Live from BugahaWest: This year has been a tale of one thing, resiliance

Dear fellow Husker fans,

This week I will not be doing game recaps because everybody saw, read, or caught up on the last two games.  You had the loss to MSU and the instant classic vs Penn St.  What I want to talk about is something I see in this team and have seen in past teams that we didn’t get during the lost era under Billy C.  This team has a don’t give up attitude.

Take the Michigan St game.  Look at this game in this way.  MSU had 3 scoring drives where their offense had to move the ball less than 35 yards.  Wrap your brains around that for a second.  3 drives for 30 yards.  If that occurs around mid-field or the opponents side of the field those are some darn good 3 and outs.  When they occur in the shadow of your own goalposts, not so good.  And yet, the team battled on and depending on how you look at it lost by less than 3 TDs (or 2 if you count the garbage time TD).

Now the Penn St game.  I know how the Big 10 is trying to force feed us the Iowa game as the rivalry game but I for one put my money on the Penn Staters to be the true rival until the Wisky game gets yearly and lets me skip Black Friday shopping.  Again, there were the same character traits showing up:  resilience, fight, and tenacity. 

Look at this team, look at what they have overcome, and look how much growth we have seen, especially on defense.  The two deep on the D is loaded with talented freshmen and sophs.  Look at the names and just salivate for a few:  Vinny Valentine, Avery Moss, and Randy Gregory.  Then the offense is loaded with more youthful talent:  Newby, Armstrong, Stanton, Westerkamp. 

Then there has to be the injuries that have been overcome.  For those of you that have read my writing over the years you know I believe in one mantra, build your team from the lines out.  Our D-line is coming and our o-line is a patchwork MASH unit.  Its not just how many injuries but the names of those that are out.  Just start with Spencer Long and go from there.  It reminds me of a spring ball injury a few years back that I told my loyal readers was going to be a painful blow to the team, the name:  Mike Smith.

Now, overcome that and continue to play good football and there are those in the fan base that want to fire Coach Pelini.  I have said it before, if you are for the firing, who do you get in his place.  Last I checked, Scott Frost’s O scored only 16 points against Arizona.  Fi you want to see how the mighty have fallen, just look at Florida (and Will Mushcamp was given the seal of approval by his AD).  Then there is the likes of Oklahoma where Big Game Bob Stoops seems to enjoy losing them more than winning.  Fact of the matter is this.  There is parity in college ball and if you have seen marked improvement on both sides of the ball since September then I would have to say let’s keep this thing going and let Coach Pelini coach.  He has my vote of confidence as a loyal Husker fan.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, enjoy the time with family and enjoy the game Friday.  God bless and Go Big Red.

-Chris