Martinez and the NFL

[Saunders]

 

So, how about Taylor Martinez and the NFL?

 

You trying to hint around about something?

 

 

 

[NUance]

So, Taylor Martinez in the NFL. What position would he play?

 

If he's able to get healthy again, he'd have the footspeed to play most any DB spot. Not sure if he has the coverage skills. Or ability to hit people.

[Guy Chamberlin]

 

 

I had previously mentioned TO never got blown out, but found this from 247/sports....

 

So my friend, who often times exaggerates, tried to tell me this evening that Tom also had some rough losses under his belt early on. For some reason I had this picture in my mind of Osborne probably only losing one or two games in his career by more than a couple scores.I was pretty bored so I decided to check out and list all of Osborne's worst losses. Below are all of the losses in his career by more than ten points.

45-10 v. Oklahoma in 1990

38-7 v. #3 Oklahoma in 1977

27-0 v. #3 Oklahoma in 1973

35-10 v. #7 Oklahoma in 1975

45-21 v. #2 Georgia Tech in 1990

41-17 v. #5 Florida St. in 1989

22-0 v. #1 Miami in 1991

27-7 v. #5 Oklahoma in 1985

23-3 v. #2 Miami in 1988

19-0 v. #17 Arizona St.

20-3 v. #1 Alabama in 1978

27-12 v. #9 Colorado in 1990

36-21 v. #4 Washington in 1991

29-14 v. #2 Washington in 1992

28-14 v. #6 Oklahoma in 1974

41-28 v. #5 UCLA in 1988

27-14 v. #3 Florida St. in 1992

Notes

17 career losses by 11 points or more

11 career losses by 17 points or more

9 career losses by 20 points or more

6 losses by 24 points or more

2 losses by 31 points or more

Only one loss of 11 points or more occurred v. an unranked team (Oklahoma.)

His 4 worst losses came at the hands of Oklahoma

Oklahoma showed up on this list a total of 6 times

Wash, FSU, and Miami each showed up twice

5 of these losses came in bowl games

The late 80's to early 90's was the worst period

Anyone kind of surprised?

Obviously, I am not trying to take anything away from Coach Osborne, this an outstanding record (even if less impressive then I thought it would be.) And I' also not saying a 13 or 15 point loss is a blow out. Heck, some 20 point losses are close until strange things happen in the end.

However, when you take into consideration how much more competitive college football is today, how much more passing exists (thus inflating scores), and the fact he took over a program that won back-to-back National Championships under Devaney......perhaps we hold him in too much esteem? Maybe it's just me.

I've said it on here several times and I am sure many fans agree, but it's worth pointing out that Osborne's Huskers got their butt kicked on occasion as well - even late in his career. I'm not trying to alleviate the blow outs under Bo the last two years, but I think it's worth pointing out that everyone's human and the bad days can be overcome.

When you look at it over a career.....

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches^# AP^°Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big Eight Conference) (1973–1995)ci 1973 Nebraska 9–2–1 4–2–1 T–2nd W Cotton 11T 7 1974 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 T–2nd W Sugar 9 8 1975 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 T–1st L Fiesta 9 9 1976 Nebraska 9–3–1 4–3 T–4th W Bluebonnet 7 9 1977 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 T–2nd W Liberty 10 12 1978 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 T–1st L Orange 8 8 1979 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Cotton 7 9 1980 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd W Sun 7 7 1981 Nebraska 9–3 7–0 1st L Orange 9 11 1982 Nebraska 12–1 7–0 1st W Orange 3 3 1983 Nebraska 12–1 7–0 1st L Orange 2 2 1984 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 T–1st W Sugar 3 4 1985 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 10 11 1986 Nebraska 10–2 5–2 3rd W Sugar 4 5 1987 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 6 6 1988 Nebraska 11–2 7–0 1st L Orange 10 10 1989 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 12 11 1990 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 3rd L Florida Citrus 17T 24 1991 Nebraska 9–2–1 6–0–1 T–1st L Orange 16 15 1992 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 1st L Orange^† 14 14 1993 Nebraska 11–1 7–0 1st L Orange^† 3 3 1994 Nebraska 13–0 7–0 1st W Orange^† 1 1 1995 Nebraska 12–0 7–0 1st W Fiesta^† 1 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 12 Conference) (1996–1997) 1996 Nebraska 11–2 8–0 1st (North) W Orange^† 6 6 1997 Nebraska 13–0 8–0 1st (North) W Orange^† 1 2 Nebraska: 255–49–3 160–23–2 Total: 255–49–3 National champion

