Where do we go from here?

Kissed our sister last week at 5-5 and HPBT is having a worse season than a Tennessee booster. But this piece isn't about us, it's about your 2005 edition of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. With eight games under their belt, I, like much of the Cornhusker state, am unsure of how to describe this season. A disappointment? A surprise? The first step? The final straw? It is most likely a bit of all of the above.

Coming in to the season prognosticators had the Rattlesnake Boys picked everywhere from last in the North to first, from 5-6 to 8-3. They had a stellar crop of new recruits, but there were still a lot of questions surrounding Billy C. Could Cosgrove revive the Blackshirts? Could Zac Taylor be a major college quarterback? The frustration lies in the fact that two-thirds of the way through the 05 campaign, we still haven't answered any of those questions, and we likely won't until December rolls around.

The Huskers started dismally, surviving against Maine and Pitt, while looking less than stellar against Wake Forest. However, the defense looked much improved in those first few games, scoring early and often while the WCO looked years away.

Then came the Iowa State game and the offense started to click. For the first time in over a year, Husker fans were optimistic. The near miracle against Texas Tech may have been even more valuable because the Bugeaters showed some heart, which will always win you fans back home no matter your record. Nebraska was 4-1 with one close loss to a Top 25 team. The offense was showing signs of life and Zac Taylor, while not spectacular, showed he had some moxy.

Following a workmanlike effort against Baylor, Brad Smith demolished the Huskers. The season may have turned with that game. A win surely would have landed the Huskers in the Top 25, instead the loss took them out of the running for the Big XII North title and the chance to be executed by Texas.

Then there was the Oklahoma game, which I didn't see a second of, and we're basically back to square one. Nebraska gave up a touchdown on their opening drive for the fourth straight game and dug themselves a 24-3 hole before fighting back to fall just short.

Now, I hate moral victories more than I hate Jim Rome, but at this point in the season, it looks like all we Husker fans have. For every plus there seems to be a minus:

+ The controlled passing game seems to be coming around, and while we were all hopeful that it would happen sooner, we shouldn't be surprised it took a season and a half to do it. It's an intricate system, reliant heavily of timing. Throw a new quarterback in halfway through the transformation and we're probably ahead of where we should be. Still, we seem sorely lacking in big play potential, minus a Corey Ross screen. I would like to see them take some shots downfield.

- Since that Iowa St. game where Taylor set an NU record for passing yards, minus the second half against Baylor, the Husker running game has ground to a halt. For the West Coast Offense to be effective, you have to be able to use the stable of talented backs we have. This is partly due to the fact that we've fallen behind early the past four games, necessitating the pass. But mostly it's due to the fact that our offensive line is about as effective as the U.S.-Mexico border. Even if every record Nebraska compiled in the past 30 years falls by the wayside, and most of them have, I thought I could always count on some big cornfed cow-punchers up front who could push a tractor through a quarter-mile of mud. Of course, it never rains in Nebraska anymore, so maybe it is the effect of drought conditions.

+ Zac Taylor has been solid, but not spectacular. The perfect transition quarterback as Beck waits in the wings. But that's it, he's a stop-gap solution. He has probably played well enough to earn the starting job again next year, but then in two years we're back to a new QB, a big stumbling block for a team that is trying return to the top. Nonetheless, Taylor has to be commended on the job he's done. He takes everything in stride, he's helmed some solid rallies, but that's it. He's close, but he's not there.

- The rest of Nebraska's heralded 04 recruiting class has yet to make an impact. Octavien going down hurt, word is, he's the real deal. Glenn looks like a beast and I think Lucky will prove to be worth the hype, but we need some serious game-breaking wide receivers. Also, if Beck ain't redshirting, we need to see him soon, why burn a year of eligibility?

+ It's tough for me to give any credit to Billy C., but during the good three game stretch (IA St, TT, Baylor) he showed what the WCO is capable of achieving. Nebraska was a nightmare to prepare for after the Baylor game, they may throw the ball 60 times, they may run it 50. If the WCO ever gets its wings, that will be the Bugeaters calling card, unpredictability. A well-rounded team that can beat you a number of ways (see: USC). It's a long way removed from the years of yore, where we, and everyone else, knew exactly what we were going to do. The Huskers were going to line-up and punch you in the mouth until you either fought back or fell down, via con dios. But those days are gone and, if we wanted to attract top tier talent, they had to be.

- You have to attribute Nebraska's slow starts, at least partially but probably majorally, to the coaching staff. The comebacks show that Billy C. can make adjustments at halftime, but why can't we look ready to play at the start? We have yet to come out and set a tone, again never a problem in the past, and while our unpredictability will serve us well in the future, I don't get the feeling that Coach C. knows whether he'll throw 60 times or run 50 when the game starts. Simply unacceptable.

So here we sit, three games left, all apparently winnable, all imminently loseable. The Colorado game at Folsom Prison looms as a major uphill climb, but I have to believe that Nebraska gets a win against one of the Kansases. (Most likely K-State at home, who is owed a good ass-whuppin' after the past few years.) That means the Huskers are headed to Shreveport or Birmingham or some other minor southern city for a bowl game, hopefully against Tennessee, a team also looking for one more win to become bowl eligible. If the Vols continue to struggle, finish third or fourth in the SEC, it could happen. Tell me every small bowl in the country wouldn't want the Vols and Huskers, with their huge, blindly-faithful fan bases, coming to their city.

It's been emotionally exhausting to watch this years team. We hoped they would be improved, and they are, but following the loss to the Red Raiders, I think we thought that maybe this team was ready right now.

They're not.

The Huskers are still a few steps away, which when taken in context, is a few steps ahead of last year. One of ESPN's talking heads said, with feeling, that Nebraska will be back. Nobody was saying that last year. Nobody felt that last year. Sure we didn't make the leap that Oklahoma and USC made in their second year under their current coach, but we did take a minor hop, and I'll take that...begrudgingly.

If Nebraska is able to make it to a bowl game this year and win, then follow that up with a recruiting class close to last year's, don't be surprised if the Huskers start next season in the Top 25. And, on a positive note, that's how it starts, ask OU. A traditional power falls on hard times, gets a new coach and some young talent, gains some confidence and people start to take notice. Then you begin to win games you shouldn't based on fear factor.

It's fitting to ask on Halloween, what's more frightening, a traditional power fighting to stay atop the mountain, or a traditional power, carrying pride and tradition on its shoulders, trying to get back there?

Of course, in this 2005 season, for every plus there's a minus, and that minus is that we're left to compare our program to Oklahoma's. I think I just found a razorblade in my Bit'O'Honey.