Notes from a Husker Afternoon

Three items of note courtesy of HuskerExtra.com and commentary courtesy of me.

1) Before even taking a question at today's press conference, Bill Callahan opened with this:

I think as we get going I think it's important to understand that no one, and I mean no one wants to win more than I do. And I think it's really important to understand that we as a staff, and as a program, and as a team, hate to lose. And it's important to know that it destroys us emotionally to go through what we did the last week. It hurts us. We're disappointed, but nonetheless we've got to move on and we got to move on in a hurry.

Here's the issue, if you have to say those things that's a large part of the problem. That means people aren't seeing it, and anybody can say they want to win but those that actually win rarely spend much time talking about it. Where that disconnect is occurring is the one thing none of us can quite figure out.

2) The depth-chart, it's a-changin'. I'll assume most everyone has seen them by now so I'll just get down to it and one thing is for sure, it can't hurt can it? The more bloodthirsty Big Red supporters will probably be happy to see Dillard finally get a shot over McKeon and, based solely on what we've seen on the field, it's probably the right move.

Grixby ahead of Bowman? I guess. Courtney has probably been the most consistent member of the secondary but considering that Bowman's now famous Blackshirt concession is the one outward sign of leadership we've seen, that concerns me a little bit.

Blake Lawrence and Tyler Wortman look to be getting some time at the Sam linebacker position which is what most people have been asking for. If players are going to make mistakes why not let it be the young guys?

Sean Hill over J.B. Phillips. Yep.

Lance Brandenburgh over Steve Octavien. This one is more difficult. Lance has certainly done enough to earn a spot in the starting line-up, but I still believe Octavien is the best defender we have. Maybe we'll see Octavien used more up front?

Judging by the comments on the site, the announcement of these changes didn't seem to appease a whole lot of people but, again, I don't see how it can be much worse. There are only two ways a player can respond to being demoted: he can pout or he can put out. Either way you learn something. If he pouts he probably shouldn't have been there in the first place. If he puts out then you got what you wanted.

3) Chase Daniel didn't pull any punches when talking about Nebraska's devotion to rushing only three down linemen, calling Cosgrove "stubborn" and the decision to continue doing it "high school stuff."

I'd be pissed if I didn't agree with him.