Is this a fair assessment of Nebraska?

Mitch knows his stuff. He is a Nebraska native, wrote at the DN during the 90s, and spent a number of years at the OWH. I actually find it funny how he left the OWH to cover recruiting for ESPN, but now is basically back to being a best writer for the Huskers.

 
I think the whole irrelevance idea stem from the state more than the nation. Nebraska is still relevant, even if we aren't the powerhouse we once were.

 
clyde40 said:
I think the whole irrelevance idea stem from the state more than the nation. Nebraska is still relevant, even if we aren't the powerhouse we once were.
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Nebraska is very much relevant in Texas and are somewhat relevant to where my aunt lives in Florida.

 
relevancy is overrated, imo. and nu will shoot right back into relevancy relatively quickly when we do start to win some big games.

however, it is hard to stomach that nd/pudue (puke) is on primetime and neb/ucla is not.

 
I think that article is pretty spot on. Relevance can be used to mean a few things. I'm sure we're not irrelevant to our opponents but until we win something of substance (CCG, national game against somebody in the top ten or twenty), I think it is fair to say we are irrelevant in the national discussion and to many recruits that know us more for getting blown out in big games than for winning anything. Not really harsh at all, just tellin it like it is. And I think the writer nailed the importance of this UCLA game. Without a win here, we are not in the discussion at all until possibly the Michigan game.

 
It's a fair assessment but to use recruiting battles as an example is kind of weak. We got our share of recruits agaisnt top teams.

Also, some kid who "doesn't know where Nebraska is". That's kinda stupid.

Once kids get to our campus and see who we are, they know we're relevant.

Now, how long can history and tradition carry us on a true national stage? Yeah, we need to win a few games in prime time.

 
Relevance, at least in the grand sense discussed in that article, is a long ways away right now. Only a few programs have that kind of national recognition right now. Certainly Alabama and Oregon, with programs like Notre Dame, Ohio St., Michigan, Oklahoma, LSU, TCU and Boise St. all hovering around the border. And then additionally there are teams that are relevant at the moment like Clemson and Texas A&M (at least for another four days).

Beating UCLA won't get that type of relevance. Maybe beating UCLA and Michigan will make us relevant as a team. But that type is so temporary as to barely be worth discussing. 12/6/09 we were the next big thing. 10/3/10 we had arrived. 10/16/10 we were right back in the hole we fell into on 11/23/01. And that was really the last time were relevant as a program, in the longer-term sense. The road back to that point is still a long one. We need multiple conference titles, top 10 finishes, playing for a national title and beating somebody from the SEC, or Oregon.

 
I think if the A&M game doesn't happen the way it happened (the penalties, Pelini blowing up, and Martinez getting his ankle stepped on by Caputo aggravating the injury more) we would be in a way better position as a program right now. I feel we absolutely would've won that game if the refs had called the game even a little more evenly. And we are on the upside going into the Big XII championship game without that blow up hanging over the program. Hell the blow up is brought up every time a bad call goes against us because the TV cameras automatically focus on Bo.

Now Bo has made a tremendous effort these last couple years to calm down, and he absolutely has succeeded. It's hard not to like what Bo has done with this program (really since he came back) off the field.

Now he just needs to get some more on the field success. Beating UCLA would be a good first step, but the biggest thing would be going no worse than 3-1 in November.

 
I am I said:
It's a fair assessment but to use recruiting battles as an example is kind of weak. We got our share of recruits agaisnt top teams.
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until we do anything with these said recruits, you don't have a point. the current recruit rating system is absolutely irrelevant as a term of rating national success... teams with less have done more and vice versa.

whateveritis1224 said:
I think if the A&M game doesn't happen the way it happened (the penalties, Pelini blowing up, and Martinez getting his ankle stepped on by Caputo aggravating the injury more) we would be in a way better position as a program right now.
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I think you're crazy. As much hype as the "Bo Blowup" has gotten, you're gonna give it some more hot air?

 
When I was a kid visiting an Uncle in SoCal, I had another kid ask me where I was from, and he said, I must be from northern Calif, because he never heard of that town, called Nebraska. lol. It's not so much the games we lost to Wis, Mich, OSU. It's the way we lost them. I hope this week, starts to turn things around for the program. GBR!!!

 
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We had this discussion in THIS THREAD back in the middle of August. This is what I had to say back then, and nothing has changed since then.

knapplc said:
The reality is that there isn't any national buzz surrounding Nebraska right now. We're not the media darlings that those generating buzz engender.

The national narrative is generated by momentum, and ours is decidedly downward, despite the very real accolades cited in the OP.

Our coach is best known for surliness and losing four games per season.

Our quarterback is best known for his lightning speed, but equally well-known for his errors, and his public awkwardness.

Our team in general is known for being the whipping boy in several nationally-broadcast blowout losses.

Whatever the "next step" is that this team needs to take, there's little indication that we'll take it.

We haven't made a splash recruiting in years. We're best known in recruiting for missing out on several well-known targets.

One of our best-known traditions, the Blackshirts, has been a public laughing-stock for the last couple of years.

Even our best-known players the last several years are generating as much negative press as positive. Suh's well-publicized gaffes reflect poorly on the team, as do Fonzie's.

The funny thing about this thread is that I haven't had time to write up a thread I've been meaning to for at least a week - namely, how little national play Nebraska is getting this preseason. Look around at the headlines of the major publications out there and you won't find Nebraska mentioned nearly anywhere. Today:

SI has Urban Meyer/Ohio State as the lead story of their mailbag. Other headlines include Hundley/UCLA, Alabama, USC, Manziel/Texas A&M, Spurrier/Clowney, and Kent St/Archer.

Yahoo/Rivals has Shaw/Stanford, Clowney/SC, USC/Lee, Gardner/Michigan, Sparty's offense, Oregon, Wisconsin, Pitt & K-State

CBS has Cincy's transfer, A&M/Manziel, Oregon, Penn St, Clowney/Spurrier, Florida St, Auburn, Gundy/OK State

USAToday has Louisville, A&M/Manziel, Lee/USC, Michigan St, Alabama, Clemson, etc.

Nobody has anything to write about Nebraska, and why should they? Where's our momentum? Where's the indication that we'll be a big story this year?
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huskered17 said:
When I was a kid visiting an Uncle in SoCal, I had another kid ask me where I was from, and he said, I must be from northern Calif, because he never heard of that town, called Nebraska. lol. It's not so much the games we lost to Wis, Mich, OSU. It's the way we lost them. I hope this week, starts to turn things around for the program. GBR!!!
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Ha ha! That sounds typical of SoCal natives. They are incredibly open minded about nearly every topic there is--except geography. Of the people I know from LA, hardly any could point to Nebraska or any other Midwestern state on a map. They are a very myopic people.
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