LINCOLN, Neb.—Nebraska gets no break after its embarrassing home loss to Chase Daniel and the Missouri Tigers.
Graham Harrell and seventh-ranked Texas Tech are up next for the Cornhuskers and, like Missouri, the Red Raiders (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) can put up points in a hurry.
“We better rebound fast or we’re going to get killed again next week,” quarterback Joe Ganz said after the Huskers’ 52-17 loss. “I’m sick to my stomach after this game. I don’t want to feel like this again. We better get it righted. Otherwise, it’s going to be another long season.”
The Huskers (3-2, 0-1 Big 12) have lost two straight and will be a big underdog this Saturday when they make their first visit to Lubbock, Texas, since that night four years ago when Tech meted out a 70-10 beatdown.
That marked Nebraska’s most lopsided loss ever.
Saturday’s 35-point loss to Missouri went down as the worst at home since 1955.
First-year coach Bo Pelini said the Huskers can’t afford to slip into a funk.
“I never quit anything in my life. I’m a fighter,” Pelini said. “We’re going to come out fighting. We have character in our locker room. We have to get better as a football team. That’s the only way I know how to go about it.”
Pelini was coordinator of some of the nation’s best defenses in the five years after he left his job as a Green Bay Packers assistant. He won a national championship at LSU last year before starting his first head coaching job.
At Nebraska, Pelini has had to accept that he doesn’t have the same caliber athlete in a program that’s in rebuilding mode. The Huskers surrendered 462 yards to the Tigers, who scored on eight of their 10 possessions and didn’t punt.
Nebraska dropped to 72nd nationally in scoring defense (26 ppg), 82nd in yards allowed (376 ypg) and 87th in turnover margin (6 gained, 9 lost). The Huskers haven’t generated a turnover in eight quarters.
Pelini and his brother, defensive coordinator Carl Pelini, tried to get creative in defending the Tigers. One scheme employed three down linemen and had defensive end Pierre Allen roam behind the line pre-snap in search of the best pass-rushing lane.
“We watched teams that would sit down and play it safe. We tried to mix it up and give them a lot of different looks and didn’t execute it,” Carl Pelini said. “Chase Daniel is a great quarterback and they’ve got a terrific team. But I do know that you’ve got to challenge them, and we didn’t.”
Nebraska also has to clean up its play after committing 14 penalties for 101 yards, including personal fouls on defensive lineman Zach Potter and offensive lineman Matt Slauson.
Offensively, the Huskers are still looking for an identity. Ganz completed six passes of 20 yards or longer and another half-dozen in the 10- to 15-yard range. But the Huskers rushed for only 79 yards. That included 7 yards on 13 carries in the first half.
“We’ve got to get better running the ball, period,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “We’ve got to get better at blocking movement and the little things you need to do to run the football.”
Missouri converted both Nebraska turnovers into touchdowns. Ganz threw an interception in the second quarter and Quentin Castille fumbled in the third.
“That pick for a touchdown was kind of the turning point,” Ganz said. I let all the guys down. It’s hard.”
The solution?
“We’ve got to go back and practice on Monday,” Ganz said, “and we better come out with some intensity and urgency to get it fixed.”
