BIG RED HEAD ZONE

Maine Game: September 3, 2005

Hello, My name is Jim Meier, long time Big Red fan, native Nebraskan and lover and player of numerous sports. Also, one of my professional specialities is serving as a Sports Psychology Coach. In that spirit, HuskerPedia™ has asked me to offer a thought or two following each Husker game. These observations, impressions, tips come are not first hand insights based on discussions with Husker coaches, players or staff.
My intent is to assist you, as a Husker fan, glean an idea or two about how you can best assist the team. That said, I've decided to organize my ideas into four pieces:

THE CRUX: The essential point from the game as I see it
THE QUOTE: Could be from a player, coach, fan, broadcaster, Socrates, etc.
MENTAL MUSCLE: Building strength form each game
A HOW TO: A sports psyche tip to better KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME

THE CRUX:

Steve Octavien...In my work I teach that three core ingredients must exist in order to perform very well and be successful: 1) Believe in Yourself 2) Really, really want it and 3) Do the work! In yesterday's first quarter Mr. Octavien was THE MAN. He showed passion, intensity, fury and bounce-back-ability (did you see him get up and team up on that one tackle). In short he performed like a Husker with Heart with all three core ingredients. He was HIGH OCTANE. The crux of the crux is this: Honor Steve by using his energy. If we use his great spirit, his enthusiasm and his grit as coaches, fellow players and fans ALL season you'll see some great Husker football. Put Steve Octavien's picture front and center in your head folks!

THE QUOTE:

"We said all week that we had a ton of respect for Nebraska, but we came here to win. That was our mind-set."
Ron Whitcomb, Maine quarterback

A question...do you think TCU went into Norman to beat the 3+ touchdown spread or beat the Sooners?

MENTAL MUSCLE:

Considering the quote above, it seemed clear to me the Maine players that they carried that mind-set throughout the game. Their body language spoke volumes. An underdog that doesn't know it is an underdog can be pesky and prickly as a pugnacious porcupine. It is always useful to learn from your opponent. I believe the Black Bears believed in themselves and that is the mental lesson to carry onto Wake Forest etc. etc.Your job...my job as fans? Chose faith, not doubt...ASSIST THE BIG RED TO BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES.

A HOW TO:

In his pre-game interview, Coach Callahan said "...we as coaches have to help the players trust in the system, trust in their skills and trust the team..." I agree with him. One way to do this is to review mistakes only once, see what you did wrong, learn from it and then get rid of that mental tape...don't store it, don't save it!

Review what you did well! Go over it time and time again, cross-file it in your minds many active file and bring it to practices and game day. I asked myself this hard Husker Fan question..."Was my talk about the team encouraging and supportive or much less?" I give myself a "B" vs. the Black Bears. How about you?

Remember you can be a spectator fan or a playing fan. That the beauty of your brain. And that's why the BIG RED HEAD ZONE exists.