Here we go again
by jdhusker on Sep 13, 2011 6:46 AM PDT
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PrintHowdy folks! I have to say its good to be back here (again!) as this has been hands down my favorite opposing blog to hang around in the week running up to the game. I know both Gekko and John have picks to make, so I thought I'd give you all a Nebraska-eye view of the 2011 Cornhuskers.
Defense: Bo Pelini and various media analysts (including Big Ten people who've visited practices) have touted this defense as his deepest and most athletic defense yet....we haven't seen it yet. Undoubtedly a large part of it is the absence of our top CB Alfonzo Dennard (pre-season All American). The secondary got nicked up pretty badly by Fresno's Carr, although there's no question the kid has an NFL level arm just like his brother. The real concern again is the interior of the defensive line which was supposed to be the strong point of the defense. They played absolutely horrible against Fresno. The front four accounted for 4 tackles while our two linebackers and the nickle back accounted for 41. No, that's not a typo. The Fresno back gained around 160 yards and seemed to gain steam as the Blackshirts wore down.
Yes, there's some good news for Husker fans: Dennard is expected to return for UW. Additionally (this may be a bit of homeristic optimism), but Bo Pelini wasn't happy with the defense on Saturday and in his 43 games here I still haven't seen him unhappy about 2 in a row. In other words, I expect the Blackshirts to play much better on Saturday. The talent to shut down anybody is clearly there, the issue is putting together all the moving pieces.
The good news for Husky fans is that (based on what I saw in UW's game against Hawaii) UW's attack might look alot what Fresno used to great effectiveness (rolling out the qb to avoid pressure, power running up the middle). NU's defense has its work cut out this week but for the most part I'm confident they'll answer the bell like usual.
Offense: Over the offseason OC Shawn Watson was nudged out the door. Enter Tim Beck. Beck installed a new offense and the best way I can describe it even though I despise the cliche: multiple. In two games we've seen triple option, power option, speed option, zone read option, pistol, air it out spread, power running in the I formation. Oh and its all no-huddle.
General thoughts:
Passing game: Taylor Martinez is still not a great passer, but he is better...sort of. His throwing motion is really weird, almost like a shot putter, and that motion has consequences, namely his intermediate passing game is very hit or miss. The good news is that he's become pretty consistent in the <10 yard passing game and he showed really great touch on the long ball. The latter is very important moving forward because both Fresno and Chattanooga stacked 9 guys in the box to try to take away the running game. While we didn't try any long balls on UTC due to Beck's desire to treat the game more like a practice, we hit 5 or 6 25+ yarders on Fresno, a couple of which were closer to 50. We've got some great young talent at receiver, which is good because our (supposed) leading returning receiver has more drops than catches, by far.
Running game: A tale of two running games here. Our inside game has been almost non-existant. We have nearly a brand new line and they couldn't get a push or open holes against Chattanooga. Out of nowhere we managed to ice the Fresno game with 6 straight gutty runs by Rex Burkhead for around 40 yards when they knew what we were going to do of all times, so I think the talent is there on the line, it's a matter of it all coming together and it just happened to on that one possession in the 4th quarter.
The perimeter rushing game has been nothing short of lethal. Three option plays against Fresno went for close to 100 yards. The blocking has been quite good here. If the offensive line could get its act together, we'd be looking at a pretty fearsome running attack, which again sets up the long ball.
The No Huddle: Eh. This got fans really excited in the off season, but so far they haven't gone fast enough to knock opposing defenses off their game (although they insist they can go a lot faster if they want...we'll see). So while I'm not seeing much direct benefit from it, it without a doubt, contributed to the exhaustion of the Blackshirts on display (38-22 TOP advantage for Fresno) at the end of the game.
Special teams: Out: Alex Henery. In: Brett Maher. Ok, yeah it's not quite the same, but Maher has been a pleasant surprise so far. He's 4 for 4 on field goals, his long is 50 (into a 15mph wind and it would've gone from 55). 10/10 on PAT's. He's also averaging around 50 yards a punt. Time will tell on consistency but he probably has a slightly bigger leg than Henery.
Kick coverage has been decent with the exception of a punt return for a touchdown by Fresno last week. That could be a sign of trouble, although no one else has come even close, so it could just be a fluky thing.
Nebraska is poised to have its best year in a long, long time in kick returning. Freshman Ameer Abdullah took a kickoff back for a touchdown last week (despite cramping up at the 50) and could easily have a couple more already. He's electric. Tim Marlowe does punt returns, likely sacrificing mobility for surehandedness.
