Why Nebraska is a dead program, and probably will still be under Scott Frost

Didn’t the 97 team have one of those bogus games against Mizzou in something weird happened that helped them to win. I know Missouri fans always get red when you mention the 97 saying they paid the refs.
I still say 97 was Michigan’s championship.


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PA Tide Fan

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Didn’t the 97 team have one of those bogus games against Mizzou in something weird happened that helped them to win. I know Missouri fans always get red when you mention the 97 saying they paid the refs.
Yes. The play became known as "The Flea Kicker", because the pass into the end zone ended up being kicked from one receiver into the hands of another to tie the game. Nebraska then won it in OT. There was no penalty called because the kicked ball was ruled unintentional. Here's the play:

 

selmaborntidefan

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Didn’t the 97 team have one of those bogus games against Mizzou in something weird happened that helped them to win. I know Missouri fans always get red when you mention the 97 saying they paid the refs.

I just know Nebraska fans rarely talk about the 94 team, but will get in your face about the 95 and 97 ones.

95: because they try to make it empirical fact that team was the GOAT

97: because they think Michigan had no business sharing it with them after they wrecked Manning.
yeah, and it should have been a penalty because the guy even admitted he did it on purpose.
 

GrayTide

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I believe within 3-4 years Frost will have NU back to being a very competitive program. Competitive enough to win a NC, not likely. When you look at the B1G West they should be a 9-3 team most every year. They will not be able to compete with tOSU, Michigan, PSU, MSU or Wisconsin on a consistent basis.
 

rgw

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The walk on rule changes in the early 2000s really hurt their ability to be nationally elite. They use to be able to bring in every Nebraskan prospect as a walk on because they have an in-state scholarship program then use all 25 of their NCAA scholarship allotment on kids from California, Florida, Missouri, and Texas.
 

WylieTexasTider

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The walk on rule changes in the early 2000s really hurt their ability to be nationally elite. They use to be able to bring in every Nebraskan prospect as a walk on because they have an in-state scholarship program then use all 25 of their NCAA scholarship allotment on kids from California, Florida, Missouri, and Texas.
Don’t forget Osborne also had no problem taking thugs like Lawrence Phillips and the Peter brothers that nobody else would touch. He sold out his morals to win a title.
 

TideMan09

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Just out of curiosity..Would they be better off hiring a Paul Johnson wishbone offense type HC like Georgia Tech..He does fairly well despite not having a stockpile of elite talent like Georgia..
 

deliveryman35

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The biggest uphill battle I think they have is convincing today’s young players to spend 4 yrs in Lincoln as opposed to somewhere in the South like Florida or Southern California. Kids today have no perception of Nebraska as a powerhouse like they did 20 yrs ago. I also think a lot of Osborne’s players were juiced.
 

WalkaboutSean

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The old Nebraska loved to mercilessly crush hapless Heller Keller Institute 88-0. That's why I love seeing them give up 70+ points to the likes of Kansas and Texas Tech - LOL

Nice folks in Nebraska, but karma demands many more blowouts of their beloved Huskers.

Remember this the next time Coach Saban starts substituting early in the 3rd quarter. Saban is a flat out genius at game & score management -- he substitutes liberally once the game outcome is no longer in doubt, building roster depth while neutering resentment in the opposition. He is often quite merciful. (We could've beaten some teams by more than 100 points in recent years.)
 

UntouchableCrew

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People keep harping on the in-state recruiting... Right, we get it. There isn't much talent in state. There never has been. They will never compete nationally with Nebraska born talent, nor did they.

The key to this all is Frost -- is he an ace recruiter that can pull kids from Florida and California and Texas?

Look at Ohio State -- the difference between Tressel and Meyer was that while Tressel was content to pull kids from Ohio and the midwest Urban not only got all the best kids from Ohio and the midwest, but many of the best kids from Florida, Georgia, Texas, etc. He's an ace, national recruiter.

Nebraska is a tougher gig than Ohio State (for a million obvious reasons) but what it really comes down to is "can Scott Frost recruit nationally." If you think he can't, then Nebraska will never be a contender. But if he can? There's a great fanbase, lots of money, and an easy division waiting for him to build real threat, IMO.
 

rgw

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The thing about the in-state recruiting is that in their old model: they just took every kid who wanted to to wear the big red N as a walk on, give them 2-3 years in their - for the time - cutting edge S&C system, and cherrypick the dozen or so that came out of it as an D-1A athlete. If Alabama could do this approach today w/ walkons and an in-state college scholarship, our depth would be insane. Our scout team walkons would be able to beat 6 teams on a typical FBS schedule. If we could do that without another FBS program in the state like Nebraska...
 

