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.
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