Arizona and Nebraska--What A Difference 5 Years Makes

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Remember when Nebraska was :01 away from upsetting #3 Texas for the program's first conference championship in 10 years? Remember who we played in our bowl game that year? Remember how dominant we were? We won that game 33-0; stomping Mike Stoops's Arizona Wildcats in the Holiday Bowl. That was the game that prompted the now infamous, "Nebraska's back and we're here to stay!" line from Bo Pelini.

 

Mike Stoops was the head coach of Arizona from 2004-2011. Under his leadership, Arizona never finished better than 8-5, which just happened to be the same year they were stomped by the Huskers in the Holiday Bowl. That's right, their best year under Stoops equated to a 33-0 defeat to the Huskers. After 7 years of futility, the Wildcats decided they had had enough of Stoops and relived him of his duties following the 2011 season. Enter Rich Rodriguez, and in 3 short seasons he has Arizona playing for a conference championship, something Nebraska hasn't competed for in 2 seasons. In the 3 seasons that Rich Rodriguez has been head coach, the Wildcats have never finished worse than 8-5, and have claimed the scalps of #10 USC in 2012, #18 Oklahoma State in 2012, #5 Oregon in 2013, #2 Oregon (in Eugene) in 2014, #17 Utah (@ Salt Lake City), and now #13 Arizona State. Heck, they about claimed the scalps of #18 Oregon State in 2012, losing 38-35, #18 Stanford (in Palo Alto) in 2012, losing 54-48 in overtime, and #16 UCLA in 2013 (that same team that beat the Huskers 41-21 in Lincoln), losing 31-26. Sure, they have had their blowouts, losing 49-0 to #3 Oregon in 2012 (in Eugene), losing 66-10 to #25 UCLA in 2012 (in Los Angeles), and losing 58-21 to #13 Arizona State in 2013 (in Tempe), but one cannot deny that the Wildcats are on the rise, having been ranked as high as #10 in the nation this season (a ranking which is bound to be surpassed with their victory over Arizona State today).

 

Meanwhile, Bo Pelini entered his fifth, sixth, and seventh season in charge of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. In those seasons, Nebraska has beaten one ranked team. That happened in 2012, when the Huskers beat #20 Michigan 23-9. But the slew of embarrassing defeats kept on coming. Nebraska lost 63-38 to #12 Ohio State (in Columbus) in 2012, lost 70-31 to unranked, 7-5 Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship Game in 2012, lost 41-21 against #16 UCLA in 2013 (in Lincoln), lost 41-28 to #14 Michigan State in 2013 (in Lincoln), lost 38-17 to Iowa in 2013 (in Lincoln), and lost 59-24 to #20 Wisconsin in 2014 (in Madison). Nebraska has never finished worse than 9-4, which may be good for some, but that 9-4 record is nothing but smoke and mirrors.

 

So what gives? Has Arizona been getting more talented kids in comparison to their opposition under Rich Rodriguez? In 2012, Arizona pulled in the 11th best recruiting class in the Pac-12 bringing in 2 4* recruits, and 17 3* recruits. They only out-recruited Washington State, which is no major accomplishment. In 2013, Arizona brought in the 7th best recruiting class, hauling in another 2 4* recruits and 18 3* recruits. In 2014, Arizona ended with the 6th best recruiting class in the Pac-12, bringing in 6 4* recruits and 13 3* recruits.

 

Nebraska in comparison had the 3rd best recruiting class in the Big Ten in 2012, being out-recruited by Michigan and Ohio State. The Huskers brought in 6 4* recruits and 11 3* recruits. In 2013, Nebraska again pulled in the 3rd best recruiting class in the Big Ten, being out-recruited by Michigan and Ohio State. Nebraska brought in 5 4* recruits and 19 3* recruits. Last season, Nebraska ended with the 5th best recruiting class in the Big Ten, landing 4 4* recruits and 14 3* recruits.

 

In a very basic sense, winning in conference comes down to your talent relative to your opponents and coaching. Arizona had talent that was worse in comparison to their opponents; Nebraska had talent that was better in comparison to their opponents. Yet it's Arizona who has racked up more wins versus ranked opponents and Nebraska who has racked up more embarrassing losses versus ranked opponents. And it's Arizona who will be playing for a conference championship next weekend, while Nebraska sits on the sideline.

 

Nebraska clearly has more advantages than Arizona. There is no other state school (like Arizona State), there is no professional team (like the Arizona Cardinals). And if you think Arizona lands better recruiting classes than Nebraska, Arizona only out-recruited Nebraska last season, and that wasn't by very much. So it's not like Arizona has a recruiting advantage over Nebraska. Nebraska brings in more $$ than Arizona. Nebraska plays in a weaker conference than Arizona.

 

Arizona refused to settle for mediocrity. They fired Stoops after 7 seasons of failures, and hired a man who has changed everything for the Wildcats. Despite winning 9 games every year, Nebraska has been mediocre; and we've been mediocre for 7 seasons under Bo Pelini. There are a slew of coaches out there who can come in and change everything for the Huskers. With talent that is superior to most of our conference foes, bringing in a new coach will allows us to go above and beyond 9 wins. Heck, we might even win a conference championship or two. If Arizona can change its fate, Nebraska can too.

 

 

[Husker67]

I wonder how many of us thought that Big XII championship and Holiday Bowl win would be the crest of the PeLLLLini wave. I didn't. I agreed with him when he said Nebraska was back and here to stay, and by the middle of October 2010, I was sure, then Texas showed up in Lincoln with an inferior team and .........

