[Husker] OWH article and the State of the Big-XII North

Tue Nov 7 17:00:06 CST 2006

This is not a personal attack so Steve please don't take it that way. I do believe that there are many on this List that believe the following statement segment, "When a leader, e.g., Pederson, lays down a standard --- e.g., firing the coaching staff of a team that finished 10-3..."

However, I believe that the premise the 'Standard' is defined as having a better record than 10-3 is not correct. Only Steve Pederson can define just what his Standard is, and I believe that he has done that already. He made it clear that it is not the win/loss record, and that it is being competitive in the conference.

We fans have to be honest and realize that Nebraska Football was slowly sinking into mediocrity, the record speaks for itself. Part of this record was under Coach Solich and part has been under Coach Callahan. But the proof is there. Until this season, Nebraska had dropped 4 in a row at Manhattan, KS, 2 in a row in Ames, IA. As others have pointed out Nebraska has not played for the Big-XII Championship for 7 years.

The tough decision was to fire a popular coach that was appointed by the greatest coach in Nebraska football history. Steve Pederson made that decision and has given the new staff the time they need to get their system and recruits in place. And it is beginning to pay off.

Contrary to most people out there, I believe that Nebraska was competitive with USC early in the season. First, it was Nebraska's first road game of the season. Secondly, Nebraska's defense (particularly the defensive backfield) was very green. Yet, Nebraska forced several 3 and outs against USC, was able to run on them (to a certain extent), and had the big pass play late in the game. It was not the blow out all the talking heads were expecting.

Nebraska played Texas to a fumble, 'Nuff said!

And now on to the state of the Big-XII, and the North Division in detail. The South Division has risen (look at the up turn of 'lowly' Baylor) due to the Championship play of both Texas and Oklahoma. The rest of the Division has risen to meet those teams. While, the North Division on the other hand has dropped as Nebraska has dropped. Once Nebraska begins to play Championship Football, the other teams of the North Division will have to catch up.

Nebraska fundamentally changed college football when they soundly beat Florida in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. While teams did not jump on the 'Power I, Option' offense bandwagon; they did jump on the attacking high power defense and well conditioned bandwagon. (As an aside, a former assistant coach with the Florida Men's Swim Team told me that after the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, the football coaches had their players in the weight room for conditioning. The Florida football coaches and players could not believe how power, fast, and hard hitting Nebraska was.)

Nebraska hasn't kept up with 'Jones'. The pendulum has swung too far to the speed side and the strength side has suffered. Nebraska hasn't been as competitive because while they have speed, they don't have power to compete with top tier teams. Again, this year has shown that Nebraska is becoming competitive again.

The remainder of this season, then next season (without a veteran QB) will be very telling if Steve Pederson made the right decision. As I have written in previous posts, I was mad as all get out that Coach Solich was fired. But after calming down and objectively looking at Nebraska Football over the past 10 years, he made the only decision he could given the direction of the program. And it is the direction of the program that defined his Standard. Even in the 10-3 season in which Coach Solich was fired, Nebraska was on the outside looking in with respect to the Big-XII Championship game.

Go Big Red!

Rob Czeranko