Last 5 years...

[HBK4life_rivals100467]

NU has lost 19 games by one score or fewer. That's a mental stigma that started way before Frost got here. That is what I mean when I say losing is an epidemic. They need to learn to win again. Not here we go again. That loser mentality is what has been plaguing this team for years. No killer mentality. That's what needs fixed more than anything and Frost will get their minds right again. GBR!!

 

[z28craz]

NU has lost 19 games by one score or fewer. That's a mental stigma that started way before Frost got here. That is what I mean when I say losing is an epidemic. They need to learn to win again. Not here we go again. That loser mentality is what has been plaguing this team for years. No killer mentality. That's what needs fixed more than anything and Frost will get their minds right again. GBR!!

Yep, I know it dates back to at least 2015 BYU, but it could go back further. And I agree, that’s the mental part that we desperately need to overcome.

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

The last five years' record in one-score games (point differential of eight or fewer points):

• 2019 = 2-4
• 2018 = 1-5
• 2017 = 2-3
• 2016 = 3-1
• 2015 = 3-6

That 2015 season was a special nightmare all to its own with all those last-second losses, but Riley overall was 8-10 in those games for a .444 winning percentage. Frost is 3-9. That will improve with a regression to the mean.

For comparison's sake, let's look at each of Nebraska's past six coaches in one-possession games:

• Osborne 34-22-2 or a .603 win percentage— over 25 seasons, that's 2.3 close games per year.
• Solich 10-8 or .556 — over 6 seasons, that 3 close games per year.
• Callahan 10-8 or .556 — over 4 seasons, that's 4.5 close games per year.
• Pelini 17-13 or .567 — over 7 seasons, that's 4.3 close games per year (includes Barney Cotton's game against USC in Holiday Bowl).
• Riley 8-10, or .444 — over 3 seasons, that's 6 close games per year.
• Frost 3-9, or .250 — over 2 seasons, that's 6 close games per year.

So the prevalence of close games is up, and that trend should continue considering the relative parity in the West. That means roughly half of Nebraska's games will be decided by one score or less.

For another comparison, let's look at Kirk Ferentz at Iowa since the Big Ten West Division was formed in 2014:

• Ferentz (2014-2019) 20-17 or .541 — over 6 seasons, that's 6.2 close games per year.

In his tenure at Iowa, Ferentz is 54-57, or .486 — over 21 seasons, that's 5.3 close games per year.

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

Also, Bo's teams were charmed (or prepared to succeed, should you choose that narrative) once he got out of the Big XII. Here were Bo's records in one-score games:

Games as a Big Ten member (13-4)

• 2014 — 2-2 (Cotton lost the bowl game that year, so the team was 2-3)
• 2013 — 5-0
• 2012 — 4-1
• 2011 — 2-1

Games as a Big XII member (4-8)

• 2010 — 1-3
• 2009 — 2-3
• 2008 — 1-2

Yet I think we'd agree that Bo's best teams were 2009 and 2010.

 

[jlb321_rivals110621]

We ended last season 4-2 and began this season 4-2. They must have unlearned things after that 12 game stretch

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

We ended last season 4-2 and began this season 4-2. They must have unlearned things after that 12 game stretch

Yet we improved in one-score games from 1-5 to 2-4. Plus we beat a team from the Sun Belt this year, but not last.

 

[dinglefritz]

We ended last season 4-2 and began this season 4-2. They must have unlearned things after that 12 game stretch

Lost a starting receiver to stupidity to start the year. Lost our starting QB for about a month. Lost our back up QB for a couple of weeks. Lost McCaffrey for a few games. Lost our best starting safety early in the year. Wandale got banged up and lost him in essence a game before he quit playing.. Mo lost his mind. etc. Sh## happens.

 

[dinglefritz]

NU has lost 19 games by one score or fewer. That's a mental stigma that started way before Frost got here. That is what I mean when I say losing is an epidemic. They need to learn to win again. Not here we go again. That loser mentality is what has been plaguing this team for years. No killer mentality. That's what needs fixed more than anything and Frost will get their minds right again. GBR!!

It's why I think we MIGHT not be as far away as this year's record would seem to indicate. We can play with Wisconsin and Iowa next year IMO. Minnesota I believe will take a step back and we get them at home next year. Need to start fast next fall.

