Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[entropy]

Frost.. at 21.. was asked by the press who he thinks would win between Michigan and Nebraska. He answered. Not sure how that relates to TO. And I liked his answer, btw..

I'd fully expect the same question, if answered by a Michigan player, to be supportive of Michigan winning... however he phrased it. In fact, I recall a Michigan players saying they just won the NC after they beat the cougars in the rose bowl. They should feel proud of what they accomplished and should feel like they can beat anyone. They're competitive kids.

The only fanbase that should be upset recently is PSU... and their grudge is legit.

[entropy]

btw.. I think I won stan over.. just saying. =)

[entropy]

Jordon Burroughs tweet..I was chosen as 1 of 5 Olympic athletes to be sponsored by Budweiser! My pic will be in Budweiser displays in stores all over the country

[entropy]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120119/BIGRED/701199862/1001#papuchis-receives-50-percent-raise

Coaches receive raises..

[entropy]

http://huskerextra.com/sports/mens-basketball/article_61c6a133-4786-5d4a-af02-54d829cd82ea.html

Nebraska models student section after Michigan

[iam416]

OSU and Nebraska could play 100 times and I'm not sure nebraska would win 1. Woof.

[entropy]

Not sure either..

[entropy]

Steven M. Sipple: 'N' brand could use some polish

Posted: Saturday, January 21, 2012 11:30 pm

The sportswriter for the newspaper in Stillwater, Okla., was perched in the Boone Pickens Stadium press box on a gorgeous afternoon in October of 2006.

Noticing a significant number of empty seats shortly before the Nebraska-Oklahoma State game, I asked the veteran writer about the empties. Why so many?

"It's just (expletive) Nebraska," he said with a wry smile.

Yeah, just Nebraska.

Ouch.

The "N" brand for Husker athletics lost some sizzle during the past decade. How much prestige has been lost is in the eye of the beholder. One can spin the discussion several ways and include several sports. However it's spun, the "N" obviously doesn't carry as much clout as it did during the mid-to-late 1990s, when Tom Osborne was racking up three national football titles.

The brand remains strong and respected -- ask Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany -- but could use some polish.

Of course, this essentially becomes a football discussion. Let's keep it there for the sake of brevity. When Nebraska was racing to national titles in 1994, 1995 and 1997, who would have dreamed the Huskers soon would spend a decade outside the national top five?

Who would have dreamed that programs such as Boise State, TCU, Wisconsin, Oregon and Oklahoma State -- afterthoughts on the national scene during most of the 1990s -- would surpass Nebraska in terms of winning percentage during the past decade?

Turns out, the acerbic Stillwater scribe had a point. Since losing 37-14 to Miami in the BCS national title game following the 2001 season, the Huskers have been ranked in the top five for only one week -- they were No. 5 entering a spirit-sapping midseason loss to heated rival Texas in 2010.

The "N" brand's strength diminishes ever so slightly as each season passes without a conference championship (the last one was in 1999) or BCS appearance (2001). If you bleed Husker red, the brand discussion perhaps isn't worth fretting about. But it's worth thinking about, especially during recruiting season.

High school seniors were in the first or second grade when Nebraska last was a consistent top-five team. In other words, NU doesn't necessarily spring to mind when recruits think about the nation's elite programs.

Let me reiterate: The "N" has years and years of strength in reserve -- power that dates to the Bob Devaney era (1962-72). The status and sway the "N" retains depends in part on one's perspective. When new Nebraska defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski left Iowa, he had some Hawkeye fans fuming because of this quote:

"It obviously helps when you walk into those high schools and you have the 'N' on your chest. I'm looking forward to that. That'll be the first time in my career you're walking into high schools with a name brand on your chest."

Kaczenski perhaps was unaware that Iowa, in the past 10 seasons, produced a better overall record (85-42 for a 66.9 winning percentage) than Nebraska (82-48, 63.0), and more NFL draft picks (42-41). The Hawkeyes ended the 2002 and 2009 seasons in BCS bowls.

Check this season's final Associated Press top 10. Programs that once were in Nebraska's rearview mirror fared better in the last 10 years than the Huskers -- Boise State (90.0 winning percentage), Wisconsin (71.7), Oregon (70.3), and Oklahoma State (65.3).

TCU, 1-10 as recently as 1997, is 103-23 in the last 10 years (81.7).

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini has done well to produce records of 9-4, 10-4, 10-4 and 9-4 after inheriting a program that was 5-7 in 2007 under Bill Callahan. Still, Pelini feels a negative vibe from a fan base arguably spoiled by Osborne's amazing success. In his final five seasons (1993-97), Nebraska was 60-3.

Success aside, the program felt unique. The uniqueness in many ways was destroyed starting when Steve Pederson fired Frank Solich in 2003 after a 9-3 regular season. The program is still recovering.

Say Nebraska continues in the 9- and 10-win range, but occasionally -- once every six years or so -- breaks through with a Big Ten championship and/or BCS appearance.

Such a scenario seems realistic. It would fortify the "N" brand. But would it be enough to satisfy the majority of the Husker fan base? You would think so.

Will the "N" brand ever regain the luster and uniqueness it enjoyed in the late 1990s? With each passing football season, you wonder more and more.






Reach Steven M. Sipple at 402-473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.

[entropy]

Rivals.com has done a good job compiling the names of those who say they have accepted a preferred walk-on invitation from Nebraska.

