Taking off my fedora, for this one. Going with an up-front take on things, rather than the neo-noire story.
Recent events have forced me to really assess where I stand on a particular issue, here at Nebraska. Regarding the football program, anyway. I might have some issues with some of the research being done by the Agronomy Department, but no-one else cares about that, so why should I?
Specifically, I refer to the recent issues concerning Head Coach Bo Pelini and his stewardship of the football program. I might bounce all over the place, so hook up your Joyce Jackets, since this will flow wherever my consciousness' stream takes me.
My initial reaction to the now infamous rant from two years ago was that Bo will get into trouble for...well...being right. Bo got pissed at a group of fans who had bailed on the team. His team. His troops. Those same fans that, while Bo was being secretly taped by some d-bag with an axe to grind, were out reveling in the reflected glory of the greatest comeback in Nebraska history. I'm sure there were many of those cats who were using the story of those fourth quarter scores to score, themselves.
Add in the fact that some fan grabbed Bo as he was heading back to the locker room, which I will go out on a limb and submit that act created a bit of an adrenaline surge for the coach and I challenge anyone to keep their cool in that situation. I have a hard time imagining that anyone would have gone through all that, gone back to the office, brewed up a cuppa, and voiced their displeasure with a reserved, 'My, that WAS exciting, hmmm?'
Some would say that is part of the problem with Bo. He is a crass, vulgar man, who has no business being the 'face' of the University and guiding young men through life. Ok, Ward Cleaver, got a ticket for you, destination, reality. Football coaches swear. All right, a vast majority of football coaches swear. A good chunk of the players swear. Shocking, eh? A sizable chunk of the population in general swear. I don't have the numbers right here, but I'd be willing to put money on the idea that better than half of us have dropped a few f-bombs, from time to time. Besides, the swearing wasn't really the issue now, was it?
Was the issue that Bo 'dissed' Tommie Frazier? How dare he! Tommie was one of the greatest players in Husker History. Remember that time he took a hit from a Colorado linebacker and still delivered a pass to Ahman Green for a 30-yard gain? How about that time he ran over and around and through the entire Florida defense in the Fiesta Bowl? How about the time a tornado was heading for Downtown Lincoln and Tommie ran out to the end of 'O' Street and gave it a good, hard stare until it changed direction?
My point is that Frazier was an excellent player, a good leader whose style rubbed some dudes the wrong way. A lot of his team-mates considered him...well...a dick. To his credit he ran the offense in what may have been the greatest four-year run in the history of college football. Shhh, Alabama. His qualifications in the coaching a personnel areas leave a lot to be desired. Here, we had a guy calling for the heads of the entire defensive coaching staff, who got fired from Doane College.
Bo kinda dropped the ball, there, telling Tommie that 'We don't need him'. Shock! Gasp! How dare He? My advice to Bo would have been to tell Tommie that 'I'll take that under advisement', which is lawyerese for 'fuck off', but makes for a great sound bite. That really wasn't the issue, either.
The issue, once you get through all the sturm und drang, is the sole measure of success at dear old Nebraska U. Winning. That's right, winning. The anti-Bo faction got another bullet for the gun after the second-half meltdown against UCLA. Not another blowout. Not another collapse. Not on national TV. Yep. It happened. It's all right there for anyone to see.
The team that looked so good in their natty black unis in the first half, looked dazed and confused in the second. Defense is taking the brunt of this, but the offense played awful, as well. Not an isolated incident. Remember The B1G championship, last year? Ohio State? Wisconsin two years ago. Blowouts. All of them. And with coach being a defensive genius, is intolerable. Osborne never got blown out like that.
Oops. There I went. I mentioned the Tomfather. I dig Tom. I always have. You got to give props to a guy who could put up with the pressures of being the head coach of the ravenous monster that is Husker Football for 25 years without ever going just completely batshit crazy. Chew that gum a little harder, Tom.
Tom chewed and chewed through the first nine years of his career before winning an outright conference title--the same year he started 1-2 with losses to unranked Iowa and to Penn State at home. He chewed his way through fourth quarter collapses against Colorado in 1990, up 12-0 going into the fourth quarter, 12-27 final; against Washington, 21-9 heading into the fourth, 21-36 final; both in Lincoln. He chewed his way through successive bowl losses. 7 of them, in fact. Long after he had been established in the program. He chewed and chewed through Oklahoma. Rivalry? Really? From 1973-1988, when Barry Switzer got the pink slip because so many of his players had traded crimson jerseys for orange jump suits, Osborne won 5 and lost 12. Four of those losses by 'blowouts', four by 'heartbreakers'.
Osborne took over a program that had won two straight national championships and had gone 41-4-3, in the previous four years, largely by way of his offense. Bo took over a program that had gone 27-22 in the previous four years, and yet he is constantly being harangued for not being as good as Osborne.
I say give Bo as many losses as it took Tom to win a National Championship. That number is 50.
Bo gets a lot of criticism for what I claim is an urban legend. He gets hammered every time the team gives up an obscene amount of yards because his 'genius' was exposed. I concur that the reason Osborne hired him, was to help fix the defense. I can not recall anyone in a position of authority or expertise ever calling him a 'genius', and I will challenge anyone to post an article where Bo made that claim of himself.
Huskerfan also makes an odd claim, frequently, that they don't mind the occasional loss, but the blowouts have to stop, Really? You're telling me that if Nebraska went 6-6, but all six losses were by a field goal or less, then you'd be satisfied? Not buying it.
What does Bo need to do to win over the naysayers? Take a page from the Al Davis book of life. 'Just win, baby.' Winning makes it all troubles go away. Give up 600 yards in a 52-48 shootout? No one cares if you've got the 52. Win a game because the defense returns a fumble for the game-winning score? Bonus, as long as game-winning is the operative phrase. This is a pivotal year for Bo, and he needs to just win, Baby.
There are eight games left on the schedule. Four that Nebraska should win (Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Purdue). Two that they should win, barring silly mistakes, such as penalties and turnovers (Michigan State, whose offense can't get out of its own way; and Penn State, who lost at home to Central Florida). That leaves just two 'scary' games; at Michigan, just because it is in Ann Arbor. Wolverhampton has struggled the last two weeks against lesser opponents. Northwestern, in Lincoln is scary, because they run the offense that has given Pooch fits for the last two years, and they run it well.
Having said that, all of those games are winnable. Lets just say, for fun, that Nebraska runs the table, and gets into a close shootout with Wisconsin or OSU for the B1G championship. Let's say NU wins that and gets to go back out to L.A. for the Rose Bowl, where they get a re-match with UCLA, since Oregon will be in the National Championship game. I submit that a lot of the anti-Bo faction will climb down. Why? Because he's winning, and that's all that really matters now, isn't it?
Of course, if that scenario plays out, combined with a Rose Bowl win, I could see Bo taking a trip to, I don't know, let's say Jacksonville or Oakland, for spots that come open in January. $9 Million for an NFL team to buy out the contract? Small potatoes.
Go Big Red.
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