Don't Let Virginia Tech Beat You Twice...
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September 30, 2008 by
Missouri is the fourth ranked team in the country in the most recent AP poll. The Tigers are putting up gaudy offensive statistics. They have a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy taking the snap and playmakers all over the field. They are a tough enough test for Nebraska without letting the ghosts of a loss to Virginia Tech make it any harder. Unfortunately, Nebraska may be playing some of those ghosts this Saturday night, if recent history is any indicator. To avoid letting the loss get in their head any more, NU needs to focus on the task at hand and just keep giving their very best effort right from the opening kick.
Heartbreak and Hangovers
Losing last week sucked. I mean, the Huskers lost at home at night for only like the third time in my life. And, losing late in the game stings. And, something like that can sting for a while.
The recent Husker history has a few near misses that left a bad feeling in the hearts of both players and fans. The last time I felt so disappointed following a game was the 2006 loss to Texas. NU quite literally had that game fall through its hands after a Terrance Nunn fumble. The Huskers had a second half meltdown a week later, and lost to Oklahoma State.
Another comparable event was when Nebraska fumbled a potentially game-winning interception against Texas Tech in 2005. After fighting so hard to come back, the game ended very frustratingly. While NU beat Baylor the next week, I think the memory of that loss nicked them up emotionally pretty good.
No doubt about it, NU can not afford to have any lingering issues about Saturday's close loss.
Learn From Mistakes, Then Execute
Bo Pelini and his staff understand there is some emotional urgency with this team. Take this recent quote as evidence.
"It's our job to get them back," Pelini said. "I'm sure emotionally they're going to be a little bit down, but we'll get them back. We need to because we can't wait."If we cry about what happened the other night, we're going to lose sight of what we need to get done this Saturday. We've got a good football team coming in here."
Okay, so, how do they do that? They evaluate the mistakes made on Saturday, address them and get better. In a word - coach. If you aren't learning as a team and getting better, then you are getting worse. The trick is making those corrections with you getting in to a players' head too much.
The kids know they let a potentially winnable ball game get away last week. Rubbing their nose in it doesn't help things. I hope the coaches keep things rational and practical in fixing what could be better. Then, set their minds to the Tigers. NU can't afford to be playing two different teams on Saturday.
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Ryan Sep 30 08
Very good points and I think that is the difference between this years staff and last years. They know how to coach, instead of paying lip service to coaching players. You don't hear Bo or anyone going on about we just call the plays. They have taken the blame for the loss (as have some of the players) and moved on. I respect the staff more today than I did last Friday before the VA TECH game just because of the way that they seem to be handling things and working to right the ship instead of focusing on last weekend.
GBR
Husker Football Sep 30 08
I agree with the above poster, it does seem that this year's staff has had a much better time with the players. And so Bo went a little crazy on the sideline? So what? Bringing a little passion back into the game is what Nebraska needs.
Pancake stat!