Red Report: Beware of parity
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Appalachian State beat Michigan. Arkansas State scared Texas. Ball State shocks Nebraska?
Hey, college football’s not sane anymore and Nebraska’s wobbling. You never know these days.
Husker coach Bill Callahan on Monday labeled the squad from Muncie, Ind., “a dangerous team.”
“They’re solid. They’re complete. They can move the ball on offense,” he said.
The Cardinals (2-1), coming off a 34-31 overtime win against Navy, are not newbies to big crowds.
Last year, they played in The Big House in November against an undefeated and second-ranked Michigan team. Ball State lost 34-26 only after a fourth-and-goal pass in the final minutes fell incomplete.
The Cardinals run a balanced offense. Against Navy, they had 262 yards rushing and 277 passing. Their problem was defending the run. Navy’s wishbone attack, which leads nation in rushing, blasted Ball State for 521 yards.
Fresh off a heavily-criticized performance in a 49-31 loss to top-ranked Southern Cal, Callahan said his team is totally focused on Ball State this week.
“There’s a lot of things taking place this year in college football,” he said of the upsets. “Parity has struck.”
FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED: Callahan didn’t say much when it came to talking about the USC blowout and what discoveries were made after watching the game film.
“Basically, fundamentals. That’s the one area that we addressed, fundamentals,” Callahan said. “Just total fundamentals, the function of defensive football, just the fundamental position of defensive football.”
He said coaches and players looked at the tape, have established an honest assessment of where they’re at, and already moved on.
“We’re focusing on Ball State right now,” Callahan said. “That’s where our focus is at.”
By the numbers: 61, points allowed by the Huskers in a 1945 game against Minnesota. That was the last time a visiting team scored as many points against Nebraska as USC did Saturday.
Scouting report: LT Carl Nicks
Husker senior Carl Nicks said it wasn’t so much USC’s defensive line that stuffed Nebraska’s running game Saturday as it was the blitzing of the linebackers.
“It seemed like some plays they knew what we were doing,” Nicks said after the game. “To me, it wasn’t like they wanted to hit, they wanted to play the ball. The linebackers did an excellent job, three of the best in the nation.”
Earlier in the year, Nicks said this year’s offensive line had a chemistry that last year’s line lacked.
He said he still maintains a lot of confidence in this year’s group, despite the meager statistics (1.1 yards a rush) the Huskers were able to mount on the ground against the Trojans. Nicks said a performance like that won’t happen again.
“Any time you lose by this much and don’t perform in the run game, it’s going to hurt any team, but we will bounce back, look at the film, figure out the mistakes we made and fix them,” Nicks said.
Opponent watch: Oklahoma State
Despite three turnovers in a 41-23 loss to Troy in his debut as a starter, sophomore Zac Robinson will remain Oklahoma State’s guy at quarterback.
Taking the place of the benched Bobby Reid, Robinson completed 18 of 37 passes for 191 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also fumbled once.
Reid had started 20 games, including all of them last season, and threw for 229 yards against Nebraska last year in the Cowboys’ 41-29 win.
According to The Oklahoman, national television cameras caught Reid laughing on the sidelines near the end of the blowout loss to Troy. The Cowboys are now 1-2.
“First of all, I’m (ticked) off that we lost,” Reid told The Oklahoman. “The coaches made a decision. I just have to go with it, get better and get back on the field.”
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