The Suddenly Revolving Door

What’s the problem on the offense, particularly the offensive line?  Klachko and Moore both are top notch players…two of our best recruits.  I don’t get it.  Aaron Green, too?  All 4 stars.  What’s up Mr. Cotton?  What’s up Mr. Beck?  What is the “culture” problem Coach Pelini?  I want to support the coaches, but these seem really odd leaves.  We don’t want players that don’t want to be at NU, but my question is, why don’t they want to be there?

Carol brings up some good points.  We just lost 3 players that everyone here regarded as important, talented (when they signed with us and we were all very happy to have them too) and we were expecting to have as contributors.  Now gone.  What was it a 17 man class?  18?  And three pieces are already gone?  Two of the three were the centerpieces of the entire class?

Carol hit the nail on the head.  My first question when the rumors started on the web was, what is up with Cotton?  Is he that hard to play for?  Are these 4 star recruits not getting treating the way they expected?  Is Bo’s “culture” such that we cannot hang on to the “prima - donnas”?  The departures are slightly worrisome in the least.  I am a long way from Lincoln.,.  has anyone heard any reasons?

I have always wondered about cotton.  We haven’t had an all american or first round o-lineman for a LONG time.  If i had to guess, we need a top 5 o-line coach, not sure we have that now.  Just my 2 cents.  BUT it could very well be these kids that left are not willing to work or miss meetings, etc.  That will not fly under Bo, and if that is the case, let them leave.  One loose bolt, makes all the other bolts wonder why they are so tight and working so hard.

A lot of kids these days want to play right away and think if they don’t they will not make it to NFL.  It the younger generation attitude of “I want it NOW”.  You can thank libtard education and political correctness for this attitude.  NOT ALL ARE EQUAL, and IF YOU MAKE IT THAT WAY - everyone looses - including those kids.  It really a shame.

Never been a Cotton fan.  When Bo hired him onto his staff I was adamant that it was a bad move!

Pelini does not and will not ever care what fans think.  He does not consider them part of the Husker family.  He’ll continue to operate with this model, until relieved of his duties as head coach.  Maybe these recruits committed based on being part of the Pelini family, but soured when they felt like outsiders, like a lot of fans do.

I with Randy.  How many close games did the Huskers loose because of repeated false starts, holding, personal fouls, etc…  The offensive line play under four years of Cotton has been poor.  Last year they drew far fewer flags then usual but still, this is a disturbing development.

I think this is just the nature of the beast.  Players transfer all the time.  That’s what happens when you’re a teenager, you change your mind, circumstances change, you make bad decisions, whatever.  There are players (or normal college students for that matter) transferring, quitting, etc. at every college across the country at a similar rate, and there probably always has been.  The only difference here is it’s high profile guys.

Wow you guys are nuts…Green left because he got beat out for playing time and Moore was pissed when he got moved to second team… that to me is a good thing. It means we have competition and enough talent that we arnt just giving guys starting positions.. and nu corndevil did you want pelini to ask you

Fans are just that.  You are not NU coaches and that is probably a good thing based upon all the whining on here.  Cotton may be the wrong guy but that is not up to “fans” it is up to Bo.  It is not a democracy.  If our “fans” had any say so, we would have lost TO before he won his NCs.  Let Bo do his job and quit second guessing on things you have no inside info about.

“The only difference here is it’s high profile guys.”

That may be the only difference, but it’s a significant one, to say the least. We don’t have nearly the talent to sustain these sorts of losses and still compete for even a division title.

I hope Twauto is correct with his statements, I have not had any additional info on Moore, but hope to hear what he said is true. Moore was a good athlete and a credit to the Big Red program.

It is very unusual for a freshman to play OL or DL. Normally, they are redshirted and placed into the “conditioning program” to either adjust to the strength, speed, and mental requirements of the game. Clearly last year, Tyler Moore was thrust into a starting role due to lack of depth/talent in the OL. However, the problem with 18-19 year old individuals is that once they earn playing time, they immediately think that the position they played last year is theirs. College football at this level is competitive year in and year out. Your position is never guaranteed, just like the NFL.

Tyler Moore, I understand you are young and frustrated, but get back to practice and start kicking some tail. The road from here on out is nothing but competition for your starting position. Get used to it…......................

http://www.B1GRedFootball.com
(Southern Miss Game Preview coming 8/16!!!)
@b1gredfootball.com

you must realize that sometimes the coaches are sharing everything b/c there is an issue with the players that is more serious than we realize.  One of these players that has left recently was b/c he was taking steroids…so sometimes the coach gives coach speak to protect the player even when maybe he shouldn’t.