Prediction: If I learned anything from our two games last year, it's that these two teams are bound and determined to embarrass anyone who tries to guess how this is going to come out. To me Nebraska being a 17 point favorite is too high by about 10 points, but there's no way in hell I'd put money behind that statement by taking UW and the points. This series has just been too unpredictable.
What I will say is that I think the Blackshirts will play well and make both yards and points difficult to come by for UW. I see Washington's final score somewhere in between 10 and 20. Nebraska's? Well I don't think you'll shut us out. Apart from that, good luck. Last year's NU scores were 56 and 7, so yeah, I'm not touching this one.
Looking forward to a fun week guys. Post any questions or comments below. I'll see you all around.
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thanks jd
I was pretty surprised to see the point spread on this one. No offense to the Huskers, but 17.5 just seems too high. That said, as you point out the first two games provide a significant delta on results, so who knows?
The thing that gives me some optimism is we have the big bodies in the middle of the DL to force Nebraska to run outside. Can we keep contain on the outside to prevent those big option plays? That’s a good question. Our young OLB’s will have to step up and play big-boy football.
I think our defense will enjoy the change of pace and not having to defend a spread passing offense while short on healthy corners.
The other thing that gives me some optimism is Chris Polk – if Nebraska has had a vulnerability on defense under Pelini, it’s been against a good rushing attack. If our line can once again open some holes for Polk as we did in San Diego, that will take a lot of pressure off of Price to have to make big plays.
Should be fun. Given the wild disparity between the two games last year, I’m with you in that I could see this game going any number of ways. One thing I think we know – there shouldn’t be any excuse on the Nebraska side to take this game lightly…
Thanks for the writeup.
Really looking forward to our bimonthly (it seems) meeting with the ’Huskers.
I echo a lot of what kirkd said, particularly about the strength of Ta’amu on the interior of the d-line. The problem is finding somebody that can line up next to him and make some noise.
The young outside linebackers (a true soph and true freshman) are both fast, but small and obviously inexperienced. Even if the Dawgs manage to clog the middle of the field and force Martinez et al outside in the run game, I’m concerned that those guys are going to be real susceptible to cutbacks and misdirection.
I can’t believe I’m actually going to write this (given the UW’s pass defense so far), but I sincerely hope that Nebraska tries to be “balanced” and throw the ball instead of being content on the ground. Martinez through the air worries me much less than Martinez on the ground.
Even in the first game last season, Polk was able to move the ball on the ground. It just got out of hand too quickly to use him much. You saw what he can do in San Diego. I’d expect quite a bit of that again. The other thing the Dawgs have this season (that I thought they’d have last season prior to Kavario Middleton’s dismissal) is a tight end that is a legit receiving threat, and can really stretch a defense down the middle. He’s only a true freshman, but he’s pretty close to proving himself legit already.
The biggest concern for me on offense is that I’m a little nervous that the style of Nebraska’s secondary is in the UW receivers’ heads a little. They were completely dominated for 8 quarters last year. It was maybe the biggest unit mismatch we saw all season. The players for Nebraska might have different names, but they’ll still be wearing the white helmets with the red “N” on them, and will be looking to play the same way.
UW’s kickers are both solid. Special teams in general are better all the way around, but I really don’t see them being too much of a factor. I think the line is about right. Nebraska is 10 or 11 points better, and Memorial is probably a bigger home field advantage than most teams have.
Looking forward to it, as these two teams might not meet again for a while.
I sincerely hope that Nebraska tries to be "balanced" and throw the ball instead of being content on the ground
NU was as balanced as balanced could be on Saturday, rushing for 219 and passing for 219.
I’m glad someone’s looking forward to this. I’ve been dreading it since last September (I’m already a nervous wreck).
Thanks for the great write-up, JD. It’s nice to see you.
10-21 with two picks, 219 yards.
160 of those yards came on 4 plays. That means 17 plays went for 60 yards and 2 turnovers. It goes without saying that preventing big plays is a must…
I think it was Bear Bryant that said, “When you pass, three things can happen, and two of them are bad.” If the Dawgs can force Nebraska to have to pass, it bodes well.
Point taken,
but saying we need to stop those plays and stopping them are two different things. There are happy Blackshirts in my mind’s endzone, taunting me with their “[redacted] you, Bugs” dance, and no one’s calling excessive celebration. This is not relevant to my interests.
No doubt we're a run-first team
In a way, we’re a bit like older Nebraska teams that would run, run, run, run, and then toss a bomb deep. The Fresno game fairly well convinced me that Martinez can complete the deep ball with decent regularity, so that’s certainly a weapon, but I agree with you that if UW can force Nebraska to move the ball through the air, they’ll be in much better shape than if Nebraska gets its running game going.
