OK, so the regular season is one-third in the books with No. 25 Nebraska shutting out Louisiana-Lafeyette 55-0 Saturday on a day that the Huskers sold out their 300th consecutive home game.
The Huskers are 3-1 and a one-point loss away from being 4-0. Any questions of Nebraska’s resilience were answered rather decisively. That is significant for two reasons. For starters, as great of a motivator as Bo Pelini is, it’s still easy to remember the Steve Pederson-Bill Callahan era where one bad loss tended to have a prolonged effect. Pelini’s forceful personality is such that he won’t allow any prolonged slides. Then again, perhaps we should know that by now.
As for Nebraska’s heartbreaking 16-15 loss to No. 11 Virginia Tech, some message board posters wondered if that loss might end up looking bad because the Hokies were 2-1 entering Saturday’s game against No. 9 Miami. Yes, that same Miami team that some mainstream media members (i.e. Lou Holtz) proclaimed as being “back.” Well, a funny thing happened today in Blackburg, Va. It’s called VaTech kicked Miami’s ass from one end of the field to the other in a 31-7 win for the Hokies.
Not to justify Nebraska’s loss, however, that defeat coupled with the Hokies win over Miami might even further illustrate that the Huskers are getting closer.
We will know much more after Oct. 17. For starters, Nebraska faces Missouri on the road for a Thursday night ESPN telecast followed by Texas Tech in Lincoln, Ne. on Oct. 17. When breaking down Nebraska’s preseason schedule, most eyes were on VaTech and Oklahoma. Well, Kansas drew a few eyes too. However, Mizzu and Texas Tech have note despite the fact that the Huskers are a combined 2-7 against those two teams.
That stretch has included defeats of embarrassing proportions such as a 70-10 loss to Texas Tech in 2004 in Lubbock, a 41-6 loss to Missouri in 2007 and 52-17 defeat to the Tigers in 2008.
It was generally assumed that the Huskers will continue their ascension in Pelini’s second year in 2009. Nebraska went 9-4 in Pelini’s first year and would appear to be a solid bet to at least match that record. Nebraska is 3-1 so far but its truest tests still remain.
It was also generally assumed that Texas Tech, which enjoyed an 11-2 season in 2008, would falter after losing numerous players including quarterback Graham Harrell and wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The Red Raiders have already lost as many games as they did last season as they are 2-2 entering Saturday’s home game against New Mexico. However, Texas Tech’s two defeats have been by ten points or less – a 34-24 loss at No. 2 Texas and a 29-28 defeat at resurgent and No. 17 Houston.
It was also generally assumed that Missouri, which went 10-4 in 2008 and 12-2 in 2007 en route to winning Big 12 North titles, will slip after losing quarterback Chase Daniel, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and tight end Chase Kauffman. The Tigers, meanwhile, are 4-0 and like the Huskers have 12 days to prepare for their aforementioned showdown in Columbia. The Tigers most recognizable win has come again a 1-2 Illinois team (37-9). Mizzu also escaped with a road win against Nevada (31-21) on Saturday.
Despite last year’s improvements – and to some degree this year, Nebraska is not good enough to be counting victories just yet. While every win is important, beating Texas Tech and Missouri would be psychological hurdles. Plus, despite those losses in personnel, Gary Pinkel (Missouri) and Mike Leach (Texas Tech) are two flawed but bright offensive minds as coaches.
With Texas Tech, most Husker fans still have the 2004 debacle fresh in their mind. However, Nebraska was a fumbled LeKevin Smith interception away from winning in a 34-31 loss in 2005 and a desparation Joe Ganz interception away from winning in a 37-31 overtime loss in 2008.
With Missouri, they creamed two teams coached by Callahan and another (the 2008 team) still had many Callahan remnants. They also lost to a 2002 Nebraska team that went 7-7 and a 2004 Husker club that went 5-6, making former defensive coordinators Craig Bohl and Kevin Cosgrove look like Charlie McBride.
In that respect, the next two games against Missouri and Texas Tech are similar to say the home game last season against Kansas. The Jayhawks obliterated Nebraska 76-39 in 2007 on the way to a 12-1 season. The Huskers won last year’s game 45-35 but outplayed the Jayhawks to a larger extent than the final score suggests. One KU touchdown came with the game out of reach in the fourth quarter and another was set by a Nate Swift muffed punt near the Huskers 25 yard line.
After the game, Lincoln Journal Star columnist Steve Sipple, whose work I respect greatly, referred to the game as a landmark win. I disagreed with that notion at the time and still do now because in going 8-5 in 2008, the Jayhawks (who beat Nebraska 40-15 in 2005 in Lawrence, Kansas) did not approach their 2007 success.
I viewed the 2008 Nebraska win as psychological not only based on the aforementioned defeats but Nebraska’s ugly 14-8 win in 2004 and its 32-25 overtime win in 2006 in which the Huskers let a 24-7 lead evaporate before prevailing.
Every win is big for the Huskers getting back to prominence but wins over Texas Tech and Missouri would be of the psychological kind.
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