Husker Despair

[Clevinger]

For 23 years I always was able to remain optimistic, feeling like success was just around the corner.

It may still be, but I have lost that optimism. I continue to watch our games, but I have reached a point this year where it feels like a chore. I never expect anything good to happen in a season anymore.

It feels like we have been rowing in circles for decades.

Rhule had always shown improvement by year two. It feels like something is seriously wrong with our program. If it isn’t cursed, I lack a better explanation.

How does a program with our resources and fan support have one of the longest, most embarrassing streaks of seasons without even a bowl?

When did 6 wins become an insurmountable goal? That is a low f***ing bar.

***********************
READ THIS post from Pennsyhusker which is way too good to be buried in this thread:

“I have been following Husker football since 1965. I was at the game of the century with my dad in Norman in 1971. Grew up in Lincoln 5 miles from the stadium. Sold coke in the stands as a teenager. Climbed the fence with my buddies and watched every home game 70-72 from under the end zone seats. Been to countless away games and bowl games. Live in PA but have made it back for 2 home games every year since 94.

And I am about ready to say f$ck it as well to the whole shabang. I have lots better things to do with my time on Fall Saturdays and the joy is gone. I watched the game yesterday but only out of a morbid curiosity to see how badly we would lose. Hung in until the end and walked away utterly demoralized.
And if a long time fan who lived through the glory years can feel this way I can only imagine how apathetic many younger fans must be getting. The administration at NU had better figure out how to fix this sooner rather than later or else our wonderfully renovated stadium will stand half empty or worse on game days soon.
This sentiment is why I have been so impatient with Rhule. I just have a sense that unless something drastic is done this whole thing called Husker football is going to die. And sooner rather than later.”

 

[BugsAreQualityProtein]

We keep hiring .500 coaches at expect .800 results.

 

[B1G RED RULES]

We don’t like to admit it, but TO had a window of opportunity that he fully exploited and it worked wonders. Boyd Epply, recruiting nasty players, using partial qualifiers, huge walk on program with steroids, and straightforward tough ass coaching and culture.

TO retiring had nothing to do with his heart or stress. He jumped into a more stressful job right after that being a congressman. He saw the writing on the wall and all the advantages that he was able to exploit were either being taken away or other programs had caught up. He did the Jerry Seinfeld and went out on top.

All other fan bases kept saying that when TO left, we would not be a good program again and unfortunately they have been correct. As others pointed out, we have become the new Minnesota and I don’t expect that to change.

 

[phoenix4nu]

One constant the past eight years has been poor quarterback play. This year is not an exception.

 

[Clevinger]

We keep hiring .500 coaches at expect .800 results.

Honestly, our only complete head scratcher was Mike Riley. Every other guy we hired was at least a respectable/reasonable hire who had had coaching success.

Frost was the hot coach that cycle and years later went limping out of the state, reputation ruined.

Rhule can turn around Temple and post-scandal Baylor, but not Nebraska???

FML. 🤦‍♂️

 

[Dean Pope]

We keep hiring .500 coaches at expect .800 results.

We're also experiencing a new reality. There's a lot of decent football teams, well coached in that middle tier of the conference. Minnesota is having a hell of a year right now, but they're still only 4-3 and tied for 6th place in the conference. Look at the teams above us in the standings, Michigan, Wisconsin, USC, UCLA, Washington-- those are some name schools right there and the highest one on that list, Washington, is in 8th place.

 

[Clevinger]

We don’t like to admit it, but TO had a window of opportunity that he fully exploited and it worked wonders. Boyd Epply, recruiting nasty players, using partial qualifiers, huge walk on program with steroids, and straightforward tough ass coaching and culture.

TO retiring had nothing to do with his heart or stress. He jumped into a more stressful job right after that being a congressman. He saw the writing on the wall and all the advantages that he was able to exploit were either being taken away or other programs had caught up. He did the Jerry Seinfeld and went out on top.

