Winning the North is not enough

[Foppa]

Conceding 6 days before a game is a great strategy for failure.

Hmm, I sincerely hope what a few wacko fans on an internet forum think doesn't have an effect on the success or failure of the team. :ahhhhhhhh

BTW, I hope we win the Big XII North AND end up ranked, preferably in the top 20. That is something that hasn't happened for a long time and would at least be a step in the right direction. Anything beyond that would be icing on the cake. It would be great to see, I hope it happens and will cheer all the way but I certainly don't EXPECT it to happen. Too many years of conditioning I guess.

i think, at worst, you will go 7-5 and a bowl this year. not a bad season for you

I think, at best, Nothing Dame goes 4-8 and sh*t this year. Thank god for the service academies, Duke, and the Tree, huh. That is a great season for me.

 

[FriscoTXHusker]

Damn Straight. Been there done that. We've already done the dynasty thing, and the best in the universe thing. Now it's time to try something different, like mediocracy. I'm not sure what it is, but bring it on. :sarcasm

 

[robsker]

I thought the reason for a change of Coaching staff was to be able to compete on the National level and not fall in to Mediocracy. 4 Years later and now Husker fans are posting that the USC game doesn't matter because it isn't a Big 12 Game.

One poster said the Goal was to win the North and and "hopefully" finished ranked.

Hopefully? Since when does Nebraska just hope to be ranked? When did it become OK to not be Ranked?

USC is a HUGE Game for this Team and the direction of Nebraska Football.

#1 Team in the Nation doesn't come in to your Stadium every year. If you want to compete on the National level and be take seriously, you must be able compete with a USC. You must understand that these games are what seperates the Top programs from Mediocracy.

Conceding 6 days before a game is a great strategy for failure.

Since when does Nebraska simply hope to be ranked? How about now since it has been years since the team was ranked at seasons end with regularity.

This is not the 1970's, the 1980's, or the 1990's --- assuming that NU will finish ranked then was like assuming that the sun would again rise the next morning --- it was certain. This is 2007. How many other programs that have been out of the rankings as has NU (of late) assume that they can expect more than a decent ranking?

 

[Hunter94]

I thought the reason for a change of Coaching staff was to be able to compete on the National level and not fall in to Mediocracy. 4 Years later and now Husker fans are posting that the USC game doesn't matter because it isn't a Big 12 Game.

One poster said the Goal was to win the North and and "hopefully" finished ranked.

Hopefully? Since when does Nebraska just hope to be ranked? When did it become OK to not be Ranked?

USC is a HUGE Game for this Team and the direction of Nebraska Football.

#1 Team in the Nation doesn't come in to your Stadium every year. If you want to compete on the National level and be take seriously, you must be able compete with a USC. You must understand that these games are what separates the Top programs from Mediocrity.

Conceding 6 days before a game is a great strategy for failure.

just winning the north will never be enough and it shouldn't be. we accomplished that last year, we need to go beyond that this year or at least contend competitively for the Big 12 championship, but to tell you the truth, OU looks unbeatable right now, don't think Texas can get by them either. their freshman qb looks awesome.

 

[DaveH]

*sigh*

Let's go through this again.

1) You can't win the Big 12 without winning the north division.

2) Coming from the Big 12, you are unlikely to get a BCS game without winning the Big 12 conference.

3) You can't win a BCS title without playing in a BCS game.

Now, for review, let's see in what order things need to be won:

North Division --> Big 12 Title --> BCS Bowl game.

Now, Kevin, since you didn't answer my question in the other thread, I'll ask it again. How can NU win a national title without winning the north? That's right. For all intents and purposes, they can't.

Am I saying that the North is good enough? No, never did. All I am saying is that it is a stepping stone to bigger things that must be used. Ignoring it as a goal would be a mistake. Sure, you can say "well that should be assumed, blah blah blah blah". Whatever. They have to win it. Period.

There is no doubt that the USC game is big for NU in the national picture. I think that if this team wants to win a title this year, they are going to have to beat them. It will give them good points in the whole BCS mess. Not to mention they will have to somehow beat Oklahoma who at this point, looks to be the favorite to win the South. Miami isn't as strong as they once were, not even close, but they still put a giant hurting on them.

 

[robsker]

I thought the reason for a change of Coaching staff was to be able to compete on the National level and not fall in to Mediocracy. 4 Years later and now Husker fans are posting that the USC game doesn't matter because it isn't a Big 12 Game.