TO coached teams were ranked in the top 20 every season. The lowest ranking was T17 in the coaches poll. Not bad.

 

Thanks for taking the time and having an open mind, Lo Country.

 

Folks suffering through this thread may have forgotten that I had originally responded to your post asserting that while Tom Osborne teams may have lost, they were never beaten, and a couple subsequent posts about Osborne only losing to great teams. First hand memories and historical evidence confirms that Tom Osborne teams got beaten pretty bad by those great teams, and his losses to unranked and lower ranked teams were hardly abberations. His Nebraska teams had plenty of letdown games, fumble-fests and clunkers, like a lot of Top 20 teams do every year. His potential departures in 1978 and 1990 confirms that criticism of Osborne was not limited to a tiny minority that didn't understand football. There's a good reason for remembering Nebraska football in the '90s, but there were different storylines in the the 20 years preceeding it.

 

I'll leave jmfb to argue that on balance, Tom Osborne was a great coach, presiding over season after season that Bo Pelini and the fanbase would love to have had.

 

An argument that no one here has disagreed with.

 

Youre the one beating a dead horse and a lot of the info isn't correct

For Example in 1996 Arizona State was ranked #2 going into the Rose Bowl and came one play away from winning the National Title- finishing 4th a year NU fought its way back into the National Title conversation. In 1990 both Georgia Tech and Colorado ended up being #1- we lost to both. I think one of those Washington Teams ended up winning a National Title too.

 

Lots of the games posted are from teams ranked higher than NU and most times with better recruiting classes. Look at all the #1- 5 teams on that list. My goodness when was the last time we even played a National Championship team? People have no context or real thing to compare it to today.

NU under TO averaged 15 in recruiting ranking

 

There was no big fan movement to look at anyone other than TO to coach

ALL great coaches have agents, teams beating on their doors, that's life

All the near misses I pointed out more than made up for the tiny handful of "bad" losses

As someone that had season tickets throughout all of the TO years from 1970 forward- and working in a good sized office, and interacting with lots of football coaches/Football people, attending away games/bowl games etc- I didn't see anything that looked like paying fan support to replace TO.

If there was an oddball comment which I heard very little of, the reaction was usually rolled eyes and a smirk from most.

 

Im disagreeing with you, that's it. "plenty" of bad games would mean those teams wouldn't end up in the top 10 or TO being in the Hall of Fame- or in the top 3 all time in most guys lists. Which wasn't the case at all.

 

 

Jesus H Christ on a crutch. I picked Tom Osborne's first seven seasons because that only seemed fair, then I listed 8 ties or losses to unranked teams, and another five losses to teams ranked lower than Nebraska. One of those was a 35 - 10 beatdown by Oklahoma, when Nebraska was ranked #2 and favored in the game. In our 27 - 0 loss to OU, Nebraska never snapped the ball in OU territory. In our 28 - 14 loss to OU, they rushed for 482 yards. In that 35 -10 loss to OU, Nebraska had six turnovers. In our 38 - 7 loss to OU a good Nebraska team shot itself in the foot with turnovers and penalties, showing big game yips once again. Again, that's just in the first seven seasons, a period of time where we think we gauge a coach's tendencies and perhaps his "ceiling."

 

In the '80s, Tom Osborne also lost to unranked and lower ranked teams -- no more or less an aberration -- while generally keeping NU in the championship hunt, including a truly legendary 1983 team. But by now he was also earning enough of a reputation for losing big games that the streak of bowl losses inspired jokes that other posters here still remember (not unlink Bo Pellllini.)

