UCLA Game worries

[robsker]

No excuses. UCLA was the better team that night.

That is like bragging about being the smartest person at retard camp. We played absolutely awful and lost by six on the road.

Yeah, beating THAT Nebraska team on THAT night is nothing to brag about....

Ok, let me see if I can understand your logic. If a team I support beats another team I should not be proud of that victory because the other team did not play at its best and/or did not have the right talent and/or did not have the better coaching? Doesn't that essentially mean that I could NEVER be proud of ANY victory by my team. Doesn't it also mean I could NEVER state that my team was the better team that day? The whole point of the games is to see which team can bring their "A" game that day. It ALWAYS comes down to turnovers, penalties, better execution, better tackling, better play-calling.

I submit as my proof that I have never heard a losing college coach say in a post-game presser "Well, we played and coached our absolute best and could not have played better but they were just better than us today." They NEVER say that. They always detail the shortcomings in their team's performance on that day.

One of my college football rules is that when my team loses I ALWAYS say "the better team won," because that is exactly what happened. Saying otherwise is just a feeble attempt to make myself feel better. It's nice to say things that make you feel better, but it is not necessarily the same thing as telling the truth.

Am I wrong?

Seems to me that you are quite correct.

 

[Bruleif]

As usual, Nebraska beat Nebraska more so than UCLA beat Nebraska.

Really? UCLA's speed and play calling had NOTHING do to with it? C'mon, man.

I'd probably say that the 8 missed tackles on every other play by NU's defenders had more to do with it, but what the hell do I know?

There were tacklers there to make the stop every play, but our guys looked like little girls trying to take down Franklin. Absolute most frustrating game I've seen in my life.

Listen, I have been on the losing side of games like that many, many times, so I know how you feel. It is VERY frustrating. I used to yell at the TV "Tackle! Tackle!" It's very frustrating to watch your team when they are NOT performing up to the level that you KNOW they are capable of. (Sorry for ending the sentence with a preposition.)

What used to frustrate me the most was stupid penalties, like hitting a player out of bounds. That would make me go ballistic. I didn't mind penalties of effort, but brain cramps would really bother me.

Also, I would hate it when a coach would not call a time out at the end of the first half to try to score before halftime. Some of the UCLA coaches - Terry Donohue chief among them - seemed to think that you could carry your timeouts from the first half into the second half. He drove me nuts on that.

Now that I realize that I have absolutely no effect on the game - whether I am at the Rose Bowl or in front of the TV - I am much calmer. Still hurts to lose, but I can shrug it off pretty quickly. (Except for losses against USC - those sting for a while.)

 

[Bruleif]

As usual, Nebraska beat Nebraska more so than UCLA beat Nebraska.

Really? UCLA's speed and play calling had NOTHING do to with it? C'mon, man.

You make good points. But (in my admittedly biased view) the Huskers really crapped the bad last year in Pasadena. I really give UCLA credit for taking advantage. However, even with home field advantage, 600+ yards of offense, +1 in turnovers, and a safety, the Bruins still only won by 6 points. That's where I get most of mt confidence that the Huskers will win this year; I don't think UCLA will have that many advantages again.

All that being said, you should check out the thread about whether Husker fans handle losing well.

You might be right about this year. I have said for a while that I think the game will be close and will be decided by turnovers

You know prior to last year Franklin had a fumbling problem but only fumbled once during the 2012 season, so in a way you caught him at his best. Good for us, bad for you. He did have a great game and, yes, a part of that was due to poor tackling by Nebaska.

You know in previous years Franklin had a real fumbling problem but last year he only fumbled once.