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Introduction by Ryan King, 11/20/03
Let me first preface this document by stating that on a personal level, I really have nothing against Frank Solich. He is a hard worker, one who if anything has been a loyal servant of the program. He was a key cog of the staff that won three national championships. He was considered a good enough assistant, that when Tom Osborne stepped down after 25 years, he trusted Solich enough to hand over the reigns. History has shown that Osborne may have made a serious mistake in his evaluation. So at the time I write this, the end of Frank Solich's 6-year tenure as head coach is at hand (official or not). How do we quantify the ways in which he has fallen short? Why is it important to even do it? It is important because for the vast majority of Frank's tenure, legions of fans have steadfastedly defended him, even as the empire crumbled from within. And still, to this day, we have people who will tell you that when you compare Frank with Tom, Frank has done pretty good. Tom was not perfect, and neither was Bob Devaney. But they were worlds better on a number of levels than Solich...beyond just wins and losses. To be fair though, let us start with the numbers - streaks broken, wins and losses, and other miscellaneous criteria by which Frank should be judged - and held accountable....
2. Solich: Losses By the Numbers 3. Solich: The Beauty That Was The 2002 Season 5. Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. I (1998-1999) 6. Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. II (2000) 7. Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. III (2001) 8. Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. IV (2002) - coming soon 9. Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. V (2003) - coming soon
by Ryan King, 11/20/03
Let us count the ways:
First, versus conference opponents: 1) KSU: 29-game winning streak vs. KSU (since 1968, snapped in 1998) 2) KSU: 17-consecutive wins in Manhattan (39 years, since 1959, snapped in 1998) 3) ISU: 9-game winning streak vs. ISU (snapped in 2002) 4) OSU: 24-game winning streak and a 36-game unbeaten streak (snapped in 2002) 5) MU: 24-game winning streak and 30 years since losing in Columbia (snapped in 2003) 6) CU: 9-game winning streak vs. CU (snapped in 2001) 7) OU: 7-game winning streak vs. OU (snapped in 2000) 8) A&M: 5-game winning streak vs. Texas A&M (snapped in 1998) 9) KSU: 17-consecutive wins in Lincoln (35 years, since 1968, snapped in 2003)
General streaks and records: 1) Consecutive 9-win seasons: 33 (from 1969, NCAA record, snapped in 2002) 2) Consecutive seasons losing 3 games or less: 29 (since 1968, snapped in 1998) 3) Consecutive "New Years Day" Bowls: 18 (since 1980 Sun Bowl, snapped in 1998) 4) Consecutive wins versus current SEC-conference schools: 11 (since 1978 vs. Alabama, snapped in 2002 to Ole Miss) 5) Consecutive home winning streak: 47 games (Oct. 19, 1991-Oct. 24, 1998, ended by unranked Texas in 1998, fifth-longest in NCAA history) 6) Consecutive regular season conference victories: 40 games (Nov. 27, 1992-Oct. 3, 1998, ended by Texas A&M in 1998) 7) Consecutive winning seasons: 40 (from 1962, snapped in 2002) 8) Consecutive weeks ranked in the AP poll: 348 weeks (from 1981, NCAA record, snapped in 2002 vs. ISU) 9) Consecutive seasons ranked in the preseason AP poll: 33 (since 1969, snapped in 2003) 10) Years without consecutive regular season losses: 26 (since 1976, snapped in 2002 vs. ISU) 11) Consecutive wins in conference openers: 28 years (since 1974, snapped in 2002 vs. ISU) 12) Last time team lost 3 or more games, back-to-back seasons: 1960-1961 (42 years, snapped in 2003) 13) Last time Nebraska lost to a team in a bowl game that DIDN'T finish the season in the Top-5: 1954 (48 years, snapped in 2002 vs. Ole Miss - finished season unranked) 14) Worst home loss: 31 pts, 9-38 vs. KSU in 2003 (since 1958 vs. Missouri (0-31), 45 years) 15) Most losses in a season: 7 (2002, since 1958, 3-7 record) 16) Consecutive bowl wins versus current SEC schools: 11 (since 1967 Sugar Bowl vs. Alabama, ended in 2002 to Ole Miss in Independence Bowl) 17) Consecutive seasons without losing back-to-back games in regular season: 25 (since 1976 vs. ISU, OU - snapped in 2002 vs. Penn St, ISU) 18) Consecutive seasons without losing three games in a row: 41 (since 1961 vs. Syracuse, Okie St, MU, KU - snapped in 2002 vs. KSU, CU and Ole Miss)
Offensive notables: 1) Team Rushing Average: 253.8 ypg in 1998 (lowest average in 22 years - since 1976) 2) First Downs Per Game: 18.6 in 1999 (lowest average in 31 years, since 1968) 3) Team Total Yards Per Game: 373.1 in 2002 (lowest average in 34 years, since 1969) 4) Team Scoring Average: 27.4 ppg in 2002 (lowest average in 25 years, since 1977) 5) Team Fumbles in Season (most): 49 in 1999 (all-time record, since stats started being kept in 1948) 6) Fewest First Downs in a Game: 8 vs. USM in 1999 (lowest since 1958) 7) TIED: Fewest First Downs in a Game: 8 vs. UT in 2003 (lowest since 1958), also only managed 10 vs. ISU in 2002. 8) Fewest Rushing Yards, Game: 53 yds on 40 carries vs. UT in 2003 (lowest since 1979) 9) Lowest Total Yards, Game: 175 yds vs. UT in 2003 (lowest since 1992 Orange Bowl vs. Miami, a span of 148 games)
Defensive notables: 1) Scoring Defense Per Game (worst): 23.9 ppg in 2002 (worst average since 1951, or 51 years) 2) Team Rush Defense Per Game (worst): 146.6 ypg in 2002 (worst average since 1983, or 19 years) 3) Most Points Allowed in Game (worst): 62 points, by CU in 2001 - ALL-TIME NU RECORD) 4) Most First Downs by Pass, game (worst): 22, by Louisiana Tech in 1998 - ALL-TIME NU RECORD) 5) Most Passing Yards, Attempts, Completion in Game: 590 yds, 68, 46 by Louisiana Tech in 1998 - ALL-TIME NU RECORD) 6) Most Receiving Yards, Player vs. NU: 405 yds, 21 rec by Troy Edwards, LTU, 1998 (NCAA Record)
Miscellaneous: 1) In 2003, departing 4-year seniors Terrell Butler and TJ Hollowell become the first Huskers since 1968 to graduate having never won at least one conference championship.
