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UNIQUE POST-GAME ANALYSIS

Jim Rose provides a weekly look at Nebraska athletics. Installments of Jim’s blog will appear on this page after each week’s gridiron contest.

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Each week, a special audio clip from the last Nebraska football game will be loaded here. Sports Nightly listeners will be asked to identify the clip on Wednesday night for a chance to win great prizes from the Nebraska Lottery. The program airs weeknights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Central Time).

DO HUSKER FANS EXPECT TOO MUCH?

Before Monday’s Capital One Bowl against Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, the last time Nebraska matched up with one of his teams, it was early evening, 1996 in the Fiesta Bowl.  #1 vs. #2.  An epic battle was to ensue.

Not quite.

We know how it all turned out.  Tommie and his guys trampled U of F and coach Spurrier to cement another perfect season in Husker lore.

We would do it again in 1997.

When Coach Osborne relinquished the job to dutiful assistant Frank Solich, he left the game having won 60 of his previous 63 games.  Astounding.   Included were three National Titles and appearances in 4 National Title contests—in just his last five years.

Ah, the memories.

Trouble with memories is that in sports, fans want to re live them.  I call it the “13-0 mentality” which is to say, “Hey if they can do it once—we should be able to do it all the time.”

Expectations.  They drive us to success and failure.

Just like the coach (or previous coach) who won the title, fans and pundits now make that the baseline of expectations.  Dave Van Horn and Mike Anderson took Nebraska Baseball from the scrap heap to the conference title and eventually the CWS.   Had Mike been modestly successful (just getting to the NCAA Tournament and maybe a Super Regional, they’d be talking Hall of Fame for him right now).    Just like the sales guy who has a record year; forget about getting credit for that performance, he is now expected to do at least that well and improve each year.

Is it realistic?

Which brings us to Bo Pelini and these Huskers.   His team melted down again in the loss to South Carolina.    It was not an isolated incident.  Same thing happened at A/M last year and the Holiday Bowl against Washington.   Happened against Wisconsin and Michigan this year.  What to make of it?

I truly believe that all organizations, great and small reflect the actions, attitudes and personality of its leader.   In the case of Bo and Co., these guys follow him.   They believe in him.  They reflect him on and off the field.   If he is curt and antagonistic toward the fans and media, they will be too.  If he complains and is distracted by the officials, so too they will be.   If he is inconsistent with his player treatment or unclear about expectations, expect the same from them.   If he is emotionally unstable and prone to outbursts, be not surprised if you see the same thing from the players and other staff.

Conversely, if he is focused, disciplined and consistent in all his walks in life, they will be too; and they will never repeat mistakes for fear of letting their leader down.

Are we expecting a perfect leader for this program?  In the process, are we unsatisfied with anything less than perfect?   What is reasonable to expect from Bo or anybody?

Quick: name the perfect coaches in college or pro sports today?   Saban?  Miles?  Snyder?  Kryschewski?  Williams?  Meyer?    Name perfect coaches in your lifetime?   Osborne?  Bryant? Dedeaux? Smith?

Not a big list is it?

I want to win championships again.  I want a repeat of that night in Arizona when we made the Gators into shoes and suitcases.    But I also know the landscape of college football is much more competitive today for Nebraska than it was that night.  Academic restrictions, recruiting rules, the Big 10 vs. the Big 8, facilities, good coaches who are well paid.    It’s not that we’ve dropped; it’s that everybody else has gotten a lot better.

I still think Bo will get better as a head coach.

IS 9-3 OK WITH YOU?

IS 9-3 OK WITH YOU?
by Jim Rose, 11/27/11

For all those years, Nebraska Football was boringly consistent. Win 9 of 12 games. Play in a bowl game. Finish in the top 15. Recover. See you at the at the Spring game.

Then it all starts over again.

That went on from 1969-2001. Nice stretch. Now, along the way, Coach Devaney’s group from 1970-71 won 32 in a row and a couple of national titles. That wetted appetites around here to the point where we weren’t sure Coach Osborne was up to the job. If you thought that was bad, walk around in Frank Solich’s shoes. He took over in 1998 after Tom’s last five teams went 60-3!

