foxsports.com-Callahan unhappy with Nebraska's struggles

[nebraskan-N-texas]

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - After seeing his defense allow a combined 89 points and more than 1,000 yards in two home games, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan feels the same way as the Cornhuskers' disheartened fans.

 

"I'm glad we have a 3-1 record as we go into conference competition," he said Monday, "but I'm not pleased where we're at."

No one would have expected the 25th-ranked Cornhuskers to be undefeated at this point, not with top-ranked Southern California on the early schedule. But other than a season-opening, 42-point win over Nevada, Nebraska has underperformed for three straight games heading into Saturday's Big 12 opener against Iowa State.

 

Fan unrest manifested itself in a shower of boos in the second half of Saturday's 41-40 win over Ball State.

 

"There is criticism out there. I'm sure I'm at the heart of it," Callahan said during a conference call with reporters. "All I'm going to do is the best I can. There is a lot of season. You have to change where you're at from a performance standpoint and really change anything that you can to tweak and get your team going."

 

The Huskers have plenty of areas to address. They're giving up 203.5 yards rushing, 203.5 yards passing and 29 points a game. Their front seven have just three sacks. They rank no higher than 45th nationally in any major statistical category.

 

Defensive concerns arose Sept. 8 at Wake Forest. The Huskers won 20-17, but they failed to adjust to misdirection plays and gave up 376 yards.

 

Then came the 49-31 loss to USC in a game that wasn't as competitive as the score showed. The disparity in talent was accentuated by poor tackling and missed assignments. The Trojans rushed for 313 of their 457 total yards.

 

Ball State, a 23-point underdog, led by nine points with less than 10 minutes to play and probably would have won if Dante Love hadn't dropped a sure touchdown pass at the 10-yard line and Jake Hogue hadn't missed a 55-yard field goal at the end.

 

The Cardinals rolled up 610 yards of offense, the most by a Nebraska opponent since Washington amassed 618 yards in Lincoln in 1991. The difference is the '91 Washington team went on to win a share of the national championship. Ball State hasn't had a winning season since 1996 and is picked to finish fourth in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference.

 

Callahan, who publicly backed defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove last week, said Ball State exploited out-of-position defenders in passing situations. The Cardinals converted nine third downs and 12 plays went for 20 yards or more.

 

The boos didn't surprise Callahan, who heard his share of catcalls as the beleaguered coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2003. He said he blocked them out.

 

Callahan said linebacker Steve Octavien should have done the same thing rather than criticize fans in a radio interview after the game, saying: "If they don't like it, they don't have to come and watch the game."

 

That's where Callahan draws the line.

 

"I told him there are other ways to do that and that it wasn't appropriate," Callahan said, adding that he expected Octavien to apologize to the fans.

 

If the Huskers don't improve, however, Callahan said he expects to hear more boos.

 

"In America, people expect excellence, and that's what we're trying to achieve," he said. "When you don't achieve that, it's tough, and you have to endure that. It's part of the game, part of the culture. It's 2007 and I'm very well aware of the fans and their approach to the game and what they expect."

[huskernumerouno]

That does not sound good for coz. BC knows he will have to make a choice at the end of the year unless the light bulb comes on and we do a 180 on defense the rest of the year

[billdozer15]

That does not sound good for coz. BC knows he will have to make a choice at the end of the year unless the light bulb comes on and we do a 180 on defense the rest of the year

 

Praise the lord!!!!

[Hunter94]

he should be thrilled at this point that we are 3-1! as things are now, the meat of our schedule looks just brutual, especially the road games.

[I Bleed RED]

he should be thrilled at this point that we are 3-1! as things are now, the meat of our schedule looks just brutual, especially the road games.

 

I am glad he didn't like Octavien's comments. Regardless of what you think of booing a player shouldn't call out the fans unless he wants us to be louder. That is the only time to call out fans is to ask for them to be more of an influence.