I will say the stats are a bit deceiving. He was victimized by 3 or 4 drops, mostly by Brandon Kinnie. Overall he got off to about a 1/7 start. His second half was quite good all around. Also one of his interceptions was a hail mary on the last play of the first half.
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
Turnover margin
Is going to decide this game. UW has been much better at forcing TO’s in our first 2 games than we have been in a long time. On the flip side, I’m nervous about having Price’s 4th start be against the Blackshirts. His reads are going to have to be quick since he doesn’t have the best arm strength. Hopefully we will be able to stick to the ground for the most part and create off of play-action.
physical coverage
What worries me is this is the first time Price is going to see his WR’s playing against extremely physical corners who will do all they can to re-direct and throw off the timing of the pass routes. When his guys aren’t making their cuts when he expects, and at a different point on the field than he expects, will he panic?
To me, a big key is Price’s knee – will he be able to scramble and buy time, or will his knee limit his mobility? Hopefully we can control the line of scrimmage enough to where we don’t have to lean on the passing game in order to score, but I’m sure Nebraska will focus on trying to control Polk & force us to pass.
Yup
To his credit, I don’t think I have ever seen Keith really panic, even in Eugene during his first start. He is deceptively elusive (as you mentioned, when healthy) and that could definitely factor in. I am more curious to see how our green TEs (and Kasen Williams as well) deal with the physicality that Nebraska will certainly bring.
Physical coverage in regards to our receivers
Price can make the adjustments and quick reads, but the WRs need to do their thing first. Kearse is well known for not handling press coverage well most of the time. I see our TEs and slot guys being a huge key in order for us to win this one.
Duck hunting season has officially begun.
by S_o_Smith on Sep 14, 2011 2:30 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
And I want to see ASJ running out of the slot
TEs as WRs (cough pats on Monday cough); whether moving out in motion or lining up there to start. Mismatch nightmare.
Duck hunting season has officially begun.
by S_o_Smith on Sep 14, 2011 2:34 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
ASJ has done a lot of that already
Given that ASJ was basically a big WR in H.S., he’s used to it, and Sark has split him wide multiple times. I expect we’ll see more of that in this one.
anyone nicknamed "T-Magic" /bling /bling
… is welcomed on the football field with my team any day. Please tell Magic to not forget his pom poms and lip gloss. Would hate for him to not look his best.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
by Gekko Mojo on Sep 12, 2011 8:48 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
nice write up
i would have guessed about a 10 or 11 point spread for the rubbermatch. getting sick of you guys, but i’d be happy to meet again for new years in pasadena
Pasadena
Wouldn’t that be funny!!
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
Almost as funny as the time ...
… that I was locked up in the drunk tank and the only other person in there was my ex-wife.
Almost.
She hadn’t taken her meds for days and tequila is not her friend.
by Bugs Dodger on Sep 13, 2011 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions
I thought Tequila was a med?
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
To sum it up
Our offense has more playmakers this year but a very young offensive line. Our defense should be awesome but hasn’t been so far.
The best thing to come out of that Holiday bowl was that Pelini ran out of excuses for Shawn Watson (our old OC) and got rid of him. Thank you :)
Billgrip - nice to see you ...
… and nice to not see Shawn Watson any longer.
I’ll be interested in seeing your no huddle. We are pretty experienced handling it what with our annual confrontations with WSU and Oregon. My guess is you’ll run it somewhere in between that spectrum of effectiveness.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
Great to be back!
I know I said in a comment on this site before the Holiday bowl that IF you guys won (although I didn’t think that would happen) that the good thing that would come from it was that Watson would probably be gone. Sure enough, you guys won and Pelini said bye bye to Wats.
As far as the no-huddle goes, I hope that’s something that our coaches realize this week…the fact that you guys play Oregon and we are nowhere close to as effective as they are with it. We are still learning it though, so maybe someday we’ll get there…but for now we’ve got a long ways to go.
I think so far this season our no-huddle has actually hurt us more than it’s helped because it wears out our defense. Three and outs are killer. This offense is very foreign to Husker fans, not necessarily the plays, but just the quickness of it. I think deep down Husker fans will always prefer the long clock consuming drives where we jam it down the opponents throat play after play. Unfortunately, with our young O-line this season that isn’t likely to happen even if we wanted it to. It definitely has potential to be a great offense, and it’s already proven to be very capable if executed properly.
