This Season Seems Hollow . . .

[Landomatic]

Something has been missing from this season. It just seems hollow. I think the Wisconsin and Penn State games just emotionally wiped us out. I spent an incredible amount of energy getting up for Wisconsin, only to be knocked out cold. That game showed us that we were nowhere near the top. Sad. Also, the weirdness around Penn State made the season more strange. It just seems like something has been missing from this season. The reality is that I wanted us to compete for the National Championship, but we had way too much change and inexperience to get there. Don't get me wrong: glad to be in the Big 10 and love the new venues, but something has been missing. Still several cool games to play, so maybe that will change. Next year is aiming to be something special. Would like to end this year on a good note.

Couldn't agree more, HISD! I thought it was just me and possibly that I'm getting older, getting busier, life is getting in the way of football, kids/wife/family are starting to take priority, etc. But I've felt like it was more than that. Haven't really bought into all of that happening in one year because I have literally gone from being the most over-the-top fan who couldn't focus on anything other than the upcoming Nebraska game more and more throughout the week to this year almost having to remind/force myself to get up for it.

I think some of the explanations offered up by other posters in this thread are valid. The whole groundhog day thing is definitely part of the deal...getting tired of the same song, different dance routine. I also think the Wisconsin loss completely took the wind out of my sails. I was up for that game big time and haven't found that passion since. Had it been close, I could have probably handled the loss a little better. But getting blown out gave me little hope for much the rest of the season. I have high hopes going into every season so I don't think that played into this year any more than normal.

I'll also be honest in that I've lost respect for some of the key people in our program. One of the (many) things that made me dislike Mack Brown so much was how he screwed Major Applewhite and went with Chris Simms in Major's senior year. Bo essentially did the same thing last year with Martinez and I lost a lot of respect for him throughout the year. I know people will say that Bo knows better than I do, he had his reasons, etc...but nobody will ever convince me that a one-legged Martinez gave us the best shot at winning last year. I just haven't been a big fan of Bo since then. He's had just enough other issues (Carl rumors, bad with the media, sideline blowups, over the top stubborn, etc) that he's caused some division in the fan base. I think everyone was hoping he'd be our Bob Stoops and he just simply is not. Aside from Stoops winning a National Championship in his second year, Stoops just has all of the intangibles that Bo doesn't. And I've never been a big Martinez fan, partly because he's just not a real likable person. So I guess part of it for me is a wavering confidence in the head coach and never having bought into our quarterback.

All of that being said, I'm not one of those people who's ready to fire Bo...at least not quite yet. I still support the program and I still cheer for Martinez.

 

[knapplc]

I'm not one of those people who's ready to fire Bo...at least not quite yet.

There is zero reason to fire Pelini after a season that can be no worse than 8-4, especially when it comes on the heels of back-to-back 10-win seasons.

It's bizarre that people are even mentioning this.

 

[AustinHuskr]

I'm not one of those people who's ready to fire Bo...at least not quite yet.

There is zero reason to fire Pelini after a season that can be no worse than 8-4, especially when it comes on the heels of back-to-back 10-win seasons.

It's bizarre that people are even mentioning this.

WHAT? 8-4 and you think we should be happy? Wow. Talk about rock bottom expectations. Just curious - how old are you? How long have you been watching Husker ball? Yeah, if you want to go back to 1948, then 8-4 type expectations are the norm I guess.

Look, not everyone is a big Bo fan. You know I'm not and I won't hide it. Do I want him fired this sec? Hell NO! But if we go 8-4, then he should be a on VERY short leash in 2012. That's just the way things are these days when you're at a big time program like NU and rake in close to $3mill.

 

[knapplc]

WHAT? 8-4 and you think we should be happy? Wow. Talk about rock bottom expectations. Just curious - how old are you? How long have you been watching Husker ball? Yeah, if you want to go back to 1948, then 8-4 type expectations are the norm I guess.

Look, not everyone is a big Bo fan. You know I'm not and I won't hide it. Do I want him fired this sec? Hell NO! But if we go 8-4, then he should be a on VERY short leash in 2012. That's just the way things are these days when you're at a big time program like NU and rake in close to $3mill.

