INTERRUPTING ALL PROGRAMS-- Colorado Was More Lucky Than Good

By Jimmy Sheil

Bill McCartney recently mumbled something about “dead” and Husker fans.

I guess it’s OK for them to make jokes like that, but to me, nobody should. (And if the Sal thing actually is true, that’s unfortunate, but ya’ think there would be a pic? It didn’t allegedly happen in the 1960s. Urban myth?)

OK, speaking of CU coaches saying dumb things, that brings us to Tel Mucker or whatever his name is. I had never heard of him, even after he was hired, until he started babbling about his Husker jealously. Seems this summer he was upset about Nebraska getting high-value recruits nationally, and in Colorado like it’s West Nebraska, the 51^st state.

He might as well get used to it now as one lucky win for him isn’t changing anything. Nebraska will always recruit better than CU, regardless of who coaches at both schools, representing the Cornhuskers and the Buffaloes.

After the game, I saw some CU media saying something to the effect of the Buffalo players are taking on Mucker’s personality.

Huh?

So, the players are walking around saying nonsensical things like the world is flat, Colorado is a national program, or Nick Nolte is still alive?

Nebraska is a blueblood having played in the second most national title games and won the second most national championships in the modern era (two platoons, 1963), not to mention they have played in five such games in the really modern era (25 years) with three national championships.

Also, NU also some of the best facilities and fan support in the galaxy as the players are treated like kings in Lincoln by the locals. Players don’t like it when opposing fans take over their stadium or the school has to beg fans not to sell their tickets.

Hopefully CU didn’t have many recruits at the game as it was a horrible look for the support Colorado gets locally. While it was nice, they won, every recruit there on Saturday knows, the Buffs were more lucky than good on the field.

So yeah, top players from coast to coast, regardless of coach, will keep coming to Lincoln without considering Colorado. But CU is a power five school, so they will get decent players over the Wyoming’s and the SMU’s, for the most part.

And yeah, I’m irked about the game, but I feel like winning some cake and making a sorta bet because I know Colorado fans will greatly overvalue the win.

It was a game the Buffs were one play away from getting blown out at home in the third quarter and the main reason they won is the extremely rare occurrence of an early-season, basically a scholarship place-kicker not being available for the first game (teams rarely have more than one PK on scholarship).

If Mucker in the next three years has a better record than NU and Frost in any season, I’ll donate $500 to a charity fighting malaria in Africa with nets, aptly called, NOTHING BUT NETS.

It is a worthwhile nonprofit started by sports media personality, and Boulder, Co., native, Rick Reilly, from his back-page column in Sports Illustrated in 2006.

NOTHING BUT NETS distributes nets in Africa to help battle malaria, a leading cause of death among children on the continent. Since 2006, NOTHING BUT NETS, has raised over $70 million to help deliver 13 million bed nets to families in need, most already fighting poverty.

And I will hook up NOTHING BUT NETS with five bills if the impossible happens.

However, each year that Mucker’s record is not better than NU’s, I would appreciate a Colorado fan stepping up and buying me a birthday cake (July 16) from my local Bakers in Omaha saying, “Mucker Is A Chucklehead!”

Why?

Why the ___ not? ITS CAKE EINSTEIN!

(It can even be a cake on clearance but I would appreciate it if the cake has whipped frosting.)

It’s not so much about Frost being that good, but if his time at UCF and taking arguably the worst p5 team in the country in 2017 from 40 point losses to competitive one score-losses with multiple ranked teams in his first year is any indication, Frost will win multiple conference championships at Nebraska.

Also, NU did beat Michigan State who was ranked in the top 15/20 for much of 2018…but I gotta be honest, the Cornhuskers always beat Sparty, even when Nick Saban was their coach.

And likely in 10 years, Mucker will only be known for filling up a Jeopardy category called, “Things Delusional, Bitter & Jealous Coaches Say About Nebraska.”

I have been following sports since the days of Isiah Moses Walter Hipp and Lloyd Bernard Free, and clowns like Tel Mucker come and go.

He reminds me a lot of Ron Prince at KSU or ex-Buff coach Dan Hawkins--all hat, no cattle as they say in Tejas. Last summer nobody in Colorado knew who he was, especially the recruits, so he started babbling Nebraska.

Back to the game…the better team doesn’t always win. However, the Buffs don’t blow, they might end up in the 7-5, 8-4 range, but again, that game was one play from Blowout City in Boulder as NU dominated almost the first three quarters. I highly doubt a college, or even a Couch Coach, could re-watch the game and say, “Yeah, CU is better.”

If and NU and CU play 10 times, the Husker win seven, maybe eight times, but Colorado won last Saturday. Predictably the Husker faithful only want to focus on the staff and not “the kids.”

The problem with the all the Husker fans saying “this loss is on the staff” is, IT ALWAYS IS! Win or lose, the buck stops with the head coach and his assistants on their recruiting, preparation and play calls!

No staff is ever perfect, but the staff, and players, did damn good to get up 17-0 midway through three quarters on the road, especially having been the 2017 Huskers, versus a p5 team not named Rutgers. And this might surprise some, but Colorado has scholarship players too ( Yeah, T.O.’s line).

And again, if NU just has a scholarship place kicker healthy in the second game of the season, Nebraska wins. While injuries are part of tackle football (see the assault on NU’s QB by a cowardly Buff linebacker last year), injuries to placekickers are not.

Also, it seems the criticisms of NU’s staff are totally based on the results.

Sorta like when a fastball gets hit for a homerun and the know-it-all on Twitter says, “Shouldn’t have thrown a fastball there buddy.”

Or maybe he shouldn’t thrown a crappy fastball?

Yes, execution. The players, “the kids.”

I think many times because athletes aren’t paid as much as the coaches and are younger adults, some people won’t criticize them. (Me? I’ll boo dudes. Real world training to me.)

And trust me, these Husker players will be first to tell you; they did not execute well enough after NU went up 17-0. None of them want to hear ANYTHING about the coaches.

Also, the people who know the least about football, media included, are always the ones talking about “adjustments” as if they are the end all, like its 100% a game of chess (or checkers if you are Frank Solich).

Of course, you get a feel for the game as you make play calls, but the magic of “adjustments” to some people is comical. They think if you score on your first drive, you should just keep scoring if you just make adjustments to their adjustments. Or if you don’t score that means they made adjustments to you and your counter adjustments weren’t good enough.

NO!

It is hard to score in games, even if you score on your first drive. In their world, momentum, emotion and execution, do not exist. They all exist.

Back to the game and the hindsight nature of fans/media.

Last year, all “the experts” said no doubt about it, NU was too aggressive versus CU at the end of the game and in 2019 Nebraska was too conservative. While both can maybe be true with about 500 qualifiers, too assume that is black and white is folly.

The Colorado loss is on the program as a whole the last four years roughly, but on the bright side, they had CU on the ropes and did not finish. And the MVP of the 2019 NU-CU game turned out to be Barret Pickering through no fault of his own.

Maybe for the Buffs, more freak injuries happen and they can make a bowl in 2019?

Some Husker fans want CU in a bowl game, but I’ll pass even if we would get the Mucker Comedy Hour again, and hope for a national opponent that top recruits around the country are considering playing for down the road.