In 90% of the other programs in the USA, Frank would have a statue of him outside the stadium. But his 10-3 team got him fired (OK, SP might have been trigger happy but be honest, you weren’t sold on Frankie after the blowout loss at home to K-State.).

You know where I’m going with this. Bo’s team went 9-3 and a lot of folks around here aren’t too happy. Let’s examine reality.

1. We fell in love Pelini after he guided the improved defense from ’02-’03 and led the team to the Alamo Bowl championship then got run out by Pederson. We didn’t know him that well, but his first impression was killer.

2. Circa Nov. 2007 Tom Osborne went shopping for a coach who was a cultural fit, knew the place, wanted the job, was a defensive specialist, didn’t have an agent and wouldn’t cost a terrorist ransom. He was also the favorite of guys close to Tom. Bo filled the bill on all fronts. Husker Nation was euphoric.

3. Not only did Bo bring a rookie head coach but the staff was interesting. Three offensive holdovers from the Callahan regime who likely would not have been picked by Bo on the open market. Throw in Barney Cotton (A Husker from head to Toe—and again, would Bo have plucked him against anybody else available to coach OL)? He brought in Carl Pelini who’d never been a full time coach/recruiter at a BCS level school and John Papuchis, who was a grad assistant coach in 2007.

None of this is meant to imply that they aren’t good at their jobs. But the moral of the story here is that a big chunk of Bo and his staff is relatively young and inexperienced in game strategy and recruiting. You get good at that through time and games.

Those are all factors that led to puzzling performances against Wisconsin, NW and Michigan. It has also led to a gap in overall talent in key positions such as OL, QB DL and DB. Bo has recruited his kind of guy which is all fine so long as they make plays and win games. At last count, he has three of them: Dennard, David and Burkhead. That’s good for a program that is good with 9-3 but this one isn’t (See Bo’s remarks about “Success here is defined by Championships”) . He may need to do a little more selling to outstanding prospects rather than telling them to sign or pound sand. (Note: He hasn’t actually told anybody to pound sand but Pelini’s style isn’t to stroke 18 year old egos).

My belief is that Bo can make this road softer for himself and make it a lot more enjoyable for everybody if he would adjust his approach to the role of head coach. Not the job. The duties. While his sideline demeanor was vastly improved, his approach with the media was borderline adversarial. He banned reporters from practice and challenged others in news conferences. He stared down fans after losses and declared his lack of care for their concerns. His coaches and players were always available after wins but somehow disappeared after losses. That kind of culture is not user friendly. When times get tough, you want to be surrounded by friendly users, not unfriendly ones.

I truly believe Bo is the man for the job here. I believe he will grow and the program will thrive with him. I was particularly impressed with his remarks AFTER the Penn State game. It shows a depth of character lacking in college sports today.

We all need to remember that the 13-0 mentality that governs expectations around here is nice but unrealistic. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be an annual goal. It should remain. It should also accompany the reality that today’s college football environment invites many to have that goal. Many more than at any other time.

Whassup with the Huskers?

Whassup with the Huskers?
by Jim Rose, 11/20/11

Back in late September 1962, first year head coach Bob Devaney took his Nebraska Cornhuskers in to Ann Arbor, Michigan and won the game. Years later, Bob would recollect that it was a signature win. That it was the “start of something.”

That was the last time Nebraska played the Wolverines in Michigan Stadium until last Saturday.

The reasons Nebraska lost that game are pretty clear: The offense couldn’t stay on the field (didn’t convert a 3rd down until the second half), the defense couldn’t get off the field (another good day for the other offense in TOP, yards gained, points and poor tackling), the special teams were dreadful (dropping punt snaps, fumbling kickoffs, roughing punters) and some key penalties. Mix all of that in with a splendid Dennard Robinson and an excellent defensive line led by Mike Martin and Michigan had it pretty easy. The loss send the Huskers spinning out of Division title contention and far away from the BCS for the 10th straight year.

