[Husker] Wah Wah Wah

[Patrick Gaule]

On 1/1/2013 3:54 PM, rczeranko at juno.com wrote:
> I heard the same thing about Nebraska when Tom Osborne was coaching. What in the heck do people want? This was a good season. In the second year in the B1G Nebraska went to the championship game and had 10 wins.
>
>    

I bet people *want* to see Nebraska be competitive in postseason games 
(they're 0-5 going back to the 2010 CCG, and four of those losses were 
by double digits)
I imagine they *want* to see Nebraska give up less than 70 points to a 
7-5 team they beat earlier in the year
I think they *want* to see Nebraska make it to a BCS bowl game at least 
once per decade.  Here's a surprising list of teams who have gone BCS 
bowling since Nebraska's last appearance in 2001 (seriously?  Looking at 
this list is eye-opening and just depressing):

    * Louisville (twice)
    * Kansas State (twice)
    * Boise State (twice)
    * Utah (twice)
    * Iowa (twice)
    * TCU (twice)
    * Cincinnati (twice)
    * Illinois (twice)
    * Kansas
    * UConn
    * Hawaii
    * Maryland
    * Pitt
    * Wake Forest
    * Washington State
    * Northern Illinois

Nebraska fans want better than 10-4 every year. *I'm sure Bo wants 
better.*  If he doesn't, then he's not the right man for the job.  Was 
this a good season?  Yea, it was.  But "good seasons" are expected and 
pretty much mandatory if a coach wants to stick around at Nebraska.  At 
some point, Nebraska has to make the leap from good to great.  Every 
year won't be a great season, but Nebraska needs to show some signs 
sooner rather than later.  I am hoping that this is the bottom, but only 
time will tell.

>
> Am I disappointed? Yes, but late season injuries hurt this team. Is is fixable? Yes, and unless Nebraska loses assistant coaches, next season should be a lot better. Nebraska played to toughest schedule in the B1G in back to back seasons. Next year will be a cake walk in comparison.
>    

Nebraska is losing their fair share of defensive starters going into 2013:

Eric Martin
Cameron Meredith
Sean Fisher
Will Compton
Alonzo Whaley
P.J. Smith
Daimion Stafford

As bad as the defense was this year, I sure hope the guys behind them 
are better.  Next season isn't going to be a "cake walk" just because 
Wisconsin and Ohio State drop off the schedule.  Purdue's program is 
improving, and I believe Nebraska's division will be very competitive 
next year.  Northwestern isn't a punching bag, and we have to play 
Michigan in Ann Arbor.  Another 4 loss season is very possible next 
season.  Of course, there are some delusional fans on huskermax.com who 
think NU will run the table and contend for a national title next year, 
but I'm guessing those people are also betting on the Cubbies to win the 
World Series in 2013.

So what am I saying here?  Pelini should keep his job, and as long as he 
wins 9+ games per season, he probably will.  I just want to see better 
results from him.  I'm sure he expects the same of himself.