I am in my 40s. I can clearly remember seasons as far back as the 1970s. I don't care if you're a "big Bo fan" or not, firing a coach going 8-4 in the circumstances of this season, after back-to-back ten-win seasons, is moronic. I would ensure another Callahan-esque hire, because this program would be toxic to any coach after we fired a 9-3 coach and an 8-4 coach in a period of eight years.

I didn't say I was 'satisfied' with 8-4, or that anyone should be happy with it. Read my post again. I said that would be zero reason to fire Pelini.

 

[AustinHuskr]

WHAT? 8-4 and you think we should be happy? Wow. Talk about rock bottom expectations. Just curious - how old are you? How long have you been watching Husker ball? Yeah, if you want to go back to 1948, then 8-4 type expectations are the norm I guess.

Look, not everyone is a big Bo fan. You know I'm not and I won't hide it. Do I want him fired this sec? Hell NO! But if we go 8-4, then he should be a on VERY short leash in 2012. That's just the way things are these days when you're at a big time program like NU and rake in close to $3mill.

I am in my 40s. I can clearly remember seasons as far back as the 1970s. I don't care if you're a "big Bo fan" or not, firing a coach going 8-4 in the circumstances of this season, after back-to-back ten-win seasons, is moronic. I would ensure another Callahan-esque hire, because this program would be toxic to any coach after we fired a 9-3 coach and an 8-4 coach in a period of eight years.

I didn't say I was 'satisfied' with 8-4, or that anyone should be happy with it. Read my post again. I said that would be zero reason to fire Pelini.

You're in your 40's. So am I

You didn't say you were "'satisfied' with 8-4" but you did say "it would be zero reason to fire Pelini". Well then you're surely saying that we should keep Bo and be unhappy at the same time, yes? That doesn't sound like a good recipe for future success.

I could stomach this season if we lost to WI and then lost a close 1 @PSU. But getting blown out by WI and then losing to an UNRANKED team at home because you didn't watch film or prepare reeks of coaching problems. And in year 4 we should be past those.

 

[knapplc]

So you advocated firing Osborne in 1992, yes? Your arguments fall apart when put in context. All you want is Pelini out, without any thought of the ramifications of the decision. You're looking at Pelini in a vacuum, without taking into account any extraneous factors.

 

[HuskerShark]

WHAT? 8-4 and you think we should be happy? Wow. Talk about rock bottom expectations. Just curious - how old are you? How long have you been watching Husker ball? Yeah, if you want to go back to 1948, then 8-4 type expectations are the norm I guess.

Look, not everyone is a big Bo fan. You know I'm not and I won't hide it. Do I want him fired this sec? Hell NO! But if we go 8-4, then he should be a on VERY short leash in 2012. That's just the way things are these days when you're at a big time program like NU and rake in close to $3mill.

I am in my 40s. I can clearly remember seasons as far back as the 1970s. I don't care if you're a "big Bo fan" or not, firing a coach going 8-4 in the circumstances of this season, after back-to-back ten-win seasons, is moronic. I would ensure another Callahan-esque hire, because this program would be toxic to any coach after we fired a 9-3 coach and an 8-4 coach in a period of eight years.

I didn't say I was 'satisfied' with 8-4, or that anyone should be happy with it. Read my post again. I said that would be zero reason to fire Pelini.

You're in your 40's. So am I

You didn't say you were "'satisfied' with 8-4" but you did say "it would be zero reason to fire Pelini". Well then you're surely saying that we should keep Bo and be unhappy at the same time, yes? That doesn't sound like a good recipe for future success.

I could stomach this season if we lost to WI and then lost a close 1 @PSU. But getting blown out by WI and then losing to an UNRANKED team at home because you didn't watch film or prepare reeks of coaching problems. And in year 4 we should be past those.

Boom! Knapplc beat me to it^. But here's what I say: Say after the season, you're in TO's shoes, and you fire Bo. Who would be your realistic hire? This excludes Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Les Miles, etc. Who do you hire and what makes you think they would be on the same level as Bo? I'm a big Boliever so I'm just curious who you think would be better...

 

[Street Novelist]

It's hollow because we won't be playing for a national or conference championship (unless Michigan State slips up). It's hard looking forward to another non-BCS bowl game.