Whereas that triumph in 1962 answered a lot of questions about the direction of the program under coach Devaney, the rather convincing loss to the Wolverines this past week may have produced a few new ones under coach Bo Pelini.
• Why in “meaningful” games (with title implications on the line, bowl possibilities, national prestige) since 2008 do the Huskers have a knack for self-inflicted wounds? Key penalties, dropped punt snaps, fumbles…..
• Why the mental lapses when one would think that the spoils before the lads would give them a heightened sense of urgency in preparation and game day readiness?

This is a bit of a pattern. Va Tech in ’09, Iowa State in ’09, Texas Tech in ’09, Texas in ’10, the Big 12 Title game in ’10, Wisconsin in ’11, NW in ’11, now U of M in ’11. Now in each of those years, the Huskers enjoyed good wins wrapped around those losses.

On the surface, it’s easy to blame coaches. And in fairness, they are handsomely compensated to sufficiently prepare the guys to play their best each week. If the preparation isn’t there, the coaches are ultimately to blame. Whether its scouting, game planning, game management, personnel decisions, or recruiting—-the guys on the sidelines and in the coaches booth are it.

But there may be another explanation to consider. The kids. Kids who are also players. This doesn’t infer that the players were perfectly prepared by the staff and just blew it. This is to consider the mental DNA of 18-21 year old athletes today.

I’m not sold that they have the mental toughness or maturity (up and down the roster)that previous generations of kids had. Why? Simple. Things are too easy for them. In their young lives, they’ve been given a lot more than they’ve earned. The really don’t recognize sacrifice and commitment. Goal setting is more talk than action.

From where I sat in Michigan Stadium, three kids were ready to WIN on Saturday. They were all ready to play, but only Burkhead, David and Cassidy were ready to WIN. I’m sure there were more but I watched a whole lot of guys in red get blocked, try to arm tackle somebody, make mental mistakes, miss tackles, fumble, and get beat by a Michigan guy at the line of scrimmage. Consistently. Why is that? Don’t the practice year around? Sure. Don’t they lift weights? Sure. Don’t they spend hours in meetings and film study? Of course. But EVERYBODY has to do that.
That stuff is a given.

So what does motivate guys these days? Never met an athlete worth the weight of his equipment that LIKED that stuff. To the committed ones, that stuff is a means to an end. And the end is two things: Playing time and winning.

We have a lot of players right now who are on the field in their first and/or second years. We have very few 5th year seniors or even fourth year juniors on the field. Those are the guys who have paid the price. Those are the guys who never quit. Nothing came easy for them so they don’t give up easily. They come mentally prepared to WIN because they’ve given so much just to have the chance to win.

Today’s young athlete is coddled and caressed. Today’s young athlete and his parents/agent shops for teams/schools that offer immediate playing time and instant gratification. They are showed with comforts, (equipment, uniforms, luxury accommodations) from the time they are 9 years old. They are given private lessons, personal trainers, special attention. All the while, the kid develops a “me first” mentality and sense of entitlement.

Again, that doesn’t universally apply to this team of Cornhusker football players. But think about the culture in our country today related to youth sports. Think about when YOU played and compare it to the environment your son and or grandson is in now.

A MOMENT FOR THE AGES:

A MOMENT FOR THE AGES:
by Jim Rose, 11/12/11

“Father god, we thank you so much. We thank you for choosing us to be here, this day, this time. We know you called us specifically, each and every one of these young men. Called to this platform today. Lord we need to know. We know we have no control over the events of this week. But we do know that you are bigger than it all. And we give you the glory that you are going to protect this stadium and this town today and these universities and these students. And that you would give great sense to all of them. Father god, there are a lot of little boys around the country today watching this game. And they are trying to figure out what the definition of manhood is all about. But father this is it right here. I pray that this will be a training ground of what manhood looks like. That we would compete with fierce intensity and with the honor of the gifts and talents you’ve given us. And that we would be reminded Lord and you say in John 14 that Jesus if full and grace and truth. May the truth be known, may justice be known, and protect the victims. Father, it was you who gave grace and forgiveness in the lives of all those who follow. All of us here, need your forgiveness. Now, give us a great game; a game that honors you. It is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

You were just on the field with the Nittany Lions, the Cornhuskers and Coach Ron Brown prior to Saturday’s game.