 

[jlb321_rivals110621]

Lost a starting receiver to stupidity to start the year. Lost our starting QB for about a month. Lost our back up QB for a couple of weeks. Lost McCaffrey for a few games. Lost our best starting safety early in the year. Wandale got banged up and lost him in essence a game before he quit playing.. Mo lost his mind. etc. Sh## happens.

you used the word “lost” 7 times in that post ... eerie

 

[dinglefritz]

you used the word “lost” 7 times in that post ... eerie

If I added one more would it make you feel better?

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

you used the word “lost” 7 times in that post ... eerie

There's only one thing to do when you're hopelessly lost:

 

[z28craz]

Lost a starting receiver to stupidity to start the year. Lost our starting QB for about a month. Lost our back up QB for a couple of weeks. Lost McCaffrey for a few games. Lost our best starting safety early in the year. Wandale got banged up and lost him in essence a game before he quit playing.. Mo lost his mind. etc. Sh## happens.

this is another reason we need to be patient and give Frost his time. I don’t know what it is but we seem to have been snake bit by the injury bug big time the last 3-5 seasons. Without quality depth it’s hard to overcome those losses and they pile up quick when you lack depth. IMO that’s why we didn’t see this huge shift to younger players especially along the lines. I thought we would see more out of guys like Benhert and Robinson but they were limited. Seems Frost knows he needs depth and holding those guys back to learn the system and build some muscle makes a lot of sense, especially if he can bring in some solid OL and DL prospects this year. I think the entire OL is back next year so depth should be the best we’ve seen in many years. And if it enables guys like Farniok to move back to their natura positions that’s has to be a positive for us.

 

[dinglefritz]

this is another reason we need to be patient and give Frost his time. I don’t know what it is but we seem to have been snake bit by the injury bug big time the last 3-5 seasons. Without quality depth it’s hard to overcome those losses and they pile up quick when you lack depth. IMO that’s why we didn’t see this huge shift to younger players especially along the lines. I thought we would see more out of guys like Benhert and Robinson but they were limited. Seems Frost knows he needs depth and holding those guys back to learn the system and build some muscle makes a lot of sense, especially if he can bring in some solid OL and DL prospects this year. I think the entire OL is back next year so depth should be the best we’ve seen in many years. And if it enables guys like Farniok to move back to their natura positions that’s has to be a positive for us.

I've kind of wondered if he isn't using the Snyder model from when he took over a floundering KSU program. He redshirted a bunch of guys and took his lumps then had those guys for 4 years to build his foundation. Frost coached for Snyder for what 2 years?

 

[DPDWU]

Also, Bo's teams were charmed (or prepared to succeed, should you choose that narrative) once he got out of the Big XII. Here were Bo's records in one-score games:

Games as a Big Ten member (11-4)

• 2014 — 2-2 (Cotton lost the bowl game that year, so the team was 2-3)
• 2013 — 5-0
• 2012 — 4-1
• 2011 — 2-1

Games as a Big XII member (4-8)

• 2010 — 1-3
• 2009 — 2-3
• 2008 — 1-2

Yet I think we'd agree that Bo's best teams were 2009 and 2010.

Not a Bo defender but in 2009 we got screwed in Dallas and 19 penalties in 2010 at AM. It was our big 12 parting gift.

 

[z28craz]

I've kind of wondered if he isn't using the Snyder model from when he took over a floundering KSU program. He redshirted a bunch of guys and took his lumps then had those guys for 4 years to build his foundation. Frost coached for Snyder for what 2 years?

That’s my thinking too. He was an assistant under Prince.. That said, Snyder spoke to our guys in the spring and I know TO and Snyder have a great deal of respect for one another and are fairly close so I have no doubt there were some one on one meetings between Frost and Snyder.

 

[Husker_AMG63]

Not a Bo defender but in 2009 we got screwed in Dallas and 19 penalties in 2010 at AM. It was our big 12 parting gift.

19.....I thought it was 16 penalties! That was the worst display of thievery I have ever seen in a football game! Someone should have gotten arrested for that!

 

[DPDWU]

19.....I thought it was 16 penalties! That was the worst display of thievery I have ever seen in a football game! Someone should have gotten arrested for that!

I looked it up I misspoke it was 18 to be exact from what I saw

 

[CatColumbia]

Mac Brown took a 2 win team to 6 wins in his first year. No excuses, a good coach finds a way to get it done.

 

[ridge222]

We ended last season 4-2 and began this season 4-2. They must have unlearned things after that 12 game stretch

Really none of those 8 wins was against a team that was very good.

