4 posts tagged “rivalry”

Found a great article on Huskers.com on this historic matchup of two former Big 8 powerhouse programs.  I agree with part of the article, Colorado was NEVER Nebraska's rival. 

Nebraska's biggest football rival makes its once-every-four-year stop in Lincoln Saturday, and the Cornhuskers aren't about to waste a golden opportunity like this to show Oklahoma how much the Huskers respect their program, especially since the Sooners have played a big role in NU's own rise to national prominence.

The level of competition, of course, will determine if ABC made a good decision to put this game in prime time under the bright lights of its television cameras. But one thing is certain. It's a unique chance to showcase what a good rivalry stands for and how much one program respects the other program.

Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne decided last spring to invite Oklahoma's major individual award winners to Lincoln for a Friday night banquet at the Champions Club. Then, at halftime, OU's marquee players and coaches will be honored at the same time we introduce our own legends to another record sellout crowd.

It would be nice to say that only in Nebraska can something like this happen. But the truth is, Osborne's decision is merely a reciprocating gesture to a class move made last year by OU Athletic Director Joe Castiglione to honor the 1971 Game of the Century participants in Norman.

So get ready Husker fans. Start warming up now to show your appreciation for OU's four living Heisman Trophy winners - Steve Owens, Billy Sims, Jason White and Sam Bradford. They will be introduced Saturday along with Nebraska Heisman winners Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier and Eric Crouch.

Other Husker major award winners who will attend this weekend's festivities are Trev Alberts, Tommie Frazier, Larry Jacobson, Dave Rimington, Will Shields, Dean Steinkuhler, Aaron Taylor and Zach Wiegert. Other Sooner major award winners who will be in Lincoln are Brian Bosworth, Tom Brahaney, Tony Casillas, Rickey Dixon, Josh Heupel, Greg Pruitt, J.D. Roberts, Derrick Strait and Joe Washington.

Osborne, Switzer Equally Popular in Rival States

This is just a guess, but look for Barry Switzer to get the same kind of ovation that Turner Gill, Barry Alvarez and Frank Solich got when they popped up on the big screen in Nebraska's NCAA record 300^th consecutive sellout celebration.

Memorial Stadium will be rocking, and Switzer will be smiling, waving and ingratiating himself to Husker fans who had a hard time liking him when he kept breaking their hearts. But they respect him now because the emotional wounds have healed, and they realize that he set a benchmark that forced Nebraska to get better and better and better.

Saturday night, tradition will frame a pair of 5-3 teams that have always set higher standards for themselves and will never lose sight of those who have won so much before them. Bob Devaney and Chuck Fairbanks may have been the icons for their respective programs in the early 1960s, but Osborne and Barry Switzer certainly continued the unparalleled standards of excellence set by their predecessors.

And believe this - both states have a healthy respect for each other. "When Barry comes to Nebraska, he's still one of the most popular attractions for banquets and other events," Osborne said last week, adding that he gets a similar reception whenever he speaks in Oklahoma.

Osborne thinks he knows why Nebraska and Oklahoma play every game against each other with respect instead of rancor. "For almost 30 years in a row, the winner of the Nebraska-Oklahoma game determined the Big 12 champion and an Orange Bowl berth," he said. "Most of the time, we were both in the Top 10, and sometimes, we were both in the Top 5.

"OU went through a dip in the '90s, and we went through ours more recently," Osborne said. "Most of the time, the games were highly competitive. They were never nasty. There was never any trash talk. Games were always played very hard with proper respect shown on both sides. The fans of both schools picked up on that healthy respect for each other, so this has been a great rivalry, but never a bitter rivalry."

And that fact alone puts the NU-OU football rivalry in a league of its own.

A month ago, a Huskers.com poll asked fans to name Nebraska's biggest rival in football. A total of 12,310 of you cast a vote, and 7,159 - or 58 percent said Oklahoma is our biggest rival. Colorado and Missouri each received 19 percent of the total vote with CU edging Mizzou by 80 votes - 2,376 to 2,296. Kansas (228 votes) finished fourth with 2 percent of the vote, and K-State (131) and Iowa State (120) each garnered 1 percent.

Osborne: Rivalries Cannot Be Declared

Rivalries, Osborne said, cannot be declared like Colorado tried to do with Nebraska when he was still the head coach. They must be earned through tradition, a consistently high level of play and an acknowledgement from both schools that they are indeed rivals.

Unlike Michigan-Ohio State and USC-UCLA, the NU-OU rivalry thrives and prospers because the Huskers and Sooners have decidedly different recruiting bases. OU recruits Texas primarily, and NU recruits the entire country to complement the Huskers' base that includes important forays into Texas.

"While we have recruited many of the same players, we've never been embroiled in recruiting battles like Oklahoma-Texas or some of the other big rivalries," Osborne said. "We recruit a lot of the players they don't and vice versa."

Last year, when OU hosted Nebraska the night before the game in Norman, Switzer said: "We could never do something like this with Texas."

Recruiting was one big reason why, but former Husker All-America defensive tackle John Dutton was struck by something else Switzer said that evening - that OU coaches, players and fans have never quite grasped how Nebraska has been able to beat the Sooners so often with players they never would have considered recruiting themselves.

Dutton's answer to that is a simple one. "We were always in better physical condition than the teams we played against," he said, "and everyone pushed everyone in practice every single day. It was a relentless mindset. From the scout team to the first team, no one would even think about losing."

