To date myself, the first game I have memories of is the 1992 Orange Bowl, following the 1991 season, where Miami shutout Nebraska 22-0, but it really wasn’t until Byron Bennett’s 45 yard field goal hooked left versus Florida State that I understood the emotions that came with a heartbreaking defeat. I could sense the frustrations and disappointment of my family, especially my dad at the time. It was like there was a 10-foot hurdle in the way and no pole to vault the program, hell, the state, to reach its ultimate goal. Anything short of winning a national championship in football was not good enough. I consider myself fortunate to have been introduced to Husker football at the very beginning of an incredible streak of success. The next 7 years yielded 3 national titles and national championship games 4 appearances. Multiple conference championships, incredible win percentages, great athletes, great coaches. A loss would ruin your week, because you knew the perfect season, the ultimate goal, was unreachable.
I joined this board the day we were introduced to Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass and celebrated a great win over a tough OU squad, with many of you. We were almost immediately met with the beginning of the end in Boulder, and watched the board melt down similarly to how my dad would melt down to losing to Florida State or Miami. 23 years here has been quite the ride. Through each of the 6 head coaches in that time frame, at some point there was always some level of HOPE and OPTIMISM, but at the same time, the bar of success continued to drop. What was once “National Championship or Bust” became the desire to not get left in the dust by Texas and Oklahoma, then it was maintaining 9 win seasons, then the bowl streak. What was once a national power came crashing down and cannot find its identity. The program has ridiculous amounts of fan support and wants to be a blueblood, but cannot even churn out mediocre results at this point. Even when we think we have an idea of what piece of the puzzle is missing, we are smacked in the face with issues in other areas holding the program back.
In 2009, NU was arguably a QB away from making a serious run at a BCS bowl. In 2023, NU was arguably a QB away from 9 or 10 wins. Flash forward a year… we landed the QB of our dreams, yet we are on the verge of extending our streak of losing seasons. “The more things change…” This has become a broken record, going on decades now. What is the programs identity? Not a single conference championship this millennium and no bowl games in two coaching cycles isn’t going to sell a tired fanbase going forward. The younger generation only has stories and YouTube to try and understand that the program was at the peak of the college football world at one point. The generations that lived through the 70s, 80s, and 90s have undoubtedly reached a different level of tired-purgatory. We know the history. We lived the history. We just long for a taste of what things once were. Any semblance at all, but it feels like it’s never going to happen. These are dark times. Have we reached a fork in the road as a fanbase? How will the program continue to garner support with continued failures and an exhausted fanbase?
Winning one of the final two games feels more important than ever. It won’t remove all feelings of fan fatigue, but it would show that the program is able to jump a hurdle and is ready to raise the bar for once, as opposed to further lowering it.
I’m not sure where I was going with this, other than say I do come across negative at times because I’m frustrated and I truly just want to program to get back on a winning track. Win a game that matters.