When will Nebraska return to title contention?

zoogs

zoogs

Assistant Coach
We were hoping right away (2004). That may have been a tad naive. <_< This past year began with so much optimism, and ended with a letdown of sorts (I still weep when I think of the Texas game, and how close the season was to truly extraordinary...)

So from Yahoo! sports..."The Long road back":

The long road back

When will Nebraska be back in national championship contention, and what is their weak point?

— Connor in Austin

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I think the Cornhuskers are at least three years away from being bona fide national championship contenders. Their weak points are depth, offensive line play and pass defense.

National champions almost always have veteran offensive lines, experienced quarterbacks and strong defenses, and putting that all together might take awhile.

The offensive line has been an area of some concern for the Huskers. They are putting together a tremendous group of linemen – led by five-star prospect Baker Steinkuhler – that potentially could bring back to the glory days of dominant line play. That was clearly a strength of the team when Baker's dad, Dean, was a Husker All-American. Also, getting a commitment from QB Blaine Gabbert recently was also a big catch.

The Huskers also need to upgrade their depth everywhere, but especially on defense. When CB Zack Bowman was hurt last season his absence left a gaping hole in the secondary which was never really filled. After another injury, Bowman's availability for this year is uncertain.

Although I feel Nebraska is a favorite in the Big 12 North and could contend for the conference championship, I don't feel the Cornhuskers are legitimate national championship contenders in 2007.

In 2008 they likely will be starting a new quarterback. If everything comes together, 2009 could be the season that the Huskers finally make a serious run for a championship. Don't be surprised if it takes until 2010, though.
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I think that's pretty a fair assessment. A lot of us are saying this is a critical year in the rebuilding process - but what year *don't* we say that? What year do we say, before the season begins, "Oh, this year is ... eh, whatever. Just another year." I think we've still got a ton of question marks heading into the season, but with a lot of potential to do well...if we make a shot for the title though, I'd be surprised (pleasantly). The offense (unfortunately) faces questions with the QB competition, Purify's boneheaded incident, and RB injuries...as well as a line that I'd say can only be called adequate. And while I expect the D-line to do well this year, and the secondary to do better, I really don't think we'll have the kind of old-school Blackshirt dominance to avoid getting burned at times this season.

Next year - unless Ganz beats out Keller for the job, in which case...well, let's not think about it unless it happens - we're going to be starting a new QB, whether it's Ganz, Witt, Lee, or Gabbert. A lot of potential and good stories there, but the QB position will have question marks swirling next year. I'm not sure how rookie O-line usually factor in, but while I only see improvement up ahead, I think we're being more optimistic than realistic when we say "THIS is the year we're going to jump back in the mix...no, really!!"

Of course a lot of it hinges on signature wins IMO. If we pull off USC, then our season will be rolling as long as we remain consistent. If we struggle at Wake and lose to USC, then I forsee some tough mid-season losses and ending up with a similar record as last year. I feel that we're on the right track, but don't be shocked if we don't see the top 10 until 2009 or 2010.

Also a question on Sam Keller:

Back on the radar

Why isn't Nebraska's Sam Keller getting the national respect as a quarterback that he was getting at Arizona State? In 2005 he was getting Heisman-hype after starting seven games and throwing for 20 touchdowns. How can Keller not be getting mentioned as a top 5 quarterback in the nation?

— Jason in Omaha

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I'm not going to disparage Keller because I think he'll be a very good quarterback for the Cornhuskers. Rivals.com ranked him No. 12 in our preseason quarterback power rankings, which I think is pretty good for a guy who did not play in 2006.

I think national writers and broadcasters are aware of Keller's exploits at Arizona State, especially that he passed for 461 yards and four touchdowns against LSU in 2005. His presence is the primary reason the Cornhuskers will likely be the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 North.

But he hasn't played in a year and a half, and is in a different system than the one in which he played in Tempe. I think it's understandable that he's not yet viewed on the same level as Hawaii's Colt Brennan, Louisville's Brian Brohm, Southern California's John David Booty, Michigan's Chad Henne or West Virginia's Pat White – who comprised the top five of the Rivals.com quarterback power rankings.

He may climb on that chart - and in national perception - very quickly. He'll definitely have that chance when the Cornhuskers play at Wake Forest on Sept. 8 and at home against Southern California on Sept. 15.
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Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=Ap...s&type=lgns

 
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Interesting debate...here's my take:

In 2005, we were one play away from a 9 win season, with that one play being against a, in my mind, underrated #15 Texas Tech team. People seem to lose sight of this game in these transitional years, and what kind of effect winning it would have. If I remember correctly, we cracked the Top 25 rankings that week with the Iowa State win the week before. If we would have beaten the 15th ranked team in the nation that day, it would have been humongous for our program (potentially, but of course with the butterfly effect theory it could have turned out worse). The next year, we were one fumble away from a 10 win season, and extremely close to an 11 win season with the Auburn game and closer than people think to a 12 win season against Oklahoma. In my mind, we are already there. Sure, all the points that were brought up in the previous post, the lack of depth, the quarterback situation, etc. are all valid, but this is a special team that finds ways to compete with the best REGARDLESS of all the flaws. Having said that, I think that if things go well for Nebraska this year and we win the big games we need to win, with the help of a very tough schedule, we could very well be in a chance to play in the championship game, depending on how the big xii championship goes of course. If things take a rough turn like they did in 2006, and we are still just one tiny step away from those big wins, I think that 2009 will be the year to wait for. However there is still a good chance that we could have a very good season in 07, but one loss would send us into a BCS bowl that isn't the championship game, which is perfectly fine with me. I would prefer climbing the ladder to a top 5 ranking and a possible championship bid, seemingly coming out of nowhere, but if we get up to a good bcs bowl this year and remain in the top 10 afterwards it will help us in the long run with BCS standings and starting off higher than the last few years.

Ugh, I kind of started rambling at the end of that, but I got it through I think..

 
I agree, tiny steps away from huge wins and being right back in the mix. I would agree that another couple years of building depth and stockpiling talent and the Huskers will be in the national title talk consistenty in a couple years. Progress can be a slow process, for those that are willing to wait for it. That is a pretty fair assessment by Yahoo Sports. NU could very well be a title contender this year, if all the pieces come together and we get some breaks, but in a couple more years, we will be set up for title runs on a yearly basis.

 
I think we win the Big XII this year and maybe next, but we have a few losses here and there that hurt our National Title hopes. I think once we get someone like Blaine as our QB who can be our QB for let's say 3 years and start he will have a feel for this team that we haven't had since Crouch was here. Our offensive line is going to be dominant as hell and Callahan's recruiting is only getting better. He is getting more comfortable with the college game and I think 3 years is fairly accurate for a National Title. I will love to hear all the naysayers from other teams fanbases run their mouths about Callahan then!!!

 
Licensed to Ill said:
Blaine Gabbert as a junior = 2010 so I'd say that's a good estimate
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or witt as a junior, plus gabbert would most likely be a sophmore because of a redshirt. Anyway we are set at quarterback for at least three years without injury. It will be very good races to be a starter these next couple of years

 
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