Well, where do we begin? For the second time in as many seasons, the Nebraska football team is headed into the offseason with a bowl game loss. This time a 30-13 loss to South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl. The Huskers entered the game ranked No. 20 and finished the season 9-4. They may still finish in the Top 25 but it’s not a two-inch putt.
Many Husker fans would look at the 9-4 record and call the season a disappointment then and there. However, a man named Bill Soliday, whom I had the opportunity to get to know while covering the Oakland Raiders as a freelance writer, once strongly suggested to me that you cannot give too much credence simply to records. Soliday is a retired sports reporter from the Oakland Tribune having covered both the Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. Soliday understood the late Al Davis (who was the Raiders owner from 1966 to 2011) better than most people I know. Soliday added that Davis added that records are as much a matter of what a team does to achieve their record with what the team had.
Going 9-4 in 2008 felt like a success for the Huskers because it was Bo Pelini’s first season as head coach coming off the Bill Callahan years of going 27-22 and bowl-less in two seasons. The 2011 edition of 9-4, however, would qualify as a disappointment because the team had goals of winning the Big Ten Legends Division if not winning the Big Ten Conference. Losing the Capital One Bowl game that was there to be won in the early going only adds to that disappointment. The Huskers led 13-9 at halftime and were still within striking distance in trailing 16-13 after three quarters.
The game was a prime example of a team lacking discipline and it starts with Pelini. The third quarter was especially inexcusable. After a three and out, Nebraska managed a drive that featured 25 yards in penalties. Then after back to back poor calls by the officials, Pelini lit into the Big East officiating crew. For the entire second half the Huskers gained 64 yards, they lost 58 in penalties. That’s six net yards if you’re scoring at home. Well, gross is more like it.
Then there was the disgraceful behavior of Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard and South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, two outstanding players that are potential first-round draft picks. The serious indictment against Nebraska was that the incident took place right in front of its bench and not one time did a player or coaches try to prevent the situation from escalating.
Throw in four drives in South Carolina territory with zero points and you have a Nebraska team that can’t get out of its own way.
When I think of Husker teams with poise, I hearken back to the 1995 Orange Bowl when they beat Miami 24-17. Remember head coach Tom Osborne’s halftime speech when he told the players that the Hurricanes would try to get into their heads but it was important not to retaliate. Nebraska keeping its poise and focus was as big a reason as any why it won that night and the lack of it is why it routinely comes up short in crucial games. Being fiery is all well and good but a team simply cannot lose its poise and expect to execute.
So the question begs, what is the current state of the program? I have no idea after watching this very strange season. The way the Huskers collapsed in several games this year, just makes me believe that something is missing. Not sure what it is.
The optimist in me thinks this year was a combination of being in a new league with a different style combined with a new offensive coordinator and massive losses to the NFL on the defense. The pessimist in me thinks this might be indicative of poor recruiting combined with a coach that can't teach his team to be disciplined.
The current state of the program is that the Huskers consistently are not one of the 25 best teams in the country. Some people are quite satisfied with being at that level. They will tell you how the Huskers are better than we were under Callahan. Yes, they are right about that but the program is not close to being elite and no, I’m not implying that Nebraska should always win the national championship or go 60-3 during each five-year stretch (which happened from 1993-1997). The pessimists think it impossible to ever compete for championships in Lincoln. They are wrong. If it happened before, it can happen again and don’t feed me this nonsense of “different times.”
For Nebraska, 9-10 win seasons have always been the minimum standard. Well, from 1961 forward. If you maintain that level you'll get the occasional year or years where good defense coincides with good offense. I would think if 9-10 win seasons are the minimal standard over the course of decade having those two coincide more often would be logical because success breeds success and that means more success in recruiting.
That said, being a fan of the Huskers today was very frustrating. I should have stayed in bed. Now I am tired and frustrated.
I'm not 100% convinced that Pelini is the guy that will lead us back to a national title game, because I'm no fortune teller. However, I’m not willing to suffer through one or two more Bill Callahans and sit at home in December and January wishing I could watch my Huskers play in a bowl game.
