Nebraska
Restoring the Aura
NU season ticket holders no doubt recall the tremendous run the team had from 1991-1998 of 47 straight home games without a loss. It's no coincidence that that was also the time frame where Nebraska won three national championships. While...
Are Juco Offensive Lineman the Way to Go?
Nebraska goes into the 2010 season with a real possibility of starting two junior college offensive lineman. Ricky Henry will likely continue to start on the interior at either guard or center. Newcomer and early arrival Jermarcus Hardrick appears likely...
How 2010 Resembles 1994
When making predictions about the future, it's often helpful to look to the past for guidance. When circumstances were similar, how did things play out? Interestingly, when looking for a season in which Nebraska returned an all-conference defensive tackle and...
The Real Class of 2010
While much of the focus these past few weeks has been on the players who were new to the team this year. It makes sense. Once the season's over fans naturally focus on what's next. But the newest signees aren't...
What's the Goal for 2010?
After a season where the Huskers won 10 games, finished ranked in the top 15, and came a second short of winning the Big 12 and going to a BCS bowl, you have to think that the bar will be...
Red-Colored Glasses
Every team in Division I has reason to doubt their team's chances at a national championship. Even a team like Florida this past year with so much returning from a national championship squad came up short. But sometimes as a...
Will it be a Happy New Year for Nebraska?
Coming off a big win in the Holiday bowl and a good game for Lee, you can begin to imagine a much better year for the Husker offense in 2010. Not to mention the ten returning starters for Nebraska on...
Offseason Roster Shakeups Begin
The good news was that Nebraska landed a highly rated junior college recruit at midyear in former LSU commit Jermarcus Hardrick. While a redshirt is possible, the rumblings seem to be that they will preparing him to start in 2010....
Can the Huskers Gut it Out for Three Games?
Nebraska fans have had plenty to worry about, if they wanted this year. While the whole offense has been a concern, specifically the health of Roy Helu has been the barometer for how well the offense will perform. When Helu...
Is Nebraska on the Outside Looking In?
ESPN puts out weekly college bowl projections. Guess where they have the Huskers? Bruce Feldman has Nebraska sitting home over the holidays with Texas A&M, Colorado and Baylor. Mark Schlabach thinks Nebraska is Independence Bowl bound (and Missouri ends up...
The Sky Is Not Falling
The loss to Texas Tech was certainly deflating. If a win over Missouri was a step forward, then losing at home to Texas Tech felt like a step backward (never mind that Tech beat Nebraska in their last visit to...
Is Nebraska Back (Part 2)?
Some of our best ideas come from comments left by our loyal readers. Back in June, I pointed out that a regression to the mean in a number of statistical categories would be a good thing for Nebraska. Then caveman99...
Week Two Challenge Will Be Staying Focused
Bo Pelini seemed to have it in mind as he was asked to comment on the game against Florida Atlantic. The Huskers had "a lot to work on". Did he see the same game we did? Nebraska was dominant pretty...
2009 Nebraska versus 2000 Oklahoma
In 2000, head coach Bob Stoops was in his second year of his rebuilding job in Oklahoma. The year before, he’d gone 7-5 with a potent offense but shaky defense. Only one all-conference player returned from their 1999 squad and...
These notes could define Huskers' 2009 campaign
There's under a month left until the Husker football team takes the field for year two of the Bo Pelini experience. What's on the mind of Husker fans? It's a simple question, really. "How far can this Husker team go...
Implications of Injury Updates
Among the most meaningful components of Big 12 Media Days are the injury updates. Three in particular stand out for Nebraska. Redshirt freshman quarterback Kody Spano is apparently 100% healthy after some knee issues that caused him to miss time...
Turnovers: Has Nebraska been playing from behind the eight ball all this time?
Of all the things to go wrong during the Bill Callahan era, the one area where Nebraska was probably the worst was in getting turnovers. In fact, over the last five years no team has had a worse turnover margin...
Scare Factor Provides Reality Check
Coming off of a strong finish to the 2008 season and what appears to be a promising spring, it’s easy to get excited about the prospects for the Huskers in the 2009 season. Nevertheless, there are sure to be many...
