A lot of good vibrations are flowing through Husker fans today. And they rightly should. Last night's victory was an impressive victory over a quality opponent; something that had been missing during the Bill Callahan era up to now.
Two things are tempering those good vibrations though today:
LateralGate. It was a comedy of errors on all fronts: Nebraska, Michigoon, and the officials. But, let's face it, it was a desperation play by Michigoon. The laterals were fun to watch now that we know that Michigoon didn't score, and it's fun to watch the replays over and over again, but let's not let this diminish the fact that was a great college football game and a great performance by the Huskers. ESPN Radio was particularly hard on this fact: Michigan alum Dana Jacobson complained about the play for most of her guest-host stint on the Dan Patrick radio show. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann was co-hosting for one hour, and had the bizarre notion that Bill Callahan should have offered to replay the down. Folks, it was a desperation play; if anything, the confusion helped Michigoon more than it hurt them. Until the bobbled lateral, Michigoon was more likely to get a safety than a touchdown as they lost yardage with almost every lateral. It wasn't until confusion broke out that they had a chance to score. Let it go, and enjoy one of the wackier plays you'll see.
Kool-Aid Drinkers. This game has a chance to begin repairing the deep divisions in HuskerNation. Callahan quieted a lot of critics in these last few games. Unfortunately, a few "Kool-Aid" drinkers are quite vocal in their cries of "I told you so!" Let me tell you something, if anything, this game proves that many of your allegations were false. We have had the talent to win many more games than we did over the last couple of years. And as I recall, we were able to defeat a 7-4 Big 10 team 2 years ago with the old staff -- and do it by 2 touchdowns. If you truly believe that Nebraska is about winning championships, not winning games, then you can't be happy with a 4 point victory over an also-ran in the Big 10 conference. So, shut your mouth.
Let's focus on what happened last night: Nebraska came out and played a complete game on national TV. We can all agree on that!
Your arguments are flawed and circular to the point of nearly catching your own tail. To criticize your coined "koolaid drinkers" is childish and weak. How could you possibly say that this win validates the talent that was there before BC? Get a life.
ReplyDeleteYes, telling the "koolaid drinkers" to shut up is a circular argument. However, the point I was trying to make is that if believers in BC are truly interested in repairing the deep divisions in the fan base, claiming "I told you so" isn't likely to lead to unity.
ReplyDeleteIf you factor in injuries, we probably had less talent available in the Michigan and Colorado games than we had in the Kansas and Missouri games. If the Kansas loss can be blamed on talent, then how do you explain the last 2 games? My explanation is that talent wasn't the problem, it was poor play.
And to give Bill Callahan credit, many of those problems were addressed between the K-State game and the Colorado game.
I'm late in coming, but, the Nebraska game although a victory, I did not beleive was a complete game. I thought that the play calling was adequate enough to win but little else.
ReplyDelete"Koolaid Drinkers" will always be koolaid drinkers, and nothing will change their mind. But the majority of the players that made major contributions to this win were the recruits of Frank and his reign, not BC. The Huskers are a so-so team at this stage, and although I hope that Callahan can turn things around, I don't believe that he is the caliber of coach that can take a team to the "next" level.
I believe that Cosgrove will have to be replaced in order for this team to make strides on defense. Yes, I know the team lead the nation is sacks, but remember a majority of those sacks took place against inferior teams. How many sacks took place against Texas Tech, Missouri, and Oklahoma, and realistically how many sacks would we have had against a Texas or USC.
A bowl win helps recruiting, but competing with the top five in the country is a long ways away.