Are you gonna be mad Iggy???

[Qball76]

Uh oh Iggy, in this mornings Omaha World Herald, Solich was fired yesterday and the university is talking with Pitt coach Walt Harris about possibly taking a job with the Huskers...

[Warrior]

This bothers me:

Penn State goes 3-9 and Joe keeps his job and has had a losing season in 3 of the last 4 years.

Nebraska goes 9-3 and Solich is fired even though they have been 58-19 or something during his tenure and reached a bowl every year I believe. That includes a trip to the National Championship (which is still wrong IMO. No team that doesn't even win the their own conference championship should be allowed in the champ. game).

Strange. Makes you wonder who is running the team at each school.

[Qball76]

Well here in Nebraska, Husker football is everything for the simple fact that we don't have any other major college programs or pro teams of our own to root for. Solich continued to run the offense that Tom Osborne won with repeatedly, only one problem with that, we don't have near the athletes that we used to have because Solich doesn't recruit well. I still stand behind the option offense that Nebraska runs because it has proven itself time and time again even against these high scoring passing offenses, but Solich can't expect to win when running this offense with sub par players. I'm not saying there isn't any talent on the team but when the majority of your talent is in your WR you don't continue to run up the middle or off tackle with a less than average RB corpse. Solich's problem is in his loyalty with his seniors rather than the team, he played Lord and Davis repeatedly throughout the season even though he had better athletes behind them that could have replaced them. Here in Nebraska and I hate to say it it's all about the record at the end of the season. You either change and win or the university will make the change for you.

[IggyWH]

Nope Q, I'm not worried.

For 1 :

Walt and Peterson don't get along. Remember, Peterson was AD at Pitt before he went to Nebraska. The 2 were always at odds because Walt wasn't Peterson's hire. (if his name is spelled Pederson then my bad... one is our former AD and the other is the name of our event center and I forget which is which)

For 2 :

Walt runs a spread offense, not that crap option the Huskers run. Huskers don't have the talent currently to run Walt's offense and it would take 3-4 years to get that talent. You think 9-3 is bad... you'll go through like 3 years of 4-8 records before you get the talent.

For 3 :

Although I hate placing blame on coaches... Walt has to take it this year. He's been here like 6 years and here we go again going to a crap bowl. They had the talent last year and this year and choked once again. At some point to got to place the blame on the coaching staff so it could be time for a change here at Pitt.

[Qball76]

Actually in my opinion Nebraska has more talent to run the spread offense right now than they do the option lol, only problem is they never throw the ball to them. I wouldn't even mine Pellini being named head coach I'd like to see what he has in terms of coaching strategy. You know honestly I wouldn't have cared if they went 4-8 this season if they would have played with some heart like they actually gave a damn, most the games I watched it looks like they were just out there going through the motions. It's starting to become a boring offense to watch and if they get behind it's impossible for them to catch up so I'm hoping some changes are made in the future.

[IggyWH]

They don't have a good enough QB to run the spread offense. Walt's system is very complicated. That reason alone is why I said it'll take them 3-4 years. They'll need to recruit a QB that has run something similar in high school and then get all of Walt's time to learn the offense over a couple years.

Also, even though I like Walt as a coach, he really isn't a head coach. If you watch a Pitt game he only talks to 3 people on the sideline... our QB, our RB, and Larry. He makes a great offensive coordinator but as a head coach, he lacks.

[podstock]

I've always wondered how a great college program can run an option offense?

I can't recall a Nebraska QB, TE, or WR that made an impact in the NFL? Could you name some names?

I know that Roger Craig did a tremendous job for my Niners, and developed into one hell of a pass-catching RB, same for Tom Rathman.

But, if you're a true QB (and not some wannabe Eric Crouch) or a true WR or TE, why in the world would you go to Nebraska.

If you're running on every single play....how do you develop the skills needed to play the position in NFL

when was the last time a team in the NFL ran an option offense (note: running one QB option play once every 3-4 games doesn't count).

furthermore, I don't see how Nebraska is so successful with their option plays.

If I were the opposing player for a team (like Miami, FL St, etc)...
on the option play, I would totally forget about the RB, and gear myself up to annihilate the QB.

Not a dirty hit, but a tough hit, worthy of de-cleating the QB.

Hit the QB like that 2-3 times, and you no longer have that QB, even if Nebraska scores a TD.

I never understood the option offense being utilized at a major college program (as opposed to, say, at Harvard, where few football players go on to the NFL).

Ever wonder why no NFL team runs the option?

B/c 2-3 nasty hits by Ray Lewis on your QB, and you no longer have the starting QB. All you have to do is focus on getting that one hit on the QB that puts him out for the rest of the season; forget about the RB, and let the other 7-8 players concentrate on the RB. Just have 2-3 players focus on smashing that QB into a coma

[phantomkid21]

i agree with warrior on this one...9-3 is good i thought