Nebraska's Edge: When and where did we lose it?

[Bowfin]

We have a pasted together offensive line right now. Worse yet, we robbed Baker Steinkuhler from that lot and made him a Blackshirt. One can turn the wheel all the way open, but it still takes time for the pipeline to fill back up.

We used to have 5th year Seniors starting, playing in the same offense all of those five years. People wouldn't have to swap positions or play hurt to cover the holes. That's not the case now. We are just trying to put together a rotation with a strategy to keep them fresh and crossing our fingers that everybody can stay healthy.

To an extent, the same could be said about the defensive line, except their coaching staff has has a bit more stability since Pelini has showed up. All of the Callahan/Solich fallout hasn't been replaced yet, and what it will be replaced with is an unknown.

 

[The Duke]

Some very interesting and thoughtful comments on this subject so far. I am tending to lean towards what CheeseHusker and Treand3 said above. I agree with Treand3 in that we didn't lose our swagger, our edge or our identity on one specific day. Nebraska has been on a very gradual, but steady decline for the better part of the last decade (ex. last Conference Championship 1999). And where I agree with CheeseHusker that our main problem is still in the trenches on the offensive line. Somewhere over the last 10-11 years we stopped putting a premium on having behemoth monster road grade blockers.

I will throw this out there also, I have been one of those who has been pushing for Nebraska to use more power running and more option, and while I am happy to see some of the plays coming back more into focus with our offense this year, we cannot have this "sprinkle style" offense. Nebraska cannot continue to try a little something here, and then we are going to run zone read out of the pistol, now we are going to go 4 wide and try to throw it around the yard. NEWS FLASH: Being a multiple offense only works when you have an identity that goes with it.

This is where Nebraska starts to get it's edge and dominant swagger back....FIND AN IDENTITY...on both sides of the ball.

I don't care if it's a power running game with a complimentary play action package like what Wisconsin does. I don't care if it's the Texas Tech Air Raid offense. I don't care if it's full on triple option like what the service academies use, but find an identity that fits your talent level and the culture of your university and the conference in which you play...and stick to that identity! Recruit to that identity!

So in my opinion Nebraska needs to truly establish what their identity is and who they want to be first. Once they figure that out, then and ONLY then can they begin to restore the dominance and swagger of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. ONLY then will Nebraska truly regain it's edge. ONLY then will Nebraska start winning Conference Championships. ONLY then will Nebraska truly be "back" among the nation's elite.

 

[Jason Sitoke]

Throughout college football history Nebraska football has been known for players playing with a fire, a toughness, a physical edge that many other teams in the country had a hard time duplicating.

Our ball carriers would never run out of bounds, hook slide, or go down on the first hit. They would do everything they could to gain EVERY...SINGLE...YARD that they possibly could for their team.

Our defenses used to be known for playing with their hair on fire, and they would would out muscle teams for 4 straight quarters, and would have the opposing offense begging for mercy by the 3rd quarter.

I could go on, but to digress.....

THE QUESTIONS:

1) Where has Nebraska's Edge (physical toughness/want to) gone?

2) How does Nebraska get it back?

Yeah, Nebraska never ever lost games in the good ol days. i love revisionism.

 

[The Duke]

Throughout college football history Nebraska football has been known for players playing with a fire, a toughness, a physical edge that many other teams in the country had a hard time duplicating.

Our ball carriers would never run out of bounds, hook slide, or go down on the first hit. They would do everything they could to gain EVERY...SINGLE...YARD that they possibly could for their team.

Our defenses used to be known for playing with their hair on fire, and they would would out muscle teams for 4 straight quarters, and would have the opposing offense begging for mercy by the 3rd quarter.

I could go on, but to digress.....

THE QUESTIONS:

1) Where has Nebraska's Edge (physical toughness/want to) gone?

2) How does Nebraska get it back?

Yeah, Nebraska never ever lost games in the good ol days. i love revisionism.

Jason Sitoke, first of all you are entitled to your opinion, but I never said or never meant to imply that Nebraska "never ever lost games in the good ol days." My point was that we used to play with a dominant swagger or edge on both sides of the ball....even when we would lose. The Nebraska teams over the last decade have not played with that same intensity or swagger that we used to. Opposing teams used to be scared to play us because of the style of offense we ran and by how relentless our defense was. My point was that somewhere along the way we lost that swagger. But I never said that we never ever lost a game. Even I know that we are not going to win every single game, every single year...that's just unrealistic.

 

[Jason Sitoke]

Throughout college football history Nebraska football has been known for players playing with a fire, a toughness, a physical edge that many other teams in the country had a hard time duplicating.

