Bleacher Report - Articles by Peter R

Nebraska-Missouri: Huskers Wash Out Tigers' Lead

Peter R — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:22:34 -0400

After three quarters of play, Missouri fans and faithful felt confident in a victory.

In all, five inches of rain fell on the rivalry game. Despite the inclement weather, both teams managed to put up nearly 300 yards combined of passing offense.

The Tigers started their scoring with a special teams miscue. Nebraska punter Alex Henery struggled to handle a high snap in his end zone. Five Missouri defenders joined him in the end zone. Henery threw the ball past the end line for a safety rather than risk giving up six.

Blaine Gabbert added six with what was called a touchdown as time expired in the first half. In the third quarter Missouri added three more on a 19-yard drive following a turnover on Nebraska's first snap of the half.

Prior to Nebraska's first scoring drive the Huskers had 97 total yards. Early in the fourth quarter the Huskers' Zac Lee hit Niles Paul for his first long pass reception of the game. This set up the Huskers' first touchdown; they now trailed 12-7 with 13:56 to play.

The drive opened up the Tigers defense. Missouri had jammed the line up to that point. A combination of Husker confidence and a more honest Tiger defense opened up the running game.

The Big 12's leading rusher Roy Helu took advantage of the running room. Helu ended up with only 88 net rushing yards. Almost all of them came in four touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. Helu earned over half of the combined 165 total yards in those drives.

Gabbert was supposed to be the story for Missouri. In a way he was. He became well acquainted with Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh. Suh spent about as much time in the Tiger backfield as Gabbert did.

Gabbert had not given up a single interception yet this year. After several dropped pick opportunities, Suh finally came down with one when he dropped into coverage. Dejon Gomez added one more pick to completely spoil Gabbert's evening.

Twenty-six pro scouts were supposedly at the game to watch Suh play. Suh is projected as a high first round draft pick. He certainly showed why. He and fellow tackle Jared Crick finished with 13 tackles. Five of Ndamukong's six were solo tackles. Suh also forced a Gabbert fumble, which was recovered by Jared Crick.

The Huskers now have the advantage for the Big 12 North spot in the Championship game at Cowboys Stadium.

Improving the BCS National Championship

Peter R — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:09:19 -0500

How did we get here?

Bowl games are a great use of otherwise idle football stadiums and provide an excellent opportunity for cold weather teams fans to vacation in warmer weather. It started out innocently enough.

Before long people complained that the national ranking polls stopped before the last games of the year. Eventually a group of teams and the powerful "in the money" conferences got together to rig national significance to the final game of the season. The Bowl Championship Series was born.

Right now, in most years teams from seven or eight member conferences split the big payout from the bowls they picked as top bowls. It pays to remember that these bowls had alliances with the conferences prior to the BCS.

Also recall that the BCS was a step towards sanity in the mythical national championship. Most people will recognize the BCS was an improvement over the previous system, in which the top teams had frequently not met due to conference/bowl ties or because coaches might have wanted to schedule an easier game.

What do the conferences, bowl organizing committees, and University Presidents think?

The ones in the BCS organization think the current system is great. They benefit from big payouts from the current system.

Why would they want to take a risk of reducing the financial payout and status the current system rewards them with?

What solutions are people suggesting?

There are many ideas out there on how to fix the problems the beneficiaries of the system do not perceive they have.

Some people prefer rigidly organizing conferences and teams with rules on how many games they could play and how to structure conference championship games. Following the proscribed formula, a playoff would ensue to crown the champions.

Other fans like the current system but want to take over bowl games to create a four, eight, or 16-team playoff.

Another interesting suggestion is to keep the current system with no playoff, complete with the controversy of having two teams voted national champions after not playing each other.

We could just sue

Few people are foolish enough to litigate to solve a problem that there is no clear solution to. The fact that many people do not see a problem compounds the problem of litigating it. There is the additional problem of determining who has standing to sue.

Whoever sues will alienate everyone who supports the current system or does not support the goals of the litigation. Who wants to be hated by almost everyone?

What could happen to create an NCAA National Champion?

