zoogs
Assistant Coach
This is a tale of contrasts.
The entire Nebraska program was obviously still stewing over that '09 CCG loss to Texas for a while. The PR department released this entire "Beat Texas" campaign. Everyone had the date circled on their calendars in red. Revenge was the name of the game, and boy did the team want it bad.
The result is by now a familiar, but unfortunate memory. Nebraska came out swinging, and with a solid gameplan. The Husker offense rolled out route patterns that had been kept under wraps til then, something the Longhorns weren't prepared for. The Longhorns found themselves more than once with their pants down, as a result.
But the Huskers were nervous. They were too wired up for the game, trying so hard to execute that the result was a bumbling mess of sloppiness. Mistake built on mistake. Dropped passes - several TDs were flat-out squandered - sent the passing game into a hole. Texas leveraged that into a successful day against a young, one-dimensional QB with way too much weight on his shoulders.
The entire day, tension permeated the atmosphere on the Husker sidelines. Even as the Huskers were driving back into the game, there was no rallying effort from the coaches. Instead, they appeared disgusted, impatient, in disbelief of what was happening. I'll remember that comeback effort for Lee keeping his head up and giving encouragement to his troops even after a dropped easy TD, set against Bo's scowl on the sidelines as he told the offense to just hurry the hell up.
Fast forward to 2012, and there's no talk of revenge this time. Everyone obviously wants to win the game, but coaches and players both seem to be talking Bo's "one game at a time" walk much better this time 'round. Reports out of practice seem to suggest a loose, relaxed atmosphere.
That's good. In 2010, the Huskers were wound too tight. They need to remain loose to play. Make no mistake that this game is a big one, a proving ground, one where we'll need to get some payback. That's well and good for the fans - but the team needs to be purely focused on doing what they do, instead of 'payback' or 'Oh my GOSH this game is so so so important everything is riding on this day.'
In short, that October afternoon in 2010 was all about Texas. Too much so. This year's early-season conference tone-setting brawl is all about Nebraska.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is...Nebraska 49, Wisconsin 10. Drink that Kool-aid, baby!
Ok, I'm sorta kidding. But I at least think we'll win. And I think it has a good chance of being pretty convincing.
The entire Nebraska program was obviously still stewing over that '09 CCG loss to Texas for a while. The PR department released this entire "Beat Texas" campaign. Everyone had the date circled on their calendars in red. Revenge was the name of the game, and boy did the team want it bad.
The result is by now a familiar, but unfortunate memory. Nebraska came out swinging, and with a solid gameplan. The Husker offense rolled out route patterns that had been kept under wraps til then, something the Longhorns weren't prepared for. The Longhorns found themselves more than once with their pants down, as a result.
But the Huskers were nervous. They were too wired up for the game, trying so hard to execute that the result was a bumbling mess of sloppiness. Mistake built on mistake. Dropped passes - several TDs were flat-out squandered - sent the passing game into a hole. Texas leveraged that into a successful day against a young, one-dimensional QB with way too much weight on his shoulders.
The entire day, tension permeated the atmosphere on the Husker sidelines. Even as the Huskers were driving back into the game, there was no rallying effort from the coaches. Instead, they appeared disgusted, impatient, in disbelief of what was happening. I'll remember that comeback effort for Lee keeping his head up and giving encouragement to his troops even after a dropped easy TD, set against Bo's scowl on the sidelines as he told the offense to just hurry the hell up.
Fast forward to 2012, and there's no talk of revenge this time. Everyone obviously wants to win the game, but coaches and players both seem to be talking Bo's "one game at a time" walk much better this time 'round. Reports out of practice seem to suggest a loose, relaxed atmosphere.
That's good. In 2010, the Huskers were wound too tight. They need to remain loose to play. Make no mistake that this game is a big one, a proving ground, one where we'll need to get some payback. That's well and good for the fans - but the team needs to be purely focused on doing what they do, instead of 'payback' or 'Oh my GOSH this game is so so so important everything is riding on this day.'
In short, that October afternoon in 2010 was all about Texas. Too much so. This year's early-season conference tone-setting brawl is all about Nebraska.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is...Nebraska 49, Wisconsin 10. Drink that Kool-aid, baby!
Ok, I'm sorta kidding. But I at least think we'll win. And I think it has a good chance of being pretty convincing.
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