 

[da skers]

Something has been missing from this season. It just seems hollow. I think the Wisconsin and Penn State games just emotionally wiped us out. I spent an incredible amount of energy getting up for Wisconsin, only to be knocked out cold. That game showed us that we were nowhere near the top. Sad. Also, the weirdness around Penn State made the season more strange. It just seems like something has been missing from this season. The reality is that I wanted us to compete for the National Championship, but we had way too much change and inexperience to get there. Don't get me wrong: glad to be in the Big 10 and love the new venues, but something has been missing. Still several cool games to play, so maybe that will change. Next year is aiming to be something special. Would like to end this year on a good note.

Couldn't agree more, HISD! I thought it was just me and possibly that I'm getting older, getting busier, life is getting in the way of football, kids/wife/family are starting to take priority, etc. But I've felt like it was more than that. Haven't really bought into all of that happening in one year because I have literally gone from being the most over-the-top fan who couldn't focus on anything other than the upcoming Nebraska game more and more throughout the week to this year almost having to remind/force myself to get up for it.

I think some of the explanations offered up by other posters in this thread are valid. The whole groundhog day thing is definitely part of the deal...getting tired of the same song, different dance routine. I also think the Wisconsin loss completely took the wind out of my sails. I was up for that game big time and haven't found that passion since. Had it been close, I could have probably handled the loss a little better. But getting blown out gave me little hope for much the rest of the season. I have high hopes going into every season so I don't think that played into this year any more than normal.

I'll also be honest in that I've lost respect for some of the key people in our program. One of the (many) things that made me dislike Mack Brown so much was how he screwed Major Applewhite and went with Chris Simms in Major's senior year. Bo essentially did the same thing last year with Martinez and I lost a lot of respect for him throughout the year. I know people will say that Bo knows better than I do, he had his reasons, etc...but nobody will ever convince me that a one-legged Martinez gave us the best shot at winning last year. I just haven't been a big fan of Bo since then. He's had just enough other issues (Carl rumors, bad with the media, sideline blowups, over the top stubborn, etc) that he's caused some division in the fan base. I think everyone was hoping he'd be our Bob Stoops and he just simply is not. Aside from Stoops winning a National Championship in his second year, Stoops just has all of the intangibles that Bo doesn't. And I've never been a big Martinez fan, partly because he's just not a real likable person. So I guess part of it for me is a wavering confidence in the head coach and never having bought into our quarterback.

All of that being said, I'm not one of those people who's ready to fire Bo...at least not quite yet. I still support the program and I still cheer for Martinez.

So you think Bo should choose who plays and who doesn't based on personality? If a guys is Ra-Ra he should start and if he's stand off-ish but much more talented with the offense he should sit.

 

[AustinHuskr]

So you advocated firing Osborne in 1992, yes? Your arguments fall apart when put in context. All you want is Pelini out, without any thought of the ramifications of the decision. You're looking at Pelini in a vacuum, without taking into account any extraneous factors.

I assume you directed that at me.

Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't want TO "fired" in 92 but I sure was fed up as hell watching that crappy offense get stone walled against Miami to the tune of 0-22 among others. Tell me you were happy with that. Whatever........TO was DAMN lucky to get a great group of talented players assembled in 1994 and 1995 but don't sit here and tell me 20 years later that you saw that coming! Hog wash. Sounds like you are the perfect revisionist.

And please don't build strawman arguments and put words in my mouth: I'm NOT "looking at Pelini in a vacuum". Don't know what exactly you mean by that. All I'm saying is that we need progress from year to year.

If we go 8-4, is that progress?

If we go 9-3 with a crap.com bowl. Is that progress? Sorry, 1 extra win against DirectionalKentuckyU does not equal progress. There's a reason every one and their dog picked NU with at the very least make the B1GC. Sounds like you're using your revisionist talents to make this potential 8-4/9-3 performance sound good.

Sorry - not working with me.

