Proposed four-team playoff not perfect but it's a start

For several years, college football fans and media have wanted a playoff system. Now it appears they will be getting one.

I’m not even going to try to explain the parameters of the proposed four-team playoff. I’ll let collegefootballnews.com do the honors:

http://cfn.scout.com/2/1196749.html

I have long been in the minority, while the BCS (Bowl Championship series) is not perfect, I don't think NCAA March Madness in basketball is the cat's meow either like some people are inclined to believe. Like most people, I fill out my office pool but you’re not going to hear me say that March Madness is the greatest thing since the Great Wall of China.

You see, before the BCS came into being in the 1998 season, we frequently had two undefeated teams. The problem is that they seldom matched up against each either: 1991 Miami-Washington, 1994 Nebraska-Penn state, 1997 Nebraska-Michigan. Did those teams play each other on the field? No.

Why? Because the Pac-10 and Big 10 were so hell-bent on keeping their Rose Bowl tradition but when they had an unbeaten team, they'd whine about either getting a split National title (i.e. Michigan in 1997) or no National title (i.e. Penn State in 1994). I say, sorry folks. You can't have it both ways (i.e. keep your tradition and whine about a split National Title). The reality is that Penn State screwed itself out of the National title in 1994 by going from Independent to Big 10.

The BCS hasn't been without its controversies either. One loss Florida State instead of Miami (also a one loss team) played unbeaten Oklahoma in 2000. One loss Nebraska instead of Oregon (also a one loss team) played unbeaten Miami in 2001. One loss Oklahoma instead of one loss USC played LSU for the BCS title in 2003. One loss Florida instead of one loss Michigan played Ohio State in 2006. Of course, no one was complaining when in 2002 (Ohio State-Miami), 2004 (Oklahoma-USC) or 2005 (Texas-USC) were a battle of two unbeaten teams.

The 2006-2008 seasons, however, were jumbled beyond belief. In 2006, you had two one loss teams playing for the title as Florida met Ohio State, while one-loss Michigan and undefeated Boise State were left in the cold.

In 2007, you had a two-loss LSU team meeting a one-loss Ohio State team. In the process, many people lobbied for USC and/or Georgia (a pair of two loss teams) to play in the title game.

In 2008, two one-loss teams (Florida and Oklahoma) met for the title while unbeaten Utah and one loss teams USC, Texas, Penn state and Alabama were left in the cold.

Ohio State lost both of its title games (41-16 to Florida and 38-24 to LSU) as viewers of the game wasted four hours of their lives they will not get back. Florida defeated Oklahoma 24-14.

The interesting subplot to the whole matter was that Boise State and Utah (two nonBCS schools) made noise. Boise State defeated Oklahoma 32-31 in the Fiesta Bowl in 2006. Well, 2006 regular season/2007 bowl game. While Utah defeated Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl in a game that really wasn’t even that close.

I’m perhaps in the minority but I think Boise State and Utah should have been awarded a share of the National Title or been allowed to play in the title game. And please, don’t come at me with the strength of schedule argument or the notion of “they would have gotten blown out.” And if they do, so what, I don’t see how it’s any worse than watching Ohio State get its doors blown off by two SEC teams.

While you will never get a system that satisfies everyone, I’m all for the proposed four-team playoff. The problem is, I can see it morphing into a football version of March Madness, which would be a liability not an asset. Four teams (six maybe) is an ideal number. For one thing, the regular season still means something because a two-loss team is not normally going to be in the Top Four. Honestly, no team with two losses should be playing for a National Championship. I know the cynics would say that considering the BCS Title Game between Alabama and LSU was a rematch, the argument of “the regular season still matters in college football” was tainted.

The one example that I keep coming back for my case in favor of a four-team playoff to is the 2010 season. Oregon and Auburn went undefeated from the Pac 10 and SEC respectively. I say, well and good, they should play in the BCS Title Game because if you come out of those conferences undefeated, you have earned the right to play for the title.

However, there was one other problem. You had an unbeaten TCU team from the Mountain West. Of course, the cynics would ask, “well, who the hell are you playing in the Mountain West?” TCU defeated an 11-1 Wisconsin team from the Big 10 by the final of 21-19 in the Rose Bowl. Then you have an 11-1 Stanford team from the Pac 10 that smashed Virginia Tech 40-12 in the Rose Bowl. VaTech went 11-2 in the regular season. When the dust settled after all of the bowl games had been completed, most people believed that Stanford was the best remaining one-loss team. Keep in mind, Wisconsin’s aforementioned loss to TCU dropped them to 11-2. There’s one more argument, “well what about Ohio State?” The Buckeyes went 11-1 out of the Big 10 and defeated an 11-2 Arkansas team 31-26 in the Sugar Bowl.

Yes, Ohio State would have had a legitimate point. However, if you had a Final Four of Oregon, Auburn, TCU and Stanford, that would have sufficed for two reasons: 1) You have two teams from power conferences like Auburn and Oregon, 2) Your unbeaten TCU or Boise State or Utah would get their chance and 3) Your best remaining one-loss team like Stanford would also get its chance. I believe that’s the scenario most people want anyhow. So you leave out another deserving one-loss club like Ohio State or Wisconsin? Losing one game won’t dash their National Title hopes but you get a playoff, maintain your bowl games and make the regular season matter.

As for the bowl games, people would say “but they make money.” Your major bowls like the Orange, Rose, Fiesta, and Sugar are not going anywhere. Neither are other New Years Day bowl games. For that matter, neither are games like the Holiday Bowl. Start by getting rid of bowl games that are being occupied by 6-6 teams. They have no business even playing in a bowl game.

Unlike last year, bowl game motivation not likely an issue

Much was made about the Nebraska football team’s motivation for last season’s Holiday Bowl. Well, lack thereof would be a better description.


There are many reasons why the Huskers showed a lack of pizzazz in their 19-7 Holiday Bowl loss to Washington: 1) Nebraska was returning to a bowl game it played in one year early in which it blew Arizona’s doors off in a 33-0 whitewash; 2) The Huskers were facing a Washington team that it throttled 56-21 three months earlier; 3) Nebraska had set preseason goals of winning the Big 12 conference, beating Texas and achieving a BCS bowl bid. The Huskers achieved none; and 3) Washington was playing in its first bowl game since 2002 and was getting a rematch against a Husker team that lambasted them three months earlier. In hindsight, all of those things were a recipe for the Huskers lacking motivation and Washington having motivation that was sky high.

So what will be the motivation for South Carolina and Nebraska when they meet in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 2? South Carolina certainly won’t lack for motivation as the Gamecocks are 10-2 entering the game and have a chance to record 11 wins for the first time in school history. Considering that South Carolina plays in the shadow of traditional SEC powerhouses like Alabama and most recently LSU and Florida that opportunity is significant.

Nebraska enters the game with a 9-3 record and fell short of its goals of winning the Big Ten Legends Division as well as the Big Ten conference title. For the Huskers, however, this game represents the chance to beat an SEC team. Yes, by virtue of Alabama and LSU playing in the BCS Title Game, the SEC is guaranteed to win its sixth straight crown. While the ESPN talking heads are going to continue to kiss the SEC’s butt, a win over an SEC team certainly looks goods. Plus, after having the humble pie of last year’s Holiday Bowl loss, Nebraska is not likely to want a second straight bowl loss.

Breaking down matchups is not just about who has the position-by-position edge; it is often decided by motivation. Granted, showing up ready to play is something that should be done before every game, not just a bowl game. Some people point to South Carolina’s 10-2 record and their SEC membership as rock solid proof that they’ll beat Nebraska but a close look reveals more.

The Gamecocks had five games decided by less than a touchdown this year; Nebraska had two. And while a 45-42 win against a scrappy Georgia team looks impressive, some too-close wins over Florida and Vanderbilt do not. South Carolina also plays in the comparatively weaker SEC East, and their play against the more dominant SEC West was terrible. They also had a 44-28 loss to Arkansas. They escaped with a 16-13 win over a mediocre 7-5 Auburn teams, and had a 14-12 win over a 6-6 Mississippi State. Absent from the schedule were Alabama and LSU, which would have easily been two more losses.

Looking at the statistical angle, quarterback Stephen Garcia was dismissed from the team and replaced by Connor Shaw, who has completed 65% of his throws and has thrown 12 TD passes. As a unit, South Carolina has rushed for almost 2400 yards (NU: 2700) and passed for another 2100 (NU: 2000).

However, the receiving game has not always clicked for the Gamecocks as they’ve had 15 interceptions stolen against Nebraska’s seven. All things being equal, both teams are putting up similar total numbers on offense. South Carolina is probably split 60/40 towards the pass, while Nebraska is about 60/40 run.
Defensively, the Gamecocks fair well against the pass, but their inability to stop the run has been well documented. If Nebraska can get 100 yards from Burkhead and another 100 from everyone else, the Huskers will be in a great position to close out the game.

Special teams might be the deciding factor in this one, which tips in Nebraska’s favor. If punter Brett Maher can keep the Gamecocks pinned deep, Nebraska will have a good chance at winning this game.
I don’t think this will be a high scoring affair; if I had to pick today, I’d say that the score would look something like 24-17.