All other fan bases kept saying that when TO left, we would not be a good program again and unfortunately they have been correct. As others pointed out, we have become the new Minnesota and I don’t expect that to change.

While I agree stars aligned for Devaney and Osborne in some ways, I don’t think anyone had caught the rocket ship Osborne was riding in 1997.

I think if Osborne had stayed we would have won another title in 1999 at least.

 

[scarletred]

The reason why Rhule isn’t successful in his 2nd year is he made a bad hire as at offensive coordinator and a bad hire for special teams and he is starting a true freshman in year 2..

 

[Clevinger]

The reason why Rhule isn’t successful in his 2nd year is he made a bad hire as at offensive coordinator and a bad hire for special teams and he is starting a true freshman in year 2..

I thought he was a great hire and still support the guy. Our face plant this year was alarming though, especially after almost starting 6-0.

 

[Landomatic]

The reason why Rhule isn’t successful in his 2nd year is he made a bad hire as at offensive coordinator and a bad hire for special teams and he is starting a true freshman in year 2..

You left off wide receiver and o-line hires. That's a pretty long list of bad decisions. Not to mention his repeated in game blunders as a coach.

 

[scarletred]

I thought he was a great hire and still support the guy. Our face plant this year was alarming though, especially after almost starting 6-0.

You understand I meant Satterfield right.

 

[Baxter48]

One constant the past eight years has been poor quarterback play. This year is not an exception.

Throw in 3rd down defense has been abysmal

 

[GaRed]

Every post above had some truths and good points. This isn't just one year, position, coach, recruiting, etc. We have had a bad combination of ineptitude in key areas seemingly every year. We needed to hire a winning coach, bring in a veteran qb, have a competent offensive coordinator, went to the portal for better lineman and skill positions for starters. I don't think Rhule is a bad coach , just not a good one. He like Frost , has sold his soul for his QB. DR needs to see pine, we all know it. I knew after Rutgers they had figured out how to get in his head. So it's the woulda, shoulda, coulda, and Flintstones language , Yeah but, Yeah but, . We can't hire coach's that avoid the obvious. So here we are. Our annual beating by Wisconsin and Iowa to look forward too. No thanks. He has lots of things to fix in the off season and if he doesn't win next year , cut his sorry ass lose.

 

[SickOfPractice]

At this point it worries me Rhule is going to play it out as previous coaches have done here - by sticking with his chosen-one QB and some questionable coaches. I hope I'm wrong. Husker Nation is pretty tired of this Groundhog Day scenario.

 

[scarletred]

You left off wide receiver and o-line hires. That's a pretty long list of bad decisions. Not to mention his repeated in game blunders as a coach.

Yea, McGuire hasn’t impressed either… As far as the line I’m not so sure it’s our deficiency with some of the veteran lineman except for Scott.

 

[huskerfan66]

Here's what very well could happen in the not so distant future.

NU proceeds with stadium upgrades and puts in a $2000 per seat requirement.

You thought the attendance at the coliseum was embarrassing for usc? Could happen here if they don't put a better product on the field. No way I'm shelling out 2 grand plus the price of tickets to continue watching this. A lot easier, cheaper and less frustrating to watch my TV from recliner. That way after the first qtr can determine if I'll continue watching or make other plans for the 2nd half.

Never thought I'd sink into this funk except in a dream of an alternative universe. Where's the DeLorean time machine??

 

[scarletred]

Here's what very well could happen in the not so distant future.

NU proceeds with stadium upgrades and puts in a $2000 per seat requirement.

You thought the attendance at the coliseum was embarrassing for usc? Could happen here if they don't put a better product on the field. No way I'm shelling out 2 grand plus the price of tickets to continue watching this. A lot easier, cheaper and less frustrating to watch my TV from recliner. That way after the first qtr can determine if I'll continue watching or make other plans for the 2nd half.

Never thought I'd sink into this funk except in a dream of an alternative universe. Where's the DeLorean time machine??

