Curt McKeever: Mangino can pass hot potato to Callahan today
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If Bill Callahan was extremely witty, he’d have claimed his throat- slash gesture following a heated discussion with an official during last week’s game against Oklahoma was merely a message for those Kansas tire slashers of 2003.
“Guys. You try that again with my fans and this is what you’re gonna get,” Callahan could have offered up as an explanation on Monday, rather than playing dumb and acting incredulous when people first asked him about his raging reaction.
Of course, Callahan wasn’t around two years ago, so he probably isn’t aware of Michelin Madness. In case you’ve forgotten, the last time the Huskers played in Lawrence, some pranksters really stuck it to some cars bearing Nebraska license plates.
Too bad no one ever came forward and admitted the wrongdoing. Like Callahan did after giving “Gesture-gate” a second thought, they could have looked into the cameras and joked, “I don’t think they’re going to send me to Alcatraz or anything.”
Folks, this is the kind of sideshow we used to beg for when Nebraska and Kansas strapped on the helmets, because even the idiot sportswriters knew what was about to take place.
The law of averages doesn’t exist when it comes to NU vs. KU. The last 36 games have ended with Big Red on top, and 31 of those have had scoring margins of greater than a touchdown.
I’d be surprised if today’s contest becomes No. 32 on that list. Kansas has the kind of defense that regularly twists valve stems out of slow-leaking offenses like Nebraska’s. Fortunately for the Huskers, the home team has an offensive unit that has all the road grip of worn-out retreads, and so we’ll probably see a lot of wheel-spinning inside KU’s Memorial Stadium.
But if NU suffers a careening, rubber-to-shreds blowout today, meaning it’s failed to extend its remarkable mastery of Kansas, Callahan’s not going to be the only one who’s had it up to here.
If you believe the sentiment in the Sunflower State, Jayhawks coach Mark Mangino is on the hot seat. But if he wins two of his last three games (today’s and the regular-season finale at home against Iowa State both qualify as winnable; next week’s tilt at Texas doesn’t), then Mangino becomes the first coach at KU to have two bowl teams in his first four seasons.
If his club can get the first of those victories today, Mangino might as well hand Callahan a hot potato.
Although his club has the same record as this time last season, the Husker coach is adamant his club is making strides.
Agreed. Nebraska made the key plays down the stretch to fend off Pittsburgh and Iowa State, and after making one against Texas Tech had a brain lapse that cost it a win. Against Missouri and Oklahoma, the Huskers got what they deserved after stumbling out of the gate.
Mind you, none of those teams are going to play in a league championship this season (OK, maybe Missouri will shock us all and win in Boulder today to take temporary control of the Big 12 North), but at least they’re all legitimate contenders. And Nebraska could have beaten (or lost to) any of them.
That’s progress.
But now it’s November, and if the Huskers really want to prove they’re better they can’t repeat the scene from the final month of last season, when they looked beaten down.
All the talk about this team’s slow starts has made us forget the same thing happened down the stretch last year. During November, in between being dominated by Oklahoma, Nebraska fell behind Iowa State by 20 points and Colorado by 19 before losing close decisions that capped a 1-4 stretch and left it out of a bowl game for the first time since 1968 (the same year of Kansas’ last victory over NU).
I realize nobody promised the Huskers would be world-beaters in Year 2 of the Callahan experiment, but let’s not confuse Kansas for being on the doorstep, either. A loss to a team picked to finish a distant last in the North Division is not something you want on your resume. Besides, it would give Nebraska a three-game losing streak in league play for the second straight year. Prior to last season, the last time the Huskers hit such a skid was in 1961.
“We are at a critical point,” offensive coordinator Jay Norvell acknowledged this week. “November is the most important month, when you need to be playing your best. We’re wiping the slate clean — we’ve got a three-game season.”
Facing the same circumstance a year ago, the Huskers hit the wall so hard that two of their three underclassmen captains, Ross Pilkington and Joe Dailey, opted not to return. The other, Josh Bullocks, left for the NFL.
To sophomore linebacker Bo Ruud, whose brother Barrett was the only senior captain in 2004, it’s all in the past.
“The biggest difference in this team is that we’re still together,” Ruud said. “We’re still in it mentally. We still think we’ve got a great chance to do some good things here.”
Maybe that’s why Callahan got so bent out of shape last week.
But just in case he’s still in a frothy mood when he gets up today, maybe Callahan can have former Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Billy Tubbs flown in to Lawrence in time to be an honorary captain. During the pre-game coin flip, Tubbs could shake hands with the officials, then remind the Husker players that no matter how many bad calls are made do not make throat-slash gestures.
Remember the year in Norman when, right before he got a technical, Tubbs grabbed the public-address microphone and reminded the home fans not to throw objects on the court regardless of the poor officiating? Now, that’s what you call taking a whine to a new level.
On Tuesday, Callahan showed a similar sense of humor with his Alcatraz comment. But if his club doesn’t respond to that attempt to lighten the load, later this afternoon he could probably be convinced that some alone time on The Rock wouldn’t be that bad a sentence.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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