Steven M. Sipple: NU needed a miracle; no such luck
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It’s no wonder Nebraska wins the lion’s share of its night games at Memorial Stadium. The place was up for grabs Saturday night in those scintillating final minutes before kickoff. The scene gives you a sense — perhaps a misleading sense — that something magical is about to occur.
You watch upset after upset in college football these days and realize anything can happen.
OK, not anything.
Turns out, error-prone Nebraska needed more than magic to upset fourth-ranked Missouri; the Huskers needed a miracle.
Missouri 52, Nebraska 17, and it wasn’t that close.
The margin on the scoreboard reflected the apparent distance between the programs. The gap is wide, folks. Startlingly wide, actually. Or so it seemed.
Missouri hadn’t won in Lincoln since 1978. The Tigers made it seem like it was a regular occurrence, or could become one, assuming they can keep finding Heisman Trophy-level quarterbacks and Nebraska keeps getting in its own way.
Indeed, tip your caps to the Kings of the Big 12 North Division. Kansas? Not this year, Rock Chalkers.
Nebraska? Well, Bo Pelini has some hard work ahead of him before his program catches Gary Pinkel’s — perhaps a couple years of labor. Yes, it seemed that way Saturday as Missouri snapped a 15-game skid at Memorial Stadium.
For the second straight week, Nebraska succumbed to a head coach who has built a strong program with an obviously strong identity. Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer has put in 27 years as the Hokies’ boss. Pinkel is nearing 20 years total as a head coach, while Pelini is nearing 20 minutes.
Unfortunately for Nebraska fans, it’s showed the last two weeks.
It certainly showed Saturday, especially in the third quarter. At that point, there was no great disparity in total yards, yet Missouri led 31-10. The Tigers were in control in part because they were fundamentally sound and basically error-free. They played with the poise you’d expect from a veteran team (13 senior starters). Meanwhile, the Huskers — who have plenty of veterans of their own — made too many mistakes. Once again, they missed too many tackles and made too many mental blunders.
Nebraska had committed 10 penalties before Missouri committed its first, with six minutes left in the third quarter. The Huskers ended up with 14 penalties totaling 101 yards. That’s disappointing. It was even more disappointing to hear Chase Daniel call NU “definitely one of the dirtiest teams I’ve ever played.“
The Tigers, meanwhile, finished with one penalty and zero turnovers.
Missouri (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) has much more talent and speed than Nebraska. The Tigers also played a much cleaner game. Hence the blowout.
“We got outcoached tonight,” an angry Pelini said. “We weren’t well enough prepared. We’re making too many mistakes, and that’s coaching.“
Pelini is a standup guy for having the backs of his players. He has that part of the job right, and excels at many other parts, this result notwithstanding.
He said this type of performance won’t happen again.
“I’m a fighter now,” he said. “We’ll come out fighting.“
Nebraska (3-2) had better keep fighting, because next up is seventh-ranked Texas Tech, another program with a veteran head coach running a proven system. Ah, another spread offense to tackle.
All Tech did Saturday was blast Kansas State 58-28 in Manhattan, Kan. The Red Raiders (5-0) entered the weekend ranked third nationally in total offense, one spot behind Missouri.
Don’t look now, but Nebraska’s trip to Iowa State suddenly looks perilous. Ask Kansas.
“We’d better rebound fast, or we’re going to get killed next week,” said Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz.
The thing is, Nebraska did plenty of things right in the first half and Missouri still led 31-10 at the break. The Huskers had a nearly 21/2-minute edge in time of possession. They had 11 first downs. They were sustaining drives, despite their anemic rushing total (13 carries for 7 yards at the half). They also were hurt by some recurring bugaboos, including a crucial interception.
Facing third-and-14 at his team’s 16-yard line, Ganz rolled right and looked for a receiver. He had been rolling and zipping strikes successfully much of the first half. But he threw this one right at linebacker Brock Christopher, who bulled his way into the end zone for a 31-7 lead.
“That pick for a touchdown was probably the turning point,” Ganz said, taking far too much of the blame.
The turning point was probably when Pinkel recruited Chase Daniel, the 6-foot, 225-pound senior who was his usual excellent self (18-for-23 passing for 253 yards). He wasn’t sacked, though he was pressured at times — not that it seemed to bother him.
Nebraska had six penalties at the break. Ganz had been sacked twice. The Huskers had to play much better than this to pull off the upset. They knew it. Everybody in the crowd of 85,372 knew it.
Above all, Bo knows it.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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