Why this is a big game

[tschu]

So here are some thoughts.

 

There are some small reasons why this is a big game - let's start with those.

 

 

Coaching

I think many people would agree that UCLA was Beck's worst playcalling game of the year last year. A series of bizarre decisions left the offense sputtering when we needed it most in the 3rd and 4th quarters. I'm sure Beck wants that game back, and I'm sure Taylor wants the mistakes back. Well now they both have the chance.

 

On the other side of the ball...boy. I think we all have "653" burned into our brains from last year. Spread out the offense, then get a lot of big and tall bodies moving vertically. They exploited our lack of athleticism in a huge way. They embarrassed our head coach. Bo hasn't forgotten this, he's had a year to prepare for their offense, and we have more speed and athleticism on the field this year. This is going to be trial by fire for a lot of guys and is going to put Bo's coaching ability to the test.

 

Players

The game is huge for our offense because, in my opinion, they haven't really been trying yet. We have yet to unleash our 2013 scoring explosion. Everything that I've seen from Beck seems very standard and vanilla, designed to not give anything away while still being solid. He seems to be protecting Taylor and Ameer as much as possible in the first two cupcake games - as well he should. But I think we're going to see the stops pulled out on Saturday. It could be glorious. It might have to be glorious. because on the other side of the ball...

 

We might be starting two true freshmen at linebacker in a huge game against a ranked opponent who put up 653 yards on us last year. How scary is that. The defense can gain a ton of confidence or lose a ton of confidence here. Individual players may gain or lose confidence.

 

 

But here's the meat of the argument.

 

Here's where we are as a program right now - and it's not really pretty. Last season we we took a shot fairly early against this very same foe. However, we were never really gone from the spotlight - a couple of weeks later we had a big home game with Wisconsin and then, of course, the trip to Columbus. Big primetime games.

 

Which brings me to my next point. What are the last four times that Nebraska has been seen in a marquee game in front of a big national audience?

-@ Ohio State

-Michigan

-Wisconsin (B1GCCG)

-Georgia

 

And what do these games have in common? Well, we allowed 570+ yards in 3 of them, lost two ugly blowouts where the game completely got out of control, and against Michigan struggled to a win that may have seemed illegitimate to many due to the fact that Denard was knocked out fairly early. We are not sitting pretty night now on the national scene - something that I argued vehemently in the infamous "relevancy" thread. The last few times that we have been seen on a national stage have been downright embarrassing for the most part, dating back 2 years even.

 

Now, we know what the goal is for this program - to be consistently finishing in the top-10, competing for and winning conference championships, and if we get into the national title picture then that's great. I think we can agree that's a realistic goal. But at this point, I'm not even sure that a conference championship is so much a final goal as it is a means to accomplish the greater and more general goal that we have for this program. What we really want as a fanbase is to get back in the national picture and garner national respect. Which, combined with our schedule and Saturday's schedule, is why this game is HUGE.

 

Speaking about national picture in terms of Saturday only: We are the only game worth mentioning until Alabama and Texas A&M kick off at 2:30. This means a couple of things:

1. More people than usual are going to be paying attention to college football Saturday because the biggest game of the year (Bama-aTm) is that day.

2. We are the only noteworthy game happening between Gameday finishing and the opening kickoff in College Station.

 

The eyes of the nation will be upon us.

 

 

 

Now the ultimate reason this game is huge isn't because this would be some giant signature win (it's 16th ranked UCLA. Come on). It's because the doors opened by winning are significant and because the consequences for losing are so ridiculously enormous. The outcome gap between a win and a loss is very large.

 

 

A win: Great! A big blue-chip program won a home game over a ranked opponent in which they were 5.5-point favorites. In itself, nothing truly special. But it will be with the nation watching. We will almost certainly be winning our next 4 games, slowly climbing in the rankings until we are ranked ~9th for a home game with Northwestern. Beat Northwestern and we are an undefeated top-10 team traveling to Ann Arbor to challenge Michigan for the Legends division title. Doesn't that sound exciting? We could be looking forward to something like a #4 vs #7 matchup of undefeateds on November 9th.

 

A loss: Bo does it again. Gets out-schemed and embarrassed at home in a winnable game. Nebraska falls out of the rankings, at the very least, until November. We are nowhere on the national scene. We have no Wisconsin and Ohio State games coming up. We have far less national media run, less clout with recruits, and we're stuck biding our time playing the likes of Illinois and Purdue on the Big Ten Network - out of sight and out of mind. We can't afford to be that far out of the national spotlight for another entire season, especially one that we've had circled on our calendars for the last 3 years. There's also the reality check that losing to UCLA at home means that the team we are fielding this year probably isn't good enough to beat both Northwestern and Michigan and get back to Indy. Could we get back to Indy? Sure, but the odds are not in our favor. It took a crazy string of luck for that to happen last year, and Michigan and Northwestern both have better teams this time around. There will be no backing into the conference championship game. We would start seeing questions about Bo as our coach for the future, a general air of uncertainty about the program, and beating cupcakes for 5 weeks would do nothing to calm the storm.

 

 

I can't honestly remember a game like this. Feels like the fanbase is less pumped up and more holding their breath.

 

A win catapults a young team into the spotlight.

 

A loss - well, here we go again.

 

 

But enough with the gloom and doom, because I'm thinking we come out on top. 40 to 28. Bright days ahead. GBR.

[knapplc]

Certainly this deserves its own thread. Split off from the other thread.

