Huskers Still Have a Long Way to Go
3 comments so far
October 4, 2008 by
The Big Red Network’s own Tom Cudd reminded us that each season gives a clue about the following season. Last year’s Husker team won three games by a big margin, won two close games, lost a close game, and lost the remaining six by a wide margin. That would suggest that the Huskers should win at least three games (done), play three close games (they’ve played one so far), and lose at least six (two losses are in the books).
The loss to Missouri isn’t necessarily unexpected, though the margin of defeat might have been. It doesn’t bode well for the game in Columbia next year, if you believe that the margin of victory one year is an indicator for the next. Most Nebraska fans have already penciled in losses to Texas Tech and Oklahoma. That leaves games against Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, and Colorado determining whether the Huskers manage a 3-9 season, an 8-4 season, or something in between.
There’s little point in rehashing the Missouri game. Nebraska clearly wasn’t in their league (and sadly, it still wasn’t clear whether Missouri is truly a top tier team yet or not). Likewise, there doesn’t seem much point in mapping a strategy for victory in Lubbock. The Red Raiders should cruise to victory a week from now.
The bigger question is whether the Huskers are emotionally tough enough to bounce back from what’s likely to be three straight losses. Iowa State may not seem like much, but they are a team gaining confidence even in defeat. The game will also be in Ames. Nebraska on the other hand will likely be a team with minimal confidence that will be looking to find itself. The ultimate test for this team will be whether they can follow a 3-3 start with a 5-1 finish or whether a three game losing streak stretches to four or five games like it did a year ago. Six wins is the mark that defines progress for this season over last season. But even if you view some of the future opponents as weak, it will still require some resiliency to make it happen. The 2007 team didn’t have that kind of resiliency, will 2008 be different?
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KeeperoftheZou Oct 04 08
"sadly it still wasn't clear whether Misouri is a top tier team". My poor dear Husker friends you have lost your faculties. Get a grip
James Moore Oct 04 08
14 penalties, busted assignments, bad tackling, bad angles, poor tackling. On top of that, we're not talking about being quite a few players away. We need to resolve ourselves to the fact that we have a very, very, very long road ahead of us. The bottom line is that our receivers can't separate, our line does not execute consistently well running the ball, and we have maybe 2-3 years before the ghosts of the Callahan era are finally purged from the psyche of the defense. . .
Moving forward, how do we get this turned around? We have a coaching staff that seems not to keen on playing people early. Oklahoma plays newcomers, Texas has and Missouri too. These are our conference opponents. How do we beat Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri for the best players in Texas and The Great Plains when besides not beating them in head-to-head matchups, we also are not willing to play newcomers early either? It just seems that over the past 3-4 years some teams in the conference have been able to get some serious weapons, why we seem starved for pop on offense. Missouri has a Maclin, Oklahoma has a Johnson, Oklahoma State has a Bryant, Texas has a McCoy & Texas Tech has a Crabtree. The tally from the past two matchups with Missouri stands at 93-16. We're not just a play here, or a penalty there from being able to close the gap. A walk-on making it to the top of the depth chart in the 1990's meant something considering he had to beat the odds of some of the deepest accumulations of talent in the United States. Maclin's touchdown tonight on their first drive showed it all, a walk-on, one-on-one, with arguably the most dangerous player in the country. . .
Whether it is popular or not, we must upgrade the talent, speed, and athleticism over the next few years. Effort and execution do mean something. Whatever character you bring off the field you will bring on to it as well. Effort and execution are THE building blocks for football, but not having enough horses under the hood is something completely different. Our line cannot hold up under a big, fast pass rush, we've had exactly one wideout who had every-down separation capabilities since 2004, can't run the ball against top 25-type teams, and all this while watching the Big 12 morph into a monster conference with 2-3 national title contenders, with another 2-3 threatening to win 9/10 games per year. To be good enough to win the conference, we've got to be good enough to win the national title. . .
Greg Oct 05 08
You have the answer to Husker woes: "Whether it is popular or not, we must upgrade the talent, speed, and athleticism over the next few years."