One issue with a playoff is the money issue. The current system feeds large amounts of money into league coffers, which trickles down to every team in the conferences. There is a natural constituency for receiving money. There are probably a few teams who have never been to a BCS bowl that have collected millions of dollars of BCS money over the years due to league revenue sharing rules.

In order for colleges to agree to anything else, it would have to provide additional new money. University Presidents have expressed a desire to keep the season from getting any longer.

In most other major college sports there is an NCAA Tournament. The winner is crowned champion. Currently the football "championship" system is run by the BCS. The NCAA could institute a national championship game that picked the two best teams to emerge from the BCS bowls. The status of the current bowls would not be diminished. The only institution to lose just a little luster would be the BCS.

Rather than a few big conferences usurping the national championship process, the NCAA would have input into the NCAA Champion. With the NCAA making this unprecedented step, the BCS organization could choose how to structure their bowls to produce the most interest in all of them. Interest translates to money.

How would the BCS bowls seed their games?

They could have the number one seeded team play the number four seeded team and the two and three seeds meet. They could choose a different combination with the bowl committees allowed to pick in order, similar to the current system, except the first and second seeded team might not be allowed to meet in one bowl.

The beauty of it is by just sponsoring a National Championship game, the NCAA would not stomp on the current system. In what other sport do the host sites of "insignificant" games have such pageantry and so much fun?

Destroying the stature of bowls would undermine the vacation spirit and parades that surround bowl games today. To destroy the good things that have come from the lack of organization just to get a playoff would be a bad thing.

Conclusion

As unsatisfying as a split national title is, the cost of implementing a playoff is too great. If the site of the Rose Bowl were just a semifinal site, how long would the Rose Bowl Parade persist? Ditto Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. By allowing what is great about the current system to continue and just adding to it, fans, host sites, and colleges can all gain.

By adding one additional game, the money that is generated by the current system would continue, and new money could be used to fund a new championship.

Long Live the BCS: Much to Fans' Chagrin

Peter R — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:48:40 -0400

The BCS Controversy appears to be a much-discussed topic. Comments on a couple of articles on the subject led to research for other articles on the topic. In the last month there have been around 20 articles on Bleacher Report (b/r) covering the topic from differing angles.

There are articles in which the author expresses the opinion that the BCS system is broken. This is the largest category. In this category there are two major divisions. One is pointing out problems with the system. The other includes suggestions to fix the system.

So far, only one recognizes the fact that the university presidents from BCS schools don't see any problem with the system. Comments on a few others address this fact.

In preparations for this article it became clear that one additional roadblock has risen to prevent a college football playoff.

Several years ago a couple of bowls obtained title sponsors. We had the IBM Fiesta Bowl and one or two others. The following year saw the FedEx Orange Bowl and many others. Now every bowl has a title sponsor. The money and facilities provided by the title sponsors fund most of the cost associated with staging a bowl event.

A playoff is a great solution to a problem that bowl sponsors, bowl organizers, and university presidents don't seem to perceive they have. If companies were lining up to sponsor the Mega Computer Company Sweet 16 Southwest Regional, we would already see that in other competitions such as college hoops and pro football. It appears that naming rights to a field is a higher priority.

While everyone slept, the problem became more difficult to solve. Because the current system injects so much money into an "amateur" sport, those benefiting from the current system don't want to consider change until they see a solution that increases their payout.

The current structure of the BCS has larger conferences dictating the system and keeping the payouts corralled for themselves as much as possible without completely denying any money to the mid-major and independent schools in up years.

It appears the only way to force a change in the short run to a serious playoff system would be to socialize it. If the roughly 120 I-A schools were to split the money so everyone got a piece of the money, then the BCS schools would be robbed of the power they granted themselves.

At that time the little guys could take the money that is generated by schools like Notre Dame, USC, and Texas. They could then share the wealth.

Because the sport and postseason play are so infused with advertising dollars, there may be no way short of socialization to change the system rapidly.

In the first category

Donald Fincher wrote "Are We About to Witness the Demise of the BCS?" in which he covers the angle of a one-conference championship and/or the voter collusion necessary to prevent it. He hypothesizes that it could be the final nail.

Joe Burgett wrote "BCS System, Fair or CR..?" Joe discusses the system and some flaws.

Christopher Williams, in his article "The broken BCS,” asks some tough questions about who is "better" than whom.

“Top Five Things Wrong With the BCS Rankings” by Michael Inglis investigates what he feels are some anomalous results in the early BCS rankings.

Derek Horner writes about a concern that the BCS system is unfair. See “Broken and Tacitly Unfair: The BCS and Antitrust.” One almost gets the image that BCS schools are discriminating and using their power to keep outsiders down. Derek continues with an attempt to apply antitrust laws to a perceived oligopolistic cabal.

(My warning to those on this logic track: Be careful what you wish for. A busted NCAA might not be able to limit the number of scholarships allowed, thus the top programs will dominate by the law of hoarding all the talent.)

David Singleton wrote in his article, "Pigskin Punditry No. 11: Let The Fraudulent System Run Its Course First," "Let me make it abundantly clear that I am anti-BCS. I am a pro-playoff person." He continues to discourse on the BCS not really solving the national championship puzzle.

J. Michael Morris' humor piece "Does the BCS Need a Bailout After the Collapse of USC?" pokes fun at the mindset that drives university presidents to maintain the BCS system.

Aubrey Clark in "Haven't We Had Enough Of The BCS Yet?" starts from socializing the system perspective and works from that to how to force BCS schools to use capitalistic ideals of winner takes the spoils.

Break down this year

One of B/R's favorite authors, Lisa Horne, discusses the problems of the current system using this year's potential outcomes to highlight some of the weaknesses induced by it. Her article, “The Nightmare BCS Scenario That No One Wants Is Starting to Take Shape” uses some examples from the past to point out flaws in the current system.

Another great breakdown of the potential outcome for the current year was written by Daniel Malkin in “Who Will Play for the BCS Championship?” In it he does an excellent job of covering the Big 12, Alabama, USC, BYU, and Penn State. He finishes with his prediction of the BCS National Championship contenders.

Kyle Flanagan, in "To B(CS) or Not to B(CS): That Is the Question," spins the current situation from a BCS-busting conference's perspective. As a fan of Mountain West teams, he would like to see one from his conference teams playing the last college football game of this season.

What does the BCS group think?

Before we go too far, it is useful to note the position of the BCS itself. Anthony Marietti posted a link to "Officials: BCS too healthy to change." Here are some excerpts.

“...we have decided that because we feel at this time the BCS is in an unprecedented state of health, we feel it's never been healthier during its first decade, we have made a decision to move forward in the next cycle with the current format..."

“...the leaders of the Big East, Big 12, Pac-10 and Big Ten made it clear they did not want to move the BCS toward a playoff in any way.”

"There's a strong sense in that room of the slippery slope view that there's never been a collegiate or professional playoff that's stopped at four teams," Delany said.

As Anthony and several others have noted, as long as it is providing big bucks to their budgets, it is exactly what the budget doctor ordered.

Proposed Solutions

Several frustrated writers have proposed solutions to the "problem" posed by the latest fix for the BCS.

Cody Dockens, in his article, “A Solution to the BCS: A Division One College Football Playoff,” gives a couple recent examples of problems not solved by the BCS system. He proposes using current bowls to institute a playoff system and even proposes cutting the regular season back down to 10 games to take the academic argument out of the equation.

Thomas Cogliano starts out, "The BCS system is very broken" in his article "Reforming the System: My Proposal for Postseason Division I College Football." He continues to provide evidence to support this thesis. Thomas's solution is for a specific larger format playoff.

A more authoritarian fix was proposed by Jeffrey McDaniel in his "A Modest Proposal For The BCS Playoff" article. He would like to force conferences and teams to conform to a set of rules to make their teams eligible for a small format playoff.

Another authoritarian solution was proposed in "You Can Have Your BCS and Eat It Too...“ by Frank Sanchez. He would like to force the conferences to adhere to scheduling and opponent list rules.

In a more realistic suggestion for what the money-hungry university presidents might accept, I put forth a proposal for a small format playoff in "What's Next After the BCS?" The problem is that they don’t want to inhabit the slippery slope proposed in this article.

Tweak the BCS

In a unique perspective, Gail Hall shares some ideas for tweaking the BCS in "How to Fix the BCS" rather than forcing college teams to rest starters after they have secured a playoff berth. She uses some recent examples to demonstrate her points.

Summary

A wise man once said, “Whatever the question, the answer is always money.” As long as an oligopoly of currently upper tier conferences are allowed to control the system, they will try to skew the results to ensure they capture most of the money.

Only when they see a system that will generate more money for them will they submit willingly to changes.

If a playoff format is proposed that pads the pockets of football programs, the various straw man arguments will be dropped. Examples of straw man arguments: “It is amateur athletics”; “We have to protect players”; “it would make football a two-semester sport.”

It appears the largest obstacle to a postseason playoff are the current advertising sponsorships tied to each bowl. So much money as been injected into each bowl game that each has its own constituency. It would be difficult to replicate the financial payout under a playoff system.

MAC West: Ball State, Central and Western Michigan Undefeated In Conference Play

Peter R — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:59:34 -0400

The West dominates the East.

Bowling Green is 1-1 in conference play. That is as good as it gets for the Eastern division of the Mid-American Conference. Buffalo, Ohio and Akron all have one win and two losses in conference.

The worst record to date in the Western division is 1-2 in conference. Brady Hoke’s Ball State is 3-0 and 7-0 overall; No.24/25 BSU is in the top 25 for the first time since 1965. Western Michigan has won an extra conference game. WMU is 4-0 and 6-1 with a loss to Nebraska in their season opener. Central Michigan is 3-0 and 4-2 with losses to No.10 Georgia and Purdue.

Saturday the list of Western division undefeated in conference will be reduced; Western Michigan is traveling to Central Michigan for what could be a nail biter in the MAC.

Ball State has a bye and could move up in the polls as one of the few remaining undefeated teams. Vanderbilt (Georgia), Kansas (Oklahoma) and Michigan State (Ohio State) have games against higher ranked opponents and any of them could slide below BSU after Saturday.

The Ball State Cardinals conference schedule started light end ends with two top MAC opponents. They travel to Central Michigan who has beaten them the last four meetings. Their final regular season game is at home against Western Michigan.

BCS Implications

The final game could determine the winner of the MAC conference title. An undefeated Ball State Cardinals could earn a BCS Bowl bid.

Who’s on Top? The Big Twelve Is Eerily Equal

Peter R — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:59:25 -0400

Easy Wins in the Big Twelve

This was not a day to miss in college football. No. 1 was supposed to be reconfirmed. Four ranked Big Twelve teams were supposed to win easily.

Number One

Pundits and fans alike like having the certainty of knowing that the teams on top are just that much better than the rest. A few weeks ago everybody knew that USC was just superior and they would go undefeated. There was even a B/R article that worried that an undefeated USC could be denied a shot at the title.

This week the anointed one was Oklahoma. They had the superior quarterback. The game would spotlight two potential Heisman hopefuls. Oklahoma went to the Texas state fair to show college football fans what number one could do.

The “outmanned” Texas team forgot to read the Oklahoma byline. Colt McCoy helped himself in the awards category while lifting Texas to victory in the Red River Shootout.

Number Three

Missouri played host to an undefeated number seventeen ranked Oklahoma State team. The home crowd and a whiney Heisman candidate would certainly provide victory for the Tiger faithful.

The only people who knew the outcome in advance were crammed into a visitor’s locker room in Columbia. The superior quarterback on this day was wearing the visitor’s uniform. Daniel’s three interceptions should shut him out of the Heisman.

Oklahoma State needed determined defensive play and a few great plays. Missouri mounted a comeback but came up short.

Number Seven

After Missouri handed Nebraska an embarrassing home loss in Lincoln, Texas Tech was supposed to dismember them in Lubbock. A vastly superior top ten team was expected to substitute early to keep from making the once mighty from looking too fallen.

Today on a day of equality in the Big Twelve, Nebraska chose to show up to play. It came down to overtime. Texas Tech scored first but their extra point was blocked by the meek.

