My take, not trying to make

[NUinID]

excuses.

Wisky was an angry, healthy, motivated team with a huge chip on there shoulder. They came to play and win. They were loose and were going to let it all hang out.

Nebraska was a beat up,and tired team coming in that wanted to survive. They were tight.

Going into this game I was worried that this might be the case and my worst nightmare came to fruition.

Nebraska needed to have things go right from the get go to get some momentum and it didn't.

I don't understand why once things go south Bo's players can't start playing for pride. This game tackling wise was like the UCLA game.

I don't understand why he can't get his players motivated to play when they are suppose to win. How come he only seems to motivate his players when it is an us against the world mentality?

This explains a loss. This DOES NOT explain the total melt down that we watched on Saturday.

As for the psychologist, I think one is needed. However, this team was tough enough to come from behind in 4 games this year. This was after they played like crap in the first half of games. The coaches were able to go into the locker room at half time and make adjustments and motivate the team to come out and win in the second half. This team didn't give up in 6 straight games of a tough schedule.

Where did that team go? There is something wrong with how this team approaches big games. The average game throughout the season they do well. The three games this year that were highlighted before the season were on the road against UCLA, OSU and the CCG. Those were the biggest games on the schedule. Two of those weren't against world beater teams. But, the results are all the same.

Then, look at all the games in between those three games. Our team was mentally tough enough to over come mistakes.

I just don't get it.

I think part of the problem after the 6 game stretch is that they were mentally spent. They didn't have anything left in the tank.

 

[C N Red]

thanks for the post. Remember when NU had a team psychologist? My uneducated guess is that there is something in the mind set of coaches and players that leads to bad things when the game starts going downhill.

Nebraska has four people on its sports psychology staff.

Then, the question is, is Bo willing to use them and listen to them?

I think they should all be fired. We really need some new psychology staff. If we could get some top flight sports psychologists in here that would be the cake topper and nothing could stop us from multiple NCs.

 

[Vizsla1]

All these HB posts while intoxicated might explain Lincoln's 38 DUI arrests this weekend. Apparently, a large part of Lincoln was turning to the bottle to help soothe their hearts.

 

[beanman]

thanks for the post. Remember when NU had a team psychologist? My uneducated guess is that there is something in the mind set of coaches and players that leads to bad things when the game starts going downhill.

Nebraska has four people on its sports psychology staff.

Can we blame them? It must be their fault, right?

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I think a lot of us were worried about this game because we saw how Nebraska played in the previous 12 games.

I don't think any of us would have guessed Saturday morning that the Huskers were mentally and physically spent and unable to get pscyhed for the Big 10 Championship Game and the chance to go to the Rose Bowl. That's an after the fact excuse. There's no way our players shouldn't have been ready for this game. Especially after mailing in the Iowa game. Unless the team really is only six points better than Iowa. Maybe that's the problem.

We should have had a chip on our shoulder.

The disasterous start is almost a trademark now, and the offense managed to calm down and get us back to 14 - 10 in the first quarter. Momentum had been neutralized for the moment.

But the defense never had the answer, never made an adjustment. They weren't tired. They just sucked.

When everyone on the team is tight, that goes straight to the head coach. With all due respect to McKeown's diplomacy, this isn't about the position coaches.

 

[VA Husker Fan]

I don't understand why once things go south Bo's players can't start playing for pride. This game tackling wise was like the UCLA game.

How many comebacks this year? 2 or 3 of them when half of the huskerboard game thread posters quit on the game? Generalized statements like this don't work.

I don't think there are easy answers to any of this.

I'm not talking about being down 12-14 pts at halftime and coming back, I'm talking about being down 42-10 at half time and playing hard in the second half and losing 49-31. Thats playing for pride. I didn't quit on this game I watched the whole thing.

And IMO it wasn't the offense not playing hard, they were, it was the defense. They get down and start looking at each other and have a deer in the head light look.

No there aren't any easy answers.

I'm not too worried how well a coach's team turns a total rout into a respectable loss. If we're down 42-10 at the half too often, that coach won't be around for long. Coming back 4 times from double digits down to win means a lot more to me.

I get what you mean. I didn't like how the holes in the defense kept getting bigger in the 2nd half either. But I don't think Saturday's game was an indication that this team quits when things get tough. Those 4 comebacks say otherwise. I think the Wisconsin game is one you have to forget about. I mean, obviously the coaches and players have to evaluate film and correct mistakes, like any other game. If it happens very often, you have to start examining what changes need to be made, including at the top with the head coach. Some think we're at that point already. I don't, but I can't say I'm emphatic about it.

 

[Saz]

Maybe we can put a positive spin on this and say this game was one of the best rope-a-dopes ever. If the huskers can beat georgia there will be alot more media coverage and praise than if we had actually done what we were suppose to and go to the rose bowl. That scenario only works if we actually beat georgia.

I was telling people all week that this team beats itself, and that within the first 5 min of the game we would know the outcome. I know coaches are where the puck stops but most of the losses have been to player brain farts, which are so baffling because there is no way we will ever know why it happens, and it is especially true with this graduating class.

Its not time to change coach, but the coaches do need to stop and reflect, I agree that some people need replaced like the o-line coach. Pap was a higher that is understandable, but not necessarily the best or most agreeable higher.

Nothing anyone says or does will change the mind of the negative nancy's that think that everything should be instant. I believe when nebraska decided to higher Bo they went with the plant a seed and let the tree grow path.

Lets go into a time machine and look at the last 10 years of BCS champions. In those 10 years I think 8 different schools have won. Of those 8 schools only 4 coaches are still coaching at the college BCS level. Miami is not on the competitive radar and wont be for a long time. USC is also off the radar no matter how much the media wants to hype them. OSU lost the cheating tres and got meyer. LSU lost saban and got Miles. Flordia lost meyer, nothing won since he left.......anyhow Im rambling and Im not cross checking my info so on to the next point.

There are really only 3 "great" coaches out there if we are going off of championships only, saban, miles, and meyers. They didnt have awesome starts at their BCS schools. (Im not counting their mid-major conference runs)....Meyers is actually an exception to the rule because I dont think he had a bad year at any level....but the others? I dont have the stats in front of me, but Saban, struggled until I believe his last year at michigan state, then he struggled at LSU until his last season or the last 2...by the time he went to Alabama he had already formed a god like following. Miles, well we know what he did at oklahoma state, and then he inherited a national champ team. Meyers turned florida around from a drop off, and now he is at ohio state. There is one thing all these schools have that most don't..especially Nebraska. They are hotbeds for recruiting.

Ohio state is the texas of B1G. If they wanted they could fill the roster with players from just the suburbs of columbus and compete for league champs. Its been beaten around like a dead horse, but those schools mentioned above will always have an advantage because they are the states all the other schools go to try and get players. They only need to go out of state for a few "stars" that fit a specific need.

Im sure Im not the only one but I still think Nebraska is heading in the right direction. The loss to wisc sucked (since I live in cbus the OSU loss sucked more in my little world)....but really the only people that will be talking about this a few years from now are the people that post here.....

So here is a toast to the fun world of internet fan forums....where the battle between the fanboys and the haters rages on till there can only be one "true" fan.

 

[krc1995]

paging Dr. Stark, Dr. Stark. is he still there?

 

[TheBreeze521]

There is definitely a psychology thing going on and it starts at the top.

Instead of building on success, success is always followed by failure of equal magnitude.

Coaching and playing with a chip on your shoulder is begging for a massive letdown. Or 2 or 3.

I'm glad for six straight wins but if you don't get better in the process, look out below. Not enough focus on getting better.