USC is on another planet.

is that we are not any closer to that planet then we were 4,5,6 years ago. We keep hearing that this staff is bringing in 4-5 star players who should make a difference and they aren't. Five loses is five loses no matter if the players on the field have one star or 5 stars behind their names. If we are bringing in such great players then the ONLY reason we are not any closer has to be coaching and that is the bandwagon I am on. I think we have good players and we are not 45 points behind USC but when you let a team run the same play over and over and over and it gets HUGE gains and you make no adjustment to stop it then it is COACHING. And when you run the same play over and over and dont change when the defense starts to stop it then it is COACHING. Calling that pass that got intercepted and returned for a td when the d had been all over it the previous 4 times was dumb. When the d adjust and starts to stop a play its time to call something different. That is COACHING. But then I guess we wouldn't know about making adjustments to stop a play because we dont do it.

I'm gonna go ahead and re-post something I already said over at Husker Mike's.

The worst thing Steve Pederson ever did was tell us our expectations were reasonable.

I often wonder if we had been given some non-football explanation for Frank Solich's firing (like he's a drunk or he impregnated a cheerleader or something) whether Nebraska fans would be more patient with the new regime. It seems to me Steve P's big mistake wasn't in firing Frank but while doing so saying our standards weren't being met. I had no problem with Frank Solich winning 9 games. I'll have no problem with BC winning 9 games this year, should that happen. The big error Steve made was reinforcing the view shared by some fans that 9 wins and conference championships aren't enough. Some fans want it to be 1995 every year. Steve made the error of telling them that this was possible if they would just give the new coach time.

It's not gonna happen. Not this year. Not next year. Not with Bill Callahan as coach. Not with his successor. Probably never in my lifetime nor in my children's lifetimes will that level of football be played at Nebraska (or possibly anywhere). Osborne's last four teams (1994-97) were the most successful in the history of college football. As great as the current USC dynasty is, they are still, according to the numbers, inferior to Dr. Tom's last class. Setting that level of performance as the standard by which to judge is to guarantee failure. No one is now and no one may ever again achieve that level of greatness. Failing to realize this is the fundamental flaw in how Steve and many Nebraska fans think.

Tom Osborne was one of the greatest coaches in college football history long before the 1994 season. He built his Hall of Fame resume by never winning fewer than nine games and always having his teams in the conference title hunt. As long as BC continues on that trajectory, he should be allowed to continue as Nebraska's coach, no matter what standard his boss claims to have established.