Some excerpts:
By Tom Shatel / World-Herald columnist
LINCOLN — Here in the Sea of Red, two seasons passed in the night.
One was a party ship, bouncing to the refrain of “Let’s Go Hawks! Let’s Go Hawks! Let’s Go Hawks!” Louder, louder, loudest.
The other tried to slink out unnoticed, fans in red shuffling to the exits, trying not to pay attention to all that celebrating in the south end zone.
Iowa is 12-0. Nebraska is 5-7. If anyone had those back in August, please proceed directly to Las Vegas, do not stop at a cash machine.
And, well, if you are still not sure how this happened, or are in denial, all you needed to see was Iowa’s 28-20 victory here on a chilling, bone-rattling Black and Gold Friday at Memorial Stadium.
What we saw here were Exhibits A and B why Iowa and Nebraska are who we thought they were.
The Hawkeyes win because they don’t make mistakes.
The Huskers play like they invented them.
If they gave out trophies for maddening turnovers, unbelievable penalties and noggin-shaking play-calling, this would have been one whale of a season for first-year coach Mike Riley.
Instead, the Huskers might have to settle for a bowl bid that the 5-7 team didn’t earn but would gladly accept.
One year later, NU Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst must consider the state of his program, not Iowa.
There were 433 total yards by Nebraska, and some saying that’s a silver lining, that Nebraska outplayed Iowa. But that sort of thinking is stuck in the fog from Nebraska teams that have fallen in love with numbers the last 10 years and forgotten the bottom line.
Iowa showed it to you on Friday.
And there’s no quick fix here.
Nebraska did not lose its way over night or over this season. There are issues this staff inherited, and didn’t, or couldn’t, make better.
This season snowballed on them, with a lot of things that could go wrong that did. But by Nov. 27, after a bye week, everybody knew what not to do to get a penalty, what pass not to throw, what play and player you trust more.
What I’m here to tell you is, there’s a lot of work to be done with Nebraska football. Finding an identity. Cleaning up one of the most undisciplined teams in college football.
The team on the other side of the field showed you how it’s done: identity, belief, trust, all that jazz. And you may not believe in them, but believe that they are one win from a Big Ten championship and the playoffs.
The Hawkeyes are the program Nebraska is chasing. That may not be something Husker fans wanted to admit on a bitter day that became more bitter by the minute.
The sounds of two ships passing said it all. As the Iowa fans chanted, one Nebraska fan yelled out, “Go home, Iowa.”
The Hawkeyes are headed home, and then on to bigger games and dreams ahead.
The ship of Huskers sailed out into the dark, in search of a good lighthouse.
The entire article: http://www.omaha.com/huskers/shatel...cle_559a3818-9589-11e5-97df-875e356152f0.html
By Tom Shatel / World-Herald columnist
LINCOLN — Here in the Sea of Red, two seasons passed in the night.
One was a party ship, bouncing to the refrain of “Let’s Go Hawks! Let’s Go Hawks! Let’s Go Hawks!” Louder, louder, loudest.
The other tried to slink out unnoticed, fans in red shuffling to the exits, trying not to pay attention to all that celebrating in the south end zone.
Iowa is 12-0. Nebraska is 5-7. If anyone had those back in August, please proceed directly to Las Vegas, do not stop at a cash machine.
And, well, if you are still not sure how this happened, or are in denial, all you needed to see was Iowa’s 28-20 victory here on a chilling, bone-rattling Black and Gold Friday at Memorial Stadium.
What we saw here were Exhibits A and B why Iowa and Nebraska are who we thought they were.
The Hawkeyes win because they don’t make mistakes.
The Huskers play like they invented them.
If they gave out trophies for maddening turnovers, unbelievable penalties and noggin-shaking play-calling, this would have been one whale of a season for first-year coach Mike Riley.
Instead, the Huskers might have to settle for a bowl bid that the 5-7 team didn’t earn but would gladly accept.
One year later, NU Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst must consider the state of his program, not Iowa.
There were 433 total yards by Nebraska, and some saying that’s a silver lining, that Nebraska outplayed Iowa. But that sort of thinking is stuck in the fog from Nebraska teams that have fallen in love with numbers the last 10 years and forgotten the bottom line.
Iowa showed it to you on Friday.
And there’s no quick fix here.
Nebraska did not lose its way over night or over this season. There are issues this staff inherited, and didn’t, or couldn’t, make better.
This season snowballed on them, with a lot of things that could go wrong that did. But by Nov. 27, after a bye week, everybody knew what not to do to get a penalty, what pass not to throw, what play and player you trust more.
What I’m here to tell you is, there’s a lot of work to be done with Nebraska football. Finding an identity. Cleaning up one of the most undisciplined teams in college football.
The team on the other side of the field showed you how it’s done: identity, belief, trust, all that jazz. And you may not believe in them, but believe that they are one win from a Big Ten championship and the playoffs.
The Hawkeyes are the program Nebraska is chasing. That may not be something Husker fans wanted to admit on a bitter day that became more bitter by the minute.
The sounds of two ships passing said it all. As the Iowa fans chanted, one Nebraska fan yelled out, “Go home, Iowa.”
The Hawkeyes are headed home, and then on to bigger games and dreams ahead.
The ship of Huskers sailed out into the dark, in search of a good lighthouse.
The entire article: http://www.omaha.com/huskers/shatel...cle_559a3818-9589-11e5-97df-875e356152f0.html
Last edited:
