It's been said many times that Groce would get a pass for this year as long as the team avoids a complete meltdown, but I think perception plays a big role in it as well. The team gave the fanbase hope after the Purdue win, which skyrocketed expectations, unfairly or not. In order for Groce to keep his job for another year, there needs to be a belief that he did not significantly underachieve with his current roster. The number of wins to achieve that cannot be determined until the end of the season. I've said before that I would rather have some great wins and bad losses, than mediocre wins and so so losses, because it shows the team has a higher ceiling. With that being said, I don't think the fanbase can stomach this because it's seen as false hope. IMO, the fanbase as a whole would have been less critical of the recent losses, if we would have also lost against Purdue.
The UNL loss was the nail on top of the coffin, blowout losses will be drive that nail in.
My personal opinion is that as long as we saw improvements from the team then anything else would be gravy, but this team is not well coached or not responding to the coaching, either one is on Groce (and the players). If the players really do love Groce that much then they need to step up now, they've got the talent to win a few games still and not get blown out. If this was just a hiccup then I can probably get past it, if this is a trend through the rest of the season then Groce needs to go.