If ever, and I mean ever, there was a time in Nebraska football to decipher where we are at, it is now. The continual struggle between good and bad, have we turned a corner or not, are we ever going to be great again or just mediocre at best? This is the one thing I believe that can sum this all up…
I knew about Corn Nation a few years ago but decided to start writing for them because Jon needed someone to write for football and men’s basketball. What ultimately helped me to decide to write for you
wonderful people were the words that inspired me the fall beforehand, by a great quote by none other than Jon himself. “There is no hope, f—everything, go big red”.
Those words were muttered in a Morgan Freeman-like defeat even Red would be proud of. Knowing what once was great and hopeful and been beaten out of us for a long time, with no end or hope in sight. It was the utterance of Husker fans who knew of the glory days but had long forgotten what that experience was like. Too much dwelling on dreams of a good thing is ultimately bad.
I was born in 1987, so when the Huskers were dominant, I was just fawn eyed to the world. Perhaps that’s why I carry the Andy Dufresne hope with me. I’m not willing to give up what I had once experienced in the outside world. I was innocent during the good old days. I can still remember some of the plays, games and scores when I close my eyes. I can tell you where I was when these happened. The “two weeks in the hole”, start now.
The two schools of thought: Andy and Red, dark and light, good and evil. No one remembers the truest of all of it; whichever one you feed will ultimately win. Indiana is the reigning national champion. It still feels weird to type it. Nebraska is about to learn a lot about itself in the next two weeks, but we can only take things one at a time. The Hoosiers will outclass anyone we have faced so far and by a wide margin.
The Huskers have seemingly decided to play down to its competition at times (see 1st halves against Ohio and Maryland), but when it has needed to find an extra gear and put teams away, Nebraska has found it. “We haven’t played anyone tough” says you Ellis Redding’s of Husker Nation, but outside of Northwestern, Indiana has played a worse schedule than us. Northwestern gave Indiana a lot to handle. I believe the Hoosiers are a little lucky to be undefeated.
Nebraska hasn’t been given the opportunity to play up to its opponents yet, the proverbial punch above its weight. I think like Mr. Dufrense, I believe we can. It is very true that we haven’t been challenged for four quarters, but when we have been challenged, Nebraska has responded in a manner that makes me believe. No football team has gone two seasons without losing since…Nebraska. I don’t think Indiana has that pedigree. I’ll worry about Oregon next week.
Hope is a wonderful thing, but when it’s the only thing, it can be very dangerous. It’s all about how you channel it. Nebraska needs to channel it for the better, because if it doesn’t, the next two weeks will be bad. Take the belief, put in the hard work, and HOPEFULLY, things will turn out alright. I refuse to believe we can’t be good again. I hope to see Nebraska make the CFP. I hope to see Nebraska win another national title. I hope…
