Shit Hits the Fan

Yeah, this is supposed to be mildly family friendly because my family reads this site, so I sort of apologize for the headline. Then again, I don't think any of the Husker faithful in my brood would really split hairs with me on the profanity, not now.

Nebraska hasn't faced losses like this since 2004, Bill Callahan's first year. But even with that horrible season supposedly in the rear view mirror, not even that team underachieved as much as this year's. Not since World War II had the Huskers surrendered 40+ points in three consecutive games. My Grandparents were kids when that happened. They are now in their 70's.

So, if you read the previous story pulled from ESPN, you are now up to date. Pederson is out, Osborne is back in. I gave Callahan the benefit of the doubt, because the Huskers did need to move away from what made the Huskers great all the way up until 2001. Defenses were too fast, to complex to just overpower and overmatch anymore. But flipping things like they have been done on and off the field have done irreversible damage to the program.

Does digging up Osborne change anything? What can he possibly do? I'm sure he'll start by making people feel less alienated from their state's pride and joy. That story had it pegged, and I've even noticed it. It just doesn't feel the same going to Lincoln during the Pederson/Callahan era.

Now, the obvious. I've always played this close to the best because I want to be confident in my team. It's the only way I've known how to be since I was a kid. It's now time to admit what I've been harboring. Look at what happened to Callahan in Oakland after Jon Gruden left. Mutiny. It may not be happening in the same way, but I'm starting to really believe overtly that Callahan is a cancer on this team.

Can the Huskers go back to the days of yore? Doubt it. Can Osborne restore, well, anything? So many questions, too early to tell. All I know is that I feel really, really good about Pederson being fired. Consider some personnel moves that he made. Firing Frank Solich after going 9-3 in 2003. Solich has turned an Ohio University team that was the laughing stock of Division I-A Football. Guess what? He took them to a bowl game and a winning record last season. I was always uneasy on the inside about firing Solich. He was the reason Osborne retired early. He promised Solich the keys to the car and after only losing two games in four years and three National Titles, other schools came knocking for him. Osborne left, because he's old school and loyal. Charming and cheesy, but still very respectable. They forced Charlie McBride out the door who made the damn Blackshirts the most feared defense in the 90's. And what left me scratching my head the most was letting Bo Pelini go. He only went on to Oklahoma and now LSU and created two of the most fearsome defenses in the past five years. I thought he did a hell of a job in the Alamo Bowl back in the '03 season against Michigan State. I guess Husker Nation and Pederson still had their heads in the clouds.

The ESPN article mentioned the program being in a glass house, inaccessible. I see the Husker fan base, media, alumni, boosters and current regime in a state of denial. I listen to the radio broadcasts and no one is critical. I knew these people were insane when I listened to the Iowa State game. The final straw came when former player (under Bob Devaney) Adrian Fiala said he was proud of the "Blackshirts" by creating a couple of turnovers and eeking out a win that was closer than the final score indicated. They gave up over 400 yards. They were on the field for over 100 plays. This is not acceptable. No one, fan, broadcaster or otherwise should have had an ounce of pride after that game.

Just like now. The days of Osborne and the Big 8 are gone. Tell those stories to your kids at bedtime, because that's all they are good for now. The reality is that it's going to be bumpy, really bumpy. Remember all those times the Huskers beat the likes of Kansas, Missouri and even Kansas State by 30 or more points?? Trust me, they remember even more. The coaches may be different, but they know. Get ready for some abuse.

Of course I'm being more bleak than I should be for a reason, but then again who could imagine just even five years ago getting blown out at home to Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, or anyone for that matter? Certainly not I.

I Leave the Country For One Week...

...and this is what happens?? I can't explain it any better than Elizabeth Merrill did from ESPN. Don't worry, I'll weigh in with my own opinion soon enough. Oh... and don't forget to read between the lines.

COLUMBUS, Neb. -- Cattle trucks rumble down Highway 30 on another dreary day in mediocrity. The sun has been trying its darnedest to poke its head out, a DJ crackles between hog reports and outdated songs. But the rain keeps coming, and the banks of the Loup Power Canal are about to give.

AP Photo/Eric Gay

Nebraska fans are known for their dedication and their civility.

