Capital One Bowl Re-Vibe…Still a Bo-liever??

I am having serious doubts (and I know several of you are as well).

Getting on a plane soon so this will be short and sweet.

There are some serious problems within the Husker program right now.  The bowl game pretty much exposed the numerous cracks in the foundation and facade that currently is Nebraska Football.  And it starts with the head coach.

We could have easily won this game.  Other than some junk points on a “hail mary” at the end of the half and one other pass play, we were beating the Cocks pretty good in the 1st half.  The problem was that another half of football had to be played.

The 2nd half was one of the worst halves of football that I have ever seen a team dressed in red EVER PLAY!  How damn embarrassing was that ?!?!

They quit, as they have three or four other times this year.  After the missed FG in the 3rd, our offense was done trying.  18 plays for 18 yds….pathetic.  Umpteen penalties (four on the same damn drive), no focus – no discipline.

At first I was pissed at the players.  Then I quickly realized that focus and discipline starts at the top…with the head coach.

Make no mistake, I am not calling for a regime change…at least not for now.  A fairly decent recruiting class continues to come together  and I still hold out hope but several things must take place next year for me to continue to support this experiment:

1. T Martinez.  If this kid plays one more down as the starting QB it will be too much.  If Bo cannot see that a change needs to be made there, then I’m sorry – but he doesn’t deserve to continue coaching our program.  Better QB play will naturally diversify what we are doing on offense and take some pressure off of Rex.  It would be a good thing all the way around.
2. Defensive line scheme.  I am not sure what the dance/scheme was for our DL but if we don’t get a true pass rush going instead of the “read and react” BS then I am done with the coach staff. Maybe the new DC has some ideas to get us back to a “fly around the ball” approach.  I want DE like the Cocks had.  We used to have talent like that…we need it again.
3. Focus/determination/discipline.  This team MUST have better focus, discipline and determination.  No more excuses.  No more stupid penalties, blown assignments, piss poor execution and NO MORE QUITTING.  If this does not show marked improvement early next season, then this is a systemic problem within the program and that is all on the coaching staff.

That’s all I have for now.  Sorry for the bad outlook but that is the way things appear to me from where I am sitting.  But who know…it could turn around pretty quick and I can start pumping the sunshine again.

Maybe even by tomorrow.  I will let you know how things look from Waikiki Beach.

Aloha and Go Big Red!!!

 

 

Skers vs Cocks Vibe

Sorry for the radio silence. While I haven’t been posting, I have been paying attention.

I know the Big Red played respectable against the Hawks.  I know we have had some coaching changes…for the better I believe, I know our recruiting class is coming together – very slowly…but I think surely. And I know that Superman has had some much deserved and needed rest.

Now, on to the Capital One Bowl against the Ol’ Ball Coach.

The Vibe knows this has the makings of one of those old fashioned, knock-down drag-out and if so, I like our chances.

The Husker defense simply needs to hold in check their hot shot young QB and their veteran receiver. I don’t see Carl’s departure nearly the blow that South Carolina losing their DC will be for the Cocks.  The defense will play well.

We need to take full advantage of USC’s propensity for slow starts and multiple turn-overs in their recent bowl appearances.

Offensively, the game plan is even more simple: run, run, run. The Gamecocks do not have a good run defense and the Huskers need to take full advantage of that. If we run for 275+ yds and I really like our chances.

It won’t likely be a 62-24 type score, like it was the last time we faced visor boy, but the Huskers win this one, kicking off the off-season with style and on a positive note…

Skers – 27

Cocks – 24

Nebraska vs. Iowa Vibe…

I am one of those who are of the opinion that these two teams should have been playing annually. Too bad Hayden Fry was tired of getting his butt kicked by Osborne back in the ’70′s…to the point he quit playing us year-in and year-out.

I like having Iowa for our end-of-year rivalry. It seems very natural to have the team from across the river to be our annual nemesis.

So let’s get this started on the right foot. Enough of the wallowing in our own pathetic inconsistency.

Speaking of our consistent inconsistency, after the egg laying up in Ann Arbor last week it is time to inconsistently kick some butt today.

Iowa has a nice little offense…a good passing game and one good running back. Maybe the Blackshirts get some color back this week and controls their only two play-makers.

