Something's Rotten in the State of Nebraska.

[NUpolo8]

NUpolo8 is coming to you live from the West Coast watching the Michigan st vs Oregon game! You've heard of them I wager, two BCS caliber teams, two teams ranked in the top ten, two teams if given the chance, and one will, would likely embarrass our Nebraska Cornhuskers and scarcely break a sweat doing so.

 

More importantly, they're two teams that would never allow to happen to them what happened to Nebraska today. They'd have made damn sure they didn't need a possible career highlight from their all world running back to scrape out a win against a Division 1-AA team (calling it that is just easier).

 

-----I'll pause here so everyone can run to google, find Michigan St's narrow wins over Western. Michigan and South Florida last year, then post it on this thread as fast as they can, as if it somehow refutes and invalidates what I'm saying. Michigan St and Oregon are better than us, better coached than us and would likely make short work of us if play like today continues-----------

 

There, we're all back, and we need to discuss the endemic problem plaguing Nebraska football, until there are drastic, sweeping changes made on the coaching staff, probably including it's head coach, this is our fate. Nebraska's resurrection was greatly exaggerated. Our resurgence was a dead cat bounce in 2009 and 2010, only to return to the underachieving, mentally deficient, poorly led death marches of the mid 2000's. Nebraska is a team that wilts in the spotlight, needs statistical miracles to beat the McNeese St's, non bowl eligible Northwestern and the probation racked Penn St's of the world, but due to perhaps some of the easiest schedules in a conference that appears to be a class of one, they're allowed in the same rarified air of 9 wins by numbers only. All it takes is an opponent with a pulse, a prime time audience, or just a set of non myopic eyes to spot the difference between Oregon, Alabama and NU, but hey look, the number nine! Look how pretty!

 

Except the entire nation knows better, and it's time the greatest fans in football did too.

 

So those last few sentences probably riled up the last remaining "Bolievers" right good. (And let's just retire those two phrases, we are Nebraska fans and I'm done propping Bo Pelini up as something bigger than the University of Nebraska). So let's just file through the knee jerk excuses, most of which I've noticed have been addressed on this board.

 

-Tim Beck Sucks and it's His Fault

 

Last I checked Tim Beck is employed at the behest of Bo Pelini. In fact, I believe he gave him a raise before this year.

 

-Papuchis Doesn't Get It

 

See above. It applies.

 

-Tommy Armstrong Isn't Good Enough.

 

Tommy Armstrong is a 20 year old young adult playing a game the best he can hundreds of miles away from his home. There are few and far between the ones who walk straight in and immediately get it. So the choices for Bo Pelini and his staff are to either recruit in a fashion where they get those that do, or develop the talent that they have. The obvious way to do that would be with a dedicated QB coach, like the reigning National Champion has. Instead, our head coach decides to employ a full time TE coach, which happens to be a position his own OC called obsolete earlier this year. Seems odd considering QB play has been a gripe by many for every year of his tenure instead of his first.

 

-Look at Ameer and co. This team is Good

 

This team has talent. No question. I've said that all offseason. And they deserve better. Ameer deserves a full fledged Heisman campaign, but they don't give that award to 4+ loss teams. And that's what Nebraska is. Hell, without Ameer I'll say Bo is probably unemployed. Ameer should get part of his salary for saving his ass after today and Northwestern last year.

 

-Injuries are killing us

 

Honestly pay attention to the football landscape. Injuries happen to every team. The difference between the good teams is that they actually treat recruiting differently than our staff, which resembles a desperate junior in college cramming like crazy just before the finals to salvage a B-. Actually retaining the Clinkscales, Stringfellow's and the other targets of the world, let alone actually functioning at a scholarship level that doesn't resemble a team on probation helps depth. Oh, and giving free scholarships to the players that walk on and wouldn't see the field anywhere else on the level we all still think Nebraska should be probably shouldn't happen either.

 

-We could keep doing this forever but frankly it's redundant to our arguments over the offseason.-

 

Random Fun Fact! In Tom Osborne's seventh year, his team played New Mexico st, a very similar team to McNeese st, and won 57-0. He also went 10-2 that year.