Graduation Hits Husker Opponents Too
One of the bittersweet things about seeing the NU defense come together in the Gator Bowl was knowing that a number of the key pieces of that unit would be lost to graduation. Husker fans can be thrilled that Ndamukong...
Should Fans Blow Off Blowouts?
When Frank Solich was let go as head coach at Nebraska, it wasn’t the number of defeats that did him in, but rather the margin in those defeats. In his final season at the helm, the Huskers lost 41-24 at...
Is Nebraska the Best 3-3 Team in the Country?
Not to give away the ending too soon, but probably not. Still, the Huskers are rated no worse than second to Oregon State by Sagarin’s ratings. The Beavers beat USC and destroyed Washington State and Hawaii at home but lost...
Does Nebraska Know How to Spring an Upset?
Nobody really expected Nebraska to beat Missouri last Saturday. Nobody really expects them to even keep it close against Texas Tech this week. These are opportunity games, a chance for Nebraska not to announce that they’re “back,� but a chance...
Huskers Still Have a Long Way to Go
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...
Try Not to Be the Ugliest
If you're expecting a thing of beauty tomorrow night, you haven't seen Virginia Tech play. Their games are ugly. There's turnovers, a lot of punts, and even executing a simple kick becomes an immense challenge....
Khiry Cooper Officially A Husker
The baseball signing deadline passed, and Khiry Cooper did not sign a contract. He's officially a Husker. News out of the LA Times condensed it into such a simple paragraph: The Angels were unable to sign two of their top...
Lack of Transfers a Pleasant Surprise
It was no surprise last fall that as the 2007 season was falling apart that a number of recruits soon followed. After all, why go into a situation as volatile as things were last November when you’ve got a number...
Chaos Theory
Chaos theory tells us the flutter of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world could cause a Hurricane a thousand miles away. That is, the cumulative effect of many small tipping points can ultimately be the difference between...
Big 12 State of the Union: Nebraska
In our second annual State of the Union series, we take another look at where each Big 12 program stands and appears to be headed. A lot has changed in a year. At this time a year ago, the Huskers...
The Rosy Scenario
When politicians make forecasts for the purposes of budgeting, they often rely on the most optimistic growth scenarios for the economy, which allow them to say there will be more money coming in from taxes for spending programs and yet...
Last Home Game for Twenty Nine Seniors
Today, twenty nine seniors will walk out of the tunnel for the last time as players. This season surely hasn't turned out as anyone had hoped, but let's show our appreciation for their dedication and give them the send off...
Beating the Brand
In 2002, my friend Tony and I were sitting in Eskimo Joe's in Stillwater, Oklahoma. We were getting a lot of conciliatory pats on the back from Cowboy fans, as OSU had just beaten NU. After accepting the vague platitudes...
The Five Stages of Grief
Psychology tells us that there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. By now, most Husker fans have hit for the cycle when grieving over this 2007 season. But I can only speak for myself....
Any Darn Good?
“It’s all your fault if your any damn good� is a quote I’ve heard attributed to Ernest Hemingway. And it’s one that always made a lot of sense. You can let yourself off the hook, you can blame others, but...
Are Husker Fans Getting What They Deserve?
Korean War Major Dr. William E. Mayer, who later became the U.S. Army's chief psychiatrist, studied 1,000 American soldiers in a North Korean POW camp where all but the most negative reinforcement was ruthlessly drained from the POWs' lives. Though...
Husker Program Now at DEFCON 3
A week ago, I pointed out that the Huskers season wasn’t over after the loss to Missouri. It’s still not over, mathematically speaking. That is, if everything went right Nebraska could go 11-3 and win both the conference and a...
The Season Is Not Over
If you thought the moaning by Husker fans was loud after Wake Forest, USC, Ball State or Iowa State, this week after what happened in Missouri will leave those games in the dust. But it’s only one loss. Fans will...
McKeon: “It’s No Fun Being Outplayed by Dillard�
From time to time, the Big Red Network will publish “Onion�-style satire. We apologize in advance to anyone we may offend, it's all meant as harmless fun. We can assure you, the reader, that no animals were harmed in...
Huskers Are Comeback Kids
While the past few weeks has been spent by many Husker fans pointing out how bad things are, one overlooked fact has been the resiliency this team has shown. In all four games thus far this season, the opponent...