 

In hindsight we can say it wasn't fair. In the moment it seemed like Tom Osborne got outcoached when it mattered most. I'm glad you only hung out with 100% supporters, but this view was shared by people who understand football.

 

I think it's a valuable bit of perspective on a coach who would go on to become a legend and first ballot hall-of-famer. Had Tom Osborne bolted in '78 when stung by criticism, or stubbornly refused to make changes in 1990 like some coaches we could name, he would have had a 17 year career that we could all defend on paper, but never quite celebrate.

 

If you want to tell me that Tom Osborne never had a game like Wisconsin 2012 or McNeese State 2014, I promise to go downstairs and shoot myself.

[jmfb]

 

 

 

I had previously mentioned TO never got blown out, but found this from 247/sports....

 

So my friend, who often times exaggerates, tried to tell me this evening that Tom also had some rough losses under his belt early on. For some reason I had this picture in my mind of Osborne probably only losing one or two games in his career by more than a couple scores.I was pretty bored so I decided to check out and list all of Osborne's worst losses. Below are all of the losses in his career by more than ten points.

45-10 v. Oklahoma in 1990

38-7 v. #3 Oklahoma in 1977

27-0 v. #3 Oklahoma in 1973

35-10 v. #7 Oklahoma in 1975

45-21 v. #2 Georgia Tech in 1990

41-17 v. #5 Florida St. in 1989

22-0 v. #1 Miami in 1991

27-7 v. #5 Oklahoma in 1985

23-3 v. #2 Miami in 1988

19-0 v. #17 Arizona St.

20-3 v. #1 Alabama in 1978

27-12 v. #9 Colorado in 1990

36-21 v. #4 Washington in 1991

29-14 v. #2 Washington in 1992

28-14 v. #6 Oklahoma in 1974

41-28 v. #5 UCLA in 1988

27-14 v. #3 Florida St. in 1992

Notes

17 career losses by 11 points or more

11 career losses by 17 points or more

9 career losses by 20 points or more

6 losses by 24 points or more

2 losses by 31 points or more

Only one loss of 11 points or more occurred v. an unranked team (Oklahoma.)

His 4 worst losses came at the hands of Oklahoma

Oklahoma showed up on this list a total of 6 times

Wash, FSU, and Miami each showed up twice

5 of these losses came in bowl games

The late 80's to early 90's was the worst period

Anyone kind of surprised?

Obviously, I am not trying to take anything away from Coach Osborne, this an outstanding record (even if less impressive then I thought it would be.) And I' also not saying a 13 or 15 point loss is a blow out. Heck, some 20 point losses are close until strange things happen in the end.

However, when you take into consideration how much more competitive college football is today, how much more passing exists (thus inflating scores), and the fact he took over a program that won back-to-back National Championships under Devaney......perhaps we hold him in too much esteem? Maybe it's just me.

I've said it on here several times and I am sure many fans agree, but it's worth pointing out that Osborne's Huskers got their butt kicked on occasion as well - even late in his career. I'm not trying to alleviate the blow outs under Bo the last two years, but I think it's worth pointing out that everyone's human and the bad days can be overcome.

When you look at it over a career.....

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches^# AP^°Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big Eight Conference) (1973–1995)ci 1973 Nebraska 9–2–1 4–2–1 T–2nd W Cotton 11T 7 1974 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 T–2nd W Sugar 9 8 1975 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 T–1st L Fiesta 9 9 1976 Nebraska 9–3–1 4–3 T–4th W Bluebonnet 7 9 1977 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 T–2nd W Liberty 10 12 1978 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 T–1st L Orange 8 8 1979 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Cotton 7 9 1980 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd W Sun 7 7 1981 Nebraska 9–3 7–0 1st L Orange 9 11 1982 Nebraska 12–1 7–0 1st W Orange 3 3 1983 Nebraska 12–1 7–0 1st L Orange 2 2 1984 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 T–1st W Sugar 3 4 1985 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 10 11 1986 Nebraska 10–2 5–2 3rd W Sugar 4 5 1987 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 6 6 1988 Nebraska 11–2 7–0 1st L Orange 10 10 1989 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 12 11 1990 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 3rd L Florida Citrus 17T 24 1991 Nebraska 9–2–1 6–0–1 T–1st L Orange 16 15 1992 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 1st L Orange^† 14 14 1993 Nebraska 11–1 7–0 1st L Orange^† 3 3 1994 Nebraska 13–0 7–0 1st W Orange^† 1 1 1995 Nebraska 12–0 7–0 1st W Fiesta^† 1 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 12 Conference) (1996–1997) 1996 Nebraska 11–2 8–0 1st (North) W Orange^† 6 6 1997 Nebraska 13–0 8–0 1st (North) W Orange^† 1 2 Nebraska: 255–49–3 160–23–2 Total: 255–49–3 National champion