It is senior day, it’s an early game, it’s in Lincoln…

Huskers win.

Good guys – 27

Idiots Out Wandering Around – 21

P.S.

Why didn’t anyone tell me that after today Barry’s is no more!?!? I feel an “Ode to Barry’s” coming on….

NU vs. MU Re-Vibe…at a complete loss…

Wow…I am at a complete loss to explain this team. As proud as many of us were with this team leaving Happy Valley we are equally embarrassed by the thumping that took place in Ann Arbor.

I guess to say that the Huskers have rodent type animal problems (badgers and wolverines) would be the understatement of the season.

Consistently inconsistent. You could certainly say that about this team. You could also say that they apparently can’t get up for two big games in a row. How pathetic…

If you can’t get jazzed about playing ball in front of 108,000 people followed the next week with playing in front of 110,000+ people, well – maybe you are playing the wrong sport and for the wrong team.

Sure, the refs absolutely sucked…but that is no excused to be embarrassed on nation-wide TV.

T-Mart had his worst game of the season (yes, worse than the Wisconsin game), the defense couldn’t tackle to save their lives, the receivers couldn’t catch a cold if they tried. Hell, the ONLY player wearing red that actually showed up at the Big House was LaVonte David. Too bad we don’t have about 21 more of him.

Here is my long-term concerns:

• Everyone has heard of “peak oil” that point in which the world goes backwards with regard to overall oil production. I have a growing concern that we may have seen “peak Nebraska”. I mean, we have not been competitive on the national championship level for over a decade. Does everyone realize that next year will mark 15 years since the Huskers won a national championship? We might have hit “peak Nebraska” in 1997 for all that I know…
• I am pretty sure we have hit “peak T-Mart”. I think he has maxed out at the QB position. Lets be honest, T-Mart is not a play-maker and if he has two more years at the Husker helm, then there is no reason to believe that we will be any better in the next two years.
• While we are a relatively young team, in order to improve, you have to develop the players – at least two deep. Is there some super secret why Carnes has only seen a handful of snaps all season and why he was not in at the end of last weeks game? The same can be asked about the three frosh running backs as well as Jamal Turner. It would not shock me one bit if half of these talented freshmen hit the road at the end of this season. There is NO EXCUSE for not developing better depth across this team. Does anybody really believe this defense, for example, gets better without Crick and Dennard next year, or that the offense gets better under the leadership of T Martinez? Me neither.
• The 8-3 record is not all that unbelievable. What is is how we have lost to Wisconsin and Michigan and the failure of epic proportions by losing to Northwestern at home. The blow-outs are not only embarrassing but systemic of bigger, more fundamental issues within this program right now. The talent pool is not that far apart between NU, UW and MU yet we were spanked hard in each of those games. This team has quit on the field…at least twice this year.
• Bo is in year four and this might be one his worst teams yet. The Blackshirts have taken one, if not a couple of huge steps backwards. The offense has not progressed and he refuses to play anybody else at QB. This year’s squad is not very good in any phase of the game. This is not at all what this teams should be looking like in year four. Afterall, Bo is fixin to run out of Callahan players real soon here. By contrast, Brady Hoke has been a winner wherever he has head-coached. In his first (1st) FIRST year at Michigan, he has taken the Wolverine defense from 108th to 8th and is working on a recruiting class firmly ranked 2nd in the nation right now. I don’t know but maybe we have also hit “peak Bo” as well.

Sorry to be so down here but that’s just the way I see things right now. I recall an NU athletic director once saying that he would not have “Nebraska sink back into mediocrity”. Unfortunately, we are nearly a decade after those infamous words were first uttered and there is not doubt that we have reached that milestone.

Go Big Red.

NU vs. MU Vibe

First, I apologize for not sending a Penn St. Re-Vibe. It is a busy week for me so I will be short and to the point.

I could not be more proud of the Husker and their effort in Happy Valley last week. While I would have liked to have seen we maintain a 17 point margin of victory, a win is a win. Particularly In Happy Valley after that week.

And in case anyone was wondering, the pre-game prayer was indeed one of the classiest moments in all of sports…of all time.