If our defense plays even half as bad as last week, I think you guys have a great shot at winning a close one. But this year’s defense really has potential to be the best in the country, and if they get Dennard back and play at the level they are capable of…I think Nebraska wins by 10-14 points. In my college pick em’ league I picked Washington to at least beat the spread because 17.5 points is definitely too big.
So what are the strengths/weaknesses of your team and how do you think will those match-up against Nebraska this week?
On paper our strengths are
D-Line, RB and WR. Chris Polk is back to YAC all over the country, and so far has back to back 100 yard games. The D-line looked really shabby week one, managing only one sack against an FCS (albeit the best FCS) O-Line. The WR corps has the talent to be among the nations elite. The dropsies have plagued them for the past couple of years, including week one. Last week, all three units looked pretty strong. Our O-line is young and just coming together and the same can be said for our LB coprs who will need to play big boy ball this week.
Our weaknesses aren’t really glaring besides LB. Both starters outside are rookies, and hybrid “Rush End” Josh Shirley hasn’t lived up to his hype (although 2 incomplete games is a little early to make that claim). We lack a bit of punch at LE, with solid yet unspectacular Talia Chriton being challenged by RS Frosh Andrew Hudson. Getting Richardson back really helps bolster our secondary, both in leadership and talent. Other than that, it’s a matter of consistency, which we desperately need to find before Saturday.
Other than that, it’s a matter of consistency, which we desperately need to find before Saturday.
If you find some of that fabled “consistency” please let us know where and how you got it, because we could desperately use some as well :) It will be interesting to see if we can run up the middle on your young LBs…but we’ve gotta bet past your d-line first.
I Like Husker Fans!
This has been a two edged sword all around!
BTW, really good D-Line play is key for us. We are screwed if we have to rely on new OLB’s & secondary to stop the run.
Flip side is that if O-Line and Polk get some push, helped by TE/RB short passes it could be a long day for Blackshirts.
by HuskyInExile on Sep 17, 2011 12:02 AM PDT up reply actions
my view on Washington
Passing game = moderate strength – Price has an average to below average arm, but he’s accurate and has made reasonably good decisions so far; he has a ton of weapons to throw to, with the biggest (literally) being the addition of a viable TE threat this year in the form of true frosh Austin Seferian-Jenkins and redshirt frosh Mike Hartvigson
Running game = strength – You remember Chris Polk quite well I’m sure; after a minor arthroscopic procedure on his knee 4 weeks ago, he looks just about 100%; the blocking in front of him is OK, but with the potential to get a lot better as the 2nd year guys (Porter, Kohler, Tanigawa) continue to develop
Special teams = moderate strength – K Eric Folk is pretty accurate and has displayed better leg strength so far this year; we have 2 viable punters, both of whom averaged well over 40 yards last year; our kickoff return game has been fairly good so far; we have a true frosh stud in Kasen Williams returning punts who hasn’t done much yet, but has terrific potential; our kickoff coverage has been OK, and our punt coverage pretty good
Run defense = moderate strength – We’ve faced 2 pass-heavy teams so far this year, so it’s hard to really know how good we are against the run (we’ll find out this Saturday) but the pieces are there for this unit to be decent against the run; you remember NT Alameda Ta’amu I’m sure – he’s back, though he’s been somewhat hobbled by a broken hand; the big question is who lines up next to him – so far this season it’s been tweener Everrette Thompson, but I wonder if we might see some bigger bodies in redshirt frosh Lawrence Lagafuaina and true frosh Danny Shelton (a mountain of a man already) with Thompson sliding out to one end; our OLB’s are both first time starters and very young, so I expect Nebraska to test them heavily on option plays to the outside – this is where the Huskies may be highly vulnerable
Pass defense = weakness – While our pass defense isn’t quite as bad as the yardage numbers would suggest (we’re 72nd in the country in pass-efficiency defense), the health and qualify of our CB depth is somewhat lacking which has hurt, as has the youth at OLB, manifested in poor zone drops; as well, our pass rush has been OK but not good so far; we have high hopes for true soph Hauoli Jamora and redshirt frosh Josh Shirley rushing from the ends, but we need better results
by kirkd on Sep 13, 2011 10:55 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
In other words,
We are a better not great program who will win and lose our fair shares of snaps. Our biggest weakness (pass defense) happens to match a non-strength for you while our second weakness (pass blocking) matches what ought to be a strength for you.
Who knows? I wouldn’t touch a bet on this game. The familiarity factor alone makes it to unpredictable.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
by Gekko Mojo on Sep 13, 2011 6:29 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Agreed
I wouldn’t bet on this game either. The familiarity factor will be big, but at the same time both sides seem to have a lot of new faces.
