Iceland12
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Gophers got behind early in all 3 of their losses this year. Feel better if the Gophers take an early lead, but don't fell too bad if the Huskers score first.
http://www.omaha.com/huskers/chatel...cle_85f75327-a45b-53d7-98ef-fe1162ab6cb3.html
But here’s what is odd: Many of the lowest moments the past four years were preceded immediately by brilliance. Promise. Hope.
If every blowout unfolded as the Iowa game did last year, maybe they’d be easier to understand. The Huskers fall behind 14-0. They look overmatched all four quarters. They lose 38-17. Sad but simple.
That’s not what happens, though.
Since 2011, Nebraska is 4-9 against ranked teams. Eight of those losses were by 13 points or more — the only exception is Michigan State this year. That all sounds pretty terrible.
But here’s the catch: In seven of the eight lopsided losses, the Huskers were ahead or tied in the second quarter. Often they led by multiple scores..
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"Like I told our team, the team that was up 17-3, that’s our team,” Pelini said Monday. “But so is the team that got beat in the last 2½ quarters.
“What we have to do is become that team that played early on consistently over four quarters. That’s not easy to do. It takes a certain level of mental toughness, focus, discipline to continue to do it play after play after play.”
Inconsistency is understandable; Nebraska’s sudden meltdowns are not.
Pelini explained several reasons. Players put too much pressure on themselves. They play to avoid losing, rather than trying to win. They make one mistake, then abandon their techniques to avoid repeating the mistake. That, of course, leads to bigger mistakes. It’s a snowball effect.
It all makes sense. But there’s a big difference between diagnosing problems 48 hours after the debacle and fixing them. Nebraska’s big-game meltdowns have occurred in four different seasons with dozens of different players.
Do you step back and try to find commonalities, I asked Pelini.
“I’ve spent a lot of hours trying to figure out why all of a sudden in a situation we would jump offsides or why we would all of a sudden put the ball on the ground four series in a row,” he said. “It’s hard to identify.
“If it happened week after week after week, it’d be a lot easier to identify.”
Pelini hasn’t found a solution. Which doesn’t inspire much hope for the next time.
http://www.omaha.com/huskers/chatel...cle_85f75327-a45b-53d7-98ef-fe1162ab6cb3.html
But here’s what is odd: Many of the lowest moments the past four years were preceded immediately by brilliance. Promise. Hope.
If every blowout unfolded as the Iowa game did last year, maybe they’d be easier to understand. The Huskers fall behind 14-0. They look overmatched all four quarters. They lose 38-17. Sad but simple.
That’s not what happens, though.
Since 2011, Nebraska is 4-9 against ranked teams. Eight of those losses were by 13 points or more — the only exception is Michigan State this year. That all sounds pretty terrible.
But here’s the catch: In seven of the eight lopsided losses, the Huskers were ahead or tied in the second quarter. Often they led by multiple scores..
-----------
"Like I told our team, the team that was up 17-3, that’s our team,” Pelini said Monday. “But so is the team that got beat in the last 2½ quarters.
“What we have to do is become that team that played early on consistently over four quarters. That’s not easy to do. It takes a certain level of mental toughness, focus, discipline to continue to do it play after play after play.”
Inconsistency is understandable; Nebraska’s sudden meltdowns are not.
Pelini explained several reasons. Players put too much pressure on themselves. They play to avoid losing, rather than trying to win. They make one mistake, then abandon their techniques to avoid repeating the mistake. That, of course, leads to bigger mistakes. It’s a snowball effect.
It all makes sense. But there’s a big difference between diagnosing problems 48 hours after the debacle and fixing them. Nebraska’s big-game meltdowns have occurred in four different seasons with dozens of different players.
Do you step back and try to find commonalities, I asked Pelini.
“I’ve spent a lot of hours trying to figure out why all of a sudden in a situation we would jump offsides or why we would all of a sudden put the ball on the ground four series in a row,” he said. “It’s hard to identify.
“If it happened week after week after week, it’d be a lot easier to identify.”
Pelini hasn’t found a solution. Which doesn’t inspire much hope for the next time.