One poster said the Goal was to win the North and and "hopefully" finished ranked.

Hopefully? Since when does Nebraska just hope to be ranked? When did it become OK to not be Ranked?

USC is a HUGE Game for this Team and the direction of Nebraska Football.

#1 Team in the Nation doesn't come in to your Stadium every year. If you want to compete on the National level and be take seriously, you must be able compete with a USC. You must understand that these games are what separates the Top programs from Mediocrity.

Conceding 6 days before a game is a great strategy for failure.

just winning the north will never be enough and it shouldn't be. we accomplished that last year, we need to go beyond that this year or at least contend competitively for the Big 12 championship, but to tell you the truth, OU looks unbeatable right now, don't think Texas can get by them either. there freshman qb looks awesome.

I agree, Oklahoma does look really, really good. The bad thing for the rest of the B12 world is that their QB will only get better and has three more years of eligibility after this year. That is the way to set up championships --- having a QB that will be there for more than one year of excellence. By this I mean that typically it takes year one for a QB to learn the system and become proficient (and in the process there are multiple losses, typically). So, in that QB's 1st "developmental season" the team will not really compete for the biggest prize. Year two they have a shot and, if there is a year three, a great shot. So, my concern for NU is that with ZT he had but one year after his developmental season and was gone. We are in Keller's developmental season as I write this and then he is done. Next year will be yet another developmental season for an NU QB. To compete at the highest level, this pattern must not continue.

Back to OU. Bradford may be an exception. In this, his developmental season, he already looks great. Maybe next year with Lee, or Witt (or, I guess Gabbert) NU will be so fortunate. In the meantime, OU continues to pull away.

I wish it were not so.....

 

[melscott62]

I think it should be pointed out that while the "goal" should always be to win a title every year, holding that as a standard is not reasonable. considering that we won the north last year, and that we won 9 games, I dont think its unreasonable to content with improvement.

 

[Foppa]

*sigh*

Let's go through this again.

1) You can't win the Big 12 without winning the north division.

2) Coming from the Big 12, you are unlikely to get a BCS game without winning the Big 12 conference.

3) You can't win a BCS title without playing in a BCS game.

Now, for review, let's see in what order things need to be won:

North Division --> Big 12 Title --> BCS Bowl game.

Now, Kevin, since you didn't answer my question in the other thread, I'll ask it again. How can NU win a national title without winning the north? That's right. For all intents and purposes, they can't.

Am I saying that the North is good enough? No, never did. All I am saying is that it is a stepping stone to bigger things that must be used. Ignoring it as a goal would be a mistake. Sure, you can say "well that should be assumed, blah blah blah blah". Whatever. They have to win it. Period.

There is no doubt that the USC game is big for NU in the national picture. I think that if this team wants to win a title this year, they are going to have to beat them. It will give them good points in the whole BCS mess. Not to mention they will have to somehow beat Oklahoma who at this point, looks to be the favorite to win the South. Miami isn't as strong as they once were, not even close, but they still put a giant hurting on them.

Nice try, Dave, but your hypothesis is completely wrong. You must've missed the new NCAA ruling that states if you go 0-11 but then beat Appalachian State, you automatically get a BCS bowl bid.

 

[zoogs]

I think when you look at it, you see that in a few years Callahan has turned the program upside down, changed the offensive philosophy completely, and emerged with a contender. By that, I mean a team that's a lock to go for 9 wins a season in the regular season, and we're still improving. I can live with that.

Even the best teams would be happy with 9 wins year in, year out, I'd imagine. Bowl game and CCG game results pending, it'll give us 11 win potential every year, and a 50-50 shot at BCS depending on how we fair in the CCG...and Cotton/Gator at worst. Winning the North consistently is where we want this program to be, because from there we have the every-year potential to be something special.

This is a far better outlook than what we had in 2004. "Oh Gosh...when are we going to win again?"

I'll gladly take a team that owns the North division year in, year out.

 

[thiems]

We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible. - Vince Lombardi

​

Last week was a typical case of 'pulling a Michigan'. We were looking ahead, but still pulled it together to win. We showed the makings of a strong team, a team that didn't fall down and stay down.

WE GOT BACK UP!

​

USC is the 'best team in the nation' by everyone's standards. But they don't have the most important thing in college football. They don't have character. They don't have the gold marks on their helmets that were earned from fighting Wake for a win. They don't have that humbling feeling of 'surviving' a road game.

