Rewatching Nebraska game...

[GFBfan]

We’ll see. I’m not expecting him to reach the lofty expectations any time soon. They were preseason ranked after a 4-8 season and some mentioned them as possible CFP contenders, and look at where they’re at.

Nebraska’s offense has underachieved all season, other than the Illinois game. Their defense has improved.

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I didn't understand all the preseason love for them. They were bad last year, but improved some towards the end of the year. I thought they would finish with a better record, but not be in the top 3 of the conference.

 

[IronOre]

I didn't understand all the preseason love for them. They were bad last year, but improved some towards the end of the year. I thought they would finish with a better record, but not be in the top 3 of the conference.

I think the preseason love for Nebraska had maybe a little bit to do with how they finished the year last year, but mostly to do with two things. The first one being that it's Nebraska. Despite not being relevant on a national level for quite some time, they still have a huge following and people still remember how dominant they were in the mid 1990's. The second one is what Frost accomplished in his second year at UCF. UCF was 0-8 the year before Frost got there and they went undefeated in Frost's second year (2017) and people thought he could pull off similar magic in year 2 at Nebraska.

In reality, there isn't anything all that impressive about the way Nebraska finished last season. They came within 5 points against Ohio State (the game after the Buckeyes got trounced 49-20 by Purdue), who the Gophers also gave a good game and may have had a chance to win had the referees not given Ohio State a spot 2 yards ahead of where it should have been. Then they beat an average 7-6 Michigan State team 9-6 in Lincoln towards the end of the year. So there were reasons to be more optimistic than there were at the beginning of the year when they started 0-6 and lost to Troy, but the predictions of contending for the Big Ten West, much less the College Football Playoffs, were simply ridiculous.

Will Frost ultimately be able to turn Nebraska into a team that's relevant on the national stage, even if they're a step or two below what they once were? Maybe, but I think he's at least a few years away from that at a minimum. If there was ever a coaching change that made no sense at all, it was firing Solich and bringing in Callahan. This one was even worse than (although similar to) Michigan bringing in Rich Rodriguez. When you have a system that has worked so well for so long, you don't throw it out and make wholesale changes. If I were Frost, I'd give all of my focus the first few years to rebuilding the offensive line and the defense. While I'm not sure the option system that Nebraska used to run would work as well in today's game, I'd certainly put elements of it in.

 

[highwayman]

For all the criticism that coaches get for underselling their teams and talent and chances, Frost is an example of why coaches do exactly that. He has over promised, and so far he has under delivered.

This year's preseason ranking was partly because of how strong Nebraska finished last year, but also partly because Frost puffed out his chest. If he'd downplayed things a bit more, I don't think Cornhusker fans would be in such throes of despair right now.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. PJ was thrashed for underselling what a lot of GHers thought was a “full cupboard”.

If Frost did the same, he would have been run out of town on a rail. Now, after overselling, he might be run out on a rail. I’m no Nebby fan, but being a legacy coach is a bitch.