Now, on to the Big House.

Contrary to popular belief…the Huskers win. And here’s why.

The game is early…advantage Huskers.

The Husker are due for a break-out game offensively. The Michigan defense, albeit improved, is nothing compard to Spartys or Penn States defense. Advantage Huskers.

The defense is also due to breakout. I think the Pelini’s dial up a game winner…one that keeps the Wolverine running game somewhat contained. And for the majority of the game Shoelace will be “Shoeless”…

After last week and Madison earlier, the Huskers will not be intimidated by any “Big House”.

The Huskers take a business type approach to this game…

Huskers – 27

Rodents – 24

Go Big Red!!

NU vs. PSU Vibe = SAD Situation…

What a sad, pathetic, disgusting situation this has turned out to be in Happy Valley…

Who would have thought the situation would be as it is in less than a week’s time.  You couldn’t have dreamed up this script, let alone write it.  And it just happens to be the Husker’s “un”luck to be the first team since 1950 to play a game against Penn State where Joe Pa was not on the coaching staff.

I will be honest, the more details that come out regarding PSU’s obvious harboring of a pedophile for decades, the more I throw up in my mouth.  The “train yet to come down the track” referenced by Matt Millen the other day has yet to hit State College, PA.  I mean this thing, once all the facts are known, is going to be as bad as you can imagine…the worst of “worst case scenarios”…UGLY.  Paterno, the PSU institution and everyone else associated with this program deserve everything that the train is fixing to deliver on this sad, sad situation…

As the week has gone on, the more I am in agreement with those that thought/think that the game should have just been cancelled, with the Nittany Lions forfeiting.  The Huskers opened on Monday as a 3-point favorite but as the week progressed and this snowball started rolling down the Pennsylvania hillside, even Vegas was smart enough to take this contest “offline”.  It would not surprise me if Saturday’s game is the last one Penn State plays this year.  But alas, we are playing a game on Saturday.  Maybe one of the most difficult games in a long, long time and under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable.

This has, unfortunately, turned into a “must win” game for Nebraska.  Many more eyes are going to be on this game than what normally would have been.  For this weekend at least, the Huskers turn into “America’s team” with the vast majority of society pulling for Nebraska to clean PSU’s clock. Many consider this the first step in the cleansing process that needs to take place all through Happy Valley.  A tall order indeed.

Before all this transpired, I would have said this:

Penn St. has a very good defense…it has been the strength of their team all year.  T-Mart will need to change it up a bit and get passes down field in order to force them out of over-loading the box.  If we play our game, we can and should be able to score.

Defensively, we need to find those Blackshirts that showed up for the Sparty game.  Penn State’s offense is not very good.  If we can slow down their running game, I think we get back on track on the defensive side of the ball.

It also helps that this game will be played early.  Not giving the Penn State fans and student body all day to get liquored up is a very good thing for the Cornhuskers.

But now, who knows what to expect.  Frankly it is hard to care a whole lot about the game at this point…all things considered.  It is just a game after all and in the greater scheme of things it doesn’t mean a whole lot.

I do expect Penn State players to come out all jacked up and inspired to play for various reasons…trying to win this game for their program…for their just-fired head coach.  I don’t expect them to be able to keep that up for 4 quarters.  You would think the gravity of the situation will set in at some point and adrenalin alone will not be enough to sustain them the entire game.  But who really knows.

We could blow them out…they could blow us out.  I am pretty sure it will be a slobberknocker either way.  I just hope everyone remains safe (fans and players), we get in and get out as soon as we can.  At least the idiotic, moronic student body appears to be getting a clue in terms of the gravity of the situation and hopefully will be on better behavior considering the circumstances.

The Vibe thinks we wear them down and they run out of steam…

Huskers – 31

Lions – 17

A special thanks to all of those who sacrificed to keep the country safe and free!

Go Big Red!!

No Way…

Joe Pa makes it to Saturday.  You heard it here first.

The more details, the more revolting this whole thing becomes…sad.

