Why are all our home games so wacky lately?

Po Belini said:
If they give us something to cheer about, we will cheer. The first possession on offense just set the tone for the entire game. Then a botched punt coverage. Gilbert runs free on a couple plays, we hold them to a field goal. Good job D, okay let's get the offense going now. Crowd is still in it. Roy fumbles, but its okay we will hold them to a field goal. Gilbery runs a few more, missed tackle by Rickey on 3rd. Gilbert runs in for TD. Boom 10-0. Textbook way to take crowd out of it. NU gave the fans nothing to cheer about yesterday. The D did not use the crowd to their advantage, they looked flat and our DE's looked very slow. The offense did not use the fact that they would be able to hear the cadence without 94 Db noise to their advantage. Just imagine how loud that place would have been had we drove down the field and scored the first possession. If u wanna look at home field advantage, watch the Wisconsin game. OSU looked intimidated and that DT for Wisconsin looked like a man possessed. Going crazy after every sack. He fed off the crowd. I don't see that with this team...
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One thing I noticed, that I haven't seen for a while, was the majority of the game, Everyone in my section, stood up and yelled when Texas had the ball, and stood up to watch as the offense took the field.

 
just a little tidbit of information here... I've been to 5 husker games in Lincoln and all 5 of them I've sat in vastly different spots. However, each time, no matter the opponent, the surrounding crowd has always just sat there and clapped from their seats. The only time there was a roar and people actually standing was when we scored or there was a turnover/etc. I remember being told to sit down by several husker fans on both of my first two trips to lincoln where after that I just went with the crowd because I was tired of being annoyed.

However... I went to the KSUcks game in Manhattan this year, and noticed that all of the purple people were standing for the first two quarters (understandably not after half, but that's not my point). Even decked out in red near the visitors section, I felt I HAD to stand and cheer the entire game... It was the complete opposite feeling from Lincoln where I felt I would be in trouble if I sat, rather than be in trouble for standing...

Nebraska has the most loyal and classiest fans in all of college football... I just wish people would get emotional on game day and show their support by doing more than just sitting and clapping after every play... I've been to golf tournaments where there was more fan spirit than games in Lincoln

 
By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
That “home sweet home” saying? Lies, Dorothy. Lies.

Or at least it has seemed that way for the Husker football team, which strangely looks much more comfortable when they’re playing in a different area code.

After Saturday’s 20-13 home loss to Texas, Husker coach Bo Pelini is now taking a microscope to his team’s routine for home games.

“Honestly, I think there’s less distraction on the road,” Pelini said. “Whatever it may be ... we’re trying to think outside the box about maybe handling home games a little bit differently, trying to eliminate as much distraction as we can.”

Since Pelini took over in 2008, some of his team’s worst performances have come at Memorial Stadium.

In 2008, there was the 52-17 home loss to Missouri.

In 2009, there was the 31-10 letdown loss to Texas Tech followed a week later by a 9-7 defeat to Iowa State where Nebraska turned it over eight times.

And this year, there’s been an ugly 17-3 win over South Dakota State coupled with the loss to Texas.

Meanwhile, Nebraska has looked sharp on the road, blowing out Washington and Kansas State each by five touchdowns this season.

“You reflect back after the game, think about it,” Pelini said about the home struggles. “I’m not looking to make any excuses, but you got to look at everything. Maybe there’s something there. You talk about it, be extra guarded against it. I don’t know if our guys feel extra pressure at home.

“But we weren’t ourself the other day in a number of instances. We just did some things that were out of character, so I’m a little bit concerned about it.”

So maybe it’s a good thing that Nebraska is hitting the road this week to take on Oklahoma State?

Well, Pelini wouldn’t go that far.

