We lead the nation in this UGLY stat!

[Righteous Red]

In last five years we have had 34 one score games with a 9-25 record which leads the nation. Just for comparison, Michigan has 21 one score games with an 18-3 record.

It always boils down to the team that executes on defense, offense, ST’s. I don’t know if we are too predictable, especially in the fourth quarter or in the Red Zone. We fix those end of game fiascos, we could right the ship.

 

[Pavlov's Dog]

Where's the "unlike" button.

 

[Uenth]

In last five years we have had 34 one score games with a 9-25 record which leads the nation. Just for comparison, Michigan has 21 one score games with an 18-3 record.

It always boils down to the team that executes on defense, offense, ST’s. I don’t know if we are too predictable, especially in the fourth quarter or in the Red Zone. We fix those end of game fiascos, we could right the ship.

View attachment 9840

I admit this is the part of our record, since he who shall remain nameless further tanked our program, which drives me absolutely batty. First of all, how can that many games be decided by 1 score and second of all, how can we continue to be so inept at winning those close games?

This is the stat that I want to disappear. I don't like the fact that we're not trouncing our opponents. Games should be put away, long before the 4th quarter.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

Two words...
Coaching

 

[GIJoeRed]

In last five years we have had 34 one score games with a 9-25 record which leads the nation. Just for comparison, Michigan has 21 one score games with an 18-3 record.

It always boils down to the team that executes on defense, offense, ST’s. I don’t know if we are too predictable, especially in the fourth quarter or in the Red Zone. We fix those end of game fiascos, we could right the ship.

View attachment 9840

Yeah, well...Michigan had to have "Binocular Guy" to help them didn't they?

 

[Huusker]

If doesn't put us at the top of the misery index, I don't know what will.

That's 25 times I suffered in just five years. Five miseries per year for five years.

Please, make it stop.

 

[MadRat]

Just goes to show how statistically our record has been doctored by referees. We were favored in many of those games, too. The B1G is a hack when it comes to fairness.

 

[Doc Fumble]

We know what the past five years have been like. We suffered through them.

But the past is the past. FWIW, we were 3-2 in one-score games last season.

 

[GIJoeRed]

Where's the "unlike" button.

it didn't make the Top 20 of "uglies"

 

[OhioHusker]

This kind of reminds me of college wrestling. When you get in a 50/50 position where it could go either way, the person prevails is the one with the most preparation and strongest will not to quit.

If everything else is equal, more often than not the person who is going to win is the one who believes in themselves.

Clearly the Huskers have not believed in themselves when presented the option of winning or hanging the cleats up. I hate cliches, but winning is a habit, and so is losing.

 

[Uenth]

Clearly the Huskers have not believed in themselves when presented the option of winning or hanging the cleats up. I hate cliches, but winning is a habit, and so is losing.

This goes back to what we've talked about since he who shall remain nameless was coach. It's a culture and the team has been in a culture where they appear, at times, to expect to lose and to be complacent about it. I think Rhule's biggest battle is to change that culture. How one does it is beyond me. Way beyond my pay grade!

 

[Doc Fumble]

This kind of reminds me of college wrestling. When you get in a 50/50 position where it could go either way, the person prevails is the one with the most preparation and strongest will not to quit.

If everything else is equal, more often than not the person who is going to win is the one who believes in themselves.

Awww, IF ONLY our guys believed in themselves!!!!!

Your key phrase, Ohio, was "If everything else is equal."

Last I checked, Nebraska ranks 15th out of 18 B1G programs in the number of active NFL players. Last I checked, it's been eons since we've had a first round draft choice...Hell, or a SECOND round or THIRD rounder!!!!

Rhule came from the NFL so he didn't bring a ton of talent from another school with him to Nebraska. We've got to develop top talent the old fashioned way or through the portal.

We're "getting there," but the notion our inability to get there faster has to do with our guys "not believing in themselves" is cliched bullsh*t.

