The Athletic: Nebraska’s biggest preseason question - Can substance rise above style?

Toe said:
Something I think a lot of people forget is that while Frost might have taken over a winless team at UCF, they were only a couple years removed from a Fiesta Bowl-winning team that finished in the top ten. The cupboard was already well stocked when Frost came in, and I don't think they had near the attrition there as when Frost came here.
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Agree with this for sure.

I still think that UCF's undefeated 2017 season should be put at least to a degree in the context of the talent that was there compared proportionately to the competition Frost faced at UCF with what he faced in his 2018 season here.

I'm going to guess that if the rosters were completely swapped, he wouldn't have gone undefeated at UCF in 2017 with our guys (mainly because a McKenzie Milton type guy didn't exist on our roster). But on the other hand...I doubt he goes 4-8 in the AAC, right?

Interesting concepts, I guess.

 
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teachercd said:
Did NU make a mistake in firing Frank, yes.  Did they make a mistake in hiring BC, yes, should they have fired BC, actually maybe not, did they make a mistake in hiring Bo, no, did they make a mistake in firing him, no.  Did they make a mistake in hiring Riley, yes, did they make a mistake in firing him, no.
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Fixed your typo.  :)

 
Landlord said:
Not sure what you're getting at in your first bit other than the conference was bad that year.

The bolded is an important point to mention, especially since it's impossible to extrapolate the worsening talent and the period of time in which we changed conferences.

But the Big 10 was also unusually down then (the original point being that usually the B1G is a step above). It was somewhat of an anomaly. Yes, Bo maintained 4 losses consistently, but we got Ohio State in their only losing season since the dinosaurs, we got Michigan in one of their worst stretches ever, we got Penn State in theirs, we got Wisconsin in their worst year of the last decade, etc. 

I'd change your last sentence to read Nebraska came into the league at the perfect moment, and Bo Pelini capitalized perfectly by being lucky enough to continue having the same W-L records. If Bo enters the B1G in 2015 there's zero chance we'd still go 9-4.
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We're on the verge of admitting that Nebraska's incredible 40 year run of winning football was due largely to playing in a comparatively weak Big 8.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
We're on the verge of admitting that Nebraska's incredible 40 year run of winning football was due largely to playing in a comparatively weak Big 8.
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I don't know about "largely" but the big boys of the day definitely had significant advantages over a lot of schools.  With many more scholarships to give out and more TV money, once you got things rolling it was much easier to keep it rolling than it is today.

 
Mavric said:
I don't know about "largely" but the big boys of the day definitely had significant advantages over a lot of schools.  With many more scholarships to give out and more TV money, once you got things rolling it was much easier to keep it rolling than it is today.
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Yes, good post.

On a tangential train of thought, this is where the '93-'97 run stands out: We won three titles in four years and were one bogus pentalty/missed field goal away from four out of five.

 
Undone said:
Yes, good post.

On a tangential train of thought, this is where the '93-'97 run stands out: We won three titles in four years and were one bogus pentalty/missed field goal away from four out of five.
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1993 - Lost the NC on a crazy last minute

1994 - Won natty

1995 - Won natty

1996 - Half the team was sick the week of the Big XII title game which may have cost us a shot at Florida in the NC game

1997 - Won natty

1999 - Out-gained Texas by over 150 yards but fumbled away the second half costing us a NC game berth

2001 - Lost in the NC game

That's a crazy nine-year run.  But for a couple bad breaks we could have had a couple more.

 
teachercd said:
Let me do the story

Did NU make a mistake in firing Frank, yes.  Did they make a mistake in hiring BC, yes, should they have fired BC, actually maybe not, did they make a mistake in hiring Bo, no, did they make a mistake in firing him, yes.  Did they make a mistake in hiring Riley, yes, did they make a mistake in firing him, no.

Now, if you read that would you please venmo me 3 dollars.
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I'll bite. Bill Callahan actually would have been a good hire...had our AD been able to get through his head that he needed a new DC. If Callahan had done the right thing and cut Cosgrove loose, BC would have been successful and could have still been HC to this day. 

 
VectorVictor said:
I'll bite. Bill Callahan actually would have been a good hire...had our AD been able to get through his head that he needed a new DC. If Callahan had done the right thing and cut Cosgrove loose, BC would have been successful and could have still been HC to this day. 
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Did BC start with Cosgrove or was there someone else first, I can't remember.

Actually a cool article would be a "where are they now" piece on the BC era, coaches, not players.  I bet all of them are coaching still.

 
teachercd said:
Did BC start with Cosgrove or was there someone else first, I can't remember.

Actually a cool article would be a "where are they now" piece on the BC era, coaches, not players.  I bet all of them are coaching still.
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IIRC he started with Cosgrove. It's been while though.

And Callahan has been a journeyman OL coach in the NFL. His success was based on knowing OLs like the back of his hand. 

Defenses...not so much.

 
VectorVictor said:
I'll bite. Bill Callahan actually would have been a good hire...had our AD been able to get through his head that he needed a new DC. If Callahan had done the right thing and cut Cosgrove loose, BC would have been successful and could have still been HC to this day. 
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Interesting. 2006 was our best year under Callahan - tell me, was it the defense or offense that struggled against the top competition that year?

#4  USC - Defense held them to 28 points (under their average), offense scored 10 points

#5 Texas - Defense held them to 22 points (under their average), offense scored 20 and lost the ball giving them the game winning score.

#10 Oklahoma - Defense held them to 21 points (under their average), offense had 4 picks and a fumble on their first play en route to 7 points.

#10 Auburn - Defense held them to 17 points (under their average), offense scored 14 total including 7 on the opening drive, which means 7 total points in the remaining ~58 minutes of play.

2005 was our second best year. In 2005 we were 25th in the nation in points allowed per game (67th in points per game), and led the nation in sacks (can't find the stat but I wouldn't disbelieve if we were last in the nation in sacks allowed).

 
Mistake firing Frank? No

Mistake hiring BC? No

Mistake firing BC? Yes

Mistake hiring Bo? Yes

Mistake firing Bo. No

Mike Riley*  Mistake hiring/firingNo/No.   Whoever replaced Pelini was going to be a “bridge coach.”

 
Landlord said:
Interesting. 2006 was our best year under Callahan - tell me, was it the defense or offense that struggled against the top competition that year?

#4  USC - Defense held them to 28 points (under their average), offense scored 10 points

#5 Texas - Defense held them to 22 points (under their average), offense scored 20 and lost the ball giving them the game winning score.

#10 Oklahoma - Defense held them to 21 points (under their average), offense had 4 picks and a fumble on their first play en route to 7 points.

#10 Auburn - Defense held them to 17 points (under their average), offense scored 14 total including 7 on the opening drive, which means 7 total points in the remaining ~58 minutes of play.

2005 was our second best year. In 2005 we were 25th in the nation in points allowed per game (67th in points per game), and led the nation in sacks (can't find the stat but I wouldn't disbelieve if we were last in the nation in sacks allowed).
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Fair point. Cosgrove also called that 2007 defense which was atrocious.    Folks forget about the better D the year prior.

 
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