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NU hopes for smooth transition under Pelini

I think we've discussed this before, but I'll rehash it.

Phil Steele (who's opinions and predictions I respect), shows nebraska finishing 2nd in the North and considers them likely to be one of the most improved teams in the nation?

Why?

1. They're returning 11 starters (three fewer than our beloved Buffs).

2. They play Oklahoma and Tech on the road.

3. According to the link above they're not tweaking the offense, BUT, I was always under the impression that Watson was kinda a bystander where the offense was concerned anyway. Wasn't Cally the offensive genius of that team?

4. New coach with no head coaching experience. I've said before that I think Bo is the right fit for nebraska, but he's still new to the job.

5. I think the article also references minimal coaching turnover, but didn't Bo bring in a buncha nobodies (including his brother).

6. Yes, Bo is defense-minded. But as I've said before, if he fixes the defense it happens at the expense of the rest of the team. The head coach is more about culture and philosophy. Yes, he'll bring a defensive philosophy, but that culture won't turn around over night.

Am I taking crazy pills? Does Phil Steele have some inside info to which I'm not privy. Help?
 
I think we've discussed this before, but I'll rehash it.

Phil Steele (who's opinions and predictions I respect), shows nebraska finishing 2nd in the North and considers them likely to be one of the most improved teams in the nation?

Why?

1. They're returning 11 starters (three fewer than our beloved Buffs).

2. They play Oklahoma and Tech on the road.

3. According to the link above they're not tweaking the offense, BUT, I was always under the impression that Watson was kinda a bystander where the offense was concerned anyway. Wasn't Cally the offensive genius of that team?

4. New coach with no head coaching experience. I've said before that I think Bo is the right fit for nebraska, but he's still new to the job.

5. I think the article also references minimal coaching turnover, but didn't Bo bring in a buncha nobodies (including his brother).

6. Yes, Bo is defense-minded. But as I've said before, if he fixes the defense it happens at the expense of the rest of the team. The head coach is more about culture and philosophy. Yes, he'll bring a defensive philosophy, but that culture won't turn around over night.

Am I taking crazy pills? Does Phil Steele have some inside info to which I'm not privy. Help?

no, you are not on crazy pills as we discussed last night before bcs drank grenadine and varnish.
 
Coming from my point of view it's really hard to know for sure what is going to happen. Watson wasn't even given a chance to run the offense for very long. That goes back to Callahan being a control freak and too smart for his own good. Callahan is a good NFL offensive coordinator, but he just plain sucks as a head coach no matter where that is. I think Watson ran the offense maybe two full halves out of all of last season. Those halves I believe were the first half in the Texas game and the first half in the Colorado game, but don't quote me on this because I'm not for sure. Those two halves were outstanding for our offense, but when your defense can't even stop anyone it's really a moot point how your offense does.

I'm excited to see what Pelini will do because it's obvious what the problems are with the Huskers:
1. Confidence
2. The Defense
3. Play like a team
If Pelini can fix these three things than we are headed in the right direction. I don't think we will finish 2nd in the North and if I had to pick how it all hashes out this next season in the North it ends up like this for me:
1. Mizzou
2. Colorado
3. Kansas
4. Nebraska
5. Iowa State
6. Kansas State
I don't think Kansas is going to have another miracle season, but who knows so they and NU may be tied for 3rd in the conference. Colorado is ahead of us in terms of rebuilding and Mizzou is just going to continue to jell, but I will always be waiting for the Pinkel train to derail. I don't know how to feel to have a coach that is really good on one side of the ball and nothing on the other. Callahan was horrible on defense, but fairly good on offense, even if he was too damn smart it made him stupid. Pelini is great on defense, but unknown on offense which is why I think he chose to keep Watson around so they wouldn't have to change the offensive phylosophy as well, which would've put us last in the Big XII this next season. JMO
 
Coming from my point of view it's really hard to know for sure what is going to happen. Watson wasn't even given a chance to run the offense for very long. That goes back to Callahan being a control freak and too smart for his own good. Callahan is a good NFL offensive coordinator, but he just plain sucks as a head coach no matter where that is. I think Watson ran the offense maybe two full halves out of all of last season. Those halves I believe were the first half in the Texas game and the first half in the Colorado game, but don't quote me on this because I'm not for sure. Those two halves were outstanding for our offense, but when your defense can't even stop anyone it's really a moot point how your offense does.

