SORRY post! Nebraska got plenty of RESPECT when they were in the Big 8... The program was dismantled after they joined the Big 12. The tougher than NCAA requirements and the restrictions on partials was all directed at NU and KSU by TEXAS! It worked, so now NU is rebuilding from scratch, but folks still remember the 35 years of DOMINANCE from Devaney and Osborne coached squads. Add in the fact that Solich could not recruit, and you have him being fired after going 9-3, but all three losses were BLOWOUTS to teams with better OPTION QBs that NU (VY, Ell Roberson III and Smith).
Would the Huskers get more respect??
- Thread starter godd2
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SOCALHUSKER
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junior4949
All-American
Ummmmm, one could easily argue that Vince Young and Brad Smith were better than ANY QB NU has ever had. Smith was arguably one of if not the best player ever to play D1 ball. There have only been 2 QB's in D1 history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards; and he did it as either a freshman or sophomore before Pinkel castarated him to a drop back passer. If Ell Roberson stays healthy that year, they easily could have been playing for a NC. Look at how they handled the once thought "invincible" Sooners in the Big 12 Championship game. Now, that was a blowout!
I think dismantling NU when they joined the Big 12 is a bit harsh. Yeah, they didn't allow Prop. 48 athletes anymore. However, what other dismantling things did the Big 12 do to NU? The reason NU is rebuilding from scratch stems from going from a run dominated option offense to a WCO. This was NU's own doing, not the Big 12's. Would the dominance of TO be the drummings we took at the hands of Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech, etc.? Would some of the stud option QB's like Mickey Joseph, Mike Grant, Franky London, etc. be the great recruiting ability of TO?
Face it, losing bowl games by 3 to 5 touchdowns didn't get much respect for NU. It's funny you bring up KState because they took a page from NU when scheduling D2 teams in the nonconference schedule. Playing patsies and getting thumped against top teams in bowl games didn't gain NU respect for 35 years. I believe the old joke goes something like what does NU and horsesh%$ have in common? They both stink in a bowl.
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Lack of defensive team speed was their undoing vs UW, Miami and FSU. Frazier was the best option QB that I had seen, because of leadership. Smith lacked the leadership ability of VY, Darien Hagan, Tony Rice, Jamelle Holleway and Turner Gill. I put Crouch in the catagory of great athlete with Taylor, Josephs and Grants, but not the leaders, although he nearly got it in 1999. We must also factor in that Frazier benefited from having a defense that put as much heat of the Miami, FSU and Florida QBs as they could apply to him, save he was mobile and wasn't gonna drop back 30 plus times to pass. 1997, look at what the blackshirts did to all the Tennessee NFL players? Manning, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, Peerless Price, Eric Parker, Wilson, Little... thier entire team is in the NFL. If Solich could recruit, we could still be running the same defense and offense, with more gun-runs in like the zone read. West Virginia runs the NU offense, save from the gun. If Osborne didn't hav ethe heart troubles he'd be running the zone read, belly option and iso to more Big 12 and national titles.
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junior4949
All-American
Sorry I didn't add the sarcasm. Mike Grant, Frankie London, and Mickey Joseph were terrible. Great athletes? Maybe for a small JuCo in Kansas somewhere. It's funny the guys you mentioned as most played for other teams that torched TO's Huskers and some others that would have if we'd played them.
The reason for the blowouts in the bowls was not just defensive speed it was offensive speed as well. When you have a midget like Mickey Joseph as the QB, all those good teams could put 8 in the box because there was absolutely no fear of Joseph even being able to see over anyone for a pass. It does bring up a great point though. Who was the head coach and recruiter at that time? I thought so, TO. It was poor recruiting that led to the beatings we sustained at the hands of the mentioned schools. How many running backs from the mid-80's to the early 90's made it in the pros? We didn't have a Lawrence Phillips or an Ahman back there. It took many years for TO to get the recruiting down and figure out that speed kills. We tried to wing it with slower bigger players for several years. TO was always kind of a backyard recruiter. In the championship era, Nebraska just had an abundance of talent. We had Rob and Jon Zatescka on the OLine, Scott Frost, Crouch, Ahman, Wilson Thomas, Clester Johnson, Conneally, all the great in state fullbacks, the two DE's from Auburn Nebraska. The list goes on and on.
The reason for the blowouts in the bowls was not just defensive speed it was offensive speed as well. When you have a midget like Mickey Joseph as the QB, all those good teams could put 8 in the box because there was absolutely no fear of Joseph even being able to see over anyone for a pass. It does bring up a great point though. Who was the head coach and recruiter at that time? I thought so, TO. It was poor recruiting that led to the beatings we sustained at the hands of the mentioned schools. How many running backs from the mid-80's to the early 90's made it in the pros? We didn't have a Lawrence Phillips or an Ahman back there. It took many years for TO to get the recruiting down and figure out that speed kills. We tried to wing it with slower bigger players for several years. TO was always kind of a backyard recruiter. In the championship era, Nebraska just had an abundance of talent. We had Rob and Jon Zatescka on the OLine, Scott Frost, Crouch, Ahman, Wilson Thomas, Clester Johnson, Conneally, all the great in state fullbacks, the two DE's from Auburn Nebraska. The list goes on and on.
