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Lee Barfknecht: Nebraska can rise high in Big 12
BY LEE BARFKNECHT
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
DALLAS - After a week on the bowl circuit to cover three football games involving Big 12 schools, some of my sportswriter colleagues have asked an interesting question:
Should Nebraska be favored to win the 2007 Big 12 championship?
Not just the North Division. We're talking the whole thing.
My brethren think it's possible. I think the odds are better than that - at least 50-50.
(Most of you by now have probably dropped your newspaper, reading that from me. So pick it back up and stick with me here).
Don't lose a whole bunch of sleep over Monday's 17-14 loss in the Cotton Bowl to No. 10 Auburn.
A bowl setback, unless it's in the BCS title game, doesn't "disrupt the order" any more than last season's Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan "restored the order." It was just one game after a long layoff played at a faraway site with not much on the line.
What should be of immediate concern for Nebraska fans are two trend lines from this season that need to be fixed before that "next step" can occur.
One is the offensive blackouts that occur far too often in the second half.
Case in point: Monday's 73 yards and no points in the final 30 minutes against Auburn. That has to change, regardless of how vigorously NU coach Bill Callahan and his staff claim good adjustments are being made.
The second is Callahan's pull-a-rabbit-out-the-hat mentality. Somebody needs to take the hat clear away from him, so he can't call a fake punt on his 29-yard line like he did Monday.
I know some old-time defensive players who might slug a coach for attempting that, even if it worked. Callahan, who should have received votes as Auburn's most valuable player, needs to quit trying to show how smart he is and stick to the strengths he has developed in his system.
Nebraska was the better team for most of the game. Yet Auburn will stay in the final Top 10 and the No. 22 Huskers likely will fall out of the rankings.
With that, you may ask, how can I consider picking Nebraska to win the Big 12 in 2007?
Part of it is because this league will be a jumble. No one will be dominant. Note that NU's loss to Auburn dropped the Big 12's record against ranked nonconference foes to 0-13.
Looking strictly at Nebraska, three things make me think a title run may be imminent:
• Quarterback Sam Keller. God bless Zac Taylor. He will forever be hailed as a Husker hero for his guts and leadership.
But to win championships, your quarterback needs to have the raw ability to win those last few games by himself. Taylor couldn't. But Keller might, if the one-year transfer from Arizona State is as good as everyone claims.
• The schedule. It's difficult, but that's a plus. Facing Nevada (MPC Computers Bowl), Wake Forest (Orange Bowl) and USC (Rose Bowl) in September will force this team to train and focus like never before, setting a seasonlong tone.
• It's Year Four for Callahan. When regime change occurred in Nebraska football, many of the big billfolds agreed that the fourth year would offer the first real indicator of how this era will unfold. Callahan knows it's time to make a move.
Athletic Director Steve Pederson, who hired Callahan after firing Frank Solich, is three years into his 51/2-year contract that runs through June 2008.
When Chancellor Harvey Perlman was asked recently if Pederson is due an extension soon, Perlman gave no hints, saying: "Those things will be discussed at an appropriate time."
No word is available, either, on whether Pederson is considering a contract extension for Callahan, who is halfway through his six-year deal.
Any decision on longer deals for both men would be made a lot easier if the Husker trophy case gets expanded to accommodate the 2007 Big 12 championship trophy.
Lee Barfknecht: Nebraska can rise high in Big 12
BY LEE BARFKNECHT
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
DALLAS - After a week on the bowl circuit to cover three football games involving Big 12 schools, some of my sportswriter colleagues have asked an interesting question:
Should Nebraska be favored to win the 2007 Big 12 championship?
Not just the North Division. We're talking the whole thing.
My brethren think it's possible. I think the odds are better than that - at least 50-50.
(Most of you by now have probably dropped your newspaper, reading that from me. So pick it back up and stick with me here).
Don't lose a whole bunch of sleep over Monday's 17-14 loss in the Cotton Bowl to No. 10 Auburn.
A bowl setback, unless it's in the BCS title game, doesn't "disrupt the order" any more than last season's Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan "restored the order." It was just one game after a long layoff played at a faraway site with not much on the line.
What should be of immediate concern for Nebraska fans are two trend lines from this season that need to be fixed before that "next step" can occur.
One is the offensive blackouts that occur far too often in the second half.
Case in point: Monday's 73 yards and no points in the final 30 minutes against Auburn. That has to change, regardless of how vigorously NU coach Bill Callahan and his staff claim good adjustments are being made.
The second is Callahan's pull-a-rabbit-out-the-hat mentality. Somebody needs to take the hat clear away from him, so he can't call a fake punt on his 29-yard line like he did Monday.
I know some old-time defensive players who might slug a coach for attempting that, even if it worked. Callahan, who should have received votes as Auburn's most valuable player, needs to quit trying to show how smart he is and stick to the strengths he has developed in his system.
Nebraska was the better team for most of the game. Yet Auburn will stay in the final Top 10 and the No. 22 Huskers likely will fall out of the rankings.
With that, you may ask, how can I consider picking Nebraska to win the Big 12 in 2007?
Part of it is because this league will be a jumble. No one will be dominant. Note that NU's loss to Auburn dropped the Big 12's record against ranked nonconference foes to 0-13.
Looking strictly at Nebraska, three things make me think a title run may be imminent:
• Quarterback Sam Keller. God bless Zac Taylor. He will forever be hailed as a Husker hero for his guts and leadership.
But to win championships, your quarterback needs to have the raw ability to win those last few games by himself. Taylor couldn't. But Keller might, if the one-year transfer from Arizona State is as good as everyone claims.
• The schedule. It's difficult, but that's a plus. Facing Nevada (MPC Computers Bowl), Wake Forest (Orange Bowl) and USC (Rose Bowl) in September will force this team to train and focus like never before, setting a seasonlong tone.
• It's Year Four for Callahan. When regime change occurred in Nebraska football, many of the big billfolds agreed that the fourth year would offer the first real indicator of how this era will unfold. Callahan knows it's time to make a move.
Athletic Director Steve Pederson, who hired Callahan after firing Frank Solich, is three years into his 51/2-year contract that runs through June 2008.
When Chancellor Harvey Perlman was asked recently if Pederson is due an extension soon, Perlman gave no hints, saying: "Those things will be discussed at an appropriate time."
No word is available, either, on whether Pederson is considering a contract extension for Callahan, who is halfway through his six-year deal.
Any decision on longer deals for both men would be made a lot easier if the Husker trophy case gets expanded to accommodate the 2007 Big 12 championship trophy.
