Former Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan made national headlines in 2003 while coaching the Oakland Raiders. After a 22-8 home loss in 2003 to the Denver Broncos during a season that saw Oakland go from Super Bowl participant in 2002 to a 4-12 disaster the following year, Callahan erupted with, “We’ve got to be the dumbest team in American in terms of playing the game.”
Callahan, who has been an assistant coach with the New York Jets since 2008 after being dismissed by Nebraska, could very well be referring to the Huskers of right now. There were penalties (10), ejections (cornerback Alfonzo Dennard) and just an overall lack of discipline in the Huskers season-ending 30-13 Capital One Bowl loss to South Carolina.
Anyone who thinks the team wasn’t playing well because Husker head coach Bo Pelini had to restrain himself need to look no further than Monday. Sorry, you people in the, “You go Bo!” camp every time he blows up at referee or has a tense press conference moment with a media member, you are in serious need of a reality check. He has had three 15-yard penalties in his career, enough said. Say no more. Being fiery is all well and good but at some point it reaches diminishing returns.
You have an offense that can’t get out of its own way thanks to five yard penalty after five yard penalty. Not to mention you have receivers dropping catchable balls. See Tim Marlowe. See Brandon Kinnie. See Kyler Reed. It’s bad enough that quarterback Taylor Martinez has issues throwing the ball but when you add receivers dropping balls, that’s no help either.
Including the bowl loss, the Huskers finished the season 9-4 with three double-digit losses. The optimists characterized those three games the exact same way: The games would have been close but a mistake was made and “things just snowballed.”
Which is a load of BS but before I get into that, those people reason this:
Martinez threw a couple picks against Wisconsin. Nebraska led that game 14-7 early in the second quarter. The Badgers retook the lead 20-14 late in the second quarter but the game turned into a 48-17 route. Otherwise NU was right in there, so the reasoning goes. Nebraska had Michigan pinned deep and roughed the kicker, trailing just 31-17 late in the third quarter on. After that, “things just snowballed. We could have just as easily won,” but lost 45-17. Against South Carolina, Nebraska led 13-9 but Gamecocks quarterback Connor Shaw throws a Hail Mary touchdown pass to wide receiver Alshon Jeffery as South Carolina takes a 16-13 lead into halftime, “and then things just got away from us. NU was the better team.”
Seriously?
At some point, you just face the fact that quality teams overcome mistakes. They don’t let them “snowball.” The team should not melt down under pressure or let one mental mistake turn into a half dozen.
Though some Husker fans sipped the Kool Aid thinking the team was conference champion material in 2011. I honestly was not surprised at the team’s 9-4 record: New league, first year offensive coordinator, and lots of staff turnover. What I didn’t expect is for mental errors - turnovers, penalties, missed assignments and even an ejection - to continue to bedevil the Huskers.
The fact that one NU mistake is commonly compounded by several more speaks to leadership. Does Pelini’s temperament impact the team? Would it be helpful if he remained more composed on the sideline? Might not be the only reason but it would sure heck help. Lose a hard-fought and well-executed game. Fine. Lose when your seniors are committing stupid penalties and getting ejected from games. Not so fine.
All that said, I think Pelini has done more good than bad in his four years as Nebraska’s head coach. At the core, I think that he cares a great deal about the youngsters who play for him. He wants them to succeed both on and off the field, and I think they will all be better men after four-years in the program. On the field, Pelini is winning games at a clip equal to all but a handful of coaches at this stage in their careers and doing it at a school with some obvious recruiting disadvantages. If he continues to run a clean program, graduate the kids and win nine-plus games per year, he will stay at NU as long as he wants.
In year four of the Pelini era, however, Nebraska fans are left with a disturbing sense of déjà vu. Once again, Nebraska ends the season with four losses, as they have in each of Pelini’s four seasons. In each of the last three seasons, Nebraska’s season has been derailed by an inexplicable home loss to a mediocre team (Iowa State in 2009, Texas in 2010 and Northwestern in 2011).