 

[OhioHusker]

Awww, IF ONLY our guys believed in themselves!!!!!

Your key phrase, Ohio, was "If everything else is equal."

Last I checked, Nebraska ranks 15th out of 18 B1G programs in the number of active NFL players. Last I checked, it's been eons since we've had a first round draft choice...Hell, or a SECOND round or THIRD rounder!!!!

Rhule came from the NFL so he didn't bring a ton of talent from another school with him to Nebraska. We've got to develop top talent the old fashioned way or through the portal.

We're "getting there," but the notion our inability to get there faster has to do with our guys "not believing in themselves" is cliched bullsh*t.

If it's a one score game, things were equal enough.

 

[Uenth]

We're "getting there," but the notion our inability to get there faster has to do with our guys "not believing in themselves" is cliched bullsh*t.

Usually I agree with your posts, but that thought has been bandied around about our team the entire time I've been posting here and especially in those 1 score games, just as often that seemed to be the case. You posted earlier we were 3-2 in one score games in 2025 so maybe we're going to get over the hump on that one finally.

From where I sat, a lot of games is certainly looked like WE were shooting ourselves in the foot. Stupid penalties, QB sacks, INT's, fumbles, boneheaded mistakes, the list has gone on and on and on. I hope Rhule is correcting these issues. I'll certainly be paying more attention in 17 days and 20 hours. These things I posted certainly could be attributed to a team not believing in themselves.

Bring on 2026 football already. These questions will begin to be answered.

Bottom line if we string some "W's" together, we won't be doing this:

 

[Doc Fumble]

Usually I agree with your posts, but that thought has been bandied around about our team the entire time I've been posting here

You should be agreeing with me this time too.

That thought (i.e. a bunch of quitters) has been 'bandied around about our team' since 2017? Damn, IF ONLY the team had the right mindset, right? Forget NFL draft picks and All Americans, how many first and second team All Conference players have we had since you got here?

Maybe, just maybe, we were able to "go the distance" in a bunch of close games because our team of club fighters lacked the talent of their opponents but had heart. Oops--I forgot. We're NEBRASKA so we're always just a 'winning culture' away from a return to 'the Glory Days.'

Listen, I'm not defending Riley or Frost. I'm just tired of having Rhule and his staff automatically lumped in with them.

 

[Uenth]

You should be agreeing with me this time too.

That thought (i.e. a bunch of quitters) has been 'bandied around about our team' since 2017? Damn, IF ONLY the team had the right mindset, right? Forget NFL draft picks and All Americans, how many first and second team All Conference players have we had since you got here?

Maybe, just maybe, we were able to "go the distance" in a bunch of close games because our team of club fighters lacked the talent of their opponents but had heart. Oops--I forgot. We're NEBRASKA so we're always just a 'winning culture' away from a return to 'the Glory Days.'

Listen, I'm not defending Riley or Frost. I'm just tired of having Rhule and his staff automatically lumped in with them.

I'm not down with calling then a bunch of quitters. I stated that it certainly appeared that they didn't believe in themselves. Would not be unexpected to me should that be the case. When you are snake bit or whatever, it is hard to get over that mindset that it doesn't matter what happens, you're going to lose. I'm not saying that is the case, but if it was, I could certainly understand that because it has been a long dry spell.

I am hopeful that Rhule is righting the ship. I'll use the same analogy I use with Hub. For years, trying to do anything physical caused intense pain so obviously you quit doing what causes that pain, your ability to do much of anything physical decreases. Now that he can do more things, he can't expect to start running marathons. I think that holds true with the team. It's going to be a lot of baby steps and I'm sure people are going to question whether we're making the right moves starting with Rhule and his entire staff but it is still going to take time. That's just the nature of the beast. Years past, I said I wanted tangible progress. I'm not looking at win/loss record, just the things I listed in my post above that caused our record to be what it is. My belief is that we quit doing those things and our record will take care of itself.

