We Fall From Grace - Together

[Roundball Shaman]

There is another group of fans that shares the same discontent right now as Huskers fans. And that is... Texas. Yes, Longhorn fans. The pride of Austin. The Burnt Orange. The same color as many Longhorn fans faces right now.

 

Both programs share being very good for a long time and now share not being very good for a long time. Both fan bases are frustrated. Both universities have tried fixes that didn’t work. Both are struggling for answers.

 

There are various dates Husker fans pick for when it all went sour. Some go back almost twenty years. But there’s another date that bears watching.

 

The moment went everything went sour for BOTH of these programs was... the end of the Big 12 Championship Game in 2009 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. You’ll recall that the game appeared to end with the clock at zero with the Big Red winning the championship 12 to 10. But game officials decided to add one second to the game clock which resulted in a Texas victory. Longhorn fans rejoiced. Nebraska fans cried foul. And to this day, the end of that game is debated by those who saw it.

 

What is without question is that since then, the Longhorns have lost almost as many games as they’ve won. They only have two minor bowl victories. They’ve never been the same. And
neither have the Huskers.

 

Something weird happened that day. Have unseen forces rendered their verdict and bad karma was let loose? Are the Longhorns looking to fix their program in the wrong places? Are the Huskers being punished for an ending that wasn’t their fault? What is going on here?

 

Maybe the answers aren’t just in finding a new coach or players. Maybe the answers are in a realm no one is looking at? Do we seek advise from magic makers in New Orleans?

 

You wonder what the future might have been for both programs if the Huskers were allowed to win that game.

[Hilltop]

Texas looks a heck of a lot better than we do right now... they lost in double overtime to the #4 team in the country last week.  

[Toe]

^ If you think a coach almost beating a highly-rated opponent early in their tenure means anything, ask Notre Dame how things went after Charlie Weis almost beat USC.

 

Or for that matter, ask Nebraska how much Riley's first season win over #6 Michigan State means right about now.

[Pedro Guerrero]

18 minutes ago, Hilltop said:

Texas looks a heck of a lot better than we do right now... they lost in double overtime to the #4 team in the country last week.  

 

They still lost and are sitting at 1-2.

[BoNeyard]

Although Texas is 1-2 like us, they did almost beat USC with a young QB, and their first year head coach who is also very young and not in his mid 60's with 30+ years of head coaching experience who is still trying to figure out how to better prepare his players for upcoming games.

 

Texas may be 1-2, but they are in a better boat with less holes then us.

[Head Coach Scott Frost]

Texas will be fine. Tom Herman is a good coach. If you believe in rebuilding years this is his.

[JJ Husker]

Sorry, 2009 is NOT when things started going wrong for the Huskers. The exact day you are looking for is the 2001 game vs CU in Boulder. I couldn't care less when Texa$$ started sucking. The longer the better in my book.

[California Husker]

27 minutes ago, El Diaco said:

Sorry, 2009 is NOT when things started going wrong for the Huskers. The exact day you are looking for is the 2001 game vs CU in Boulder. I couldn't care less when Texa$$ started sucking. The longer the better in my book.

 

[neepster]

3 hours ago, Hilltop said:

Texas looks a heck of a lot better than we do right now... they lost in double overtime to the #4 team in the country last week.  

 

Yeah that's because their AD didn't stupidly hire a career .500 coach.

[speedtoburn]

RoundbalShaman...

 

Can I have some of whatever it is you're smoking?

 

Are you honesty trying to compare Texas with Nebraska? Did you watch the Maryland game, and their follow-up game against SC? 

 

Clearly you didn't, the turnaround Herman orchestrated in the span of going from game 1 to game 2 was insane. This with an average roster full of players he didn't recruit, and starting a true freshman QB. Despite all of that they went into a top 5 venue and completely stuffed a loaded SC team with a punishing ground game fresh off a stomping of a PAC 12 foe who has traditionally given them loads of problems.

 

The trajectories of our programs could not be more different. Herman is everything we need in a coach, and he will have the Texas machine churning within 3 years.

 

Tom Herman, now 6-2 against Top 10 ranked teams, he is NOT Charlie Weiss...

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I call it The Curse of Black Friday. Literally, since that game, Nebraska hasn't won a conference title, or even BEEN to one of the 'big' bowl games. I don't think we've beaten a top 5 team in 16 years. So many injuries, bad bounces, blowouts, embarrassments, poor coaching picks and coaching blunders. 

 

The question is - how is the Curse of Black Friday to be lifted? The Prodigal Son? (I think we all can agree that while a stand up guy, Mediocre Mike is simply not the guy to defeat the Curse.)

[huskerfan92]

I may be feeling down on the Huskers, but I will never reach so low that I'll start feeling sympathy for Texas. Jealous that you guys have Herman though.

[hskrpwr13]

16 minutes ago, Jeremy said:

Yeah, I call it The Curse of Black Friday. Literally, since that game, Nebraska hasn't won a conference title, or even BEEN to one of the 'big' bowl games. I don't think we've beaten a top 5 team in 16 years. So many injuries, bad bounces, blowouts, embarrassments, poor coaching picks and coaching blunders. 

 

The question is - how is the Curse of Black Friday to be lifted? The Prodigal Son? (I think we all can agree that while a stand up guy, Mediocre Mike is simply not the guy to defeat the Curse.)

 

Well, technically, we did play in the Rose Bowl for the national title after that game.

[Jeremy]

8 minutes ago, hskrpwr13 said:

 

Well, technically, we did play in the Rose Bowl for the national title after that game.

True, but even then, the stain of 'backing in' was almost as bad as the thumping we took from the NFL team in Miami Hurricane jerseys. After that season, the Nebraska football team has been largely irrelevant. 

 

As entitled as we are, though, we still show up and cheer them on, as though it's 1994 and a legit Blackshirt defense is making Kordell Stewart acquainted with the Memorial Stadium turf for the umpteenth time. So the fans can't be blamed. We've been there, sticking together in all kinds of weather.

[Landlord]

15 years prior to Black Friday:

 

11 top 10 finishes

13 major bowl appearances

8 conference championships

3 national championships

 

15 years after Black Friday:

 

0 top 10 finishes

0 major bowl appearances

0 conference championships

0 national championships

 

 

I kept 2001 out of it for the before and after to make the zeros look that much worse