As someone who lived in Lincoln, NE during the glory years, I did not necessarily expect National Championships by Year No. 4. However, I expected to be flirting with one by being Top Ten material but continued mental mistakes won’t even guarantee Top 25 finishes.
Showing posts with label Oakland Raiders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oakland Raiders. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Huskers lack of poise disturbing in Capital One Bowl loss
Well, where do we begin? For the second time in as many seasons, the Nebraska football team is headed into the offseason with a bowl game loss. This time a 30-13 loss to South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl. The Huskers entered the game ranked No. 20 and finished the season 9-4. They may still finish in the Top 25 but it’s not a two-inch putt.
Many Husker fans would look at the 9-4 record and call the season a disappointment then and there. However, a man named Bill Soliday, whom I had the opportunity to get to know while covering the Oakland Raiders as a freelance writer, once strongly suggested to me that you cannot give too much credence simply to records. Soliday is a retired sports reporter from the Oakland Tribune having covered both the Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. Soliday understood the late Al Davis (who was the Raiders owner from 1966 to 2011) better than most people I know. Soliday added that Davis added that records are as much a matter of what a team does to achieve their record with what the team had.
Going 9-4 in 2008 felt like a success for the Huskers because it was Bo Pelini’s first season as head coach coming off the Bill Callahan years of going 27-22 and bowl-less in two seasons. The 2011 edition of 9-4, however, would qualify as a disappointment because the team had goals of winning the Big Ten Legends Division if not winning the Big Ten Conference. Losing the Capital One Bowl game that was there to be won in the early going only adds to that disappointment. The Huskers led 13-9 at halftime and were still within striking distance in trailing 16-13 after three quarters.
The game was a prime example of a team lacking discipline and it starts with Pelini. The third quarter was especially inexcusable. After a three and out, Nebraska managed a drive that featured 25 yards in penalties. Then after back to back poor calls by the officials, Pelini lit into the Big East officiating crew. For the entire second half the Huskers gained 64 yards, they lost 58 in penalties. That’s six net yards if you’re scoring at home. Well, gross is more like it.
Then there was the disgraceful behavior of Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard and South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, two outstanding players that are potential first-round draft picks. The serious indictment against Nebraska was that the incident took place right in front of its bench and not one time did a player or coaches try to prevent the situation from escalating.
Throw in four drives in South Carolina territory with zero points and you have a Nebraska team that can’t get out of its own way.
When I think of Husker teams with poise, I hearken back to the 1995 Orange Bowl when they beat Miami 24-17. Remember head coach Tom Osborne’s halftime speech when he told the players that the Hurricanes would try to get into their heads but it was important not to retaliate. Nebraska keeping its poise and focus was as big a reason as any why it won that night and the lack of it is why it routinely comes up short in crucial games. Being fiery is all well and good but a team simply cannot lose its poise and expect to execute.
So the question begs, what is the current state of the program? I have no idea after watching this very strange season. The way the Huskers collapsed in several games this year, just makes me believe that something is missing. Not sure what it is.
The optimist in me thinks this year was a combination of being in a new league with a different style combined with a new offensive coordinator and massive losses to the NFL on the defense. The pessimist in me thinks this might be indicative of poor recruiting combined with a coach that can't teach his team to be disciplined.
The current state of the program is that the Huskers consistently are not one of the 25 best teams in the country. Some people are quite satisfied with being at that level. They will tell you how the Huskers are better than we were under Callahan. Yes, they are right about that but the program is not close to being elite and no, I’m not implying that Nebraska should always win the national championship or go 60-3 during each five-year stretch (which happened from 1993-1997). The pessimists think it impossible to ever compete for championships in Lincoln. They are wrong. If it happened before, it can happen again and don’t feed me this nonsense of “different times.”
For Nebraska, 9-10 win seasons have always been the minimum standard. Well, from 1961 forward. If you maintain that level you'll get the occasional year or years where good defense coincides with good offense. I would think if 9-10 win seasons are the minimal standard over the course of decade having those two coincide more often would be logical because success breeds success and that means more success in recruiting.
That said, being a fan of the Huskers today was very frustrating. I should have stayed in bed. Now I am tired and frustrated.