THE HUSKERS WERE ALL TOGETHER ON THIS ONE

THE HUSKERS WERE ALL TOGETHER ON THIS ONE.
by Jim Rose, 11/6/11

“Have at it.”

That was the first thing out of Bo after the stunning home field loss to Northwestern.

It might be a lot of things. It might be a metaphor for what the Wildcats were able to do. It might be the early Christmas gift the Huskers gave to now division favorite Michigan State which is a spot in the Big 10 Title game.

It might just be the most defensive thing that happened all day.

All together, a big bummer.

And hard to figure.

Just over a week ago, this was the same Northwestern defense that played like purple Kool-Aid to Indiana! Huh? Yep, the Hoosiers rolled up 300+ yards rushing in a blowout loss to the Wildcats. NW just simply outscored them. Reading that we all thought this will be child’s play on Saturday in Lincoln.

Not so fast. The Husker run game was anemic. Good for just over 120 yards the whole day. Consistently, the little NW defensive lineman stuff NU’s power game, zone read game and option game. On top of that, NU returned to a nasty habit of just fumbling the ball. Even Superman Rex got a touch of fumblitis. Offensive Co-coordinator Tim Beck benched a couple of OL starters in the 2nd half pushing any button to fix the bad day. It never got better.

Shame, really. Taylor Martinez had a signature day. He threw sharp, crisp passes most of the afternoon. He hit a variety of receivers. Rarely forced the ball into difficult spots. What we all saw was an example of the kind of passer T-Mac can be. Short, quick, high percentage beauties that spread the defense out and open up big lanes for the ground game. Then again, nothing much works if your offensive line has a bad day.

Still, with 8 minutes to go, it was a 3 point game. NW 21, NU 18. All Martinez needed was one, measly stop by the Blackshirts, at home, against a 2nd string QB whose team went on a five game losing streak through Sept and Oct.

Didn’t happen.

With the crowd roaring, the Wildcats started with a 14 yard gash, then 11, then 14 more. When it was over, NW had run the ball 13 straight times, chewed up 7 minutes and scored the kill shot touchdown. That drive was just a symptom of a bad, bad day for the defense. Even without star QB Dan Persa who NU knocked out of the game in the 1st half, NW racked up 25 first downs and 468 total yards. Went 9 of 14 on 3rd down. Scorched the supposed improved secondary for key interior route passes. The Huskers helped out with missed assignments and poor tackling.

All of this is quite disappointing. It gives new life to Penn State’s and Michigan’s power running game plans and makes 8-4 a distinct possibility for Nebraska this year.

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THE NEXT HUSKER LEGEND GEARS UP FOR A NOVEMBER CORONATION

THE NEXT HUSKER LEGEND GEARS UP FOR A NOVEMBER CORONATION
by Jim Rose, 10/30/11

Standing on the sidelines of Nebraska’s 24-3 revealer win over Michigan State I was struck by an unwritten ritual in the annals of Husker lore. Through the years of greatness and not-so-greatness one tradition has grown: Heroes are made here but not consecrated without a companion championship.

Make notes of those names above the seats in the north end zone. They are the Mount Rushmores of our time. Rodgers, Frazier, Alberts, Steinkuhler, Rimington, Rozier. Throw in a Brown and a Novak from previous eras and you get the picture. Each of those guys enroute to their figurative statues did something memorable (in some cases many things). It was a signature play or an incredible effort in a big game. We talk about them all the time. Can we squeeze another name up there?

Burkhead.

Burkhead.

ONE FOR THE GOOD OLE DAYS

ONE FOR THE GOOD OLE DAYS
by Jim Rose, 10/23/11

Pull up a chair and let me tell you about a football team the has spent most of the last 50 years doing on Saturday afternoon what we all got to enjoy once more.