TO coached teams were ranked in the top 20 every season. The lowest ranking was T17 in the coaches poll. Not bad.

 

Thanks for taking the time and having an open mind, Lo Country.

 

Folks suffering through this thread may have forgotten that I had originally responded to your post asserting that while Tom Osborne teams may have lost, they were never beaten, and a couple subsequent posts about Osborne only losing to great teams. First hand memories and historical evidence confirms that Tom Osborne teams got beaten pretty bad by those great teams, and his losses to unranked and lower ranked teams were hardly abberations. His Nebraska teams had plenty of letdown games, fumble-fests and clunkers, like a lot of Top 20 teams do every year. His potential departures in 1978 and 1990 confirms that criticism of Osborne was not limited to a tiny minority that didn't understand football. There's a good reason for remembering Nebraska football in the '90s, but there were different storylines in the the 20 years preceeding it.

 

I'll leave jmfb to argue that on balance, Tom Osborne was a great coach, presiding over season after season that Bo Pelini and the fanbase would love to have had.

 

An argument that no one here has disagreed with.

 

Youre the one beating a dead horse and a lot of the info isn't correct

For Example in 1996 Arizona State was ranked #2 going into the Rose Bowl and came one play away from winning the National Title- finishing 4th a year NU fought its way back into the National Title conversation. In 1990 both Georgia Tech and Colorado ended up being #1- we lost to both. I think one of those Washington Teams ended up winning a National Title too.

 

Lots of the games posted are from teams ranked higher than NU and most times with better recruiting classes. Look at all the #1- 5 teams on that list. My goodness when was the last time we even played a National Championship team? People have no context or real thing to compare it to today.

NU under TO averaged 15 in recruiting ranking

 

There was no big fan movement to look at anyone other than TO to coach

ALL great coaches have agents, teams beating on their doors, that's life

All the near misses I pointed out more than made up for the tiny handful of "bad" losses

As someone that had season tickets throughout all of the TO years from 1970 forward- and working in a good sized office, and interacting with lots of football coaches/Football people, attending away games/bowl games etc- I didn't see anything that looked like paying fan support to replace TO.

If there was an oddball comment which I heard very little of, the reaction was usually rolled eyes and a smirk from most.

 

Im disagreeing with you, that's it. "plenty" of bad games would mean those teams wouldn't end up in the top 10 or TO being in the Hall of Fame- or in the top 3 all time in most guys lists. Which wasn't the case at all.

 

 

Jesus H Christ on a crutch. I picked Tom Osborne's first seven seasons because that only seemed fair, then I listed 8 ties or losses to unranked teams, and another five losses to teams ranked lower than Nebraska. One of those was a 35 - 10 beatdown by Oklahoma, when Nebraska was ranked #2 and favored in the game. In our 27 - 0 loss to OU, Nebraska never snapped the ball in OU territory. In our 28 - 14 loss to OU, they rushed for 482 yards. In that 35 -10 loss to OU, Nebraska had six turnovers. In our 38 - 7 loss to OU a good Nebraska team shot itself in the foot with turnovers and penalties, showing big game yips once again. Again, that's just in the first seven seasons, a period of time where we think we gauge a coach's tendencies and perhaps his "ceiling."