All Nebraska had to do was look like they had in the second half. In overcoming a ten point deficit. Nebraska showed flashes of brilliance.

Senior quarterback Joe Ganz tossed up an easy interception to end the Huskers’ hope for a victory. Add this one to the heartbreaking loss to Virginia Tech. Two games came down to the wire with Nebraska on the short end of the stick.

Number Sixteen

Kansas was ahead by two at the half. Both teams scored touchdowns in the third quarter. With the Buffalos trailing by two after three quarter Kansas put up 14 more points to win.

A tough conference to play in

Mark down two upsets of top ranked teams by other ranked Big Twelve teams. Mark down two to twenty teams escaping defeat at the hands of unranked Big Twelve North teams. It is tough to win a national championship when you face that level of competition week in and week out.

When the downtrodden are not so down and the out are nipping at the heels, you know teams will have to bring their "A" game every week to survive the Big Twelve.

Ohio-Buffalo: Who Will Win the Upcoming MAC East Showdown?

Peter R — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:56:14 -0400

Friends and former colleagues facing off

Just before Halloween, in what could be a frightening game, the Buffalo Bulls football team travels to Athens, Ohio to face off against conference foe the Ohio Bobcats. The spooks and goblins are sure to be out in force. With temperatures potentially plunging, conference divisional rivalries could heat things up.

Will Ohio quarterback Boo Jackson be scary? Will Buffalo Drew Willy knock 'em dead or draw a blank?

History from Huskerland

Tom Osborne hired former Husker standout fullback and state high school championship coach Frank Solich to coach his freshman team. Osborne recruited eventual Heisman finalist quarterback Turner Gill. After a Canadian CFL career cut short when Gill followed medical advice, and a brief stint in minor league baseball, Turner joined the Huskers on the sidelines.

Two former Husker assistants: a former running backs coach and later head coach versus a former quarterbacks coach, assistant head coach, and later receivers coach. Both are Mid-American Conference Eastern Division (MAC) head coaches now. After 152 weeks on the same sidelines, now they face off annually.

Meet the coaches

Frank Solich is in his fourth year leading the Bobcats of Ohio. Solich was an Ohio standout running back before setting records at Nebraska.

Third-year Buffalo Bulls head coach Turner Gill is looking up and being mentioned for other openings. The Mid-American Conference would hate to lose him.

Rushing Keys

Both had 1,000-yard rushers last year. Solich's Kevin McRae rushed for 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. Gill's James Starks became the Bulls’ first 1,000-yard rusher since jumping to the I-A division.

McRae graduated, and Starks is a junior with a chance to match McRae's feat. Bobcat's Dante Hardin is not on pace through six games to reach that goal this year.

Passing Keys

Junior Boo Jackson leads the Bobcats with over 1,100 yards passing and another 129 on the ground. His favorite targets are Taylor Prince, Lavon Brazill, and Andrew Mooney. The Bobcats have connected with redshirt freshman Hardin coming out of the backfield to keep defenses honest.

Drew Willy has all of the Bulls' passes thrown this year. Naaman Roosevelt is his favorite target, and he has connected with wide receivers Hamlin and Jackson as well as tight end Rack 10 or more times so far. Bulls rushing leader James Starks has slipped out of the backfield for eight catches as well.

Special Teams

Both Ohio and Buffalo have one kickoff return for a touchdown this year.

Defense

The Bobcats’ eight interceptions this year are twice as many as the Buffalo Bulls' four.

Record

As of today the Bobcats have a 1-5 record with losses to two ranked opponents (Northwestern and Ohio State). The Bulls are 2-3 with a loss to top five Missouri.

Each has two more games before they face off. Buffalo could win against Western Michigan and Army to be 4-3 at kickoff. Ohio may be able to dispatch Kent State and Temple to own a 3-5 record by October 28.

Ohio's 42-21 loss to Western Michigan was filled with miscues. Comparing this week's Buffalo's results to them may not show the likely outcome.

Could Turner Gill's Buffalo Bulls Stop the Nebraska Huskers?