Fasten your seatbelts for the last leg of the Legends Division race

As is said so often in horse racing, “And down the stretch they come!” Thanks to Nebraska’s 24-3 win at home over Michigan State; the Big Ten Legends Division race now becomes very compelling. The win bumped the Huskers to No. 9 in the AP poll. Nebraska, No. 15 MSU and No. 13 Michigan are all 3-1 against Big Ten foes. The only thing that prevented a four-way tie was Iowa’s surprising 22-21 loss to lowly Minnesota.


Had MSU beaten the Huskers, the Legends Division for all intents and purposes would have been decided, now it’s a jumpball. The obvious answer is that the games must be played on the field and you have to take “one game at a time.” Well, we’ll leave those answers to the players and coaches.

Nebraska has a tough road ahead but if it wins out will represent the Legends Division in the Big Ten title game at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis. The Huskers host Northwestern (3-5), visit Penn State (7-1), visit Michigan (6-2) and host Iowa (5-3). That’s a 21-11 combined opponents’ record if you’re scoring at home, and if you are congratulations. The Huskers are going to need to go no worse than 3-1 to have a realistic chance to capture the Legends Division. That goal, however, is very much within reach as long as they don’t stub their toe against Northwestern or Iowa because those are the most winnable games and they are at home. With the way the Huskers rebounded defensively and are rounding into form offensively, I like their chances of winning three of their last four. Winning all four is possible but not probable.

MSU’s remaining slate involves hosting Minnesota (2-6), at Iowa (5-2), hosting Indiana (1-8) and at Northwestern (3-5). That’s a combined record of 11-21 if you’re scoring at home, and if you are congratulations. The Spartans have by far the easiest road but since they lost to Nebraska they would need to win out and get help. It would be shocking if they lost to Minnesota or Indiana at home. However, given Sparty’s tendency to struggle on the road, a loss at Iowa or even Northwestern is not a farfetched notion.

Michigan’s remaining schedule is at Illinois (6-3), at Iowa (5-2), host Nebraska (7-1), and host Ohio State (5-3). That’s a combined record of 23-9 if you’re scoring at home, and if you are congratulations. The Wolverines’ road is far from easy with every remaining team being against teams in contention. Michigan is definitely good enough to go 3-1 in that stretch but 2-2 is more likely.

Iowa’s remaining schedule is host Michigan (6-2); host Michigan State (7-1), at Purdue (4-4) and at Nebraska (7-1). That’s a combined record of 24-8, if you’re scoring at home and if you are congratulations. The loss to Minnesota means that the Hawkeyes are going to be hard-pressed to win the Legends. Couple that with the fact that Iowa is playing three Legends Division teams that are hungry for a title. Best case scenario, Iowa goes 2-2 with a chance to play spoiler in the season finale at Nebraska.

Fresno State coach full of bravado but not much else

Fresno State head coach Pat Hill is definitely a refreshing personality in a profession that features many dud-like sayings like "one game at a time" or "if we don't make mistakes, we'll win." All of that jazz.


Hill brings his Bulldogs into Lincoln, Nebraska Saturday for a matchup against the No. 10 rated Cornhuskers. Much has been made of Hill's infamous statement years ago of "we'll play anyone, anywhere, anytime." So much so that Hill has been lauded to the point where people point out that in an age where more and more coaches are afraid to take non-conference risks out of fear they might ruin their shot at a .500 season and a precious bowl bid, Hill spits in the face of that strategy and wants to take on any team that will have him. Hill does it because he has to do it. Let's face it, how much respect is a team from the Western Athletic Conference going to get by going in beaten in that conference. On the other hand, conferences like the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac 12 and so on are loaded with tests so how can one blame those coaches for scheduling "easy games."

OK, I get the idea of praising Hill for having a personality many coaches do not have. Yes, he is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise timid coaching environment. However, has his way been successful? That depends on your idea of success.

Fresno State is 16-17 against BCS Conference opponents since 2001, which is more wins than any other non-BCS school during that time. More applicable to gamblers, though, is Hill’s "against the spread" record against those schools, which is 23-10. OK, that's fine. Puff your chest with this "anywhere, anytime" stuff all you want but beat them. If you're satisfied with simply losing by less than Las Vegas bookies thought you would, why take the field?

So, given the tremendous against the spread success against stronger competition, the same has to be true of the Bulldogs in WAC play, right? His record against the WAC is 75-36. He has never been below 4-4 but never above 6-2.

Fresno State has won just one WAC title (a share in 1999) since Hill took over in 1997. The problem seems to be that Hill puts so much emphasis on the “big games” — most of which come on the road at places hundreds or thousands of miles away — that his players often suffer a letdown when they get into winnable conference games.

In 2001, Fresno State had early season wins against Colorado, Oregon State and Wisconsin that allowed them to jump to No. 8 in the rankings. The tough schedule caught up with them. They lost to Boise State and Hawaii early in WAC play.

In 2004, the Bulldogs scored a big win at 13th-ranked Kansas State was followed quickly by losses to Louisiana Tech, UTEP and Boise State. Fresno State finished 10-3 overall.

In 2005, the Bulldogs started 8-1 and almost won at USC, losing 50-42. That was the same USC team that lost to Texas in the BCS Title Game. While the narrow loss put them on the national map, losses in winnable games against Nevada and Louisiana Tech ended all hopes of a conference championship.

So, has Hill’s strategy been successful? True, his program is more relevant than before his tenure but it should be dually noted that Boise State and Hawaii have both made it to BCS bowls out of the WAC by taking a different approach. Fresno State’s best bowl game during that time is hard to even figure out. The MPC Computers Bowl? The New Mexico Bowl?

Yes, Hill routinely gets his teams up to play against big-time opponents and he routinely fails at preventing a hangover effect in the following conference games. True, Hill could care less what you, I or the man on the moon think. He’s going to keep scheduling the toughest possible opponents at the toughest venues in the country.

Look, there's a lot to like about Hill even more than his refreshing personality that media types and fans espouse. Under Hill's leadership, Fresno State has greatly improved the academic performance of its football players. During Hill's tenure the team has produced (as of 2005) 65 Academic All-WAC players, compared to a total of nine in the entire history of the program before Hill's arrival.

His Bulldog teams have reached a bowl game in eight of the last nine seasons to being on national television as much as any team this decade, the Bulldog program is regularly recognized for its success. That success transcends to the classroom, where once again the Fresno State team has posted a very strong Academic Progress Rate score. Fresno State's APR score ranks fourth in the western United States among public institutions, and second among California public schools.

As for how Hill's approach plays into the concern of Husker fans that post on message boards and call talk radio, well, let's just say that a segment of Nebraska fans were less than impressed with the team's 40-7 win over Tennessee-Chattanooga. Of course, those same perspective-lacking schnooks fail to realize that had starting quarterback Taylor Martinez played the entire game AND if starting cornerback Alfonzo Dennard played, the Huskers probably win 56-0. Then again, it is more prudent to play backups in a blowout game. Seriously, for you "statement win" wonks, is 56-0 THAT much more impressive than 40-7? Secondly why play Dennard if you win the game without him anyhow?

Nebraska is favored by 24.5 points. Fresno State lost 36-21 last week to the California Golden Bears at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Bulldogs led 7-0 in the first quarter and 19-14 at halftime. Midway through the fourth quarter it was 36-14. So, the Bulldogs started strong and faded as the game progressed.

I expect them to learn their lesson and play hard for all four quarters this week. Nebraska will also learn from their mistakes, mainly in communications between players on the field, and post an even stronger effort at Memorial Stadium than last week.

The Bulldogs will bark and show their teeth, but I don’t believe they’ll bite enough of the Huskers to score more than 20 points. Huskers will win say 38-14.

2011 Huskers more under the radar than last year

The 2011 Nebraska football team is not being counted out by any means and is projected by many to win the Legends division in its first season in the Big 10.



In fact, with the trials and tribulations of Ohio State, some are saying that the Huskers could win the Big 10 title outright. Keep in mind, Nebraska’s last conference title was 1999.


To refresh your memory on Ohio State, on March 8, head coach Jim Tressel was suspended by the university for two games, and fined $250,000 for not informing the university and the NCAA that he had information that five of his players received improper benefits from a tattoo shop in downtown Columbus. Among those those players, including Mike Adams, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Solomon Thomas, Jordan Whiting, was quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The five players are suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season. Pryor has since decided to enter the supplemental NFL draft.


Tressel’s suspension was also later increased to five games by the university. The NCAA filed a letter of allegations in late April 2011 with Ohio State alleging that Tressel lied to the NCAA in December, 2010 when he claimed to have no knowledge of the players activities with the tattoo shop. Furthermore, he is alleged to have knowingly used ineligible players during the 2010 season. On May 30, Tressel resigned as head coach.


Nebraska and Ohio State meet in Lincoln on Oct. 8 and could potentially play on Dec. 3 for the first ever Big 10 title game at Lucas Oil Stadium.


In 2009, Nebraska went 10-4 but won six of its last seven games. The last two of those contests included a controversial 13-12 loss to Texas in the Big 12 title game and a 33-0 flogging of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.


That strong finish had a lot of Husker zealouts (including this one) sipping the Kool Aid in the form of thinking Big 12 title, BCS bowl bid and potentially a shot at the National Championship.


Those aspirations looked realistic when the Huskers opened the season 5-0 and moved as high as No. 5 in the polls with quarterback Taylor Martinez having a Heisman Trophy candidate season. Then Martinez was banged up in the second half. The Huskers had three close losses (20-13 to Texas, 9-6 to Texas A&M and 23-20 to Oklahoma). Nebraska then took Washington lightly in the Holiday Bowl and lost 19-7.