I obviously don’t know the facts of this situation, but it sounds to me like he is acting more like *Mary* Tyler Moore, than a Husker OL.  I seriously hope that it is just a case of him wanting the starting job and being beat out and he was pissed, comes to his senses and rejoins the “TEAM” and plays like a winner who has some class.  And, just as a side, most of the ‘bigger’ names that have left Nebraska in the last 10 years or so, did not fair well at their other destinations.  GO BIG RED!!!

I don’t see these instances of players leaving as a problem with our coaches or our team. It just means Bo and the coaching staff have high standards they aren’t willing to bend on. The team should never conform to an individual player, instead the player should always willingly rise up to the team standards of excellence. It takes humility to put the team ahead of you. It’s a lot to ask of a teenager, and as we’ve seen some aren’t going to be able to handle it. Yet consider how many players we have who are buying into our team concepts and coaching philosophies! Better to weed out the few who aren’t on board now, than to have it bring down the team later on.  Go Big Red!

I know somebody fairly close to Tyler.  I don’t believe he is leaving because of losing a starting position.  Yes, he did need to do a little growing up as he was mad last year when Jones took over, but he seemed to have done that.  What I’m hearing is he is pretty much an introvert who thinks of football purely as business.  He pretty much isolated himself in a one bedroom apartment and didn’t make any friends in the year and a half since he has been here.  His girlfriend came up to live with him for the summer and has since returned to Florida.  I assume all of this is what he has to figure out.

Try to not be so quick to judge coaches when the facts aren’t out there.  Don’t forget, this is a 19 year old kid we are talking about.

These are teenagers. Once again, some of you want to treat them as professionals and this as a professional team. You seem to want to be able to bad mouth people like they do in the Pro Leagues. Then go to their web sites and be what you want to be there. The sports pages are full of drama, crime , and corruption. Enjoy what we have and stop trying to make it into something we are not. If you think our team is the only one suffering from the teenage angst problem, read the sports pages.

This is why I don’t like most 4 and 5 star players. It’s an attitude of entitlement. The products of a world gone liberal. If you can’t beat out the other guy you have to accept your position and train harder to get it back. No free rides here. 4 and 5 star players transfer far more frequently than other athletes do at all schools. Where do all the 5 star guys for USC go?. Many are no longer shown on the roster. How many are now walk-ons at USC. NCAA needs to re-investigate USC for this practice. Most crooked school in the history of sports! String em up! It’ll teach em a lesson.

No reports of knees and shoulders being put out of place, and that’s the main thing. Players with further future playing ambitions can get skittish, coltish, if it looks like they could get beaten out and with a football career being so brief anyway. In Moore’s case that may not be it, or, it could be just part of the thought process. He’s got that redshirt to burn. He just may not burn it, in Lincoln. Tough time for this to happen. If he does come back, wow, better be in a few days. Crazy timing.
Nice, that some extra southern speed is looking to come to Nebraska. It was pointed out soon after his hiring, that Joseph’s a good recruiter.

Pelini is not the person or coach we thought we were getting and he is grossly overpaid for what he has produced so far.  In announcing the “temporary” departure of Moore, he inspires the impression that he doesn’t really care.  And so we get something like, he can come back if he wants.  That does a lot for a young man who is probably wandering now, well does he really want me back or what.  For a guy who has been able to bring only a few top notch players to the program, he seems very successful at losing the few that he’s brought.

Btw, like that new hail varsity site. The Babcocks (no relation) and BV. Definitely a viable alternative to owh and ljs.

So he’s taking his ball and going home?  So what.  I don’t care how talanted a player is (or thinks they are), if they don’t have a “team first” attitude they’re just a distraction.  Now that said, who really knows what the facts are with Moore?  With the instant media world we live in now everytime a player farts wrong it’s big news.  Players have been transferring, kicked out, and quitting for years - fans just never heard about it as much.

Any way you slice it, this is an attitude issue and that is poison.  With all the coherence, team building, maturity, leadership, etc. propaganda we have been hearing it sure rings a bad note. 

John (5th comment), you are an idiot. This is a sports article, not politics.

