What makes us irrelevant? (a poll without a poll)
- Thread starter JJ Husker
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JJ Husker
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I guess I agree with either type of loss hurting, neither is good for our image. It has been pretty unanimous on the 2nd question though. Of course beating good teams is the way to positively change our national perception.
What precipitated this for me was the people who desired the easiest possible bowl opponent. I was having trouble understanding what possible good it would do to beat a nobody in a bowl this year. I guess the answer is some are more averse to losing big than they are receptive to having the chance at a big win. I can understand that if the premise is we are not good enough to actually get that big win. I am pretty much in that same boat myself, but I have surpassed the tipping point. I no longer care about the big losses, they seem to come from everywhere anymore. Since beating good teams is the only way to reverse the trend, I would just as soon keep playing good teams so we have the opportunity. Beating teams like Southern Miss and Purdue does nothing for me when we are losing games of substance.
What precipitated this for me was the people who desired the easiest possible bowl opponent. I was having trouble understanding what possible good it would do to beat a nobody in a bowl this year. I guess the answer is some are more averse to losing big than they are receptive to having the chance at a big win. I can understand that if the premise is we are not good enough to actually get that big win. I am pretty much in that same boat myself, but I have surpassed the tipping point. I no longer care about the big losses, they seem to come from everywhere anymore. Since beating good teams is the only way to reverse the trend, I would just as soon keep playing good teams so we have the opportunity. Beating teams like Southern Miss and Purdue does nothing for me when we are losing games of substance.
StPaulHusker
Banned
B & B
kchusker_chris
New member
A single win does not make us relevant, no more than a single loss makes irrelevant. No win will greatly improve our image, and no loss (well, the Wisconsin loss was pretty bad) will greatly tarnish it. At the end of the day, our irrelevancy (picked 6th for B1G bowls) and our eroding image is something that's been happening for the better part of the last 3 years. Maybe since Texas or A&M in 10'. Add to it the fact we've now moved to a conference whose image and relevance is also eroding and it's created the perfect storm for a possible long stretch in this purgatory of Husker football. The longer we allow this hole to be dug, the harder it is going to be to get out of it.
IlliniHusker
New member
B & B
The obvious way to correct this is next year. Regain national significance by winning all the games we are favored and win the games that have national attention. In 2014 those would be Miami, Mich St, Wisconsin. I'm assuming Fresno St drops out of sight with QB Carr leaving. If we can stay healthy, next year looks very promising.
The obvious way to correct this is next year. Regain national significance by winning all the games we are favored and win the games that have national attention. In 2014 those would be Miami, Mich St, Wisconsin. I'm assuming Fresno St drops out of sight with QB Carr leaving. If we can stay healthy, next year looks very promising.
JTrain
New member
It's this type of defeatist attitude and negativity that got us in this hole to begin with!
NUance
New member
B. B.
This begs the question: How many teams *are* relevant? Maybe a dozen or so? In any given year there are perhaps a dozen teams at the beginning of the season that have a decent shot at the title. Oh sure, once in a while a lowly ranked Auburn will sneak in and win it all. But usually it'll be some preseason top 10 team that wins it all. So we really won't be *currently* relevant until we're consistently ranked in the top dozen or so in the nation. I say "currently* because Nebraska is solidly in the top dozen as far as historical programs go. Perhaps even the top 5. But, absent current performance on the field, those historical perceptions fade away with time. Minnesota comes to mind in that regard.
The thing is, we are not that far away from relevance. We have a great young defense. And if we weren't snake bit with injuries this year we might have had a decent offense too. Seems like everyone looks at our 8-4 record and points out that we could be 6-6 but for a couple lucky plays. The opposite holds true. Take away a butt load of injuries and throw in a few lucky plays and we'd easily be 10-2. Or better.
Okay, I know it's fashionable to have a morose outlook on the Huskers right now. But when I think of what we could have done this year with a healthy QB and offensive line, I can't help but sipple a bit of Kool-Aid.
This begs the question: How many teams *are* relevant? Maybe a dozen or so? In any given year there are perhaps a dozen teams at the beginning of the season that have a decent shot at the title. Oh sure, once in a while a lowly ranked Auburn will sneak in and win it all. But usually it'll be some preseason top 10 team that wins it all. So we really won't be *currently* relevant until we're consistently ranked in the top dozen or so in the nation. I say "currently* because Nebraska is solidly in the top dozen as far as historical programs go. Perhaps even the top 5. But, absent current performance on the field, those historical perceptions fade away with time. Minnesota comes to mind in that regard.
The thing is, we are not that far away from relevance. We have a great young defense. And if we weren't snake bit with injuries this year we might have had a decent offense too. Seems like everyone looks at our 8-4 record and points out that we could be 6-6 but for a couple lucky plays. The opposite holds true. Take away a butt load of injuries and throw in a few lucky plays and we'd easily be 10-2. Or better.
Okay, I know it's fashionable to have a morose outlook on the Huskers right now. But when I think of what we could have done this year with a healthy QB and offensive line, I can't help but sipple a bit of Kool-Aid.
3rd and long
New member
A: The Wisconsin type loss is an attention grabber, especially a nationally televised game. Outside of the midwest area, the results of the Minnesota game are hardly even noticed.
B: To help shine us in a good light nationally we need a "good" win. But just for ourselves, any win is a good win. Talking specifically bowl season, a win going into spring just starts everything off on a much more postive note.
B: To help shine us in a good light nationally we need a "good" win. But just for ourselves, any win is a good win. Talking specifically bowl season, a win going into spring just starts everything off on a much more postive note.
alexhortdog95
New member
Also, in the current landscape of college football, you can't be in the NC hunt if you're not in the hunt for your conference's championship.
I agree with Nuance here. We had a tremendous amount of injuries, a very young defense with absolutely no experience. We lost to 4 better teams, face that fact. This team gained a lot of experience this year, our young QB actually played in meaningful games, and had his ups and downs. I did not expect a great season this year, maybe a little better than it ended, but things happened. My biggest disappointment this year was Bo's meltdown. Next year things could change dramatically. We need to keep the faith and move forward, quit feeling sorry for ourselves and fight back. Attend the Bowl if possible, endorse our coach the best each of us can, and pull for this young group of kids to play the best they can. Never say die. We seem to be giving up. Never give up.