As for the lack of poise, Pelini constantly preaches how important “the process” is but routinely losing poise is a huge reason why this team routinely comes up short in key games. In that respect, the Huskers have become the Dallas Cowboys of college football, great past but not much of a recent one.
Showing posts with label Capital One Bowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Capital One Bowl. Show all posts
Monday, January 2, 2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Ecomonic times need to be considered in bowl game ticket sales
According to a Lincoln Journal Star report on Monday morning, the Nebraska athletic department had sold 8,100 Capital One Bowl tickets out of its 12,500-ticket allotment.
The secondary market is probably taking a toll on UNL sales, among other reasons (prices of airline tickets, hotels, rental cars, etc.).
Ticket sales have slowed considerably since the first-day rush. The Husker athletic department sold about 6,500 tickets on Dec. 5; the day after the bowl matchup was announced.
South Carolina has sold about 10,000 tickets from its allotment, according to a school spokesman.
In reading that brief bit of information, I could only hearken back to the only two Husker bowl games I went to in person. For the record, I am a native of Northern California (Napa, CA to be exact), who graduated the University of Nebraska in 1997 with a BA in journalism. I moved back home in 1998 and have been to five Nebraska football games in person (1998 at California, 2000 Fiesta Bowl vs. Tennessee, 2001 vs. TCU in Lincoln, 2007 Cotton Bowl vs. Auburn and 2008 vs. Western Michigan in Lincoln).
For the first three games, I was single. For the last two, I was married. I went to the Cotton Bowl because at the time I viewed it as my last chance to go to a Husker game in person before my first child was born. Juliette was born in March 2007. Little did I know that the 2007 season would bring the horrendous wreckage of the end of the Bill Callahan years. Fast forward to August 2008 with my wife and me expecting twins (now 3-year old Tommy and Danielle), I decided, “Well, I haven’t been back to Lincoln in seven years and we have the start of the Bo Pelini era. Maybe I’ll buy tickets to see us play Western Michigan. I’ll be a while before I can travel to a Husker game.”
When you factor in game tickets, plane tickets, hotels, food and other entertainment, you’re looking at a trip that gets over one thousand dollars.
You see, us Husker fans are a very self-congratulatory lot about being the classiest and travelling well. However, does going to the game and buying tickets make you any more diehard fan than one who watches the game at home or a watering hole?
Another thing you have to take into account is the present state of the economy. I know that’s an oversimplification but it’s true. We are facing unprecedented lows in the United States, at least anyone of my generation (39 years old). You have people losing their homes, losing their jobs and living on reduced wages. Even if you don’t have these issues, bills are not going away.
I remember the aforementioned Cotton Bowl trip where tickets were $90 a piece and that was on the cheap end. The question then becomes, where do you draw the line? Granted, we are all going to budget some money for entertainment whether we have jobs or families or otherwise.
So before anyone casts aspersions about ticket sales, just remember the times we face.
The secondary market is probably taking a toll on UNL sales, among other reasons (prices of airline tickets, hotels, rental cars, etc.).
Ticket sales have slowed considerably since the first-day rush. The Husker athletic department sold about 6,500 tickets on Dec. 5; the day after the bowl matchup was announced.
South Carolina has sold about 10,000 tickets from its allotment, according to a school spokesman.
In reading that brief bit of information, I could only hearken back to the only two Husker bowl games I went to in person. For the record, I am a native of Northern California (Napa, CA to be exact), who graduated the University of Nebraska in 1997 with a BA in journalism. I moved back home in 1998 and have been to five Nebraska football games in person (1998 at California, 2000 Fiesta Bowl vs. Tennessee, 2001 vs. TCU in Lincoln, 2007 Cotton Bowl vs. Auburn and 2008 vs. Western Michigan in Lincoln).
