Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Nebraska Week Is No Joke in Colorado
By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer
Q: How do you keep a Nebraska Cornhusker player out of your yard? A: Put up goal posts.
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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) _ They laughed at Bill McCartney when he decided Nebraska would be Colorado's biggest rival.
Not surprisingly, when McCartney first proposed the idea, the laughter came from Boulder, not Lincoln.
"We weren't very good," the former Colorado coach said Monday. "We had to die to get better. We were low."
Over time, though, McCartney's gambit turned out to be a winner.
It has transformed this week _ the Buffs and 'Huskers meet Friday _ into much more than simply another stop on the schedule.
Instead, it's Nebraska Week in Colorado, and if the big red box around the word "Nebraska" on the schedule posted in the CU locker room doesn't get that point across, then certainly the 'Husker Hater propaganda that infiltrates the state this week will.
"Nebraska, first of all, means a lot every year, no matter what's going on," CU running back Lawrence Vickers said.
When McCartney issued the challenge to Nebraska shortly after arriving in 1982, many in Boulder thought he was crazy.
"It was laughed at and scoffed at and ridiculed," he said.
There was, however, a plan.
A longtime assistant at Michigan, McCartney had seen how a rivalry game could motivate an entire program and affect an entire season. He remembered Bo Schembechler, even after victories, saying the Wolverines were improving, but not improving enough to beat their biggest rival, Ohio State.
When McCartney arrived at CU, the program was in shambles, drawing 30,000 fans on a good day. The players were wearing powder blue uniforms. Nobody was quite sure what CU's identity was or when its next win would come.
"I asked everybody, `Who's our rival?'" McCartney said. "Everybody said, `What do you mean?' I said, `Well, we're going to pick one.'"
Nebraska was the obvious choice. The Huskers were a national powerhouse, neighbors to the northeast and, at that time, a program almost any school would want to emulate.
But what's that old saying about a rivalry _ that it takes more than one team to make one. That was, indisputably, a problem for Colorado.
"I don't know if it was crazy, but it was pretty eccentric," said Colorado coach Gary Barnett said, then an assistant on McCartney's staff. "We were in the trenches figuring out a way to block one of their guys and he's out there talking about how we could win. But he had a vision, and that's what leadership is all about."
___
Q: Why doesn't Nebraska have ice on the sidelines during games?
A: The guy with the recipe graduated.
___
The facts, indeed, were daunting.
Nebraska had outscored Colorado 386-120 in sweeping the games over the 10 years prior to McCartney's arrival. The color red dominated Folsom Field in the years the game was played in Boulder. Overall, Nebraska week was something to avoid, not get excited about, around Colorado.
Still, McCartney's idea took. It was the centerpiece of a revitalization of the program that resulted in a national championship in 1990. In many ways, the Buffs still enjoy the success that resulted from the Nebraska ploy.
"We realized if we were going to beat them, we were going to have to recruit like they do, practice like they do, have facilities like they have," McCartney said.
After 18 straight losses, Colorado broke through in 1986, a 20-10 victory in Boulder. Goalposts came down. The entire state celebrated. The final score stayed up on the scoreboard for the whole week.
There is still some doubt, though, as to whether Nebraska really considers this a rivalry.
"Really, it's kind of another game to us," Huskers quarterback Zac Taylor said.
McCartney doesn't take that as an insult, only a nod to what he understood former Huskers coach Tom Osborne to have always believed _ that every game was worth the same and should be treated as such.
"That's their school of thought," McCartney said. "I personally believe differently because of the Michigan-Ohio State experience."
It's safe to say Colorado has gained even footing in the rivalry of late. Since Barnett arrived, the Buffs have gone 3-3 against the 'Huskers and they have made three trips to the Big 12 title game, to none for Nebraska.
With a win Friday, Colorado will make a fourth trip there. The Buffs are two-touchdown favorites and very few remember the last time _ if ever _ that has happened.
McCartney's message: Enjoy it now.
"I don't know how long it's going to be before Nebraska will be back, but they're going to be back," he said. "There's a stretch here where Colorado has a legitimate right to consider itself on top. But knowing Nebraska, you know this isn't going to last very long."
___
Q: Where do you go in Lincoln in case of a tornado?
A: Memorial Stadium _ they never get a touchdown there.
