knapplc
International Man of Mystery
No Coast Bias did a "Where Are They Now" segment with Michael Booker today and, unsurprisingly, Booker reminisced about the National Championship Game against Florida. He brings up something we all knew heading into that game - namely, that the Gators did not respect Nebraska. Thought they were going to roll the Huskers.
From NCB:
Flash forward to today. Nobody expects these Blackshirts to be the Blackshirts of yore. You have to crawl and walk before you run.
But regardless of how good these guys are today, they should at the very least command some respect from their opponents.
But they don't. Nobody respects these Blackshirts.
And I mean... nobody.
Not Wyoming. Not Southern Miss. Not UCLA or even D1AA South Dakota State.
It's pretty obvious that, right now, not even the Blackshirts respect the Blackshirts - not all of them, anyway.
We've played four games, all at home. We've had some raucous crowds, we've had some easy opponents. We had UCLA on the ropes. Wyoming on the ropes. But in each game, for a while if not for the whole game, those teams felt like they could come in to our house and punch our defense in the mouth, and they did not fear the consequences.
Wyoming nearly beat us, as several of our defenders felt the game was won and coasted through the fourth quarter. Wyoming didn't coast - they damned near came back to beat us. Two defensive captains gave the mea culpa that we simply let up.
And you wonder why your opponents don't respect you.
UCLA wasn't awed by the Blackshirts. They never respected the defense. They kept plugging away, kept chipping away, and the defense let them back - a little glimpse here, a little open space there, one TD, then another and another. When you have a team on the ropes, a team that commands respect doesn't allow them any daylight, any inkling of a chance. You go for the kill, and you outwork them, keep fighting the whole game.
South Dakota State came to our house, an FCS team, and for a quarter and a half they showed this defense zero respect. And why should they? Nine minutes into the game Zenner had 100 yards rushing. SDSU had over 200 yards of offense in the first half alone.
Their first two scoring drives took a total of three minutes, 14 points, 146 yards. In nine plays.
There was no respect, at all, shown by Jackrabbits.
But you see, our problems run worse than that.
We could talk all day about the lack of respect our opponents show. Not just this season but last season too, and the year before that as well. Nobody, for more than two full seasons, has respected this defense.
And that includes our defense. And that's probably the worst thing of all.
In the article which opened our little chat here you've got a guy like Michael Booker, who looked the toughest team in the nation in the eye (well.... the second toughest) and respected himself enough to not accept their disrespect. He respected his teammates, the fans (read the article) and the Blackshirt tradition. Booker wouldn't accept disrespect from anyone.
And that began right between his ears. Because Michael Booker, Jamel Williams, the Peter Bros., Grant Wistrom - hell, that entire defense, four deep on the roster - those guys simply would not accept disrespect from themselves or a teammate.
That's what's lacking on this defense. There is a tacit acceptance of disrespect, of the culture of a defender, of themselves, of their teammates. There may only be one or two or five guys not carrying their weight throughout our entire 2013 defense, but there are too many guys willing to accept performances like Wyoming. Willing to accept collapses like UCLA.
We've seen it for years. We've seen it through four games in this season.
We're going to continue to see it until each guy on this defense, each guy hoping for a Blackshirt, respects themselves that they don't accept less than the best they can give each and every game, each and every practice. We're going to continue to see it until every guy on that defense holds every other guy accountable for their practice, their preparation and their performance, every game, every snap.
These guys aren't lacking in talent. They're lacking in respect.
And believe me - you've got 90,000 people screaming in those stands every Saturday who are just dying to give them the respect that comes along with earning a Blackshirt.
Once they have their own respect, once they've earned back the respect of every fan in that stadium, then they can line up across from any team - doesn't matter who because they have the talent to compete nationwide - and take that respect from their opponent.
Florida didn't give Nebraska any respect in 1995.
Nebraska took it.
It's time our defense took it upon themselves to demand respect, both from themselves and from every other team they play.