I'm excited to see what Pelini will do because it's obvious what the problems are with the Huskers:
1. Confidence
2. The Defense
3. Play like a team
If Pelini can fix these three things than we are headed in the right direction. I don't think we will finish 2nd in the North and if I had to pick how it all hashes out this next season in the North it ends up like this for me:
1. Mizzou
2. Colorado
3. Kansas
4. Nebraska
5. Iowa State
6. Kansas State
I don't think Kansas is going to have another miracle season, but who knows so they and NU may be tied for 3rd in the conference. Colorado is ahead of us in terms of rebuilding and Mizzou is just going to continue to jell, but I will always be waiting for the Pinkel train to derail. I don't know how to feel to have a coach that is really good on one side of the ball and nothing on the other. Callahan was horrible on defense, but fairly good on offense, even if he was too damn smart it made him stupid. Pelini is great on defense, but unknown on offense which is why I think he chose to keep Watson around so they wouldn't have to change the offensive phylosophy as well, which would've put us last in the Big XII this next season. JMO

Dude, you're wearing a piece of CU paraphanalia on your body right now, aren't you? :thumbsup: Good post.

You note that Cally was a good O-Coord. but not a head coach? Does this raise any fears for Bo?
 
Dude, you're wearing a piece of CU paraphanalia on your body right now, aren't you? :thumbsup: Good post.

You note that Cally was a good O-Coord. but not a head coach? Does this raise any fears for Bo?
wally get to the actual article for some good watson bashing on the BZ.
 
wally get to the actual article for some good watson bashing on the BZ.

You're right Snowbuff, they are not being kind to Shortbus. I left you a message, by the way...I don't think Tall-is-all is gonna get back to you.
 
Minimal coaching turnover? I think the only guys they kept are Watson and Gilmore. That's minimal coaching turnover? :wow:

The schedule plays to their favor this year. That fact alone may allow them to sneak into a bowl game. But they still have to play a tough conference schedule. Both KSU and ISU on the road are tough - as we can attest. And they get MU, KU, and CU at home.

The thing I keep coming back to is the fact that Pelini has never been a head coach before at any level. He's never installed an offense. He may be up for the challenge, but the group he's surrounded himself with are a bunch of TO's handpicked cronies. Barney Cotton? Are you freaking kidding me? Why not Craig Bohl while you're at it? The vast majority of the kids in that program were recruited by a coach who's no longer there. That isn't easily overcome.

If I had to guess, I'd go with 6-6 and a minor bowl. Probably 4th or 5th in the North, depending on who wins the KSU game.
 
Dude, you're wearing a piece of CU paraphanalia on your body right now, aren't you? :thumbsup: Good post.

You note that Cally was a good O-Coord. but not a head coach? Does this raise any fears for Bo?

Lol, I don't think I'll be wearing any CU gear anytime soon, but this board has allowed me to have some respect for the team and the university as a whole. There is definately a concern with Bo as a head coach because he just doesn't have the experience right now. Having said that though I am happy thus far with how he has responded to becoming the head coach at NU and what he has done so far. I am not quick to crown him as the greatest coach ever because he has to prove that to me first. I've been let down way too many times as of recently and I need to see the results on the field and I'm not into the coach speak anymore.

I would rather have a coach that has experience with improvement on both sides of the ball for obvious reasons, but Bo was the 2nd coach that I wanted, Brian Kelly was my first. Bo should have an immediate impact on the defensive side of the ball and from the articles I've read his brother sounds rather impressive as well. I think Bo is concerned with bringing the tradition back to NU, getting the players that he wants, not what the recruiting services think, and then winning. Bo has already said he isn't into the whole rebuilding excuse he wants to win and now. He has the attitude to get it done I just hope that he has put the coaching staff together to get it done.
 