Even though Phil Steele’s magazine, which has been the most accurate preseason predictor the last 13 years, picked Nebraska to meet Oregon in the Rose Bowl, this preseason of expectations has a “under the radar” feel compared to last year.


On the surface, the Big 10 schedule makers did Nebraska no favors in its maiden voyage in the conference. The Huskers face what most tab as the top three clubs in the Leaders division (Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State) but despite just 12 starters returning, Nebraska has a better-than-average chance to win the Legends division. Michigan State might have a say in that matter but the good news is the Spartans have to come to Lincoln on Oct. 29.


Much of the fate of Nebraska’s season will come down to the return to health of Martinez. When he was healthy, Nebraska’s offense averaged 38.9 points per game but when he was banged up that scoring average dropped to 22.7. The other half of the equation will be how soon does new offensive coordinator Tim Beck find a scheme he wants to settle in with and develop. Keep in mind, that was the ultimate downfall of his predecessor Shawn Watson, who changed schemes about as often as most people change underwear.


On defense, despite losing quality players like CB Prince Amukamara, S Eric Hagg, S DeJon Gomes and DE Pierre Allen, Nebraska has more than enough quality talent defensively. Keep in mind some consider Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini as bright of a defensive mind as Alabama head coach Nick Saban even though Pelini is not in Saban’s class as a head coach.


The Huskers definitely do not lack for talent on defense because DT Jared Crick, LB LaVonte David and CB Alfonso Dennard are among the best in the nation at their respective positions.


Even though preseason hype is not where it was entering last year, look for Nebraska to be better than certain people think.

Losing hurts more than winning feels great

Well, where do I begin.

When Bo Pelini took over as Nebraska football’s head coach, we knew there would be losses. In a few cases bad losses were going to happen. There was the 52-17 loss to Missouri in Game Five last season at home. There was also the 62-28 loss at Oklahoma in Game Nine. Both opponents entered those respective games No. 4.

The common denominator in those games was that Nebraska had very little of any chance of winning those contests. The Huskers were still finding their way under Pelini. Both Missouri and Oklahoma were juggernauts at the time Nebraska faced those teams.

The most recent loss, however – 31-10 to the unranked Texas Tech Red Raiders at home? This has to be the low point in Pelini’s brief tenure as head coach. Make no mistake, I still believe that Pelini is the right guy to lead the Huskers back to prominence but Saturday’s loss flatout sucks for the following reasons:

 On offense, Nebraska has had seven crappy quarters out of their last eight. The Huskers scored 27 points in a come-from-behind 27-12 win over Missouri and only 10 points in a 31-10 loss Saturday against Texas – seven in garbage time. Against two mediocre defenses!

 Defensively, the Huskers held an always potent Texas Tech offense to 24 points. Keep in mind, Red Raider linebacker Daniel Martin scored on an 82-yard fumble return when Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee threw a backward lateral to wide receiver Niles Paul that the latter dropped with nary a defender within five yards.

 Nebraska also recorded five quarterback sacks and held the Red Raider offense to 62 yards (258 for the game) of total offense and seven points in the second half and still could not capitalize on that rare ineptitude.

So here we have Nebraska, 4-2 after six games. Not expected per se but the Huskers will face a crossroads with Iowa State at home and Baylor on the road. The former beat the latter 24-10 in Ames, Iowa on Saturday. The Huskers should win both games.

Of course there’s also the whole matter of starting quarterback Zac Lee, a junior, getting yanked in favor of Cody Green, a freshman. Keep in mind, some zealots have been calling for such a move but if the offensive line is not providing holes for running backs or pass protection for quarterbacks, you can put Joe Montana back there and it won’t matter.

So what needs to happen offensively?

We need to make changes and just pick an offense, going back to the days of Tom Osborne is not going to happen and would not be productive with the talent we have. Let's take this for what it was -- a letdown and loss. I am upset and disgusted like everyone else, but we can't take a step back and run to TO. These coaches will get it figured out.

Craig James during ABC’s broadcast made a comment that I liked, Pelini has the defense heading in the right direction -- now they just need to figure out how the offense can support them.

I say, what a difference a couple years makes! A couple of years ago our defense was on the sideline with their heads down and no hope of being great. Now we just need to find a middle ground with an offense to score points for our defense.

Let’s face it, “It hurts more to lose than it feels great to win.”

Was Texas Tech that good or did K-State really stink that bad?

Nebraska football heads into its second straight game that presents a psychological hurdle.

The Huskers cleared the first on Thursday night with a 27-12 come-from-behind win at Missouri, which had beaten Nebraska four of the last six times including a combined 93-23 score the previous two meetings. Going into the contest, one had the feeling the Huskers were better than Missou this year but Thursday’s win was a psychological hurdle.

With Texas Tech you have the same dynamic. I believe the Huskers currently have the better team but the Red Raiders, who have beaten Nebraska the last three times. First there was the 70-10 debacle in Lubbock in 2004. Then, there were two hard luck losses – 34-31 in 2005 in Lincoln and 37-31 in overtime last season in Lubbock.

With the Huskers having Saturday vacant from games, I got to asking myself after the Red Raiders pummeled Kansas State 66-14 -- is K-State that bad or is Texas Tech much better than we thought? Fair question considering the Red Raiders lost a handful of players from last year’s 11-2 team including quarterback Graham Harrell and wide receiver Michael Crabtree.

One thing is for sure about Red Raiders head coach Mike Leach, he’s a goofy SOB but he knows how to develop offensive talent. Texas Tech is 4-2 after Saturday’s win with backup quarterback Steven Sheffield filling in for an injured Taylor Potts (concussion. All Sheffield did was complete 33-of-41 passes for 490 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception.

Insane.

Nebraska is a six-point favorite but make no mistake, this should be a challenging contest.

Back up QB was outstanding. It should be a good and challenging game. To answer the earlier question of is Texas Tech better than we thought or does Kansas State really suck that bad? Well, a little of both. The Red Raiders are football’s version of a fast break offense. You have to make it a half court game because if the game is at the Red Raiders break-neck speed tempo, they are hell on wheels.

However, Kansas State is terrible. Let’s face it, the Wildcats barely beat Iowa State 24-23 and lost 17-15 to a Louisiana –Lafayette team that Nebraska whitewashed 55-0. So the truth must lie somewhere in the middle.

So I am not sure what we learned about Texas Tech. It is hard to get a read on Tech since they played some real cupcakes early on but the Red Raiders also battled gamely before losing to No. 2 Texas 34-24 in Austin earlier this season.

What concerns me about Texas Tech is the way they play run defense, ranking 28th in the nation in rush defense but have also had trouble in allowing teams to convert too many third downs.

The Huskers are coming off a highly emotional comeback win under adverse conditions and a lot of people across the country are starting to say really good things about our team. Texas Tech is a quality opponent with an unusual style of ball.

Second-year Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini and staff, however, have done a fantastic job of having the Huskers team move on from one game to the next. I just feel like this week may be a big challenge in that area.

The next game will tell us a lot about how the rest of the year's going to go.

Texas Tech, however, is not likely to sneak up on Nebraska based on scoring 66 against K-State. True, K-State is a sorry ass teams, but 66 is 66. If they had won say 38-12, we might have fallen asleep. Not now.

I do believe that Nebraska has the ability to beat just about anyone on the remaining schedule. On the other hand, I don't think the Huskers are so good that they could not be beaten by any of those teams either.

One observation I will make is that the evidence before us so far is that NU has closed the gap between themselves and other ranked teams. (exhibit 1 – Virginia Tech; exhibit 2 - Missouri).

Next week we will see whether this evidence was misleading or whether it is a sign of a positive trend.

So how good are the Huskers?

It felt strange for the second Saturday in a row to be a Nebraska football fan.

On Saturday Oct. 3, the Huskers were enjoying a bye entering a game on the ensuing Thursday night on ESPN at Missouri. Two days after rallying for a 27-12 come-from-behind victory over the hated Tigers, the Huskers enjoyed a Saturday free of games seven days before yet another of which figures to be a “swing game” in Lincoln against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who hammered Kansas State 66-14 with starting quarterback Taylor Potts sitting out with a concussion.

The Red Raiders have won the last three head-to-head meetings against Nebraska. There was the 70-10 debacle in Lubbock in 2004 and two heartbreaking losses (34-31 in 2005 and 37-31 in overtime in 2008).

The Huskers are 4-1 at the present time and entered Thursday’s game rated No. 21 in the AP poll. How much will the Huskers climb in the polls this week? No. 17 Auburn lost 44-23 to unranked Arkansas on the road. No. 3 Alabama pounded No. 20 Mississippi 22-3. Losing to the Crimson Tide is no disgrace but that is two losses for the Rebels to Nebraska’s one. Perhaps Nebraska gains a spot or two anyhow.

My question about Nebraska now is how good is this team, which has fashioned a 14-5 record under second-year head coach Bo Pelini? That’s something I’m still trying to read, however, I can already sense Pelini's MO will be that his teams will grow and get better as the season goes along -- and that will be a trend.

And if this team gets better (and it should) I now wonder -- what exactly is the ceiling this season?

