HUSKER UP: Texas Tech (Or: Learning to Be a Horse Again)

3 comments so far October 10, 2008 by Darren K. Carlson

Normally, I offer a HUSKER UP posts as simple, fun and kind of snarky reasons why the Huskers can get a win on Saturday. The point is to fire fans up. This week, I’m making a pretty big departure from the usual routine. Following the gutting by the Missouri Tigers and facing the #7 Texas Tech Red Raiders, it’s not the time to get lippy. Instead fans need to evaluate what success looks like for this 2008 edition of the Huskers.

The movie “Seabiscuit� is one of my all-time favorites. If you have seen it, read on. If you haven’t seen it, rent it. Then, read the rest of this.

For some reason, I find some elements of that movie especially appropriate to the current times. Maybe it is because of our potentially tumultuous financial situation are making me think of great depression-era movies. Or, more likely, it is because the story is about a talented athlete (a horse in this case) – an athlete descended from greatness, that simply can’t quite figure out how to capture that potential and truly be great. It’s a question of sports psychology, really.

Seabiscuit had the innate talent to be great. He needed to be motivated, taught and even nurtured in to turning that talent in to results. It took a jockey that loved him, a trainer that understood him, and an owner who believed in him. Consider this quote from Tom, the trainer in the movie:

"He just needs to learn how to be a horse again."

To me, that’s the 2008 Huskers in a nutshell. They need to learn to be a football team again. This is a mental hurdle more than a physical one. They have ability that needs to become execution. Like the horse in the movie, so many different people and things are in their head, they just can’t get it straight. The last four years have made football so complicated for these kids - both mentally and emotionally - that they stopped really playing it.

Seabuscuit had to get out and run. The Huskers need to get out and run … and hit. Stop thinking so hard and just do it. They need to simplify and just play football, and play it as hard as they can. Pelini has admitted that he tried to be too cute, too complex, with the game plan for Missouri. I think we’ll see something a lot simpler on Saturday. If they take a step toward learn to be a football team again.

That is the most basic form of HUSKER UP you can find. Fellas, just go play.

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