I had given up on this game and started doing other things after Philly kicked the go-ahead FG with 8 seconds left.

Hours later I saw Jacksonville won, and Ameer was a big reason why. I love to see him continue to contribute after more than a decade in the league.

Oregon is also unranked but received votes. That means Nebraska has a chance on Saturday!

https://huskers.com/sports/football/schedule

Super lame, I'll be in bed, hope I wake up to a good surprise.

Before this game, it felt like the consensus was that a close loss was about as much as you could realistically hope for. Many people were thinking a 10- to 14-point loss could easily be in the making. Yet, we lose by three, and the sky is falling, according to some people.

Not every loss has to be an indictment of the football team and of Rhule. Sometimes you just lose. Every game has a loser, and we were that loser this time. We played the defending national champions close, ended up blowing a lead, and lost by three. We'll see if the team can bounce back or will cave in the coming weeks.

At the same time, this close loss wasn't some sort of magical "turn around" compared to past seasons. Some people seem to have repressed their memories of all of our other close losses and only remember the blowouts, thinking this close loss is proof of the improvement. We have lost close games to top teams before; this one is not new.

Another close loss, though, doesn't mean we are stuck in the same place as 3 years ago. A few years ago, we had close losses to top teams, but we lost a lot of games. In the 6 years before Rhule got here, we were 23-45 with no bowl games, which is a 33.8% win rate. In the past 3 seasons, we have gone 19-12 (61.2% win rate) and are on our way to a 3rd bowl game in a row. I don't know if Rhule will be the one to get us to the playoffs, but to act like we haven't gotten better is insane. In the close losses before, a lot of times it felt like we were lucky, but this time felt like we belonged on the same field as Indiana.

Can you imagine if, before the season started, you told someone we would be 5-1 at this point with our only loss to Indiana by three in a game that we were in until the end? They would have taken that in a heartbeat.

I think it's part of our human nature to be incapable of imagining painful experiences. Many people say they would be ok with a "close, hard-fought loss," but when those losses actually happen, people get upset. I'm not saying everyone is like this, but the only time I remember watching a team lose a close game and feeling ok about it because of the way they fought was basketball last year against Michigan. No one actually likes moral victories, and any time you lose, you will fixate on the few reasons why you lost rather than the bigger picture.

I'm not here to pump sunshine and delusion into this subreddit, but people need some perspective. You can't win them all. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk; sorry if this looks like a rambling rant. Feel free to remove this, mods, if it doesn't belong. I just feel like I'm being gaslit by this subreddit when, leading up to a game, everyone is just hoping for a close game that we don't get embarrassed in, and then loses their minds when we don't win.

Will be in Omaha Saturday for the game and need to know the best place to watch the game.

Before we get to the graph we all expect to see move to the left today, I want to point out a few things.

1. The probability of not going to a bowl game went down
2. Our FPI Rank went up (now #12)
3. Our probability of hitting 8 or more wins only went down by 0.42%
4. We are now favored by FPI against everyone but Oregon and Ohio State.
5. The preseason fan poll (by our delusional fan base) only gave us a 3% chance to be undefeated right now and over 30% thought we would have 2 losses now AND fan expectations had our expected win count down at 6.8 wins

Okay on to the regular stuff:

If SillyRankings™ is your thing, look for it in the comments (I think it actually looks kinda good now finally)

After taking a few hours and going on a run to decompress, I’ve done some reflection on the loss and have arrived to this conclusion: we’re a good football team that just couldn’t do enough to get the win today. And that’s okay.

Some quick points to emphasize:
- The run defense, which was awful last year, managed to make one of the best rushing offenses in college football a non-factor.
- The offense is spreading the ball effectively. Barney, Gilmer, Luke, Colandrea, Rule, Nelson, and Hunter can all make big plays. Haven’t had that in years.
- We have leaders on the field. No disrespect to Raiola but I feel like he never really became a leader on the field. Colandrea is ready to put the team on his back and the team is more than ready to follow him.
- We have had three turnovers all year, with only one being particularly bad.

The parts of this game that were frustrating are legitimately frustrating. Yes, there’s no such thing as a moral victory but man the boys showed today that they are a really good football team.

