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Bo knows better times

"Bonehead things" on defense slow Pelini's rebuilding job at Nebraska

By John Henderson

The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 09/30/2008 11:26:09 PM MDT

 

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10603412

 

LINCOLN, Neb. — When Bo Pelini returned to Nebraska this year, he found upgraded football facilities worthy of his old team, the New England Patriots. He also found a downgraded defense unworthy of another one of his old teams, Cardinal Mooney High back home in Youngstown, Ohio.

 

Yes, a lot has changed since Pelini left Nebraska five years ago with the No. 2 scoring defense in the country. Last spring he stared into the eyes of players who gave up 76 points to Kansas.

 

So excuse Pelini if he talks like a guy who came home to see his home wiped out by a flood and a hurricane. He's hurrying to rebuild a foundation. He knows the locusts are coming.

 

For a defensive coordinator who made Nebraska a defensive power, helped lead Oklahoma to a Big 12 title and helped Louisiana State to last season's national title, sifting through Nebraska's defensive rubble as a first-year head coach can be devastating.

 

"It's coming slower than I thought," Pelini said Sunday.

 

His Cornhuskers (3-1) had just lost to Virginia Tech 35-30 before the biggest crowd in the history of a school with 293 straight sellouts. People here are eager. They're optimistic. Pelini was the popular choice to take over from Frank Solich after 2003 but was treated like a snivelling nephew in favor of Bill Callahan.

 

Four years and the only two losing seasons in the past 46 years later, here's what Calla-han and coordinator Kevin Cosgrove left Pelini: a defense that finished 112th in total defense (476.8 yards allowed per game), 114th in scoring defense (37.9 points a game) and 116th in rush defense (232.2 yards a game).

 

"I think we're getting better," Pelini said. "We're a long ways away yet. We don't execute. We're inconsistent. That's the most disappointing thing. We do it to ourselves. We're not disciplined."

 

Asked how much defensive talent he inherited, the phone line went silent. Never has a coach said so much by saying so little.

 

Five defensive starters from 2007 returned, but Pelini made a lot of changes. First, he made the players leaner. Changing their diet and doing more core workouts with new strength coach James Dobson, the Cornhuskers have lost a collective 1,000 pounds.

 

"Adam Carriker played ahead of me and was 300 pounds playing defensive end," said senior Zach Potter, who dropped from 295 to 280 this year. "(Cosgrove) told me, 'Hey, get up to 300 so you can replace Carriker.' I got close to it and hated it. Nothing against Coach Cosgrove, but I definitely feel a lot better at this weight."

 

Second, Pelini was so desperate for linebacker help, he moved Cody Glenn from tailback to outside linebacker. Glenn had never played linebacker, yet leads the defense in tackles with 35.

 

Third, Pelini made his team more cerebral. Cosgrove's defense was as predictable as a B-grade horror movie, which many of Nebraska's games resembled. The defense is checking off based on offensive formations.

 

"The offense doesn't predicate to us," junior nose tackle Ndamukong Suh said. "We predicate to the offense."

 

The baby steps the defense is taking are getting it across the floor — slowly. After munching three cupcakes, Nebraska gave up 337 yards to a struggling Virginia Tech offense. Some of the Hokies' receivers were so wide open from blown coverages, the left tackle could have completed the pass.

 

That's why Pelini took no satisfaction in holding four Hokies drives to field goals.

 

"It's coaching," he said. "We've got to get it fixed. We need more consistency. It's bonehead things. Our tackling and fundamentals aren't horrible, but the mental mistakes are absolutely inexcusable."

 

What gives Nebraska fans hope is the defense didn't quit. It forced a Virginia Tech punt to give Nebraska's offense one last shot. Asked if the defense quit a year ago, Suh said, "I'd definitely agree with that."

 

You could tell by the scores, but you could also tell by the conversations.

 

"There was definitely a lot of selfishness on this team last year," Potter said. "You could hear guys, juniors and seniors, go, 'I'm going to the league (NFL) next year. I just want to go out there and play, do this for this team or scout.' They were looking out for their own future, not the team's future."

 

It would have behooved their future if they made some tackles. It was the worst defense in 118 years of Nebraska football. In their last three games, they gave up 172 points, including a 76-39 mauling at Kansas.

 

Now comes fourth-ranked Missouri, with the No. 2 offense (595.5 yards a game) and scoring team (53.8 points) in the country, on Saturday. Pelini isn't just looking for a defense that won't quit.

 

"I have high expectations," he said. "I don't worry about year to year. I'm concerned with day to day right now, getting better every day. That's the commitment you have to have.

 

"I want to win now."

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skerfan1705 Three-Star Recruit

skerfan1705

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the silence in answer to the one question was just sad......but speaks volumes. recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

 

I am sure that Bo didn't sit there speechless when asked what type of players he inherited....i think the writer is taking some liberties with this article.....Pelini has always been quick to let everyone know that there IS talent on this roster, just badly coached talent....

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