re: How did Nebraska used to be a dominant football program?

let me put it this way....If Nebraska copied, to the T, everything they did back when they were great they couldn't come close to producing the results they did back then. they were masters at running the triple option, they had 5th year sr's on both lines of scrimmage and somehow (ahem) convinced stud skill players to play for them. and, their strength and conditioning program was probably the best in the country and also their lineman probably used steroids.

today, the triple ooption has been defeated, steroids are tested for and kids are not going to sign up for 5 yrs. also, the skill players go elsewhere.