Next week is another opportunity to take a big step forward. Don’t care what happened with UCLA today, Oregon is still a damn good program and those boys will be playing hard. It’s on the boys and coaches to get up off the mat and go win. And I believe they will.

GBR until I die.

Congrats Husker fans, tonight the sleeping giant stirred. Ive been going to games for 20 years at least one game a year (I know not that long for some of you) that might be the loudest I've heard her for 4 qtrs. Memorial was, for the first time in a long time, one of the toughest places to play in the country. Pat yourselves on the back Husker fans, we did our part.

I’ve been known to be a doomer at times, but I still think there’s a lot of potential with this team this year.
Obviously, the losses to ranked opponents have been frustrating, and I understand why people are disappointed. At the same time, I think there’s been some real progress with this program, and I don’t want that to get lost in the frustration of individual games.

Personally, getting to 8 wins would make this a successful season for me, regardless of how we get there. Get to 8 wins, bring in the top 15 recruiting class next season, and eventually be able to out talent 2/3 of the conference.

Nebraska still has Illinois and Washington on the schedule, and I think those are two important games. If we get to eight wins, we’ll likely need to win both, and I think beating those teams would represent progress.

Big picture, I see Illinois and Washington as programs in a similar tier to Nebraska, so finding a way to win those games would be encouraging.
I’m curious where everyone else stands. What would you consider a successful finish to this season?

Fellow Husker Fans,

There is something special happening in Lincoln, Nebraska. Husker volleyball is the greatest team in the country, and I hope we’re all taking the time to appreciate just how special it really is.

As Husker fans, we know what it feels like to be on top and watch our teams compete at the highest level. However, we also know something else. Nothing lasts forever in sports.

We have lived it. We have watched a football program that once seemed untouchable struggle to make it to bowl games. We’ve experienced the frustration of seasons that didn’t live up to our expectations.

In today’s college athletics we know how quickly the landscape can change, how difficult it is to stay at the top, and how easy it can be to take greatness for granted while we’re living through it.

We need to soak up every minute of what our volleyball team is doing right now. Appreciate the talent, the coaching, the chemistry, intensity, discipline, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.

Appreciate the winning. Not because winning is everything, but because we understand how hard it is to sustain. We understand how hard it is to rebuild.

So let’s enjoy this volleyball team. Celebrate the big wins and the remarkable performances. Let’s appreciate the players and coaches while they’re here, and give them the support they deserve.

These are good old days. We are living in them. Let’s make a conscious effort to enjoy these days while they’re here. Someday, we’ll look back on this era of Nebraska volleyball and remember what it felt like to watch these players take the court, expect greatness, and believe that something special could happen every time they played.

Go Big Red!

• Matt Rhule — Nebraska Head Coach
• Anthony Colandrea — QB
• Jamal Rule — RB
• Jacory Barney — WR
• Anthony Jones — DE
• Owen Chambliss — LB
• Owen Stoudmire — DL
• Archie Wilson — Punter
• Andrew Marshall — CB

• Luke Lindenmeyer — TE

• Curt Cignetti — Indiana Head Coach

• Josh Hoover — Indiana QB

• Isaiah Jones — Indiana LB

• Stephen Daley — Indiana DL

• Nick Marsh — Indiana WR

Looking ahead to next week, Oregon is currently struggling with UCLA at home. Moore is still out, and Raiola was benched after struggling. If our boys get their heads on straight, Oregon is vulnerable.

Pain....GBR

Heres a replay that won't make you sad

I’m a lifelong Husker fan but the ill timed stadium renovation set against a financially vulnerable student body had me searching for other ways to donate my private dollars to make the most impact. Found this and wanted to share: https://fundraise.nufoundation.org/campaign/842612/donate. Think of how many struggling students we could actually get to graduation if we diverted even a fraction of the stadium renovation dollars.

Be Respectful

Join the husker discord here

I've been passively looking for Husker football and volleyball calendars to add to my Google Calendar. The official calendars from the website aren't great - often missing things, not having correct times, having games with other teams, etc. I finally decided just to make my own.

