Texas can wait

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Linky-Dinky-Doo

 

Texas Can Wait

Pelini: Don't even mention UT around me this week

by Samuel McKewon

 

November 23, 2009

 

 

In the offices, on the practice field, in front of the media – probably even out in the parking lot, where students scuttle around in sweats and cheaply-made puffy coats – Bo Pelini's put out the word: No talk about the Big 12 Championship game.

 

“Everywhere I go, I keep hearing people talk about Texas, Texas, Texas,” Pelini said at Monday's press conference.

 

So he's instructed Nebraska's players and support personnel to “don't even mention around me” the Dec. 5 game vs the Longhorns in Arlington. Not even reasonably essential stuff, like travel plans. NU, Pelini said, has plenty to worry about in a short week with “very capable” Colorado, which tends to play its best game of the season the day after Thanksgiving against the Cornhuskers.

 

“We do need to win this game,” Pelini said. “...The toughest thing as a coach is to keep a team focused on a day-to-day manner.”

 

The Huskers are on fully on board, tight end Mike McNeill said.

 

“We can't get ahead of ourselves,” McNeill said. “We don't want to go out there and lay a goose egg.”

 

Pelini said Texas coach Mack Brown, Florida coach Urban Meyer and Alabama coach Nick Saban were struggling with similar problems this week. All of them have earned spots in conference title tilts; All, too, have rivalry games to win before engaging in that mini-playoff that may determine who, if any of them, play for the BCS National Championship.

 

Nebraska, 8-3 overall, probably has the weakest opponent of the bunch in the 3-8 Buffaloes, whom Pelini called “athletic” but “inconsistent.” CU coach Dan Hawkins is on a flaming hot seat for his job, although his retention seems less contingent on whether Colorado beats Nebraska than if black-and-gold alumni can pony up their ski bunny bucks to buy out his contract.

 

Nevertheless, looking beyond Friday's 2:30 p.m. game is not an option for three reasons:

 

*The ABC national audience, which Pelini said always provides the Huskers a nice recruiting audition - and more attention for awards-candidate Ndamukong Suh.

 

*Pelini clearly sees Colorado as a rivalry game, especially for Nebraska fans in the Panhandle, who “make a big sacrifice” driving several hours to NU home games.

 

“They want bragging rights,” Pelini said.

 

*The sheer embarrassment of losing. Pelini wouldn't even entertain the notion.

 

“I fully expect to win the game,” he said.

[admo]

Great article. Totally understand & agree. Good to see him keep the focus on this week against CU.

 

Lets go pummel our rivals. Yeah I just said it. In this day & age, being the constant last game of the season, day after thanksgiving, year after year, and being on TV... they hate us, we hate them.. Until the schedule ever changes and some other Big 12 team plays us in that spot, they are our rivals.

 

First time I said it too And it doesnt exactly suck admitting it.

[CENTEXHUSKER]

Lets go pummel our rivals those runny nosed neighbor kids...

 

Fixed

[Spartness]

I'm all for that. Despite their record, we don't have that wide of a separation right now, and if we play like crap, we may lose this game. Put UT on the back burner for now.

[huskerswrkhavoc]

good article....

 

 

however, this thread is going to be headed straight downhill.

[Husker4lif3]

Teams always look past games no matter what they say, or they just dont care about 3-8 teams. Have any of you played basketball or football and played the worst team in your confernece or state? Those were always my worst games.. You find yourself going down to your oppenets levels.

[BigRedPowerWagon]

Iowa State.

 

Need i say more. Focus on the now.

[clone]

He has to say stuff like that.

 

he's a head coach.

 

secretly...

 

I'd bet money he's plotting and planning the texas game every day.

 

in his head.

 

It's ok to overlook cu.

 

they are flushing themselves down the toilet.

[cornhuskers4ever]

You can't ever overlook CU, they could be 0-11 going into the Nebraska game, and they'll play us like they're in the National Championship game.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

You can't ever overlook CU, they could be 0-11 going into the Nebraska game, and they'll play us like they're in the National Championship game.

I agree and if we do this you can bet they'll whoop our asses and then rush the field.

[J_2_THA_BONE]

Iowa State.

 

Need i say more. Focus on the now.

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

I'm tempted to ask Bo about Texas if I would ever get the chance to meet him this week.

 

Just to see if he'd punch me or just rip my head off.

[shyndy]

if they beat us and rush the field, it would probably be the only time I laughed after a Husker loss.

[zoogs]

IMO it'll be an Olympian effort on the part of our coaches and our players to not overlook this game. You can say all the right things, but CU has got to be the more emotionally focused, the more hungry team right now. There's just little way around that. Even Pelini fully expects to win. Patriots-esque professionalism if they don't look past it on the field. I think we'll find we have more than a little battle on our hands come game day.

 

But we lost to Iowa State at home this year. This is the year where we should know be able to know better, so I'm still optimistic.

[BeachBuffs]

You can't ever overlook CU, they could be 0-11 going into the Nebraska game, and they'll play us like they're in the National Championship game.

I agree and if we do this you can bet they'll whoop our asses and then rush the field.

 

My suggestion was to just have everyone stand and give out little golf claps when we win, I think that would annoy you all to no end...lmao