NU Notes, 11/13

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Callahan plays down Pelini situation

Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan said he has too much respect for the coaching profession to get caught up in today's Bo Pelini storyline.

Pelini, the former Nebraska defensive coordinator, serves as Oklahoma's co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach.

Much has been made about the Nebraska-vs.-Pelini matchup, but Callahan pays little attention to it, saying players should be the focus.

"I didn't want to come back to college football and partake in any pettiness of that sort," said Callahan, who spent the previous nine seasons in the NFL, including the last two as head coach of the Oakland Raiders. "In the (NFL), there is none of that. Coaches coach and players play and scouts scout. I want that feeling here.

"I've got too much respect for coaches in general to go in that direction. It's not me. It's not what I'm about, period. This game is about the players, and I want to do the best job I can in preparing our team to play."

TITLE FORM: Callahan disagrees with those who suggest Nebraska's defense has underachieved this season. "I just think we haven't played to our potential at times," he said. "That can happen to anybody." Callahan did have one request of his defense as the season winds down. "I'd just like to see us play up to our potential when there's a championship on the line," he said.

WHAT IF? Callahan wondered aloud how a win against Iowa State last week might've changed his team's attitude. NU twice rallied from 20-point second-half deficits, but their late rally fell short in the 34-27 defeat. "I really felt that had we got it done at the end, it would have given us a new belief, a new energy and conviction in terms of what we're trying to get done here," he said.

THANKFUL: Nebraska quarterback Joe Dailey can hardly believe it when he looks at the Big 12 North standings and sees NU tied with Iowa State atop the division with 3-2 records. "We're still in it, that's the funny thing about it," he said. "I don't know how it's possible, but it's possible. We're grateful for that opportunity to still be there."

INTERRUPTIONS: Callahan noted one major difference in day-to-day college coaching compared to the pros: More interruptions in meetings. "You get going in a meeting, and a guy has to leave the room to call a (high school) coach, or because a recruit is calling," Callahan said. "You get interrupted. But the most important thing to me is personnel. I have to learn to adjust to that."

STUDENTS OF GAME: Six Huskers were named to the Academic All-District VII teams. First-team honorees include senior linebacker Chad Sievers (4.0, business management), defensive back Kellen Huston (3.90, exercise science), fullback Dane Todd, a graduate of Lincoln Southeast (4.0, biological sciences) and Kurt Mann (4.0, mechanized systems management). Second-team honors went to linebacker Barrett Ruud, also from Southeast (3.36, management) and and kicker Sandro DeAngelis (3.687, natural science).

ETC.: Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Nebraska 40-37-3 … Today's game marks the teams' first meeting since NU's 20-10 triumph in 2001 in Lincoln … The Huskers' win in 2001 was their eighth in the last nine meetings with the Sooners … The teams had played 71 straight seasons until 1998, when Big 12 scheduling dictated that they play two out of every four years.

— Steven M. Sipple