Jump to content


Nebraska Rises Up in Big 12 North

SwiftFan87

By SwiftFan87,
in Husker Football

Recommended Posts

SwiftFan87 Three-Star Recruit

SwiftFan87

Posted
Posted

BOPELINI250_1013AP.JPG

 

Now, it finally can be said: Nebraska is back.

 

 

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini looks on in the fourth quarter, when his Huskers overcame a 12-0 deficit to beat Missouri 27-12.

The comeback was completed Thursday night. It's the night the old Nebraska died during a 27-12 come-from-behind victory over Missouri.

 

There's no way Bill Callahan's Nebraska teams come back from a 12-0, fourth-quarter deficit to win. Could Frank Solich's Nebraska squads have done it? No.

 

But these are Bo Pelini's Huskers. The offense was sputtering, the special teams were struggling, yet Nebraska stayed focused and didn't fold on a rainy night it had every right to.

 

"We talked about it at halftime," Pelini says. "We said before we walked out there on the field in the second half, we said, 'We will not walk out of here without a win.' And you know, we just kept fighting.

 

"You can get down in situations like that, when things aren't going your way, and it's pretty easy to feel sorry for yourself and let the game get away from you. We never let the game get away from us and we gave ourselves an opportunity to make a couple plays, and we came out with a win."

 

Are the Huskers national title contenders? No way. Is Nebraska capable of toppling, say, Texas in the Big 12 title game? Probably not. But this certainly looks like the best team in the Big 12 North. True, winning the Big 12 North has little, if any, cachet. The North winner hasn't won the Big 12 title game since 2003. But it's still a needed step for a program that hasn't won the Big 12 since 1999 and hasn't played in the league title game since 2006.

 

"It feels great; it's a great start to Big 12 play," defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh says. "It's one of those [games] that means a little more to us. We want to dominate the Big 12 North and start it off the right way. It was not exactly the way we wanted to win, but I'll take it."

 

Nebraska (4-1) is just a fourth-quarter meltdown at Virginia Tech away from being 5-0. The Huskers have a favorable schedule, and there's a chance they will be favored in each of their remaining games. The toughest tests will come on back-to-back Saturdays in November, when the Huskers host Oklahoma on Nov. 7 and travel to Kansas on Nov. 14.

 

But Pelini won't dare peek past this week's home game against Texas Tech. And he is hesitant to call the Missouri win any kind of benchmark victory.

 

"I don't get into all of that," he says. "This game, it's just like I said: It's just part of the process, part of where we are. We're not going to address or handle this win any different than we do any other week. It's on to the next game. We'll enjoy it and then we'll get back to work, fix a lot of things that need to be fixed."

 

Pelini knows there is room for improvement. The offense remains a work in progress against good defenses, and the back seven on defense isn't overly athletic -- though it has been effective enough for this to be the No. 3 defense in the Big 12 (273.4 yards per game). Still, more than anything, the swagger is tangible.

 

Fueling even more excitement is that next season is when the program should really blossom. Most of this season's starters will be back, including quarterback Zac Lee, running back Roy Helu and tight end Mike McNeill on offense and end Pierre Allen, linebacker Will Compton and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard on defense. That makes the early success of this season that much sweeter.

 

There was no such optimism when Pelini waded into Lincoln after the 2007 season amid the wreckage left by Callahan, who had promised to change the culture of Nebraska but only disenfranchised the fan base and sullied the program's reputation by going 27-22 in four seasons.

 

Last season, Nebraska won six of its last seven games to finish 9-4, capping an overachieving season with a Gator Bowl win over Clemson. Now, greater possibilities loom for a team that has won 10 of its past 12 games.

 

The Missouri victory was an important on-field accomplishment, and it also was symbolic. Nebraska beat the team that had won the past two Big 12 North titles. That had to stop -- and it did.

 

Credit for the victory goes to Nebraska's defense, which time and again stuffed Missouri behind the play of Suh. There were 26 NFL scouts peering at the player whose name and helmet are emblazoned on the Kenworth semi that carries the Huskers' gear to road games.

 

And Suh dominated with six tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and interception despite facing constant double-teams. Suh, who played high school football in Oregon, might be the best defensive player in the nation.

 

"Suh played his you-know-what off," Pelini says.

 

Victories over Missouri didn't used to be reasons to celebrate in Lincoln. There was a time when the Huskers dominated Mizzou, winning 24 meetings in a row. But Nebraska had lost four of the past six to Missouri. And last season was rock bottom: The Tigers won 52-17 in Lincoln, Nebraska's worst home loss since 1955.

 

After that humiliating loss, Pelini gathered his staff to talk about what was and wasn't working. It proved to be a turning point, just like Thursday's victory over Missouri.

 

"It just shows our character, how we could pull through at the end," Nebraska kicker Alex Henery says. "Even though we weren't playing very well early on, it showed in the end. We came out with the win."

 

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1001413

Link to comment


NoKoolAidForME Scout Team

NoKoolAidForME

Posted
Posted

...the equivalent of bragging that you're the best skier on the bunny slope. :facepalm:

 

I would rather be first place in the North than 3rd or worst in the South. See: Texas Tech

I for one would rather be 1st overall. Texas Tech has to compete to have a chance to win the north. We could lose one of twice in conference and still have a chance to win the north.

Link to comment
caveman99 Blackshirt

caveman99

Posted
Posted

...the equivalent of bragging that you're the best skier on the bunny slope. :facepalm:

 

I would rather be first place in the North than 3rd or worst in the South. See: Texas Tech

 

Wait, wait wait........Texas Tech might be the best B12 South team..............

 

 

 

.....that is located west of I-35

Actually UT is on the West side of I-35 also.

Link to comment
BlackShirt1340 Three-Star Recruit

BlackShirt1340

Posted
Posted

That Tech fan probably won't be having such an attitude after we tattoo them a couple times this weekend. Suh will put Sheffield/Potts into the ground time and time again. Just wait. If you think that 6'7 340 pound tub of fat is going to hold Suh back, you're high as f#*k.

 

By the way... what's with the makeup? Is that SERIOUSLY an attempt to be intimidating?

Link to comment

CENTEXHUSKER Scout Team

CENTEXHUSKER

Posted
Posted

...the equivalent of bragging that you're the best skier on the bunny slope. :facepalm:

 

I would rather be first place in the North than 3rd or worst in the South. See: Texas Tech

 

Wait, wait wait........Texas Tech might be the best B12 South team..............

 

 

 

.....that is located west of I-35

Actually UT is on the West side of I-35 also.

Technically yes, but still just a stones throw from one of the deadliest interstates in the country.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Visit the Sports Illustrated Husker site



×
×
  • Create New...