by Ryan King, 11/20/03
For purposes of
comparison,
Osborne's career losses at home:
1973 - none
1974 - to
Missouri, 21-10; to #1 OU (NC), 28-14
1975 - none
1976 - to #17
Missouri, 34-24; to #8 OU, 20-17
1977 - to
Iowa State, 24-21
1978 - to
Missouri, 35-31
1979 - none
1980 - to #16
Florida State, 18-14; to #9 OU, 21-17
1981 - to #3
Penn State, 30-24
1982 - none
1983 - none
1984 - to #4 OU,
17-7
1985 - to #17
Florida State
1986 - to #3 OU,
20-17
1987 - to #2 OU,
17-7
1988 - none
1989 - none
1990 - to #9 CU
(NC), 27-12
1991 - to #4
Washington (NC), 36-21
1992 - none
1993 - none
1994 - none
1995 - none
1996 - none
1997 - none
Worst loss: 15
pts (twice, both to eventual national champions)
Total losses: 15
in 25 years
vs. ranked: 12
of 15
vs. unranked: 3
of 15
vs. top-10: 9 of
15
------------------------------------------------------------
And Frank's
losses at home:
1998 - to Texas,
16-20
1999 - none
2000 - none
2001 - none
2002 - to #7 Texas,
24-27; to #13 CU, 13-28
2003 - to KSU, 9-38
Tom: 25 years
15 losses at home
combined
margin of defeat was 116 points
average margin of defeat 7.73 points
losses to unranked teams: 3 (all
within his first 6 years on the job)
Frank: 6 years
4 losses at home
combined margin of defeat was 51 points
average margin of defeat 12.75 points
losses to unranked teams: 2
----------------------------------------------------
Since Thanksgiving 2001 (as of 11/20/03), the Nebraska football program is: • 14-12 against Division I-A opponents. Only three of the 14 wins are over teams that finished with winning records or currently have them (Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Southern Mississippi). • 1-8 against ranked opponents, with an average margin of defeat of 22 points. • 3-9 on the road or at neutral sites, with an average margin of defeat of 21 points Solich: The Beauty That Was The 2002 Season by Ryan King, 11/20/03 Sorry, but this season was so notable that it deserves it's own category. Part of this is Craig Bohl. Part of it...isn't. (Courtesy of Brett W., 12/5/02) -Most rushing yards allowed since
1977 by Ryan King, 9/29/02 The
biggest things my friends and I have been saying for quite a while now
is that this is a program that is predicated on fear. Specifically, fear
of failure. Is that the definition of "cowardice"? I don't
know. Maybe John F. Kennedy was on to something? Witness: Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. I by Ryan King, 11/20/03
Time-Line For
Turning the Top Program in the Country to Mediocrity (Actual Games
Only, other key events to be filled in later)
August 29, 1998 -
Nebraska 56, La Tech 27 - Solich's first game. Setting a tone
that will become his calling card, our team looks listless and lacks
hustle in a game we should win easily. Also the birth of another
Solich calling card: giving up a record/career-day to another player
or team. Troy Edwards of La Tech sets two NCAA records (which
will probably stand forever) as he records 21 catches for 405 yards.
La Tech also sets a record for passing yards against Nebraska with 590
(which remarkably still stands as a record against NU). The
Solich era has officially begun. Lost in the shuffle of this
game is a masterful performance by Bobby Newcombe, who sadly suffers a
knee injury in Solich's first game. Another bad omen.
September 24, 1998
- Nebraska 24, California 3 - Solich's first road game. While it
seems amazing now, this game was deemed a total disaster at the time.
Cal was a horrible team - even for the Pac-10, and we were the
defending national champions. The score was 14-3 going into the
fourth quarter, where we got some late points to make the score a
little more respectable. In what will be a developing trend,
Eric Crouch (a QB) has the most carries of any NU player (16), and no
running backs go over 100 yards. QBs combine for 28 carries in
this game.
October 3, 1998 -
Nebraska 24, Oklahoma State 17 (K.C.) - The first warning sign.
Our team comes out completely flat and unfocused, despite the fact
that Kansas City is hardly a "neutral" location and an NFL
stadium. Our offense looks completely inept against OSU's rare
defense, and it takes a miraculous punt return in the fourth quarter
coupled with an exceptional individual play by a future NFL DE to save
the day. Oklahoma State should have been totally outmatched in
this game, and we came in ranked #2. We managed 73 yards rushing
and 215 total yards. A very conservative and ill-conceived
offensive gameplan by the coaches. This is the true debut of the
Solich RoadShell(tm).