“It’s never a good time to go on the road, but I feel confident in our guys, our guys respond well on the road,” Pelini said. “Our guys don’t feel like we played our best football the other day. I can feel it in their demeanor. I can feel it in who they are. They’re anxious to get back out there and play. I don’t care where it is.”
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http://huskerextra.com/sports/football/article_d155c3ca-dade-11df-bca4-001cc4c03286.html

 
Here's my take. The home game atmosphere changed dramatically when Solich was fired. His firing and bringing in Callahan split the fanbase. During the Callahan regime, there were fans that no matter what were going to find problems and boo about them. Bringing back Bo has united the fanbase, but there are still players on the team that remember and played during the 2007 season. I think there is added pressure on the team at home because none of those players want to hear the boos that were heard during Callahan's tenure. They don't want to see the stadium empty by halftime. Sometimes, the biggest screw ups occur when people are concentrating so hard on not trying to screw up. The analogy used in the "Replacements" comes to mind about quicksand. One thing goes wrong (Helu's fumble), then another, and then finally feeling like being in over your head. To some degree, I think this is what happened against Iowa State last year and Texas this year. When very sure handed guys like Burkhead and Kinnie drop all but perfectly thrown balls, there has to be some sort of explanation.

 
So this is on us the fans for expecting them to win?!?!?!? What a load of B.S. We should expect them to win every game just as they should expect to win every game. If those expectations are too high for the players well then Nebraska isn't the school for them.

 
junior4949 said:
Here's my take. The home game atmosphere changed dramatically when Solich was fired. His firing and bringing in Callahan split the fanbase. During the Callahan regime, there were fans that no matter what were going to find problems and boo about them. Bringing back Bo has united the fanbase, but there are still players on the team that remember and played during the 2007 season. I think there is added pressure on the team at home because none of those players want to hear the boos that were heard during Callahan's tenure. They don't want to see the stadium empty by halftime. Sometimes, the biggest screw ups occur when people are concentrating so hard on not trying to screw up. The analogy used in the "Replacements" comes to mind about quicksand. One thing goes wrong (Helu's fumble), then another, and then finally feeling like being in over your head. To some degree, I think this is what happened against Iowa State last year and Texas this year. When very sure handed guys like Burkhead and Kinnie drop all but perfectly thrown balls, there has to be some sort of explanation.
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I would buy into that some if not for the fact that most of the guys starting now weren't here under Callahan's tenure.

 
Niles Paul and Helu were, but that's not really the point. I'm guessing the team talks much like people who work together talk. If you're the new guy at work and there's a big event coming up at the workplace, the new guys usually asks a lot of questions about it. I'm guessing the new faces have heard stories from the upper classmen about those years. I'd venture to guess that some of Niles Paul's worst games were played in Lincoln. I'm not really sure I can buy it, but then again I can't come up with any other reasonable explanation either. Last year, we had two games that really stand out where we were the better team but we weren't focused. They were the Iowa State game and the Texas Tech game, and both were played at home. This year, we've had two games at home where we just weren't focused. Actually, you can throw the Idaho game in there also because we laid the ball on the turf a lot. My explanation is the only thing I can come up with for our woes at home. I still remember a LB a few years ago blaming the fans for the team's poor play. It's a very sad day when the players would rather play in front of a hostile crowd rather than their home crowd.

 
junior4949 said:
Niles Paul and Helu were, but that's not really the point. I'm guessing the team talks much like people who work together talk. If you're the new guy at work and there's a big event coming up at the workplace, the new guys usually asks a lot of questions about it. I'm guessing the new faces have heard stories from the upper classmen about those years. I'd venture to guess that some of Niles Paul's worst games were played in Lincoln. I'm not really sure I can buy it, but then again I can't come up with any other reasonable explanation either. Last year, we had two games that really stand out where we were the better team but we weren't focused. They were the Iowa State game and the Texas Tech game, and both were played at home. This year, we've had two games at home where we just weren't focused. Actually, you can throw the Idaho game in there also because we laid the ball on the turf a lot. My explanation is the only thing I can come up with for our woes at home. I still remember a LB a few years ago blaming the fans for the team's poor play. It's a very sad day when the players would rather play in front of a hostile crowd rather than their home crowd.
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I think that was Corey McKeon, wasn't it? I know what you're talking about, where our crowd noise was messing up the defensive signal-calling.

There is definitely a difference between our at-home play and on-the-road play, whatever the reason.