I think the nibbletes will be alot better this year and with thier creampuff schedule 9 wins is possible. I think they'll fall of the face of the planet next year when they graduate:

3 starting o-linemen
starting QB
#1 RB
2 starting WR
starting fullback
 
Minimal coaching turnover? I think the only guys they kept are Watson and Gilmore. That's minimal coaching turnover? :wow:

The schedule plays to their favor this year. That fact alone may allow them to sneak into a bowl game. But they still have to play a tough conference schedule. Both KSU and ISU on the road are tough - as we can attest. And they get MU, KU, and CU at home.

The thing I keep coming back to is the fact that Pelini has never been a head coach before at any level. He's never installed an offense. He may be up for the challenge, but the group he's surrounded himself with are a bunch of TO's handpicked cronies. Barney Cotton? Are you freaking kidding me? Why not Craig Bohl while you're at it? The vast majority of the kids in that program were recruited by a coach who's no longer there. That isn't easily overcome.

If I had to guess, I'd go with 6-6 and a minor bowl. Probably 4th or 5th in the North, depending on who wins the KSU game.

While I'll agree with you that the Cotton higher is definately questionable and yes we only kept Watson and Gilmore I have to disagree with the possible record. I think we go 7-5 this season with a possibility of 8-4. Anything above this would be a homer prediction and I don't see it right now.

I see our season playing out like this:

Western Michigan: Win
San Jose State: Win
New Mexico State: Win
Virginia Tech: Loss
Missouri: Loss
Texas Tech: Loss
Iowa State: Win
Baylor: Win
Oklahoma: Loss
Kansas: Win
Kansas State: Win
Colorado: Loss/Win

This would put us 7-5 with a possibility of going 8-4 depending on the CU game. We usually always play CU well at home and that's always a swing game for both teams no matter what the year is like. I see our bowl game being the Alamo Bowl. I think the Alamo Bowl is a midtier bowl, but they always seem to pick us based on how we travel. JMO though and I can see what your saying.
 
BRI, explain to me why Bo is considered such a "nebraska guy". Every where I read, I see that Bo is the man for the job because he knows the nebraska program, and understands the nubs culture. Wasn't he only there for a year? Or was he there earlier in his career? It doesn't make sense to me (but it is corn fans, so I don't expect it to make a ton of sense).
 
BRI, explain to me why Bo is considered such a "nebraska guy". Every where I read, I see that Bo is the man for the job because he knows the nebraska program, and understands the nubs culture. Wasn't he only there for a year? Or was he there earlier in his career? It doesn't make sense to me (but it is corn fans, so I don't expect it to make a ton of sense).

I think the reason people are saying he's an NU guy is he has the mentality that fits the tradition of the program. We were known for being a hard-nosed football team that would just wear you down. We were aggressive and we walked with a swagger. Bo is that way and it comes natural to him. He cares about our tradition and what it means to the state of Nebraska. Let's face it there isn't much to do in Nebraska and professional teams aren't beating down the door to be based there so the University is everything to that state. While some people think it is obsessive, and I agree at times it can be, it makes for a ton of support that most universities wish they could have. He wants us to return to our traditions first and have respectable kids playing for us and then he wants us to win. He has an aggressive attitude and I think that is why people think he is such a Nebraska guy.
 
Sorry. I'm just not sold on the mighty Bo. He may prove to be a good cook with the D but he has no ingredients this year. Where's the Beef?

Western Michigan: Loss
San Jose State: Win
New Mexico State: Win
Virginia Tech: Loss
Missouri: Loss
Texas Tech: Loss
Iowa State: Loss
Baylor: Win
Oklahoma: Loss
Kansas: Loss
Kansas State: Loss
Colorado: Loss

I'd say anything over 4-5 wins and Pelini has done a good job. If the fuskers win more than 7, then there is no justice in this world.
 
a lot of this discourse gets to the heart of the question i posed on the football board. here we go!