They do not ask for much in these parts. Water for the crops, good health for the family, a 10-win season for the football team. And like most towns in Nebraska, the football team is everywhere in Columbus. The grocery store on the corner sells Husker Chops. The garbage-truck driver who runs Big Red Sanitation has a bumper sticker that says he's a Cornhusker. He's the proud pops of Cory Schlesinger, one of the last great Nebraska fullbacks, and these days the most depressing thing in a state whose motto was once "The Good Life" is that nearly every sentence ends with "one of the last great…" "Nebraska has earned a lot of notoriety because of our football team," Dave Ernst says as he sips coffee in front of a newspaper that chronicles the latest football debacle in 120-point type. "When it's not doing well, the psyche of the state is affected."

For almost half a century, football was Nebraska's identity. They dressed in red, wore corncobs on their head and gathered on Saturdays to watch their beloved team beat the tar out of an overmatched opponent. They won with dignity, stood up and clapped for the poor souls who took the beatings, then spent six days pondering how the Cornhuskers would annihilate the next team. Nobody quite knows how to handle their latest role as the whupped. In the closing minutes of Saturday's 45-14 loss to Oklahoma State, on homecoming, the stadium fell eerily silent and the classiest fans in college football temporarily lost their manners. A huge banner asked the embattled athletic director to surrender. A middle-aged woman yelled, "You're a loser, Callahan!" And then there were those who couldn't move, even when the score was 38-0 at halftime, even when the red balloons prematurely filled the sky when the Cornhuskers finally registered a first down. Ernst, who owns a car lot in Columbus, was among the minority who stood and clapped for the losers. "That's what I do, win or lose," he says, "because that's what I think I should do as a fan."

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In every good fairy tale, there is a hero and a villain. Nebraskans don't generally hate. That would be considered rude. But for the better part of four years, they've harbored a deep resentment for Steve Pederson.

AP Photo/Nati Harnik

Steve Pederson's tenure in Lincoln was rocky, as he did little to keep former Husker greats attached to the program.

His hire as Nebraska's athletic director was hailed as a savvy move in 2002, the native son from North Platte coming home after a successful run at Pittsburgh. Athletic directors, generally, aren't known by even the most hard-core fans. But Pederson made national headlines in 2003 when he fired Frank Solich after a 9-3 season. Using catchphrases like "gravitate to mediocrity" and "we won't surrender the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas," Pederson rattled a state and immediately irked its biggest legend, Tom Osborne. The AD hadn't consulted Osborne, who won three national championships in four years and had handpicked Solich as his successor.

Pederson embarked upon a coaching search, alone, and was turned down by at least four candidates before hiring Bill Callahan, who'd just been fired by the Oakland Raiders. The moves immediately created a divide between the past and the present, both in the state and in the athletic department. Former players felt shut out by the new regime. Osborne distanced himself from the program. Ground-based football with massive, homegrown offensive linemen was replaced by the West Coast Offense and a playbook bigger than the Omaha phone directory. Though Nebraskans are often adverse to change, they gave it a taste. Seventy-thousand fans showed up for Callahan's first spring game.

They oooed and aaahed at the passes and the massive numbers. They had no idea what was coming. There was the 70-10 loss at Texas Tech, when fans became convinced that Callahan didn't understand the culture of Nebraska football and the embarrassment a state feels over such a slaughtering. There was the 5-6 season, the "[expletive] hillbillies" comment, the four seasons of hope and ultimately surrendering the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas. "It's almost like a glass house got built around the program," says NU booster Jay Noddle. "I think an awful lot of people felt like they weren't a part of it. They couldn't touch and feel it. "It's kind of like the program lost its heart and soul."

A former player set up a Web site called savetheprogram.com. This site is dedicated to one thing -- The removal of Steve Pederson as athletic director of the Univeristy of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Web site says. A letterman's meeting was planned this week to discuss the direction of the program. By late Monday, it was scrapped. Pederson was fired. Live TV was interrupted on Monday to air the news conference announcing Pederson's firing. On Tuesday, the local stations broke programming again to show Osborne stepping to a podium as Nebraska's interim athletic director. For most of Monday afternoon, a local radio station in Omaha played "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead," between commercial breaks. At DJ's Dugout, a local watering hole, roughly 50 people cheered and high-fived as news of Pederson's demise hit the airwaves. Kevin Kugler, an Omaha radio host who was broadcasting Monday's show from the bar, said fans rushed home to put on their Huskers gear. At a history lecture on the Nebraska campus this week, a professor broke up the monotony of class by asking the 100-plus students, "Who here is happy Pederson got fired?" All the students in the room raised their hands.

