Nebraska and Duke, the only left of its kind.

skersfan said:
I see the same things that both of you do.

I see us improving and moving forward, but this has been going on a long time. It is not just the BC years that are back there.

I do not think Coach Solich ever beat a top 15 team on the road.

BC never did.

That is obviously a lot tougher to do than most of us think. I have no reason why, but we have failed to get it done with three coaches so far. Expecting it to change with the teams we have to play is great. If it happens fantastic, if it doesn't it is not the end of the world.

Time grasshoppers!. Give the Bo Time.
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I think we are both on the same page Skersfan and I enjoy our little chats. If we beat a top 15 team this year great, if not I guess it wasn't meant to be this year. This year looks like a tough one to beat a top 15 team. V-Tech is at Blacksburg and that is a place where I say there is a home field advantage. Kansas/Colorado I just don't believe being at home is much of an advantage for those guys and I don't see them being top 15 when we play. Oklahoma...basically a lot would need to happen to beat those guys. Texas Tech may or may not be in the top 15...we will have to wait and see. If its only Virginia Tech (barring they don't get crushed by Alabama) and Oklahoma...those aren't very good chances.

No idea what really caused Solich to not get it done. I joined the Army summer 2002 so I didn't get to follow them that much towards the end of his coaching career here. Record wise his big blemish was 7-7 and like I said I never got to see any games. I do remember some people saying we weren't recruiting well? I don't know if that was y'alls opinion or if it was mainly that 7-7 record, because that was unheard of for us. At the time I do remember thinking Solich needed more time and my personal opinion is we wouldn't be in as bad of shape as we are now. But that's in the past and can't do anything about that now.

Bottom line...I think we all just want to see Nebraska compete. Play 4 quarters and pour out their blood, sweat, and tears. Give it all they have every game and I think most of us will be satisfied...at least I hope we are. After what we have had to go through we should be thrilled they are fighting with passion. I am still optimistic we win most games this year though.

 
You've all made some fantastic points and here is the only thing I would add; any competition - regardless of what it is - is generally won or lost between the ears of those competing. Mind-set and mental attitude are game changers. And, in my oppinion at least, this is where Coach Pelini has made the biggest difference. I respectfully disagree skersfan, I don't think there are more than a handfull of coaches in the country who could have come in here and had the kind of year Bo did, certainly not "anyone who walked through the door".

Will we beat a ranked opponent this year? Absolutely. Who will it be? Whoever's on the field that day.

If I didn't feel that way I wouldn't watch the game. And if Bo's players dont feel that way they shouldn't put on their pads....but I think that's exactly the way they feel.

 
So, when everyone was certain we were turning the corner before/during/after the '06 season when we won 9 games, we of course were thinking about after BC was fired and Pelini had come in..

right?

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
So, when everyone was certain we were turning the corner before/during/after the '06 season when we won 9 games, we of course were thinking about after BC was fired and Pelini had come in..

right?
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Actually, no. I wasn't around message boards at that time, but in my head before 2007 I did predict the Huskers would go 5-7. In my wildest dreams I never imagined that it would be the ugliest imaginable 5-7, though. We were lucky to be 5-7, because the two close wins against Wake Forest and Ball State really could have (and maybe SHOULD have) gone the other way. They were so close to being 3-9, it's scary! It makes the job Bo has done in his first year all that more remarkable.

So, again, no - I didn't think we had turned a corner at that point. Nine wins for BC was nice for a change, but I didn't see much in those 9 wins during 2006 to make me think that there was anything spectacular about to happen any time soon.

Given my thoughts on how I thought 2007 was going to go before the season, imagine just how I felt about that raise and contract extension. No one consulted me, though, but I could have told Pedey it was the worst possible idea and saved the University a lot of money.

 
Oh, and I'll add separately that streaks will be broken. Just like that stat they said until last year something about over 100 teams winning bowls since Notre Dame last did, or something along those lines (wish I would have kept that stat).