I think Watson ran the offense maybe two full halves out of all of last season. Those halves I believe were the first half in the Texas game and the first half in the Colorado game, but don't quote me on this because I'm not for sure. Those two halves were outstanding for our offense

i would guess that you are on-the-mark with respect to watson's calling the offensive plays. a few points here:

* a football game comprises BOTH halves. perhaps the first half was all it took for both texas and colorado to figure out your entire playbook, and then systematically ram it down your throat? unless you are claiming that cally was responsible for an entirely different scheme the second half when he took over?

the defenses deserve some of the credit to the phenomena, don't you think?

* cu-nu halftime box score was 35-24. keep in mind cu was playing minus key defensive personnel. an "outstanding" offensive effort in this situation perhaps should be more evident than a nine point favor? particularly as ganz was allowed repeatedly to cross the LOS for several yards prior to throwing. :smile2:

* the nu-texas halftime box score was 10-3. this is NOT a boxscore that would indicate offensive genius.


Minimal coaching turnover? I think the only guys they kept are Watson and Gilmore. That's minimal coaching turnover?

:lol:

I think we go 7-5 this season with a possibility of 8-4. I see our season playing out like this:

Western Michigan: Win
San Jose State: Win / Loss
New Mexico State: Win
Virginia Tech: Loss
Missouri: Loss
Texas Tech: Loss
Iowa State: Win
Baylor: Win
Oklahoma: Loss
Kansas: Loss
Kansas State: Win / Loss
Colorado: Loss

We will be here as your support network when the (bolded) predictions come to pass. Mangino had a FANTASTIC quote after his orange bowl win - "I guess they can't say we haven't beat anybody now." He is a GREAT mind, who has been allowed to develop his scheme. I think he has enough smarts to contend for the north for some time. The KSU tossup I added because the pussycats hate you with a heated passion stronger than the seven winds of hell. That is their redletter game. It will be a factor - I don't think they can be written off. I think the skers will overlook an early season opponent (you were so effing close to have two of them hand you your hat last year), and that will bite them. Therefore, I added a tossup game. As for Colorado, there is absolutely no way that is a tossup for the skers. Sorry. Our system has been establishing, and you are at the beginning. You do not transition from the suckiest defense in the west to the best in the b12 in one year. Bo is sharp. BUT Bo had the nations best talent at LSU. I am not sold on him doing well with even average talent - look how he ****ed the sooners over when he was at the helm for that infamous bowl game. Their talent was not average. I would expect 4-6 wins.

We were aggressive and we walked with a swagger.

it is easy to swagger when you get twice the number of athletes as everyone else owing to an aggressive in-state scholarship program that hooks local talent you want with academic schollys. As I have noted before, you were not the only school to do that. Only the most effective. With the two-fer gone, your swagger is gone. There is a direct correlation that your fans want so much to dismiss. Now, to have that swagger, you have to be able to attract the best talent AND have the best coaches around. Is that happening for you?
 
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a lot of this discourse gets to the heart of the question i posed on the football board. here we go!



i would guess that you are on-the-mark with respect to watson's calling the offensive plays. a few points here:

* a football game comprises BOTH halves. perhaps the first half was all it took for both texas and colorado to figure out your entire playbook, and then systematically ram it down your throat? unless you are claiming that cally was responsible for an entirely different scheme the second half when he took over?
* cu-nu halftime box score was 35-24. keep in mind cu was playing minus key defensive personnel. an "outstanding" offensive effort in this situation perhaps should be more evident than a nine point favor? particularly as ganz was allowed repeatedly to cross the LOS for several yards prior to throwing. :smile2:
* the nu-texas halftime box score was 10-3. this is NOT a boxscore that would indicate offensive genius.




