN Gameday on location: 17-48 loss

11/23/2012: First trip to win the B1G, huge favorites: 31-70 beatdown

 

Arguably another would be the Ohio State beatdown this year since it was Urban's first home game.

 

The only positive "national" game that I can remember recently would be Penn State last year - and unfortunately that game had very little to do w/ football.

[Count 'Bility]

But they were Nationally televised games nonetheless. This point is in regards to the fact that supposedly we've lost the national exposure. I just dont think thats accurate. It's still there, but it's just a point that everyone else has is now too.

[Guy Chamberlin]

Dirk actually brought up something that hadn't occurred to me: we used to be able to tell recruits that the Huskers would get them on national television more than most teams. That's how some guys define the Big Time. We've lost that edge.

Maybe so, but I see it as more of a fact that literally, every team and every game is on TV one way or another.

 

That's what I meant by loosing our edge.

[captain obvious]

That article is written by Dirk who is a dick who is wildly critical of Bo. I'll consider the source.

 

That's how I typically feel about Dirk, but I actually agreed with this one.

[Mavric]

I don't think he's talking about consistency over a decade. He's talking about getting over that hurdle that is 9-10 wins. I think it should be glaringly obvious to Husker fans that getting that 11th or 12th win is not easy. I see it like golf...when Pelini got here we were shooting in the lower 90's with a few rounds in the mid-80's. He's gotten us to consistently shoot in the upper 70's. Not many weekend golfers can say that. But, shaving those last few strokes to post an even par round is 100 times harder than shaving those first 20 strokes to shoot a 79 on a Saturday.

I know what he was saying. My point is I don't think it's a magic number showing everything is fine. Obviously I'd like us to have more wins. But if we had managed to hold VaTech out of the end zone late or not fumbled eight times against Iowa St. in 2009 would everyone feel that much better about getting an 11th win one year? How about it we eeked out any of the three games we lost by one score in 2010, are we suddenly fine?

[Sasquatch]

That article is written by Dirk who is a dick who is wildly critical of Bo. I'll consider the source.

 

I love how being "wildly critical of Bo" disqualifies someone's opinion. This board and it's idiotic love affair with Bo is pathetic. Bo Pelini is not head coach material. I have zero faith in him and he's really not a good guy. He's a complete dick. Him and his weasel brother have done nothing but bring shame to the University. I understand what my stance on this subject now does to my credibility on this board, but I guess I'm fine with that. I really only linger here and am wildly entertained by all the sunshine pumpers here and blind loyalty to a scumbag like Bo.

 

Please let the Sasquatch bashing and questioning of my status as a true fan begin now...

[walksalone]

I'm going to say 90% of what he writes is pretty much crap. I'm not trying to give Dick, I mean Dirk, any more run, but there are some questions that have to be asked.

 

What is our identity? Are we going to pound the rock and play great D? Are we going to run a spread mixing pass and run with a bend but don't break defense?

 

When I was younger, hell when we all were younger, we knew what we were going to see. Stifling defenses and an offensive juggernaut that by the 3rd quarter had the opposing D sucking wind, crying for it's mother. That was orchestrated by one of the all time great college coaches. Is Bo that coach? We're still finding out, and I'm not so sure if he's not trying to do the same.

 

I know that the college football landscape has changed, and that what worked 20 years ago, probably won't work as well now due to kids athletic abilities just being insane. But that's where you have to find your niche, and the ability to adapt, improvise and overcome. It's pretty obvious where the weaknesses are, but does Bo have the will and desire to make those changes? If not, then there will probably be more frustration, but if he does fix what is broken, then he's got a chance...

[huskerhandy35]

I read this article as well and commented on OWH site about it. You are correct, it is spot on from start to finish! How Pelini doesn't realize this is beyond me? And if he does realize this to be the case and hasn't addressed it, then he isn't doing is job!

[Count 'Bility]

That article is written by Dirk who is a dick who is wildly critical of Bo. I'll consider the source.

 

I love how being "wildly critical of Bo" disqualifies someone's opinion. This board and it's idiotic love affair with Bo is pathetic. Bo Pelini is not head coach material. I have zero faith in him and he's really not a good guy. He's a complete dick. Him and his weasel brother have done nothing but bring shame to the University. I understand what my stance on this subject now does to my credibility on this board, but I guess I'm fine with that. I really only linger here and am wildly entertained by all the sunshine pumpers here and blind loyalty to a scumbag like Bo.

 

Please let the Sasquatch bashing and questioning of my status as a true fan begin now...

Thank god I read the bolded before I wasted time on my long, drawn out response I had planned. You sir, took the wind out of my sails.

[huskerhandy35]

I also think Pelini's practice regime, isn't as tough as it should be sometimes! I think he goes soft on the players in practice at the wrong times! We kept hearing about Georgia's workouts down in Orlando, on the asphalt, where SC practiced last year and how they were working their asses off working out on top of practicing plays and installing their game plan for the game. I know Nebraska practiced hard but whenever Pelini was asked about practice, it is the same old default response, I think our guys had a good week of practice and the tempo was good... they'll be ready! Well, in the second half our D slowed way down and wasn't nearly as intense as the first half, and we supposedly pride ourselves on wearing down other teams. Georgia's D was tired at end of first half, then came out and dominated the second! Our D didn't, and progressively got worse!