Or as Yogi Berra likes to say, “De Ja Vu all over again.” Sadly, the since the last conference title 12 years ago (gasp), these weekends have been less frequent. Too often, the Huskers have been in a four quarter tussle and sometimes they even lost the doggone game. But from the incredible weather to the gopher 3-and-outs to the gaping holes for Rex and co to the Cassidy scoop and score, holy Lyell Bremser was it fun!

Nebraskans came. They partied. They dominated.

Now will it stick?

Minnesota is by a mile THE worst team Nebraska will play all year. They can’t even manage to handle a direct snap let alone beat a ranked team. Then, the Gophers demonstrated a particularly unique trait to horrible teams: The personal foul tactic when you’re getting blown off the ball. No wonder coach Jerry Kill has had to up the prescribed meds. You’d need narcotics if you had to watch that in practice every day too. And all along we thought it had to do with his health problems.

But enough of that.

Is this just a welcomed respite from what will be a struggle all year or is this the start of something?

You know what?

Who cares?

This was just great to see.

OK, stuff to talk about: Taylor is still not an option QB. He might be someday but I doubt it. It’s not something one just “takes up.” Either you have that genetic instinct honed through years of doing it or you don’t. Taylor is a faster Jamal Lord. Which isn’t bad. JL was a pretty productive guy with half the receivers, no running backs and mediocre offensive linemen. So Tim Beck’s charge is to put stuff into the weekly mix that allows him to spread the other guys out and zap them with gashes by either T-Mac himself or Rex the Wonder horse. Continue to use the young guns and their great speed. Love the miss-direction and jailbreak screens. Those along with “bubble” screens are easy to execute and compliment the “Diamond” formation that appears best for our attack right now.

Per the Black shirts, this one may not mean anything. Minnesota is brutal on offense. Again, Nebraska got only one take-a-way (Cassidy) and the reserves in the second half allowed the Gophers to put together some long possessions. Again, there wasn’t much of a pass rush. In the first half, one of Carl’s best weapons was the Gopher receivers who had a knack for dropping passes.

So here is what’s left: Michigan State, NW, Penn State, MI and Iowa. The Huskers could lose all of them (not likely) or win all of them (not likely). Expect all of them to be hard on your fingernails.

So enjoy this one for as long as you can.

RECORD COMEBACK MAKES FOR A WILD NIGHT IN LINCOLN

RECORD COMEBACK MAKES FOR A WILD NIGHT IN LINCOLN
by Jim Rose, 10/9/11

Three things:

One Big fumble. One big QB injury. #22 plays for Nebraska.

Herbie Husker 34, Brutus the Buckeye 27.

What just happened here?

Right up to 8:00 minutes in the 3rd quarter, Nebraska was deader than Obama’s job bill. Ohio State had a 27-6 lead, the Buckeyes were running, throwing, gobbling up time and ready to make the steady rain at Memorial Stadium into a metaphor for the entire Nebraska season. Then suddenly, one of the Husker defenders, who had spent most of the night missing tackles and chasing Buckeyes down the field, did what we were promised they would be doing all year. Making a big play. Lavonte David delivered a mid section shiver on OSU QB Braxton Miller. The ball popped loose. David jumped on it. Two plays later, it was 27-13 and momentum changed sidelines.

That was not just a game changing play. It may have been a SEASON changing play and very possibly may have affected the careers of at least one quarterback and a young head coach.

A little later on, Miller, who had scorched the shaky black shirts by running and passing for nearly 200 yards, limped off the field. He was replaced by senior Joe Bauserman. He was very ordinary. Joe helped cost OSU the game. Joe the Plumber would have been as effective. His coaching staff asked him to throw the ball in a steady rain (went 1 for 10 with 1 interception and just 13 yards). Continually, they gave Nebraska extra time by throwing 20 yard out routes, caused 3-and-outs and left everybody in the Buckeye state to wonder if suddenly running the football had been declared illegal.

