Great Perspective from Shatel

[ladyhawke]

I never want to go through what we did against our loss to Texas ever again. I would rather be blown out of the water than have to go through that again.

I'm also not convinced that our boys 'gave up'. I think they were just worn out. The emotional stress of coming back from those games, the pressure of 'winning out' took its toll on our guys.

I also think that Martinez was sick with a bad cold. I don't know if anyone else noticed this but he was really puffing after even a short run. Losing Steinkuhler and Jackson really hurt us too. It will be interesting to see how we do against Georgia. Bo will have had a month to prepare. The boys will be finished with finals and rested up. You can think what you like but I respectfully disagree with the contention that our kids gave up.

 

[MichiganDad3]

I hope people finally figure out that the other 6 schools in the big 8 conference offered no resistance year in and year out. Not trying to throw mud on Tom Osborne's win-loss record but face it you could almost guarantee wins against everyone except the sooners year after year.

People say this often, so I decided to look up some stats. Below are the final AP ranking (top 20 only) for all Big 8 teams and, in parenthesis, ranked out of conference teams NU played from 1973 to 1995. Rarely did NU only have to face a single good team (Oklahoma). Most years NU faced 4 or more ranked teams. Amazingly, NU faced the number 1 ranked team in the final AP poll 9 times in 23 years (39%).

1973 OK 3, NU 7, KU 18, MO 17 (UCLA 12, NC State 16, Texas 14)

1974 OK 1, NU 9 (Florida 15)

1975 OK 1, NU 9, CO 16 (Arizona State 2)

1976 OK 5, NU 9, OSU 14, CO 16, ISU 19 (Texas Tech 13)

1977 OK 7, NU 12 (Alabama 2,North Carolina 17)

1978 OK 3, NU 8, MO 15 (Alabama 1, OK 3)

1979 OK 3, NU 9 (Penn State 20, Houston 5)

1980 OK 3, NU 7 (Penn State 8, FSU 5, Mississippi St, 19)

1981 NU 11, MO 19, OK 20 (Penn State 3, Iowa 18, Clemson 1)

1982 NU 3, OK 16 (Penn State 1, Auburn 14, LSU 11)

1983 NU 2 (UCLA 17, Miami 1)

1984 NU 4, OK 6, OSU 7 (UCLA 9, LSU 15)

1985 OK 1, NU 11 (FSU 15, Michigan 2)

1986 OK 1, NU 5 (LSU 10)

1987 OK 3, NU 6, OSU 11 (UCLA 9, South Carolina 15, Arizona St. 20, FSU 2)

1988 NU 10, OK 14, OSU 11 (UCLA 6, Miami 2)

1989 CO 4, NU 11 (FSU 3)

1990 CO 1, OKS 17, NU 24 (Georgia Tech 1)

1991 NU 15, OK 16, CO 20 (Washington 2, Miami 1)

1992 CO 13, NU 14, KU 22 (Washington 11, FSU 2)

1993 NU 3, CO 16, OK 17, KU 20 (UCLA 18, FSU 1)

1994 NU 1, CO 3, KSU 19 (Miami 6)

1995 NU 1, CO 5, KSU 7, KU 9 (Florida 2)

 

[caveman99]

Both hurt yes. However in one you are not competitive and are embarrassed. THAT is the difference. 10/10 Times I would rather lose a close game than get destroyed.

I remember getting hammered by Miami a few times and TO couldn't beat OU nor win a bowl.

 

[Landlord]

I hope people finally figure out that the other 6 schools in the big 8 conference offered no resistance year in and year out. Not trying to throw mud on Tom Osborne's win-loss record but face it you could almost guarantee wins against everyone except the sooners year after year.

People say this often, so I decided to look up some stats. Below are the final AP ranking (top 20 only) for all Big 8 teams and, in parenthesis, ranked out of conference teams NU played from 1973 to 1995. Rarely did NU only have to face a single good team (Oklahoma). Most years NU faced 4 or more ranked teams. Amazingly, NU faced the number 1 ranked team in the final AP poll 9 times in 23 years (39%).

