Is this the biggest game of the Pelini era?

Bo's Biggest Game?

  • Yes

    Votes: 57 37.5%

  • No

    Votes: 56 36.8%

  • Bacon

    Votes: 39 25.7%
  • Total voters
    152
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
I was thinking this earlier today, and here's my rationale:

I think this could be considered Bo's biggest game for a few reasons. It's true that this doesn't directly affect our championship hopes, so the tangible stakes could make it bigger, but this is a very specific type of big game for us.

Since arriving in Lincoln, Bo's teams have struggled in two ways more than any others - staying consistently motivated against lesser opponents, and getting up for big games on the brightest stage.

The last three years have exposed a lot of leaks that I think Bo has done an admirable job of recognizing and growing from - I don't think for a second this program is in the same place it was entering 2011. But we continued to see some of the same trends. This season, however, has the pieces in place, including the irony of Bo's two biggest obstacles in consecutive weeks. The team came out amped but under control to handle Miami, then came out with consistent motivation against inferior Illinois, and now is poised for the biggest game of the year against the best team on the schedule and the hardest regular season game we've had in several years.

If they are up to the task and come out with a victory, it will be Bo's biggest game without question because it will be his greatest triumph. If they don't, then who knows.
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Well said, pretty much sums it up for me.
 
Agree, sort of.

I guess because Bo Pelini has lost the other biggest games of his era, it makes the next big game feel like a tipping point.

Still, I voted bacon.

 
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Street Novelist said:
Our schedule is very easy after Michigan State. Only Wisconsin poses a threat. They will probably be the only team ranked in the top 25 besides Michigan State. If we lose, there's a good chance we drop out of the top 25. If we lose in a blowout during a nationally televised primetime game, the pitchforks will be out for Bo. We can only have so many blowouts. Look what's happening at Michigan. The fans can only take so much.
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We could beat MSU by 40, and every team left on the schedule would still pose a threat. Ok, maybe not Purdue.

 
I've noticed a lot of people seem fixated on the fact that neither a win or a loss will impede our season goals and our ability to win our division and ultimately the conference.

My question is, why should our ultimate goal be winning the conference?

So, after donning my Kool-Aid trucker hat...

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And throwing on my rose-colored glasses...

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And tossing realism out the window, the eternal optimist fan that dwells inside of me seems to think that given the down nature of the Big 10 landscape this year, if we win out, we should be sitting in the driver's seat for a trip to the playoff.

Obviously, that poses challenges in and of itself. There's plenty of challenging games left to play and of course a rematch with Sparty in the Conference Championship or whoever else comes out of the East.

But, a win would surely flush those hopes right down the drain. The Big 10 is too weak this year to get a one loss team in unless it's one of probably two teams maximum with one loss. Assuming everybody else will lose twice is a bit much to ask for.

A bit idealist, sure, whatever. But I don't see why it can't happen. It's true that winning Saturday wouldn't stop us from winning the Big 10. But let's not be Iowa and just play to go to the Rose Bowl. I say let's try for the whole damn thing!

 
The anticipation of this game is exciting. I'm glad we've played well so far. It's pretty important right now. But I wouldn't consider it bigger than the CCGs against Wisconsin or Texas.

 
Coach Power'T said:
I voted "No" because the 2nd game with MSU will be much more important. I am assuming that both make it to Indy.
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Not the biggest game if we win. If we get blown out again on nat'l TV it will be bigger than what it should be. The cry for Bo's coach's whistle will begin in earnest. We can still loose and end up in Indy - if we don't lose our mental toughness. The big game to me is when we finally win some hardware in the CCG.

 
This is an intersting question. So far in the Pelini Era, my opinion of the biggest game as him being the Head Coach would have been the Big 12 Conference Championship against Oklahoma. It would have been nice to end our time with that Conference with the last trophy decided with a Championship game.

With that being said, this game is the biggest game of this season and can be a hue game changer for Nebraska. Win this and every game for the duration of the season and post season is the biggest game of the Pelini Era as each would be the game to keep him undefeated for the year and win a National Championship if we would be selected for the playoff.

 
BigRedBuster said:
This game doesn't top a game we could have won a championship.

However, we are 5-0 and every goal set by the team is still attainable. That means every time we win a game this year, the next one becomes that much bigger.

This is a huge game for national attention to Nebraska. However, I agree with some that in certain circles, this will be looked at, "see, there isn't any good teams in the Big" instead of "wow, Nebraska is the top dog in the Big and are pretty dang good".

If we win, I see us getting up to maybe 12-13. I would absolutely be shocked if we we any higher than that.

The Miami game felt bigger simply because of the history between the teams and the first time that pathetic excuse of a football program soiled our field.
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If we can somehow beat MSU by the same margin or larger than Oregon (on the road mind you) than no publication would dare say "see, there isn't any good teams in the big 10." They'd inevitably be throwing the #2 team under the bus, which they won't do. I'd be happy with a slim margin victory but that'd be the ultimate.

 
Omaha_Style said:
This is an intersting question. So far in the Pelini Era, my opinion of the biggest game as him being the Head Coach would have been the Big 12 Conference Championship against Oklahoma. It would have been nice to end our time with that Conference with the last trophy decided with a Championship game.

With that being said, this game is the biggest game of this season and can be a hue game changer for Nebraska. Win this and every game for the duration of the season and post season is the biggest game of the Pelini Era as each would be the game to keep him undefeated for the year and win a National Championship if we would be selected for the playoff.
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This.

I feel like very few of us consider this a realistic possibility. Partly because of Bo's track record (9-4), partly because it's extremely hard to go undefeated, partly because we've seen so many embarrassing losses and "come up short" moments since Dr. Tom stepped down.

But if not now, when? This is probably the biggest remaining hurdle in the season, with the CCG on the same level and (in my mind), Wiscy a notch below.

But win this game, and there's not a game we shouldn't be favored in going forward. Perhaps Wiscy, but that's a legit debate.

We don't know when we'll face a schedule this favorable again. They don't come around very often. We hailed last year as that year and squandered it.

Win now, and we've got every opportunity (and a decent shot) to win out and make the playoff. That'd be HUGE for our program's national image and perception. The pub would be enormous in the first year of this. A good showing would do even more.

 
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I voted "bacon" because it makes any meal better.

That, and the wording of the question would require us to see and understand the future. The "Bo Pelini era" might go on for another 10 years and include a MNC game or two. I said "might". We don't know.

Now, if the question had been "Is this the biggest game, so far, in the Pelini era", I would have voted yes. Although if we'd won, how many of you would rate the game against Texas for the B12 championship as bigger than this weekend?

 
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