By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer
Q: How do you keep a Nebraska Cornhusker player out of your yard? A: Put up goal posts.
___
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) _ They laughed at Bill McCartney when he decided Nebraska would be Colorado's biggest rival.
Not surprisingly, when McCartney first proposed the idea, the laughter came from Boulder, not Lincoln.
"We weren't very good," the former Colorado coach said Monday. "We had to die to get better. We were low."
Over time, though, McCartney's gambit turned out to be a winner.
It has transformed this week _ the Buffs and 'Huskers meet Friday _ into much more than simply another stop on the schedule.
Instead, it's Nebraska Week in Colorado, and if the big red box around the word "Nebraska" on the schedule posted in the CU locker room doesn't get that point across, then certainly the 'Husker Hater propaganda that infiltrates the state this week will.
"Nebraska, first of all, means a lot every year, no matter what's going on," CU running back Lawrence Vickers said.
When McCartney issued the challenge to Nebraska shortly after arriving in 1982, many in Boulder thought he was crazy.
"It was laughed at and scoffed at and ridiculed," he said.
There was, however, a plan.
A longtime assistant at Michigan, McCartney had seen how a rivalry game could motivate an entire program and affect an entire season. He remembered Bo Schembechler, even after victories, saying the Wolverines were improving, but not improving enough to beat their biggest rival, Ohio State.
When McCartney arrived at CU, the program was in shambles, drawing 30,000 fans on a good day. The players were wearing powder blue uniforms. Nobody was quite sure what CU's identity was or when its next win would come.
"I asked everybody, `Who's our rival?'" McCartney said. "Everybody said, `What do you mean?' I said, `Well, we're going to pick one.'"
Nebraska was the obvious choice. The Huskers were a national powerhouse, neighbors to the northeast and, at that time, a program almost any school would want to emulate.
But what's that old saying about a rivalry _ that it takes more than one team to make one. That was, indisputably, a problem for Colorado.
"I don't know if it was crazy, but it was pretty eccentric," said Colorado coach Gary Barnett said, then an assistant on McCartney's staff. "We were in the trenches figuring out a way to block one of their guys and he's out there talking about how we could win. But he had a vision, and that's what leadership is all about."
___
Q: Why doesn't Nebraska have ice on the sidelines during games?
A: The guy with the recipe graduated.
___
The facts, indeed, were daunting.
Nebraska had outscored Colorado 386-120 in sweeping the games over the 10 years prior to McCartney's arrival. The color red dominated Folsom Field in the years the game was played in Boulder. Overall, Nebraska week was something to avoid, not get excited about, around Colorado.
Still, McCartney's idea took. It was the centerpiece of a revitalization of the program that resulted in a national championship in 1990. In many ways, the Buffs still enjoy the success that resulted from the Nebraska ploy.
"We realized if we were going to beat them, we were going to have to recruit like they do, practice like they do, have facilities like they have," McCartney said.
After 18 straight losses, Colorado broke through in 1986, a 20-10 victory in Boulder. Goalposts came down. The entire state celebrated. The final score stayed up on the scoreboard for the whole week.
There is still some doubt, though, as to whether Nebraska really considers this a rivalry.
"Really, it's kind of another game to us," Huskers quarterback Zac Taylor said.
McCartney doesn't take that as an insult, only a nod to what he understood former Huskers coach Tom Osborne to have always believed _ that every game was worth the same and should be treated as such.
"That's their school of thought," McCartney said. "I personally believe differently because of the Michigan-Ohio State experience."
It's safe to say Colorado has gained even footing in the rivalry of late. Since Barnett arrived, the Buffs have gone 3-3 against the 'Huskers and they have made three trips to the Big 12 title game, to none for Nebraska.
With a win Friday, Colorado will make a fourth trip there. The Buffs are two-touchdown favorites and very few remember the last time _ if ever _ that has happened.
McCartney's message: Enjoy it now.
"I don't know how long it's going to be before Nebraska will be back, but they're going to be back," he said. "There's a stretch here where Colorado has a legitimate right to consider itself on top. But knowing Nebraska, you know this isn't going to last very long."
___
Q: Where do you go in Lincoln in case of a tornado?
A: Memorial Stadium _ they never get a touchdown there.