 

It is sad to think this is the best he can do. 10 pts against USC when the game mattered, Struggling offensively to run and to score in the first half against Ball St and Wake. These are troubling times.

[junior4949]

he should be thrilled at this point that we are 3-1! as things are now, the meat of our schedule looks just brutual, especially the road games.

 

I am glad he didn't like Octavien's comments. Regardless of what you think of booing a player shouldn't call out the fans unless he wants us to be louder. That is the only time to call out fans is to ask for them to be more of an influence.

 

It is sad to think this is the best he can do. 10 pts against USC when the game mattered, Struggling offensively to run and to score in the first half against Ball St and Wake. These are troubling times.

 

 

This is what I'm saying. I think we as fans are blocking out how piss poor the offense has been because the D is so inadequate. If you throw out the Nevada game, how many rushing yards per game are we averaging? It's not good. Our OL is probably the worst since BC has been here. Shootouts are no way to win games. Steve Spurrier learned this while getting his ass kicked by NU in 95' by going out and hiring Bob Stoops to build him a D. Good and great teams will beat NU everytime we try a shootout just like USC did. They'll simply control the game by pounding the rock and winning the time of possession battle. Like I said in another thread, we have become Texas Tech. While shootouts may be exciting to watch, no team like we are this year and Texas Tech has huge success. We have a lot more problems to address the rest of the season besides defense. The WCO is about balance. It's about having several weapons in your arsenal to use every time you snap the ball. We don't have that. We don't have a running game. The OL can't open any holes. All we have is a passing attack. We have become one dimensional, and we will not have the kind of success we want doing what we're doing. Next year, we will have a new QB. We will not be able to rely on him winging the ball 40-50 times a game without some bad things happening due to inexperience.

[Hunter94]

having said all that, i can only conclude we are STILL in a rebuilding process, for oh let's say the next 2-3 years??

 

rock back and grab a beer and a sandwich, this is gonna take a bit longer than many expected.

[Glendower]

having said all that, i can only conclude we are STILL in a rebuilding process, for oh let's say the next 2-3 years??

 

rock back and grab a beer and a sandwich, this is gonna take a bit longer than many expected.

 

I love "rebuilding." It's the best catch-all excuse any one ever came up with.

[EbylHusker]

having said all that, i can only conclude we are STILL in a rebuilding process, for oh let's say the next 2-3 years??

 

rock back and grab a beer and a sandwich, this is gonna take a bit longer than many expected.

 

Not me. I'm still content with my feelings of 6-7 years from the start to be seriously looking at BCS bowls. Of course, I didn't expect the defense to be this bad at the start, so unless we make improvements there it won't happen.

[HuskerT]

he should be thrilled at this point that we are 3-1! as things are now, the meat of our schedule looks just brutual, especially the road games.

 

I'll slightly disagree with you because luckily for us the rest of the big12 (with the exception of OU) looks as mediocre as we do, which would lead me to believe that every game is winnable.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

he should be thrilled at this point that we are 3-1! as things are now, the meat of our schedule looks just brutual, especially the road games.

 

I'll slightly disagree with you because luckily for us the rest of the big12 (with the exception of OU) looks as mediocre as we do, which would lead me to believe that every game is winnable.

Great point!!!

[I Bleed RED]

he should be thrilled at this point that we are 3-1! as things are now, the meat of our schedule looks just brutual, especially the road games.

 

I'll slightly disagree with you because luckily for us the rest of the big12 (with the exception of OU) looks as mediocre as we do, which would lead me to believe that every game is winnable.

 

Do you mean this seriously?? We are playing worse than 5 teams in the Big 12 so everygame is winnable but we will be the underdog in a bunch of them.

 

We go from, we will win all of them, to win should, to they look winnable. This is not good.

 

And taking a 10-3 team 6-7 years to compete for a BCS game is a long time. Dirk Koetter got fired for taking that long and his teams were comperable to Cally's.....even the same QB...LOL