It’s too bad that Moore is going through whatever it is he’s going through.  It sounds like he is a young man trying to figure some things out.  Having been thrust into a stressful situation with a lot of responsibility as a freshman, I can see how he would need a chance to do that.  I hope he decides to come back and maybe he just needs to use that redshirt year or something! I think Pelini is leaving the door open and that’s all he can do…his job is not to kiss these kids’ butts and beg them to stay. He has a responsibility to the entire team, not just one, or a couple of guys, regardless of how many stars they had in high school.

I am definitely excited about this Rose guy.  We lose quite a few corners after this year and next and will need him big time.  He has a great build for a lockdown corner and looks solid on film.

Artifex, Good comment…Nebraska’s player departures are due to a liberal agenda…really?

To me, it seems that there are real problems within Pelini’s coaching staff? Late in the ‘game’ off-season departures are never a good thing. Yes it could be that there are real “personal reasons” or personal conflicts with coaching staff/players. My opinion is that the staff is not jelling. No proof of that but just an overall sense I get with regards to working chemistry.
I am also in agreement with Florida Husker in that Pelini is grossly overpaid for what he has accomplished (as I have said numerous times before).
He has been given an off-season raise based on what the university (Pearlman, Osborne) think he will accomplish and certainly not what has been accomplished. Late season losses and scoring droughts don’t normally constitute a pay raise at other universities. With coaching staff turnover year after year, Pelini will always have a built-in excuse as to why he will underachieve, at this rate.
My prediction this year is that Pelini will have another fairly near miss at the B1G championship and will get an offer from another university having Ped State/Ohio State type issues and will bolt before the real heat (from the fans) comes down on him. Disconnection with the fans is part of this.
The precedence has been set and now Nebraska will have to spend the same amount of money (or more) on a coach to replace him. Wipe the slate clean with a new start regarding coaches.
If I am wrong, come November, about most of my prediction, I will be the first one to admit I was wrong.

Shouldn’t have been a question mark on my fist sentence.

@OU7times”
    Let me see if i understand your coaches record correctly. First off the only NC he won was with the previous coaches recruit’s and yes he beat NU in our last year in the big 12 Championship Game but actually only because we decided to put the game on Martinez shoulder instead of letting Burkhead,who was running through the OU line. And husker fans to this day do not know why the change specially with a banged up Martinez.With all that said most of us respect the job Stoops has done and i personally feel your still bitter that Pelini left OU to go to LSU and helped them win the NC.

Yea, No fan of Pelini here.

Pelini was a co-defensive coach at OU when Oklahoma played USC for the championship. 55 points were allowed to USC that night. Mike Stoops had just departed OU to take the Arizona job shortly before the game was to be played.
So why would it bother me that Pelini left?
I have never bought in to Pelini being a defensive guru at all. Maybe he is good at defensive schemes, if he was left to manage the defense only.
As far as Coach Stoops winning with a previous coaches recruits? That previous coach was John Blake and he was one of the worst coaches to ever don a headset at Oklahoma. That guy was awful! So your analogy doesn’t really stick.
BTW, you bring up Martinez being banged up in the last OU-NU game? Don’t kid yourself. Between the Martinez, Helu and Burkhead fumbles, it wouldn’t have mattered that night because OU wanted that game more than Nebraska. Also, that was another case of Pelini’s teams scoring 3 or less points in a bowl game. Besides, you just made my case that Pelini is not a great coach because he rode Martinez all game long instead of going to a backup QB. Trying to make square pegs fit in round holes mentality.

3 or less points in the second half of bowl games.

Well his defenses did pretty well at LSU and they set some pretty high statistical records (especially when looked at per play) at Nebraska. Not to mention his defense held OU to the lowest point total of the Stoops era and were responsible for the first shutout in NU bowl game history. All the while rebuilding a program basically in shambles. Yeah he’s not that good. We should fire him.

These situations with the Huskers, where we never get the true information, is frustrating but understandable.  How much information are the fans entitled to know?  Bo is only going to put out the minimal information that he feels is required and the media, for the most part, seem willing to go along with that.  I think Bo is going to get himself backed into a corner at some point with this attitude of not wanting to give the fans the respect (by not putting out information) that they feel entitled to. There is clearly I difference of opinion between Bo and the fans regarding what information should be put out. If Bo can produce the Ws then I don’t think the fans are going to care who stays and who leaves the program. But, if these departures start affecting the Win column then, at some point,  Bo is going to have some explaining to do.