A Buzz in the Air
In January, there was a certain amount of satisfaction that Nebraska was finally appearing to be competitive with the better teams in the conference and around the country. However, there was also some apprehension that with the departure of NU’s...
Friday Potpourri
A lot has transpired the past week in Husker football that’s worthy of commentary. Rather than flush out each idea as an individual post, we’ll just hit these all at once:...
A ‘N’atural Alliance
Full disclosure up front - this is one of those weird random off-season thoughts. I went and bought a new pair of cross-training shoes the other day. Just as I had a couple of years ago, I settled on...
2008 Schedule is Just Right
If you haven’t heard, Nebraska’s 2008 schedule has been finalized and will look like this:...
Asante Could Emerge as Top Newcomer
Defensive tackle Shukree Barfield may be the most important addition for the Huskers in terms of replacing what they lost to graduation, but in terms of turning an area of weakness into a strength, few offer what junior college...
Marcus Mendoza Top Candidate To Be Impact Freshman
If there's one area that's consistently underachieved in the Callahan era, it's been the return game. From Santino "at least I can catch it" Panico to Cortney "God, I'm tired" Grixby, there's been little excitement in the return game....
Keller To Follow Past Transfers at Quarterback
With less than two weeks remaining until Spring football begins, it's obvious that all eyes will be on Sam Keller, the quarterback transfer from Arizona State a year ago. The Huskers have had a good history of success with...
Are Divided Loyalties OK?
As we approach March Madness (a.k.a. the most magical time of the year) many die hard Husker fans may have mixed emotions. Once again the only team from Nebraska in the tournament will be the Creighton Bluejays. It’s natural to...
Nicknaming the Newbies
Yesterday, I implied I was done with recruiting. I lied. In the latest installment of an annual tradition, here's "Nicknaming the newbies". If you recognize two references to "The Who", you must be old....
Recruiting Tidbits
I've milked the 2007 recruiting season for about every angle that could be of interest to a Husker fan. It is the offseason after all. Still there are few items of interest to Husker fans....
'Diary of a Husker' Reveals More About Author Than Program
Like many Nebraska fans, I'd imagine, I purchased David Kolowski's 'Diary of a Husker' in hopes of getting answers to "what went wrong" with the program during the Solich era. Having read Kolowski's 'Diary', I felt like I learned more...
Sagarin Predictor Ratings Say 2006 Huskers Best Team in Years
Nebraska fans had to be disappointed to see the Huskers fall out of the final rankings with a heartbreaking loss to Auburn in the Cotton Bowl. But with so many milestones achieved for the first time in years, is it...
Team of the (Next) Decade?
As happy as I am about the direction of the Nebraska football program, we have to face facts. This just hasn’t been our decade. In the 1970’s the Husker’s had the third most wins of any team and two national...
Purify Is Likely MVP for 2007
Heading into to the 2006 season, it was clear that two players were the most critical in terms of what they meant to the Cornhuskers season - Zac Taylor and Zack Bowman. Taylor was the seasoned quarterback and unquestionable...
All-Conference Implications: Is NU Back?
At BRN, we believe strongly that talent matters. And we openly espouse that "5 great players" can make for a great (conference title) team. Looking at this list, it is clear NU is getting closer to the 5-great-players ratio we...
Order Restored
Yes, the Huskers could conceivably take 3 ugly losses to end the season. But with nine wins and a division title, the Huskers can now claim to recruits and fans alike that they have restored the order of the Big...
Oh Captain, My Captain!
This weekend, NU announced the captains of its football team for the 2006-2007 season. All three are seniors. Two were fairly obvious choices- quarterback Zac Taylor, and defensive end Adam Carriker. The third - Brandon Rigoni - might surprised some...
Roster Rambling
For what it is worth, NU's new roster is out. This provides a nice resource for those who care to know more about a player's season outlook, and what number they are wearing....
Different Tune Not a Bad Thing
I was watching a rerun of Angel, the cancelled WB series about a vampire cursed with a soul seeking redemption for more than a century of evil deeds. In this episode, he teams up with a precognitive demon that...
Other Recent Stories
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- Restoring the Aura
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