1973 OK 3, NU 7, KU 18, MO 17 (UCLA 12, NC State 16, Texas 14)

1974 OK 1, NU 9 (Florida 15)

1975 OK 1, NU 9, CO 16 (Arizona State 2)

1976 OK 5, NU 9, OSU 14, CO 16, ISU 19 (Texas Tech 13)

1977 OK 7, NU 12 (Alabama 2,North Carolina 17)

1978 OK 3, NU 8, MO 15 (Alabama 1, OK 3)

1979 OK 3, NU 9 (Penn State 20, Houston 5)

1980 OK 3, NU 7 (Penn State 8, FSU 5, Mississippi St, 19)

1981 NU 11, MO 19, OK 20 (Penn State 3, Iowa 18, Clemson 1)

1982 NU 3, OK 16 (Penn State 1, Auburn 14, LSU 11)

1983 NU 2 (UCLA 17, Miami 1)

1984 NU 4, OK 6, OSU 7 (UCLA 9, LSU 15)

1985 OK 1, NU 11 (FSU 15, Michigan 2)

1986 OK 1, NU 5 (LSU 10)

1987 OK 3, NU 6, OSU 11 (UCLA 9, South Carolina 15, Arizona St. 20, FSU 2)

1988 NU 10, OK 14, OSU 11 (UCLA 6, Miami 2)

1989 CO 4, NU 11 (FSU 3)

1990 CO 1, OKS 17, NU 24 (Georgia Tech 1)

1991 NU 15, OK 16, CO 20 (Washington 2, Miami 1)

1992 CO 13, NU 14, KU 22 (Washington 11, FSU 2)

1993 NU 3, CO 16, OK 17, KU 20 (UCLA 18, FSU 1)

1994 NU 1, CO 3, KSU 19 (Miami 6)

1995 NU 1, CO 5, KSU 7, KU 9 (Florida 2)

Thanks for proving the point about how awful the Big 8 was.

for me, the wisky loss was much more painful than the 1 seconds loss to Texas in the B12 CCG a few years back.

Tom said something when he fired Callahan. He said it wasnt so much if Cally won his last 4 games, it was how they were played. He stated he wanted a team to play competitive, to not give up. He stated if a team plays hard all 4 quarters and still losses, well thats part of football sometimes and he wouldnt hold that against him. I wonder what he think about our 4-5 blowouts over the last 2 years? (granted cally teams were much worse than whats happened with Bo)

He never said anything like this. Check zoogies' post for what TO said publicly about Bill.

Listen guys...the Wisconsin game was a butt-whooping the likes of which can't easily be matched. I'll give you that every time. However, the Ohio State, South Carolina, Wisconsin (2011) and Michigan games were not even close to the same. We were right in all of those games at some point in the third quarter, before collapsing in a quick, unexpected turn of unfortunate events. Was it embarrasing? Sure. Did we get wiped all over the field? Not even close. We were hanging right with those top ten teams. I'm not pumping sunshine here, just being honest. Yes we lost, yes the final scores weren't close, yes we didn't get the job done when we need to.

All I'm saying is that those losses are being looked back on in hindsight and remembered as much worse than they really were.

 

[Mars]

Osborne wasn't paid $2.875 million dollars per year.

 

[Landlord]

Osborne wasn't paid $2.875 million dollars per year.

 

[Mars]

Can't articulate thoughts, just post gifs!

 

[CheeseHusker]

Six facepalms in one post, pay that!

I remember the later OU losses.... they were soul crushing. Especially '86... After four straight (three at home) from 84-87 I thought we were never going to beat OU again.

A week after the Badger massacre and I actually feel okay. I think these blowouts are the result of momentum just building and building to the point where you have no answer for it.

It's like golf.... you know the best player in the world can shoot 82 on a bad day and look like an amateur. Sometimes if you make two or three bogeys in a row early, your entire demeanor changes and your whole mindset is completely thrown out the window.

 

[Goal-line]

I just read that and I hope Bo stays he has the pices in place to have a great team and I hope he has the pacients(sorry my spelling is horrible) I want to see Bo here for the rest of his career and that he wins a ton here. GBR

The only way Pelini will get the job done is if he goes outside his normal reach and hire some quality coaches. The flip side of that is the new AD shelling out the coins to get them here. Without doing this, Pelini is short lived as a Husker head coach.

As for your spelling, when the red dotted line shows up under the word, that means is typed incorrectly. When you see the little red dotted line, place your cursor on the word, right click on your mouse and you see a list of correctly spelled words similar to your word. Once that happens, simply left click on the word you were trying to spell. Not all that hard.

 

[grandpasknee]

My favorite Husker game of my lifetime (going back to mid - late 60s) is the beat down we put on Florida in the Fiesta bowl. Even though it was a crushing loss, the second most memorable game is the last second loss to Miami in the 83 Orange Bowl. That was one heck of a game and I think the turning point for Osborne. Having "a chance" at the end is always preferable for me.