Here's the current list:

*** Jared Blum, Gretna, 6-5, 235, TE/DE

*** Cole Chvatal, Wahoo Bishop Neumann, 6-0, 185, WR

*** Carson Collins, Omaha Burke, 5-10, 220, FB

*** Ross Dzuris, Plattsmouth, 6-4, 230, TE

*** Sam Foltz, Grand Island, 6-2, 190, DB/P

*** King Frazier, Lee's Summit (Mo.), 6-0, 200, RB

*** Garret Johns, Aurora, 6-2, 270, OL

*** Mitch McCann, Omaha Burke, 6-2, 225, LB/FB

*** Graham Nabity, Elkhorn, 6-1, 200, RB

*** Jordan Nelson, Omaha Burke, 5-7, 175, RB

*** Brandon Reilly, Lincoln Southwest, 6-2, 180, WR

*** Dylan Utter, Papillion-La Vista, 6-3, 300, OL

[entropy]

[entropy]

Walk-on list so far..


Mitch McCann, Omaha (Neb.) Burke, 6-2, 225, LB/FB

King Frazier Lee's Summit (Mo.), 6-0, 200, RB

Brad Simpson, Ralston (Neb.), 6-1, 195, LB/S

Jordan Nelson, Omaha (Neb.) Burke, 5-7, 175, RB

Sam Foltz, Grand Island (Neb.), 6-2, 190, DB/P

Cole Chvatal, Wahoo (Neb.) Bishop Neumann, 6-0, 185, WR

Dylan Utter, Papillion La Vitsa (Neb.), 6-3, 300, OL

Brandon Reilly, Lincoln (Neb.) Southwest, 6-2, 180, WR

Graham Nabity, Elkhorn (Neb.), 6-1, 200, RB

Andy Janovich, Gretna (Neb.), 6-1, 210, FB

Garret Johns, Aurora (Neb.), 6-2, 270, OL

Jared Blum, Gretna (Neb.), 6-5, 235, TE/DE

Ryker Fyfe, Grand Island (Neb.), 6-4, 195, QB

Spencer Lindsay, Kearney (Neb.), 5-10, 195, K

Taylor Hoffman, Oakland Craig (Neb.) 6-1, 200, LB/FB

Carson Collins, Omaha (Neb.) Burke, 5-10, 220, FB

Ross Dzuris, Plattsmouth (Neb.), 6-4, 230, TE

[SeanB]

That's cool for the program that they are all (but one) from Nebraska.

Is it typically that way, Ent? I would imagine so.

[entropy]

Usually a few are out of state, but most are from Nebraska.

[entropy]

UNL is either going to close this class with a bang (they are favored or one of 2 for some studs) or they end on a wimper.

I was pretty confident over the weekend...

[entropy]

Ohio State, with all its football tradition, is just two hours down the road from Greg McMullen's hometown of Akron.

The Horseshoe. Ohio State vs. Michigan. A bunch of Big Ten championships.

Ohio State was the first program to offer a scholarship to McMullen, a four-star defensive end who moves surprisingly well for someone who is 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds. McMullen was only a sophomore and Jim Tressel was still coach when the offer came.

McMullen came to Lincoln for a football camp last summer and liked the program enough he was one of the first players to commit to the Huskers' 2012 recruiting class. McMullen will make it official Wednesday when he signs a letter of intent.

Urban Meyer, who won two national titles in a three-year stretch at Florida, took over at Ohio State in late November.

Ohio State did not make another big push to get McMullen after Meyer took over, according to Ralph Orsini, McMullen's high school coach at Archbishop Hoban. The two assistant coaches at Ohio State that had recruited McMullen are no longer with the program.

Even if Meyer and Ohio State had made a big push at the end, the message probably would have been the same as the other schools that continued to show interest. McMullen wasn't interested.

"I think he was pretty much sold on Nebraska even though we had a number of Big Ten schools and SEC schools and schools as far west as Oregon had offered him," Orsini said. "He sat down and listened, but he never wavered from Nebraska. He liked everything about Coach Bo Pelini and his staff and the school as well. That was the one school that talked a lot about academics, and Greg isn't just about playing, he's about academics as well."

There were a lot of good defensive end prospects in Ohio, Orsini said, meaning an offer from Ohio State was a big deal. Ohio State got a couple of late commitments from five-star defensive end prospects and should finish with a top-five class nationally.

An offer from Ohio State is a dream for many players in the state. Still, the Buckeyes are not for everybody.

"There are those players that from the time they started watching football it's been Ohio State and nothing else, and there are others that would love the opportunity but kind of look at some other options too and see what those schools are about," Orsini said. "I think that was the situation with Greg and Nebraska. Ohio State or Notre Dame is probably No. 2 on the list. Once he went down to Lincoln and experienced football and the school down there, he just knew from that point that Nebraska was the school."

New Nebraska defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski has visited McMullen since taking the job at NU in December. Kaczenski had previously recruited McMullen while an assistant coach at Iowa.

"Greg is excited about that," Orsini said. "He liked the guy, but Iowa just wasn't Nebraska."

Following the season, McMullen played in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl game in Phoenix, where he received good reviews.

During the high school season, McMullen had 12 sacks and even more quarterback hurries.

"There were games where we had two or three guys blocking Greg all the time, and really occupying him," Orsini said. "He had some games where he was harassing the quarterback quite a bit, and there were other games, quite frankly, where he's getting held and nothing is getting called. He had a solid year overall."