It's one of the crazy things about Division I college football.
In any other sport, from the NFL to the NBA, a 4-1 start to a season would be seen as positive. Even after a bad defeat, there is plenty of time to keep getting better and make the playoffs.
But college football is a unique beast where playoffs don't exist and a single loss during the regular season can decimate a team's dreams.
Saturday night's massacre in Madison is more than just a loss. It's a defeat that puts Nebraska at a crossroads. Here's why:
Considering its undefeated record and high ranking heading into the Wisconsin game, Nebraska was gunning for a Big Ten championship and at least entertaining thoughts of a potential national championship.
Both of those dreams are gone -- in the span of three and half brutal hours where the Huskers were exposed on both offense and defense.
Unless something cataclysmic happens to the Badgers, there is no way for Nebraska to win a league title in its first Big Ten season. We won't even talk about a national championship.
So with all these lofty goals and expectations -- which a program like Nebraska absolutely should have every season -- now destroyed, where does this team go?
It's simple to say things like "well, you just put Wisconsin behind you and focus on the next game." Easier said than done. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini can preach "forget the loss" and "moving on" all he wants, but players aren't stupid. They know 2011 will never be seen as a towering success. Here it is in early October, with the bulk of the league schedule still left to play, and they know they can't win a Big Ten title.
That realization stings.
They know that only one league game into the Great Big Ten Experiment, they have disappointed a proud fan base. They know they can't achieve the goals laid out before them in August.
But that doesn't mean Pelini can't try to beat this negative thinking. In fact, he has no other choice.
I said Nebraska is at a crossroads -- and it's a dangerous one. If Pelini can't right this ship, he may just find it capsized in November. And we all know that when we're speaking in maritime metaphors, the skipper always goes down with his ship.
Pelini must guide his team out of this mess. It won't be an easy task. But a .500 record isn't out of the question, if Nebraska doesn't regroup fast.
The Huskers still have big games (albiet not as big) against Ohio State and Michigan. They can still go to a quality bowl game. They can still win 10 games in 2011.
Nebraska has talent, plenty of it. The Huskers may not be one of the five (or 10) best teams in the nation this year, but they can't abandon this season.
There is too much football left. Too much pride.
At Nebraska, the faithful won't stand for anything less.
Worst article I have ever read! There are two divisions, the Huskers are not in the same as Wisconsin. Nebraska wins out, they win their conference, beat whom ever they play in the BIG Ten Championship game and win the BIG 10. Even if NE plays Wisconsin again they could still win the Big 10, see Washington last year. NE blew out Washington in the regular season but lost the bowl game. Things change. Weird huh? Wisconsin can still lose too, look..teams may be great all year and go all the way, however, it doesn't happen all that often. Wisconsin may lose, maybe two or three who knows. Nebraska is not in trouble at all, if NE stayed on course and ran the ball like they did in the first quarter than this game has a different outcome. Three INT in 12 plays changed the game. NE was expossed all year on D not just this game, young kids, however, will learn the D by the end of the year and the D will play at a higher level..see 2007. The division is still up for grabs. Another thing, this might not be a National Championship team, however, to say because they have one loss means they are out is just studpid. Look at both National Championships for Florida..1 loss teams. LSU had 2 loses. This was just an ignorant article with a bunch of crap to fill spaces. Please if you're going to write about sports then know the sport before you write about it.
How do you figure that the "dream of a Big Ten Championship" are gone? I am not sure if you know how a conference championship game works but, the Huskers' chances of making the championship game are still very much alive if they beat the teams in their division. And as Nebraska learned last year in its bowl game against Washington, an early season win doesn't guarrantee a late season victory. The Huskers' were definetly overrated (typical of Big Ten teams)and probably never believed the hyped that a National Championship was within reach. But, a conference championship is still a very real probability.
You have written a very ignorant message about Nebraska football. You act like Wiscy could not possibly stumble or have any injuries that could keep them from winning the B1G? You think the Huskers dreams of a good season are out the window? How many teams will go 11-1 this year? Maybe a handful will do that this year. Wis.-Ohio State and MI State were all one loss teams last year in the conference so they must have had bad years? Get real! With Wis. in the other conference this loss by no means keeps us from going to the Champ Game and even if they beat us twice..good for them in Wisconsin. The way WIS played the other night against NU, they LOOK unbeatable, but they won’t play this way every game and (all though I hope they don’t have any) could have key players miss some action or games due to injuries. Going all the way undefeated is a DREAM season and not what we had expected from this team. Get real and learn something about NU football before you write about it.
we can all generalize the situation NU football has put itself in, how to fix it is the question.
Why does Big Red continue with the running game of QB draws, option left option right and toss sweep to the IB right or left?
NU needs to get back to NU basics--running the ball between the tackles, up the gut, hammer the rock...we have only seen a glimpse of this in the second half in an effort to run the clock..How about hammering the rock, running down the opponents defense, and sucking the linebackers into the middle from the get go? Then then corners will be open consistently and the short passing game, i.e., to the tight end will be more effective..
Some of your views seem a bit misconstrued. I disagree with most of what you write, with the exception of the last 7 sentences. First off, Nebraska's season will more than likely be just fine, given that the teams of the remainder of the schedule don't amass enough talent combined as to compare to the Badgers. OSU and the Michigan teams are mediocre at best. There will be challenges throughout the end of the year, but I expect nothing less than a trip to Indy this year to play Wiscy again. Our team is more than able to rinse bad tastes from their mouths. Look at the Texas/OSU transition last year. Losing to Texas at home was devastating at least, and we were able to bounce back and handle OSU on the road. In addition, if the Huskers are even able to win out the majority of the remaining games, this year will be viewed as a success.
We were overrated from the start, there's no question there. I think where we stand now is a bit more appropriate. However, a .500 record is completely out of the question. It is true that Husker fans expect the most from our football team, however Pelini is a hero throughout Husker Nation and it will take more than a bad Wiscy game to analogize a sinking ship..GBR!!!