Blackshirt316
Starter
Junior you are out of your mind if you think Brad Smith was better than any QB we ever had, Smith was a pretty good athlete but he was only great against NU, he was on par with Scott Frost, but not quite Eric Crouch and nowhere near Frasier. I won't even go back further than that because there's no need.
VY on the other hand was a monster. He was just as good as Frazier but I don't know if he was necessarily better. Tommie lost all of three games his entire career, played for four national championships, won two and was MVP of both wins... plus he had injury problems his junior and senior seasons, if he hadn't gotten the blood clots there's no telling what else he could have done... he could have been doing what VY is doing in the pros, 10 years ago.
VY on the other hand was a monster. He was just as good as Frazier but I don't know if he was necessarily better. Tommie lost all of three games his entire career, played for four national championships, won two and was MVP of both wins... plus he had injury problems his junior and senior seasons, if he hadn't gotten the blood clots there's no telling what else he could have done... he could have been doing what VY is doing in the pros, 10 years ago.
HuskerT
Starter
Agree 100% Let's not forget that this a "what have you done for me lately" world we live in. We'll get the respect we deserve when we start deserving it again.
Look at USC, They've earned their respect back, you almost forget that they were non-existant for over 20 years.
Foppa
All-American
I really could care less about the Big 10, NU can easily gather respect in their own conference without having to bow down to Northern Midwest teams, screw them. Those egocentrical *ssholes can't even play a conference game for fear they're going to expose themselves as the pansy-asses they are and get zero BCS bowl games every year. Oh wait...they have to get one? 
As much as it pisses me off that the Big 12 South is so good, it should be that much more ammo for NU to start reloading and be the dominance of the north. The south isn't afraid of anyone in the north. Nebraska has to change that.
As much as it pisses me off that the Big 12 South is so good, it should be that much more ammo for NU to start reloading and be the dominance of the north. The south isn't afraid of anyone in the north. Nebraska has to change that.huskernumerouno
All-American
Foppa, that was a great post
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
skersOVRsc
Starter
NO............... Wins are the only way we will earn it.
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SOCALHUSKER
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There are plenty of writers, reporters, whatever they call themselves that respect Nebraska football and that's because they actually watch the games and understand what it's about. ESPN on the other hand, has a bunch of whiny, a$$ kissin, money lovin, geriatrics on their payroll who force us to believe that no one respects the Huskers, because they don't. You know why?? Cuz they can't stand the fact that we've won and earned the right to say we're good and didn't have to pay someone for that right.
A year or so ago ESPN did the "Best College Football Team Ever" show and half the guys sitting on the panel hadn't seen half the games they were discussing. How can you be an expert on it when you haven't even seen a team play? I love college football so I'll watch whatever team is playing and come up with my own conclusion of whether they are great or not. I could care less if some dumbass sitting behind a desk somewhere says USC has the best team or recruiting class, just because it says so on paper or because his sponsor said to say so. When they prove it on the field that's where they earn respect. No matter what, wins bring respect and we have won and will win again.
A year or so ago ESPN did the "Best College Football Team Ever" show and half the guys sitting on the panel hadn't seen half the games they were discussing. How can you be an expert on it when you haven't even seen a team play? I love college football so I'll watch whatever team is playing and come up with my own conclusion of whether they are great or not. I could care less if some dumbass sitting behind a desk somewhere says USC has the best team or recruiting class, just because it says so on paper or because his sponsor said to say so. When they prove it on the field that's where they earn respect. No matter what, wins bring respect and we have won and will win again.
I actually like your statement, but Nebraska lives here in the Big 8/12 country. Now if Oklahoma can move to the north division, and move Colorado down to the south....that would be something. While we at it....Take Penn St. and IL to our conference and lose Baylor. We'll still be Big 12 with thirteen teams....
CoachKevin
Five-Star Recruit
Osbourn always had 1 solid Team on the OOC schedule. Their Schedule OOC was simular to many others around the country. Usualy 2 weaker Teams and 1 solid Team.
The main reason for this is Solid programs want 2 year home/away deals. The top tier programs want to get home games period. So they will make a Home/Away deal with a solid Team than have to weaker program for home game. It is pure Business.
The main reason for this is Solid programs want 2 year home/away deals. The top tier programs want to get home games period. So they will make a Home/Away deal with a solid Team than have to weaker program for home game. It is pure Business.