Turner - Sometimes, we laid down. We weren't bringing the fight back.

[robsker]

The question everyone should be asking is why didn't the team bring enough energy. Why do we seemingly come out flat in every game? I just don't get it.

 

+1000. They play a guaranteed 12 games per year. How can you not be up for the opener?

Every team seems to have at least one game they come out flat. Hopefully we survived ours and it doesn't happen again.

 

Is it usually the opener? And it happens to the Huskers more than once a year.

I'm not saying it's correct or that we haven't had problems with it under Bo. I'm just saying that it's only one game, and that's pretty normal for college teams. If there's a second or third, then I'll start to be concerned.

 

the last few years --- the last 6 years --- the NU team is unfocused in more games than not. And, in those games where the focus is there, more often than not, it was not initially there that game but was generated in that game by situation... desperation yielded that focus because they got behind (against teams they would not have gotten behind had the initial intensity and focus been there).

 

The point is this... you say this was one game where insufficient focus and intensity was an issue and you say "see if it continues." I counter by saying that NU has come out flat and unfocused (or lost focus during a game) in probably 60-70% of all the games they have played under Pelini in the past 6 years. The team has been out-hustled by their opponents regularly and displayed less intensity than their opponents more often than not. This is not a "one game" thing --- an opening game issue many teams have --- it is pattern performance that characterizes the team.

[Hunter94]

The standard of excellence has been forgotten. Strapping on the "N" doesn't mean what it used to for these players. The attitude and effort put forth by the players on these Pelini teams is utterly disgraceful. What in the hell is up with the players' sideline disinterest for the game--especially when they're playing like crap? Bo needs to stop this experiment with being their friend and go old testament, because these players lack focus and discipline.

 

 

we didn't used to just win games, we used to punish our competition...that hunger and pride is long gone....

[robsker]

The standard of excellence has been forgotten. Strapping on the "N" doesn't mean what it used to for these players. The attitude and effort put forth by the players on these Pelini teams is utterly disgraceful. What in the hell is up with the players' sideline disinterest for the game--especially when they're playing like crap? Bo needs to stop this experiment with being their friend and go old testament, because these players lack focus and discipline.

 

you intimate what I firmly believe... the motivational state of the players --- their focus and their intensity --- is the responsibility of the coaching staff. To field flat and unfocused players week after week is inexcusable and is a reflection upon our coaches.

 

 

I'm not necessarily saying you are wrong. But, if you play for Nebraska and you need someone else to get you jacked up (coaches) to play in the opening weekend of college football in front of a record crowd of avid fans at Memorial stadium.........you might need to see a doctor to have your pulse checked.

 

quite true.

[Count 'Bility]

Something I havent seen mentioned is the heat. Lets' not undersell that Saturday was one of those few days where it was simply not fun to be playing football. These guys are not robots playing for EA sports. Until the sun finally went behind the west stadium, it was not fun to be there. And heat doesnt tend to bother me much, but friday and saturday were ridiculous. It was pretty horrid just sitting there.

[Hunter94]

Something I havent seen mentioned is the heat. Lets' not undersell that Saturday was one of those few days where it was simply not fun to be playing football. These guys are not robots playing for EA sports. Until the sun finally went behind the west stadium, it was not fun to be there. And heat doesnt tend to bother me much, but friday and saturday were ridiculous. It was pretty horrid just sitting there.

 

didn't seem to bother Wyoming...next excuse for poor performance.

[N Sker]

Something I havent seen mentioned is the heat. Lets' not undersell that Saturday was one of those few days where it was simply not fun to be playing football. These guys are not robots playing for EA sports. Until the sun finally went behind the west stadium, it was not fun to be there. And heat doesnt tend to bother me much, but friday and saturday were ridiculous. It was pretty horrid just sitting there.

I'd agree the heat was likely a factor thouigh it was for Wyoming possibly to a greater degree, no pun intended. The Husker sideline is in the shade prior to the visitor sideline.

[robsker]

The standard of excellence has been forgotten. Strapping on the "N" doesn't mean what it used to for these players. The attitude and effort put forth by the players on these Pelini teams is utterly disgraceful. What in the hell is up with the players' sideline disinterest for the game--especially when they're playing like crap? Bo needs to stop this experiment with being their friend and go old testament, because these players lack focus and discipline.

 

 

we didn't used to just win games, we used to punish our competition...that hunger and pride is long gone....

and when NU went down in defeat it used to be fighting all the way and punishing the opponent. Even when NU lost (which was 2 times a year on average) under Osborne --- they went down not because they were unfocused, unmotivated, out-hustled or were lacking in intensity. They were focused, intense, violent, well-prepared and went down against better foes that day. No dishonor in that.