Keep in mind, the Huskers outplayed No. 5 Virginia Tech in its building only to lose 16-15. Nebraska is much better than Missouri but despite the crucial road win Thursday the Big 12 North title path is not totally clear. No. 16 Kansas, where the Huskers visit on Nov. 14, might have something to say about who wins the division title.

No. 15 Oklahoma State and No. 19 Oklahoma would probably be favored to beat Nebraska if the two teams met. Well, the Huskers host OU on Nov. 7. The Sooners defeated Baylor on Saturday 33-7 in a game in which Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford returned from a collar bone injury. However, even with Bradford’s return, OU has flaws that it did not have last season.

As things stand now, I think Nebraska is no lower than the third best team in the Big 12 and Top 15 nationally. Well, with a few breaks perhaps Top 10. That said, the Huskers are flawed enough to lose a game or two.

Nebraska has a legit chance at running the table and playing Texas for the Big 12 title with OU and TTech coming to Lincoln. That’s not to say it will happen but it definitely can.

Husker resolve a thing of beauty

So what got into the Huskers in the fourth quarter?

I will probably wonder for days. Thursday’s 27-12 come-from-behind win over the Missouri Tigers was like exorcising a demon considering that Missouri had won four of the last six head-to-head meetings over Nebraska, mostly in dominating fashion with two 35-point wins the last two years (41-6 in 2007 and 52-17 in 2008).

Honestly, Nebraska won because they are the better team. Is this a landmark win or a signature win? Well, too early to say. We have to see where Missouri, which entered the contest rated No. 24 in the Associated Press poll behind Nebraska’s No. 21 rating, finishes the season. However, psychologically this is a huge win for the Huskers considering the Tigers recent dominance.

Next Saturday’s game at home against Texas Tech is big for the same reason. The Red Raiders have won the last three meetings. First there was the 70-10 debacle in 2004 and next there were two hard luck losses (34-31 in 2005 and 37-31 in 2008).

Granted, Thursday’s game was played in crappy conditions – wet field and it was raining for much of the night. This is also a huge win because two years ago when Nebraska endured loss after loss, mostly in convincing fashion, as fans we kept saying how we wanted a team that played with effort and resolve. Well, effort and resolve don’t always mean style points but those two elements give a team a chance to pull a game out of the fire when things go against them.

Nebraska trailed 12-0 entering the fourth quarter, looking like it had no chance to win. Sure, the defense was outstanding. The tackling was much more secure. The pressure was on Blaine Gabbert all night. However, the Nebraska offense couldn’t move the ball six feet. Next thing you know, two touchdown passes from Zac Lee to Niles Paul. One more to Mike McNeill. Roy Helu and Rex Burkhead salt the game away with timely runs.

This game also showed exactly why athletic director Tom Osborne hired Bo Pelini to be Nebraska’s head coach. Offenses have become all the rage in the Big XII. Pelini is a defensive minded coach. The Huskers were playing lifeless football, especially on defense. They needed a guy like Pelini to light a fire in them.

You know the old phrase, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.” With the way rules have been made to favor offenses, that theory is not quite as true as previous times but let’s not kid ourselves, defense still matters.

The current Husker defense might not totally remind us of the days of yore just yet but any defense that allows just 40 points through five games is definitely doing something right. While the conditions were raw, Nebraska stifled an offense that can still score in Missouri.

We saw a defense that beat the crap out of Missouri. Those teams in the 90's played like they were mad. As Jason Peter said in his book and .I'm paraphrasing "Peyton Manning was a good guy but I wanted to hurt him."

Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong seemed the same way. There were a couple times he could have just wrangled Gabbert to the ground. On the play were Gabbert got hurt he seemed to be giving him a little extra -- not dirty just trying to throw him around. Gabbert is lucky his leg didn't get snapped. On the bogus horse collar play he ended up coming down fully on top of Gabbert. And then on another pass play...a short pass he absolutely destroyed the receiver.

I don’t know that I’d quite call this a signature win. That would be a Big XII title game or BCS bowl game.

Nonetheless, thanks to a punishing defense, this win is a huge step in the right direction.

Nebraska primed to reverse recent trend vs. Mizzu

Say this for second-year Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini – he’s got his players trained.

The No. 21 Huskers enjoyed 12 days to prepare for Thursday’s pivotal Big 12 North matchup at No. 24 Missouri. The Tigers also have not played a game in 12 days so call the layoff a wash.

To a man last week, Husker players and coaches took the route of, “We’re not thinking about Missouri.” This week, Nebraska seems to be taking the, “It’s another game” approach but let’s not kid ourselves these teams do not like each other.

In Missouri’s case, the hatred is based on jealousy and envy. In Nebraska’s case, the hatred is based on Missouri’s “Johnny Come Lately” cockiness, a la Colorado and Kansas State in the late 1980s to early 1990s. True, Missouri has dominated the Huskers in each of the last two seasons, a 41-6 win in Columbia in 2007 and a 52-17 win in Lincoln in 2008.

Nebraska tried going the emotion route last year and it backfired so one can understand why Nebraska is taking a more grounded approach this season but make no mistake – Nebraska has a score to settle with the Tigers.

The Huskers recently gained a measure of respect in a 16-15 loss at No. 5 Virginia Tech considering the bloodlettings they have suffered in recent seasons against highly regarded opponents.

Missouri hammered Nebraska last season but these are two vastly different clubs now. The Tigers started 5-0 but finished 5-4. Missouri is 4-0 this season but has also struggled in recent wins over Bowling Green (27-20) and Nevada (31-21). Nebraska went 3-3 in its first six games last season but 6-1 in its last seven and 3-1 so far in 2009 with three decisive wins and a narrow defeat at VaTech.

How Nebraska first-year starting quarterback Zac Lee handles his second road start will bear watching. Lee went 11-for-30 with two interceptions in the game at Virginia Tech. It stands to reason that Lee should play better now that he has experienced one of the tougher road environments in college football. Missouri might not make that list but their fans do have a hard edge when it comes to Nebraska. Make no mistake; the Huskers will have to battle through adversity to this key victory.

What should also hopefully help Lee is Nebraska’s commitment to the running game with Roy Helu as Missouri has struggled in slowing down the run, ranking 61st in the nation, mostly because the Tigers have not been sure tacklers. Since Nebraska has tried morphing into a power running game that approach might work to its advantage because the Tigers do no see a power run game in practice.

Even though Missouri lost a lot of skill position players from last season, the Tigers system is such now where they simply plug in players. However, Missouri struggles running the ball, ranking 60th in the nation in that category and while Gabbert’s feet are not nailed to the ground but he’s less likely to run than his predecessor, Chace Daniel.

This is the type of game that Pelini was hired for less than two years ago. Nebraska wants to become a physical team that is strong defensively in a time when Big XII teams are putting up basketball scoring numbers.

Dislike high for Missouri but it's still not quite a rivalry

Rivalry. It’s a term you hear so frequently in sports discussions.

By Wikipedia’s definition, a rivalry is described as “an intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans.”

As sports fans, we all have our own idea of what the best rivalry is, whether it is Red Sox vs. Yankees, Michigan vs. Ohio State, Duke vs. North Carolina, Auburn vs. Alabama, Cowboys vs. Redskins.

I could go on without end.
With Nebraska’s important Thursday night road game at Missouri, some fans or media members have referred to the two teams as “rivals.” That list includes Omaha World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel, who is also a Missouri graduate: http://www.omaha.com/article/20091003/SPORTS/710049916
However, Shatel also added that the rivalry is largely based on potential. There are some elements of a rivalry. See Missouri’s upset win in 1978 and Matt Davison’s miracle catch in 1997 to keep the Huskers hopes for a National Title afloat.
One thing is for sure, neither fan base or program likes each other but passion alone, however, does not spark rivalries. If a rivalry is a bigger deal at one school than it is the other, then it’s not a rivalry. In Missouri’s case, the dislike is based on jealousy. In Nebraska’s case, it’s based on Missouri being cocky about nothing.

If one team dominates the other, it’s not a rivalry — one team is the hammer and the other is the nail. High school and college rivalries tend to be more untainted because the kids are at an impressionable stage of their lives.

Their eyes light up not only on game day but in the days leading up to the game.

Granted, a lifelong Raiders fan wouldn’t dare root for the Broncos or Chiefs.

A lifelong Giants fan wouldn’t dare root for the Dodgers. A lifelong Cowboys fan wouldn’t dare root for the Eagles.

A lifelong Red Sox fan wouldn’t dare root for the Yankees.

However, the excitement you see at the college level or in some cases high school cannot be duplicated in the pros because that level of sport has been polluted with lockouts, exorbitant salaries and steroid testing.

When I think of rivalry, I mostly think of a few things: a) There is definite polarization as in there’s no way in hell you could root for the other team, b) The game usually means something when the two teams play, and c) Fans will watch the game even if they don’t care about either team.

Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn, Texas-Oklahoma and others fit that description. OK, sure, you can say Harvard-Yale but how many people are going to drop whatever they are doing to watch that game? Since I have lived much of my life in Northern California (save for four years while attending the University of Nebraska), I have found it also comical how Cal-Stanford is called “The Big Game.”

Sure, there was the game in 1982. After Stanford had taken a 20-19 lead on a field goal with four seconds left in the game, the Golden Bears used five lateral passes on the ensuing kickoff return to score the winning touchdown and earn a 25-20 victory. Members of the Stanford Band had come onto the field midway through the return, believing that the game was over, which added to the ensuing confusion. The game might be a rivalry but it is hardly big because unless you live in Northern California and have a rooting interest in either team, you’re not going to watch it.