To the doubters - that is what you are. You are not a 'realist' - you are a doubter.

NU has a chance, they have the makings of a great team. They need the true blue Husker fans to show up, inside Memorial and out. Fill the parking lots with you, your friends, your friends friends. Then walk into the GREATEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL STADIUM IN AMERICA and truly read the words above the gates.

Husker Nation has been doubting our team for 5 years. The team should be doubting us. It's time to step up and truly be THE GREATEST FANS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL.

go big red. Go big red. Go Big red. Go Big Red. GO Big Red. GO BIG Red. GO BIG RED. GO BIG RED!

​

 

[I Bleed RED]

Coach Kevin,

You have done very well letting these people prove your point. Medicore is what they accept. I know Solich ran the program into the ground, that is what everyone was told and they seem to believe it. That is the ultimate Kool Aid of all. You are guaranteed to hear 3 things from the Kool Aid Krew

1. Solich left a 10-3 program with no talent.

2. BC is an amazing recruiter.

3. We have improved every year. (Not true our winning % was worse in year 3)

What they don't address is why we can't beat a top 25 team one single time? (top 25 at the end of the year)

Why we have lost to a team ranked 49th or lower each of the past 3 years and this is improvement?

AND 9 regular season wins and a bowl win makes us 10-4. That will barely break the top 25. I don't think the OU, TX, USC, LSU, Ohio St, VaTech, FL...etc will "Even the best teams would be happy with 9 wins" ABSOLUTELY NOT!

 

[zoogs]

9 regular season wins and a perfect postseason (CCG) makes us 11-3.

Let's see, how many top 25 teams did we beat in 2003, that 10-3 team? How many blowout losses did we have that year?

I don't think you can really deny that we were better in '06 than we were in '05. Forget winning percentage. We couldn't even take the North in '05. And we got blown out. By Kansas.

You want improvement?

2003: How about 24-41, 7-31, and 9-38 losses in '03...to Missouri, Texas, and K-State? Not making the Big 12 CCG, and beating an 8-4 Michigan St. team in the Alamo Bowl? This is Solich's legacy. No, it's not bad, but three years later, where are we?

2006: A lopsided loss to the #1 team in the country (USC) on the road, giving Texas all they could handle at home before falling, and a meltdown at OK State. Then we lost to two top 10 teams, neither of them at home, neither of them blowouts. It was a frustrating season, to be sure, but can you say we weren't contenders? We were outmatched by USC, plain and simple. We had a meltdown, and a couple of tough losses. And now we're back in 2007 with a better squad. No more "we're going to get blown out several times this season."

There's nothing wrong with 9 wins at a minimum. We're looking at 9-10 wins consistently, annual BCS contention, and - when the stars align - dominance. Where was USC ten years ago? Where was Oklahoma, less than 10 years ago? Where was Notre D - oh wait. They're still there.

 

[I Bleed RED]

I agree with ten wins being a good year but you can't expect us to win 9 games and then roll through the CCG and a BCS game. If we don't win the CCG then we are at 4 losses and going to the Holiday or Cotton Bowl. That is a decent season but it should be a down year like it would be for the top programs. The top programs would say ok, but you better do a lot more next year. 10-4 is a rebuilding year or off year for the top guys. We used to say that and expect 10 wins each each with no more than 3 losses.

That is what my point is.

 

[zoogs]

Well, it depends on where those 9 wins are, I suppose. These past two years, we've had atypically tough nonconference schedules (by that, I mean USC) - so it's two in-conference losses, and I think we're at a level where we can expect no more than two conference losses. In that case, we do roll into the CCG. When we handle the big games better - and I think we will, as we gain experience and you saw us get closer last year - then we will go BCS bowling on a fairly regular basis. Winning a CCG is never a given thing, though. Even though it's been mostly that for the South winners the past few years.

It's a decent season...I would agree with that. I wouldn't say it's a "down year" - just an ordinary year. And that's what we would say if we had a season like that (i.e, last year) - "Okay, fine, but we can do better than this." With the level of competition nowadays, I don't think you can expect more on a yearly basis. I think we wait a few years, we'll see some good luck roll our way and we can start being extraordinary, but those runs never last too long...the top teams don't stay extraordinary for a very long time.

I see your point though. Right now, I'm just thankful we're well out of "OMG collapse" mode. Those yuck spells happen to the top teams too, and often for longer than the four years or so we experienced. We'll see what this season brings.