Our ball carriers would never run out of bounds, hook slide, or go down on the first hit. They would do everything they could to gain EVERY...SINGLE...YARD that they possibly could for their team.

Our defenses used to be known for playing with their hair on fire, and they would would out muscle teams for 4 straight quarters, and would have the opposing offense begging for mercy by the 3rd quarter.

I could go on, but to digress.....

THE QUESTIONS:

1) Where has Nebraska's Edge (physical toughness/want to) gone?

2) How does Nebraska get it back?

Yeah, Nebraska never ever lost games in the good ol days. i love revisionism.

Jason Sitoke, first of all you are entitled to your opinion, but I never said or never meant to imply that Nebraska "never ever lost games in the good ol days." My point was that we used to play with a dominant swagger or edge on both sides of the ball....even when we would lose. The Nebraska teams over the last decade have not played with that same intensity or swagger that we used to. Opposing teams used to be scared to play us because of the style of offense we ran and by how relentless our defense was. My point was that somewhere along the way we lost that swagger. But I never said that we never ever lost a game. Even I know that we are not going to win every single game, every single year...that's just unrealistic.

The Duke, teams were scared to play NU back in the day because, due to several factors (scholarship limits, facilities, TV exposure), Nebraska's 3rd stringers were better athletes than the starting lineup of your basic KU, KSU, Iowa St. squads.

Secondly, I saw Nebraska lose to an Iowa St team in Ames in 1992 19-10. That loss was as embarrassing and flabbergasting as any loss I can recall. This wasn't Bill Callahan and Sam Keller. This was Tom Osborne and Tommie Frazier. The swagger should have been in full effect after two straight beat downs over top 10 opponents. Yet, they laid an egg, weren't prepared, and paid for it.

Lastly, I hate the word 'swagger'. Put it right up there with the word 'moxie'. Just seems like words that people use when they can't articulate why their team performed poorly.

 

[Treand3]

What our program has been through the after Osborne left may not hurt programs like USC, Fl, or Alabama/LSU for reasons of talent and loyalty. I say loyalty because Osborne(not blaming him AT ALL) was so loyal to the program that he picked somebody that wasn't progressive enough as a coach to see how college football was changing and adapt accordingly, also didn't help that NU got a radical AD in Pedersen. You see programs like PSU and FSU suffer because coaches stay too long at their positions, FSU's talent pool is a HELL of a lot better but not sure about Jimbo yet. The teams I mentioned earlier will fire a coach in a heartbeat to bring in a coach to win, now i understand that their talent pools allow them to be more liberal with their hires. Because of our disadvantages compared to others, its taking us a little lomger to get back to prominence vs pick the top 4 in the SEC or USC.

 

[Husker in CA]

Its the dawn of a new era. When we get beat nowadays all I hear from the kids are "we tried our best, guess it wasn't good enough". Or some sort. Almost as if defeat isn't really all that bad of a deal as long as 'you tried your best'. I hear all of this crap from players about so-and-so being the model player, yet when you watch on tv that guy getting beaten time and time again, it just makes you wonder. Maybe it is because we're recruiting a lot of '5-star' prospects instead of the home-grown stuff we used to rely on? Dismal years ahead my friends.........get those Freshmen playing NOW!!!!!!

 

[AustinHuskr]

I'm going to post this 100 times: The problem here is Bo. He's immature, inexperienced and too emotional. Let me explain: After MSU, you could tell that this team bought into it's press clippings. You could see it in Bo too - he was all loosey goosey Bo - a start contrast from the usual snippity Bo. guess what, that's not consistency - that's a HC who acts like his defense has arrived....... the giving out of the BlackShirts.... it all points to a sense of entitlement.

The problem here is the SAME (#&$#$ problems that have plagued Bo's teams since the day he arrived: THE INABILITY TO STOP THE RUN. Bo's too enamored with himself and his "Peso". Guess what - that gimmicky defense will work againt Big12 teams and teams like MSU that are hell bent on passing. Teams that have a hint of running between the tackles and a QB that can pass SHRED this defense. It's simply too soft.....

On offense, again - Bo's the PROBLEM - not Beck: Here's why: When Watson wanted to run his own offense, he was slapped by Tom and Bo and told to run zone read/Solich style garbage. Result? Crap. Watson fired.