As far as Chris Polk goes…are you sure he can’t be injured for one more week? Haha, I’m kidding of course but man he gashed us bad in the Holiday Bowl. After what Fresno State did to us last week, there’s really nothing to make me believe we’ll be able to stop Chris Polk this week.
In regards to our passing game, I think it is an obvious weakness that people point to right away…but Taylor Martinez is a better passer than people give him credit for; well, he can be a better passer that is. There were some games last year where the kid couldn’t miss. If he gets in a rhythm and the receivers don’t catch the dropsies, this passing game can burn you because most likely your defense will be set up to stop the run. He has a 49% completion rate so far this year, which is very underwhelming to say the least…but I swear about a fifth of his imcompletions are dropped balls by Brandon Kinnie, and if he keeps dropping passes he will be out of the line-up pretty soon because there are some pretty talented, hungry freshman right behind him (Jamal Turner, Kenny Bell, and a couple others) Also, our first game was more like a glorified scrimmage and our OC admitted he was just calling some plays to see how his team would execute, not to put them in the best situation to succeed. Against Fresno State, Martinez hit some great deep passes in the second half when he needed to and when our new OC was finally seeming to open the playbook a bit.
It's still a weakness
But I’m just saying it’s maybe not as big of one as people think. This year’s offense seems to be designed around him…where as last year they tried to just plug him in to an already incompetent one and it worked…for a while. Instead of trying to make him be Peyton Manning, the coaches just let him be Taylor Martinez. That means that if he’s throwing the ball it will likely be a lot of quick passes. Watch some of this highlight from his senior year state championship team at Corona Centennial High School in California. It looks very similar to what our offense has looked like this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnVTjVB_XsQ
There’s lots of quick passes to speedy, talented receivers, and then they make plays happen by making people miss. We actually have speedy talented receivers this year, yay! (He also makes a lot of throws he can’t get away with in college, but let’s pretend he doesn’t make those throws anymore…oh wait he does. Crap.)
Well, yeah...
…and maybe our pass defense isn’t as bad as the stats considering no team in the land has had more passes thrown against it and that we were missing guys in game 1 that are in there now. It’s always relative.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
by Gekko Mojo on Sep 14, 2011 6:15 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I'm sure it is
I really hope that the Huskers look beyond the stats when gameplanning this week and don’t just think they’ll be able to throw it all over you guys, because I doubt we can. Being balanced would be a good thing.
The rubbermatch
No Jake tho….
The Dawgs are too young to win this one on the road, sad to say.
Learn JiuJitsu.
Jimmy McNulty wannabe.
You are probably right
The only way we win this game is with strong defense, which we can accomplish against a running team.
I think the game comes down to Tim Beck vs. Nick Holt. Anybody want to get who I’d pick in this one?
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
ooh low blow
But only because its so true. :(
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
I'm not sure if that holds up seeing as how ...
… the Huskies are 58-40-5 with the Ugly Ducklings and the Huskers are 4-10 against Texas. And can it be true the only win against Texas in Lincoln was 1933? Can that really be right?
Teasing aside, Texas uniforms are pretty damn ugly, but, damn, dude, Oregon uniforms? We wouldn’t want to put the Huskers through that. Ours is a friendly rivalry. ;)
Yeah we freaking hate Texas
I think it’s just because Texas pretty much represents the end of us beating the crap out of everyone…but our fans wouldn’t want to admit that. But on the surface we mostly just hate them because of their arrogance and their greed, and of course just the general douchebaggery of their fan base. “We’re Texas ya’ll, so we’re the best thing since Grits…right up there with Jesus.” Then there was that :01 thing… now I’m getting upset. I better change the subject before I’m tempted to go beat a longhorn to death with a corn-stock.
Are there any teams you guys hate as much as we hate Texas? I thought you guys hate Oregon? I had no idea you had a winning record against them all time…and by 18 games, that’s pretty impressive. But haven’t you had trouble with them lately?
Huskies owned Oregon until recently
It’s only been since the UW program collapsed under Gilbertson and Willingham that Oregon has gotten on a long streak against us. Before 1994, Husky fans just assumed a win against Oregon because that was damn near always the case when Don James was coach.
Then the Oregon miracle Rose Bowl year happened, Phil Knight suddenly took an interest in football and the Ducks were finally able to build up a pretty good program. That’s when the rivalry became heated on both sides (before then it was just Ducks hating Huskies and Huskies barely being aware the Ducks existed) because the series was competitive.
Then Gilby and Ty happened and now we’re riding a 7-game losing streak to the Zeros. One of the best things Sark could do to earn legend status here is to turn that “rivalry” back around to how it used to be under DJ.