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Bill Callahan walks off the practice field near a building that bears Osborne's name. Every day is a new confrontation complete with bright lights, hastily called news conferences and probing questions. On Wednesday, a media type sees former NU defensive coordinator Charlie McBride wandering around campus and leaks that Callahan has been fired and McBride, who's eight years retired, will take over.

Bruce Thorson/US Presswire

The Huskers got off to a good start this season, but three bad losses could cost Bill Callahan his job.

On Thursday, the clatter is about a new book that says Callahan dissed Osborne and called him a "crusty old [expletive]." In the NFL, Callahan learned that life isn't defined by one game, or even four. In Nebraska, he's found out how quickly one month can change a man's life. On Sept. 15, the Cornhuskers were back on the national stage. They were undefeated and ranked 14th in the country and had "College GameDay" and No. 1 USC in town. Three humiliating losses later, Callahan's fate is seemingly sealed. He walks off the practice field, and the wife of one of the assistants is holding a basket of cookies and asks Callahan if he wants one. He hesitates, then says why not. With 1.7 million people breathing down his neck, why worry about calories? Callahan supporters -- and they are scarce now -- say he was an outsider who was never really given a chance, an NFL guy who grew up in a big city and was never embraced by a corn-growing, football-loving state. "You do the best you can," Callahan says. "You treat people right, with respect and dignity. There's nothing you can do. "I don't think Bob Devaney was born here, either. In coaching, wherever you're at, you make it your home and do the best you can."

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It is just before 7 o'clock, gray skies are giving way to darkness, and Tom Osborne walks to the parking lot and fumbles for the keys to his SUV. He is unassuming -- his briefcase looks more like a black beach bag stuffed with papers; his keys are operated the old-fashioned way, with no remote. A man who's been waiting in the parking lot asks for his autograph, and Osborne gives him a grandfatherly smile. "Got it!" the guy says to a buddy as they rush off.

Bruce Thorson/US Presswire

Many are hoping Tom Osborne will be able to restore Nebraska football to national-title contender status.

Osborne seems so out of place in this new job -- he spent part of the day trying to find his new office -- and yet so suited. One of his first orders of business was to send an e-mail to all of the ex-players, welcoming them to stop by, visit his third-floor office, or stand on the sidelines during games. "I can only speak for me personally, as well as the guys I talk to on a daily basis," says former defensive star Chad Kelsay, "but we feel like things are in good hands now." Osborne says the feeling of disconnect was natural. For 40 years, young and old men could walk into South Stadium and find a familiar face. Continuity and repetition were just the Nebraska way. But even Osborne knows that times change. He walks past a statue of himself, bronzed in far different times. He clutches onto his umbrella. It's about to rain again.

Some Time Off

That's not us in Lincoln, obviously. I don't own much Chiefs gear so I have to sport my Husker red while at Arrowhead.

I just did this same thing over at KC Bean Boy (my Red Sox blog) but I figured I'd do this one too, since I know some people out there actually read this.

I won't be doing much writing in here for the next couple of weeks because I somehow managed to trick that lady in the picture next to me into marrying me. So, after this weekend we're off to Mexico for the next week and I won't be back until after the Texas A&M game.

Hopefully Nebraska took some time this week to figure something out on defense so they can hang with Oklahoma State at home. I'm sure the Cowboys will put up some major points and yards and drive my family crazy on my wedding day. Thanks again, Husker football. Despite the spanking at the hands of Mizzou I'm still confident that Nebraska can string together two wins in the next couple of weeks. Then it's off to Texas and Kansas...yikes. We'll get into that at the end of the month, I'm sure I'll have a lot to say.

A Prayer for the Faithful

Dear Nebraska Cornhusker fan,

I feel your pain. How can I possibly understand you ask? This season is almost too much to bear. Well, it's because I am also aflicted in the year 2007 with being a fellow Husker fan. Still hopelessly on the bandwagon, even though it was never really a choice in my family. Believe me, I tried to defect. However, I'm digressing already. Let's focus.

We talk our team up out of spring and fall camp and speak about our rise to glory, our resurgence and even how this will be the year that we truly “Restore the Order.” Then the season starts. Where is the running game? What's with all this passing? How come our defense couldn't stop a leaky kitchen faucet? Where in Congress is Tom Osborne? I want my conference titles! I want my national title hopes back!