Fast forward to 2011: New OC, same problems: You can tell Beck wants to run a truly balanced offense with a legitimate passing QB. Bo steps in and hamstrings Beck with a HORRENDOUS QB - TMart - a QB with ZERO QB skills. We have taken TMarts strengths and turned him into a QB he simply is NOT made to be. TMart cannot/will not EVER make plays throwing the ball. Maybe that's why Beck would not pass the ball untill the 3rd when it was too late. I posted my thread about "concerns about the offense" because I saw the writing on the wall (although I didn't see it happening against a crap team like NW). Anyone can see that TM cannot make plays as a QB. End result? Bo has hamstrung Beck with a QB that Beck simply cannot work with. Just look at how the game went on -- it took us 3 FRIGGIN qtrs. to realize that the run was going nowhere but bec. we don't pass the ball and make use of our talented FR like Turner and Green, we're reduced to humping a serviceable RB who's not a big play guy. Just look at the teams out there making use of their talented FR. Carnes' season is over. Green and Turner have pretty much wasted their RD seasons when they should be used for the play making abilities.....

Sigh......

 

[Loaded For Bear]

January 3, 1998.

 

[bshirt]

Colorado. The world saw we had lost the ability to own the trenches. When we decided that the option was dead and you couldn't win with it. When we decided to go WCO and then decided to be a spread and then a zone read and then an option and then power and then a multiple O and then run some pocket WCO mixed in with the pistol and shotgun.

We haven't had an identity in at least 8-9 yrs. How can you recruit a road grader O lineman and he sees us throwing the ball from the pocket, or a pass blocking behemoth who sees us running the option or the 5* WR who sees us run the ball 50 times in a game.

Until we decide what we want to be, accept that losses will come until to get that identity and that changing from game to game or personnel to personnel will not get us where we want to be (continually playing for the B1G and MNC) or the players that we need.

:thumbs :thumbs :thumbs

 

[ladyhawke]

I'm going to post this 100 times: The problem here is Bo. He's immature, inexperienced and too emotional. Let me explain: After MSU, you could tell that this team bought into it's press clippings. You could see it in Bo too - he was all loosey goosey Bo - a start contrast from the usual snippity Bo. guess what, that's not consistency - that's a HC who acts like his defense has arrived....... the giving out of the BlackShirts.... it all points to a sense of entitlement.

The problem here is the SAME (#&$#$ problems that have plagued Bo's teams since the day he arrived: THE INABILITY TO STOP THE RUN. Bo's too enamored with himself and his "Peso". Guess what - that gimmicky defense will work againt Big12 teams and teams like MSU that are hell bent on passing. Teams that have a hint of running between the tackles and a QB that can pass SHRED this defense. It's simply too soft.....

On offense, again - Bo's the PROBLEM - not Beck: Here's why: When Watson wanted to run his own offense, he was slapped by Tom and Bo and told to run zone read/Solich style garbage. Result? Crap. Watson fired.

Fast forward to 2011: New OC, same problems: You can tell Beck wants to run a truly balanced offense with a legitimate passing QB. Bo steps in and hamstrings Beck with a HORRENDOUS QB - TMart - a QB with ZERO QB skills. We have taken TMarts strengths and turned him into a QB he simply is NOT made to be. TMart cannot/will not EVER make plays throwing the ball. Maybe that's why Beck would not pass the ball untill the 3rd when it was too late. I posted my thread about "concerns about the offense" because I saw the writing on the wall (although I didn't see it happening against a crap team like NW). Anyone can see that TM cannot make plays as a QB. End result? Bo has hamstrung Beck with a QB that Beck simply cannot work with. Just look at how the game went on -- it took us 3 FRIGGIN qtrs. to realize that the run was going nowhere but bec. we don't pass the ball and make use of our talented FR like Turner and Green, we're reduced to humping a serviceable RB who's not a big play guy. Just look at the teams out there making use of their talented FR. Carnes' season is over. Green and Turner have pretty much wasted their RD seasons when they should be used for the play making abilities.....

Sigh......

I will say this 100 times: BO IS THE SAME COACH THAT PLAYED LIGHTS OUT FOOTBALL AGAINST MSU JUST A WEEK BEFORE!!! The problem isn't Bo. Bo told his team all week that Northwestern was going to be a tough game but they simply didn't believe it. I truly believe that we lost this game because:

1. Our kids were beat up from last week's game more than we saw, especially Rex. Rex should not have played this game.

2. Our kids overlooked this game-thought it was an easy win. Well, guess what? There ARE no easy wins in the B1G. We're realizing that now.

3. To make the statement that Taylor cannot/will not EVER make plays throwing the ball. is ludicrous! He HAS made plays throwing the ball. Just because his mechanics are weird doesn't mean he can't throw the ball. He played a great game last night.

