Nebraska Football still has a monkey of mediocrity on its back after failing to beat a Top Ten Team at Michigan State. Nebraska has had some miracle come backs in the past, even this season against McNeese State, but a decision to punt the ball on the 31 yard line in the first quarter after the first turnover by the Blackshirts was probably the difference maker. If Bo Pelini makes the call to get three points, then that gives Nebraska a little bit of momentum. It also keeps Nebraska from going for two failed two-point conversions later on. For the past three years I have been a realist when it comes to Nebraska Football, down a few notches from the eternal optimist. After Nebraska suffered other failures against top ranked teams on national prime time TV, I finally realized that it wasn’t 1990-something and that Tom Osborn is just the name of the field, no longer the coach. I said earlier tonight, when Nebraska was being shutout in the 3rd quarter, that Nebraska will have another four loss season and will never beat a Top Ten Team as long as Bo Pelini is the head coach. I also recognize the intangibles. If the coach and team that we saw play for the first 50-minutes of the game tonight, shows up against Northwestern, Rutgers, Wisconsin and Iowa, then there may be three or four more losses. Nebraska could also make it to the Big Ten Championship again, but November has proven itself to be a long, cold and lonely month for Bo Pelini. If the fired up Bo Pelini that we all have come to know and love, and consequently, a fired up team shows up for the rest of the season, then tonight may be Nebraska’s only loss on the season. The intangibles are what makes or breaks a team and I like what I saw in those final minutes of the game. Tonight, we witnessed an injured QB step up and be a leader. We witnessed freshmen step up and be team players. We witnessed receivers step up when their fro leader went down. Those are the intangibles that could send Nebraska into the playoffs, but the coaching staff needs to build upon what happened in the last 10 minutes of tonight’s game. Leaders on the football team need to build upon what they nearly accomplished against all odds tonight. Nebraska’s women’s basketball team has a Big Ten Championship trophy. It’s about time the football team gets one too – but there are a lot of inches to overcome on the grid iron between now and December. Come December, we may look back on tonight’s game as the 4th quarter that changed a season, put the monkey back in the cage, and saved a coach’s employment. Or, we may be playing our December bowl game and listening to Coach Pelini say the same things we hear every year the trophy case stays dusty. Maybe Nebraska should have left the duct tape on the uniform numbers again tonight. #Huskers
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 04:47:45 +0000
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