Huskers in 2019....

This will do nothing but build the right kind of work ethic and expectations amongst the players in the program.  I would love to know Greg Bells feelings on how things have worked out.


I liked something else that happened in 2018. This staff didn't try to appease someone just because he was the JUCO recruit who was supposed to be a big deal. When they saw Ozigbo was performing better in practice, they quickly in the season expanded his role. It may have chased someone off, but ... that's not the worst deal, is it? Not when you're trying to build a certain kind of culture.

Running backs coach Held delivered one of the better quotes of last offseason when he said, "We're not playing for participation medals. We're trying to win championships. It's the guys that are getting it done that are going to play. All right. We're not going to say, 'All right, you're getting five reps this game so your parents feel good in the stands.' We're trying to win games. So I got to find the guys that are going to go out there and make plays and get it done."
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Redux said:
I'm honestly pretty stunned at the level of pessimism after the way we finished this year.  Look at how enthusiastic a lot of folks were after Riley's year 1 disaster.  Are people seriously less optimistic about the direction of this team than they were after 2015?
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A 4 win season made up of a loss sandwich in which CU and Iowa were the bread and Wisconsin the filler in the middle doesn't fill me with optimism.   

I'm stunned anyone would be stunned by that.  In order to feel super optimistic I'd have to forget an awful lot, I'm not there yet, but certainly don't begrudge anyone who is.

 
LaunchCode said:
A 4 win season made up of a loss sandwich in which CU and Iowa were the bread and Wisconsin the filler in the middle doesn't fill me with optimism.   

I'm stunned anyone would be stunned by that.  In order to feel super optimistic I'd have to forget an awful lot, I'm not there yet, but certainly don't begrudge anyone who is.
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In order to NOT feel optimistic, you've obviously forgotten much more than that.

 
Mavric said:
In order to NOT feel optimistic, you've obviously forgotten much more than that.
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You're probably right.  I stopped posting mid season after I realized reading some of my posts I sounded like a sour old apple. 

I want to be excited and optimistic, but I am at the point where it's going to take actual wins and accomplishments on the field to get me there again.  The fluff and off season hype that had me optimistic going into this season led to an even bigger let down after the way we started. 

 
LaunchCode said:
You're probably right.  I stopped posting mid season after I realized reading some of my posts I sounded like a sour old apple. 

I want to be excited and optimistic, but I am at the point where it's going to take actual wins and accomplishments on the field to get me there again.  The fluff and off season hype that had me optimistic going into this season led to an even bigger let down after the way we started. 
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Yes, the team has to start getting wins and accomplishments on the field. But, the way the season started last season was more fluke (Akron rainout, Martinez injury) and players trying to get past how they were coached under the god-awful Riley and his staff to believe they could win and play well. The team still has a ways to go in terms of talent, size, strength, and depth, but it’s exciting to see the type of leaders the team has. That’s where the optimism comes from. 

 
LaunchCode said:
You're probably right.  I stopped posting mid season after I realized reading some of my posts I sounded like a sour old apple. 

I want to be excited and optimistic, but I am at the point where it's going to take actual wins and accomplishments on the field to get me there again.  The fluff and off season hype that had me optimistic going into this season led to an even bigger let down after the way we started. 
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You're not alone. I feel pretty much the same way. There's reasons for optimism and hope, but it's been that way for decades now. 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Yes, the team has to start getting wins and accomplishments on the field. But, the way the season started last season was more fluke (Akron rainout, Martinez injury) and players trying to get past how they were coached under the god-awful Riley and his staff to believe they could win and play well. The team still has a ways to go in terms of talent, size, strength, and depth, but it’s exciting to see the type of leaders the team has. That’s where the optimism comes from. 
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THIS!!!  All day.

 
Redux said:
Well, color me an optimist, but looking past the W/L record I see it being pretty likely this team wins the West and goes to Indy with a possible double digit in the win column.  4-8 under Frost is a hell of a lot better than 4-8 under Riley, if you can't see that I feel sorry for you.
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I don' t see how having tempered expectations and a "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude is completely unwarranted.

Are there signs of improvement? Absolutely. Are there issues that need to be addressed with special teams, defense, replacing a thousand yard rusher, replacing a thousand yard receiver and replacing several starters on the offensive line? Yes.

I think the W/L column improves in 2019, but unless there are seismic improvements in several areas, I just don't see this team getting to Indy next year. I see 2020 as a more realistic season for a B1G title game appearance. 

 
Fru said:
I think the W/L column improves in 2019, but unless there are seismic improvements in several areas, I just don't see this team getting to Indy next year. I see 2020 as a more realistic season for a B1G title game appearance. 
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I think I saw seismic improvements already in the team from the first game to the last game of the season.  I see no reason why they won't make yet another big jump in the off season.

But....nobody knows for sure.  That's what makes sports fun.

 
Fru said:
I don' t see how having tempered expectations and a "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude is completely unwarranted.

Are there signs of improvement? Absolutely. Are there issues that need to be addressed with special teams, defense, replacing a thousand yard rusher, replacing a thousand yard receiver and replacing several starters on the offensive line? Yes.

I think the W/L column improves in 2019, but unless there are seismic improvements in several areas, I just don't see this team getting to Indy next year. I see 2020 as a more realistic season for a B1G title game appearance. 
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I agree with everything except the bolded. We lose a lot of pieces, but the West is just not great at the moment - who is going to go to Indy?

Wisconsin's defense regressed a bit and they lose key players on all three levels, and they figured out what everyone else knew - Hornibrook hasn't shown he can win them games. Northwestern loses Thorson, Nagel, and a few of their best defenders. They always play tough, but no way I'd pick them to repeat what they did this year. Purdue will definitely be dangerous, but I see them similar to us - they've improved dramatically and have a lot of weapons, but lost 6 games and won't have Blough and Knox. Iowa is probably the favorite, and we showed this year that we can hang with them. Whether we will is a different question, but the West is wide open and I think even a moderately improved Nebraska has as good a shot as anyone.

 
BigRedBuster said:
I think I saw seismic improvements already in the team from the first game to the last game of the season.  I see no reason why they won't make yet another big jump in the off season.

But....nobody knows for sure.  That's what makes sports fun.
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Like I said in the post, there have absolutely been signs of improvement, and I do think they'll likely continue. But like you said nobody knows for sure. That's why I think having tempered expectations isn't a reason to pity someone. 

 
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