Sadly, the former sentiments are dashed and latter statements echo throughout Husker Nation by the strengthening hand of uprising teams in the Big 12 North. Who could have imagined just ten years ago losing to teams like Kansas and Missouri? Who would have thought we'd have to focus on just making it out of the conference? We once had loftier goals, like only paying attention to who'd we'd be playing for the National Championship. The aforementioned in our backyard are teams that only play basketball, right? Our sport is the manliest of manly sports, football, and it belongs to us. The lesser schools of the conference formally known as the Big 8 dare not infringe upon our God-given rights as Cornhusker fans. Who would allow such an atrocity?

Do not fret fellow fanatic, because some positive events have transpired since earlier this decade. First, you've stopped taking things for granted. You probably even hug your wife a little tighter before going to work and may slip in an extra 'I love you' while she stays at home ironing your Dockers for the weekend. You may even give your boyfriend an extra kiss goodbye, because the last few seasons have taught you that nothing lasts forever.

You have learned to look to the future and be hopeful. You don't necessarily dwell on events that turn out poorly in the present because hey, there's always next month's sales goal to reach. Don't worry about this go 'round because you'll get it the next time around tiger.

Maybe you have learned that chores on Saturday are important. When Nebraska loses I usually take my aggression out on my apartment by means of cleaning it. Let me tell you, after last night's loss I would be confident enough to eat ice cream off of my toilet bowl.

You've also learned the value of a buck and maybe have even become frugal. I know you want to believe that you'll be booking your flights and hotel rooms to such far off destinations like Miami or Tempe, just like you did in the late 80's and through the 90's. It's always nice to escape the cold Nebraska winters through Epply Airfield. Hold on to your Discover Cards and American Express, because our comeuppance has only began.

Prepare to keep sharpening those good Midwestern Christian values of patience and understanding. They will come in handy in the next few years while Steve Pederson and Bill Callahan try to figure out another way to eek out another Big 12 North title, only to flame out in the postseason. So keep hoping and praying Husker faithful, maybe even tip your priest or minister a few more bucks at the collection place on Sundays, because this team is going to need some divine intervention to be successful this season and maybe the next few seasons.

Warmly,

ZSS

Scarlet and Creamed

Nebraska could add the colors of black and blue to their pallet after last night's stunning loss in Columbia, Missouri at the hands of the #17 ranked Missouri Tigers. It was the most painful game to watch since Texas Tech hung more than 70 on the Huskers back in 2004. The Huskers looked lost and helpless, even when they had a shot to make a game out of it in the first half, not unlike the game against USC three weeks earlier.

I had picked Nebraska to win this game at the beginning of the season, then again I had no idea how inept and flat our awful this defense is. I think the title of Blackshirts needs to be shelved until they can put together an effort or squad worthy of the moniker. It will send a message that the defense as a unit needs to work for and earn the title, not just walk into it just because they play for the Huskers.

The offense was unable to get into the end zone for the first time since 2004 when they lost to the Sooners 31-3 in Norman, Oklahoma. I keep going back to that '04 season, not a good sign considering that's where Bill Callahan and company started. If anything, this team has regressed into a shell of it's 2005 and 2006 selves, which isn't really saying that much.

The offense didn't do the D any favors by only converting on 6-of-16 third downs. Nebraska also shot themselves in the foot with penalties on both sides of the ball. Missouri ended up on the short end of the stick when it came to penalties, however the Huskers were not able to overcome them in quite the same fashion as their counterparts.

The Husker running game was virtually non-existent. The team rushed for 74 yards on 25 attempts. Junior Marlon Lucky was stifled for the duration with 67 yards on 17 carries. Sam Keller looked lost and frustrated (probably due to the lack of protection) connecting on 25 completions on 43 receptions for 223 yards with on interception.

This is by far one of the most painful losses I can remember that didn't involve losing in a National Championship game from the early nineties. In '04 it was expected because Callahan brought his new offense to the table with players left over from a system stuck in neutral. Keep in mind that in 2003 Frank Solich was fired after going 10-3. Remember that when Nebraska finishes 6-6 with a bowl appearance landing somewhere between mid-December and I-could-care-less. I'm not saying retaining Solich was the answer, because the Huskers had clearly downgraded since the Eric Crouch (and earlier) era. In all honesty keep in Solich around after the '97 season was a mistake anyway. Nebraska coaching legend Tom Osborne was forced into retirement to retain Solich so he wouldn't go coach somewhere else. That's how loyal Osborne was. The could be still recruiting quality players and competing, maybe not for national titles, but at least he'd still be around with the Joe Pa's and Bowdens of the world. Then again, there is something to be said for going out on top. That' a point that this program will not see themselves at for quite some time.