NOLA,
How long ago was all of that? His record with LSU was with SEC recruits. Not Big 12 or Big 10 recruits. a big difference there. This is why the SEC has won something like 6 of the last 7 Ntl Championship games.
If you would, please, respond to my point that his teams lately, have not shown up in the second half of bowl games.
College football is all about what have you done for me lately and Pelini’s accomplishments have been near misses at best. Yet he gets pay raises.
You joke about firing him but maybe you should re-think what Nebraska is getting for their money.
It’s suddenly a non-joke.

OU7: by “lately” do you mean the last 2 bowl games?  As we learn in statistics and many lab courses, 2 data points do not a trend make.

2 games makes a trend.

Two years ago. What else would I be referring to? 2010’s D wasn’t that bad either. Last year was probably more the exception not the rule. You can chalk it up to SEC recruits all you want but the numbers don’t lie. 2008 doesn’t really count except you could point out the scoring D went from something like 117th to 56 in one year and then number one the next all while playing the high speed Big 12 offenses. That establishes more of a pattern than one year. Personally the defenses weren’t really the problem in the bowl games. As for the Orange bowl Bo was co D and the OU offense turning it over had as much to do with that as the D.

OU7: “2 games makes a trend.”
I surmise we did not attend the same statistics class.

Well all you haters throwin bo and cotton under the bus
dont worry he(bo) drops a few more 3-4 loss or more seasons
on the husker faithful he will be coachin D back in the SEC or on sundays…Until then Im still bleeding husker red and cant wait
to get on the this years emotional rollar coaster we call
the HUSKERS….so close ya can smell it!

Players seldom if ever return to the school they departed from. Is Tyler Moore still in Lincoln even? Doubt it. Too bad, I thought he was going to become our next All American Offensive lineman at Nebraska. He and Klatchko were 2 of the 4, 4 star O linemen in our 2011 class and they made up one of the best O line recruiting classes in the country that year. We need them!!! Now half of them are gone, as is our future star RB, former 5 star Aaron Green. Dijon Washington never did that much so were not taking a hit there, but the departures of Moore and Klatchko and Green are huge.
Does this mean there is something sinister going on within the bowls of the Nebraska program? Maybe, maybe not. But with Pelini’s silence we’ll never know frankly. And I hate that…would someone please put that dude through a public speaking course? He just makes it worse on himself. He will not win the fan battle…we insist on knowing what’s going on with our program and we’re the ones who eventually make the decision as to who stays…if he’s not careful in managing the fan base, he will eventually be run out on a rail.
But I’m not one to automatically think something is rotten in paradise. I have a high degree of confidence in our staff…everyone except for one guy that is…our offensive line coach. Talk about a weak link! That’s a huge problem that needs to be fixed. The sooner the better. I think if we were able to look the situation as a fly on the wall, we’d probably see ole’ Barney Cotton is at the heart of some, if not all of this. If not only the 2, O line guys who just voluntarily left the Husker program…something you gotta admit, just doesn’t happen very often. I say fire the guy, move him into an admin job if you have to Bo, but for Gods sake, hire someone that has proven credentials this time to re-build our Pipeline!
I think Bo draws his line in the sand and that’s it. Frankly, it has to be that way or it would throw everything into chaos. If they didn’t fit our culture, they don’t need to be here. We don’t primp the prima donnas here. You play for the fans and your teammates. Period. Not yourself. Green wasn’t that way clearly. Klatchko and Moore? Who knows, but Moore has an uncle that used to play here. He’s a Husker and he needs to come back.
But the real question is, is Bo becoming not so much of a players coach anymore? Is he loosing some of the essence of why he was so popular here in 2003, which led to his re-hire in 2008? Is the HC job too much or is this part of his learning curve? Or is he just right (damn it!) and putting his foot down and maybe ruffling some feathers along the way?

Congratulations Nola, you have bought in to the mediocrity.That’s okay for you but not for me.
Fact is that Nebraska fans hung their hat on 9 win seasons. You still do, even though all teams now play 12 games and not 11.
Step up and demand more from a coach who is delivering less for more money.
Unbelievable.

...and taking a top 10 recruiting class to the Insight.com bowl v. Iowa is overachieving?  I know OU has had a lot more success than Nebraska over the last 10 years, but they’re also a lot further removed from their dark ages and have some problems of their own.  Have fun playing on the Longhorn network…

I would agree that it does appear Cotton is the weak link on this staff and has a lot to prove this year.  The recent departures are either a result of more intense competition/requirements on the players, or are a further example of his failure to get guys to buy into his coaching methods.  We’ll find out soon!  I think Nebraska is going to surprise some people this year though.