October 10, 1998 -
Texas A&M 28, Nebraska 21 - The nightmare that is Frank Solich on
the road begins. A third straight uninspired road performance in
Solich's first season against a team we had beaten 54-15 nine months
earlier. The RoadShell(tm) takes on another level, as for the
first three quarters we inexplicably run the same damned plays with
the same damned results. This game also features the debut of
the Solich QuestionableFourthDownCall(tm), or QFDC for short. On
three instances Solich goes for it on 4th down, and fails every time -
each one further building momentum for the Aggies. Some of these
sweet nuggets featured the infamous reverse to Shevin Wiggins, which
got dismantled by the Wrecking Crew. Suddenly in an act of
desparation, Solich turned past the first page of the playbook in the
fourth quarter of this game and Newcombe nearly leads a comeback via
the passing game. This game also tends to be remembered for
Newcombe yelling at Billy Haafke (the first in the line of many
sub-par walkon receivers in the Solich era) for not seeming to care
that his wrong route had resulted in an interception. Husker
fans misinterpreted this yelling (or caring, self-respect,
will-to-win, whatever you want to call it) as Bobby being some sort of
spoiled brat and yelling at his teammate for what he did (as opposed
for how he reacted). Hmmm. A would-be leader trying
to inspire the troops to care? Maybe fans jumped all over the
wrong person? Maybe B.N. saw something that was rapidly becoming
commonplace? Hmmm. Oh yeah....0-1 on the road vs. ranked
teams (#18 in this case).
October 24, 1998 -
Nebraska 20, Missouri 13 - Ah yes. Solich unveils his
FlatAtHome(tm) system. #19 Missouri - a solid by not great team
- walks into our place and takes advantage with a 13-6 halftime lead.
A couple of second-half touchdowns and a drop of tying TD pass in the
final minute save this otherwise embarassing home display.
October 31, 1998 -
Texas 20, Nebraska 16 - In true Solich fashion, another record is
smashed as Texas shatters our home winning streak (at 54, I believe)
just before we start climbing after the national records of Miami.
Solich somehow manages to implement his FlatAtHome(tm) system, despite
the payback factor and the natural animosity we have for the
Longhorns. In a startling departure from had been a decade-long
trend, we not only lost to an unranked team - and at home - but were
defeated by a first-year freshman starter at quarterback!!!!
Also not to be forgotten is the debacle near the end of the first half
where inept clock management burned an extra minute off the clock and
then when we finally managed to run a play...we get nailed with a
substitution penalty. The loss snapped a string from 1992 of not
losing to an unranked team. Oh yeah, and our QB combined for
more carries than our I-backs.
November 14, 1998
- Kansas State 40, Nebraska 30 - In what might be considered a
legitimate loss, Nebraska took on what probably was Kansas State's
best ever squad on the road and fought hard. But not to be
missed is the fact that KSU tried HARD to give away the game, with 5
turnovers. In true Solich fashion, we didn't take full advantage
and got rolled in the second-half after leading at the break 17-14.
Another devastating defensive performance, as we gave over 200 yards
on the ground and over 300 yards in the air, while managing only 350
ourselves. In another example of the developing trend, Crouch
leads the team with 22 carries, while our starting I-back has 13.
Solich is now 0-2 on the road vs. ranked teams.
November 27, 1998
- Nebraska 16, Colorado 14 - This is a de-facto rivalry game, so in
many ways the score is meaningless right? Wrong. Trailing
14-13 going into the 4th quarter against an unranked team, senior Kris
Brown clinches the game with a field-goal. We muster a paltry
255 total yards at home to end the regular season and clinch 9 wins.
December 30, 1998
- Arizona 24, Nebraska 20 - The Solich record streak continues.
Our first 4-loss season since 1968 (30 years) was marked by ugly play
on the offensive side of the ball...34 carries for 87 yards rushing, a
QB with 15 carries for 28 yards (while our starting I-back had 8
carries for 22), 4 turnovers in a game we were favored to win.
This game also shattered a string of consecutive "New Years
Day" bowls at 18 years (1980). The first year of the Frank
era is officially over. Solich is now 0-3 on the road (or
neutral) vs. ranked teams.
February, 1999 -
The recruiting class of 1999 is unveiled, with 22 members. As of
the end of 2002, there have been 12 non-contributors (Blomeier,
Coleman, Crawford, Dawson, Gehman, Green, Henderson, B. Johnson, Loos,
R.Miller, Owen, Peetz), 3 token contributors (J.Davis, T.Johnson,
Jr.Tagoai), 6 starters (Bingham, Davies, Garrison, Kabongo, Lord,
Waldrop) and 1 star (Fonoti, who left early).
August 27, 1999 -
After competing for the QB job in the spring, Bobby Newcombe is named
a starter over Eric Crouch. Crouch briefly quits the team and
heads back to Millard, with transfer papers to Ohio State in hand.
Solich makes a concession to go up and try and convince EC to stay.
Whatever was said, it becomes clear in the following week that despite
Solich's earlier decision that named Newcombe the starter, Crouch is
actually Solich's choice for the job. Why there is a difference
is impossible to determine. Crouch is not penalized in any way
for the incident. Actually, he is rewarded.
September 4, 1999
- Nebraska 42, Iowa 7 - Opening the season as a preseason #5, it now
becomes apparent that the FAH (FlatAtHome) Virus has mutated into a
new, deadly strain: the FlatOnTheRoad(tm) syndrome. In this
case, FOTR combines with a topping of RoadShell(tm) to produce a mere
7-0 halftime lead over a poor Iowa squad. After a controversial
spring, rumblings of internal strife start to emerge over not only the
QB spot, but the running back spot as well. After watching for
over a year as his position has slowly been removed from the offense,
legitimate stud DeAngelo Evans starts to rethink he position on the
team on his ride back to Lincoln. When voicing his opinions on
the direction of the offense privately to the coaching staff, he is
placed firmly in the doghouse. His teammates notice. And
he has supporters. The difference in effort by the OL when
blocking for BN and EC is tangible and noticeable, as is the
difference in playcalling.