Peter R — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:56:09 -0400

Can it be?
Can Turner Gill's Buffalo University Bulls football team of the MAC Conference be as good as the Nebraska Huskers? Next week will tell much more. In an ordinary year, Husker fans would ho-hum any comparisons.

Compare the records
Nebraska is 3-2, while the Bulls are 2-3: advantage Nebraska.

The Bulls lost to Missouri in Columbia 42-21 and the Huskers lost to Missouri in Lincoln 52-17; advantage Buffalo.

Next week is the tiebreaker. Nebraska beat Western Michigan in Lincoln 47-24 in August and the Broncos visit New York next week. Both teams had or will have home-field advantage.

Turner Gill never really was considered for the Nebraska opening that former Husker and LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini won.

If it turns out he has a better team this year, it would be an interesting turn of irony. Turner Gill has been coaching his players for two years longer than Bo Pelini has.

It is an interesting thought that a MAC team could be as good as a Big 12 team and a former BCS national champion.

What Does Nebraska Huskers' 3-2 Record Mean?

Peter R — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:06:29 -0400

Where Huskers are at now

Three early-season home wins got Husker fans elated. The home loss against a top 25 team that was put out of reach by two consecutive controversial penalties late in the game was disappointing.

A loss, in which No. 4 Missouri had little trouble putting up 38 points to Nebraska’s 10, was not as embarrassing as the Tiger faithful would like to think.

The bomb for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter after Missouri recovered a fumble on the Nebraska 26 was on the edge of classlessness, but in Coach Gary Pinkel's defense, it was Chase Daniel's last series.

Daniel would have probably done a lot of good for his Heisman candidacy if he had not chosen to whine to the press. While Daniel probably hoped he would damage Nebraska's reputation by whining, the damage to his own brand was much greater.

Next week, Nebraska travels to Lubbock for a game they are widely expected to lose. If Nebraska plays Texas Tech tough, they will start to resuscitate their image and help their recruiting in Texas.

A win would be wonderful, but it will only come if the team plays on top of its form. They have been warned that the referees will not be their friends, so they have to win on the field and plan for external forces or luck to go against them.

Nebraska at 3-3 would be a disappointment, but it could be a 4-2 season if things broke differently.

The Huskers got used to losing under their last coach, and his influence is still being felt. Fans are probably going to have to wait two years or more for one of the classiest programs in America to reemerge to top-tier status.

What about the rest of the Season?

As was covered in this article, from this point, a 7-5 regular season would be about as good as anyone can expect. Nebraska has two early offensive line recruits who could make an impact next year. Vander Joaquim and Jesse Coffey look so far like they could compete for a starting position.

Why was Buffalo able to get more rushing yards against Missouri than Nebraska?

Turner Gill is making a name for himself at the University of Buffalo, and people are mentioning him for vacancies. He has a sharp offensive mind.

Missouri clearly was emotionally into the Nebraska game and may have been looking past Buffalo. Buffalo is anchored by Ray Norell, who is a three year starter. Peter Bittner is a letter winner and a starter since the first game of his redshirt freshman year. Jeff Niedermier, another senior, had 30 starts before this year. The junior starter, Jordan Jerrold earned his way into the starting lineup as a true freshman.

Buffalo has several other upperclassmen competing for time with serious experience, including some with starting experience.

Nebraska is still working through the linemen the previous coach recruited as an afterthought. The returning linemen were recruited with a pure pass oriented offense in mind, and they are larger and slower than the option linemen Tom Osborne sprinkled through the pro ranks.

Taking Care of Business

Nebraska still needs to mind the store. After this week's Texas Tech game, the Huskers have two games they could split or win both.

Iowa State had a 20-0 lead against Kansas but was outscored by Kansas 35-13 in the second half. Iowa State plays at Baylor this week, so where they are at should be clarified before Nebraska faces them the following two weeks.

A 5-3 Huskers team headed to Norman would be expected to emerge 5-4. By that point in the season, the players should understand the Pelini system, and communications between the brothers should be worked out.

Any of the last three games could be lost, but all should be within reach of the 2008 Huskers.

Measuring Bo Pelini’s Nebraska Cornhuskers After a Slow Start

Peter R — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:54:49 -0400

Is this Nebraska team for real?