Barney Cotton is actually the head coach of this team.
Just as Dr Evil would like it, Bo Pelini is actually just Barney’s “Number 2”.

How else would he have lasted this long?
This is the only explanation I have left… so let me have this one, guys.

I need it.

I thought the Moore situation was bizarre last year and now it is even more so.  Why did he start as a freshman when the team had Sirles, Hardick and Marcel Jones with lots of experience?  Once Moore lost his starting job (as he should have), Cotton went the opposite direction and never played him.  What happened to conventional wisdom that you work a talented young player in gradually?  To start him and then strand him on the bench sends a very confusing message to a teenager…

OU7Times - For a guy that claims to not care for Coach Pelini; why are you so passionate about Husker football?  Isn’t there a Sooner blog, or message board, you could lurk around?

Quit your Bitching.. Football season is almost here, Complain after the season if you must.. NOW ITS FOOTBALL TIME .. GO BIG RED!!

Well Ron Jeremy (?),
Can I like a team and not the coach?

You see, I like a quality product, don’t you? I am also a consumer and like value in what I pay for, don’t you?

How about a few facts?

In the last 2 seasons,  Pelini coached teams have had late season meltdowns. Winning 1 of his last 4 games in 2010 and winning 2 of his last 5 in 2011. After the Holiday Bowl game in 2010, his post game presser he is quoted as having said that “I did not have my team ready to play”.  “It’s my fault”. WU held Nebraska to under 200 yards in that game and a reporter in attendence at the game, from the Bleacher Report, is quoted as having said “Nebraska quit”. This while his team failed to score a point in the last 3 quarters of the game.

In 2011, Pelini’s team lost 3 of their last 5 games. After the game in his presser he alluded to the fact that execution and non-calls by the refs were key in the loss. His team failed to score in the last half of the game for the second year in a row.
Some genius using calculated rationale, decided to give him a raise after the bowl game. I also think he received a raise after the 2010 bowl game to boot.

I dunno, ...it all sounds trendy to me!

OU- That’s quite a jump you make from me defending Bo’s defensive prowess to me accepting that the current state of things is ok. Last year was a step back. I expect 10 wins and playing for the conference. I’m not gonna throw the team or Bo under the bus based on the circumstances. Didn’t Stoops lose like 4 or five bowl games in a row? Osborne lost 6 in a row at one time. Making decisions based off a couple of years probably isn’t the best idea especially when the outside factors are taken into account. I’ll hold my judgement until the end of this year. Lastly I wouldn’t call winning 9 or 10 games a year mediocre. It’s not great but it definitely isn’t bad.

NOLA,

My mistake,  maybe you and I are talking about different issues. What’s important to you is 9 and 10 win seasons. What is important to me is championships and opportunities within our coach’s power to play for them.

It’s really kind of funny/ironic that me, an OU fan,  seems to care more about the tradition, with regards to our former rival Nebraska’s football program, than some of the regulars on this website. I presume some of this is because of younger fans who don’t have first hand knowledge of the football glory days at NU and with no real rivalries to follow. I am interested in preserving the past and
Nebraska football used to be about playing anybody, anytime aanywhere. That mentality seems to have gone by the wayside.
So when I say mediocrity, I mean from what past NU football’s program stood for.
It’s not a crime to demand high output from a well paid coach.
With all of the turmoil lately in the BIg 10, it seems more likely now for Nebraska to be playing for conference championships. Who cares if you just joined the conference? Who cares if you have some new coaches? Nebraska will still have to run, pass, tackle and defend whoever they play just like anyone else has to to win.
It’s not going to get any easier with Meyer, Hoke and Fitzgerald gaining footholds in the conference.

I know it was fun and In vogue to make fun of Northwestern University last year about their QB Persa being promoted for Heisman consideration and that Nebraska was the ‘real’ NU, etc…That was until the game between the 2 NU’s was actually played. The old Nebraska would have made their statement on the field and not get into pissing matches with teams and show opponents no respect. It’s different now. I’m really surprised that Tom Osborne hasn’t touched on that subject. But let’s face it, he has probably been busy keeping Pelini in check.
I suspect that Bo Pelini is not the Bo Pelini he wants to be, anyway. I get the sense he is on a short leash and has the admin micro-managing every move he makes.
Just some thoughts.

OU7,

Landry can’t pass well without Broyles there. The O-line has holes in it (people quitting). The D is shaky, especially with the deep ball (see most games last season, in particular Baylor). OU is going to really need Whaley and Finch to carry a load to survive. The team hasn’t been able to win a “meaningful” game late in the season (sure there have been wins against Iowa and Uconn, but nothing worth screaming about). Both teams have been or are in similar situations lately.
Just some thoughts.