September 11,1999
- Nebraska 45, California 0 - In a seemingly solid win, once again
rumblings indicate not all is well. Despite scoring 45 points,
Nebraska manages just 301 total yards, including only 114 on the
ground. Diedrick, Alexander, and Evans combine for 17 carries
(for 60 yards total), while Crouch and Newcombe combine for 21 carries
for 32 yards total. The ensuing week features Evans quitting and
not being let back on the team, Buckhalter quitting but being let back
on the team (with suspension), and a general chaos never before seen
in Lincoln. Oh yeah, and Crouch is named the starter after
Newcombe offers to move to wingback to help the team.
September 18, 1999
- Nebraska 20, Southern Miss 16 - Once again, Solich is trying to
break records that shouldn't be broken. Nebraska manages EIGHT
first downs. EIGHT! (Their fewest since at least 1968) Amidst the
185 total yards (119 rushing on 41 carries) were our QB's 16 carries
for 26 yards and our rewarding Newcombe for his team-oriented
move with ZERO catches (although Newcombe did drop a TD pass and
fumble a punt). I believe the company line at the time was that
the move allowed both EC and BN to be on the field at once. Two
clutch red zone interceptions by sophomore Keyou Craver (T.O. recruit)
saved the day here in the fourth quarter to avert a total disaster.
And how could we forget - both NU touchdowns were scored by linebacker
Julius Jackson. The longest offensive gain on the day for the
Huskers was 14 yards.
October 2, 1999 -
Nebraska 38, Oklahoma State 14 - In what would become yet another
trend for Solich, the SolichPoweringDown(tm) technique - or a total
lack of killer instinct - becomes apparent here. It will be more
noticeable later, but after leading at the half 31-0, SPD became
engaged immediately and the game became a ballet of full-back dives
and traps with 9 men in the box. It's not that I'm totally for embarrassing
an opponent, but a major upside of doing so is striking
fear into opponents before even stepping on the field. Make the
other team afraid of getting embarrassed. You see, there's this
imaginary line that exists where you decide to call off the dogs.
For Tom Osborne, this line was somewhere around 50 points. As we
would soon see, for Frank Solich this line was either 28 points or 7
points, depending on the opponent and regardless of NU's defense.
By the way, the leading rusher in this game was the QB.
October 23, 1999 -
Texas 24, Nebraska 20 - What happens when you combine RoadShell(tm),
FOTR, a couple of QFDCs, and of course our hex against Texas?
You lose to an inferior opponent and cost yourself a shot at a
national championship. Our offense and defense share equally in
the task, giving up untimely 3 or 4 play drives in the second half
while our offense implodes with 3 fumbles. We were a clearly
superior team, and lose anyway. Solich is now 0-4 on the
road/neutral vs. ranked teams.
October 30, 1999 -
Nebraska 24, Kansas 17 - Bad signs. Again, it's just funny that
people look back at this year (1999) as some sort of great year.
The warning signs are there. A totally uninspired, flat (FOTR in
its purest form) team gets bitch-slapped for about 3 quarters by one
of the worst teams in Division 1A. Traililng 9-0 at halftime and
then tied at 17-17 late in the game, the forgotten Bobby Newcombe
practically single-handledly saves this game with a long punt return
TD and a bomb TD pass from Crouch in the final minutes to pull out
what is probably an undeserved victory.
November 26, 1999
- Nebraska 33, Colorado 30 (OT) - Nebraska blows up like Hiroshima on
the Buffaloes on the road, taking a 24-3 lead into the half and a 27-3
lead into the 4th quarter. As I explained above, the imaginary
line for Solich was triggered at 24 and thus we were shown not only a
healthy case of SPD but even a huge helping of RoadShell(tm).
Nebraska is completely flat in the second half, and has made no
adjustments. Keep track of that, as it may be a trend down the
road (no pun intended). After toasting the rest of my buddies in
the visitors section of Folsom Field in the first half, I am nearly
made to cry as CU rings up 24 points on us in the 4th quarter to tie
the game. After yet another gift of a turnover, their poor
kicker misses a chip shot field goal at the buzzer and the game is
sent to overtime, where Dan Alexander finishes the job he started in
the first half with two bruising runs leading to Crouch sneak.
The saddest thing about this game (in particular the SPD, RoadShell(tm),
and our second-half FOTR) is that this was our statement game that if
we had won it convincingly might have pushed us over Virginia Tech and
into the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship. Given the
opportunity to put a foot on the throat of wounded enemy on the road,
Solich didn't take that chance. The theme that a sense of fear
and conservativism rules Solich and his football (and management)
decisions starts to become more apparent to those outside the program.
February 2000 -
Nebraska closed out the year of 1999 strong, blasting ranked teams
Texas A&M and KSU at home (despite not actually playing that well
in either game) and dominating Texas and Tennessee at neutral sites to
end the year. Riding a wave of momentum and the being the new
darling of the national media, Nebraska unveils its 2000 recruiting
class, with 21 members. As of the end of 2002, there have been
14 non-contributors (J.Andersen, M.Brown, Butler, Cooper, DeAngelis,
Flaum, Kriewald, Long, Marshall, Povendo, Richenberger, Septak,
B.Thomas, Zajicek), 4 token contributors (Collins, Hopkins, McPherson,
Pilkington), and 3 starters (Amos - probably out for good, Erickson,
Hollowell) and thus far, no stars.
Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. II by Ryan King, 11/20/03
Time-Line For
Turning the Top Program in the Country to Mediocrity (Actual Games
Only, other key events to be filled in later):
September 2, 2000
- Nebraska 49, San Jose State 13 - Based on their performance to close
out the season (that wasn't nearly as dominant as it appeared, but
good nonetheless), Nebraska begins the season as a consensus preseason
#1. While at first glance the score would indicate a dominant
victory worthy of a #1 squad, the actual game was something less than
impressive. Beginning what would become a permanent problem,
Nebraska defenders suddenly struggle with the concepts of fundamental
tackling and field awareness. Tiny Deonce Whitaker turns in an
amazing 15 carry, 157-yard performance in the loss, where he routinely
breaks arm tackles, and wildly diving defenders. Did I mention
this is the debut of Craig Bohl as Defensive Coordinator? Stay
tuned. The Nebraska defense gives up an embarrassing 193 yards
rushing to a lower-level team. San Jose State turns out to be
fairly decent, but Whitaker never repeats the success he had against
the Blackshirts. After the game, Craig Bohl is quick to point
out that Whitaker is a good back, which was the biggest cause of the
poor tackling. Whitaker's performance ranks among the top
rushing days by a Nebraska opponent.
September 9, 2000
- Nebraska 27, Notre Dame 24 (OT) - Notre Dame was coming off a poor
season and was barely ranked for this game, at #23. Solich opens
the game with a deep pass (which was completed) and doesn't go to it
again the rest of the day. Many point to the final three
quarters of this game as a prominent example of RoadShell(tm) and FOTR
from Solich. Despite dominating the yardage battle, the Huskers
are unable to outscore a team with a broken-handed QB. Leading
fairly comfortably in the third quarter and driving for a score, a
strange screen call to the clumsy Judd Davies gets intercepted and
changes of the momentum of the game, which finally breaks out in the
form of two Irish returns for TDs in the kicking game to tie the game
and send it to overtime. The Huskers are fortunate that an
equally inept coach on the Irish sidelines decides to not attempt to
score from the 40 yards line with nearly two minutes to go in
regulation. After giving up a field goal to start overtime, the
Huskers narrowly avoid disaster on a couple of plays in overtime and
escape with an overtime with on a play that had already become a
regular sight for Husker fans: Crouch in short-yardage at the goal
line. After witnessing the underwhelming performance first-hand,
Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit label the Huskers "mediocre"
and "barely one of the top 5 or 6 teams in the country".
A future warning is also apparent to those paying attention: our
special teams, which by design contain our future starters and stars,
are incredibly slow, unathletic, and undisciplined. This is a
bad (but accurate) omen.
September 23, 2000
- Nebraska 42, Iowa 13 - This game is an illusion, as another sluggish
home performance is turned around by a hail mary to make the score
21-13 instead of 14-13 at half. Crouch accounts for nearly half
of his season passing TDs in this one game (5 of 11 total), while our
defense gives up passing yards with alarming ease for much of the
game, and shows an inability to cover "nobody's all-american"
Kevin Kasper. To quote Carlos Polk after the game: "we
played down to the level of our opponent today". For the
record, Iowa had lost 14 of its past 15 games and was a 42-pt
underdog. An underwhelming performance by a supposed #1 team.
For the game, Craig Bohl unveiled his new 'special group', coined
"Cobras". This special society named after
the villians in the G.I.Joe cartoon managed to allow career days by
Kasper and Mullen, who had previously lost badly to KSU, Iowa State
and Western Michigan. It is also important to note that with
1:27 left in the game, the score was 28-13. (late points were
provided by Crouch and an interception return) Like I said, an
illusion.
September 30, 2000
- Nebraska 42, Missouri 24 - An atrocious defensive performance
against a very poor team, as the Blackshirts give up 492 total yards
to a Missouri team who lost QB Kirk Farmer (who was later benched in
his career) while trailing only 28-21 with 9:21 to go in the third
quarter. The 24 point underdogs also have up a late TD to
starting QB Crouch (who played the whole game) to avoid what would
have been a 35-24 final score. Missouri had entered the game 1-3
and averaging a paltry 291.7 ypg. Once again, the QB was the
focus of the offense as our starter had 24 carries while our starting
I-back had only 13. When he left the game just after halftime,
Farmer had already had 215 yds passing and 83 yards rushing on only 9
carries. Defense and special teams account for 14 points, as
Burrow returns a fumble for a TD and Newcombe returns a punt for a TD.
In an obvious instance of FAH, Solich's trademark SPD comes into play
as no points are scored by our offense in the second half until late
in the game after reaching the imaginary line at 28 by the half.
The sad performance on national television finally catches up with us
and we lose our #1 ranking and drop to #2.
October 7, 2000 -
Nebraska 49, Iowa State 27 - It is around this point that more and
more people are finally catching on to Solich's inability to get his
team ready to play on the road. In a classic case of FOTR and
RoadShell(tm), Nebraska manages to trail unranked Iowa State 14-13 at
the half. On the way to allowing an embarrassing 346 yards
passing to Sage Rosenfels, Nebraska gets a single touchdown and
two-point conversion to take a 21-20 lead into the final stanza on the
road. Thankfully, Iowa State self-destructs in the fourth
quarter and Nebraska rolls up 28 points in the fourth quarter to make
this game appear to be something other than the hard-fought game that
it was. Despite giving up a disturbing 383 total yards Craig
Bohl was satisfied with NU's performance and said they were
"coming around." Also: "We're pleased with making a
team one-dimensional," Bohl said. "We felt like we were able
to take the rush away today and we made some progress."
October 14, 2000 -
Nebraska 56, Texas Tech 3 - One of the biggest mystery games of all
time. Texas Tech was riding a full head of momentum into this
game, being undefeated with the number 1 defense in the country.
They also appeared to be a devastating match up for our pass defense,
with sophomore Kliff Kingsbury and an assortment of good athletes.
