The team played ugly all year, but they kept fighting, did not give up, and if you squint hard enough, you see a Big Ten West team in their somewhere. We had to watch stuff like this nearly every week. Also, there was dazzling Special Teams ineptitude, a recurring theme throughout the season. Nebby was -5 in turnovers, gave up 491 yards, and lost time of possession by 14 minutes. Oh, the one exception? Nebraska was defeated by Lovie Smith’s Illini, 41-23. That is progress, and a legitimate step forward. With the exception of one game, the remainder of the slate was competitive, with games decided by ten points or less.
Some people accused the Badgers of dodging Nebraska. The second game, against Wisconsin, was cancelled due to a Covid outbreak in Madison. Nebby managed to hang with the Buckeyes for about a quarter and a half, which was good, but the gulf between the two teams was evident. The season started with a road trip to Columbus, with predictable results. It can be argued that Nebraska influenced people to play the season, but did not win any friends in the process. So, things were not off to a particularly good start. In so doing, Nebraska football parents sued the Big Ten, and many fans and administrators did not handle the initial cancellation terribly well. Like most everyone, fans looked for something to dull the pain from the miserable year that was 2020. You couldn’t blame Nebraska fans for being excited to see progress under year three of Scott Frost. * Things are so much the same that I used the same format, structure, and even some of the same words Jesse used in 20 Season - Blown Out by Lovie.Also, a PlagueĮntitlement is a helluva drug. So what gives? Today we will try to divine what we might see in 2021. Have a winning season and we’ll talk.Įvery year of the Frost era began with sky-high expectations, yet each ended with similarly lackluster results. Is a return to glory possible? Sure, lots of things are possible. On the other hand, the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. On one hand, past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Will this be the year that things start humming for Scott Frost and the Big Red? Nobody really knows. The once-mighty Huskers are now coming off a fourth consecutive losing season. The more things change, the more they stay the same.*Įach year, Nebraska Cornhuskers fans gird themselves for the next football season, embellishing any positives while simultaneously repressing memory of any weaknesses manifested the previous year. Jesse Collins, 2019 Nebraska Cocktail Party Preview Roughly two and half hours later, Nebraska had thoroughly destroyed Fleck and his boat-rowing Gophers, and all was sort of well in the world. The team mobbed him in the endzone and with less than two minutes off the clock, there was a feeling that this would be a good day for Scott Frost and company. With a slight hesitation left, Devine Ozigbo cut right around the formation and before you knew it, he had run 40 yards for what would be the first of four rushing TDs the Nebraska Cornhuskers would score that day.