 

Another random thing stands out to me immensely. An anonymous, non coach, moderator on this site was prescient enough to ask the question, "Is Nebraska good enough to keep the gas on for four quarters after a good victory?" It would appear the coach who is paid 3 million plus a year, and the players who have a full ride and some of the best facilities in the nation didn't have that ability.

 

Final random thought-- In 2005 Maine took Nebraska to the wire. It was Bill Callahan's second year and alarm bells sounded from Rosenblatt to Chimney Rock. Will it happen tomorrow? Or will only the good be promoted "for the sake of the program?"

 

This program needs some tough love. They need to be told those trophies in North Stadium do not belong to them. It belongs to the ones who put the work in, went above and beyond, and achieved. And it isn't apparently going to come from the coach not apologizing for nine wins and checking the twitter trends so he can serve up a delicious Bon mot during the national championship, as if that's somehow better than having his team playing in it. And it sadly isn't going to come from the media, either, as they've been bullied into a corner as well. I would hope the fans, considered some of the most knowledgeable in the nation, could offer up some, but I'm sure this will be met with ridicule and abuse, as if I'm part of the problem. If only I gave more money than I already do, stopped hurting recruiting, or just was a better sycophant/fan, or something.

 

Basically, I don't know where Nebraska goes from here, but it doesn't look good. Imagine East Lansing in a few weeks, or Autzen Stadium in a few years, or any random week this year where Nebraska looks like that again. And I have news, sports fans, if they turn in that performance against anyone else on our schedule this year, it's a loss.

 

Because that's reality, looking only at the 2-0 record that this team currently holds is anything but.

 

 

Here's hoping we can discuss reality.

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Reality is frowned upon, quit pissing in people's cereal of choice.

[Count 'Bility]

Except one thing

 

Last year mich st themselves needed a flurry of defensive tds to avoid an 0-2 start against mcneese like opponents. I just wanted to quick point that out. Ill now finish reading with what you have to say.

[carlfense]

+1

[NUpolo8]

Except one thing

Last year mich st themselves needed a flurry of defensive tds to avoid an 0-2 start against mcneese like opponents. I just wanted to quick point that out. Ill now finish reading with what you have to say.

Probably should have read what I wrote first.

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

+1

[sd'sker]

[TheSker]

Didn't bother reading very far but got the gist (I think).......but it's a lot of words with little influence unless you have a breakfast meeting with Eichorst tomorrow morning. I'll stay tuned about that.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Great post OP. It's not so much our performance today that has husker nation down, but the fact that we're not surprised by the meltdown of our team. This has been the issue for years.

 

Luckily the rest of the conference we're in happens to be horrible, so Nebraska itself isn't the single laughingstock but we're being laughed at along with the rest of the big ten.

[sd'sker]

Except one thing

 

Last year mich st themselves needed a flurry of defensive tds to avoid an 0-2 start against mcneese like opponents. I just wanted to quick point that out. Ill now finish reading with what you have to say.

WE'RE WELL ON OUR WAY TO A ROSE BOWL VICTORY!!!!!1!111!!!!!

[presidentjlh]

 

Except one thing

 

Last year mich st themselves needed a flurry of defensive tds to avoid an 0-2 start against mcneese like opponents. I just wanted to quick point that out. Ill now finish reading with what you have to say.

WE'RE WELL ON OUR WAY TO A ROSE BOWL VICTORY!!!!!1!111!!!!!

 

The process has worked!

[beanman]

Just posting to say i didnt read your dribble. Figured if you could ef up most threads why not yours get the same treatment.

 

[Count 'Bility]

 

Except one thing

Last year mich st themselves needed a flurry of defensive tds to avoid an 0-2 start against mcneese like opponents. I just wanted to quick point that out. Ill now finish reading with what you have to say.

Probably should have read what I wrote first.

Lol. I did. Why you think i did exactky what you thought i would do and say i didnt yet read what you expected me to read?

 

I wont disagree with anything you said there. But theres 10 games left. And a coaching change wont happen tommorrow. I just tend to take a wait and see approach.

[Moiraine]

including it's head coach

 

its

[Count 'Bility]

Ill also add that this will be interesting to bump in december.

 

 

Or next sunday morning. Lol