Big Red Roundtable - No Offense for Young Quarterbacks

I would like to express my feelings for much of the past five days through the music of Waylon Jennings (and lyrics of Billy Joe Shaver)...

Omaha you've been weighing heavy on my mind.
Guess I really never left at all.
I'm turning all those roads I walked around the other way.
Coming back to you, Omaha.

Swap Omaha for Lincoln and you've pretty much summed up what's happening for a number of coaches and players right now (and doesn't it kick the hell out of that Counting Crows song?). After four seasons of turmoil and swallowed pride the notion itself is almost too much to comprehend.

Hence, a meeting of the minds...a Big Red Roundtable:

The 2007 season finished with a disappointing 5-7 record. Very few people expected this. What went wrong?

Well, you know, we don't have the answer to that. We're just going to get back to work this off-season and get ready for San Jose State. They're a good football te...wait...that's over now.

Forgive me.

Everyone seems to point to the quartering USC performed on the defense and I think that's a pretty good starting point. As for why that game sent the entire season spiralling out of control, your guess is as good as mine.

But I also think that the excitement surrounding Sam Keller seemed to cloud the fact that he was essentially a first year quarterback in this system. Seeing what Joe Ganz did after Keller's injury only confirmed the popular notion that Callahan's version of the WCO isn't a system you perfect in a year. (Especially a year of scout team work.)

Combine the two and you've got pretty big deficiencies on both sides of the ball.

Bo Pelini takes over as head coach. Good move or bad?

Good. As best I can tell the feeling all around is one of renewed enthusiasm. Nebraska fans no longer feel as though their program has been hijacked. We're not hostages anymore.

Too dire? Probably but most sports talk is too dire.

Nebraska fans were divided after the last coaching change. Do you see fans finally uniting?

For the time being, yes, but at any sign of adversity people are bound to differ on the correct course of action. Right now it truly feels like a great reunion tour is about to get rolling, but the scary notion is what if it doesn't work? What if Nebraska goes back to the "Nebraska way" and, for whatever reason, it isn't enough?

Then we'll truly be at a crossroads. Right now it feels like we're fixing past mistakes, the cosmic reset button has been pressed and we're probably doing what we should've done four years ago.

But four years from now what if we find out you truly can't go home again. That's the only thing that gives me pause.

How would you like to see Bo Pelini fill out his coaching staff? Anybody or anything in particular you're looking to see?

Well, since Coach O is apparently out--and that was really just for my own individual entertainment--I can't really say I have a particular hankering for one guy over the other.

It seems as though Watson will still be around and given the keys to the offense which is good on two fronts: 1) it provides some sense of continuity and familiarity, and 2) he seems to be on the fast track to a head coaching job of his own soon enough. You want to keep those guys around.

What do you think the expectations are for Bo Pelini? Do you think he needs to win x amount or do x by a certain date?

If some people were willing to give Callahan another year after the one just passed, I have to think that Bo's on a pretty long leash. Simply restoring that Blackshirt swagger will buy the guy a lot of time because it wasn't just that Nebraska was losing under Billy C. it was how they were losing. Once Cornhusker fans can recognize their team again and fully stand behind what they're preaching and doing, I think the majority are willing to deal with some losses.

That said, the expectation is still to win. Many commenters I've seen think that Big 12 North is within reach next year and I'm inclined to agree, but simply getting back to a style of play dominated by work ethic will probably be enough for at least three years.

I think the turning point will eventually be the Big Game performance. For a brief period simply getting to big games and playing well will be enough, but by year three or four the questions will start to pop up, can Pelini win the big one?

That's the question that followed Osborne for almost his entire career but the difference now is entire careers are often only three or four years long.

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Big Red Roundtable - Back to the Future Edition

Is there still a game this week?

1. Steve Pederson is out as athletic director. Did you see it coming? Good move or bad move?

I did not see it coming, not this early, but it was a move that had to be made. Cornhusker fans no longer feel as if they're being held hostage and that's an improvement right?

I knew I couldn't trust Pederson from day one when his first order of business wasn't getting rid of Lil' Red. It's all been downhill from there.

In fact, after Tom Osborne "works himself out of his job" I would be happy to take the reins as the one-day interim AD solely so I could bring an end to the Lil' Red era. I've imagined it many times. A giant pair of ceremonial ribbon-cutting scissors and thousands of doves dyed red.

After that I would resign in good standing.

2. Tom Osborne has returned as Pederson's interim replacement. Good move/bad move? What should Osborne's priorities be, and what does Osborne need to do?

Lot of different ways to look at this. On one hand Osborne may have been the only move. Who else was out there, readily available and able to immediately bring a sense of calm to the entire situation?

On the other hand, I was concerned that if Osborne was to take the job stick around, maybe find a new coach and then jet, his successor would be left in a particularly difficult position. A coach he didn't hire and one he essentially couldn't fire as he'd been hand-picked by the good Doctor himself. Sound familiar? Luckily, with the open-ended interim tag that seems like less of a concern.

As for priorities--since finding Callahan's successor is more my priority--I'll go with something Osborne mentioned himself: solidifying some sort of recruiting class. (And it won't be the class most have been salivating over for the past few months.) From this point forward, the current coaching staff is basically hamstrung in terms of what they can do based on that "end of the season evaluation" that appears to be on tap.

