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Steven M. Sipple: Bo will be biggest difference
Monday, Aug 04, 2008 - 12:00:03 am CDT
Since it’s a rhetorical question, I won’t ask it today when Bo Pelini takes center stage as Nebraska kicks off preseason football drills with a news conference.
Does Bo ever tire of reading about Bo?
Get used to Pelini remaining on center stage in Big Red country, because when you break it down, the 2008 season is all about Nebraska improving significantly on defense and generally returning to a smack-the-foe-in-the-mouth mentality. It’s about restoring pride in a majestic program, and it starts with the program’s leader.
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Bo Pelini.
In other words, the season is largely about you-know-who.
If you’re tired of reading about you-know-who or, ahem, growing a trifle tired of writing about him (guilty), well, you know what? You’re out of luck, my friends, because Pelini’s exactly the right man at the right time for Nebraska, or so it seems. That notion strikes me every time I read or hear about the magical spread offenses that are taking over the free world, and the Big 12 in particular.
Pelini is not the least bit intimidated by the monster that is the spread attack. His confidence in his competence alone should lead to marked improvement for Nebraska. While everyone else goes gaga over the spread, Pelini shrugs his shoulders and devises ways to attack and outsmart those offenses. He won’t always succeed, obviously, but it’ll seldom be for lack of aggressiveness or intelligence. Imagine that, a well-planned defense that attacks.
“We try to have an offensive mentality on defense,” Pelini says. “We want to dictate to the offense as much as it’s trying to dictate to us.”
There’s at least one other crucial reason Nebraska likely will improve markedly on last season’s record of 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the league: Pelini’s players tend to absorb his ferocious competitiveness. I probably don’t need to tell you why absorbing a little ferocious competitiveness is important for this team, if only to bring up 76-39 — the ridiculous score of last season’s debacle at Kansas.
Yes, Pelini’s the right man at the right time, or so it seems. Football is interesting in that there’s an unbearably long offseason of speculation, hyperbole and assumption of truths of which we’re essentially uncertain. It is during the season — during glorious fall Saturdays — that a program’s strengths and weaknesses manifest themselves. So, let the real proving begin.
“I generally tell (fans) that I think we’ll be better,” says Husker athletic director Tom Osborne, noting he typically steers clear of specifying a certain number of wins and losses. “I think we’ll play hard and with intensity. That’s my perception. And I tell them we’re not devoid of talent. Certainly some positions are stronger than others. That’s true of every team.
“But I think our coaches generally felt coming in here that the talent level exceeded their expectations.”
Nebraska begins preseason drills with a sense of urgency, especially on defense. Pelini says his defenders “right now are at the stage of learning. They’re trying to learn the system.” The clock is ticking. You sometimes hear that Pelini teaches a simple defensive system. Listening to him, I think otherwise.
“Defensively, you have to be very multiple to be able to effectively deal with everything you’re going to see on a week-to-week basis,” he says. “You have to teach your kids conceptually and teach them to be able to react and adapt on game day. It’s ever-evolving on offense, and you have to have the same flexibility on defense.”
Buckle up. I still think an 8-4 record is a reasonable prediction for Nebraska, including 5-3 or 4-4 in the Big 12. Let’s just say Pelini isn’t wild about my predictions and leave it at that. The new sheriff has an ornery side. But you knew that. You have to like that. A little orneriness on defense could come in handy as NU prepares to tackle four of the nation’s best offenses — Missouri, Texas Tech, Kansas and Oklahoma.
The positive vibe permeating the Nebraska program should help matters. What’s more, Husker fans have their program back. The positive energy of a given fan base is especially integral in the college game. I used to be skeptical of that notion until I watched Bill Callahan ardently attempt to “flip the culture” at NU. It was excruciatingly painful to watch at times.
In that regard, it’ll be interesting to monitor the goings-on at Michigan, where Rich Rodriguez is in the early stages of enacting major change.
Isn’t this stuff a hoot?
“You can never predict at the start of a year exactly what the chemistry of a team’s going to be, what the leadership’s going to be like,” Osborne says in discussing the Huskers in 2008. “It’s hard to predict those things even with coaches who have been someplace for a long time. I really didn’t know what was going to happen each year because although you might have a lot of the same players back, the chemistry always changed.
“Just a few people coming and going can make a huge difference.”
At least one fellow’s arrival at NU figures to make a big difference — you know who.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