For years, Nebraska was rivals with Oklahoma. The interesting thing is that OU has generally considered Texas its biggest rival but Nebraska-Oklahoma was the traditional game that took place the day after Thanksgiving. Plus, both teams were good at the same time for many years, combining for 12 National Championship (OU has seven, NU has five) and dominated the Big Eight conference, which has since expanded to the Big 12.

With that expansion, both teams play each other two years out of every four since Nebraska is in the Big 12 North and Oklahoma is in the Big 12 South. Since 1993, the two clubs have only share two good seasons (2001 and to a lesser extent 2006). OU suffered some fallow years from 1994-1998 before Bob Stoops arrived to resurrect the program. Nebraska suffered mostly subpar years from 2002-2007 but appears to be on its way back to prominence under Bo Pelini.

Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri have had elements of the notion “rivalry” with Nebraska the last 15 or so years as the meetings have been testy at times. Bill McCartney was known for “red lettering” Nebraska on the schedule but a segment of Husker fans even to this day do not consider it a rivalry.

I would sort of disagree with that notion. Since 1993, the two teams have met 17 times with Nebraska winning 12 games but six by a touchdown or less and eight by ten points or fewer. To take it a step further, did you see CU’s 62-36 blowout over the unbeaten Huskers in 2001 or NU’s 30-3 blowout in 2005 coming?

Kansas State made a tremendous turnaround under Bill Snyder (now back for his second stint after replacing Ron Prince). The Wildcats defeated Nebraska 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004. However, it should also be pointed out that the only one of those Husker teams that finished in the top ten was the 2000 club that went 11-2. The 2004 and 2007 Huskers went 5-6 and 5-7 respectively and were the worst in post Bob Devaney history. The 2007 Nebraska team trounced the Wildcats 73-31.

Missouri has been mostly fair-to-middlin before having a breakout 12-2 season in 2007. The 2008 campaign came with a lot of hype and while 10-4 and Big 12 North title is not a failure per se, it was not the enormous success most envisioned. Missouri beat Nebraska in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Two of those wins were Bill Callahan teams (2005 and 2007) while the 2008 team had a lot of Callahan remnants. The timing of that game also came before Nebraska finished its season winning six of its final seven games.

As for Missouri, other than 1997, the Tigers were routinely hammered by the best of Nebraska. K-State was also routinely exposed by the best Nebraska teams as well.

Granted, getting blown out by the Huskers from 1993-1997 was hardly a disgrace but Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri’s success against Nebraska have almost as much to do with the Huskers fall as it does their rise.

Point being, of the three, Colorado is the closest thing to a rivalry because they have battled the Huskers close consistently when they were in their prime. Plus, the aforementioned 2001 game between the two teams sent Nebraska into a tailspin.

That said, I don't think Nebraska has a true rival. If they played Oklahoma every year like they did in the Big Eight, then I believe it'd be one of the best rivalry games in the country no matter if its one sided or not.The Huskers have had so much success over the years against the five other North teams, I don't consider them as a rival in the truest sense.

In a nutshell, the notion of “rivalry” is more applicable across the board in high school or college than it is on the pro level.

Sizing up the rest of the season in blackjack terms

Preseason predictions by game are always compelling if not conjecture. Well, I contributed to such a matter back in June: http://napavince.blogspot.com/2009/06/2009-nebraska-football-game-by-game.html

As I expected, Nebraska stands at 3-1, predicting relatively easy wins over Florida Atlantic (49-3), Arkansas State (38-9) and Louisiana-Lafayette (55-0) along with a close loss to Virginia Tech (16-15). Of course, who could have predicted the defeat at Virginia Tech to be of such heart-breaking proportions.

The Huskers enjoy a bye this week entering their Oct. 8 Thursday night ESPN telecast at Missouri. Faurot Field has been a house of horrors lately for Nebraska, which has given up 41 points in each of the last three head-to-head meetings in Columbia, Mo. And has not won their since 2001.

Excluding any Big 12 championship or bowl games, most people tabbed Nebraska as 8-4 on the low end and 10-2 on the high end. Our minds might change of course but we size up the Huskers remaining games and their chances for victory in blackjack terms:

Oct. 8 at Missouri:

Victory odds: No worse than even money.

The Tigers are 4-0 but it’s also a soft 4-0. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert, everyone’s favorite in Nebraska for de-committing two years ago, has looked very good but the Tigers ground game and run defense are less than stellar. Mizzu also struggled to put away Bowling Green (27-20) and Nevada (31-21). Whoever is favored will be a slight one.

Oct. 17 vs. Texas Tech

Victory odds: No worse even money.

The Red Raiders are not the juggernaut they were last season, and keep in mind Nebraska was a desperation Joe Ganz interception away from pulling off the upset in Lubbock in a 37-31 overtime loss. Texas Tech might not be offensive machine it normally is but they are still like a fast break basketball team that needs to be lured into a halfcourt game.

Oct. 24 vs. Iowa State

Victory odds: Blackjack

The Cyclones are 3-1 but got hammered 35-3 by instate rival Iowa, the only team Iowa State has played with a pulse. There’s a good chance the Cyclones won’t win a game the rest of the way. OK, at best they win one or two but don’t count on it happening in Lincoln.

Oct. 31 at Baylor

Victory odds: Blackjack

With quarterback Robert Griffin healthy, Nebraska had about a 65 percent to win. With Griffin on the shelf the rest of the season with a knee injury, the Huskers victory chances go up to about 85 percent. The Bears have been overmatched since entering the Big XII in 1996 but were viewed by some prognosticators as a “bowl eligible candidate but seriously, even with Griffin who else were they going to beat in Big XII besides Iowa State?

Nov. 7 vs. Oklahoma

Victory odds: Likely dealer win

The Sooners have shown no shortage of resilience since falling 14-13 to BYU in a game that saw quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford sustain a broken collar-bone. OU has since rebounded to defeat Idaho State (64-0) and Tulsa (45-0) with backup Landry Jones at the helm. The Sooners will probably face a pretty pissed off Miami team. Keep in mind, the overhyped Hurricanes got taken to the woodshed with a 31-10 loss at Virginia Tech Saturday. Bradford might be back by the time OU comes to Lincoln but even without him, the Sooners will be tough to beat.

Nov. 14 at Kansas

Victory odds: No worse than even money

This game will have plenty of Big XII North implications. The Jayhawks are 4-0 and faced their first true test last week at home against Southern Mississippi. Kansas did not pass with flying colors but a 35-28 win against a good Conference USA team is nothing to scoff about. KU will be a tough out as long as Mark Mangino is the coach but Nebraska does have a talent advantage not to mention equal if not superior coaching with Bo Pelini.

Nov. 21 vs. Kansas State

Victory odds: Blackjack

The Wildcats are showing far greater signs of life in Bill Snyder the Sequel than they did under Ron Prince but let’s face it, this is a reclamation project. If K-State lost 73-31 to a down and out Nebraska team in 2007 what makes you think they’ll beat what figures to a Husker team that is getting better at this stage of the season.

Nov. 27 at Colorado

Victory odds: No worse than even money

I know most Husker fans are thinking this game is a slamdunk and that it’s not a rivalry. Unfortunately, the latter misses the point. Nebraska has won the majority of head-to-head contests but very few have been blowouts.

CONCLUSION

With Pelini’s coaching staff, Nebraska will occasionally win a game you don’t think it’ll win. They’ll rarely if ever loss a game that looks like a slamdunk to win. They’ll win no worse than half of their bubble games.

A 9-3 regular season looks like a pretty solid bet.

Will the North rise up?

Some conversations you can absolutely count on hearing. When it comes to Big XII football, you can definitely count on media members and/or message board posters to talk ad nauseam about the South division’s supremacy over the North.

It’s hard to argue against that idea now because since the conference was formed in 1996 since the South has won nine of the 14 Big XII championship games. The last time a North division team won it was 2003 (Kansas State).

However, the question that bears asking is will the pendulum swing back toward the North any time soon? Listening to some people you would think the answer was a resounding “never.” Unfortunately, those same people forget that when the conference was initially formed the North was the superior division. Nebraska was at its zenith in the midst of a 60-3 run with three National Championships in four seasons as well as four undefeated regular seasons in five years. Colorado and Kansas State also had outstanding teams in that stretch and if not for Nebraska, who’s to say they might not have won a National title? Of course, it wouldn’t be the same without Kansas State and Colorado fans living in the world of “if.”

In that same stretch, keep in mind that the South division teams that were strong now were not strong then. Oklahoma was pathetic. Texas was decent but far from what it is now. Texas Tech and Oklahoma State were so-so but not as prominently on the radar as they are now.

So will the balance of power ever shift back to the North? Some people seem convinced that it will never happen. Granted, the South already has a built-in leg up over the North in that you have two brand name programs (Texas and Oklahoma) while the North has one (Nebraska). It’s hard to imagine Kansas State being at that level any time soon. Kansas, Missouri and occasionally Colorado are solid. The one with the best chance of staying power might be Missouri because Columbia lies between two pretty fertile recruiting areas (Kansas City and St. Louis).