I think the premo seats between the 30’s are more than 2,000 per seat.
I could be mistaken but my relative’s have them in the southeast end zone..

 

[Pennsyhusker]

I think the OP is making a very important point. I have been following Husker football since 1965. I was at the game of the century with my dad in Norman in 1971. Grew up in Lincoln 5 miles from the stadium. Sold coke in the stands as a teenager. Climbed the fence with my buddies and watched every home game 70-72 from under the end zone seats. Been to countless away games and bowl games. Live in PA but have made it back for 2 home games every year since 94.

And I am about ready to say f$ck it as well to the whole shabang. I have lots better things to do with my time on Fall Saturdays and the joy is gone. I watched the game yesterday but only out of a morbid curiosity to see how badly we would lose. Hung in until the end and walked away utterly demoralized.
And if a long time fan who lived through the glory years can feel this way I can only imagine how apathetic many younger fans must be getting. The administration at NU had better figure out how to fix this sooner rather than later or else our wonderfully renovated stadium will stand half empty or worse on game days soon.
This sentiment is why I have been so impatient with Rhule. I just have a sense that unless something drastic is done this whole thing called Husker football is going to die. And sooner rather than later.

 

[Joedaly]

Looking at McGuire's wikipedia page, there is no way he should have been hired. He had no coaching experience or even played WR. He was just an analyst and son of a coach. And our running backs coach wikipedia is almost empty. The only thing is that he played a few snaps at Rutgers and apparently that was enough for Rhule as well. We need to be hiring a veteran's staff instead of helping out old friends find their first job.

 

[scarletred]

I think the OP is making a very important point. I have been following Husker football since 1965. I was at the game of the century with my dad in Norman in 1971. Grew up in Lincoln 5 miles from the stadium. Sold coke in the stands as a teenager. Climbed the fence with my buddies and watched every home game 70-72 from under the end zone seats. Been to countless away games and bowl games. Live in PA but have made it back for 2 home games every year since 94.

And I am about ready to say f$ck it as well to the whole shabang. I have lots better things to do with my time on Fall Saturdays and the joy is gone. I watched the game yesterday but only out of a morbid curiosity to see how badly we would lose. Hung in until the end and walked away utterly demoralized.
And if a long time fan who lived through the glory years can feel this way I can only imagine how apathetic many younger fans must be getting. The administration at NU had better figure out how to fix this sooner rather than later or else our wonderfully renovated stadium will stand half empty or worse on game days soon.
This sentiment is why I have been so impatient with Rhule. I just have a sense that unless something drastic is done this whole thing called Husker football is going to die. And sooner rather than later.

Hang in there Pennsy.
“We all stick together in all kinds of weather”

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Hang in there Pennsy.
“We all stick together in all kinds of weather”

Trying!

 

[Clevinger]

Here's what very well could happen in the not so distant future.

NU proceeds with stadium upgrades and puts in a $2000 per seat requirement.

You thought the attendance at the coliseum was embarrassing for usc? Could happen here if they don't put a better product on the field. No way I'm shelling out 2 grand plus the price of tickets to continue watching this. A lot easier, cheaper and less frustrating to watch my TV from recliner. That way after the first qtr can determine if I'll continue watching or make other plans for the 2nd half.

Never thought I'd sink into this funk except in a dream of an alternative universe. Where's the DeLorean time machine??

Years past people would be like, “You are such a bad fan” for a post like this, but I agree.

I stopped watching Indiana to go do yard work. I was just like, “F this.” Wife was surprised: “Why aren’t you watching?” She doesn’t care about football, but me not watching stood out to her.

 

[19Football19]

For 23 years I always was able to remain optimistic, feeling like success was just around the corner.

It may still be, but I have lost that optimism. I continue to watch our games, but I have reached a point this year where it feels like a chore. I never expect anything good to happen in a season anymore.

It feels like we have been rowing in circles for decades.