If Luke Fickell is shown the door at the end of the year, his inability to make in-game adjustments will be on the final employee report. His play calling after the Miller injury bordered on surreal.

Meanwhile, Taylor Martinez who spent most of the week in a bad mood, found his voice, his feet, his guts and most importantly, teammate Rex Burkhead. Nebraska behind Martinez, Burkhead and Ohio State’s idiotic play calling, ran up 306 yards of offense in the second half alone. They went to a diamond 3-back set that blew the beleaguered Buckeyes off the ball and may have finally given the Huskers an offense they can hang their lunch pails on. It opens seams for Taylor’s feet, Rex’ style and gives Martinez options at which to throw the ball that aren’t down field.

Burkhead’s performance was the stuff of legend. He carried this offense on those burley shoulders. At one point in the second half, Bo even put him back there to return punts. In the annals of Husker history, there have been bigger yardage days, but Burkhead’s 105 in the 2nd half were as impressive as anything Rozier, Green, Hipp or Calvin ever did. In fact, to these eyes it was reminiscent of what Kinney did to the Sooners in the Game of the Century.

So, now what?

How about a week off.

BIG RED THUD IN BIG TEN OPENER

BIG RED THUD IN BIG TEN OPENER
by Jim Rose, 10/3/11

In the world of marketing, there is an old paradigm about timing. Never launch a product until it is exactly the way you want it and you have enough of it on the shelf to go around. Two, never tell anything about your product until you can back it up. And three, take full advantage of your first impression.

After Saturday night in Madison, WI Nebraska football may need a new VP of Marketing.

To be sure, CEO Bo and Co don’t have the luxury of time. The calendar moves and the fall Saturdays arrive. Ready or not, put the pads on and hit somebody. But you mitigate that by doing the right things. Nebraska is doing a lot of right things. But not enough to beat good teams. Exhibit A: The Wisconsin game.

Have plenty of room for improvement in that area.

Start with what Nebraska is doing offensively. It is a fairly large mystery. Time and again, the coaching staff contends “we are not a drop back and pass the ball team.” Fine. Agreed. Then, why on earth do we see time and again, T-Mac dropping back to pass out of the pocket? At the end of the first half to the first play of the second half, Taylor threw 14 passes in 15 plays Three of them to Wisconsin Badgers. Huh? This is a fine athlete who has mechanical problems throwing the ball. He’s not that good at it. Compound that with his relative lack of capacity to effectively read defenses. This is exacerbated by a knack of not finding second and third receivers who are wide open. He is not great at throwing on the run (few are) and when you do that, you narrow the field and make it easier to defend. This is neither a recipe for a BCS bowl nor a development of his confidence. Beyond that, it is affecting the entire offense. When you take the field, it’s powerful know what you are. I’m not sold that the Husker O is at that place. Are you?

Martinez runs the ball. We must find a way to develop an offensive scheme that gets the football into the hands of the special playmakers without trying to make Martinez into a drop back passer.

On defense? Oh my. What has happened? Not one facet of this unit is ready to win a championship. Allowed another near 500 yards. Gave up lots of T.O.P and a dangerous third down conversion rate. They miss tackles, they miss read their keys, they let receivers get behind them. They don’t contain the QB, they give up large yards on 1st down and they don’t get turnovers. In short, they get blocked. This group is a lot further from quality than just getting Alphonso Dennard back. Truth is, #15 has been back for two games. The results are not encouraging. Outside of Crick, the dudes up front need to get tougher. They need to get off the ball and start registering tackles for loss. This continual 2nd and 5 or 4 or 3 is making is hard for them to get off the field. Bo’s history as a defensive mind is clear. His groups give up lots of yards on the ground and occasional big plays. In exchange for that, they make a lot of BIG PLAYS. They blitz and get there. They force turnovers. This is not happening.

Wisconsin is good. Russell Wilson looked like an All-American. But the turnovers, missed tackles, blown assignments and shaky play calling can follow you around.