Because Texas and Oklahoma are in two fertile and highly coveted recruiting areas, most people seem convinced those programs will stay ahead of the pack. Unfortunately, what those same people forget is that Texas and Oklahoma have always had that recruiting advantage over Nebraska. Yes, that includes the years they both stunk. I just find it laughable how people only talk about those advantages when a team is good.

David McWilliams had the same recruiting advantage at Texas when he was the head coach from 1986-1991. What did that get him? A mediocre 31-26 record. His successor, John Mackovic had the same advantage from 1992-1997. What did that get him? A mediocre 41-28-1 record. Look at Oklahoma. John Blake had the same recruiting advantage from 1996-1998. What was his record? A most impressive 12-22.

Look at USC in a recruiting ground like Los Angeles. That’s about as fertile as it gets. That advantage got Paul Hackett a whopping 19-18 record from 1998-2000. It got Larry Smith a 44-25-3 record from 1987-1992 but not consistent success. Lest we forget it got Ted Tollner a pretty average 26-20 record from 1982-1986.

Granted, it’s hard to imagine Texas, Oklahoma or USC going in the tank barring NCAA sanctions, disastrous coaching changes or other bizarre acts of implosion.

Keep in mind, though, it wasn’t long ago that we could not have imagined Nebraska imploding but it happened. And if it can happen them it can happen now.

Celebrating loyalty

300! It’s a good number that denotes a perfect game in bowling. It also represents an elite number for Major League Baseball pitchers as 24 in the history of the game have topped the 300 mark in career wins.

However, Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., is not about bowling or baseball. It is a venue where fans will sell out the stadium for 300th consecutive game when The Nebraska Cornhuskers host the University of Louisiana-Lafeyette Ragin’-Cajuns.

While the Husker football program appears to be on its way back under second-year head coach Bo Pelini, many streaks have ended since 2001: Consecutive nine-win seasons (33), consecutive winning seasons (40), consecutive seasons of reaching a bowl game (33), consecutive wins over Kansas (36), Iowa State (12), Missouri (27) and Oklahoma State (41). The one streak, however, that has remained intact is the home sellout streak.

Yes, Nebraskans do “stick together in all kinds of weather” as the fight song goes.

I can just hear the elitists, notably on the West and East Coasts right now, “Well, what else is there to do in Nebraska besides eat corn and watch football?” Not that I would typecast everyone on either coast to be elitist but you get the idea.

I have one think to say to those people that espouse such a belief: “You don’t get it. You never have. You never will.” I don’t know if it is because they choose not to get it or are too stupid to get it. Part of the premise stems from the fact that there are no professional sports teams in Nebraska. Pretty weak argument in my mind.

To the state of Nebraska, the Huskers are their NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL team rolled into one — they wouldn’t want it any other way.

Sorry to break this to you but Nebraska has golf courses and movie theaters, just like everywhere else – and yes, that includes California. I ought to know that there are a percentage of those who believe that because I am a UNL grad from 1997 that has lived in Napa, CA, for 31 out of the 37 years I have been alive.

That’s what makes college football in Mid-America refreshing. There is nothing these folks would rather do. They enjoy the simple pleasures. True, they might not have beaches or a bustling night life, but to them, simpler is better. To take it a step further, a prime rib dinner at Misty’s means more than elegant dining.

Looking back to my trip to Lincoln -- it's been a year already

Sometimes you have to take a look back. Last year at this time, I was just a father of one – soon to be a father of three as my wife and I were expecting twins to be born in November to go along with our oldest child, who was 1 ½ years old at the time. I had not been back to Lincoln in seven years.

I have spent 31 of the 37 years of my wife in Napa, CA. I attended the University of Nebraska from 1994-1997, earning my degree in Journalism. I stayed in Lincoln for a year after I graduated but things were not working out professionally so I decided to return home and essentially start over.

Little did I know, I would land a job at the Napa Valley Register. I worked as a sports writer for there for three years. I then moved on to the same job at an internet news in Benicia and Vallejo. After two years, they laid off the entire staff so I was out of a full-time job for eight months, during which time I made do as a pure freelancer. I landed back on my feet in January of 2004 as a sports writer/photographer for two weekly newspapers – the St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan, where I still am. I'm actually finding that I enjoy life as a small town weekly newspaper guy. I have more control to do things the way I see fit. Plus, big papers are cutting more jobs than they are adding. I also worked as a freelancer for an Oakland Raiders magazine from 1999-2005. I resigned just before the 2005 season because the company that owns the magazine was forgetting one small detail -- like paying me on time. Though I’ll always be grateful for the experience, I don’t miss covering the constant drama that goes on in that organization especially given how bad the team has become. I got married to a gal named Jacqueline Scioneaux, in August 2003. We also recently had a little girl (Juliette Scioneaux D'Adamo) who is now 2 1/2 years old and we just welcomed twins (Thomas and Danielle) into the world just seven months ago. Most days are great, others I’d like to jump off a bridge. We own a home here in Napa. I kind of have a like/dislike relationship with it. I dislike it because it's not the same Napa we knew growing up but I'd still be hardpressed to find a better place. Well, except on college football gameday.
Again, I had not been back to Lincoln in seven years, when my long-time friend and I came back for the season opener against TCU in 2001. I had always wanted to make it back to Lincoln for a game but various circumstances prevented me from doing such. Well, I went to the 2007 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, which was fun other than the outcome of the game, but it’s not the same as being in Lincoln.

With our now 10-month old twins keeping us busy, it’ll probably be a while before I make it back to Lincoln again. Anyhow, I took the liberty of writing about my trip back to Lincoln last year. I share this with you because it was before I established this recreational blog:

http://www.sthelenastar.com/articles/2008/09/04/sports/local/doc48bf61e8bc529666722997.txt

At what point is Nebraska "back?"

“Back!” You hear the term in so many different contexts. Anatomically, it is the posterior part of our body – North of our ass and South of our neck.

In a sports context, you hear the phrase, “We’re back!” That expression is often times uttered when a perennially outstanding team hits a valley (be it for a year or a few years) and struggles before rebounding. Nebraska football is like that fallen champion trying to rebound. From 1962-2001, the Huskers epitomized consistency even beyond their five National Championships. It was not a matter of “Are we going to a bowl game?” It was a matter of “Which one?”

From 2002-2007, there was a lot of mediocrity in going 44-28 but even that record was inflated by a 10-3 campaign in 2003. After that season, then athletic director Steve Pederson (that phony, disingenuous and deceitful piece of crap) got on his podium after firing Frank Solich and justified a 58-19 tenure by saying, “I refuse to let this program gravitate toward mediocrity.” Pederson has since been replaced by Tom Osborne and returned to the University of Pitts-puke!

Only Pederson’s hire of Bill Callahan made mediocrity look inviting as Nebraska went 27-22 with two losing and bowl-less seasons under Callahan. The Huskers rebounded in 2008 with a 9-4 record but most importantly won six of their last seven games.

Current Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini enters his second season. While the Huskers took a step in the right direction, neither Pelini nor his players are convinced that the program is “back.” On the way back? Yes, there’s every reason to think so. But being “on the way back” and “being back” are two different things. After all, if you are driving Eastbound on I-80 and you’ve reached Des Moines, Iowa, you don’t say, “We’re in Chicago now,” you say, “We’re on our way to Chicago.”

“Our players don't feel Nebraska's back,” Pelini said at Big 12 Media Day in Dallas on Monday. “Our expectations in the program are very, very high. I think (the team) is starting to feel the momentum from last season.”

So what constitutes Nebraska being “back?” Well, being “back” means different things to different people.

Jason Page, who is a very good friend of mine, and I had this very conversation by phone on Tuesday. Page and I both used to live in Cather Hall as students back in the mid-1990s. Page lives in Lee’s Summitt, Mo. (Kansas City suburb) while yours truly lives in Napa, CA. We talk by phone about once a week on average. Page is employed by Sprint and by HyVee Grocery. Just don’t expect him to be Kurt Warner Part II. To my knowledge an Arena Football League team has not signed him unless he is keeping something from us.

Anyhow, Jason asked me a question that I found compelling. The speaker was as unlikely as the words. You see, Jason is an eternal optimist. Sometimes I wonder of he sips too much Kool-Aid. Sorry, Jason. Like me and most any other Husker fan, Jason is totally on board with the era of Pelini as head coach and Osborne as AD.

Anyhow, Mr. Page broached a question pertaining to the Pelini era saying to the effect of, “I hate to even imagine this but what if it doesn’t work out. Are we the Minnesota Golden Gophers?”

Well, for starters, I feel confident that will not happen. However, to answer that question fairly, it depends on what you mean by “not work out” or “Nebraska being back.”

If the team implodes like say 2004 or 2007 in going 5-6 and 5-7 respectively under Callahan, then – yes. All of the sudden those comparisons to Minnesota are warranted. Never in a million years should Nebraska have seasons like that.

If the team wins a BCS bowl game this year but falters back to being say a perpetual 7-5 or 8-4 team, then you can say Nebraska is a flash in the pan. Just like Arizona State in 1996. That won’t fly but again I feel confident that won’t happen.

If the team is a consistent 9-4 to 11-2 team but occasionally (say every 6-8 years) goes say 13-1 or better and vies for a National Title, then I think the Pelini era is working out just fine.

If the teams goes on a run like 1993-1997 where it goes 60-3 – now that’s a program that is “back.” However, runs like that come along once a generation. We might never see a run like that again from any team let alone ours.