I'm not 100% convinced that Pelini is the guy that will lead us back to a national title game, because I'm no fortune teller. However, I’m not willing to suffer through one or two more Bill Callahans and sit at home in December and January wishing I could watch my Huskers play in a bowl game.
As for the lack of poise, Pelini constantly preaches how important “the process” is but routinely losing poise is a huge reason why this team routinely comes up short in key games. In that respect, the Huskers have become the Dallas Cowboys of college football, great past but not much of a recent one.
Many Husker fans would look at the 9-4 record and call the season a disappointment then and there. However, a man named Bill Soliday, whom I had the opportunity to get to know while covering the Oakland Raiders as a freelance writer, once strongly suggested to me that you cannot give too much credence simply to records. Soliday is a retired sports reporter from the Oakland Tribune having covered both the Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. Soliday understood the late Al Davis (who was the Raiders owner from 1966 to 2011) better than most people I know. Soliday added that Davis added that records are as much a matter of what a team does to achieve their record with what the team had.
Going 9-4 in 2008 felt like a success for the Huskers because it was Bo Pelini’s first season as head coach coming off the Bill Callahan years of going 27-22 and bowl-less in two seasons. The 2011 edition of 9-4, however, would qualify as a disappointment because the team had goals of winning the Big Ten Legends Division if not winning the Big Ten Conference. Losing the Capital One Bowl game that was there to be won in the early going only adds to that disappointment. The Huskers led 13-9 at halftime and were still within striking distance in trailing 16-13 after three quarters.
The game was a prime example of a team lacking discipline and it starts with Pelini. The third quarter was especially inexcusable. After a three and out, Nebraska managed a drive that featured 25 yards in penalties. Then after back to back poor calls by the officials, Pelini lit into the Big East officiating crew. For the entire second half the Huskers gained 64 yards, they lost 58 in penalties. That’s six net yards if you’re scoring at home. Well, gross is more like it.
Then there was the disgraceful behavior of Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard and South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, two outstanding players that are potential first-round draft picks. The serious indictment against Nebraska was that the incident took place right in front of its bench and not one time did a player or coaches try to prevent the situation from escalating.
Throw in four drives in South Carolina territory with zero points and you have a Nebraska team that can’t get out of its own way.
When I think of Husker teams with poise, I hearken back to the 1995 Orange Bowl when they beat Miami 24-17. Remember head coach Tom Osborne’s halftime speech when he told the players that the Hurricanes would try to get into their heads but it was important not to retaliate. Nebraska keeping its poise and focus was as big a reason as any why it won that night and the lack of it is why it routinely comes up short in crucial games. Being fiery is all well and good but a team simply cannot lose its poise and expect to execute.
So the question begs, what is the current state of the program? I have no idea after watching this very strange season. The way the Huskers collapsed in several games this year, just makes me believe that something is missing. Not sure what it is.
The optimist in me thinks this year was a combination of being in a new league with a different style combined with a new offensive coordinator and massive losses to the NFL on the defense. The pessimist in me thinks this might be indicative of poor recruiting combined with a coach that can't teach his team to be disciplined.
The current state of the program is that the Huskers consistently are not one of the 25 best teams in the country. Some people are quite satisfied with being at that level. They will tell you how the Huskers are better than we were under Callahan. Yes, they are right about that but the program is not close to being elite and no, I’m not implying that Nebraska should always win the national championship or go 60-3 during each five-year stretch (which happened from 1993-1997). The pessimists think it impossible to ever compete for championships in Lincoln. They are wrong. If it happened before, it can happen again and don’t feed me this nonsense of “different times.”
For Nebraska, 9-10 win seasons have always been the minimum standard. Well, from 1961 forward. If you maintain that level you'll get the occasional year or years where good defense coincides with good offense. I would think if 9-10 win seasons are the minimal standard over the course of decade having those two coincide more often would be logical because success breeds success and that means more success in recruiting.
That said, being a fan of the Huskers today was very frustrating. I should have stayed in bed. Now I am tired and frustrated.