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
So, when everyone was certain we were turning the corner before/during/after the '06 season when we won 9 games, we of course were thinking about after BC was fired and Pelini had come in..

right?
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Lol that's exactly what they were saying. We were finally turning the corner to see BC sucks, fire him, and bring in Pelini. Went over my head there for a sec but I read ya. Like Carl I haven't been on the boards very long so not sure what was all said, but I think most fans were trying to be optimistic and kept up the faith.

 
Sad thing is, any true moronic Irish fan that had any sense of tradition and pride (like a lot of Husker fans), would NOT count that glorified scrimmage on the road against Hawaii as a bowl win. Yes in even the "dark years" I was happy when we won, but c'mon I left Memorial Stadium after that Ball St. game and it felt like a loss and the whole atmosphere around did as well.

That said, this road losing streak is actually a very sad stat, and as much as I want it to end in Blacksburg, I think the best chance for it to end might not be until next year. Who else on the schedule will be ranked that high when we play them on the road? KU? not with that schedule. MU? Not with their losses. Seriously it maybe OSU or Texas in 2010.

The silver lining is Bo is the man to switch that mentality in the program and will strive to change it. I think a stat like this is something that actually eats at Bo and pushes him to challenge our players to go beyond perfection.

 
skersfan said:
This record has been the responsiblity of three coaches. Solich, BC and Pelini.

BC the most glaring for sure. But I have not seen this play with talent game you speak of. Was anyone other than Crabtree drafted from Tech.

Without a doubt we should have beaten VaTech, on the road new QB. It did not happen.

Predicting we are around the corner is just wishful thinking by a very good fan. We won what we were supposed to under Bo, nothing more nothing less, except Clemson, which is what I base all my hope on. No other game really means anything last year as far as the future is concerned. Texas Tech was having a bad day some would say and others would say we were having a great day. Someplace in the middle is my guess. Would I want to play that game over and pay a thousdand dollars a point in the final point difference. NO.

I give Bo credit for the attitude turn around, but my guess anyone that walked in the door that was hired by TO would have seen the same results. Change inspires a chance to move up in your job field, extra effort normally given to keep your job.

We have a horrible record since Coach Osborne left. Texas has owned us, Texas Tech, SC to name some.

I am still not sold on this abundance of talent some see. I think we have adequate talent to win what we are supposed to. I seriously doubt we have the talent of VaTech, nowhere near the talent of Oklahoma, but from there on down we are pretty close. I think every game we play this year will have an element of doubt going in. I see no landslide victories, but I do see a team that appears to be able to give its all. If they play like last year we will be in the hunt for the North division. But being the North champion does not mean we will break our losing streak.

I have very seldom felt we would win every game. This is a funny game and very strange things happen to you and against you with the odd little ball.

As long as we play like we did last year other than some of the really stupid pentalties, I will be happy. I see us losing two games, VaTech and Oklahoma. If that happens we will continue to see our losing record continue through this year. VaTech may be our only chance to stop it, and that means they beat or barely lose to Bama. I do not think Kansas or Texas Tech will be rated when we play them.

If we come out the north champion, lose to VaTech and Oklahoma during the regular season where do you think we will be ranked. Sun Belt co champions will be some of the comments I am sure. Our schedule is going to hurt us this year if we do not beat VaTech or Oklahoma, Big Time.
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skrzfan, I think we are closer to being an elite team than you think, taking your previous definition of an elite team being one that ends up in the final Top 25. Last year with a 9-4 record, NU finished 29th in the AP poll and 30th in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. Looking at the schedule I see 5 pretty sure safe bets that I highlighted in green. I see two games that will be pretty tough to win that I put in red, though I just have a gut feeling about that VT game. The remaining 5 regular season games I left as black to indicate a possible toss up. I feel pretty good about some and would predict them as a win for NU, such as the Baylor game, but in just looking at the difficulty level they are medium games. If NU improves by 1 or 2 wins in the regular season and goes 9-3 or 10-2, then I think that is enough to put NU in the final polls. Considering that NU will have a shot or 2 shots in a Bowl Game and maybe the Big XII Title Game to get the 10th or 11th win. 10 wins puts NU in the final Top 25 IMO. Maybe that is the glass half full, but NU did go 9-4 last year so I think an improvement by 1 or 2 games is a realistic goal for this team.

