Too Little, Too Late

Momentarily on this past Saturday afternoon, I almost mistook the 2007 Nebraska Cornhuskers for the 1997 Huskers. Almost. Except rather than piling up 500 yards on the ground, it was through the air. I hadn’t watched a thorough beating like this against a conference opponent since the days of Eric Crouch, and certainly not against Kansas State since well before his time. Not that I'm ready to hang my hat on this one game, it's been a terrible season to say the least.

Being in Lincoln this late in the year with Nebraska facing the possibility of finishing 4-and-7 and not making a bowl for the second time in four years was something I personally had never experienced. I was driving up from Kansas City Saturday morning and thought to myself that taking this much time out of my weekend to watch my team lose was a waste of time. At least I had Monday off.

You can’t imagine how glad I am that I went. The Huskers I saw with my own eyes Saturday resembled nothing I had watched at any point this year on TV. When you are up 66-17 in the fourth quarter it’s hard to believe that this team was coming off a five game losing streak.

Junior Quarterback Joe Ganz had a record setting day with 510 yards through the air and 7 passes into the endzone. About half were connecting with receivers in stride (something Sam Keller struggled with all year) and the other half were in the redzone scrambling after K-State coverage held up after the snap. The play most people that were there talked about most was Ganz’s 4^th and 20 run where he leveled a Wildcat while running out of bounds. Looks like someone has been waiting for his chance to prove he can QB at Nebraska.

Saturday was also Senior Day at Memorial Stadium and it was great seeing players like wide receiver Franz Hardy score three touchdowns and Bo Ruud and Corey McKeon contribute to a great defensive effort.

Speaking of which he defense actually looked almost like the Blackshirts. Almost. For a unit that had surrendered so many points this year it was astounding to see that until the back-ups came in they limited the K-State offense to under 250 total yards and 17 points.

Where was this team all year? Probably not responding to Bill Callahan’s faith in senior transfer Sam Keller. It just didn’t look like the team could rally around him and play for him. With Ganz, it appears to be the exact opposite. Another factor is that Ganz has been in the system two years longer than Keller. I don’t care how many practice squad snaps you take, for the amount of work that goes into learning the West Coast offense there is no substitute for time spent studying and living with the playbook.

So where does this leave the Huskers? They have the possibility to go to a bowl game provided they can travel to Boulder and beat Colorado on the road on November 23^rd. Both are 5-6 and competing to receive a bowl bid. After watching Nebraska last Saturday I like their chances off a bye week, provided they can execute on the same level as they did against Kansas State.

Last Saturday’s 42 point win will not be saving Callahan’s job, and I’m pretty sure everyone knows it. Beating K-State soundly at home and resting hopes on the final game against Colorado to maybe get into a bowl game is not something most fans signed on for four years ago. A lot of Husker faithful are clamoring for either Louisiana State defensive coordinator Bo Pelini or University of Buffalo coach and Husker legend Turner Gil. A lot has to happen to bring Pelini to Lincoln. If current LSU head coach Les Miles leaves for Michigan (provided Lloyd Carr is fired or retires, which depends on this weekend’s game in Ann Arbor against rival Ohio State) LSU’s athletic director Stanley “Skip” Bertman has expressed great interest in retaining Pelini. Right now, I’d stay in Baton Rouge. Gil has climbed the ranks rather quickly. He spent a lot of time as the Husker’s quarterback coach refining such Husker greats as Tommie Frazier, Brook Berringer, Scott Frost and Eric Crouch. He served as Director of Player Personnel for the Green Bay Packers before shipping up to Buffalo in 2006. It would be a great story to have a Husker player to come back and turn this program back into a national powerhouse. After all, the greatest success has come under coaches that have been close to the program and the university. I’m just not sure if he’s ready yet. But he’s familiar with the state, the program and what it takes to please fans in Nebraska.