I'm not 100% convinced that Pelini is the guy that will lead us back to a national title game, because I'm no fortune teller. However, I’m not willing to suffer through one or two more Bill Callahans and sit at home in December and January wishing I could watch my Huskers play in a bowl game.
As for the lack of poise, Pelini constantly preaches how important “the process” is but routinely losing poise is a huge reason why this team routinely comes up short in key games. In that respect, the Huskers have become the Dallas Cowboys of college football, great past but not much of a recent one.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Game will be decided on mental focus, not scandal
The game will continue. In case you are wondering, there still is a football game scheduled at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley, Pa., between No. 19 Nebraska and No. 12 Penn State.
When Nebraska made its decision to enter the Big Ten Conference, this matchup was one that made college football purists smile. Both programs have remained status quo as far as uniforms that have changed very little. That aspect is very refreshing compared to the Star Wars age uniforms like Oregon and Maryland. Both programs have also had iconic coaches: Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne for Nebraska. Joe Paterno for Penn State.
Sadly, Paterno was fired by the Penn State board of trustees Wednesday night despite saying he would retire as coach after the football season ended, brought down by the growing furor over the handling of child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach. Penn State President Graham Spanier was also ousted. I won’t go into details because you can read my previous blog entry: http://napavince.blogspot.com/2011/11/huskers-head-to-penn-state-but-will.html I also made my feelings for Paterno abundantly clear.
The story surrounding Saturday unfortunately is not about how Penn State’s stingy defense matches up against Nebraska’s quarterback/running back combination of Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead. It’s not about how will Nebraska bounce back from its disturbing 28-25 home loss to Northwestern. This week has been about the sexual abuse scandal that is surrounding Penn State University. It is unequivocally the top sports story. Even more than the NBA lockout. Gee, what a tired act that is.
I was talking to a college friend of mine who lived in the same residence hall as I did at the University of Nebraska on Tuesday. This friend intimated that he was “worried about this game. Can you imagine our players losing Tom Osborne’s last game?” Of course, this conversation came Tuesday night, before Paterno was ousted. With Paterno gone, defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has been named the interim head coach.
When it comes to sports teams entering a game with distractions, I find that the script is already written, it’s just a matter of what the outcome is and which script fits best. If Penn State wins, the angle becomes “they were galvanized and wanted to win it for JoePa.” If Nebraska wins, the angle becomes, “Penn State had too many distractions.” I say BS; football games are decided by who makes more plays and fewer mistakes. It also comes down to mental toughness and the ability to block out distractions.
Remember 1995? Perhaps the best team Nebraska ever assembled had several distractions throughout the season off the field whether it was Lawrence Phillips, Christian Peter or Tyrone Williams. That Husker team still went 13-0 and pounded Florida into submission in the National Title Game 62-24. However, that was also before the Facebook, Twitter, and text message era. Yes, you had the internet and message board but you also didn’t have current and former players facebooking, tweeting, message boarding, etc., so it was much easier for players and coaches to insulate themselves from distractions. Granted, the internet and message boards existed but were not en vogue even remotely like now.
Remember 2007? Perhaps the worst Nebraska team since post-1960. That team had the talent but underachieved to a 5-7 season. It also had numerous distractions centering around the job status of athletic director Steve Pederson, head coach Bill Callahan and defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove. That Husker team lost six of its seven games in supremely decisive fashion.
Look at pro sports; the week that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis died they beat the Houston Texans 25-20. The angle became, “They did it for Al. They just won, baby!” However, if Oakland safety Michael Huff does not intercept Texans quarterback Matt Schaub in the end zone, the angle becomes, “The Raiders were weighed down by too many distractions.”
By no means am I dismissing the “distraction factor.” Even though, for lack of a better term, Paterno’s mistakes of omission rather than commission does not directly affect the Huskers, Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini will need to get his team focused on the task at hand. Keep in mind; this was a Husker team that lacked such in an inexcusable home loss to Northwestern.
Nebraska players and coaches are not going to get asked ad nausea about the situation like Penn State. Especially with the Huskers being the visiting team. Penn State players will be asked about this situation everywhere they turn whether it is at school or outside of practice.