For the first three games, I was single. For the last two, I was married. I went to the Cotton Bowl because at the time I viewed it as my last chance to go to a Husker game in person before my first child was born. Juliette was born in March 2007. Little did I know that the 2007 season would bring the horrendous wreckage of the end of the Bill Callahan years. Fast forward to August 2008 with my wife and me expecting twins (now 3-year old Tommy and Danielle), I decided, “Well, I haven’t been back to Lincoln in seven years and we have the start of the Bo Pelini era. Maybe I’ll buy tickets to see us play Western Michigan. I’ll be a while before I can travel to a Husker game.”
When you factor in game tickets, plane tickets, hotels, food and other entertainment, you’re looking at a trip that gets over one thousand dollars.
You see, us Husker fans are a very self-congratulatory lot about being the classiest and travelling well. However, does going to the game and buying tickets make you any more diehard fan than one who watches the game at home or a watering hole?
Another thing you have to take into account is the present state of the economy. I know that’s an oversimplification but it’s true. We are facing unprecedented lows in the United States, at least anyone of my generation (39 years old). You have people losing their homes, losing their jobs and living on reduced wages. Even if you don’t have these issues, bills are not going away.
I remember the aforementioned Cotton Bowl trip where tickets were $90 a piece and that was on the cheap end. The question then becomes, where do you draw the line? Granted, we are all going to budget some money for entertainment whether we have jobs or families or otherwise.
So before anyone casts aspersions about ticket sales, just remember the times we face.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Perceived SEC dominance over Big Ten exaggerated
Just two days before Nebraska defeated Iowa 20-7 in the regular season finale on Black Friday, I addressed how the Huskers needed to finish the season strong.
Keep in mind, five days earlier the Huskers got their doors blown off in a 45-17 loss at Michigan to fall to 8-3. That loss eliminated any chance Nebraska had at winning the Big Ten Legends Division.
In the waning moments of that loss, ESPN commentator/turned Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said something to the effect of “don’t underestimate Nebraska’s ability to finish strong and if they do that it will help recruiting.”
That statement I find somewhat debatable because by the time bowl games come around, a high school kid has generally decided where he’s going. Coaching staff changes might alter a kid’s decision (see Blaine Gabbert in 2007). Gabbert was heavily courted by former Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan’s staff. Gabbert verbally committed to Nebraska initially but after Callahan was fired, he went to Missouri instead. That decision set off a vitriol of responses from a segment of Husker fans. Some would argue that a youngster commits “to a program not a coach.” That statement might be true in theory but is also laughable because high school seniors are still at an impressionable age; they develop a rapport with the coaching staff that actively recruits them.
Lincoln Journal Star columnist Steve Sipple wrote a column on Saturday stating the importance of Nebraska beating South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl for a different reason: to help alter the perception that the Southeastern Conference is vastly superior to the Big Ten. I would agree with Sipple that it’s important to finish the season strong, just not necessarily for the reason he suggests.
The SEC is going to win its sixth straight BCS championship given the fact that the game pits LSU against Alabama. Therefore, Nebraska can beat South Carolina by 50 or more points but the influential national media types are still going to kiss the collective rear ends of the SEC.
However, the idea of SEC speed beats Big Ten brawn is overstated. It’s as if the SEC invented football and is the only place in the United States where fast athletes exist.
The SEC is 42-30 all-time in bowl matchups against the Big Ten, which is not the huge edge some would have you believe when you factor in 72 games. Nebraska is 12-5 all-time against the SEC in bowl games. However, those two numbers are irrelevant when trying to extrapolate the outcome of the Capital One Bowl.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the perception of the SEC being vastly superior to the Big Ten is because Ohio State got beat handily in consecutive title games, 41-14 to Florida in 2006 and 38-24 to LSU in 2007. Last season, the SEC went 3-0 against the Big Ten in bowl games (Alabama thumped Michigan State 49-7; Mississippi State hammered Michigan 52-14; Florida defeated Penn State 37-24). However, since the BCS era began, the SEC’s head-to-head advantage in bowl games is only a slight 18-16.