Maybe it's our players' fat little girlfriends? Maybe we need to put Niles Paul in a tool shed for a while. Who knows.

 
knapplc said:
junior4949 said:
Niles Paul and Helu were, but that's not really the point. I'm guessing the team talks much like people who work together talk. If you're the new guy at work and there's a big event coming up at the workplace, the new guys usually asks a lot of questions about it. I'm guessing the new faces have heard stories from the upper classmen about those years. I'd venture to guess that some of Niles Paul's worst games were played in Lincoln. I'm not really sure I can buy it, but then again I can't come up with any other reasonable explanation either. Last year, we had two games that really stand out where we were the better team but we weren't focused. They were the Iowa State game and the Texas Tech game, and both were played at home. This year, we've had two games at home where we just weren't focused. Actually, you can throw the Idaho game in there also because we laid the ball on the turf a lot. My explanation is the only thing I can come up with for our woes at home. I still remember a LB a few years ago blaming the fans for the team's poor play. It's a very sad day when the players would rather play in front of a hostile crowd rather than their home crowd.
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I think that was Corey McKeon, wasn't it? I know what you're talking about, where our crowd noise was messing up the defensive signal-calling.

There is definitely a difference between our at-home play and on-the-road play, whatever the reason.

Maybe it's our players' fat little girlfriends? Maybe we need to put Niles Paul in a tool shed for a while. Who knows.
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What if we put him in the tool shed with his fat little girlfriend? He has to be out by 10pm though, no girls after 10pm.

 
You're correct on the player. I obvioulsy don't know either. I haven't even been to a game in Lincoln since 2003 when we laid the wood to A&M. There's just so many things that don't make sense. First, Niles Paul makes a little commotion about not getting the ball. Then, he follows it up by one drop after another. We don't always play poorly at home either. Last year, I think a lot of people would have said we lose to OU. We played pretty decent, and we won the game. We can easily make the excuse of overlooking the opponent for the SDSU game, but the game last Saturday was our redemption game. Our guys should have been breathing fire. This was the game everyone had been looking forward to for months.

 
jimk said:
So this is on us the fans for expecting them to win?!?!?!? What a load of B.S. We should expect them to win every game just as they should expect to win every game. If those expectations are too high for the players well then Nebraska isn't the school for them.
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its our fan self righteousness. its not just that we expect them to win, its like we almost are AGAINST our own team if they don't perform perfectly. Like we are just entitled to having the best team year in year out

 
“Honestly, I think there’s less distraction on the road,” Pelini said. “Whatever it may be ... we’re trying to think outside the box about maybe handling home games a little bit differently, trying to eliminate as much distraction as we can.”
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Methinks we can help Bo here. What say you?

My first "out of the box" idea is get rid of the lucky horseshoe and get rid of the flashy tunnel walk, even though the fans love it so much. I'm pretty sure we, the fans, love winning a lot more.

 
ESPY said:
“Honestly, I think there’s less distraction on the road,” Pelini said. “Whatever it may be ... we’re trying to think outside the box about maybe handling home games a little bit differently, trying to eliminate as much distraction as we can.”
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Methinks we can help Bo here. What say you?

My first "out of the box" idea is get rid of the lucky horseshoe and get rid of the flashy tunnel walk, even though the fans love it so much. I'm pretty sure we, the fans, love winning a lot more.
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Serious question here - what role do you think tunnel walks and lucky horseshoes play in Husker losses?

 
It all starts at the very top.

In answer to the OP......our home games are so wacky because Bo Pelini has not yet figured out how to mentally prepare his team to play in a friendly environment. He appears to be in his personal comfort zone with his "us against the world/we'll show them" approach in hostile stadiums, but unfortunately, away games aren't even half of the schedule.

He has yet to show that he's made the full transition from leader of the defense to that of the head coach. I think the team's poor play (especially the offense) in friendly atmospheres attests to a weakness in Bo that he needs to address to make that next step as a head coach (and in turn as a team).

I would venture to guess that if you really wanted the Huskers to play great at home, you'd just have to let them know ahead of time that the home fans were going to boo them. That would probably be all that it would take to get 100% effort from the coach and team. LOL Seriously though.....Bo needs to do a little introspection. Osborne had the benefit of being a Dr. of Psychology when he was our coach. It's time that Bo asks Tom for a few pearls of wisdom on the matter.

 
Zerotide said:
Lately the majority of our home games have been wacky and just horribly played football. Any ideas? I'm gonna go with the state of Nebraska putting wayyyy too much pressure on these 18-22 year old KIDS.
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I blame it on the two tone color of the field. Also Texas had white shoes and we had black.

Oh you wanted seriously.......sorry

 
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