81usaf92

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People keep harping on the in-state recruiting... Right, we get it. There isn't much talent in state. There never has been. They will never compete nationally with Nebraska born talent, nor did they.

.
Again they don't have 93 extra scholarships anymore because Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma started to complain about their recruiting advantage. On the surface the 93 scholarships seemed innocent because you were giving 1 scholarship to a kid in Broken Bowe, Sidney, Alliance, and etc who weren't in the Omaha, Lincoln, and Sioux City areas. But after years of getting punked by Florida teams, Tom started to use those scholarships in the Omaha, Lincoln, and Sioux city area recruits almost exclusively, and signed all the left overs to baseball, basketball, and etc scholarships. He basically thought he wouldn't win a championship during his long tenure at Nebraska so he started to take advantage of a crazy rule exclusively at Nebraska. Basically it allowed him to sign everyone of the Nebraska recuits without wasting 1 of his 25 NCAA allotted. Basically he was playing the same game lottery states do in baseball in which you use your free scholarships on your in state, and your NCAA scholarships on your national. Scott Frost will not have that luxury, he will have to recruit in and out of state on a 25 scholarship limit.

The key to this all is Frost -- is he an ace recruiter that can pull kids from Florida and California and Texas?

.
Again the scholarship limit is not the same as it was in the 90's, and Nebraska has permanently lost the Texas pipeline. TCU and KSU have taken their place in that department. I highly doubt he can recruit well in Florida and California while trying to sell Lincoln Nebraska to an 18 year old that has better facilities, better exposure, and better cities all around him

Look at Ohio State -- the difference between Tressel and Meyer was that while Tressel was content to pull kids from Ohio and the midwest Urban not only got all the best kids from Ohio and the midwest, but many of the best kids from Florida, Georgia, Texas, etc. He's an ace, national recruiter.

.

Tressel did win a national championship, and played for 2 others. I don't get why this is relevant because they are both great coaches that are in talent rich states. tOSU has been relevant since the 60's, Nebraska hasn't been relevant since 2001. And the main reason is that Ohio recruits are flat out more plentiful, and more talented than Nebraska recruits. Ohio is usually ranked in the Top 5 of talent rich states in terms of recruiting.


Nebraska is a tougher gig than Ohio State (for a million obvious reasons) but what it really comes down to is "can Scott Frost recruit nationally." If you think he can't, then Nebraska will never be a contender. But if he can? There's a great fanbase, lots of money, and an easy division waiting for him to build real threat, IMO.
Threat Nationally? No not a chance
Threat to the BIG 10? Not unless tOSU, PSU, Michigan, and MSU take huge steps back at the same time.
Threat to the BIG 10 W? Maybe, but Wisconsin has far better infrastructure than Nebraska on so many fronts.
 
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selmaborntidefan

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People keep harping on the in-state recruiting... Right, we get it. There isn't much talent in state. There never has been. They will never compete nationally with Nebraska born talent, nor did they.

The key to this all is Frost -- is he an ace recruiter that can pull kids from Florida and California and Texas?

Look at Ohio State -- the difference between Tressel and Meyer was that while Tressel was content to pull kids from Ohio and the midwest Urban not only got all the best kids from Ohio and the midwest, but many of the best kids from Florida, Georgia, Texas, etc. He's an ace, national recruiter.

Nebraska is a tougher gig than Ohio State (for a million obvious reasons) but what it really comes down to is "can Scott Frost recruit nationally." If you think he can't, then Nebraska will never be a contender. But if he can? There's a great fanbase, lots of money, and an easy division waiting for him to build real threat, IMO.
The problem has nothing to do with Scott Frost.


A Mike Rozier from New Jersey is NOT going to spend four years in a frozen cornfield these days, when every single game is on TV.
A Turner Gill from Dallas is NOT going to do it, either.

Neither are Lawrence Phillips, Jarvis Redwine, Grant Wistrom (Joplin, MO), Michael Booker, Keithen McCant, or Broderick Thomas.

Take those away and take the 93 bonus scholarships away......and Nebraska is basically Iowa State with a nostalgic past.
 

KrAzY3

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I did some searching a while back, to try and dig up something about the supposed additional scholarship thing and I couldn't turn up any proof of it at all. I could find people saying it was a hoax, I could find people saying it was real, but I couldn't find any documentation at all outlining a source of scholarships that exceeded the NCAA limits in such a manner.
 

B1GTide

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The problem has nothing to do with Scott Frost.