It was also a night game on the road. How this culminated in the
game it was is anybody's guess. This game had a mirror image in
the Alamo Bowl against Northwestern too, which illuminated an
interesting phenomenon where when we actually match up against a
incredibly small and weak team, we can roll them mercilessly. In
my college statistics class, this is the kind of game we'd call an
"out-lier", however. This game is about as
likely to happen again as a me winning the lottery. At least,
for the next few years. This game makes no sense.
October 28, 2000 -
Oklahoma 31, Nebraska 14 - A masterpiece of FOTR, RoadShell(tm), QFDC
and amazingly enough even a little bit of SPD - in the first quarter!
Nebraska came out like gangbusters in this match up of the #1 and #2
BCS teams, and took an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Unbelievably, Solich immediately when into the comfy confines of the
RoadShell(tm) at this point and amazingly decided to power-down the
team, SPD-style, at the start of the second quarter. The
resulting 24-point quarter laid to NU immediately took any remaining
life out of the squad, and sadly in the third quarter NU's body
language told the story that mentally we had already given up.
An ugly display of quitting and ineptitude followed as we went
scoreless for the final 55 minutes of the game, rarely even
threatening the mid-field stripe, much less the goal line. In
the process Nebraska also manages to give up yet another 300-yard
passing day, this time served up by Josh Heupel (who also manages 46
yards rushing against our poorly-spaced, conceived and executed pass
rush). Our QB has 24 carries while our starting I-back tallies 8
and his backup tallies 5. Newcombe is also served to the wolves
after the game after his questionable effort in chasing down an
interception return for a TD in the third quarter and for his 5
catches for only 26 yards (all poorly executed and concealed jailbreak
screens). Solich's conservative approach on the road is publicly
questioned on a large scale for the first time. At one point,
the OU defense corralled Crouch on 15 consecutive runs for only one
gain more than four yards - an 18-yarder in the third quarter,
followed immediately by back-to-back sacks of minus-eight and nine
yards. Nebraska totaled 136 yards in the final three quarters
after having 196 in the first quarter. Nebraska allowed Heupel
to run and pass over its defense for 346 yards of total offense, the
most ever for an individual Sooner against Nebraska. The previous
record was Jack Mildren's 271 in the 1971 "Game of the
Century." Oklahoma went on to win the national title.
November 11, 2000
- Kansas State 29, Nebraska 28 - A game which is surrounded by many
rumors and shrouded in mystery. Reportedly internal fighting
amongst players and/or coaches reached a pinnacle in the week prior to
this game, and even the game started, the controversy continued.
The starting QB was alleged to be refusing to run the plays called in
from the sideline, and continued to audible into his own number.
This somehow was allowed until the fourth quarter, where much-maligned
Dan Alexander blew up on KSU with big run after big run, and Nebraska
stormed back to take the lead. Given the lead and only a couple
of minutes left to hold it, the NU defense allows a swift, long TD
drive to win the game in the snow. Nebraska manages only 239
total yards and 11 first downs, going only 2-13 for 39 yards with one
INT in the air. (One of our scores was a blocked punt for TD)
Once again, the opposing school sets a record against us as Quincy
Morgan of KSU prances on our defense with 7 catches for 199 yards and
2 TDs. The victory gave KSU it's win over the highest-ranked
opponent in school history (#4). Nebraska's internal problems
also manifested in the form of 11 penalties. Including this
game, Crouch is passing at 38% in games versus ranked teams for the
year, with three INTs versus only one TD. Down by a point on a
3rd and 20 at the end of the game, Solich draws up a masterful play
that incorporates not one but TWO fake handoffs to running backs, and
culminates with a swing pass. As would be expected, KSU did not
bite on the run fakes.
November 24, 2000
- Nebraska 34, Colorado 32 - Playing at home on senior day, Nebraska
storms out to a quick 14-0 first quarter lead vs. 3-7 CU. In
true trademark Solich fashion, the FAH and SPD catches up with
Nebraska, and suddenly Nebraska finds itself trailing 32-31 very late
in the contest. A miraculous and uncharacteristic Husker drive
ensues after a very poor squib kick on the ensuing kickoff, and
Newcombe finally becomes a target twice on the final drive (along with
John Gibson) to set up the first game-ending winning field goal in
Nebraska football history. Pandemonium somehow follows, which is
frankly rather sad considering the opponent. Nebraska gives up
an alarming 451 yards in total offense (28 first downs), including a
troubling 197 on the ground - a precursor of things to come. CU
running back Cortlen Johnson rushes 25 times for 155 yards and 3 TDs
to lead a team that would return 17 starters the next year. Let
us not forget that after getting the ball with 44 seconds to go and
driving to the CU 31-yard line with 22 seconds and 1 timeout, Solich
called a QB countertrap on the next play which got stuffed for only a
2 yard gain, forcing the Huskers to burn their final timeout.
Fortunately, a 17 yard pass to Newcombe on the next play set up the
final field goal from a much more manageable distance. In a
repeat of a similar phenomenon in 1998, Freshman Craig Ochs performs
wonderfully in Memorial Stadium, passing for 254 yards and a TD..
Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. III by Ryan King, 12/05/03
February 2001 -
The recruiting class of 2001 is unveiled, with 19 members. As of
the end of 2003, as could be
expected it is very difficult to gauge the quality of the class, but
at this time here is how the class appears: So far there are 11
projected non-contributors (Brye, Burgess, Helming, Guidry,
Landingham, Manning, McLaughlin, Pike, Simmons,
Evwaraye, Stuntz), 0
projected token contributors (Evwaraye, Ross, Stuntz), 8
current/future starters (T.Adams, Bland, D.Bullocks, J.Bullocks,
Incognito, Ba.Ruud, L.Smith, Ross),
4 of which might be projected "stars" (J.Bullocks,
Incognito, Ba.Ruud, L.Smith)
August 25, 2001 -
Nebraska 21, TCU 7 - Coming
off a blasting of Big Ten co-champion Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl
in 2000 (which apparently warranted a gatorade bath for Solich...a
tragic sign of the fallen expectation level throughout the program),
and returning a senior QB and Heisman candidate in Crouch, Nebraska
schedules this game as one of the first of the season to get some
early national exposure and build upon the momentum seemingly gained
in the bowl game. The preseason #4 Huskers opened against a Horned
Frogs squad that was supposedly decimated by graduation from a strong
2000 unit in this Pigskin "Classic" game. In a game
that matched a head coach who was an offensive coordinator (Solich)
versus a head coach who was a defensive coordinator (Gary Patterson),
the result of this personal contest was no match. TCU confused,
confounded and destroyed Nebraska's offense from the onset, with
Crouch gaining a mere 67 yards on 24 carries while being sacked 3
times. For the day, Nebraska had 13 plays that lost yardage, and
it took a 99-yd drive late in the 3rd quarter to break open a 13-7
home lead to the final margin of victory. In other news, Tony Tata,
Josh Brown, Dahhran Diedrick, and Randy Stella were not on the field
for this game due to suspensions. Diedrick later repeated this
same feat of the starting running back missing the season opener in
2001, and as we have later learned his and the others continued second
chances were very indicative of the preferential and unbalanced
discipline employed by Solich.
September 8, 2001
- Nebraska 27, Notre Dame 10 - Truly
an exceptional display of SPD at its finest. Once again, as
always, lacking the will to step on another team's throat and exert a
level of dominance, Nebraska blew out of the gates in this
nationally-televised home game against the #17 Irish. As this
game was the first to show, Notre Dame was but a shell of their former
selves, and went on to have a very poor campaign in 2001.
Nebraska came out smoking, building a 27-3 halftime margin.
Sadly but predictably, this automatically engaged the SPD technique,
and Nebraska essentially took a knee the entire second half on
offense. Despite the seemingly dominant win, Nebraska amassed a
mere 270 total yards of offense in this game, with only 70 yards
coming in the second half. Given the opportunity for a statement
game and a big win, Solich closed up the shop and turned off the
lights of the offense - leaving everyone watching the game with a
strangely empty and unsatisfied feeling. Despite seeming like a
big win, natives became restless after this victory.
September 20, 2001
- Nebraska 48, Rice 3 - A solemn day,
this was one of the first two collegiate football games played after
9/11/01, on a Thursday night. While the offense played well
versus overmatched Rice, warning bells were raised about the defense,
which gave up 196 yards rushing on 47 carries, and also 169 yards on 8
completions. Rice's triple-option attack was very effective at
running at Nebraska in particular up the middle. Because of the
lopsided score, and the emotional tenor of the game, most of these
deficiencies went largely unnoticed...but they would later prove to be
indicative of a large problem.
September 29, 2001
- Nebraska 36, Missouri 3 - Another
case where the score was not indicative of how the Huskers played.
Coming out remarkably flat (vintage FOTR), a bad Missouri squad
led the Huskers 3-0 after one quarter. In the second quarter,
Nebraska needed a fortunate 4th-down conversion, a great adjustment by
Wilson Thomas to a terrible pass by Crouch, and a touchdown with less
than a minute left to take a 13-3 lead into halftime.
Fortunately for the Huskers, with their backs to their own goal with
2:12 left in the 3rd quarter and only leading 16-3, a phenomenal
individual effort by Crouch turned a near-safety into a 95-yd TD run.
Luckily for the Huskers, this energized the squad, and they ended up
getting many late yards (including Crouch's 95 on one play) to notch
over 500 yds of total offense. In this rare case, a disasterous
case of FOTR and SPD was averted by a single great play.
October 13, 2001 -
Nebraska 48, Baylor 7 - A
strange game indeed. Amid lightning delays, Nebraska ran for a
ridiculous amount of yardage in this game - 641 yards, to be exact -
yet only led 14-7 at half, and 21-7 after three quarters. Baylor
was (and still is, really) an atrocious squad, and only a 27-pt
outburst in the fourth quarter put this game truly away.
Nebraska fumbled the ball 7 times, losing 5, and was 4-9 through the
air. It goes without saying, but true to form this team was
listless and flat for the first half (FOTR). It should also be
noted that this - like the Missouri game before it and many other
times under Solich - was truly another missed opportunity to get
backups valuable experience. Remarkably, backup QB Jammal Lord
got but one series in this game, despite NU outyarding Baylor a
staggering 688 to 187!
October 20, 2001 -
Nebraska 41, Texas Tech 31 - An
ugly, ugly, ugly win. With an 8-0 record, ranked #3 and playing
on national television, Nebraska struggled with 3-2 Texas Tech,
holding on for a 10-pt win after being tied 28-28 at the half.
This was partly a case of FAH, but basically this game was simply two
teams that were fairly evenly matched. Tech QB Kingsbury had 353
yards passing against the NU defense, Tech PR Wes Welker had two punt
returns for TD, only to have one called back on a phantom penalty.
Tech gained 440 total yards on the Huskers, and scored 28 first-half
points - the most NU had given up in a first half at home
since UCLA (38 pts) in 1988.
November 10, 2001
- Nebraska 31, Kansas State 21 - The
Huskers entered this home game as the #2 team in the nation, while
Kansas State entered the game a mere 4-4. Remarkably (or not, if
you've been paying attention) Nebraska was soundly outplayed in the
first half, and took a 14-13 halftime deficit to the locker room.
