Pressure: It Comes and it Goes

It has recently become clear to me how Nebraska could fall so hard on their face in Saturday’s big game against the University of Texas, deemed the Texas Tragedy.

So much emphasis was put on one game by the team, from top to bottom, that it created enough pressure to make Freddie Mercury jealous. It all seems so unnecessary now. What was the point?

I’m plagiarizing my brother, who evaluated the game in this way, “Coaches recite cliches for a reason. When they say it’s just another game, this is the reason why.”

Once the 10-0 deficit faced the Huskers, and a few individual mistakes were made, everybody tightened up. “Oh, no, what if we lose to them?” had to be racing through the mind of every player. What seemed an impossibility prior to the game, suddenly became every player’s worst nightmare.

(More……….)

When you get to that point, you hope the leaders of the team can pick the rest of the players up. Unfortunately, it was the exact wrong time to be led by a  freshman quarterback, who was eyeing a deficit for the first time all season.

It was the precise moment I anticipated when I campaigned for Zac Lee to get the starting gig to open this 2010 season.

That isn’t to say I think Pelini made the wrong call by any means. I had no idea T-Mobile was as poised and explosive as he’s turned out to be, and would have thrown my support behind him if I had been in the know.

What we’re gonna do here now is move on. Yes, that’s right, in the middle of a post. This is the conclusion of reflection on the Texas Tragedy.

Wait for it……

Boom, outta here.

So what ties the conclusion of the Texas Tragedy in with the commencement of the Big Red’s chase for the final Big 12 Championship?

Pressure. Or, better yet, the lack thereof.

I’ll put it this way: Nebraska’s chances of beating Oklahoma St. and Missouri in the next fortnight have drastically improved. Why?

Because the pressure is now off of the team. They can play loose once again. If Nebraska had won, the Oklahoma St. game reeked of an emotional let down. Now? The Cowboys get a pissed off Huskers team with something to prove.

In hindsight of the season, losing to Missouri would been way more costly than losing to Texas. The Tigers would’ve crept into the Big 12 Championship Game instead of Nebraska, denying the Huskers a chance at their ultimate goal.

The rest of the country can dismiss Nebraska if they want to, but this guy still has his eyes on the prize: A Big 12 Championship.

And, yes, I want it to come against you, Texas.