 

[Eagle1]

Actually AH you're putting words in his mouth! He ASKED if you advocated for it which would be why there was a ? at the end! If you didn't, great. I'm in my 40's too and sooner or later you HAVE to realize the landscape of college football HAS changed. We DON't have advantages we used to and neither does anybody else! Why do you think their are so many upsets every weekend? We fire Bo and nothing will change except maybe for the worse. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. The program needs continuity of a coaching staff to stick around for a long time, then we'll see the progress you're hoping for otherwise it's constant change and change isn't always good. Look, I want to win titles too, but like it or not, it's nearly impossible for every team to stay on top ALL the time! Top tier teams will have good years and bad and will take turns at the top. Happened at Florida State, Florida, etc. after many coaching changes, and it's happening here. Fire Bob Stoops and see what would happen at OU. Heck it happened after Schwitzer and up to Stoops! They'd drop quick and would take time to get back up. It's just the nature of the beast at all levels. I coached at a high school years ago that made playoffs 20 years straight. When I moved on to other ventures and the other two coaches also moved on, guess what they dropped, big time. The new guy that took the job was a VERY good coach but for 5 yrs people wanted him fired because they weren't winning. Well, for the last few years all of a sudden they LOVE him because they're winning again and deep into playoffs each year. Guess what, he's still there and those times have been conveniently forgotten!

 

[gin_32]

why was our defense so hyped during the preseason? i did not see it, but bought into the hype because i wanted to believe so badly.

The D Line was supposed to be the strength of the team, and we were supposed to have All-Americans at all three levels of defense. With Camstache, Crick and Steinkuhler returning intact and Ankrah/Martin taking over at the other DE being largely perceived as addition by subtraction of Pierre Allen, we were all geared up to have a fantastic D Line with quality depth at every position. Add to that Lavonte David coming off a record-setting year and the return of Compton and Fisher, who were both "potential" guys, we were assuming LB would be decent, if not good. Add to that Lockdown Dennard on one side and Ciante Evans, who had shown flashes of brilliance on the other, the prevailing wisdom would be that we would be superlative on one side (Dennard's) and pretty good on the other (Evans'). At Safety we were pretty up in the air, but again the prevailing wisdom was that the other levels of solid play would protect the safeties from exposure, and they would grow into their roles. Instead of all this, we got a porous D Line that contributes to our #117 (out of 120 teams) ranking in Tackles for Loss and the #66 Rushing Defense. Every single team we've played has rushed the ball on us, and most have passed with comfort as well. The debacle of withholding the Blackshirts for more than half the season didn't help this situation, either. There was plenty of potential with this defense. But with a few exceptions, it hasn't come to fruition. With Bo being a "defensive genius," this is pretty hard to stomach for most.

RIGHT ON THE NAIL!! I think we all had a feeling that our offense would need time to get going and would have to rely on our defense to make it manageable.....but never thought we would struggle so late in the season. Yeah, they have improved but still seem to lack that intensity that I thought they would have.

 

[knapplc]

So you advocated firing Osborne in 1992, yes? Your arguments fall apart when put in context. All you want is Pelini out, without any thought of the ramifications of the decision. You're looking at Pelini in a vacuum, without taking into account any extraneous factors.

I assume you directed that at me.

Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't want TO "fired" in 92 but I sure was fed up as hell watching that crappy offense get stone walled against Miami to the tune of 0-22 among others. Tell me you were happy with that. Whatever........TO was DAMN lucky to get a great group of talented players assembled in 1994 and 1995 but don't sit here and tell me 20 years later that you saw that coming! Hog wash. Sounds like you are the perfect revisionist.

And please don't build strawman arguments and put words in my mouth: I'm NOT "looking at Pelini in a vacuum". Don't know what exactly you mean by that. All I'm saying is that we need progress from year to year.

If we go 8-4, is that progress?

If we go 9-3 with a crap.com bowl. Is that progress? Sorry, 1 extra win against DirectionalKentuckyU does not equal progress. There's a reason every one and their dog picked NU with at the very least make the B1GC. Sounds like you're using your revisionist talents to make this potential 8-4/9-3 performance sound good.

Sorry - not working with me.

Now who's putting words in whose mouth? Where in the world did you come up with that?

Everyone reading this thread gets that you don't know what I mean about viewing Pelini in a vacuum. That's your problem - you don't get it. That's why I'm trying to tell you what you should be focusing on. All you want to do is look very narrowly at the record, or at your personal ambiguous version of "progress," and that's foolish. Is 8-4 progress? Depends on the context. Putting that record in the context of this season, what we were (sober assessment, not some pie-in-the-sky dream scenario) and where we end up, paints a very different picture than simply looking at the W/L column and griping about it.