So what's the prognosis? It's not like this program is on life support. Callahan made an interesting quote during the Big 12 conference call on Monday earlier this week. When asked if he had seen statistically what Missouri was capable of, offensively speaking, he said (paraphrasing here) that he is more concerned with his offense and not that aware of what they've done statistically. Read between the lines and it goes something like this. “The Missouri offense and learning to defend against it is not my problem, and I'm basically throwing my defensive coordinator under the bus to be fired at the end of the year.” Pretty simple. My biggest problem was letting Bo Pelini go, if we could have retained him as a coordinator. He wanted the keys to the car, and the Nebraska athletic department wasn't ready to hand them over to a largely unknown assistant at the time. If LSU runs the table this year expect to see Pelini heading up a decent to prominent college program in 2008.

Mistakes are not always made by the coaching staff. Sure, they do all the talent evaluating, recruiting, game planning and handle the execution of a lot of day to day items. However, the personnel and long term hires are made by one Steve Pederson. Right now, you've got to believe that Pederson, Callahan and defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove are all on the hotseat. Fans in Lincoln have little patience for games like last night and for stringing games together like the past few weeks. Just as you can tell with the tone of this entry. I'm more concerned with the big picture than one game against a conference “rival.” I put rival in quotes because in the last 30 years the Huskers are 27-3 against the Tigers. Sorry Mizzou fans, another decade of trading home wins and we'll call it a rivalry.

Here is my take. Fire Cosgrove, retain Callahan for another year or two and keep him on a short leash. Teams under Callahan have a track record of tail spinning out of control when the team is in disarray. Don't believe me? See the 2003 Oakland Raiders one year removed from winning the AFC Championship and losing in Super Bowl XXXVII. The Husker program has deep pockets and will need to do a better job at keeping staffers and scouts happier and satisfied to stay with the program. With all programs limited to 85 scholarship players it's hard to find the right talent. Bottom line, this is where the focus should begin. Turing good recruiting classes into great teams.

What helped with yesterday's loss? Seeing USC's 35 game home winning streak come to an end at the hands of the Stanford Fightin' Harbaugh's. The look on Pete Carroll's face and on the faces of 85,000 Trojan fans? Priceless. Sure it's petty and lame to feel good about another teams misfortune, but so what? My team sucks and I'm bitter.

Bad D Rising

The defense stinks. That’s about as plain as I can put it. It the past three weeks the Blackshirts have allowed over 1400 yards and find themselves as the 77^th rated defense in the country. It’s a far cry from the days of the real Blackshirts consistently staying in the top five in the country. USC was obviously way too powerful and had a mismatch at every position. Ball State may have been a bit of a hangover and a trap game, but they still found a way to win. The first 25 minutes of last Saturday’s game against Iowa State had me thinking that the Cyclones could go into Lincoln and win. Thankfully, the Huskers found a way to win both games after the Trojan debacle.

This weekend could be a flat out disaster. I realized at the beginning of the year that the defensive line would be a little weak due to lack of experience, I just didn’t think it would be this bad. Kevin Cosgrove isn’t doing his squad any favors either by not adjusting to what opposing offenses are doing either.

The one saving grace this weekend against Mizzou will be that Tony Temple has basically been nowhere. I know I haven’t heard much about their running game. Hopefully they don’t find their stride Saturday night. Nebraska’s defense is going to be on the field a lot, just like they have been the last three weeks. If anything, it’s conditioning them quite well.

Despite the fact that Iowa State ran a gaudy 102 plays from scrimmage last week, they were only able to put 17 points on the board. Nebraska also turned the ball over three times in the first half and somehow found themselves up 14-10 at the half. You can’t play like this against a quality opponent and on the road. Faurot Field will be a madhouse and the Huskers will have to do something to keep the crowd out of it and keep Missouri’s offense off the field.

If Nebraska can keep some long drives going, and sustain some semblance of a drive now and again, it will increase their chances of winning. Missouri doesn’t stay on the field long while moving the ball. If the Huskers can wear down the Tiger defense they should be able to put up some points in the second half.

All optimism aside, Missouri is one of the best at third down conversions and Nebraska so far is not playing up to par on stopping teams on third. That’s not a very good stat to take on the road with you. I picked the Huskers to win at the beginning of the year, but I’m going to rescind. Missouri 34, Nebraska 17.