 

In the '80s, Tom Osborne also lost to unranked and lower ranked teams -- no more or less an aberration -- while generally keeping NU in the championship hunt, including a truly legendary 1983 team. But by now he was also earning enough of a reputation for losing big games that the streak of bowl losses inspired jokes that other posters here still remember (not unlink Bo Pellllini.)

 

In hindsight we can say it wasn't fair. In the moment it seemed like Tom Osborne got outcoached when it mattered most. I'm glad you only hung out with 100% supporters, but this view was shared by people who understand football.

 

I think it's a valuable bit of perspective on a coach who would go on to become a legend and first ballot hall-of-famer. Had Tom Osborne bolted in '78 when stung by criticism, or stubbornly refused to make changes in 1990 like some coaches we could name, he would have had a 17 year career that we could all defend on paper, but never quite celebrate.

 

If you want to tell me that Tom Osborne never had a game like Wisconsin 2012 or McNeese State 2014, I promise to go downstairs and shoot myself.

 

Go get the gun then

 

NU under TO never lost to a 6 loss team by 39 or let anyone score 70 points on them- especially a power running team, which is what Wisconsin did. We all know Wisconsin could have easily scored 84 on is after having 63 at the end of 3. I dont remember any TO games like that, because it never happened.

NU never let a !AA team hang with them to the last seconds, requiring a miracle one man play to win it

If Im wrong on the above 2, please show me where- 39 point loss/70 point beat down (could have easily been 84) to 6 loss team and miracle last second win vs a DIAA team

 

My personal experiences attending those games and living in Omaha- when it comes to any big number of fans wanting a different coach are much different than yours.

 

As to those OU teams- yes, lots of those teams were either National Title contenders or National Title Winners. They werent the Wisconsins of the world- 6 loss teams with recruitng classes ranked below us. OU was always my second favorite team, loaded with athletes and always a great running game. Loved watching them play.

[BigRedBuster]

 

 

 

 

I had previously mentioned TO never got blown out, but found this from 247/sports....

 

So my friend, who often times exaggerates, tried to tell me this evening that Tom also had some rough losses under his belt early on. For some reason I had this picture in my mind of Osborne probably only losing one or two games in his career by more than a couple scores.I was pretty bored so I decided to check out and list all of Osborne's worst losses. Below are all of the losses in his career by more than ten points.

45-10 v. Oklahoma in 1990

38-7 v. #3 Oklahoma in 1977

27-0 v. #3 Oklahoma in 1973

35-10 v. #7 Oklahoma in 1975

45-21 v. #2 Georgia Tech in 1990

41-17 v. #5 Florida St. in 1989

22-0 v. #1 Miami in 1991

27-7 v. #5 Oklahoma in 1985

23-3 v. #2 Miami in 1988

19-0 v. #17 Arizona St.

20-3 v. #1 Alabama in 1978

27-12 v. #9 Colorado in 1990

36-21 v. #4 Washington in 1991

29-14 v. #2 Washington in 1992

28-14 v. #6 Oklahoma in 1974

41-28 v. #5 UCLA in 1988

27-14 v. #3 Florida St. in 1992

Notes

17 career losses by 11 points or more

11 career losses by 17 points or more

9 career losses by 20 points or more

6 losses by 24 points or more

2 losses by 31 points or more

Only one loss of 11 points or more occurred v. an unranked team (Oklahoma.)

His 4 worst losses came at the hands of Oklahoma

Oklahoma showed up on this list a total of 6 times

Wash, FSU, and Miami each showed up twice

5 of these losses came in bowl games

The late 80's to early 90's was the worst period

Anyone kind of surprised?

Obviously, I am not trying to take anything away from Coach Osborne, this an outstanding record (even if less impressive then I thought it would be.) And I' also not saying a 13 or 15 point loss is a blow out. Heck, some 20 point losses are close until strange things happen in the end.

However, when you take into consideration how much more competitive college football is today, how much more passing exists (thus inflating scores), and the fact he took over a program that won back-to-back National Championships under Devaney......perhaps we hold him in too much esteem? Maybe it's just me.