After both teams were scoreless in the first quarter, a quick NU TD
drive was followed by a Willie Amos INT return for TD, and suddenly it
was 13-0. True to his SPD form, Solich attempted to pretty
much grind clock at this point, and found themselves behind at half,
being outyarded by a mediocre team with a sophomore Ell Roberson as
the starting QB. Roberson finished with 16 carries for an
impressive 119 yards, but did struggle in the air throughout. In
the second-half, Nebraska was buoyed by a punt return for TD by Dejuan
Groce, and managed to essentially outscore the Wildcats. KSU
finished with an impressive 239 yards rushing, which combined with the
earlier performance vs. Rice was raising some alarms that would soon
be seen by the nation. Nebraska managed 324 total yards and 17
offensive points at home against KSU, which is the continuance of
another growing trend - Solich teams struggling on offense vs. quality
defenses.
November 23, 2001
- Colorado 62, Nebraska 36 - This
game is a major sign post in the path that led to both the program's
and Solich's demise. As Cartman says in South Park: "The
nightmare begins". Nebraska would go on to have a 16-12
record under Solich from this point forward. It is some time
before this game that the off-the-field distractions which DC Craig
Bohl has carried with him for the previous two years start to
culminate in our defense's on-the-field performance. And while
our defense was still reasonably high rated going into this game,
retrospect shows that we had done so at the expense of a terribly easy
schedule: 8 of our first 11 games had been home games, and our road
games?...The mighty trio of Missouri (4-7), Baylor (3-8), and Kansas
(3-8). Furthermore, our previous schedule had been obviously
short on offensive powerhouses...most of the offenses we faced were
well into the last third of the nation in yardage. Nonetheless,
we had still shown a vulnerability to the running game, and this all
came to a head on the road vs. the #14 Buffaloes. Colorado beat
us so badly and rudely, that I don't have time here for all the
details. Not only did they break numerous records for Nebraska
opponents in this game (see the list above for a few), but they also
broke quite a few of their own. Chris Brown's 6 rushing TDs was
a school record, and this was also the Buffaloes first ever win over a
#1 team. Colorado notched 380 yards rushing. In the first
half alone, they had 15 plays of 10 yards or more on their way to 415
yards...in the first half. FIFTEEN! Sophomore CU backs
Chris Brown and Bobby Purify had 198 yds and 154 yds respectively, as
the Buffaloes averaged 7.3 ypc vs. a rush defense that entered the
game as the 13th in the nation and 6th in total defense. The 62
points are the most EVER given up by Nebraska. Often lost amidst
the defensive carnage in this game is an equally inept first half of
offense and playcalling by Solich. Inexplicably, the #1 BCS team
in the nation somehow entered the season finale against a bitter rival
FLAT. In a dramatic display of FOTR, and with a couple of QFDC's
in their purest form, the Huskers were simply embarrassed during this
game. It was so bad that on Sunday - two days after the fact -
NFL pregame shows talked about the game, and on Monday it was even
featured on national morning talk shows...the first time the football
team had been shown there since being upset by ASU in
1996. CU scored its most points since notching 64 on KSU during
their 1990 national championship season.
January 3, 2002 -
Miami 37, Nebraska 14 - As
if the embarassment caused by the CU game wasn't enough, a bizarre
sequence of circumstances and freak losses, combined with
unpredictable computer polls of the BCS system, somehow placed
Nebraska in the national title game (Rose Bowl) vs. #1 and undefeated
Miami. The media and fan firestorm was unbelievable - with
coaches such as Gary Barnett from Colorado (B12 champion but with 2
losses) and Mike Belotti from Oregon calling the situation a travesty
and even equating it to cancer. All the while, Nebraska was
served up as the team that didn't belong in the game - which they, in
fact, didn't. How do you play for a national title without even
winning your own conference? With a chance to prove a nation of
doubters and the oddsmakers wrong, the Huskers were simply outclassed
and outprepared against the ultra-talented Hurricanes. Nebraska
only heated up the criticism with their flat performance, and the bowl
game itself had its own series of tragic subplots...from our equipment
managers bringing the wrong shoes to the game (our players slipping
around the whole game), to our players and supposed leaders spending
the pre-bowl practices designing new uniforms for 2002 rather than
practicing, to many of our players weighing in as much as 60 lbs over
their season playing weight from a lack of conditioning, the ugly
underbelly of what the program had become under Solich started coming
to a head. Meanwhile, the bloated bureaucracy that had become
the athletic department under Bill Byrne was diverting moneys gained
from the football program and diverting them towards other ventures -
from the ill-fated Champions Club, to the women's rifle team, to
bringing in hordes of do-nothing athletic department employees and
their families to the Rose Bowl on the department budget.
Combined with a strength & conditioning program that had more
problems than can be listed here, and was actually so ineffective that
it was harmful to the point of being criminal, the kingdom was
prepared to crumble.
Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. IV by Ryan King, 12/04/03 February 2002 - August 24, 2002 - Nebraska 48, Arizona State 10 - August 31, 2002 - Nebraska 31, Troy State 16 - September 7, 2002 - Nebraska 44, Utah State 13 - September 14, 2002 - Penn State 40, Nebraska 7 - September 28, 2002 - Iowa State 36, Nebraska 14 - October 5, 2002 - Nebraska 38, McNeese St - October 12, 2002 - Nebraska 24, Missouri 13 - October 19, 2002 - Oklahoma State 24, Nebraska 21 - October 26, 2002 - Nebraska 38, Texas A&M 31 - November 2, 2002 - Texas 27, Nebraska 24 - November 9, 2002 - Nebraska 45, Kansas 7 - November 16, 2002 - Kansas State 49, Nebraska 13 - November 29, 2002 - Colorado 28, Nebraska 13 - December 27, 2002 - Mississippi 27, Nebraska 23 - Solich: Program Destruction Timeline, Vol. V by Ryan King, 12/05/03 To be continued..... November 29, 2003 at 7:30 pm CST - Frank Solich is fired as head football coach, effective immediately. RDK
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