What a freaken mess this is going be on Saturday…

 

Saturday Just Got More Interesting…

What might have been shaping up to a probable Husker win over a distracted PSU team just got a whole lot more interesting…

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/penn_states_joe_paterno_retire.html

NU vs. Northwestern Re-Vibe…the new Iowa State

“IT’S A TRAP!!!!!”  That’s what the Vibe should have said before the game.  This game had trap written all over it.  The Vibe tried to ignore the signs all week…a pesky, purple wearin’ “NU” coming to town, Husker coming off a big win last week, Husker peeking forward to Happy Valley and the Big House.  I should have trusted those instincts.

Before I forget, a tip of the hat to the Northwestern Wildcats.  They came to Lincoln with attitude and on a mission.  They had an offensive and defensive game plan and they stuck to it.  The better prepared team and the team with the most drive and desire won this game.

Nobody could have rationally believed that we would lose this game.  The players played with that attitude, the coaches coached with that attitude.  Even the Old Gray Lady seemed to be sleep-walking through the contest.  Unfortunately, somebody forgot to tell Northwestern.

I know what you are thinking…”where is the good ol’ fashioned RANT that usually follows these ever more frequent shocking losses to out-manned teams with losing records.  Well, not this time, not after this pathetic loss.  Frankly this team is not good enough to muster the level of disappointment and frustration that a rant would require.  It wouldn’t change a thing anyway.

Instead, I have merely resigned myself to the following cold, hard facts:

1. Attitude is a LARGE part of football.  It might play as big a role as physical ability.  On Saturday one NU team was clearly ready to play while the other one was sleep-walking.  As a reminder to the Huskers…we play in the Big Ten now.  People can say what they want about the perceived overall quality of Big Ten football but one thing is certain – you can’t take even one day, let alone a whole week off in this league.  If you do, a team like Northwestern can waltz into your house, sucker punch you in the mouth, and leave you looking and feeling pretty stupid in the process.  Maybe we had a letdown after the Sparty victory, maybe we were looking ahead to the Nittany Lions, maybe we believed the point spread and believed that all we needed to do was show up  in order to win.  Whatever it was, Northwestern coaches had their team ready to play while Bo & Company did not.  Getting a team ready to play is on the coaching staff and our coaching staff failed.
2. We clearly do not have a B1G defense.  Going into this season, we all knew we had a transition ahead of us on defense.  The defense that Bo and Carl built was predicated on stopping the spread offense of the Big 12 Conference, not the smash-mouth style of the B1G.  I just had no idea the growing pains would be this painful.  Sadly, we have no run defense to speak of…really haven’t had it all year.  Almost every opponent this year has exploited this fact and the chickens really came home to roost on Saturday.  The D-line, which was supposed to be our area of depth and our strength has turned out to be our thinnest position and maybe our greatest defensive disappointment.  Just when we thought the D had figured it out, particularly in the 2nd quarter (as Baker Steinkuhler appeared to be having his best game), the 2nd half happened and we couldn’t stop any aspect of the Wildcat offense.  The pass defense didn’t fair any better.  Not a one of the D-backs had their head in the game…even Dennard wasn’t all there.  Ciante Evans had maybe one of the worst D-back performances of the season and certainly the worst of his young career.  I don’t know how any defensive player can be that far out of position within seconds of the ball has been snapped.  And where was the safety who should have been somewhere “over the middle top” on the 81 yd pass?? I might be a bit more understanding if we didn’t know what was coming.  But Northwestern ran the same set of plays over and over and over again.  Run on 1st and 2nd downs – typically a cut back to the left.  Gain enough yards to make 3rd down a piece of cake with either a QB scramble or a slant pass.  Over and over and over again.  With rare exception, we did not stop it.  For the Blackshirts, I don’t think this is a talent issue.  It is a defensive scheme issue…it is a “stubburnness to make a schematic change in this defense to counter the offenses of the Big Ten” issue and that is on the defensive coaching staff and in particular, the head coach and defensive coordinator.
3. No offensive adjustments.  Northwestern had a pretty simple game plan:  load the box with 8 or 9 players, key on Burkhead every play and force the Huskers to score points by throwing the ball. What made that reality all the more difficult was the high wind warning in Lincoln on Saturday.  Without the threat of a deep ball, Wildcat corners didn’t even need to cover deep and could actually assist the other 9 in or near the “box” to stop our run.  Heck, Northwestern was actually executing run blitz packages with regularity…to the point that Burkhead was dodging defenders almost as soon as he was handed the ball.  With these facts in hand, Beck continued to call bad play after bad play…running right into the heart of the 90th ranked defense or calling an option play to the short side when we were woefully out-manned.  Just a question but where was the play-action pass?  Where was the bubble screen?   Where was the zone read?  Where was the counter play that would have helped counter an over-aggressive defensive game plan?  We wasted what turned out to be a pretty nice passing game by T-Mart by not calling the right play in the right down and distance under the circumstances.  It didn’t help that Superman was clearly limping after the second offensive play of the game and the obvious fact that none of the remaining RB’s are good enough to give Burkhead the occasional breather, let alone produce near his level on a longer term basis.  The Vibe recently aired it’s concern regarding Rex’s long-term durability and our over-dependence on him in this offense and all that came to fruition on Saturday.  With respect to this loss, the clear lack of offensive adjustments is on the offensive coaches and in particular, the head coach and the offensive coordinator.
4. Once is lucky, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend.  For whatever reason, the Huskers have what can only be considered a concerning trend developing…a trend of losing to teams with losing records with some regularity under the Pelini administration.  Sure, every team and every coach will lose to someone they are expected to beat from time to time.  It happened to both Deveney and Osborne a hand-full of times over the course of their head coaching careers.  Pelini’s Huskers have lost to a team with an eventual losing record in each of the previous two years and now potentially the third straight year.  Maybe Northwestern wins out the rest of this year and doesn’t end up with a losing record but it is still a disturbing trend non-the-less.  The missed tackles, the mental letdown, the penalties, the inability to overcome all the “no calls” against Northwestern (and yes, there were plenty) and a rare fumble by Superman himself.  All these things – great teams deal with and overcome on a regular basis.  This goes to the lack of team preparation and discipline and that is squarely on Bo and his staff.  Nothing would be more pleasing than to see this particular trend to end now.
5. Defense still wins championships.  I was reminded of this cold, hard fact while watching the LSU vs. Bama game Saturday night.  ”Defense wins championships” has been a true statement since the beginning of organized football and is still true today.  After watching two teams with phenomenal defenses play to a 6-6 tie in regulation, it became abundantly clear to me just how far the Blackshirts are away from being a championship level defense…another cold, hard fact.  The 2011 Cornhuskers do not has much of an offensive problem as they do a defensive one.  I truly believe that you pair our current offense with a defensive unit similar to that at Bama or LSU, and I would show you a yet undefeated team ranked in the Top 5 of BCS polling, in the driver’s seat of the Big Ten and challenging for a BCS Championship.  It goes without saying that we are a ways away.