The main thing is to be consistent. And if a coach manages a roster with the emphasis on building a “program” rather than “a team,” then the recipe for consistent success is there.

Huskers need to conquer road challenges to return to elite

With all the good things that the Nebraska football team did in 2008 under first-year head coach Bo Pelini, some people have their expectations tempered by the team having to break in a new starting quarterback (most likely Zac Lee) and losing wide receivers Nate Swift and Todd Petersen to graduation.

“Expectations” are certainly a word that will likely be uttered often as Big 12 Media Day begins Monday in Dallas. Defensive end Ndamukong Suh, running back Roy Helu and offensive guard Jacob Hickman will make the trip with Pelini.

The Huskers, who went 9-4 in 2008, are tabbed a slight favorite to win the Big 12 North with Kansas being the team’s biggest threat but I would not sleep on Colorado or Missouri just yet either, especially the former.

Omaha World Herald columnist Tom Shatel addressed in his recent column that the Huskers status as “favorite” to win the Big 12 North might be by default as much as anything based on the team’s aforementioned situation at quarterback and wide receiver. Shatel reasoned that Nebraska’s defense should continue to improve in Pelini’s second year along with the fact that the team should be a solid running team on offense. Shatel also added that every other Big 12 North team has its issues as well.

The biggest reason to hedge slightly on expectations for the 2009 Huskers is their recent history as a road team. Since the infamous Black Friday 62-36 loss at Colorado, the Huskers are 16-25 away from Memorial Stadium (neutral site games included) and 13-21 in non-neutral site games.

That stretch has included its share of decisive losses (two defeats by 40 or more points, six by 30 or more, 11 by 20 or more, and 16 by 10 or more). True the loss in 2006 at USC (28-10) was no disgrace. After all, the Trojans went 11-2 that year finished as the No. 4 rated team in the nation. However, the embarrassing defeats were not just against quality teams like the 2004 and 2008 Oklahoma Sooners, whom Nebraska suffered 30-3 and 62-28 defeats to in Norman. Both years, the Sooners reached the National Title game only to lose. In 2007, Nebraska losses 41-6 to a Missouri team that finished the season ranked No. 4 and 76-39 to a Kansas team that finished year rated No. 7. And we won’t even begin to address the 70-10 debacle at Texas Tech in 2004. The Red Raiders finished the 2004 season rated No. 18.

The Huskers also got their doors blown off by mediocre to crappy teams. In 2002, the Huskers lose 36-14 to an Iowa State team that went 7-7. In 2004, Nebraska loses 45-21 to a sorry ass Kansas State team that goes 4-7. In 2005, the Huskers lose 40-15 to a pretty average Kansas team that went 7-5. In 2006, the Huskers allow a 16-0 lead to an ordinary Oklahoma State to slip away into a 41-29 loss. To quote legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, I say, “What the hell’s goin’ on out here!”

Very few of the 13 wins have come against quality foes. The Huskers scored come-from-behind wins at Texas A&M in 2002 (38-31) and 2006 (28-27). The former Aggies club went 6-6. The latter went 9-4, finishing the year ranked No. 24. There’s two ways to look at those wins. One, those Texas A&M teams were fairly ordinary but it also takes some moxie to go into College Station to win because the crowd noise creates a home field advantage that is among the best in the nation. There’s a reason why their crowd is referred to as “the 12th man.”

In 2004, the Huskers scored a 24-17 win at Pittsburgh against a Panther team that went 8-4 and finished ranked No. 24. In 2007, Nebraska went into Winston-Salem, North Carolina and beat eventual ACC champ Wake Forest 20-17. OK, two wins against good clubs but it’s not we went into Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama.

In 2005, Nebraska’s 30-3 win over Colorado in Boulder was a big win at the time in the Bill Callahan era because it was shocking and unexpected but the fact that the win was part of a four-game losing skid by Colorado took some of the shine out of that win.

Point being, as much as Nebraska improved last season, it still lacked a quality “true” road win. The Huskers went 2-2 on the road last season (3-2 away from Memorial stadium. Beating Clemson 26-21 in the Gator Bowl was impressive since Jacksonville, Fla., is near the Tigers home turf in Clemson, South Carolina but there were plenty of Husker fans in attendance.

Nebraska defeated Iowa State (which finished 2-10 in 2008) 35-7 and Kansas State (which finished 5-7) 56-28. The wins count, no doubt, but the Huskers should win those games whether they are played in Lincoln, Ames, Manhattan or the North Pole. You can make the argument that Nebraska was a play or two away in losing 37-31 in overtime against Texas Tech team that went 11-2. True but if Pelini won’t accept moral victories why should we? Also, losing 62-28 at Oklahoma is one thing but the Huskers need to at least look like they belong on the same field as the Sooners.

If the Huskers want to take a step forward and improve on the 2008 progress – it will have to gain no worse than a split in their road games at Virginia Tech, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. Even Baylor won’t be a sure thing.

Good teams win, period, no matter where they're playing. It's always a challenge to win consistently on the road. It's definitely one of the best feelings a team can have -- go into someone else's place and come out with a win, but that is what the good teams do. Being able to win on the road is what sets teams apart.

However, it isn't only intangibles that make for successful road teams. It also is not just a lack of character that accounts for bad road performances. There is a football element involved, too, and that should not be overlooked.

Good road teams that run the ball well tend to be success. Why? Because even in an era of highly sophisticated passing games and spread offenses, running the ball is the surest recipe for victory. On the road, it often takes the home crowd out of the game because, for fans, there is nothing more energy-sapping than watching the opposition's offense monopolize the ball. Teams that win on the road tend not to panic and abandon their game plan if they fall behind early, and they find a way to hang in against adversity. And they don't turn the ball over -- a transgression in any contest, but particularly in road games.

Generally, teams that succeed on the road are simply good teams but they are also teams with collective will, resilience and staying power, and those are traits only the best teams possess.

The rise and fall of Nebraska's rivalry games

The term “dog days of summer” is normally associated with Major League Baseball pennant races but it can apply to college football too.

Here we are in the second week of July. Most teams are a few weeks away from reporting for fall practice. You’ll get a smattering of games on Labor Day weekend and thereafter the schedule gets into full bloom.

For us Husker fans, Lincoln Journal Star columnist Steve Sipple had a palate-whetting blog entry pertaining to the notion of “rivalries” in sports but specifically college football. Sipple, who has done an outstanding job of covering Husker football for many years, addressed a statement that Kansas head coach Mark Mangino made on ESPN that answered the question of who is Kansas’ more heated rivalry, Kansas State or Missouri?

“We have a great rivalry in-state with Kansas State as well,” Mangino said. “But I think our fan base has made it pretty clear to me that the Missouri game is very important.”

When I think of rivalry, I mostly think of a few things: a) There is definite polarization as in there’s no way in hell you could root for the other team, b) The game usually means something when the two teams play, and c) Fans will watch the game even if they don’t care about either team.

Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn, Texas-Oklahoma and others fit that description. OK, sure, you can say Harvard-Yale but how many people are going to drop whatever they are doing to watch that game? Since I have lived much of my life in Northern California (save for four years while attending the University of Nebraska), I have found it also comical how Cal-Stanford is called “The Big Game.”

Sure, there was the game in 1982. After Stanford had taken a 20-19 lead on a field goal with four seconds left in the game, the Golden Bears used five lateral passes on the ensuing kickoff return to score the winning touchdown and earn a 25-20 victory. Members of the Stanford Band had come onto the field midway through the return, believing that the game was over, which added to the ensuing confusion. The game might be a rivalry but it is hardly big because unless you live in Northern California and have a rooting interest in either team, you’re not going to watch it.

For years, Nebraska was rivals with Oklahoma. The interesting thing is that OU has generally considered Texas its biggest rival but Nebraska-Oklahoma was the traditional game that took place the day after Thanksgiving. Plus, both teams were good at the same time for many years, combining for 12 National Championship (OU has seven, NU has five) and dominated the Big Eight conference, which has since expanded to the Big 12.

With that expansion, both teams play each other two years out of every four since Nebraska is in the Big 12 North and Oklahoma is in the Big 12 South. Since 1993, the two clubs have only share two good seasons (2001 and to a lesser extent 2006). OU suffered some fallow years from 1994-1998 before Bob Stoops arrived to resurrect the program. Nebraska suffered mostly subpar years from 2002-2007 but appears to be on its way back to prominence under Bo Pelini.

Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri have had elements of the notion “rivalry” with Nebraska the last 15 or so years as the meetings have been testy at times. Bill McCartney was known for “red lettering” Nebraska on the schedule but a segment of Husker fans even to this day do not consider it a rivalry.

I would sort of disagree with that notion. Since 1993, the two teams have met 17 times with Nebraska winning 12 games but six by a touchdown or less and eight by ten points or fewer. To take it a step further, did you see CU’s 62-36 blowout over the unbeaten Huskers in 2001 or NU’s 30-3 blowout in 2005 coming?

Kansas State made a tremendous turnaround under Bill Snyder (now back for his second stint after replacing Ron Prince). The Wildcats defeated Nebraska 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004. However, it should also be pointed out that the only one of those Husker teams that finished in the top ten was the 2000 club that went 11-2. The 2004 and 2007 Huskers went 5-6 and 5-7 respectively and were the worst in post Bob Devaney history. The 2007 Nebraska team trounced the Wildcats 73-31.

