As an avid Husker fan like you, I'm sure you catch yourself every year thinking we're gonna win the Big 12/Nat'l Championship. And why not? As a Husker fan, you SHOULD think that just like any other fan cheering for their favorite team. You have a lot of faith and high expectations you expect your team to reach year after year....only to get proven wrong (almost) every year.
Now, of course not every year is disappointing. The 60's all the way to the 90's, we were used to expecting to contend for a National Championship year in and year out. Tom Osborne spoiled us and made us expect to win every year. Why not? We were dominating teams that were proclaimed a "power house" team, only to be taken to the wood shed.
But, ever since the the 2 headed monster era, our expectations were to just get out alive. Stuart Mandel of cnnsi.com wrote an article how he felt bad for Husker fans having their expectations lowered to just a good game, not caring if we came out winning or not. Yes, even the sports writers knew something was wrong with Husker Nation.
The actual year this all started dates back 3 years, 2007. Yes, the year every one of us try to block out. Just the mention of that QB we had and that 'coach' just makes me want to smash my face against a wall full of nails.
Sure, if you talked to me before the 2007 season, I was just like you. I was caught up in Keller hype. C'mon, this guy has pro scouts drooling over him and he's got plenty of QB experience. Plus, this is the year Callahan (my face hurts) has a shot and prove he's the coach we want him to be. This is the YEAR! USC WILL BOW DOWN!!! TEXAS WILL BE SHOWN HOW FOOTBALL IS PLAYED!!! BIG 12 DOMINANCE IS BACK JACK!!
....so we thought.
The first 2 games of the season started out pretty decent. Our defense didn't really have signs of issues being we won those simply by our defense. Then came that HUGE game against USC...in which we choked miserably. I lost count on how many holes our defense had before halftime even hit. The second half was a blur considering I was going horse and my blood pressure made me pass out for an hour or so.
Ball State, the very next week, was the game everyone thought we'd have it together. Sure, one bad game doesn't make a season, and our coaching staff should fix those holes by then. Umm...nope. We were almost upended by David Letterman's alma mater. A team that went an impressive 7-6, but lost to teams like Illinois and Central Michigan. Yeah, we were no better than those teams that day. That was also a day I actually heard boo's. Our 'greatest fans in college football' boo'ing our defense as they left the field. And who could blame them. Heck, the whole 2004 season was a better defensive performance than what was displayed that day.
As you know, the rest of the season got worse and worse. I believe we all know what eventually transpired after the Oklahoma State game. Sorry, did I say game?
I guess in a way, we should thank Callahan. Yes, I said that right. Thank him. If not for the bad season, we'd still be seeing him on the sidelines clueless to why his offense is getting schooled. We'd still have Cosgrove giving that good college try to connect to his players by simply glaring and ignoring them as they walked back from being dominated. We'd still see Joe Ganz warming up on the sidelines and never getting called into action due to yet ANOTHER overrated quarterback getting the starting job.
And, we wouldn't have T.O. at the realm healing the wounded program that so desperately needed a Red Bull boost of confidence in which he found in Bo Pelini.
So, thank you 2007, thank you Bill Callahan and company, and thank you Steve Pederson...and don't ever come back.
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