:lol:



We will be here as your support network when the (bolded) predictions come to pass. Mangono had a GREAT quote after his orange bowl win - "I guess they can't say we haven't beat anybody now." He is a GREAT mind, who has been allowed to develop. I think he has enough smarts to contend for the north for some time. The KSU tossup I added because the pussycats hate you with a heated passion stronger than the seven winds of hell. That is their redletter game. It will be a factor - I don't think they can be wrote off. I think the skers will overlook an early season opponent (you were so effing close to have two of them hand you your hat last year), and that will bite them. Therefore, I added a tossup game. As for Colorado, there is absolutely no way that is a tossup for the skers. Sorry. Our system has been establishing, and you are at the beginning. You do not transition from the suckiest defense in the west to the best in the b12 in one year. Bo is sharp. BUT Bo had the nations best talent at LSU. I am not sold on him doing well with even average talent - look how he ****ed the sooners over when he was at the helm for that infamous bowl game. I would expect 4-6 wins.



it is easy to swagger when you get twice the number of athletes as everyone else owing to an aggressive in-state scholarship program that hooks local talent you want with academic schollys. As I have noted before, you were not the only school to do that. Only the most effective. With the two-fer gone, your swagger is gone. There is a direct correlation that your fans want so much to dismiss. Now, to have that swagger, you have to be able to attract the best talent AND have the best coaches around. Is that happening for you?
I am pretty sure that was the hottest thing I have ever read. Its a shame your family didn't produce any more girls. All mankind is worse off for the lack.
 
I am pretty sure that was the hottest thing I have ever read. Its a shame your family didn't produce any more girls. All mankind is worse off for the lack.

yeah, the gramatical irregularities here and there, along with misspelling the big man at kansas' name is blistering! :lol:

my parents barely survived me. if there was another girl, it would have been horrible for them. :wink2:
 
They didn't screw up when they hired Pelini. They screwed up when they surrounded him with a bunch of washouts as his assistants. Pelini is never going to be a great recruiter, so you better be damn sure you have assistants that can recruit. Outside of a couple guys right now, that's not the case. Callahan actually helped the program take a step forward in that regard, but now they're taking two steps backward. This is not going to be an overnight success story like many NU fans think it will be.
 
They didn't screw up when they hired Pelini. They screwed up when they surrounded him with a bunch of washouts as his assistants. Pelini is never going to be a great recruiter, so you better be damn sure you have assistants that can recruit. Outside of a couple guys right now, that's not the case. Callahan actually helped the program take a step forward in that regard, but now they're taking two steps backward. This is not going to be an overnight success story like many NU fans think it will be.

I don't think it will be an overnight success story by any means. I do think that our defense will improve dramatically, but only time will tell. lb I realize there are two halves to a football game. I was just trying to point out that the times that Watson was calling the plays the playcalling made much more sense and our offense looked alot sharper. Callahan out thought himself for the most part. While our offense didn't score a ton of points in those two halves, although the CU game was alot more than the Texas game, the offense moved the ball fairly well if I remember correctly. As for Ganz crossing the LOS repeatedly I can comment on that because I don't recall. I do remember one time where he crossed it by about 3 or 4 yards and it was obvious and I was like, "What the f*&k!?" Callahan didn't change the offensive scheme in the 2nd half of these games dramatically, but his playcalling was obviously different. I would have to say that NU losing these two games was based on two things. 1. The opposing defenses changing their gameplan like they are supposed to, and 2. Our defense choking in the
2nd half like they did all season. As far as your predictions for our season, time will only tell who is closer to the truth and it's all just a shot in the dark. :wink2:
 
Callahan didn't change the offensive scheme in the 2nd half of these games dramatically, but his playcalling was obviously different. I would have to say that NU losing these two games was based on two things. 1. The opposing defenses changing their gameplan like they are supposed to, and 2. Our defense choking in the
2nd half like they did all season. As far as your predictions for our season, time will only tell who is closer to the truth and it's all just a shot in the dark. :wink2:

obviously different how? are you claiming that those two halves were your most productive all season and Cally was incapable of offensive playcalling? do i need to get all the boxscores for all season?

i think that #2 is a direct consequence of #1. if defenses can pick up on what you are doing and disrupt it - it is not a very good offense.
 
I was just trying to point out that the times that Watson was calling the plays the playcalling made much more sense and our offense looked alot sharper.

I've heard a lot of niblet fans make the claim that Watson's play calling was so much better than Cally's. That doesn't make sense to me. In the first place, how does anybody know who's actually calling the plays and when? Only the staff would know, and I doubt they're telling. I'm thinking it was a fusker fan somewhere who saw two halfway decent halves and made the assumption that Cally must not have been running the show then.

