Forcing the Issue
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BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
As of late Tuesday afternoon, Nebraska left cornerback Fabian Washington had never seen Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko play.
Not that it matters much. Whether it was Palko or Dan Marino behind center Saturday, Nebraska's prevailing sentiment on defense would be the same.
"Pressure," Washington said before repeating himself for emphasis. "Pressure. All day long. He's going to get a lot of it. I hope that team is preparing for it because I know our plan is to put pressure on him."
Which makes sense. That's what lightly regarded Ohio did last week, constantly rushing and forcing Palko from the pocket. Palko, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior making his first college start, struggled in a Pitt offense that featured nine new starters in all.
Palko completed only 6 of 19 passes for 49 yards with an interception and a touchdown in a 24-3 triumph. The game marked the first time in Walt Harris' eight seasons as head coach at Pitt that the Panthers failed to throw for at least 90 yards.
Nebraska's defense will be more challenging.
"Our front seven is amazing," Washington said. "Coming into the season, I had some doubts, but watching those guys fly around the ball during these first two games has been amazing."
The Huskers rank 13th nationally in total defense and have recorded eight sacks. They may face a challenge in trying to corral Palko, who possesses a "very strong arm" and also is a threat to run, NU defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove said.
"I think they (the Panthers) were pretty basic in that opening game," Cosgrove said. "They certainly did a lot more on offense last year. I imagine we'll see a lot more than we saw from them last weekend."
Indeed, Pitt managed only 217 yards of total offense against Ohio. The Panthers apparently are struggling to overcome the loss of quarterback Rod Rutherford and big-play wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the third overall pick in last spring's NFL Draft.
"It's a young group, and as with any young group, it's a work in progress," Cosgrove said of Pitt's offense. "They do have some speed at the receiver position. I'm sure they'll make tremendous improvement from the first week to the second week."
Cosgrove also expects improvement from his unit, which forced only one turnover in last week's loss to Southern Mississippi after forcing five in a season-opening win against Division I-AA Western Illinois.
"We're going to coach it extra hard this week, to try to get more balls out and break up more passes in man coverage," Cosgrove said.
In addition, Cosgrove noted that Southern Miss hurt Nebraska with completions on a couple of "seam" routes over the middle, most notably wideout Marvin Young's 46-yard, game-winning touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
Nebraska's defense could help alleviate pressure on Husker sophomore quarterback Joe Dailey, who like Palko is a first-year starter.
Dailey has led an offense that's racked up impressive yardage — Nebraska ranks 11th nationally in total offense, averaging 529 yards. Dailey, however, has thrown seven interceptions compared with six touchdown passes, and the Huskers have committed 11 turnovers in all.
New Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan has assumed a posture of patience with Dailey as the New Jersey native adjusts to Callahan's complex West Coast offense.
"In all fairness, I go back to his youth and his inexperience and obviously not having the exposure or the opportunity to have been redshirted in this (offense)," Callahan said.
"He's been thrust into this role, whether he likes it or not."
Callahan points out that Dailey didn't have the luxury of an NFL-style mini camp to learn the offense. Indeed, Dailey had only one spring of practice in the system and then, boom, fall camp arrived, and the pressure was intense, the learning process accelerated.
"I came out of the Western Illinois game feeling good (about Dailey's performance)," Callahan said, adding, "I knew we had some things we had to correct."
Callahan suggested that against Southern Miss, Dailey might've tried to do too much, "and sometimes as a play caller, I may put too much on him.
"It's not that I'm going to scale back," Callahan added. "It's just that we're going to be smarter. I'm going to be smarter."
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