Missouri has been mostly fair-to-middlin before having a breakout 12-2 season in 2007. The 2008 campaign came with a lot of hype and while 10-4 and Big 12 North title is not a failure per se, it was not the enormous success most envisioned. Missouri beat Nebraska in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Two of those wins were Bill Callahan teams (2005 and 2007) while the 2008 team had a lot of Callahan remnants. The timing of that game also came before Nebraska finished its season winning six of its final seven games.

As for Missouri, other than 1997, the Tigers were routinely hammered by the best of Nebraska. K-State was also routinely exposed by the best Nebraska teams as well.

Granted, getting blown out by the Huskers from 1993-1997 was hardly a disgrace but Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri’s success against Nebraska have almost as much to do with the Huskers fall as it does their rise.

Point being, of the three, Colorado is the closest thing to a rivalry because they have battled the Huskers close consistently when they were in their prime. Plus, the aforementioned 2001 game between the two teams sent Nebraska into a tailspin.

That said, I don't think Nebraska has a true rival. If they played Oklahoma every year like they did in the Big Eight, then I believe it'd be one of the best rivalry games in the country no matter if its one sided or not.The Huskers have had so much success over the years against the five other North teams, I don't consider them as a rival in the truest sense.

BCS still better than March Sadness

I’m not into making guarantees but you can bet your life that at some point during the 2009 college football season, many people will grovel to no end about the BCS.

Heck, our own president – Barack Obama -- of the United States has gotten on his soapbox about wanting a playoff. Memo to Mr. President, worry about fixing our country first.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln chancellor Harvey Perlman was recently appointed chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee. In a nutshell, Perlman just assumed a pretty important seat of power, as head of the committee that looks at the viability of playoffs, TV contracts, and the like.

The BCS just shot down a Mountain West proposal for an eight-team playoff. It was the chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight committee, University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer, who delivered the vague statement explaining that any playoff suggestion “disrespect our academic calendars and they utterly lack a business plan.”

Collegefootballnews.com addressed the topic as well. I have one thing in common with CFN.com, I am not in favor of a playoff in college football. Yes, I said not in favor.

Yes, the BCS (Bowl Championship series) is not perfect but a playoff (a la NCAA March Madness in basketball) is the not the cure-all either. It would be “different” than the BCS but the only thing that change guarantees is that things will be “different,” but “different” does not necessarily mean “better.”

Yes, the bowl games are watered down in that more than half the teams in Div. I-A get to one. That’s bad enough but let’s not water it down anymore than the other sports have. Most people would argue that “every other sport has a playoff so college football should get one.”

The argument you hear most often is to take the six BCS league champions, the top non-BCS conference champion, and one wild-card. That idea sounds all well and good but what makes you think the powers that be would not get sucked in by money and expand the college football playoffs?

Major League Baseball, yes the sport with so many that spews out terms like “integrity,” “tradition,” and “purists,” expanded. It used to be that only division winners reached the postseason. Now, it’s four teams per league (three division winners and a wild card). I don’t have a huge problem with that because since MLB adopted the wild card format in 1995, numerous wild card teams have gone on to win the World Series. Why did MLB expand its postseason? Money. Owners of mediocre teams got sick of their teams being out of the pennant chase in late June and changed things to add more playoff teams and a wild-card.

I know many college football playoff advocates swear by the NCAA Tournament and call it “March Madness.” March Sadness is more like it. Back when only the conference champions were allowed in the tournament, it was much better. Now any team that can walk on to a bus and avoid tripping over the step gets in the tournament. What a joke.The other sports have screwed it up too. The NFL is borderline is not perfect but it’s acceptable in that 12 out of 32 teams make it to the postseason. The NBA and NHL, however, are brutally watered down in that over half the teams reach the postseason. The good news there is that it is a best-of-seven format where the better team usually wins. However, why are there so many playoff series – money!

As screwed up college football is as far getting two teams in the BCS title game, it gets it right more so than any other sport. True, teams like unbeaten 2008 Utah might be hard to convince, USC in 2007, Auburn in 2004, Oregon in 2001 or Miami in 2000 but it is also hard to argue with a team that went through the rigors of the regular season and then won a BCS championship.

The BCS has been tweaked over the years with things such as quality win points, computer rankings, strength of schedule, etc. The anti- BCS folks have been equally tweaked and want say a four-team or and eight-team playoff with the preservation of the bowl games. Unfortunately, they forget one thing.

The pro March Madness folks would then say but "at least it's played on the court." True but it doesn't stop teams that were "on the bubble" from complaining about not getting an NCAA tournament bid.The NCAA men's basketball tournament might be exciting but it's nothing more than a gimmick and de-emphasizes the regular season. Fans that love it say that a team can "get hot" all of the sudden. My argument is that any team can "get hot" all of the sudden but once they lose a game, the pressure is gone.

Whereas going undefeated is a bigger accomplishment. It's like pitching a perfect game in baseball. With each win, the laws of averages are not on your side because that team has a Bull's Eye right across its ever loving chest.Again, March Madness is exciting but the field of 64 teams is watered down worse than a flat Budweiser and please don't come at with the George Masons of the world either. I say cut the field to 16 teams and have truly the best teams.

If the idea is to find out which college basketball team is the best by having a tournament and having everyone play it off, then when play the regular season in the first place? The BCS might need its share of tweaking but I've always argued that it comes closer to crowning a true national champion than college basketball does. The best way to make a playoff in football a plausible situation is to make Notre Dame join a conference. I believe that’s as big of a reason as any why there is no playoff. Others have come up with a solution of matching up all conference winners. I like that scenario in that there is no ambiguity but some years one conference is appreciably strong while another is weak. I’d say just take the Top eight BCS teams, conference champ or not.Of course, for a playoff to work Notre Dame must get off its high chair and join a conference but given their elitist mentality that’ll never happen.

TO not about to give himself a TO as Nebraska AD

A Christmas present arrived on June 10, 2009, for Nebraska football fans. Well, Nebraska athletic fans. How is that possible might you ask?

Well, the Huskers didn’t win a National championship. Getting rid of Steve Pederson and his sorry Kool-Aid sipping ass on October, 15, 2007, sure felt like. Appointing legendary Husker football coach Tom Osborne as his replacement felt like an early Santa Claus arrival. In fact, it made me believe in Santa Claus again. The 72-year old Osborne signed a contract set to expire in October 2010. As of Wednesday, Osborne has agreed to stay “indefinitely” in his role.

Now, NU chancellor Harvey Perlman and Osborne will explore his status year-to-year.

"Tom originally agreed to come in temporarily and get the department moving in the right direction,” Perlman said. “He clearly accomplished that. I believe he now feels comfortable serving on an ongoing basis and I certainly feel comfortable having him do so.

“I am delighted that Tom has agreed to stay in harness for an indefinite period. The department faces some real challenges and opportunities as we move forward and Tom brings a breadth of experience that can serve the university well.”

Said Osborne: "I want to thank Chancellor Perlman for the opportunity to serve as athletic director for a period of time that we both feel comfortable with. I enjoy working with student-athletes, coaches, and other athletic department personnel and hope that together we can serve the people of Nebraska and the university well."

When Nebraska does choose a new athletic director, Perlman and Osborne agreed, it will be via search committee, and while Osborne would have significant input, he wouldn’t necessarily be hand-picking his successor.

Since former Nebraska linebacker Trev Alberts took the job at UNO, it has been speculated he’s the AD-in-waiting. Other Husker greats such as Dave Rimington and Ed Stewart have had their names mentioned as eventual replacements for Osborne. However, I think it would be foolish to dismiss Jeff Jamrog as a legit candidate. Jamrog is the Assistant Athletic Director for Football Operations. Don’t underestimate Jamrog. For one, he’s in house and acts like he genuinely wants to be there.

In a blog entry earlier this offseason, http://napavince.blogspot.com/2009/04/finding-osbornes-successor-as-ad.html, yours truly stated the importance of finding an eventual replacement for Osborne so as not to experience the Pederson debacle again. I still think picking the right guy is important. Going through the Pederson experiment was cruel and unusual punishment. Oh well, he’s your problem now, Pittsburgh.

Osborne does not have a specific time frame as far as how long he wishes to continue in his role. However, Osborne added he'd like to see the completion of the Student Life Center, which he expected to take a little more than a year to finish. He'd also like to see through any basketball facility upgrades, which he expected to probably, take a little bit more than two years.

So how much longer can we realistically expect Osborne to remain in the Captain’s Chair? I’d say at least five years. He is in good health so why not stay a few years longer than expected? Plus, he has given a lot to the University as an assistant coach and coach and to the state as a politician.

Osborne, however, represents Nebraska. And we’re not just talking a simple “N” on the side of the helmets. He represents common sense. Why buy a brand new Lexus every year when a 2005 Toyota Four-Runner or 2005 Chevy Impala will do just fine?

While Pederson was running the program afoul, yes he left it in good financial shape but the moral within the building and among the fan base was fractured.

What does it mean for Husker football?

It could mean a potential dynasty is now in place with Coach Osborne as A.D and Bo Pelini as head coach. As long as this combination remains, football will once again become a storied tradition at Nebraska. This is the best news we could ever receive. Infact, the whole athletic program will benefit from the indefinite retention of Coach Osborne.

I can not express how thrilled I am that Osborne will be the AD at NU for quite some time. What a breath of fresh air compared to the previous AD – make that SOB.