A Mike Rozier from New Jersey is NOT going to spend four years in a frozen cornfield these days, when every single game is on TV.
A Turner Gill from Dallas is NOT going to do it, either.

Neither are Lawrence Phillips, Jarvis Redwine, Grant Wistrom (Joplin, MO), Michael Booker, Keithen McCant, or Broderick Thomas.

Take those away and take the 93 bonus scholarships away......and Nebraska is basically Iowa State with a nostalgic past.
Well, they know how to pass the boot in Nebraska. I don't know how far they are willing to go to get back on top, but they have the financial resources to "recruit" with anyone.
 

rgw

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I just don't see an Alabama under Saban type of revival for them. Saban took this job because he knew it was a sleeping giant: all the things that make Nebraska great from a support perspective but with a central position in the Deep South that puts most of the SEC footprint in their recruiting radius and a state that has a pretty good HS football reputation for a smaller state.

If I had to peg any school that has been in a long wilderness of mediocrity to poorness for a resurgence it would be Miami, Michigan, Texas, and UCLA. They have brands as a program and great recruiting footprints.
 

81usaf92

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I did some searching a while back, to try and dig up something about the supposed additional scholarship thing and I couldn't turn up any proof of it at all. I could find people saying it was a hoax, I could find people saying it was real, but I couldn't find any documentation at all outlining a source of scholarships that exceeded the NCAA limits in such a manner.
Because at the time it didn't exceed the ncaa limit. It was only after they started to put limits on walkons did the rules change, and that was right around the time Osbourne was retiring. Basically they were treating it like baseball lottery scholarships, but Nebraska's 93 state scholarships far exceeded a lottery state amount. Also keep in mind Osbourne was recruiting many players on different sports scholarships who were never starters on that other sport.
 
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KrAzY3

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Because at the time it didn't exceed the ncaa limit. It was only after they started to put limits on walkons did the rules change, and that was right around the time Osbourne was retiring. Basically they were treating it like baseball lottery scholarships, but Nebraska's 93 state scholarships far exceeded a lottery state amount.
I'm not trying to call you out personally, because I've seen it repeated many times myself, but do you have any documented evidence of this? It's just that when I went searching, I could find no actual evidence. I did find, for instance a discussion of it on a Nebraska forum basically disputing it and dismissing (as I recall pointing out they didn't have more players than other programs) it but I couldn't find any actual evidence it existed. That doesn't mean it wasn't true, but I was curious about how it worked and couldn't find any proof.
 

81usaf92

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I'm not trying to call you out personally, because I've seen it repeated many times myself, but do you have any documented evidence of this? It's just that when I went searching, I could find no actual evidence. I did find, for instance a discussion of it on a Nebraska forum basically disputing it and dismissing (as I recall pointing out they didn't have more players than other programs) it but I couldn't find any actual evidence it existed. That doesn't mean it wasn't true, but I was curious about how it worked and couldn't find any proof.

Osbourne had always played the walkon game to keep up with Oklahoma, and he had 170-200 men teams because of it. He would award scholarships to the best in state and neighboring states around him. But when he was losing to the Miamis and FSU's of the world he knew if he was going to have to recruit nationally. To make matters worse Colorado and FCS teams were stealing his walkon recruits in the late 80's and mid 90's. So he needed the depth and the talent to go with it. There was a statewide scholarship once UNK (Kearney) was established in 1991 in which each county would have a student athlete to win a scholarship to the University of Nebraska. The idea was the kids close to Kearney or on the western side of the state would go to Kearney. But Osbourne and the UNL folks started to use this system like the lottery system in baseball and use these free scholarships on walk ons from those counties, and get the rest that he needed on baseball scholarships (don't you find it funny that the CWS has been in Omaha since but Nebraska didn't start making it there until 2001). If you start to look at Nebraska rosters in their championship period you start to see TX,NJ, and CA just as much if not more than NE beside their name. Very few of that massive walkon corps started.

Its pretty well known by Husker fans that they conducted this practice because I cant tell you how many on that 95 team I met that comfirmed it. Whether or not there is clear documentation indicating this is exactly how it happen I don't know if exists . I think Selma would be the best at producing it. But what I do know is that there was (and still is but strict distribution) a county count scholarship in the 90's, a massive walkon program that was beyond ridiculous, alot of walkons that achieved a scholarship that didn't start after getting on campus, A lot of recruiting classes that had long distances and far different cultures than Lincoln Ne, and a lot of players playing football on different scholarships that never played that sport as a starter. But there are plenty of articles in which you can read between the lines.
 
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