So much more could be said but I will leave it with these cold, hard facts as I see them.  While frustrated and disappointed, I am still proud to be a Husker fan and look forward to getting the proverbial cart out of the ditch and back on the road this week in what appears to be an ever increasingly “un”Happy Valley…

More on that Friday.

For now, as always, Go Big Red!

Husker / Wildcat Vibe…

Another year, another conference, another purple team with a Wildcat mascot.  Unlike the old purple colored wildcat team we used to play who was annihilated last weekend (sorry K-States…just stating a fact here), the new purple wildcat foe from the Chicago area pounded Indiana (I know thy are very, very bad) and should not be overlooked.

Heading into the home stretch of our schedule, I don’t think we will.  While there may be a slight letdown after last week’s big win, I don’t see us overlooking anyone at this point.

Northwestern has a nice little offense that had its way with a horrific Hoosier team last week.  It won’t be the same on Saturday.  The MSU game proved that the Blackshirts are still in that defense somewhere.  It was obvious that the individual players are finally getting some things/assignments figured out and are beginning to play at a very high level.  As good as the Wildcat offense looked last weekend, they will look that bad this weekend.  Now that the Blackshirts have been handed out, I see no letdown from here on out…

Offensively, we should have a good day…particularly on the ground.  Northwestern’s defense is not good and will struggle to stop Burkhead & Company.  This will serve as a nice warm-up game prior to two straight weeks on the road in hostile environments…

Huskers  -   42

Wildcats  -  17

Go Big Red!!