Rhule had always shown improvement by year two. It feels like something is seriously wrong with our program. If it isn’t cursed, I lack a better explanation.

How does a program with our resources and fan support have one of the longest, most embarrassing streaks of seasons without even a bowl?

When did 6 wins become an insurmountable goal? That is a low f***ing bar.

6 wins with a cupcake schedule like normal. We’ve won 2 games in the Big and might get to 4. Let that sink in. With an all world QB that we’ll never be able to recruit again. That’s how low is it. Imagine if DR wasn’t here. The moral would be way lower.

 

[Clevinger]

I think the OP is making a very important point. I have been following Husker football since 1965. I was at the game of the century with my dad in Norman in 1971. Grew up in Lincoln 5 miles from the stadium. Sold coke in the stands as a teenager. Climbed the fence with my buddies and watched every home game 70-72 from under the end zone seats. Been to countless away games and bowl games. Live in PA but have made it back for 2 home games every year since 94.

And I am about ready to say f$ck it as well to the whole shabang. I have lots better things to do with my time on Fall Saturdays and the joy is gone. I watched the game yesterday but only out of a morbid curiosity to see how badly we would lose. Hung in until the end and walked away utterly demoralized.
And if a long time fan who lived through the glory years can feel this way I can only imagine how apathetic many younger fans must be getting. The administration at NU had better figure out how to fix this sooner rather than later or else our wonderfully renovated stadium will stand half empty or worse on game days soon.
This sentiment is why I have been so impatient with Rhule. I just have a sense that unless something drastic is done this whole thing called Husker football is going to die. And sooner rather than later.

This post is WAY too good to be buried in the thread. Will edit my first post

In the past there was always something fixable to point to until the last coaches:

Solich: bad recruiting
Callahan: bad dc
Pelini: bad recruiting, insane
Riley: Crap hire
Frost: ???
Rhule: ???

People keep saying we aren’t cursed, but if we aren’t we have remarkably similar results again and again with different staff and players.

Our fans are BURNED OUT!

 

[Clevinger]

I think the OP is making a very important point. I have been following Husker football since 1965. I was at the game of the century with my dad in Norman in 1971. Grew up in Lincoln 5 miles from the stadium. Sold coke in the stands as a teenager. Climbed the fence with my buddies and watched every home game 70-72 from under the end zone seats. Been to countless away games and bowl games. Live in PA but have made it back for 2 home games every year since 94.

And I am about ready to say f$ck it as well to the whole shabang. I have lots better things to do with my time on Fall Saturdays and the joy is gone. I watched the game yesterday but only out of a morbid curiosity to see how badly we would lose. Hung in until the end and walked away utterly demoralized.
And if a long time fan who lived through the glory years can feel this way I can only imagine how apathetic many younger fans must be getting. The administration at NU had better figure out how to fix this sooner rather than later or else our wonderfully renovated stadium will stand half empty or worse on game days soon.
This sentiment is why I have been so impatient with Rhule. I just have a sense that unless something drastic is done this whole thing called Husker football is going to die. And sooner rather than later.

I mean, Army and Minnesota used to win national titles too. It feels like the college football gods have forgotten us.

 

[Clevinger]

Looking at McGuire's wikipedia page, there is no way he should have been hired. He had no coaching experience or even played WR. He was just an analyst and son of a coach. And our running backs coach wikipedia is almost empty. The only thing is that he played a few snaps at Rutgers and apparently that was enough for Rhule as well. We need to be hiring a veteran's staff instead of helping out old friends find their first job.

Agree. Assistants can make or break a coach and we paid a ton for…what exactly?

 

[donm1330]

For 23 years I always was able to remain optimistic, feeling like success was just around the corner.

It may still be, but I have lost that optimism. I continue to watch our games, but I have reached a point this year where it feels like a chore. I never expect anything good to happen in a season anymore.

It feels like we have been rowing in circles for decades.

Rhule had always shown improvement by year two. It feels like something is seriously wrong with our program. If it isn’t cursed, I lack a better explanation.

