"The Pipeline" used to mean something to Nebraskans, and it was a source of pride for Nebraskans that each and every year Nebraska would have an offensive line capable of dominating every defensive line they faced. When I first started truly following the Huskers in the early 1990s, I really had no idea that I would see the last of the great Nebraska offensive lines just a few years later.
Milt Tenopir and Dan Young built a system at Nebraska that took in young men with a good physical foundation and sculpted them into elite linemen. They didn't always have the best recruits, but they were great coaches who produced an incredible resume of Outland Trophy winners: Dave Rimington, Dean Steinkuhler, Will Shields, Zach Wiegert, and Aaron Taylor won the award during Milt Tenopir's coaching term. Nebraska was known as the school that produced great linemen, and you knew when you watched a Nebraska game that the offensive line would wear down their opponent and, by the fourth quarter, that Nebraska backs would be running for big gains. Nothing exemplified this more than the 1995 Orange Bowl, when the Nebraska line wore down Ray Lewis, Warren Sapp, and the rest of the Miami defense so that Cory Schlesinger could run for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to secure a victory and a national championship for the Huskers. That 1994 Cornhusker offensive line unit had six players that players that would be eventually be drafted in the first four rounds of the NFL draft. Since Barney Cotton took over the line in 2008, though, the Huskers have had exactly zero linemen drafted in the first five rounds of the NFL draft.
There was a long period of time when Nebraska was the first team most football fans thought of when asked, "What college team has the best offensive line?" Now, though, the Huskers' offensive line doesn't even rank in the top half of their own conference, let alone make a statement on the national stage. The responsibility for that lies squarely on the shoulders of one man: Barney Cotton. Under his leadership, the Huskers have produced a string of mediocre lines that constantly fail to deliver. They are slow, get manhandled, fail to dominate the line of scrimmage, even against a weak opponent like Tennessee-Chattanooga, lack cohesion, and are frequently penalized. Their lack of discipline has helped Nebraska become one of the most penalized teams in the country (115 of 120), and their inability to dominate the line means that every game is a crapshoot as far as predicting a win.
When the Nebraska line was great, you could plug in Matt Turman and still expect a win. That line made average players look good, good players look great, and great players look like legends. Without the phenomenal offensive line of 1995, does Tommie Frazier look like the greatest college quarterback ever? He would certainly look good, but would his numbers be nearly as good? I say "no." Don't get me wrong - I think Frazier was an incredible player, and likely the best player I might ever see play the game. That doesn't mean, though, that he didn't benefit from having an offensive line that was not flagged for a single holding penalty during the 1995 season. Today's Nebraska offensive line wouldn't make Frazier look average, but it sure wouldn't help him look great. When a team like Tennessee-Chattanooga is penetrating the backfield 3-4 yards deep with 2-3 players on most option plays, there isn't much one can do as a back to look good.
For the last four years, Barney Cotton has been in charge of building "The Pipeline" at Nebraska. "The Pipeline" of today, however, is best described as "The 3/4" PVC female-female 90 degree ell." The problem is not with recruiting - every season we hear about great recruits coming in to the program. The problem is that Barney Cotton doesn't develop these recruits into outstanding football players. His leadership has produced exactly zero Outland Trophy finalists, zero Rimington Trophy finalists, and zero NFL draft choices in the first five rounds of the draft. When Iowa, Purdue, and Northwestern are ranked above you in the conference, you have failed as a coach. No excuses - he's had four years to create a good offensive line, and he has failed to deliver. I don't want to hear about injuries or youth or anything like that. He isn't the first coach to have to deal with injuries. He isn't the first coach to have to deal with young players. He is, however, the first line coach at Nebraska that I've heard use those excuses for four straight years.