I've said it on here several times and I am sure many fans agree, but it's worth pointing out that Osborne's Huskers got their butt kicked on occasion as well - even late in his career. I'm not trying to alleviate the blow outs under Bo the last two years, but I think it's worth pointing out that everyone's human and the bad days can be overcome.

When you look at it over a career.....

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches^# AP^°Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big Eight Conference) (1973–1995)ci 1973 Nebraska 9–2–1 4–2–1 T–2nd W Cotton 11T 7 1974 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 T–2nd W Sugar 9 8 1975 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 T–1st L Fiesta 9 9 1976 Nebraska 9–3–1 4–3 T–4th W Bluebonnet 7 9 1977 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 T–2nd W Liberty 10 12 1978 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 T–1st L Orange 8 8 1979 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Cotton 7 9 1980 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd W Sun 7 7 1981 Nebraska 9–3 7–0 1st L Orange 9 11 1982 Nebraska 12–1 7–0 1st W Orange 3 3 1983 Nebraska 12–1 7–0 1st L Orange 2 2 1984 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 T–1st W Sugar 3 4 1985 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 10 11 1986 Nebraska 10–2 5–2 3rd W Sugar 4 5 1987 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 6 6 1988 Nebraska 11–2 7–0 1st L Orange 10 10 1989 Nebraska 10–2 6–1 2nd L Fiesta 12 11 1990 Nebraska 9–3 5–2 3rd L Florida Citrus 17T 24 1991 Nebraska 9–2–1 6–0–1 T–1st L Orange 16 15 1992 Nebraska 9–3 6–1 1st L Orange^† 14 14 1993 Nebraska 11–1 7–0 1st L Orange^† 3 3 1994 Nebraska 13–0 7–0 1st W Orange^† 1 1 1995 Nebraska 12–0 7–0 1st W Fiesta^† 1 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 12 Conference) (1996–1997) 1996 Nebraska 11–2 8–0 1st (North) W Orange^† 6 6 1997 Nebraska 13–0 8–0 1st (North) W Orange^† 1 2 Nebraska: 255–49–3 160–23–2 Total: 255–49–3 National champion

TO coached teams were ranked in the top 20 every season. The lowest ranking was T17 in the coaches poll. Not bad.

 

Thanks for taking the time and having an open mind, Lo Country.

 

Folks suffering through this thread may have forgotten that I had originally responded to your post asserting that while Tom Osborne teams may have lost, they were never beaten, and a couple subsequent posts about Osborne only losing to great teams. First hand memories and historical evidence confirms that Tom Osborne teams got beaten pretty bad by those great teams, and his losses to unranked and lower ranked teams were hardly abberations. His Nebraska teams had plenty of letdown games, fumble-fests and clunkers, like a lot of Top 20 teams do every year. His potential departures in 1978 and 1990 confirms that criticism of Osborne was not limited to a tiny minority that didn't understand football. There's a good reason for remembering Nebraska football in the '90s, but there were different storylines in the the 20 years preceeding it.

 

I'll leave jmfb to argue that on balance, Tom Osborne was a great coach, presiding over season after season that Bo Pelini and the fanbase would love to have had.

 

An argument that no one here has disagreed with.

 

Youre the one beating a dead horse and a lot of the info isn't correct

For Example in 1996 Arizona State was ranked #2 going into the Rose Bowl and came one play away from winning the National Title- finishing 4th a year NU fought its way back into the National Title conversation. In 1990 both Georgia Tech and Colorado ended up being #1- we lost to both. I think one of those Washington Teams ended up winning a National Title too.

 

Lots of the games posted are from teams ranked higher than NU and most times with better recruiting classes. Look at all the #1- 5 teams on that list. My goodness when was the last time we even played a National Championship team? People have no context or real thing to compare it to today.

NU under TO averaged 15 in recruiting ranking

 

There was no big fan movement to look at anyone other than TO to coach

ALL great coaches have agents, teams beating on their doors, that's life

All the near misses I pointed out more than made up for the tiny handful of "bad" losses

As someone that had season tickets throughout all of the TO years from 1970 forward- and working in a good sized office, and interacting with lots of football coaches/Football people, attending away games/bowl games etc- I didn't see anything that looked like paying fan support to replace TO.