[skersfan]

Silly boy, our only goal is to win 9 games and lose 4. Why on earth would we want to improve from that level of coaching success, remember only a few have accomplished this magnificent feat. For ever Bogatory!!!!!

[presidentjlh]

I wonder how many of us thought that Big XII championship and Holiday Bowl win would be the crest of the PeLLLLini wave. I didn't. I agreed with him when he said Nebraska was back and here to stay, and by the middle of October 2010, I was sure, then Texas showed up in Lincoln with an inferior team and .........

I don't think anyone thought that was the peak, and there was no reason to think otherwise. Usually, teams get better than their 2nd and 3rd years...

 

That to me is the frustrating part. There was such a glimmer of hope. So much potential for greatness.

[Husker67]

 

I wonder how many of us thought that Big XII championship and Holiday Bowl win would be the crest of the PeLLLLini wave. I didn't. I agreed with him when he said Nebraska was back and here to stay, and by the middle of October 2010, I was sure, then Texas showed up in Lincoln with an inferior team and .........

I don't think anyone thought that was the peak, and there was no reason to think otherwise. Usually, teams get better than their 2nd and 3rd years...

 

That to me is the frustrating part. There was such a glimmer of hope. So much potential for greatness.

 

Yep, that's the frustrating part. I remember thinking how much fun that 2008 season was, the near misses against Va Tech and Texas Tech, the Henery/Suh win over Colorado, I went to the Gator Bowl and had a blast watching the come-from-behind win over Clemson, it all seemed so promising at that point. I truly thought, at that point, that by now Nebraska would have multiple conference championships, and probably even been involved in NC discussions, I guess that was blind faith in the Husker name more than anything.

[Old Goat]

Wall of text is large.

However, the Wildcats had long been a competitive team, both in recruiting and in-game performance during the Dick Tomey and Larry Smith era's . Mackovic and Stoops as head coaches proved to be disastrous and both set the program back several years. As far as NU having a significant advantage in....anything.... Well, I would argue that point; specifically since we have not been relevant in the last 10+ years.

 

The reality of Rich-Rods success likely boils down to better coordinators, better (scheme specific) recruiting and better/cohesive player development.

 

I wouldn't say he's a better coach than Bo, just smarter, and one who knows who to surround himself with to succeed. Remember, at Michigan he was hamstrung with coordinators chosen by the AD ( at least a pool of candidates) that he could hire. At least that's the rumor.

[caveman99]

Well the reality is that Arizona is 10-2 heading into a conference championship game. Bo has done that twice in his tenure already. If they win then we can talk.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Wall of text is large.

However, the Wildcats had long been a competitive team, both in recruiting and in-game performance during the Dick Tomey and Larry Smith era's . Mackovic and Stoops as head coaches proved to be disastrous and both set the program back several years. As far as NU having a significant advantage in....anything.... Well, I would argue that point; specifically since we have not been relevant in the last 10+ years.

 

So:

 

1) They're similar to Nebraska in terms of history trends.

 

2) Arizona hasn't been relevant in the past 10 years, yet we've out-recruited them. That doesn't explain anything.

The reality of Rich-Rods success likely boils down to better coordinators, better (scheme specific) recruiting and better/cohesive player development.

 

I wouldn't say he's a better coach than Bo, just smarter, and one who knows who to surround himself with to succeed. Remember, at Michigan he was hamstrung with coordinators chosen by the AD ( at least a pool of candidates) that he could hire. At least that's the rumor.

[Bigred_inSD]

Bo was the right coach at the wrong time. When the game went to spread instead of pocket passing he lost stock

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Bo was the right coach at the wrong time. When the game went to spread instead of pocket passing he lost stock

 

The Big XII was all about the spread and yet we probably had more success in the Big XII than the B1G.

[Old Goat]

In this particular comparison, I truly believe it boils down to identity, of which, NU has none.

Rich-Rod knows what he wants his team to be, and he employs coordinators in that vein and recruits players to that strength. Much like KSU, OSU, Mizzou , Utah, ORE, etc...

 

I have long said that this NU team has no identity, on offense or defense. Who are we? What stands out about this team or scheme to you? That is the first step; establishing who we are and who we want to be, the chips will fall after.

 

This team continually strikes me as a Frankenstein unit, a hodgepodge of players suited for different schemes, yet asked to play--and excel in ours.

 

It's odd. Maybe I'm off base, but my assessment of Pelini's tenure is...odd.

[Moiraine]

This isn't a very good comparison. Arizona's 10-2 right now. Bo's been 10-2 before. They were 8-5 the previous 2 seasons. Let me know when they win something. When they fired Stoops, he was 41-50.

 

This is not to say I think we should keep Bo. It's just not a good argument.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Sigh...

[N Bug]

Rich Rodriguez took over Michigan the same year as Bo took over in Nebraska. Rich Rodriquez 15-22 in three years there. Let's anoint him as a genius! This is what he as done over the same time frame including this years Arizona team. 3-9, 5-7, 7-6, 8-5, 8-5, 10-2 with losses to USC 7-4 and UCLA 9-3.

 

Yes, he is a coaching genius!! Let's not forget the highly ethical manner in which he told West Virginia to go screw themselves for greener pastures in Michigan. Oh, let's not forget the mess in Michigan. Players abandoning ship right and left due to his unethical behavior, NCAA rules violations, self imposed probation by the University.

 

Yes, let's look to Rich Rodriguez as how it is done!!

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Sigh...