Cotton's lines are undisciplined, and they consistently fail to work together to make combination blocks (when two linemen, double-team a defensive lineman, then one sloughs off to pick up the linebacker). A combination block is something that is taught in junior high to linemen, but it seems like the Nebraska line has never even heard about how to execute them. Nebraskans have a tendency to focus on Taylor Martinez and blame him for the collapse of the offense at the end of the 2010 season, but I think it makes a lot more sense to blame the atrocious play of the offensive line. As a back, it's a lot easier to make smart decisions and hold on to the ball when you aren't being hit in the backfield on almost every play. It's a lot easier to look like a good player when you don't have to worry about the line being able to handle more than the men directly in front of the them. There's a reason that Nebraska fans fondly remember Matt Turman rather than remember him as the guy who led the Huskers to their only (hypothetical) loss in 1994 against Kansas State, and it isn't because of his abilities behind center. The 1994 line helped Turman look good, and he wasn't even an average player. Behind the 2011 Nebraska line, Matt Turman would look like one of the worst players in the history of the game.
In short, Barney Cotton must go. I don't care about his kids staying and playing at Nebraska; I don't care if they transfer. I just want an offensive line coach that will produce a great offensive line, not a below-average line. It is unacceptable that Nebraska has a sub-par line, and Nebraskans should be calling for Barney Cotton's head, not Taylor Martinez's. Remember: one is 20 and learning a brand new offense, while the other is turning 55 on September 30 and has been coaching linemen since 1989. Nebraska fans need to hold Barney Cotton to the same standard they hold Martinez, and demand results now. I'm not even asking for a different standard for the two men - holding Cotton to the same standard as Martinez would have had Cotton out of Nebraska two years ago, and that would have been a good thing.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
I love the Rice Band
The Rice band trolled the Texas fans, and I love it.
Like I said, Texas hubris is the worst influence in college football today.
Like I said, Texas hubris is the worst influence in college football today.
Texas hubris is the worst influence in college football today
With scandals at Miami, USC, Ohio State, Oregon, and North Carolina, one might think that my stance on Texas is hyperbole, but I assure you that it is not, especially if you love the tradition of college football. While the scandals at the different schools listed are cause for concern and should prompt a call for reform, the Texas Longhorns have done more in the last fifteen years to permanently damage college football than any other person, institution, or governing body.
In 1995, Oklahoma and Nebraska played their final post-Thanksgiving rivalry game. That 37-0 whimper of an ending to a great rivalry based on mutual respect was the first symptom of the end of college football as we know it. Texas had a nice situation in the Southwest Conference, but, after Arkansas left the SWC in 1990, Texas started sniffing for greener pastures, and started the push to dissolve the SWC. In 1996, the old Big 8 took a chance and took in the four schools from Texas in what was an attempt by Texas to compete with the SEC for relevance in the national spotlight. A championship game was added, and the conference offices were relocated from Kansas City to Dallas. This shift to Texas also destroyed the great OU/NU rivalry, as OU and NU were split into two different divisions. OU joined the Texas schools and Okie State in forming the Big 12 South, and that was the beginning of the end. Nebraska lost its cultural tie to the conference, as trying to replace OU with Colorado is like replacing your Ferrari with a Sebring. With the fundamental differences between Texas and Nebraska, it was only a matter of time before it would come to a head.
Fast-forward fifteen years, and Nebraska is in the Big Ten, Colorado is in the Pac-12, and Texas A&M has just announced that is withdrawing from the Big 12, presumably to join the SEC. Why did this all happen?
Texas hubris.
Texas hubris pushed Nebraska from the Big 12, ending one of the longest played series in the game (NU/Kansas), ending over a century's worth of association with Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, and Kansas State, and ending nearly a century's worth of association with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. All of this because Texas couldn't handle not being the center of attention when part of the now defunct Southwest Conference, and, after becoming part of the national conversation by riding the coattails of Nebraska and Oklahoma, Texas got even greedier and went after their own network. That network is what drove Nebraska away, and it's what drove Texas A&M out, and I can assure you that OU will soon follow.
So why, do you ask, is this bad? Shouldn't everyone pursue money? Isn't this America? Is this capitalism at its finest?
I'll tell you why it's bad: what makes college football great is the stories behind the games. The years and years and years of history behind each matchup make each game more important. Kansas State beating Nebraska in 1998 wouldn't have meant nearly as much to the K-State fans without the thirty previous years of watching the Huskers leave the field as victors. No A&M victory over Texas or Texas victory over OU would mean as much without the decades of games in each series leading up to each victory. Each and every game is important in college football in regards to the pursuit of a national title, but each and every league game is important because of those years of tradition behind each game. Texas is quickly destroying with their hubris over a century of traditions from some of the greatest programs in college football's storied history.