Even beyond the argument of Nebraska playing for a greater cause given that it just finished its first regular season in the Big Ten, finishing strong is very important. Remember the saying, “You’re only as good as your last game?” Think about it for just a moment, the Huskers went 10-4 in both 2009 and 2010 but the perception of those two seasons could not be more opposite.
In 2009, the Huskers were 4-3 at one point but won six of their last seven games including a season-ending 33-0 Holiday Bowl drubbing over Arizona. In 2010, the Huskers started the season 5-0 and were a Top Five team but went 5-4 the rest of the way including a season-ending run of three losses in the final four games. The last game was an uninspired 19-7 loss to Washington.
In 2005 and 2008, Nebraska was 5-4 at one point. In 2005, the Huskers closed the season with three straight wins including a 32-28 Alamo Bowl win over Michigan. That was what most people remember as the high point of the Bill Callahan era. In 2008, which was the first of the Bo Pelini era, Nebraska finished the season with four straight wins including a season-ending 26-21 Gator Bowl win over Clemson.
In 2000 and 2001, Nebraska finished 11-2 but the legacy of those two seasons could not be more opposite. In 2000, the Huskers finished the season with a 66-17 win over Northwestern. In 2001, Nebraska was 11-0 but finished the season with back-to-back embarrassing losses to Colorado (62-36) and Miami (37-14).
Point being, the last game is the one you often remember most. From 1987-1993, Nebraska never had a record that was worse than 9-3. However, every one of those seasons ended with a loss in its bowl game.
Considering that Nebraska entered its maiden voyage in the Big Ten Conference with visions of a conference title, the season will not be viewed as an overwhelming success even if the team wins its last two games and goes 10-3. There was no conference title. Heck, there wasn’t even a Legends Division title.
So for the Huskers, the outcome of the Capital One Bowl is an issue of “how do you want the season to be perceived?” Losing the bowl game and going 9-4 would classify as the minimum of what Nebraska should achieve. However, beating South Carolina and going 10-3, the season could at least be considered a borderline success.
College football is so much different from every other sport. I know the cynics would bemoan the fact that there is no playoff system. However, the benefit of having the current system is that a team can win its bowl game and whether its final record is 12-2 or 8-5 can still, on some level, feel good about its season.
In the NFL, however, it is not uncommon for a team to go 13-3 and lose in the first round of the playoffs. In which case, the season goes from being a success to a colossal failure.
Granted, the NFL is such where only one team is going to end its season victoriously and feel good (the Super Bowl champion) but while 13-3 is an impressive record, a team with that mark should at minimum reach the conference title game.
Point being, if the Huskers want the season to be viewed as even a borderline success, beating South Carolina is important regardless of whether the SEC gets its rear end kissed by the media.
Keep in mind, five days earlier the Huskers got their doors blown off in a 45-17 loss at Michigan to fall to 8-3. That loss eliminated any chance Nebraska had at winning the Big Ten Legends Division.
In the waning moments of that loss, ESPN commentator/turned Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said something to the effect of “don’t underestimate Nebraska’s ability to finish strong and if they do that it will help recruiting.”
That statement I find somewhat debatable because by the time bowl games come around, a high school kid has generally decided where he’s going. Coaching staff changes might alter a kid’s decision (see Blaine Gabbert in 2007). Gabbert was heavily courted by former Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan’s staff. Gabbert verbally committed to Nebraska initially but after Callahan was fired, he went to Missouri instead. That decision set off a vitriol of responses from a segment of Husker fans. Some would argue that a youngster commits “to a program not a coach.” That statement might be true in theory but is also laughable because high school seniors are still at an impressionable age; they develop a rapport with the coaching staff that actively recruits them.
Lincoln Journal Star columnist Steve Sipple wrote a column on Saturday stating the importance of Nebraska beating South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl for a different reason: to help alter the perception that the Southeastern Conference is vastly superior to the Big Ten. I would agree with Sipple that it’s important to finish the season strong, just not necessarily for the reason he suggests.