Again, let me reiterate I don't consider the team to be a bunch of quitters, just caught in a downward spiral for a lot of reasons and it takes time to change that mindset and to implement the changes necessary to correct the player issues. I'm assuming Rhule has the coaching staff hired now to remove their share of mistakes that contributed to losses.

 

[Huusker]

Last I checked, Nebraska ranks 15th out of 18 B1G programs in the number of active NFL players. Last I checked, it's been eons since we've had a first round draft choice...Hell, or a SECOND round or THIRD rounder!!!!

One fifth round pick this year compared to Iowa's seven picks and Ohio State's four picks in the first round alone.

People want to invent all kinds of dramatic reasons for losses. But this is why we're a .500 team.

 

[Uenth]

One fifth round pick this year compared to Iowa's seven picks and Ohio State's four picks in the first round alone.

People want to invent all kinds of dramatic reasons for losses. But this is why we're a .500 team.

Yup and one of the underlying causes might have something to do with prior coaching. Honestly, there are a ton of reasons why our program is where it is and, IMO, it's ludicrous to have one reason (not saying that's what you are doing). There have been numerous things that needed to be changed since Smilin' Mike. I think when things go south, they snowball and that is why it takes so long to reverse that trajectory. And, of course, losing records don't bode well for recruiting and if you're not recruiting the cream of the crop, that's just one more reason for .500 or worse.

 

[Doc Fumble]

One fifth round pick this year compared to Iowa's seven picks and Ohio State's four picks in the first round alone.

one of the underlying causes might have something to do with prior coaching.

It has EVERYTHING to do with prior coaching.

Even Bluebloods have down times but the reason they've come back is because Bluebloods (by their very nature) can always rebound by hiring a great coach. Nebraska's decades-ling fall from grace was because of the boneheaded thought processes that went into our head coaching searches:

1. We don't need no stinkin' high priced 'outsider,' we can do it on the cheap (Solich & Pelini.) Why not go after a rising, hot-shot coach like an OU or Bama did? It's because we were NEBRASKA, baby!!! Our program was a well-oiled machine that had stood the test of time for over four decades. Our steamroller was bigger than the guy driving it. We just needed a competent Nebraska guy at the wheel.
2. It's time we "shook things up." The opposite view also came into play too (Callahan, Riley.) Forget we're a Midwestern team, forget the November winds and cold weather, forget our power football, slobberknocker roots. That stuff is way too "old school" nowadays. Today's recruits want something more 'west coast' and exciting. The moral of this story: You certainly don't want to live in the past, but it's beyond stupid to ignore it.
3. A Nebraska guy is ALWAYS the right call! I'm not going to ignore the fact that the vast majority of the fanbase didn't demand we hire Scott Frost. But we needed to cut through the emotion (not easy to do) and carefully analyze what we were getting. In hindsight, it was always doubtful that Frost's "run-and-gun, outscore your opponents, baby!" style of ball he won with at UCF would ever work in a Big Boy defensive league like the B1G. But our Golden Boy was coming home, 'nuff said.

Like him or not, the search that ended with Matt Rhule was the first time in the modern era when we had an AD (Trev Alberts) who: 1) looked at the current state of our program and what we needed; 2) understood the importance of physical, smashmouth football to Nebraska's football identity; 3) understood the role weather plays in our game; 4) had experience running a bigtime football program; 5) understood that today's CFB requires a head coach who was an innovator; 6) was a born recruiter--a coach who could build a team of coaches who could recruit some of the best and develop them into great players; and 7) had the kind of personality that could win over the fanbase whether he had a past connection with the Huskers or not.

As I've said before, Matt Rhule took over a post-Ireland dumpster fire and is now seeing the physical development of his recruits. Pelini's "Burn every damn Bridge" PR nightmare good-bye, the Riley fiasco, and our patient five years of Frost incompetence are blissfully behind us now.

It's about time to see how Rhule's guys do. GO BIG RED!

 

[Uenth]

It has EVERYTHING to do with prior coaching.

Sorry you missed my snark alert.