Oklahoma will be leaving. A&M has left. Nebraska has left. Those three programs have great traditions of winning and, in the case of A&M especially, have some great game day traditions as well. Texas doesn't care, though, because they want to make a few more dollars. Soon there will be a just a few super-conferences as the Big 12 fully implodes and the Pac-12 becomes the Pac-16 and the SEC expands to 16 teams. I'm sure that the Big Ten will do the same. The result? We're going to lose games like Georgia-Florida or Tennessee-Alabama or Wisconsin-Minnesota. We've already lost USC-Washington and Stanford-USC. The Big Ten managed to keep the vast majority of its rivalry games, but if there is an expansion to sixteen teams, many will go by the wayside. All of this starts because Texas can't be satisfied with its lot in life.
DIAF, DeLoss Dodds.
In 1995, Oklahoma and Nebraska played their final post-Thanksgiving rivalry game. That 37-0 whimper of an ending to a great rivalry based on mutual respect was the first symptom of the end of college football as we know it. Texas had a nice situation in the Southwest Conference, but, after Arkansas left the SWC in 1990, Texas started sniffing for greener pastures, and started the push to dissolve the SWC. In 1996, the old Big 8 took a chance and took in the four schools from Texas in what was an attempt by Texas to compete with the SEC for relevance in the national spotlight. A championship game was added, and the conference offices were relocated from Kansas City to Dallas. This shift to Texas also destroyed the great OU/NU rivalry, as OU and NU were split into two different divisions. OU joined the Texas schools and Okie State in forming the Big 12 South, and that was the beginning of the end. Nebraska lost its cultural tie to the conference, as trying to replace OU with Colorado is like replacing your Ferrari with a Sebring. With the fundamental differences between Texas and Nebraska, it was only a matter of time before it would come to a head.
Fast-forward fifteen years, and Nebraska is in the Big Ten, Colorado is in the Pac-12, and Texas A&M has just announced that is withdrawing from the Big 12, presumably to join the SEC. Why did this all happen?
Texas hubris.
Texas hubris pushed Nebraska from the Big 12, ending one of the longest played series in the game (NU/Kansas), ending over a century's worth of association with Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, and Kansas State, and ending nearly a century's worth of association with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. All of this because Texas couldn't handle not being the center of attention when part of the now defunct Southwest Conference, and, after becoming part of the national conversation by riding the coattails of Nebraska and Oklahoma, Texas got even greedier and went after their own network. That network is what drove Nebraska away, and it's what drove Texas A&M out, and I can assure you that OU will soon follow.
So why, do you ask, is this bad? Shouldn't everyone pursue money? Isn't this America? Is this capitalism at its finest?
I'll tell you why it's bad: what makes college football great is the stories behind the games. The years and years and years of history behind each matchup make each game more important. Kansas State beating Nebraska in 1998 wouldn't have meant nearly as much to the K-State fans without the thirty previous years of watching the Huskers leave the field as victors. No A&M victory over Texas or Texas victory over OU would mean as much without the decades of games in each series leading up to each victory. Each and every game is important in college football in regards to the pursuit of a national title, but each and every league game is important because of those years of tradition behind each game. Texas is quickly destroying with their hubris over a century of traditions from some of the greatest programs in college football's storied history.
Oklahoma will be leaving. A&M has left. Nebraska has left. Those three programs have great traditions of winning and, in the case of A&M especially, have some great game day traditions as well. Texas doesn't care, though, because they want to make a few more dollars. Soon there will be a just a few super-conferences as the Big 12 fully implodes and the Pac-12 becomes the Pac-16 and the SEC expands to 16 teams. I'm sure that the Big Ten will do the same. The result? We're going to lose games like Georgia-Florida or Tennessee-Alabama or Wisconsin-Minnesota. We've already lost USC-Washington and Stanford-USC. The Big Ten managed to keep the vast majority of its rivalry games, but if there is an expansion to sixteen teams, many will go by the wayside. All of this starts because Texas can't be satisfied with its lot in life.
DIAF, DeLoss Dodds.
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