 

[redfanusa]

Mac Brown took a 2 win team to 6 wins in his first year. No excuses, a good coach finds a way to get it done.

This guy gets it. Great football coaches may inherit teams with little talent. They may face tough schedules. But they take what they have and they find a way to win games until better recruiting can inject more talent into the program. They do it with a back-to-basics approach. Solid fundamentals.

You can't make a two-star guy into a five-star guy. But you can eliminate penalties, turnovers, and mental breakdowns. You can have solid special teams. You don't need an eight-pound playbook. You do need to execute the plays you do call, so they are sharp and without mistakes.

We couldn't find a guy to snap in the shotgun, and our quarterback couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Yet, we kept with it for a glorious 5-7 record, against a fairly easy schedule. Frank Solich could have won nine games with this group, calling only four plays on offense. And that's the problem.

 

[Baxter48_rivals204143]

NU has lost 19 games by one score or fewer. That's a mental stigma that started way before Frost got here. That is what I mean when I say losing is an epidemic. They need to learn to win again. Not here we go again. That loser mentality is what has been plaguing this team for years. No killer mentality. That's what needs fixed more than anything and Frost will get their minds right again. GBR!!

When Solich was fired and Callahan was hired, as terrible as coach and his assistants were the players he inherited came from a winning program they didn’t have the mental block and still they had two losing season, then bo is hired, these kids were still hungry didn’t like to lose. But things start declining under bos last years and then we hire a perennial looser in smiling mike. So imo frost inherited a mess bigger than what Devaney got, became bob had a bunch of talent to work with. Attitude is the biggest obstacle they have to overcome

 

[otismotis08]

Mac Brown took a 2 win team to 6 wins in his first year. No excuses, a good coach finds a way to get it done.

So what was he at Texas?

 

[ridge222]

Mac Brown took a 2 win team to 6 wins in his first year. No excuses, a good coach finds a way to get it done.

I will give you another one, Satterfield at Louisville, I really think he did a great job this year. In 18 Louisville was 2-10 and that team had completely quit on Petrino. That team was a total mess and he got them to 7 wins this season.

 

[Ewooc]

NU has lost 19 games by one score or fewer. That's a mental stigma that started way before Frost got here. That is what I mean when I say losing is an epidemic. They need to learn to win again. Not here we go again. That loser mentality is what has been plaguing this team for years. No killer mentality. That's what needs fixed more than anything and Frost will get their minds right again. GBR!!

Agree but how do you fix it? Especially when that type of mentality is passed down from class to class. Negativity and doubt can easily spread. So Frost may very well be recruiting guys who are 100% committed to the rebuild. However when they get to campus and are around others every day who have that losing, negative mindset it has to spread. Especially when the losses keep coming. It almost seems like a cancer, you may graduate the biggest problem players, but the seeds of doubt they spread to others keep growing and it just keeps trickling down.

 

[HBK4life_rivals100467]

Agree but how do you fix it? Especially when that type of mentality is passed down from class to class. Negativity and doubt can easily spread. So Frost may very well be recruiting guys who are 100% committed to the rebuild. However when they get to campus and are around others every day who have that losing, negative mindset it has to spread. Especially when the losses keep coming. It almost seems like a cancer, you may graduate the biggest problem players, but the seeds of doubt they spread to others keep growing and it just keeps trickling down.

Just win. And have good leaders like Garrett and Wandale who won't let that happen to the new guys.

 

[CatColumbia]

So what was he at Texas?

Are you really asking about his record from 20 years ago? Different eras bra..

 

[otismotis08]

Are you really asking about his record from 20 years ago? Different eras bra..

Mack Brown was HC at Texas from 1998-2013, bruh.

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

Wait a minute. Nebraska won 11 one score games during that same period. You don’t gain anything from winning close games?

I read opinions from people on here that said the only reason Minnesota had the record they had this season is because they won close games against bad teams and that confidence improved. Why didn’t that work for Nebraska?

It’s tough to have it both ways.

 

[CatColumbia]

Mack Brown was HC at Texas from 1998-2013, bruh.

I don't understand your original question.

 

[otismotis08]

I don't understand your original question.

You suggested that Mack Brown is a good coach because of his first year at NC.
I was asking if he was the same good coach when he was fired from TX.