If there was an oddball comment which I heard very little of, the reaction was usually rolled eyes and a smirk from most.

 

Im disagreeing with you, that's it. "plenty" of bad games would mean those teams wouldn't end up in the top 10 or TO being in the Hall of Fame- or in the top 3 all time in most guys lists. Which wasn't the case at all.

 

 

Jesus H Christ on a crutch. I picked Tom Osborne's first seven seasons because that only seemed fair, then I listed 8 ties or losses to unranked teams, and another five losses to teams ranked lower than Nebraska. One of those was a 35 - 10 beatdown by Oklahoma, when Nebraska was ranked #2 and favored in the game. In our 27 - 0 loss to OU, Nebraska never snapped the ball in OU territory. In our 28 - 14 loss to OU, they rushed for 482 yards. In that 35 -10 loss to OU, Nebraska had six turnovers. In our 38 - 7 loss to OU a good Nebraska team shot itself in the foot with turnovers and penalties, showing big game yips once again. Again, that's just in the first seven seasons, a period of time where we think we gauge a coach's tendencies and perhaps his "ceiling."

 

In the '80s, Tom Osborne also lost to unranked and lower ranked teams -- no more or less an aberration -- while generally keeping NU in the championship hunt, including a truly legendary 1983 team. But by now he was also earning enough of a reputation for losing big games that the streak of bowl losses inspired jokes that other posters here still remember (not unlink Bo Pellllini.)

 

In hindsight we can say it wasn't fair. In the moment it seemed like Tom Osborne got outcoached when it mattered most. I'm glad you only hung out with 100% supporters, but this view was shared by people who understand football.

 

I think it's a valuable bit of perspective on a coach who would go on to become a legend and first ballot hall-of-famer. Had Tom Osborne bolted in '78 when stung by criticism, or stubbornly refused to make changes in 1990 like some coaches we could name, he would have had a 17 year career that we could all defend on paper, but never quite celebrate.

 

If you want to tell me that Tom Osborne never had a game like Wisconsin 2012 or McNeese State 2014, I promise to go downstairs and shoot myself.

 

Go get the gun then

 

NU under TO never lost to a 6 loss team by 39 or let anyone score 70 points on them- especially a power running team, which is what Wisconsin did

NU haver let a !AA team hang with them to the last seconds, requiring a miracle one man play to win it

If Im wrong on the above 2, please show me where- 39 point loss/70 point beat down to 6 loss team and miracle last second win vs a DIAA team

 

 

I just always laugh and roll my eyes when fans claim TO never got blown out. That's a funny one.

[Guy Chamberlin]

Go get the gun then

 

NU under TO never lost to a 6 loss team by 39 or let anyone score 70 points on them- especially a power running team, which is what Wisconsin did. We all know Wisconsin could have easily scored 84 on is after having 63 at the end of 3. I dont remember any TO games like that.

NU never let a !AA team hang with them to the last seconds, requiring a miracle one man play to win it

If Im wrong on the above 2, please show me where- 39 point loss/70 point beat down to 6 loss team and miracle last second win vs a DIAA team

 

 

I KNOW THAT. I'VE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT. EVERYONE ON THIS BOARD KNOWS THAT.

 

IT'S WHY I MADE THE JOKE

 

WE ALSO KNOW THAT SOME OF YOUR MEMORIES ARE CONVENIENT, BORDERING ON INACCURATE, AND THE REST WE NEVER DISAGREED WITH.

 

STOP. PLEASE STOP. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP.

 

 

I almost forgot this thread also included the factual assertion that Tom Osborne teams rarely passed more than 10 times a game.

 

Good times.

[Saunders]

I like how we pretend the CFB world hasn't changed in 40 years, the number of teams that could vie for the top 25 hasn't increased by at least 50%, that scoring isn't up, and the rules are exactly the same.