The NU-OU rivalry proves that respect can be an integral part of an intense rivalry, and Osborne said Nebraska lobbied to keep the annual game intact when the Big 12 was organizing into two divisions. "It's my understanding that because Oklahoma's prime recruiting ground was Texas, they preferred to be in the South," he said.

"So I guess they were leaning more toward their rivalry with Texas than ours," Osborne said. "We tried to find a way to keep our game going on an annual basis, but it would throw the conference structure out of kilter, so we are where we are now. We still have the same respect for each other, but the rivalry just isn't the same when you don't get to play each other every year."

First off, click HERE and HERE to read my previous two posts on the Huskers season in 2007.  The second link has a funny video and audio clip that I thought about reusing for this post.  I'm sure you'll get a laugh out of each.  Now back to the regularly scheduled programming.  Ok, this is REALLY getting old... FAST.  Nebraska dropped another game, their 5th straight to another conference foe.  This time it was the University of Kansas down in Lawrence.  It was a record setting day for both teams, on KU's side, their quarterback threw for 6 touchdowns on the day.  For Nebraska, well like I previously mentioned, they dropped 5 in a row. 

I'm as diehard Husker as the next proud member of Husker Nation, but even I have my limits.  I'm not a Bill Callahan fan, he left the Oakland Raiders in ruins and has done his damage to the Cornhuskers.  The end of the season can't come soon enough, the university needs to buy out the remainder of Callahan's contract and part ways.  Callahan is 26-18 in his 4th year at the University of Nebraska.  It's been quite a slide from the top for the Huskers ever since.  Callahan is now:

• 0-5 in his last 5 (.000)
• 4-6 in his last 10 (.400)
• 7-8 in his last 15 (.467)
• 10-10 in his last 20 (.500)
• The Huskers have now allowed 30 rushing touchdowns, setting the new record for rushing touchdowns by an opponent in a season (previous record, 26, 1950)
• The Huskers have now allowed 47 total touchdowns, setting the new record for total TDs allowed by an opponent in a season (previous record, 41, 1948 & 2002)
• The defense has now allowed 4,776 total yards, just 291 yards shy of the worst season ever, with two games remaining
• The defense has allowed 359 points so far, already the record for most points allowed in a single season (prior record, 335 points, 2002, 14 games)
• The defense has allowed 35.9 points per game, and needs to hold K State and Colorado to fewer than 34 points total (17 apiece) to avoid the worst number of points-per-game in Nebraska history
• At 249 first downs allowed, the Huskers are only 23 first downs shy of the worst-ever showing in allowing first downs
• The Nebraska defense is 386 yards shy of setting the new record for rushing yards allowed
• With zero sacks in today's game, the Huskers need to get 8 sacks per game in the next two games to avoid having the worst sack total in school history
• The Huskers are 61 pass completions shy of allowing the highest number of opponent completions in a season
• The Huskers have allowed opponents to complete 57.4% of passes so far this season. That's on pace to be another "worst" - the 2004 team set the record at 56.7%
• The 1968 team set the record for lowest interception percentage (INTs/Attempts) by the Huskers at 3.19%. The 2007 team currently sits at 2.4%
• The most touchdowns ever allowed through the air in a season was set by the 1948 team (19). The 2007 team has allowed 16 so far.
• The fewest takeaways in a season by the Huskers were 19, set in 1962, 1993, and 2000. This year's team has only 11.
• With zero punt return yards today, the Huskers still have only 77 yards with two games left. The worst punt return yardage season was 141, set in 1955. Punt return average is still stagnant, with this year's average (5.92) coming in barely above the worst season (5.77).
• The 2007 Huskers have 58 kickoff returns this season, a new record (prior record, 48, 2002)
• The 477.6 yards allowed per game is well above the record of 379.5, set in 1948 (and has already assured that this team will "earn" this record as well, unless they hold Kansas State and Colorado to negative yards).
• Nebraska's turnover margin this season is -14. The worst season in Husker history is -18, set in 1967.

A 5-game losing streak hasn't happened since 1958. NINETEEN FIFTY EIGHT PEOPLE!!!!  The worst-ever losing streak in Husker history is 7 games, set in 1942-43 and 1957.  This is truly painful to endure.  I'm not now nor will I ever be a fair-weather fan for the Huskers and just jump ship.  I've stayed with the team even under Callahan's first season when they finished 5-6.  Here's a cut/paste from a email exchange I had earlier with a friend and former professor Keith.  "I was watching the game over at my parents house.  They're big Huskers fans as well, we couldn't believe what we had seen.  We agreed that the university took the right steps by getting rid of Steve Pederson first.  He was the one that fired Solich after his 9-3 regular season and made his statement about not allowing the program to slip into mediocrity.  To be perfectly honest, I think that "mediocrity" would be a step up after what I had seen today.  Maybe pressure will come from above to push Osborne into dismissing Callahan and Kevin Cosgrove early.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  With only two games left, they can only hope for a .500 finish.  But not likely."

It's going to be a rocky final 2 games to end the 2007 season, but we'll see how things unfold during the offseason.  Next up is Kansas State in the final home game before traveling to Boulder.  Both KState and Colorado lost today, they're not going to want to lose against Nebraska.  I've found myself thinking about the lyrics to the Nebraska fight song, mainly the final bit.  "There is no place like Nebraska, where they're all true blue.  We'll all stick together, in all kinds of weather for dear old Nebraska U.".