 

[CatColumbia]

You suggested that Mack Brown is a good coach because of his first year at NC.
I was asking if he was the same good coach when he was fired from TX.

Mac is a good coach, period. Definitley had our number from 1998-2013.
And he proved it again this year by taking a P5 team that was in the dumpster to six wins. Much like Lloyd Carr, the pressure caught up to him in Texas.

 

[jlb321_rivals110621]

You suggested that Mack Brown is a good coach because of his first year at NC.
I was asking if he was the same good coach when he was fired from TX.

16 years at Texas - in the top 10 7 of those years. Finished in the top 10 >40% of the time and won a national title. There aren’t many good coaches out there if they are going to be held to higher standards.

 

[otismotis08]

16 years at Texas - in the top 10 7 of those years. Finished in the top 10 >40% of the time and won a national title. There aren’t many good coaches out there if they are going to be held to higher standards.

Agree. But I guess good isn't good enough in TX. Vince Young made them great for a short while.

 

[spinner4_rivals42045]

Agree but how do you fix it? Especially when that type of mentality is passed down from class to class. Negativity and doubt can easily spread. So Frost may very well be recruiting guys who are 100% committed to the rebuild. However when they get to campus and are around others every day who have that losing, negative mindset it has to spread. Especially when the losses keep coming. It almost seems like a cancer, you may graduate the biggest problem players, but the seeds of doubt they spread to others keep growing and it just keeps trickling down.

I’m tired of making excuses for Scott. How about not alienating players that aren’t your recruits and throw them under the bus every time something goes wrong? How about taking a role of a leader. I have a team. I manage people. I didn’t hire all the people I have and probably wouldn’t have hired all of them. When things don’t go perfectly as planned and I get questioned about it, I don’t say “well blah blah didn’t do this” or blame my team in any dam way. I take the blame completely. I try to mold to my people. I’m one person. there’s a lot more of them then me. This is basic leadership techniques. It’s just so dam mind blowing the poor leadership I see on this staff. Good leadership leads regardless of the personalities. It’s easy to lead people that are “your type”. That’s why some coaches don’t need a crutch. Some coaches can win right away because they understand all kinds of people and can lead all kinds of people. I’m a firm believer that leadership fails, not the people

And It’s almost as mind blowing as when you realize that 3 out of the 4 Head coaches going to the Playoff make less than Scott Frost.

 

[leodisflowers]

Mac Brown took a 2 win team to 6 wins in his first year. No excuses, a good coach finds a way to get it done.

It's the ACC.....

 

[CatColumbia]

It's the ACC.....

I'm not convinced we'd get 6 wins with their schedule.

 

[leodisflowers]

I'm not convinced we'd get 6 wins with their schedule.

You must not watch much football then.

 

[DannyLangsdork]

If I added one more would it make you feel better?

We lost our starting kicker for most of the year due to injury and our 4th string walk-on kicker/club soccer player lost his virginity after making all three of his field goal attempts against Maryland.

 

[Husker.Wed._rivals]

A more important question is why the 2019 games with Colorado (5-7), Indiana (8-4), Purdue (4-8) and 2018 games with Colorado, Troy, Purdue, and Northwestern were close to begin with. Rather than figuring we had "bad luck" in those games and they could have "gone either way", how about wondering what events led to pissing those games away. I'll say again, from playing sports and being on many work, volunteer, etc. teams, I have NEVER seen a group not buy in rather quickly if our leadership has a plan, treats people right and shows results. Something weird has been going on in the program the last two years.

 

[dand84]

A more important question is why the 2019 games with Colorado (5-7), Indiana (8-4), Purdue (4-8) and 2018 games with Colorado, Troy, Purdue, and Northwestern were close to begin with. Rather than figuring we had "bad luck" in those games and they could have "gone either way", how about wondering what events led to pissing those games away. I'll say again, from playing sports and being on many work, volunteer, etc. teams, I have NEVER seen a group not buy in rather quickly if our leadership has a plan, treats people right and shows results. Something weird has been going on in the program the last two years.

Good points on the close game argument. You are your record. Woulda couldna shoulda. HCSF and staff are learning on the job at a major P5 program. I don't think any of them expected the level of challenges they were going to face and underestimated the task at hand. I believe they've overlooked the first 2 seasons after having made their minds about the rebuild and how much all the little things matter. Things like playing through to the final whistle, special teams, game day prep. All the little things that maybe they got by with before but not now.