Many people had said before last Saturday’s Virginia Tech game they could not tell how good Nebraska was. I wrote that Saturday’s game would be the bellwether for the season.

If Nebraska had dominated the Hokies, then fans would have been looking for a win next Saturday night against the top 10 Missouri Tigers. With a closely contested loss to a top 25 team, it appears that Nebraska is a legitimate top 30 team. The next two games on the Huskers' schedule should be challenging for any team in or out of the top 10.

Before saying if the team is for real, people have to agree on what “real” means. If "real" means a top-10 team like the Huskers that dominated the 1990s, then it appears another season’s wait will be required.

If "real" means are they good enough to beat a top team on any given Saturday then we can probably conclude that the Huskers are for real. Last Saturday was just not their day.

When will we know if this team can reach its potential?

Three wins against teams with a cumulative 8-5 record that have no win against any top 25 teams was a warmup and not a test. Losing to a team ranked back in the top 25 is a better measuring stick. Luck is a fickle thing, and last Saturday it broke the Hokies' way.

Writing off a traditional powerhouse after a slow start is not in most coach’s plans for success. Missouri coach Gary Pinkel is probably reminding his Tiger team daily not to overlook Nebraska. Texas Tech’s Mike Leach is probably more worried about overlooking Kansas State this week, but next week NU will be in his crosshairs.

Following those two games, a potentially 3-3 Huskers have two possible wins at Iowa State and back home against Baylor. A motivated Nebraska will face traditional rival Oklahoma in Norman in the sixth of eight straight weeks of football. When the final gun sounds on the Nov. 1 OU game, spectators and the last three opponents should know Nebraska’s potential in the final weeks of its Big 12 North competition.

Every season has to come to a close sometime. This team’s season may end with a Black Friday TV game against Colorado. It might end in a December bowl game with a traveling fan base frustrated from a lack of invitations. Either way, it should end with more promise than Husker teams have had since Tom Osborne retired from coaching.

What's Next After the BCS?

Peter R — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:32:13 -0400

Some people are advocating for a playoff system in college football. Others want to take the BCS and make them institute a playoff system.

University representatives don’t want a playoff system. Coaches don’t want a playoff system. Fans want a playoff system.

There have been some really great articles written about great playoff systems. Most of the ones I have read are much better than what we can realistically expect to happen in the near term.

The current system pays out large amounts of money to support megalomania-sized athletic budgets. As long as the money flows there will be no incentive from within the hallowed halls to change the system.

It is going to take a similar event to the one that caused the last major revision.

On January 3, 2002 the National Championship Rose Bowl Game featured consensus number one Miami Hurricanes against a team who had lost their last game of the season, the Nebraska Huskers (who had beat Notre Dame).

Miami played pick a score and the 37-14 margin of victory was relatively small compared to what it could have been. That anomalous result caused an overhaul.

Now we have a revised system that could result in bogus results. Some have suggested that due to a weak schedule and a weak conference the USC Trojans could be shut out of a national championship game.

When (not if) a third deserving team gets left out (and if the shortchanged team represents a major media market), then we will get the kind of outrage necessary to change the system to a playoff system. Rather than a complete solution like some have proposed, we can probably expect colleges and universities to go for another patch.

We might see a four-team playoff utilizing the college bowl system. Without getting too deep into which bowl would have what stature, assume there is a rotating championship game at least 10 days after the playoff bowl games.

For instance, in a year the playoff games might be the Orange Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl both taking place on Jan. 1. Then the Championship Sugar Bowl Game would take place on a Saturday a week and a half to two weeks later.

This would most likely hold until a fifth team gets left out and there is an uproar that they should have/could have won it all. The next iteration will probably have either a five-team playoff or seven-team playoff. This would have either a play-in game for the fourth spot or a bye for the top team.

By the time we are all dead, fans might actually get some real playoff system.

If you doubt this, take the following quiz (remember that whatever the question, the answer is money):

Why do conferences have "championship" games that force one of their teams to go to a lesser bowl and sometimes spoil a conference team’s opportunity to play in the national championship?