Actually . . .
Gilby beat Oregon 42-14. I’m pretty sure he was 1-1 against Oregon.
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
sure
But the decline fully manifested itself in 2004 under Gilby, and that’s when the current losing streak started. I know some will try to absolve him and talk about how the decline started under Neuheisel – and that may be true – but as much as I love Gilby as an OL coach and really liked him as an OC, he wasn’t a good HC, and not only did he not stop the decline started under Neuheisel, I contend he accelerated it.
We've had this conversation before
Gilby was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t believe in the “no win scenario”, but this was about as close as you can come.
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
at best...
…Gilby didn’t reverse the downward spiral. At worst, he accelerated it. He wasn’t in a good position, that’s true, but it doesn’t mean he didn’t make things worse. It’s not like he proved to be a good head coach at Cal either.
I'm not saying he was a good Head Coach.
But I definitely don’t think he “accelerated” the process. I’d put more blame on Neuheisel’s recruits who were to lazy to work out and didn’t like Gilby’s blue collar style.
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
Oregon's rise is recent and winning is still weird for them.
And that’s why they hate us so much. We owned them for a very, very, very long time. Most guys here hate them because they don’t know how to handle their newfound success. They’ve owned us for a decade or so, but we owned them for a very long time. Think about how everyone in the Big-12 reacted to being able to (pardon me) finally beat the Huskers — and good — during the Callahan era. Instead of the Huskers slipping, the Ducks have risen, and they don’t know how to win well and be good sports about it. And the Ducks always saw us as their rival, but we never saw them as ours (think Buffs). We never took them seriously, so they have had a quite the field day with our decline and their rise.
I didn’t mean to rub it in about Texas, and I apologize if I was out of line. I hate them, too.
Makes sense
Haha, don’t worry about Texas! Your comment wasn’t out of line at all, and I totally read it as just joking. But it’s true, Texas owned us in the Big 12 era, but a lot of that is due to us having some down years and them having their best decade ever.
Great analogies regarding the Big 12. It was really interesting, especially with Big 12 north teams during the Callahan years. Whenever Missouri beat us they acted like they had won the superbowl. Colorado made it clear that the only game they actually cared about was the one with Nebraska. They even beat the living daylights out of us in 2001 when we were undefeated, but even then they were always just another school in the Big 12 north to us, and our true rival was always Oklahoma and the Buffs couldn’t stand it.
Interesting to hear about your rivalry with Oregon and how it can compare somewhat to our rivalry with Colorado. It also sounds like Oregon fans and Texas fans have something in common…they don’t recognize the past. Sure, we never owned Texas like you guys owned Oregon, but when the Big 12 got going and Texas was having a great decade, they just acted like it had been that way all along…that they had always been the best team in college football, that they had always been a better program than Nebraska…that our 3 national championships in the 1990’s weren’t worth anything. To this day they still act like anyone who is in a conference with them is lucky and should put up with their crap willingly. Fact is, it’s a great university with a great football team, but they only have 1 national championship in 40 years. They seem to think they have 39 national championships in 40 years, with their 5-7 mishap last season being the first time things haven’t gone right…but that was all Garret Gilbert’s fault and he’s not QB anymore, so it’s okay.
Haha, WOW I didn’t think I would go on this much about Texas. There’s even more I could write but at this point I doubt anyone is reading, lol
One last thing on Colorado
Technically they decided they were our rival sometime in the late 1980’s I think. They beat us a few times in the early 90’s but it probably wasn’t until the Big 12 era when Nebraska fans almost started to care that Colorado was serious about football. (note the well-timed placement of the word almost)
Us being down, them having their best decade ever....
and them having the best freaking luck ever!
1996: 27-37*
1998: 16-20*
1999: 20-24*
1999: 22-6*
2002: 24-27*
2003: 7-31
2006: 20-22*
2007: 25-28*
2009: 12-13*
2010: 13-20
- = NU lead in 4th quarter. The close losses ranged from garden variety close loss to unthinkable gut wrenching tragedy (1999, 2006, and 2009 hurt worst for me).
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
Almost all those games were close
That’s probably the worst part. We went 1-9 against them in the Big 12 but it could have very easily been the other way around! They got sooooo lucky too many times.
It seriously is the real life equivalent of Charlie Brown trying to kick the football and Lucy pulling it away at the last second. And it’s so frustrating that you’re so close every time that you just want to go back for more. I hope we get them in a bowl game someday very soon.