 

 

But yes, lets continue arguing against something that nobody is actually arguing, while continuing to examine numbers in a vacuum.

[BigRedBuster]

I like how we pretend the CFB world hasn't changed in 40 years, the number of teams that could vie for the top 25 hasn't increased by at least 50%, that scoring isn't up, and the rules are exactly the same.

 

 

But yes, lets continue arguing about something that nobody is actually arguing, while continuing to examine numbers in a vacuum.

Good post.

[Savage Husker]

Debating degree of ugly losses 40 years ago and comparing to present day football is comparing apples and oranges. There are so many changes. Expectations have lowered, football programs have emerged, conferences have expanded and became more competitive. OSU lost to a 6-6 team and still won a national title. We've had a 2 loss national champion in LSU 8 years ago. Not to mention individual perspective of what an ugly loss compared to a good loss is. Some could argue MSU loss this past season was a good loss and were close to completing a comeback, while others will say we got stomped but MSU let up.

 

And my second statement, more of suggestion..if only people kept track of popularity votes for head coaches, like we do for presidents.

 

Maybe every year we should hold a popularity vote for Riley, so that 40 years from now we could have something to refer back to. A preseason August vote, a post season vote, a post spring game vote.

[Savage Husker]

I like how we pretend the CFB world hasn't changed in 40 years, the number of teams that could vie for the top 25 hasn't increased by at least 50%, that scoring isn't up, and the rules are exactly the same.

 

 

But yes, lets continue arguing about something that nobody is actually arguing, while continuing to examine numbers in a vacuum.

haha good post, was in the middle thumbing up a post of my own on the cell.

[jmfb]

Pretend TO couldnt have made the adjustments to have a similar amount of success as well? Nick Saban and Urban Meyer seem to have figured out how to do it- Im thinking TO is in their class.

TO changed his D over time, Im guessing he would have been able to do it again, pretty smart guy.

Is Wisconsins Power RUn offense a hurry up pass happy thing? Or is it something more in tune with what TO saw back in his day when teams werent scoring 59-70 points on his teams?

 

The Lombardis, Osbornes, Swtizers, Rocknes, Warners, Meyers, Sabans of the world are always going to succeed big, no matter the era.

[Savage Husker]

Pretend TO couldnt have made the adjustments to have a similar amount of success as well? Nick Saban and Urban Meyer seem to have figured out how to do it- Im thinking TO is in their class.

TO changed his D over time, Im guessing he would have been able to do it again, pretty smart guy.

Is Wisconsins Power RUn offense a hurry up pass happy thing? Or is it something more in tune with what TO saw back in his day when teams werent scoring 59-70 points on his teams?

Something Bruce and TO had in common?

[Saunders]

Pretend TO couldnt have made the adjustments to have a similar amount of success as well? Nick Saban and Urban Meyer seem to have figured out how to do it- Im thinking TO is in their class.

TO changed his D over time, Im guessing he would have been able to do it again, pretty smart guy.

Is Wisconsins Power RUn offense a hurry up pass happy thing? Or is it something more in tune with what TO saw back in his day when teams werent scoring 59-70 points on his teams?

 

The Lombardis, Osbornes, Swtizers, Rocknes, Warners, Meyers, Sabans of the world are always going to succeed big, no matter the era.

[papersun87]

I think Taylor Martinez should buy the Browns.

[NUinID]

Pretend TO couldnt have made the adjustments to have a similar amount of success as well? Nick Saban and Urban Meyer seem to have figured out how to do it- Im thinking TO is in their class.

TO changed his D over time, Im guessing he would have been able to do it again, pretty smart guy.

Is Wisconsins Power RUn offense a hurry up pass happy thing? Or is it something more in tune with what TO saw back in his day when teams werent scoring 59-70 points on his teams?

 

The Lombardis, Osbornes, Swtizers, Rocknes, Warners, Meyers, Sabans of the world are always going to succeed big, no matter the era.

 

Where in the world has anyone said that TO couldn't adjust and to keep up with the times and be successful? No one has said that. Why on earth do you think anyone has said this? No one is trashing Tom Osborne.