How does a program with our resources and fan support have one of the longest, most embarrassing streaks of seasons without even a bowl?

When did 6 wins become an insurmountable goal? That is a low f***ing bar.

***********************
READ THIS post from Pennsyhusker which is way too good to be buried in this thread:

“I have been following Husker football since 1965. I was at the game of the century with my dad in Norman in 1971. Grew up in Lincoln 5 miles from the stadium. Sold coke in the stands as a teenager. Climbed the fence with my buddies and watched every home game 70-72 from under the end zone seats. Been to countless away games and bowl games. Live in PA but have made it back for 2 home games every year since 94.

And I am about ready to say f$ck it as well to the whole shabang. I have lots better things to do with my time on Fall Saturdays and the joy is gone. I watched the game yesterday but only out of a morbid curiosity to see how badly we would lose. Hung in until the end and walked away utterly demoralized.
And if a long time fan who lived through the glory years can feel this way I can only imagine how apathetic many younger fans must be getting. The administration at NU had better figure out how to fix this sooner rather than later or else our wonderfully renovated stadium will stand half empty or worse on game days soon.
This sentiment is why I have been so impatient with Rhule. I just have a sense that unless something drastic is done this whole thing called Husker football is going to die. And sooner rather than later.”

Back in the good days we had two legendary coaches. Those do not come around often. We also ran an offense that few other programs did. It was hard to prepare for. We do not have the athletes that can run a passing type offense. They reside mostly in the South and a few select schools outside of the south. Just my view for what it is worth.

 

[Clevinger]

Back in the good days we had two legendary coaches. Those do not come around often. We also ran an offense that few other programs did. It was hard to prepare for. We do not have the athletes that can run a passing type offense. They reside mostly in the South and a few select schools outside of the south. Just my view for what it is worth.

I do think our unique offense helped us. Clearly.

 

[Wasker77]

For 23 years I always was able to remain optimistic, feeling like success was just around the corner.

It may still be, but I have lost that optimism. I continue to watch our games, but I have reached a point this year where it feels like a chore. I never expect anything good to happen in a season anymore.

It feels like we have been rowing in circles for decades.

Rhule had always shown improvement by year two. It feels like something is seriously wrong with our program. If it isn’t cursed, I lack a better explanation.

How does a program with our resources and fan support have one of the longest, most embarrassing streaks of seasons without even a bowl?

When did 6 wins become an insurmountable goal? That is a low f***ing bar.

This cursed sh*T is just an excuse for lazy coaching and bad play by the Huskers. Whatever Frank did 24 years ago has NOTHING to do with how the Huskers played yesterday. What happened to that team that played Colorado? The Prime Family would put up 50 points on the Huskers tomorrow. I came up with a perfect word for Dylan. He is lackadaisical. No sense of urgency. Plays like his feet are in quicksand. Tommi Hill, I thought he really turned the corner last year. He was so aggressive against Colorado. Played with confidence. That first touchdown yesterday was all on him. Terrible coverage on the long pass and then on the next play that went for a short TD he looked like a revolving door. No heart or pride in play. He put his head down and felt sorry for himself. Now that there are 4 West Coast teams in the conference the Huskers better quit sending out 5'5' cornerbacks like Hartzog Jr out onto the field to cover tall athletic wide receivers like USC's # 2. The West Coast is loaded with tall fast receivers. Does White teach our defensive backs to always be in front of the receiver, slipping and sliding trying to catch up with them while the ball glides over their outreached hands. Gifford waits for the receiver to catch the ball before making a moving. Yesterday he was running alongside a USC WR who was being covered by one of the other DBs and he easily could have made a play on the ball. Instead, he hesitated to allow the receiver to catch the ball. Lastly, I remember last spring some people wrote on this Board wrote rather smugly, "Just wait until those Pac 12 teams have to play in the cold in November". Some other West Coast based Husker fans and I debunked that idea. Yesterday evening I was watching Wisconsin do a pretty good job at trying to upset Oregon in Madison. Sometime during the second half I asked Siri what the temperature was in Madison. It was 46 degrees. Guess what it was at the same time in Eugene? 45 degrees!