Lol
Sorry Husky fans for starting to turn this thread into a “Reasons Nebraska hates Texas” thread. I’m sure you’re not interested. We can have this conversation over at Corn Nation anytime you guys are interested :)
Yeah
Probably should change the subject, just thinking about some of those losses (BUCKHALTER FUMBLES AT THE UT 1….Terrence Nunn fumbles moments after icing the game…….ONE MORE SECOND) feels like a kick in the nuts. Worse maybe.
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
I went to graduate school at UNL ...
… from 2002-2007, so, unfortunately, I have a pretty good recollection of the Callahan years. Coincidentally, my (then) wife and I went to LSU from Lincoln; Pellini was in Lincoln interviewing at the same time that I was defending my dissertation, so I was, in terms of football, a student at UNL at the worst possible time. I also have Missouri Tigers in the family and Sooner in-laws, so their reactions to the program’s dark days — by which I mean their taunting of me — were educational. But I respect the rivalry with the Sooners a lot. I enjoy Oklahoma and the Okies. I hope they find a good home.
From Baton Rouge we went to CU. Most Buffs I met were very confused. Take this guy I met last spring: he thought that they had won far more championships than they have (but, hey, if they can’t tell four downs from five, how we expect them to count anything?). He is way too busy to go to Buff games at Folsom (Phish shows or something), but he will be going to NU-tOSU to root against the Huskers. That’s just messed up. He’s not a football fan; he’s just a hater. I’m not saying all Buffs are like him, but I met a lot who were.
To my mind, UW’s rival (beyond the Cougars) has always been USC. I had always hated the Trojans because they were the team to beat, historically, in the Pac. During the 2006 Rose Bowl, I was a student at NU, in the Big 12, which Texas represented, and Texas was playing my nemesis, USC. Most guys on this board hate the Ducks, but the Ducks are nothing to me. I think no more of them than I will the BM that I will flush down the toilet tomorrow. The Trojans are the team with more Rose Bowl appearances than ours. They’re the rival I grew up hating. And I wanted Texas to beat them. This was big for me. I can’t root for the Big Ten in a Rose Bowl. That’s wrong. But this was a messed up BCS Rose Bowl, and I was now a Big 12 guy, too. I could root against USC in a Rose Bowl and not go to Hell. How cool was that?
That game changed my life. There was no moment. It just slowly dawned on me as the game unfolded that USC might be my rival, but they were the Pac-10 champs, and they represented the best of my home conference. I’d been away from home for a while. That had something to do with it, sure. But, obviously, if the Huskers had been playing, I wouldn’t have rooted for USC. And I surely would have pulled for the Sooners, too. What I slowly came to realize was that as much as I resented USC, I hate Texas. It’s exactly what you said above. USC may be arrogant, but they’ve earned it. Texas is all hat and no cattle. Rooting for them just made me feel sick inside, like I’d eaten a pony that had been dead for a week and left to rot on the streets of Lubbock.
I know Texas would bring a lot of money and a lot of televisions to the Pac, but I don’t want it. Look what they did to the Big 8. I would call down a curse upon them but it is obvious that someone far more powerful has called down a curse upon the rest of us, and that curse is Texas.
And now I have gone on for too long. But Good Grog. This Washington-Nebraska thing has gone on too long.The Huskies and Huskers are 4-4-1. I wish we could just make it 4-4-2.
Go Huskies. Go Big Red.
Down with Texas.
by Bugs Dodger on Sep 13, 2011 11:48 PM PDT up reply actions
Great post
I especially enjoyed the analogy about the dead pony that had been dead for a week, lol
Yeah, the best thing would be for Texas to go independent. No one really wants that curse of a school upon them…they’ve destroyed two conferences and counting. I’ve never like USC much either, not for any particular reason…but man was that program good for a long time. They’ve definitely had some trouble with you guys lately though, and I’m sure your fan base is enjoying that as much as ours would if we ever managed to beat Texas.
Obviously I’m a Nebraska fan through and through…but now that I understand Washington a lot better and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know some of your fans over the past two seasons…I might just have to adopt Washington as my favorite team from the Pac 12, after this week of course :) I hope the buffs get trampled every year (pun intended). I still think they should have gone to the Mountain West…they could have competed there.
Meh,if Texas goes
to the pac,i wouldn’t worry too much,mainly because of two things. 1 Texas and Mack Brown are probably the most over-rated under-achieving team in the nation,basically having the top recruiting class forever and having not a lot to show for it. and # 2 your commissioner isn’t named Dan Beebe. He is easily the weakest texas fanboy ever. Your commissioner wouldn’t let Texas run roughshod over the conference like Beebe did the big 12
He was slamming the West Coast during last years free for all
but he’s from Walla Walla, WA. Goofy bastard is a traitor to his own region.
