NU goes to #4 Ohio State in less than a week. In the Horseshoe. In the city of Columbus. Yes. It’s time to move from the saucer to the fire. One week you fight Mohammad Ali, who was at the top of his game, and the next week you fight Mike Tyson, who was also at the top of his game.
The Scarlet & Cream don’t have a good chance this Saturday. Indiana beat Matt Rhule’s team by 49 points on Saturday, and he needs to find a way to get his team back on track.
Fans will say that Rhule is only in his second year of a three- to four-year rebuild. Better people are on their way. That’s true. For now, though, if the Huskers keep playing like they did on Saturday, they’ll lose by a huge margin again.
What can Matt Rhule do this week to help his team? How about a magic wand that he can wave in front of his team? Is there a speech by Churchill that he can give to his men this week?
The Huskers are now in Phase 2 of their rebuild, according to Rhule. This is where they learn how to win.
What we all saw in Bloomington on Saturday was a complete mismatch. It was like a 1972 Pinto giving it its all to win the Indy 500.
Wade, no way.
The Indiana Rebuild
Fans, not just Husker fans, are curious about how Curt Cignetti got to Phase 3 (playing title football) in his first year at a Power Conference school.
The gateway is a big part of why the Hoosiers are 7-0 so far. Cignetti brought with him 13 key players from last year’s 11-2 JMU team as well as six of his assistant coaches from James Madison. He landed a lot more with the link as well.
Many of those same transfer players helped beat up a good (but not great) Husker football team.
How can someone whose last school was James Madison take over the Big Ten in their first year? The Indiana team this year looks and plays like one that could make it to the CFP. What the heck is going on?
To learn more, talk to first-year teachers like Sherrone Moore at Michigan (4-3) and Kalen DeBoer at Alabama (5-2). Jedd Fisch (Washington Huskies 4–3). Deshaun Foster (UCLA 2–5).
Moore’s Michigan Wolverines beat DeBoer’s Washington Huskies in last year’s national title game.
Fans of the Huskers know that Indiana is a basketball school. IU’s field hadn’t been full in years before their game against Nebraska on Saturday. When did IU last start a season 7-0? In 1967.
As of 1967, Northwestern has won five national titles and had three Heisman winners, among other prestigious star awards. How about NU’s fans in the crowd? Every home game for Nebraska since 1962 has been sold out at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The record is 401 straight sellouts, which is still going strong.
How is it that Alabama, UCLA, Michigan, Washington, and, last year, Nebraska didn’t pick Cignetti? Did those schools talk to him at all? Did they not sign any of his move players?
How is all that possible?
When Indiana chose Cignetti, they must have been either very lucky or very smart.
He must have thought it was a dream come true to have the chance. Last year, he quickly left James Madison after the regular season was over. Cignetti left town with six of his aids (OC, DC, RB, QB, D-line, and ST) before he went to Indiana.
They left James Madison University without any help just as they were getting ready for their Armed Forces Bowl game against Air Force on December 23. However, JMU lost 21–31 even though the Dukes did their best to fill the spots.
This information doesn’t mean that Cignetti is guilty. When Matt Rhule left Temple in December 2016 for the job at Baylor, he did the same thing. Rhule also took some of his Temple helpers with him. In that month’s Military Bowl, Temple played Wake Forest. That game, Ed Foley, who is now the head coach of the Huskers’ ST team, was in charge of the Owls. Temple lost by a score of 26–34.
How Bout Them Huskers
Grandson Will and I talk about how ugly NU’s loss to Indiana was. We don’t want to think about the Ohio State game, but we do. As always, we’re proud of John Cook’s Husker volleyball team, which is still ranked #2 in the current AVCA poll, just a few votes behind Pitt. Well done, Huskers!!!