Pelini trying to solve mystery of home losses

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No place like home? Lies, Dorothy, lies.

 

At least it seems that way for the Husker football team, which strangely looks much more comfortable when it's playing in a different area code.

 

After Saturday's 20-13 home loss to Texas, Husker coach Bo Pelini is now taking closer examination of his team's routine for home games.

 

He said the Husker home crowd has been "awesome," but the results haven't.

 

"Honestly, I think there's less distraction on the road," Pelini said. "Whatever it may be ... we're trying to think outside the box about maybe handling home games a little bit differently, trying to eliminate as much distraction as we can."

 

Since Pelini took over in 2008, some of his team's worst performances have come at Memorial Stadium.

 

In his first year, there was the 52-17 home loss to Missouri.

 

In 2009, there was the 31-10 letdown against Texas Tech, followed a week later by a 9-7 loss to Iowa State in which Nebraska turned the ball over eight times.

 

This year, there's been the ugly 17-3 win against South Dakota State, coupled with the loss to Texas.

 

And yet Nebraska has looked dynamite on the road, blowing out Washington and Kansas State both by five touchdowns.

 

"You talk about it, be extra-guarded against it. I don't know if our guys feel extra pressure at home," Pelini said. "But we weren't ourself the other day in a number of instances. We just did some things that were out of character, so I'm a little bit concerned about it."

 

So maybe it's a good thing that Nebraska is hitting the road this week to take on Oklahoma State?

 

Well, Pelini wouldn't go that far.

 

"It's never a good time to go on the road, but I feel confident in our guys. Our guys respond well on the road," Pelini said. "Our guys don't feel like we played our best football the other day. I can feel it in their demeanor. I can feel it in who they are. They're anxious to get back out there and play. I don't care where it is."

 

Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 402-473-7439.