If you're going to make such sweeping statements please back them up with facts and not simply emotion. Back in the day Osborne rarely played freshman and here we are yelling for the freshmen to play. Bo is playing them but sheesh! I think that would be like feeding them to the sharks. What happens when they get out there and mess up? How will we feel then? They need time to learn the game. However, I DO think that Bo should put them in during the 4th quarter when we have won the game but I think that Bo wants to make sure his present team can play all four quarters. I think Bo is afraid that if he puts in those freshmen, the other team, still having their 1st string in could easily come back and beat us. How would we feel about that?

I do, however, agree that we have no identity right now. Folks (and I'm one of them) long for the glory days but I also agree that those days are probably gone. I think that Beck is trying to build an identity but he's new at being an OC-give him some time. I think we are being very impatient as a fan base.

I also think that we can win out our next three games and still make it to Indy. We'll see.

 

[gobiggergoredder]

Our D giving up 4-6 yards on every first down.

 

[The Duke]

Throughout college football history Nebraska football has been known for players playing with a fire, a toughness, a physical edge that many other teams in the country had a hard time duplicating.

Our ball carriers would never run out of bounds, hook slide, or go down on the first hit. They would do everything they could to gain EVERY...SINGLE...YARD that they possibly could for their team.

Our defenses used to be known for playing with their hair on fire, and they would would out muscle teams for 4 straight quarters, and would have the opposing offense begging for mercy by the 3rd quarter.

I could go on, but to digress.....

THE QUESTIONS:

1) Where has Nebraska's Edge (physical toughness/want to) gone?

2) How does Nebraska get it back?

Yeah, Nebraska never ever lost games in the good ol days. i love revisionism.

Jason Sitoke, first of all you are entitled to your opinion, but I never said or never meant to imply that Nebraska "never ever lost games in the good ol days." My point was that we used to play with a dominant swagger or edge on both sides of the ball....even when we would lose. The Nebraska teams over the last decade have not played with that same intensity or swagger that we used to. Opposing teams used to be scared to play us because of the style of offense we ran and by how relentless our defense was. My point was that somewhere along the way we lost that swagger. But I never said that we never ever lost a game. Even I know that we are not going to win every single game, every single year...that's just unrealistic.

The Duke, teams were scared to play NU back in the day because, due to several factors (scholarship limits, facilities, TV exposure), Nebraska's 3rd stringers were better athletes than the starting lineup of your basic KU, KSU, Iowa St. squads.

Secondly, I saw Nebraska lose to an Iowa St team in Ames in 1992 19-10. That loss was as embarrassing and flabbergasting as any loss I can recall. This wasn't Bill Callahan and Sam Keller. This was Tom Osborne and Tommie Frazier. The swagger should have been in full effect after two straight beat downs over top 10 opponents. Yet, they laid an egg, weren't prepared, and paid for it.

Lastly, I hate the word 'swagger'. Put it right up there with the word 'moxie'. Just seems like words that people use when they can't articulate why their team performed poorly.

I will stand by my statement that our team this year and mostly our teams over the past decade have not played with any kind of "swagger." If you choose to hate the word that is your right, but this Husker fan can't wait for the day when the Cornhuskers start playing with a "swagger" and an edge again. Why?

Definition of swagger: To walk with an overbearing air of self-confidence. To walk or behave in a very confident and aggressive way.

Give me an overbearing, self-confident, aggressive football team any day.

 

[AustinHuskr]

Throughout college football history Nebraska football has been known for players playing with a fire, a toughness, a physical edge that many other teams in the country had a hard time duplicating. Our ball carriers would never run out of bounds, hook slide, or go down on the first hit. They would do everything they could to gain EVERY...SINGLE...YARD that they possibly could for their team. Our defenses used to be known for playing with their hair on fire, and they would would out muscle teams for 4 straight quarters, and would have the opposing offense begging for mercy by the 3rd quarter. I could go on, but to digress..... THE QUESTIONS: 1) Where has Nebraska's Edge (physical toughness/want to) gone? 2) How does Nebraska get it back?

Yeah, Nebraska never ever lost games in the good ol days. i love revisionism.

Jason Sitoke, first of all you are entitled to your opinion, but I never said or never meant to imply that Nebraska "never ever lost games in the good ol days." My point was that we used to play with a dominant swagger or edge on both sides of the ball....even when we would lose. The Nebraska teams over the last decade have not played with that same intensity or swagger that we used to. Opposing teams used to be scared to play us because of the style of offense we ran and by how relentless our defense was. My point was that somewhere along the way we lost that swagger. But I never said that we never ever lost a game. Even I know that we are not going to win every single game, every single year...that's just unrealistic.