Why is there a proliferation of new bowl games?

Why did the six-win rule get instituted? (Actually to avoid embarrassment; this might jeopardize the money.)

Why don't we have a playoff system yet?

Bo Pelini, Nebraska Cornhuskers Rests on More Than Marlon Lucky

Peter R — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:49:09 -0400

The pundits and pessimists are writing off the rest of the season. Everyone who has seen Bo Pelini's Huskers play all three games this year knows there is room for improvement.

A late fumble on the snap exchange by the second string quarterback cost the Huskers a shutout last week against New Mexico State.

There have been some flashes of brilliance and some really bone headed plays. Some of those are from the same players.

People in Nebraska are asking why Cody Glenn wasn't playing linebacker last year. He has gotten better and missed fewer reads each week. Freshman Eric Hagg is getting more comfortable every week in the complex nickel back position.

A season ending injury to the starting left end and a hand injury to Pierre Allen, his replacement, is sure to cause problems down the road. The secondary is young and learning a new scheme this year has steepened the learning curve.

The offensive line appears to be a weak point, but the late return of two starters from last year added to three games starting experience for the young linemen will aid the team as the season progresses.

Experience in the receiving corps coupled with some talented new players have resulted in multiple players getting touches and makes defenses cover more than just a player or two.

Joe Ganz has been on the mark, but look for speedier cover players on the rest of the schedule to make the seams and creases smaller. Marlon Lucky is looking good, but Roy Helu Jr. is shining in relief.

After three straight games against teams with little hope of postseason play, Nebraska is working through a bye week. The next game is a home night game against Virginia Tech, and then Top Five Missouri comes to Memorial Stadium, where they have not won since 1972.

Oct. 4 is the date when we will get a read on how many wins the Huskers are capable of. Defeatists have it marked as a seven-win season and optimists are asking if Missouri, Oklahoma or Texas Tech will be the team to make a 10-win regular season possible.

NCAA:The Return of The Huskers

Peter R — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:39:56 -0400

In 2007, the Nebraska Huskers football program made a change in direction. After four years under a former pro coach who had turned the top tier program around Husker faithful were looking for a change and some success. Former national Championship coach Tom Osborne returned as Athletic Director and hired the man who had been passed over four years earlier, Bo Pelini.

The Husker Nation immediately took to the man whose previous one year stint at Nebraska had turned a pathetic defense into a force to be reckoned with. Bo had won a bowl game everyone expected the Huskers to lose while e was interim head coach after AD Steve Pedersen had fired long time Osborne assistant Frank Solich from the head coaching job.

National pundits have written the 2008 Huskers off with losses to Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech, and possibly Kansas State penciled in. The season's early performance by Virginia Tech has that loss in doubt. Kansas State is looking like a win for Nebraska.

NU has managed to make two games against weaker teams look more competitive than Husker fans had hoped; this reinforces the pundits’ predictions for the season. In order for Pelini's Huskers to get to ten wins, they will have to be better than what they have shown so far. Many in Husker Nation are willing to write off this possibility.

But then a close win over Central Florida (with Dante Culpepper at the helm) in 1997 made Osborne's last Husker national championship team look weak early in the year. New Mexico State is coming to Lincoln for their season opener after Hurricane Gustav caused their original opener to be cancelled (rescheduled?).

Huskers need to open up a big lead and dominate the Aggies in every facet of the game. One open week follows that game and then the Huskers have a grueling eight week schedule including all of the games pundits have them predicted to lose.

The offense and defense the Huskers have shown to date look unlikely to rise against analysts' favorite Big 12 North team, the Missouri Tigers. That game will be the bellwether for the first half of the Huskers season. A win would shock outsiders and fans alike.

There is no reason to believe that the coaches are planning a loss against upstart Missouri, and every reason to believe that they will prepare for three weeks for the Missouri game while devoting enough attention to Virginia Tech to earn a 3-0 start.

At the end of the regular season, an 8-4 record would look good compared to recent teams. A 10 and 2 regular season would move Bo Pelini into the brink of Husker greats Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne. That would be an accomplishment for a first year head coach. Stay tuned to see how the season unfolds...