 

[AustinHuskr]

why was our defense so hyped during the preseason? i did not see it, but bought into the hype because i wanted to believe so badly.

The D Line was supposed to be the strength of the team, and we were supposed to have All-Americans at all three levels of defense. With Camstache, Crick and Steinkuhler returning intact and Ankrah/Martin taking over at the other DE being largely perceived as addition by subtraction of Pierre Allen, we were all geared up to have a fantastic D Line with quality depth at every position. Add to that Lavonte David coming off a record-setting year and the return of Compton and Fisher, who were both "potential" guys, we were assuming LB would be decent, if not good. Add to that Lockdown Dennard on one side and Ciante Evans, who had shown flashes of brilliance on the other, the prevailing wisdom would be that we would be superlative on one side (Dennard's) and pretty good on the other (Evans'). At Safety we were pretty up in the air, but again the prevailing wisdom was that the other levels of solid play would protect the safeties from exposure, and they would grow into their roles. Instead of all this, we got a porous D Line that contributes to our #117 (out of 120 teams) ranking in Tackles for Loss and the #66 Rushing Defense. Every single team we've played has rushed the ball on us, and most have passed with comfort as well. The debacle of withholding the Blackshirts for more than half the season didn't help this situation, either. There was plenty of potential with this defense. But with a few exceptions, it hasn't come to fruition. With Bo being a "defensive genius," this is pretty hard to stomach for most.

RIGHT ON THE NAIL!! I think we all had a feeling that our offense would need time to get going and would have to rely on our defense to make it manageable.....but never thought we would struggle so late in the season. Yeah, they have improved but still seem to lack that intensity that I thought they would have.

The lack of intensity on def is IMO due to lack of confidence. Too much frigging thinking going on this late into November! On defense, you CAN'T think once the ball is snapped - needs to be 99% instinct/talent kicking in. This is the $64 million question: Did Bo just misfire on the talent evaluation during recruiting esp. in 2009 or is the scheme THAT hard to learn for FR/Sophs/JR's?

On offense, the intensity issue is more intriguing. I just don't see it on the OL - which is where it all starts. Period. The way the OL got whupped at PSU is concerning.....

 

[AustinHuskr]

So you advocated firing Osborne in 1992, yes? Your arguments fall apart when put in context. All you want is Pelini out, without any thought of the ramifications of the decision. You're looking at Pelini in a vacuum, without taking into account any extraneous factors.

I assume you directed that at me.

Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't want TO "fired" in 92 but I sure was fed up as hell watching that crappy offense get stone walled against Miami to the tune of 0-22 among others. Tell me you were happy with that. Whatever........TO was DAMN lucky to get a great group of talented players assembled in 1994 and 1995 but don't sit here and tell me 20 years later that you saw that coming! Hog wash. Sounds like you are the perfect revisionist.

And please don't build strawman arguments and put words in my mouth: I'm NOT "looking at Pelini in a vacuum". Don't know what exactly you mean by that. All I'm saying is that we need progress from year to year.

If we go 8-4, is that progress?

If we go 9-3 with a crap.com bowl. Is that progress? Sorry, 1 extra win against DirectionalKentuckyU does not equal progress. There's a reason every one and their dog picked NU with at the very least make the B1GC. Sounds like you're using your revisionist talents to make this potential 8-4/9-3 performance sound good.

Sorry - not working with me.

Now who's putting words in whose mouth? Where in the world did you come up with that?

Everyone reading this thread gets that you don't know what I mean about viewing Pelini in a vacuum. That's your problem - you don't get it. That's why I'm trying to tell you what you should be focusing on. All you want to do is look very narrowly at the record, or at your personal ambiguous version of "progress," and that's foolish. Is 8-4 progress? Depends on the context. Putting that record in the context of this season, what we were (sober assessment, not some pie-in-the-sky dream scenario) and where we end up, paints a very different picture than simply looking at the W/L column and griping about it.

Come up with what?

I don't get what? That firing Bo will create more problems?

And re. that last bolded part: Putting that record into context? What context? .....What are you saying? Sounds like a lot of words with no clear point.