 

[Frozone]

We don’t like to admit it, but TO had a window of opportunity that he fully exploited and it worked wonders. Boyd Epply, recruiting nasty players, using partial qualifiers, huge walk on program with steroids, and straightforward tough ass coaching and culture.

TO retiring had nothing to do with his heart or stress. He jumped into a more stressful job right after that being a congressman. He saw the writing on the wall and all the advantages that he was able to exploit were either being taken away or other programs had caught up. He did the Jerry Seinfeld and went out on top.

All other fan bases kept saying that when TO left, we would not be a good program again and unfortunately they have been correct. As others pointed out, we have become the new Minnesota and I don’t expect that to change.

There may be a kernel of truth to this, but mainly if we’re talking about another run similar to the 90s. Nobody realistically expects that.

But Nebraska won games outside of the Devaney and Osborne runs. We have over 900 wins all-time and rank top 10 in that regard. If we “claimed” as many national championships as certain desperate programs are now doing (largely by citing every pre-Reagan publication up to and including the Farmer Jack Weekly Shopper Digest), we’d have a lot more titles to our name than the 5 we currently list.

In other words, I refuse to believe that Nebraska is somehow incapable of at least achieving Wisconsin or Michigan State levels of success on a consistent basis.

Our problem has been incompetent leadership and arrogance. We haven’t been willing to admit that we have to do more than other top programs because of our recruiting disadvantages. We haven’t innovated with NIL or taken advantage of that temporary Wild West rules vacuum that might have jumpstarted us with an influx of new players. As passionate as our fan base is, we should be the top 5 list of every single NIL collective ranking in existence, but we’re nowhere close.

We won’t get onboard with the changing college football landscape, but then we’re angry when we can’t compete with programs doing all the little things that we refuse to do. From the university on down, we aren’t willing to do whatever it takes to win at an elite level again. And that—to me—is why I find myself becoming more and more checked out with each pathetic showing week after week after week.

 

[Joedaly]

I was so excited when we hired Frost. I thought it was going to be great. Even my Iowa friends and coworkers hated the hire because they thought he would be good.

I could never have expected him to be such a failure. Then they made things worse by forcing Whipple on him. It’s like the administration was setting him up to fail or try to get him to quit. It was no surprise that was a complete disaster.

Then we hired Rhule who I thought was a good hire until I saw his staff. I was disappointed he went with so many unqualified assistants.

What really killed during Rhule’s first year is that we didn’t get any better. We just kept making the same mistakes and getting the same excuses.

I was ready to give up until we got DR and got back in the hype train. We now have a QB that will be able to run an offense.

Yet in year two we are still making the same mistakes as Frost but somehow even worse. Outside of one inspired first half against CU we have done nothing.

It was the UCLA game where I finally broke. Nothing is going to change until we get a real coach who hires real assistants. Not some hot 1 or 2 year wonder coach but someone with sustained success. You can’t hire coaches with losing records and say “but with our resources he can win” I want a coach who has won with nothing and then give him our resources.

And when interviewing coaches, asking them what assistant coaches they would want, if they mention hiring their friend who works at Walmart but has some good ideas when they play Madden then that automatically disqualifies them. It’s embarrassing our WR recruits high school coaches had more experience than McGuire. No coach serious about winning hires friends with no experience.

I’m talking coaches that have won at every level and won championships along the way. Guys that crush D3 schools going like 120-15. Then do the same thing at D2. And in clutch moments they rise to the occasion instead of choking.

Everyone was so excited that Rhule rebuilt programs they overlooked his inability to win games when it mattered. There are no excuses for next year.

I will still watch the games on TV, but not wasting my whole day going to games and then ruining my Sunday because I’m still pissed we found a new way to lose again.