• Here's a leftover note from my conversation with Nebraska defensive coordinator John Papuchis. His father works at the Pentagon for the Army Air Defense.
Papuchis recalled speaking to his father on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
"I had just been hired at Kansas," Papuchis said. "We were having our morning staff meeting. After the first plane hit the towers, I called him to see what the buzz was around the Pentagon. I remember like it was yesterday.
"I was on the phone with him when the second plane hit the towers and he said he had to go. I asked him before he got off the phone if whatever this was would ever attack Washington, D.C. He said, 'No way.'"
"I hung up the phone and went to the staff meeting. The staff meeting lasted only 15 minutes because obviously people were shaken by what was happening. I got out of the staff meeting and looked at my TV and the Pentagon was on fire.
"That was scary. Knowing the geography, knowing the building, it was his side of the building that was on fire. And communications were down for several hours. I went until 2 in the afternoon not knowing if he was alive or not. My stepmother called and told me he was OK."
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