 

[mrandyk]

I was texting a friend of mine who is a Georgia fan on the night we played Wisc and they Ala. At least on that night he thought it would feel better to get blown out and go on with your night than to get emotionally crushed in a close loss. Not sure I agree but We got crushed so I can't say. "Fire the coaches" after a 10 win season is a dangerous game to be playing!

Which hurt more, 09 against Texas or 12 against Wisconsin? After the Texas game I sat in a dark room alone, pissed off and wanting nothing to do with anyone or anything. After Wisconsin I was just jaded and didn't give a f#*k anymore. A close loss is far more emotionally draining, but a blowout loss is much worse for the program.

 

[talaricohusker]

It's different on a phone, it don't always bring up the right word.

What I don't like is how everyone blames the qb and the coach. We have seen that the pieces are there. He can win. He is a brilliant coach. It's a lack of execution and blown covers. On top of that we changed conferences and that takes time also.

I look at it this way, we have a winning season. We could go back to when Callahan was here. Sound like a plan? And if you keep changin the staff, it kills the team and shows instability. The one thing huskers need more than anything is stability. We haven't had that since Tom retired as head coach. With that instability you can't and don't get top notch recruits. We are finally getting good recruits. Leave things the way they are.

 

[Landlord]

I just read that and I hope Bo stays he has the pices in place to have a great team and I hope he has the pacients(sorry my spelling is horrible) I want to see Bo here for the rest of his career and that he wins a ton here. GBR

The only way Pelini will get the job done is if he goes outside his normal reach and hire some quality coaches. The flip side of that is the new AD shelling out the coins to get them here. Without doing this, Pelini is short lived as a Husker head coach.

This is such a stupid argument. By what standard do you not think our assistants are quality? By pedigree? Rich Fisher was a high school golf coach - name one position on the field more talented, productive and sharp than our receivers right now. By experience? Terry Joseph has our secondary playing as good as it ever has in the last 5 years, without all the NFL talent. On the field production? Ross Els has more than a decade of Division I coaching experience and his unit hasn't performed, while Tim Beck is in his second season ever as an offensive coordinator and our offense is one of the very best across the country.

Whichever way you want to spin it, it doesn't work because we have plenty of guys that do and don't fit into whichever criteria you want to arbitrarily choose. Just come to the realization that you don't know what makes an assistant coach quality or otherwise.

 

[MichiganDad3]

I was texting a friend of mine who is a Georgia fan on the night we played Wisc and they Ala. At least on that night he thought it would feel better to get blown out and go on with your night than to get emotionally crushed in a close loss. Not sure I agree but We got crushed so I can't say. "Fire the coaches" after a 10 win season is a dangerous game to be playing!

Which hurt more, 09 against Texas or 12 against Wisconsin? After the Texas game I sat in a dark room alone, pissed off and wanting nothing to do with anyone or anything. After Wisconsin I was just jaded and didn't give a f#*k anymore. A close loss is far more emotionally draining, but a blowout loss is much worse for the program.

Wisconsin hurt much more. The Texas loss should have been a win. A stupid penalty and a questionable call cost NU the game against one of the top teams in the nation. I couldn't wait for the next season and expected NU to be in the hunt for the national title. After the Wisconsin loss I feel hopeless. NU can't stop the run, and I fear an epic beat down from Georgia. Even with an easy schedule next year I do not have high hopes because NU loses 8 starters from a pitiful defense

 

[wiuhusker]

I was texting a friend of mine who is a Georgia fan on the night we played Wisc and they Ala. At least on that night he thought it would feel better to get blown out and go on with your night than to get emotionally crushed in a close loss. Not sure I agree but We got crushed so I can't say. "Fire the coaches" after a 10 win season is a dangerous game to be playing!

Which hurt more, 09 against Texas or 12 against Wisconsin? After the Texas game I sat in a dark room alone, pissed off and wanting nothing to do with anyone or anything. After Wisconsin I was just jaded and didn't give a f#*k anymore. A close loss is far more emotionally draining, but a blowout loss is much worse for the program.

In my mind Wisconsin hurts worse. Heading into the Texas game many people thought Texas would win that game and we would be happy to keep it close. Nebraska may have had the better defense but Texas was obvioulsy the overall better team. Given the circumstances in which the game ended, obvioulsy that game hurts.

We were actually favored in the Wisconsin game this year and were considered by many as the better team. To come out on national tv and show the world that performance was flat out embarassing at the time. I can handle losing. Losing in the fashion we did to tOSU and Wisconsin is just unacceptable in my opinion.