The SEC is going to win its sixth straight BCS championship given the fact that the game pits LSU against Alabama. Therefore, Nebraska can beat South Carolina by 50 or more points but the influential national media types are still going to kiss the collective rear ends of the SEC.
However, the idea of SEC speed beats Big Ten brawn is overstated. It’s as if the SEC invented football and is the only place in the United States where fast athletes exist.
The SEC is 42-30 all-time in bowl matchups against the Big Ten, which is not the huge edge some would have you believe when you factor in 72 games. Nebraska is 12-5 all-time against the SEC in bowl games. However, those two numbers are irrelevant when trying to extrapolate the outcome of the Capital One Bowl.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the perception of the SEC being vastly superior to the Big Ten is because Ohio State got beat handily in consecutive title games, 41-14 to Florida in 2006 and 38-24 to LSU in 2007. Last season, the SEC went 3-0 against the Big Ten in bowl games (Alabama thumped Michigan State 49-7; Mississippi State hammered Michigan 52-14; Florida defeated Penn State 37-24). However, since the BCS era began, the SEC’s head-to-head advantage in bowl games is only a slight 18-16.
Even beyond the argument of Nebraska playing for a greater cause given that it just finished its first regular season in the Big Ten, finishing strong is very important. Remember the saying, “You’re only as good as your last game?” Think about it for just a moment, the Huskers went 10-4 in both 2009 and 2010 but the perception of those two seasons could not be more opposite.
In 2009, the Huskers were 4-3 at one point but won six of their last seven games including a season-ending 33-0 Holiday Bowl drubbing over Arizona. In 2010, the Huskers started the season 5-0 and were a Top Five team but went 5-4 the rest of the way including a season-ending run of three losses in the final four games. The last game was an uninspired 19-7 loss to Washington.
In 2005 and 2008, Nebraska was 5-4 at one point. In 2005, the Huskers closed the season with three straight wins including a 32-28 Alamo Bowl win over Michigan. That was what most people remember as the high point of the Bill Callahan era. In 2008, which was the first of the Bo Pelini era, Nebraska finished the season with four straight wins including a season-ending 26-21 Gator Bowl win over Clemson.
In 2000 and 2001, Nebraska finished 11-2 but the legacy of those two seasons could not be more opposite. In 2000, the Huskers finished the season with a 66-17 win over Northwestern. In 2001, Nebraska was 11-0 but finished the season with back-to-back embarrassing losses to Colorado (62-36) and Miami (37-14).
Point being, the last game is the one you often remember most. From 1987-1993, Nebraska never had a record that was worse than 9-3. However, every one of those seasons ended with a loss in its bowl game.
Considering that Nebraska entered its maiden voyage in the Big Ten Conference with visions of a conference title, the season will not be viewed as an overwhelming success even if the team wins its last two games and goes 10-3. There was no conference title. Heck, there wasn’t even a Legends Division title.
So for the Huskers, the outcome of the Capital One Bowl is an issue of “how do you want the season to be perceived?” Losing the bowl game and going 9-4 would classify as the minimum of what Nebraska should achieve. However, beating South Carolina and going 10-3, the season could at least be considered a borderline success.
College football is so much different from every other sport. I know the cynics would bemoan the fact that there is no playoff system. However, the benefit of having the current system is that a team can win its bowl game and whether its final record is 12-2 or 8-5 can still, on some level, feel good about its season.
In the NFL, however, it is not uncommon for a team to go 13-3 and lose in the first round of the playoffs. In which case, the season goes from being a success to a colossal failure.
Granted, the NFL is such where only one team is going to end its season victoriously and feel good (the Super Bowl champion) but while 13-3 is an impressive record, a team with that mark should at minimum reach the conference title game.
Point being, if the Huskers want the season to be viewed as even a borderline success, beating South Carolina is important regardless of whether the SEC gets its rear end kissed by the media.
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