 

If the current NU team was like that... hair on fire intense every play all game irrespective of score --- if they played with focus and were violent, giving all on every play every game and finished with 5 or 6 losses a season I would be satisfied and never complain. The record is not the point. How the team plays --- that is the point. So... under Bo, the point (at least for me) is not that they have failed to be a champion of anything... or that they failed to do well record-wise against good foes. It is that the team has been (and seemingly continues to be) poorly prepared, lacking in drive, non-physical (relative to where they should be), generally non-intense, poorly coached and lacking in focus. That is, to me, a dishonorable way to lose (or win --- as the Wyoming game is an example... NU played w/o intensity, focus or drive but won because their foe was simply wildly over-matched by talent deficit relative to NU). NU picks up some uninspired wins this way... and that is not worth accolades at all.

[Savage Husker]

Anybody else think they're not having "fun" out there? I think Bo's cell phone prank and Harlem shake needs to carry over to the field. Still need to take care of business, but have fun doing it.

[The Dude]

Something I havent seen mentioned is the heat. Lets' not undersell that Saturday was one of those few days where it was simply not fun to be playing football. These guys are not robots playing for EA sports. Until the sun finally went behind the west stadium, it was not fun to be there. And heat doesnt tend to bother me much, but friday and saturday were ridiculous. It was pretty horrid just sitting there.

 

didn't seem to bother Wyoming...next excuse for poor performance.

It didn't have a discernible affect on the motivation of a lot of teams across the country.

 

Funny how a lot of these things only affect Nebraska.

[BigRedBuster]

Something I havent seen mentioned is the heat. Lets' not undersell that Saturday was one of those few days where it was simply not fun to be playing football. These guys are not robots playing for EA sports. Until the sun finally went behind the west stadium, it was not fun to be there. And heat doesnt tend to bother me much, but friday and saturday were ridiculous. It was pretty horrid just sitting there.

I'd agree the heat was likely a factor thouigh it was for Wyoming possibly to a greater degree, no pun intended. The Husker sideline is in the shade prior to the visitor sideline.

 

 

OK.....Isn't the Husker sideline on the east side. The sun sets in the west. So.......wouldn't the east side have more sun than the west?

[Hunter94]

The standard of excellence has been forgotten. Strapping on the "N" doesn't mean what it used to for these players. The attitude and effort put forth by the players on these Pelini teams is utterly disgraceful. What in the hell is up with the players' sideline disinterest for the game--especially when they're playing like crap? Bo needs to stop this experiment with being their friend and go old testament, because these players lack focus and discipline.

 

 

we didn't used to just win games, we used to punish our competition...that hunger and pride is long gone....

and when NU went down in defeat it used to be fighting all the way and punishing the opponent. Even when NU lost (which was 2 times a year on average) under Osborne --- they went down not because they were unfocused, unmotivated, out-hustled or were lacking in intensity. They were focused, intense, violent, well-prepared and went down against better foes that day. No dishonor in that.

 

If the current NU team was like that... hair on fire intense every play all game irrespective of score --- if they played with focus and were violent, giving all on every play every game and finished with 5 or 6 losses a season I would be satisfied and never complain. The record is not the point. How the team plays --- that is the point. So... under Bo, the point (at least for me) is not that they have failed to be a champion of anything... or that they failed to do well record-wise against good foes. It is that the team has been (and seemingly continues to be) poorly prepared, lacking in drive, non-physical (relative to where they should be), generally non-intense, poorly coached and lacking in focus. That is, to me, a dishonorable way to lose (or win --- as the Wyoming game is an example... NU played w/o intensity, focus or drive but won because their foe was simply wildly over-matched by talent deficit relative to NU). NU picks up some uninspired wins this way... and that is not worth accolades at all.

 

 

spot on robsker....it ain't your dad's team anymore...or the ones we grew up with....

[Hunter94]

...and if the dog didn't stop to take a sh#t, he would have caught the rabbit....

[robsker]

Hunter:

 

Oh yeah. Given my age, my dad's Huskers did not have helmets --- they had those padded ear-muff things --- and were called Bug-eaters.

[TheSker]

and finished with 5 or 6 losses a season I would be satisfied and never complain. The record is not the point.

I'll confess to being a bit skeptical of this claim.

[Hunter94]

Hunter:

 

Oh yeah. Given my age, my dad's Huskers did not have helmets --- they had those padded ear-muff things --- and were called Bug-eaters.

 

right there with you...we're from the same era...