My 2 Cents
9/30/08
Virginia Tech Game

Commentary by David Max

September 27, 2008 marks another milestone in the history of Husker football. It was the first loss in the Bo Pelini head coaching era. It's quite a feat when a Nebraska head coach can go almost five years without a loss. Hasn't been done before and probably will not be done again. Tom Osborne can't even make that claim.

There has been a lot of discussion about different aspects of the game and there are some glaring statistics to go with it. Here are a couple. Total yards rushing for the game by Nebraska - 55. Total yards by VA Tech after they already had nine points on the board - 14. After watching the replays of the penalty called on Suh at the end of the game I can see why Coach Pelini was upset. It was a call that could have gone either way and the ACC officials saw to it that there was no home field advantage on that one. It needs to be taken as a learning experience and we need to move on to focusing about next week against Missouri.

In spite of the outcome of the game it was a very enjoyable weekend. We had our 70-71 National Championship team reunion dinner and it was a memorable evening. There were 16 former players and 1 student manager that sent an RSVP that they would come to the dinner and every single one of them showed up. Typical Nebraska, giving 100% effort just like the current team did the following evening. I asked six of them to talk about their experiences and each one was very entertaining in their own right and video of their talks will be available soon. Some of them haven't seen each other since their playing days and some that attended are now planning on attending the reunion at the Oklahoma game in Norman on Nov. 1st. I would like to personally thank each one of them for coming and making it a special evening for the fans that attended to hear them talk and get autographs from their heroes. My 90 year old mother, Margaret Max, was in attendance and got her picture taken with the team. I am sure my father, Carl, who bought our season tickets in 1964 was smiling down from Heaven as Mom got her Sports Illustrated autographed by Jeff Kinney.

Here are some more pictures.

The event was co-sponsored by Jerry Murtaugh and his GOAL organization. Jerry has been involved with this non-profit organization that he started several years ago to combat childhood obesity and he has had some success and has run into some roadblocks getting corporate sponsorships to build his organization. He is a typical linebacker. Every time he runs into a corporate wall rejection he get up, dusts himself off and keeps going. If there is anyone that represents the Nebraska "Bugeater" Way it's Jerry. It's just a matter of time before some corporate decision maker realizes that Jerry can put their sponsorship money to good use. He understands the value of giving back to the community and he is not alone. I have been involved and have interviewed several former Huskers and the recurring theme is they understand what it means to represent the State and the University of Nebraska when they are playing and decades later when they are still giving back to the community. It makes it a just a little bit easier to absord a disappointing loss like last weekend, especially when the entire team gave the same effort Jerry does.

Everyone in the media has written up the next two games as a loss. I am not among that group and believe that the team will forget about the "what if's" about last Saturday and focus on Missouri. It is a role reversal when we are 10 point underdogs at home. That won't change until we do win a "big game" and it could very easily be this Saturday.

Just my 2 cents. What about yours?

GO BIG RED!!!