Lincoln Atmosphere

[Kernal]

Lincoln, not just the stadium itself during the game, will be dead or certainly eerily quiet and subdued after a disheartening loss. In this case, it was not just the NW game that was lost but really the bulk of the remaining hopes for the season sailed away as well. Frankly, this loss was the roughest and worst of the year in my view. Any unrealistic hopes or wishes for something to be salvaged for 2015 were gone. The team played poorly once again for at least half the game. We just can't put together 4 quarters. I really can't remember the last time the Huskers played well and up to par for an entire game, start to finish. I'd think it might be in the 2000 bowl game against Tennessee. We played really well that night as I recall.

 

That is a bunch of games ago!! By the time you have gone through 15 seasons and all those long spells between January 1 and Sept. 1, you kind of lose the ability to get fired up and stay focused for a long Saturday pregame to post game party. Losing has always taken the wind out of the downtown party atmosphere. I was not there but I can imagine the bars were not even three quarters filled after the game either. It would have been pretty much a downer but not the usual kind of 'shock and dismay' but more the grumbling disgust feeling as the product on the field contiunes to suck. Let's face it: the Huskers are just not very good and are not playing very well. It is the fault of many things combining together - way too many years of subpar coaching, recruiting, over hyping, under performing, failing to strive for excellence, etc, etc etc. Whatever can go wrong, does! It will take the combined efforts of literally 120,000 people from the fans to the players and their friends and families, and the students and faculty and the merchants downtown , etc. Nebraska football was a phenomenom really. It is gone! It won't come back easily without a mammoth effort. It won't happen overnight or within a year or two. It is a complete rebuilding process. Many have written on this board and in the papers, etc that Nebrasks doesn't need rebuilt, it needs a good tune up! I say BS to that. We are facing a complete rebuilding from the foundation up. Many have contributed to its collapse and many will be required to remake it.

 

I agree this is a bigger "rebuilding" project than many of us thought or wanted to believe. It's not as simple as teaching a new scheme. There's something missing from the heart of the program. There's very little of the kind of fire in guys that gets them to collectively do extraordinary things. Whatever was lost, I believe it was lost in the transition from Osborne to Solich. Even though the Huskers stayed pretty good for a few years, it seemed like as soon as Osborne's guys were mostly gone, the program lost its way.

 

But it's not just the players and coaches. Many fans have become impatient and just want wins- with little thought about how those wins come. It also doesn't help that we constantly compare the current teams to some of the greatest teams in CFB history. That's not fair to the coaches or players. I guess people still care, so that's a good thing. But I have my doubts that anyone knows how to get the program back on the right track.

 

Maybe Eichorst sees all this. Maybe Riley does too. And maybe they can get the foundation of the program fixed. But these problems preceeded Riley and Pelini, and Callahan.

 

As for the atmosphere in Lincoln, it's always been schizophrenic. Loud when we're playing well and quiet when we're struggling- ironicly the time when the team needs the fans to be loudest. One of the best games I ever attended was the 2011 OSU game. The one thing that stands out about that game to me is the fans. We never gave up. You wouldn't know it from all the bitching Pelini did about the fans that game, but we were loud as hell even when the Huskers were down by 21 in the rain. We just never gave up, and I absolutely believe that helped fuel the team's comeback.