In one respect this game does not change for Nebraska even if you remove the Penn State scandal from the equation. It would have been a challenging and important game regardless.
The bottom line is that this game will not be won by the team that is more talented or has the better offense of defense this season. The team that wins this game will be the team that is able to put the scandal to the side and focus on the team on the opposing sideline.
When Nebraska made its decision to enter the Big Ten Conference, this matchup was one that made college football purists smile. Both programs have remained status quo as far as uniforms that have changed very little. That aspect is very refreshing compared to the Star Wars age uniforms like Oregon and Maryland. Both programs have also had iconic coaches: Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne for Nebraska. Joe Paterno for Penn State.
Sadly, Paterno was fired by the Penn State board of trustees Wednesday night despite saying he would retire as coach after the football season ended, brought down by the growing furor over the handling of child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach. Penn State President Graham Spanier was also ousted. I won’t go into details because you can read my previous blog entry: http://napavince.blogspot.com/2011/11/huskers-head-to-penn-state-but-will.html I also made my feelings for Paterno abundantly clear.
The story surrounding Saturday unfortunately is not about how Penn State’s stingy defense matches up against Nebraska’s quarterback/running back combination of Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead. It’s not about how will Nebraska bounce back from its disturbing 28-25 home loss to Northwestern. This week has been about the sexual abuse scandal that is surrounding Penn State University. It is unequivocally the top sports story. Even more than the NBA lockout. Gee, what a tired act that is.
I was talking to a college friend of mine who lived in the same residence hall as I did at the University of Nebraska on Tuesday. This friend intimated that he was “worried about this game. Can you imagine our players losing Tom Osborne’s last game?” Of course, this conversation came Tuesday night, before Paterno was ousted. With Paterno gone, defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has been named the interim head coach.
When it comes to sports teams entering a game with distractions, I find that the script is already written, it’s just a matter of what the outcome is and which script fits best. If Penn State wins, the angle becomes “they were galvanized and wanted to win it for JoePa.” If Nebraska wins, the angle becomes, “Penn State had too many distractions.” I say BS; football games are decided by who makes more plays and fewer mistakes. It also comes down to mental toughness and the ability to block out distractions.
Remember 1995? Perhaps the best team Nebraska ever assembled had several distractions throughout the season off the field whether it was Lawrence Phillips, Christian Peter or Tyrone Williams. That Husker team still went 13-0 and pounded Florida into submission in the National Title Game 62-24. However, that was also before the Facebook, Twitter, and text message era. Yes, you had the internet and message board but you also didn’t have current and former players facebooking, tweeting, message boarding, etc., so it was much easier for players and coaches to insulate themselves from distractions. Granted, the internet and message boards existed but were not en vogue even remotely like now.
Remember 2007? Perhaps the worst Nebraska team since post-1960. That team had the talent but underachieved to a 5-7 season. It also had numerous distractions centering around the job status of athletic director Steve Pederson, head coach Bill Callahan and defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove. That Husker team lost six of its seven games in supremely decisive fashion.
Look at pro sports; the week that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis died they beat the Houston Texans 25-20. The angle became, “They did it for Al. They just won, baby!” However, if Oakland safety Michael Huff does not intercept Texans quarterback Matt Schaub in the end zone, the angle becomes, “The Raiders were weighed down by too many distractions.”
By no means am I dismissing the “distraction factor.” Even though, for lack of a better term, Paterno’s mistakes of omission rather than commission does not directly affect the Huskers, Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini will need to get his team focused on the task at hand. Keep in mind; this was a Husker team that lacked such in an inexcusable home loss to Northwestern.
Nebraska players and coaches are not going to get asked ad nausea about the situation like Penn State. Especially with the Huskers being the visiting team. Penn State players will be asked about this situation everywhere they turn whether it is at school or outside of practice.
In one respect this game does not change for Nebraska even if you remove the Penn State scandal from the equation. It would have been a challenging and important game regardless.
The bottom line is that this game will not be won by the team that is more talented or has the better offense of defense this season. The team that wins this game will be the team that is able to put the scandal to the side and focus on the team on the opposing sideline.
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