[TAKODA]

+1 TSCH

[tschu]

You flatter me knapp. I haven't written anything of note since college and it really shows. Grammatical errors everywhere.

 

Why did I call us a "young team?" Only one side of the ball is young. Whatever.

[deedsker]

 

Now the ultimate reason this game is huge isn't because this would be some giant signature win (it's 16th ranked UCLA. Come on). It's because the doors opened by winning are significant and because the consequences for losing are so ridiculously enormous. The outcome gap between a win and a loss is very large.

 

 

I guess I have to say this again, but this is the best explanation of this game I have seen. Good write up, tschu!

[308_Husker]

Count me in on the "holding their breath" camp. The implications of losing this game are huge.

 

Here's how I think we can win.

 

Forget the hurry up offense. Slow it down and run the ball. Grind out the clock. Keep their offense and our defense off the field. We are good enough on offense to do this if we TAKE CARE OF THE BALL. If we can win limit UCLAs' chances on offense, then I have no doubt that we walk away with a victory. If it gets into a shootout, you can pretty much chalk up one or two turnovers on offense, which can very well end the game for us.

 

I really think that this gameplan can work. I rewatched UCLA's first half game against Nevada and it was a close game. All Nevada did was run the ball, grind the clock, get first downs, and keep UCLA's offense off the field. Let's face it, our defense is NOT going to stop Hendley and their offense. At least I don't see us stopping him. There has been nothing in even the last two years to warrant any argument the other way.

 

UCLA is going to be playing with their asses lit on fire after the week they have had. We need to match their intensity and go even further.

[308_Husker]

Also, good write up, tschu. You hit it on the head. If we lose this game, the excitement surrounding this season quickly collapses.

[Hoosker]

The one thing I take away from this game is that it's our biggest game until November. After UCLA, we have 4 games in a 6 week stretch that we should be at least 2 TD favorites, with only 2 of the 4 being road games (Purdue, Minnesota). Plenty of time for the defense to improve for the slugfest that is the month of November. If we can somehow manage to get a victory, we will be looked at in a totally different light come November 9th in Ann Arbor.

 

I agree that this game feels different. It's definitely going to look different.

 

Great write up, tschu! +1

[JJ Husker]

Excellent summary tschu. My problem is not so much holding my breath but afraid to acquiesce to my gut feeling that we will dominate this game. Been burned on that feeling a couple too many times in the past two years and there is no historical support for it. I just really believe our O has been bland thus far for a reason (this game) and I am super excited to see this young D get after it. I wouldn't trade the guys we've got right now for any of the "experienced" guys we lost. They may make some youthful mistakes but speed and determination should limit the damage of those mistakes. 45-27 good guys.

 

BTW- absolutely deserving of it's own thread. I very much liked EZE's also but this one seems to match my emotion better.

[Ziebol]

Great write up touched on alot of great points. What stands out to me is your argument for win vs loss. This is where I slightly disagree with you. I think the benefits  for winning is just a big as the damage of a loss. This is my thinking...

A Solid win- This means a strong showing on both sides of the ball, limiting a potent , high speed offense to under 28 and showing we have a top 5 offense. To me this will bring back relevance, it will show we have turned the corner from what the media and national coverage thinks of us as a team. It will get fans excited, it will light up message boards how we are a legitimate team. It will basically force the AP writers and ESPN to think of us as a potent team instead of the 9-4 meltdown team we have been. It will allow us to be looked at as a team going into Ann Arbor that will compete, instead of going there expecting to be a minor hiccup for Michigan.

A loss- Well a loss will do the exact opposite. Instead of being excited for this year, fans will start to look towards next year with a shimmer of hope and cringe as we watch us roll into Ann Arbor.

A win will do wonders a loss will sting.

48-21 Nebraska . GO BIG RED!

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Great write up, it's a huge game, there's no hiding that. It's time to stop losing these types of games and start winning them to get on the right path. If we lose this game.................it's gonna get ugly!

[JJ Husker]

Ziebol- I understand what you are saying about a well played loss but I think the only people something like that would make a difference for are us diehard Nebraska fans. You and I (and many others in Huskerland) can accept and appreciate a loss if we play well and do it in a dignified manner. But, that would carry little weight on the national stage or with recruits. I'm not fond of declaring games must wins but this is a must win for the exact reasons tschu outlined.

[Ziebol]

Ziebol- I understand what you are saying about a well played loss but I think the only people something like that would make a difference for are us diehard Nebraska fans. You and I (and many others in Huskerland) can accept and appreciate a loss if we play well and do it in a dignified manner. But, that would carry little weight on the national stage or with recruits. I'm not fond of declaring games must wins but this is a must win for the exact reasons tschu outlined.

I might have worded it wrong but I was trying to hammer the point that a loss no matter what is going to be horrendous. It will do the exact opposite of a win. I was trying to argue the point that the OP made that a loss is worse for the program then how a win will benefit. What i was trying to argue is that a win will do wonders while a loss will hurt us deep. Sorry if it wasn't clear in my post.

[Ziebol]

Forget a single comma and the whole post doesn't make sense haha. I fixed it though should be clear now.

[EZ-E]

I would equate this feel from our fanbase a lot like before 07 Mizzou. I don't think that if we lose that Bo's time here is limited. I just feel as though that would be the most comparable.

 

The only thing I disagree with, and admittedly I am nitpicking is calling us winning 6 in a row last year lucky. I feel we earned those wins and we obviously did what we needed to to win the game.

 

Other than that, I really don't think you are wrong in any aspect of your post.

 

I know this Husker fan is confident and excited!!!!!