UT is a Bully
Texas took advantage of money to treat it’s conference cousins we don’t put up with that out West, and neither does the Big Ten.
You’ve made a good move.
It will be interesting to see if UT truies to go it alone as an indpendent after all the desireable Big 12 schools jump . . .
by HuskyInExile on Sep 17, 2011 12:14 AM PDT up reply actions
Bugs summarized Oregon UW history as well as I've ever seen...
… And he avoided any reference to Kenny Wheaton (thankfully)
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
by Gekko Mojo on Sep 14, 2011 6:17 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I wouldn't count on Big 10 officials being any better about Pass Interference calls either.
I remember Nebraska being pretty handsy last year, blow out or no blow out. Wouldn’t expect much to change there.
We got a new secondary coach in the offseason
And he actually specifically commented on how he thought our defenders were making contact at unnecessary times and that he was going to weed some of that out.
Honestly after his secondary made Fresno look like Oklahoma (maybe a little harsh, but it was pretty bad), I’d rather go back.
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
This is what I like to hear
“It left a sour taste in my mouth,” Hardrick said.
The senior wore a giant cast on his right hand Monday. During NU’s 42-29 win over Fresno State, he broke his pinky finger diving for a fumble. He either caught it on the turf or sophomore guard Andrew Rodriguez stepped on it.
“It was just a lot of blood,” Hardrick said. “Bone sticking out.”
He returned to Saturday’s game. And he’ll practice all week with the cast. He doesn’t intend to miss a minute.
“Tape it up,” Hardrick said. “It’s Washington week. That’s all you need to hear. Washington week.”
When Nebraska is preparing for you like it’s going to be a war, when players won’t miss this game no matter what the injury, you know it’ll be good. Kinda wishing Nebraska joined the PAC because this could have been a new instant rival.
Last PAC-10 Rose Bowl winner not named USC....Washington
I chuckled a little at this... you can guess which part
Bat-vroom break
Here’s something you don’t see on eBay every day: a replica of the original Batmobile, for $625,000.
Final bidding is reportedly down to drag racer John Force, NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson and Ducks safety Cliff Harris.
Last PAC-10 Rose Bowl winner not named USC....Washington
I'm really interested to see UW play this week
I don’t know how much I can take away from our first two weeks and it will be nice to play a real powerhouse. I fear our run defense isn’t as good as we think it might be. I’m also worried Price will have a much tougher time playing against a quality defense. Hopefully our OL can block enough so that Polk can get going. If we can’t run the ball we won’t win this game.
Your Run D will probably be just fine
Unless our O-line magically figures things out this week…they struggled against Chattanooga and Fresno State. Ummm…yeah, that’s not a good sign.
Lets hope we get them with big plays
Because I don’t think we’ve got any other arrows in our quiver. :/
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
More Rex Burkhead?
I think if the offense quits trying to get cute and just gives it to Burkhead 20-30 times eventually good things are bound to happen. That man is a tackle-breaking machine. I know he’s had a lot of 2 yard and under carries this year behind that O-line, but I feel like they haven’t given him the ball that much either.
When it comes down to it, the main question is whether or not the offensive line can improve. That pretty much effects everything, even the defense because clearly they need more time to rest between series. I just want to see fewer three and outs that are like less than a minute.
I love Rexy
But like you said, the o-line needs serious improvement. My favorite part of the Fresno game was that last drive when the offensive line finally buckled on their chin straps and drove Fresno back when their defense knew we were gonna have to run it.
If our offensive line can consistently look like they did on those seven plays, we get our status as Big Ten co-front runner back. I guess I’ll believe it when I see it, but at least it appears they’re physically capable of being effective.
As an aside, I’d like the see the wildcat come back. It was one of the few things that consistently worked last year and I see no reason to take that out of this year’s version.
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
So far
Our DC Nick Holt has been hell bent on preventing any kind of play over the top. As a result we have given up a lot of yards underneath. It is anyone’s guess how this game will turn out.
And We Need Turnovers
Hope you pitch the ball, a LOT!
by HuskyInExile on Sep 17, 2011 12:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Stating the obvious, but
thank you Nebraska fans! I almost wish we were in the same conference because the conversations on the board during the weeks we play are some of the best I’ve read. Good luck, play safely and Go Huskies!
I'm looking forwards
to a great game against a tough opponent. If washington is consistant,and Martinez shows up with hands the size of a four year old and dropping the rock again,this could be a real interesting game! Good luck to you all
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