The Duke, teams were scared to play NU back in the day because, due to several factors (scholarship limits, facilities, TV exposure), Nebraska's 3rd stringers were better athletes than the starting lineup of your basic KU, KSU, Iowa St. squads. Secondly, I saw Nebraska lose to an Iowa St team in Ames in 1992 19-10. That loss was as embarrassing and flabbergasting as any loss I can recall. This wasn't Bill Callahan and Sam Keller. This was Tom Osborne and Tommie Frazier. The swagger should have been in full effect after two straight beat downs over top 10 opponents. Yet, they laid an egg, weren't prepared, and paid for it. Lastly, I hate the word 'swagger'. Put it right up there with the word 'moxie'. Just seems like words that people use when they can't articulate why their team performed poorly.

I will stand by my statement that our team this year and mostly our teams over the past decade have not played with any kind of "swagger." If you choose to hate the word that is your right, but this Husker fan can't wait for the day when the Cornhuskers start playing with a "swagger" and an edge again. Why? Definition of swagger: To walk with an overbearing air of self-confidence. To walk or behave in a very confident and aggressive way. Give me an overbearing, self-confident, aggressive football team any day.

Swag comes with winning. And winning BIG games.

How many times did TO lose to unranked crappy teams? I think I can count on 1 hand.....

In year 4 we should not be in such a dismal position. Bo is not HC material. Plain and simple.

 

[Jeremy]

Throughout college football history Nebraska football has been known for players playing with a fire, a toughness, a physical edge that many other teams in the country had a hard time duplicating. Our ball carriers would never run out of bounds, hook slide, or go down on the first hit. They would do everything they could to gain EVERY...SINGLE...YARD that they possibly could for their team. Our defenses used to be known for playing with their hair on fire, and they would would out muscle teams for 4 straight quarters, and would have the opposing offense begging for mercy by the 3rd quarter. I could go on, but to digress..... THE QUESTIONS: 1) Where has Nebraska's Edge (physical toughness/want to) gone? 2) How does Nebraska get it back?

Yeah, Nebraska never ever lost games in the good ol days. i love revisionism.

Jason Sitoke, first of all you are entitled to your opinion, but I never said or never meant to imply that Nebraska "never ever lost games in the good ol days." My point was that we used to play with a dominant swagger or edge on both sides of the ball....even when we would lose. The Nebraska teams over the last decade have not played with that same intensity or swagger that we used to. Opposing teams used to be scared to play us because of the style of offense we ran and by how relentless our defense was. My point was that somewhere along the way we lost that swagger. But I never said that we never ever lost a game. Even I know that we are not going to win every single game, every single year...that's just unrealistic.

The Duke, teams were scared to play NU back in the day because, due to several factors (scholarship limits, facilities, TV exposure), Nebraska's 3rd stringers were better athletes than the starting lineup of your basic KU, KSU, Iowa St. squads. Secondly, I saw Nebraska lose to an Iowa St team in Ames in 1992 19-10. That loss was as embarrassing and flabbergasting as any loss I can recall. This wasn't Bill Callahan and Sam Keller. This was Tom Osborne and Tommie Frazier. The swagger should have been in full effect after two straight beat downs over top 10 opponents. Yet, they laid an egg, weren't prepared, and paid for it. Lastly, I hate the word 'swagger'. Put it right up there with the word 'moxie'. Just seems like words that people use when they can't articulate why their team performed poorly.

I will stand by my statement that our team this year and mostly our teams over the past decade have not played with any kind of "swagger." If you choose to hate the word that is your right, but this Husker fan can't wait for the day when the Cornhuskers start playing with a "swagger" and an edge again. Why? Definition of swagger: To walk with an overbearing air of self-confidence. To walk or behave in a very confident and aggressive way. Give me an overbearing, self-confident, aggressive football team any day.

Swag comes with winning. And winning BIG games.

How many times did TO lose to unranked crappy teams? I think I can count on 1 hand.....

In year 4 we should not be in such a dismal position. Bo is not HC material. Plain and simple.

We still have more than an outside shot at making it to and winning the B1G championship game. Maybe we won't, but that isn't 'dismal.' Ferentz and his Hawkeyes were undefeated and ranked 8th in the BCS 2 years ago when the purple cats punked them at home. Ferentz is still there, and they just upset Michigan, but I guess Ferentz isn't HC material, huh?