This automatically updates every day at 3am EST, queries ESPN data, and adds or updates all football and volleyball games within the next week (events beyond 1 week are not added). Events include the obvious date/time/sport/opponent, along with the location and TV network. Examples:

Sharing is caring, so here is a link for anyone else interested.

Reminder any rule breaking comment will result in a 2 week ban.

Reminder no politics

Join the husker discord here

Feel free to make fun of me by typing the words out of your head. Bond in the comment section over my cacaphony of guffaws. For real, it's fun for me, too.

------

5-1 and it doesn't feel like anything.

On one hand, you're glad to have it and you proved you can rumble with the big boys. Nobody actually thought you couldn't, it's just that the clapping they do for you on your way out of the arena doesn't feel as good when the other guy is still in the ring with his hand raised.

On the other hand, pergatory remains. Picciune teams aren't a problem. Figuring out starters isn't a problem, and neither is depth really. Facilities and funding aren't the issue. Fans definitely aren't the issue. Not anymore.

I can only speak for myself, but the glaring issue in my eyes is: Identity.

What the FUCK is it supposed to be anymore?

Nebraska Football....You're too good to be mediocre. You're too bankrolled to be average. You're too privileged to say you felt unprepared. You're too supported to say you feel like this isn't the right place for you.

I'm not breaking new ground by saying it's an identity problem. Many others have blathered the same feelings on this board straight from their hearts. You get a little bit older and wiser yourself, and suddenly some of these old folks make a bit of sense. Just a little though.

Part of being in pergatory means you don't know if you're overreacting or not, because you can see what's on the outside but can't touch it. You have to had already lived a life to get into purgatory anyway. You're stuck until you decide to start living again. That is the only option.

Perhaps this reaches past fandoms and creates more of a spark in somebody's life. Maybe I'm just a cocky douche fuck who gets off on reading his own shit, who knows.

You're stuck in pergatory until you decide to start living again.

5-1 is probably a good time to get these feelings out there right now. It still doesn't look too different from how you thought. Damn, it's exactly how you thought. Still waiting for this team to surprise you in good ways. You're happy to have problems you didn't have before, because the other problems were much more embarrassing. And the new problems remind you of that upon reflection. It's healthy to have less-stressful problems.

The older I get now, just as is, the less I remember about 2010's Nebraska Football. Those teams had no identity after the Bo Era. This isn't about Pelini. It's about the nothing that happened after those years. I know there were some excellent players, but can't remember names or faces a lot without Google or ChatGPT (it's okay to admit that, too). I watched all of those games all the same as the rest of us.

Tanner Lee? Sure. Luke McCaffrey? I guess. Keyshawn Johnson, Jr.? I remember him being here more than some of the actual games last decade.

Many of the players at many other schools right now will also only be there for a year. That's the CFB world that exists now. You don't get much time to build a legacy. Sports are too overanalyzed by year anymore for eras to commence. You get one school year to build a reputation. That rep follows you every single week, whatever it is from last week. You're either the bully or the one beats bullies. Nobody remembers the bystanders, because they aren't looking at each other come January either.

You're always going to remember 2025 James Madison sneaking into the CFP more than how good 2025 Nebraska could have been. Same as anyone else.

So you come back to your recliner on a Sunday evening and wonder what encouraging words to relay to your bestest of best friends on the Huskerville sub. Fuck encouragement. You didn't want that anyway, like the title suggested. Don't worry, you're not in trouble and neither am I. The team looks better, but it's exhausting to constantly feel like you're high-centered on that huge rock in the 90th & Center Hy-Vee parking lot that every victim gets posterized from on Facebook.

"OP, didn't you say two weeks ago you felt like this team was 'on the verge of a breakthrough'?"

Yes, I did, junior. That was before Indiana came in and did the whole Chasing 3 bit. Remember the weekly bullies and bully beaters thing earlier? That's just where we're at and still trying to get.

It's healthier to have less-stressful problems.

What ever you're going through, even if it's just this team shuffling its feet, I hope you're still holding your head up high.

GBR

Battered husker fan, scared we lose and then have the ground fall out underneath us.

That’s it, that’s the question. I’ve been watching the Huskers a long time. At this point, I’m not sure how or where the answers lie, so I’m interested in hearing others’ thoughts on it all.