09/05 FLORIDA ATLANTIC

09/12 ARKANSAS STATE

09/19 @ VIRGINIA TECH 2:30 PM

09/26 LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE

10/08 @ MISSOURI 8 PM

10/17 TEXAS TECH

10/24 IOWA STATE

10/31 @ BAYLOR

11/07 OKLAHOMA

11/14 @ KANSAS

11/21 KANSAS STATE

11/27 @ COLORADO 2:30 PM

 
A couple of obvious points here. First off, there are quite a few years through the history of the program where we have played very few ranked teams, and maybe none at home. Other years, we play a few ranked teams, but all at home. You just get a few chances to play the ranked on the road.

Playing ranked teams on the road is tough. If you counted up TOs record against the ranked on the road, it would probably be just above 500 and probably only after his run of dominance in the 1990s. The point is that some stats are anomolies and shouldn't be taken as seriously.

Yes, we have not done well against the ranked overall, and that's bad. But winning against the ranked, on the road, is overblown. If we win against Oklahoma this year at home that win will not mean any less than a win in Norman. Or, taken another way, would a win at Tech last year (we should have won that game) greatly change your opinion about what this year's team was capable of?

Bottom line, when looking at teams and judging whether they have a chance at an MNC, two things are considered. First, what kind of team do they have coming back. And, second, what does the schedule look like. In other words, where are the tough games. If those games are mostly at home, the likelyhood of a title run goes way up. This wouldn't even be noted if wins on the road against the ranked were anything but a crap shoot.

 
My thinking on elite would be consistent top 15, lst tier top 25.

In my mind it will take a few years of being consistently in the top 25 before we can say we are really on our way back. I honetly think it will happen, but with the weakness of our schedule this year it could be hard to be ranked at the end of the year.

I was just wondering if we do end up losing to VaTech and Oklahoma, would we be ranked in the top 25. The rest of our schedule is pretty down there. With a loss in the CCG would we play a team that could move us into the top 25 at the end of the year. Of course the answer is to win those three games and we have nothing to worry about :clap

Jen was saying we should have beaten VaTech in our house last year. I agreed and gave reasons why I thought we should have. In honesty I did not pick us to win that game last year. Unfortunately I am not again this year. A very tough place to play.

But as someone else said it is great to feel like we have the chance to be back. It is great to have a coach that wants to win more than breath. And it is great to have kids that have bought into his ideas. Wins or losses mean a lot, but having the opportunity to think most will be wins is a great feeling. One I have not had for awhile.

 
skersfan said:
My thinking on elite would be consistent top 15, lst tier top 25.

In my mind it will take a few years of being consistently in the top 25 before we can say we are really on our way back. I honetly think it will happen, but with the weakness of our schedule this year it could be hard to be ranked at the end of the year.

I was just wondering if we do end up losing to VaTech and Oklahoma, would we be ranked in the top 25. The rest of our schedule is pretty down there. With a loss in the CCG would we play a team that could move us into the top 25 at the end of the year. Of course the answer is to win those three games and we have nothing to worry about :clap

Jen was saying we should have beaten VaTech in our house last year. I agreed and gave reasons why I thought we should have. In honesty I did not pick us to win that game last year. Unfortunately I am not again this year. A very tough place to play.

But as someone else said it is great to feel like we have the chance to be back. It is great to have a coach that wants to win more than breath. And it is great to have kids that have bought into his ideas. Wins or losses mean a lot, but having the opportunity to think most will be wins is a great feeling. One I have not had for awhile.
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VA Tech plays GREAT defense and will be at HOME!!! That game is winless!!! The OU game, depending on Bradford's health, their OL and WRs could be a win. They are thin and inexperienced at both spots, that could cost them.

 
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