BigredNOkc,

Hey, wouldn’t it be just swell if OU and Nebraska met in a bowl game this year?
I do. How about a little ‘blind’ wager just in case they do?
I know you’re right that Landry Jones can’t pass well without Broyles there…but I have a hunch he might just out-pass Martinez enough win the game.
I’ll start turning in all my pop bottles, beer cans and scrap copper (that I might find just layin’ around) and save that money just in case that game should happen.

Deal?
Yuk, yuk yuk…

Wait a minute, BigRedNOkc,

A win against Iowa has to be worth screaming about. Iowa is now the Huskers No. 1 rival…urrr…I guess you are right.

; )

OU - Playing to win the conference is the only thing that is completely in control of the coaches and players. If they consistently win 10 or more games with the occasional stars aligning for a Nat Title run then that’s what I want. I don’t see where you keep jumping to conclusions about what is important to me and all the fans from what I’m saying. I was there for the 90s when Nebraska was on top and I was there when Bill Callahan was crashing the program into the ground like a drunk party girl in her daddy’s Benz. Again I don’t think any decision can made off the results so far and will make my judgements based off this season. If the D improves and the offense finishes some games like they should then all the sky is falling talk will go away.

OU7times…Actually, in his 4 years here he hasn’t done too bad considering. He’s played in 2 conference championships in his first 4 years of being a head coach. Coached up some pretty big star players. Took a team that went on to play in the NC game down to the last second and can be argued actually beat them. Never won under 9 games. It’s his first head coaching job. He’s learning the ropes and I’m sure at times feels like he got in way over his head. But he’s never complained. Makes you wonder what would have happened if Martinez never got hurt and we hadn’t gone into the new conference? Our team was totally geared for the Big 12. I don’t think we did too bad in our first year considering all the challenges we’ve had AND putting in a new system under a new OC at the same time. The pendulum has to start swinging back in our favor at some point…we’ve been so close to big things but we’ve had bad luck or we simply beat ourselves. But we do have some recurring problems that are troublesome, but at the end of the day I gotta believe the coaches want to win and get all that stuff fixed even more than we do. Is the glass half full or half empty?
The real question is do you think Bo Pelini will become a great coach at Nebraska in time or be just another damn good coach. You gotta remember, he and all the other coaches are resonably new coaches and there is a learning curve. They may all have great potential, but they aint done it yet. I think we’re in that learning curve with basically ALL of our coaches, which means in time things will get better. It’s just how many times are we going to be dissapointed in the meantime while these guys put it together? And what if one or more don’t pan out? Then we’re even further behind.
Things are lining up pretty well for Nebraska this year actually though. Have some faith. Might be a hell of a year. If it’s a disapointment and we loose games like we did last year however, by beating ourselves, you’re going to be hearing a lot of people screaming for his head. I’m not sure I won’t be one of them. It’s pretty clear you will be.

Let’s see what happens this season. I am anxious to see how coach Papuchis pans out this year after last years bowl game.  I want to see if coach Pelini is using smoke and mirrors. I did scan by a sports story today that mentioned a sports authority saying Nebraska was going to have a big year. OU and Nebraska are the 2 teams that I follow the closest. If you follow these teams close enough, and learn their tendencies, you can make a killing off of them in Vegas.

I wouldn’t have a problem being proved wrong but a lot will have to happen I think.

the 2011 season may have ended better if crick had been able to play at full strength.

coach pelini’s first four years are not that dissimilar from TO’s first four years.

when did TO win his first conference championship?

I think 1978.
Going by memory so I am not exactly sure on that.

Eddie,

If you can trust Wikipedia, Coach Osborne’s 1975 and 1978 teams were co-champions of the Big 8.

Wiki also points out that Coach Osborne got his first outright Big 8 championship in 1981.

OU7,

Def. I would love to see OU-Neb. every year, but that’s not possible. And I don’t doubt that it is possible for Landry to outpass Martinez. He is pretty unpredictable, just hoping his receiving corps can help out there, and counting on the run being more of a factor.

As for Iowa-the Heroes trophy game was not something I personally would have set up as a rivalry, so that shows how much importance I place on that (didn’t know you could create a rivalry before teams play). Just merely pointing out the similarities between our teams. Get a lot of information on OU being here in Sooner territory