Oh and fixing the womens soccer team. They're currently 10th in the Big 12.

3. The Huskers have been blown out two straight weeks. What is happening with the football team, and what does the rest of the season look like?

I wish I knew. The most easily identifiable and conveniently generic problem seems to be a lack of fire. Quite simply, the Cornhuskers don't look very excited to be playing football right now. Based on everything we see and read, they lover their coaches and to see them come under fire doesn't make things any easier.

Couple that with the fact that Nebraska's been playing from behind for the better part of a month and that only exacerbates things. At the start of the OSU game it looked like a team hoping something good would happen rather than trying make something good happen. When it didn't, the game was over.

Getting a lead or some early momentum will be the key to this week's A&M game and probably the rest of the season. The people are ready to cheer in earnest again. Hopefully the team can feed off that vibe.

4. firecoz.com and billmustgo.com are getting lots of internet traffic. Steve Pederson is already gone. Tom Osborne says nobody will be fired during the season. What happens with this coaching staff?

Most will receive nice parting gifts--some silverware, a pair of BK Knights and a symbolic wooden headset--and that specifically includes the guys with websites devoted solely to their job prospects.

I've had enough rumors for a few days at this point but even without all that, the writing appears to be on the wall and I'm not talking about the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex.

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Big Red Roundtable - Emergency Edition

Better late than never...

1. Assess the Huskers performance this year. What is going well and what has surprised you?

Like everyone else I would say Sam Keller is going well. I had my doubts in the preseason, given the complexity of the WCO, whether or not Cowboy Keller would approach Zac Taylor's numbers on the season. Looks like he will (with a few more INTs) but the "new school record for passing yards in a game" is becoming tiresome. We get it, Nebraska throws a bit now.

As for the surprise--beyond getting bitch-slapped by the Blackshirts the past two games--I would say how much we miss last year's front four is the biggest surprise for two reasons: 1) there was some sentiment that Nebraska might not fall that far from last year's numbers because 2) the d-line was so good in 2005 that, as a heralded veteran bunch in 2006, teams set out to stop them, the sack totals went down and everyone began to wonder where the hyped hogmollies were. Now the answer seems to be that they were keeping offensive lineman (specifically Trojans) off our linebackers.

2) Let's not sugar coat things; the Blackshirts are struggling. What do you think the issue is, and what needs to be done to rectify things this season?

I actually saw my first real footage from the Ball State game today on the Coach Callahan Show and, somewhat ashamedly, it didn't look nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Maybe it truly is fundamental breakdowns. The defense was "on schedule" in terms of down and distance a number of times but then a missed tackle or blown coverage popped up and the Cardinals kept drives alive. Aside from "the fundamentals," however, the front four has to start beating some people one on one. Quarterback pressure can neutralize a number of things.

3) Kevin Cosgrove is the target of a lot of criticism over the play of the Blackshirts. How will this play out?

I'll say this: if Bill Callahan can't fire Cosgrove at the end of the season then he has no business being the head coach at Nebraska. I'm not saying he should--there's still time to turn things around--but if he can't than he made a major misstep in hiring his best friend. Right now it feels a lot like Solich's penultimate season. Significant coordinator changes could be the last gasp effort at salvaging the whole thing. If things don't improve, Coz will be gone one way or another after 07.


4) You went into this season with some expectations. Has the start to this season changed your mind? Where do you see the Huskers at the end of the season?

I didn't really expect Nebraska to be 4-0 heading into conference play but I did expect a better showing collectively in the three home games we've seen thus far. Many Husker fans looked at Missouri's preseason favorite status in the North as disrespect but now that looks more and more like reality. Overall, I still think Nebraska ends up one game above or below the 8-4 mark but the difference lies in that Missouri game. Whereas I thought Nebraska would be in the drivers seat for much of the season, now it looks like they might need some help.

5) There was a loud chorus of boos last weekend at Memorial Stadium. Your reaction? Is it okay to boo the Huskers under any circumstance?

The Yun' Ball Coach (a good friend of mine for the uninitiated) and I were talking about this today. Nebraska's reputation as "The Greatest Fans in College Football" might be as much of a curse as a blessing. I often feel like some Husker fans are hesitant to be entirely honest in their yearly or game to game assessment due to the fact that they have a reputation to uphold. For every person booing on Saturday how many were holding themselves back because of the TGFICFB mantle? I can't answer that question but, in my mind, that's denying one of the divine rights of being a fan, the right to be unhappy, to question the direction.

For a long time, it was easy to be a Nebraska fan. We were national champions three out of the four years I was in high school. I never expected to lose to anybody. Now it's hard. But when you get right down to it, I would rather see some people in yet another sold out stadium boo than see those same seats go empty. There are some who will say that the consecutive sell-out streak needs to end if change is to occur (provided that's your preferred course of action).

I'm of the opinion that the streak is the last true bridge between the Nebraska of yore and that of the future that we have left. The record setting sell-outs represent loyalty and, more than any smattering of boos, that represents what Nebraska fans are about. While everyone may not agree on where the program is at or where it's heading, the one constant is that we show up. Through thick and thin, sickness and health and any other cliche you can imagine.

When--nay if--we lose that we'll know that Nebraska has become just another football program.

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