Steven M. Sipple: Coach needs to get handle on QB situation
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It's so far been an immensely awkward experience, this season of transition for the Nebraska football program.
For one night on the west Texas plains, awkward turned into excruciating.
If Bill Callahan doesn't get a handle on his quarterback situation, the season could wind up excruciating in its totality.
The first-year Nebraska head coach's handling of his quarterbacks Saturday night at Texas Tech was at best curious. At worst, it could have damaging long-term effects on a position that was already fragile.
Remember, in Callahan's complex West Coast offense, the quarterback position requires athleticism, intelligence, precision passing and confidence. If quarterback play is shaky, the offense becomes shaky. That's true in most offenses, and especially true in Callahan's.
Shaky? Well, Callahan goes to work this morning with his team ranked 116th (out of 117 Division I-A teams) in turnover margin. The Huskers are 9-for-37 on third-down conversions during the past 10 quarters of action.
Callahan did nothing to help the confidence of either regular starter Joe Dailey or top backup Beau Davis during Saturday's 70-10 loss to Tech, the worst setback in program history.
At this point, it's difficult to say to what extent Davis' confidence was fractured in his college debut, because he failed to materialize for postgame interviews.
Could you blame him?
In seven possessions, Davis, a true freshman, lost a fumble and was intercepted four times. He completed one pass in eight tries. He appeared ill-prepared physically and mentally to be thrown into the fire.
Nonetheless, Davis entered the game with two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Nebraska trailing 35-10. Callahan said he was looking for Davis to provide a "spark" with his ability to throw deep passes.
Davis, a 6-foot-4, 168-pound player, sparked the wrong team; Tech converted four of Davis' turnovers into touchdowns.
Callahan has said that the starting quarterback in his offense typically gets about 90 percent of the snaps in practice. With that in mind, could Davis possibly have been prepared for Nebraska's first Big 12 road game of the season?
In short, Callahan sent Davis into a situation that invited failure.
And then, once failure ensued, Callahan inexplicably failed to throw his freshman a lifeline. Callahan could've reeled in Davis after, say, his second turnover. Wasn't third-stringer Ryan Goodman ready to play?
Better yet, Callahan might have done well to throw Dailey back into the fray. After all, Dailey, a sophomore, needs all the game experience he can get in Nebraska's newfangled system. Dailey felt OK physically Saturday night. Maybe some success during mopup duty would've helped his development in the offense.
A troubling explanation for Callahan's QB management was being floated by pundits in the wake of the loss: Perhaps it was the head coach's way of saying, "You see, this is how dire the situation is with our backups, so quit complaining about the starter."
I'm giving Callahan the benefit of the doubt that the pundits' explanation is hogwash.
Whatever the case, Callahan this week will face a slew of interesting questions regarding his quarterbacks and other pressing issues (What happened to the vaunted defense?) as 3-2 Nebraska prepares to play Baylor in a Saturday afternoon affair at Memorial Stadium that suddenly becomes somewhat intriguing.
The bright side to all of this angst and uncertainty, of course, is that we can all look at this as a fascinating period in the program's history.
Nebraska somehow must manage three more wins in order to become bowl eligible, and Baylor (2-3) would seem a good place to start.
At the moment — news flash! — no Nebraska victory is a guarantee.
The Huskers' shaky state of being is exacerbated by their tenuous situation at quarterback and, in a larger sense, an offense that asks players to do things they weren't recruited to do.
Callahan has said the West Coast offense can be shaped to fit the personnel on hand.
Apparently, Nebraska's mold is slow to take form.
Amid the turmoil, one has to feel for Dailey, the poster child for what's been an awkward transition to a new system. He's been an absolute trouper in dealing with the media, always forthright and frank in his personal assessment.
Interestingly, Dailey said Saturday he thinks Nebraska's struggles during its 14-8 win against Kansas on Oct. 2 "harmed my credibility with the coaches."
As Dailey tries to master the new system, Nebraska fans speak with unfettered optimism about the coming of touted quarterback Harrison Beck, the prize of the Huskers' vaunted 2005 recruiting class.
You think Beck might face just a tad bit of immediate pressure and some unrealistic expectations in 2005?
Hopefully, Callahan will handle that quarterback situation better than he's handling the current one.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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