It's time to be a Blackshirt.
From NCB:
That defense was just nasty. Nasty. That 1995 Blackshirt squad is one of my favorite memories of any sport, any time - and I'm a Bulls fan and a Husker Volleyball fan, and both have given me plenty of great memories.
Flash forward to today. Nobody expects these Blackshirts to be the Blackshirts of yore. You have to crawl and walk before you run.
But regardless of how good these guys are today, they should at the very least command some respect from their opponents.
But they don't. Nobody respects these Blackshirts.
And I mean... nobody.
Not Wyoming. Not Southern Miss. Not UCLA or even D1AA South Dakota State.
It's pretty obvious that, right now, not even the Blackshirts respect the Blackshirts - not all of them, anyway.
We've played four games, all at home. We've had some raucous crowds, we've had some easy opponents. We had UCLA on the ropes. Wyoming on the ropes. But in each game, for a while if not for the whole game, those teams felt like they could come in to our house and punch our defense in the mouth, and they did not fear the consequences.
Wyoming nearly beat us, as several of our defenders felt the game was won and coasted through the fourth quarter. Wyoming didn't coast - they damned near came back to beat us. Two defensive captains gave the mea culpa that we simply let up.
And you wonder why your opponents don't respect you.
UCLA wasn't awed by the Blackshirts. They never respected the defense. They kept plugging away, kept chipping away, and the defense let them back - a little glimpse here, a little open space there, one TD, then another and another. When you have a team on the ropes, a team that commands respect doesn't allow them any daylight, any inkling of a chance. You go for the kill, and you outwork them, keep fighting the whole game.
South Dakota State came to our house, an FCS team, and for a quarter and a half they showed this defense zero respect. And why should they? Nine minutes into the game Zenner had 100 yards rushing. SDSU had over 200 yards of offense in the first half alone.
Their first two scoring drives took a total of three minutes, 14 points, 146 yards. In nine plays.
There was no respect, at all, shown by Jackrabbits.
But you see, our problems run worse than that.
We could talk all day about the lack of respect our opponents show. Not just this season but last season too, and the year before that as well. Nobody, for more than two full seasons, has respected this defense.
And that includes our defense. And that's probably the worst thing of all.
In the article which opened our little chat here you've got a guy like Michael Booker, who looked the toughest team in the nation in the eye (well.... the second toughest) and respected himself enough to not accept their disrespect. He respected his teammates, the fans (read the article) and the Blackshirt tradition. Booker wouldn't accept disrespect from anyone.
And that began right between his ears. Because Michael Booker, Jamel Williams, the Peter Bros., Grant Wistrom - hell, that entire defense, four deep on the roster - those guys simply would not accept disrespect from themselves or a teammate.
That's what's lacking on this defense. There is a tacit acceptance of disrespect, of the culture of a defender, of themselves, of their teammates. There may only be one or two or five guys not carrying their weight throughout our entire 2013 defense, but there are too many guys willing to accept performances like Wyoming. Willing to accept collapses like UCLA.
We've seen it for years. We've seen it through four games in this season.
We're going to continue to see it until each guy on this defense, each guy hoping for a Blackshirt, respects themselves that they don't accept less than the best they can give each and every game, each and every practice. We're going to continue to see it until every guy on that defense holds every other guy accountable for their practice, their preparation and their performance, every game, every snap.
These guys aren't lacking in talent. They're lacking in respect.
And believe me - you've got 90,000 people screaming in those stands every Saturday who are just dying to give them the respect that comes along with earning a Blackshirt.
Once they have their own respect, once they've earned back the respect of every fan in that stadium, then they can line up across from any team - doesn't matter who because they have the talent to compete nationwide - and take that respect from their opponent.
Florida didn't give Nebraska any respect in 1995.
Nebraska took it.
It's time our defense took it upon themselves to demand respect, both from themselves and from every other team they play.
It's time to be a Blackshirt.
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