A little piece of Watson history for you - he's good for one brilliant game a year. One. There will be one game where he installs the perfect offensive gameplan and calls the perfect play every time. 62-36 was one of those games (although it should be pointed out that they only called about 5 different plays throughout the entire game). I remember one year against a highly favored KSU team that he called a fantastic game.

I suspect that Watson was responsible for a lot more of the offense last year than you give him credit for.
 
62-36 was not a great gameplan it was a ****ty defense. anybody remember the texas game(41-7) in austin that year.
 
hence the one great gameplan. Like say, NU's 70 point walloping of KSU last year. Other then that, he loses games his team has the talent to win.

Another good one is the day he got ROBERT HODGE ( think this was the KSU game actually)300 yards passing.
 
obviously different how? are you claiming that those two halves were your most productive all season and Cally was incapable of offensive playcalling? do i need to get all the boxscores for all season?

i think that #2 is a direct consequence of #1. if defenses can pick up on what you are doing and disrupt it - it is not a very good offense.

I'm not going to get baited into an argument about it because last season is last season. I respect your opinion I just don't agree with it for the most part and that's okay. At times Callahan would call good plays and then on like a 3rd and 11 he would call a draw or an outside run which makes no sense. You can get the boxscores if you would like, but it won't solve anything. Callahan was quoted in a few articles last season as saying that at certain times he was calling the plays and at other times Watson was calling the plays. Watson may not have been an offensive genius all the time at CU, but that doesn't mean he couldn't of learned from his mistakes and changed them. I'll just have to reserve my complete decision on Watson until after a complete season with him at the helm of the offense. Forgive me for being a little passionate for my team.................at times I will allow my blind passion step in front of logical reasoning.:thumbsup:
 
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I'm not going to get baited into an argument about it because last season is last season. I respect your opinion I just don't agree with it for the most part and that's okay. At times Callahan would call good plays and then on like a 3rd and 11 he would call a draw or an outside run which makes no sense. You can get the boxscores if you would like, but it won't solve anything. Callahan was quoted in a few articles last season as saying that at certain times he was calling the plays and at other times Watson was calling the plays. Watson may not have been an offensive genius all the time at CU, but that doesn't mean he couldn't of learned from his mistakes and changed them. I'll just have to reserve my complete decision on Watson until after a complete season with him at the helm of the offense. Forgive me for being a little passionate for my team.................at times I will allow my blind passion step in front of logical reasoning.:thumbsup:

let's not forget it was you that pointed out the particulars of last season. i am questioning you about it because your responses do not make any sense if you think about it. rather, they seem like the result of a pat answer that lacked deep thought about it.

i am not arguing with you - i am asking you questions. i would hope that the difference is evident?
 
let's not forget it was you that pointed out the particulars of last season. i am questioning you about it because your responses do not make any sense if you think about it. rather, they seem like the result of a pat answer that lacked deep thought about it.

i am not arguing with you - i am asking you questions. i would hope that the difference is evident?

Just to offer a typical NU fans take on this, I would think that at this point, most NU fans here might perhaps see your questions as information gathering with the completion of said information gathering indicated by the sudden and abrupt application of one ski boot.:wink2:
 
let's not forget it was you that pointed out the particulars of last season. i am questioning you about it because your responses do not make any sense if you think about it. rather, they seem like the result of a pat answer that lacked deep thought about it.

i am not arguing with you - i am asking you questions. i would hope that the difference is evident?

I understand that your asking questions and that's fine, but through an internet message board it can seem at times as if you are trying to bait me into an argument. From what I have observed from last season when Watson called the plays our offense was more productive on the field. Now that may not result in points on the board, but the offense faired better. The second half of almost all the games was horrible and in my opinion was based off of adjustments by the opposing team and our lack to call the right plays and stop the opposing teams offense. Now I think part of the problem with the offense in the second half of these games is they were emotionally crushed when the defense started getting lit up. Also, being out on the field with the pressure of scoring points on every offensive drive due to your defenses inability to stop anyone has to physically exhaust you.
 
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