Steven M. Sipple: Huskers backsliding into ordinary
COLUMBIA, Mo. — In a college football season defined thus far by disorder, this wasn’t the type of disorder Nebraska fans had in mind.
Strange things are happening around the nation. How in the world does Stanford beat Southern California? How did Kansas get so good? Has Texas really lost four straight Big 12 games?
And is Missouri really this much better than Nebraska?
Husker fans are afraid of the answer.
The 17th-ranked Tigers were faster, tougher and better prepared than the Huskers on Saturday night. Underline faster. In the biggest game for its program since the late 1970s, Mizzou was mighty and the Huskers looked like they have all season — ordinary, at best.
Missouri 41, Nebraska 6. There’s some disorder for you.
If you’re a Husker football fan, you’re probably feeling a bit confused. What has happened to NU since last season? Somebody rewrote the script for year four of the Bill Callahan era.
Nebraska seemed to make progress last season. The Huskers won the Big 12 North for the first time since 1999 and pushed a few traditional college football powers to the limit. The script said this season would be about Big Red breaking through. Instead, the season has been about NU breaking down.
Nebraska is not making progress under Callahan. Not this year. Not so far. NU is officially backsliding. The good news is the Huskers’ record isn’t exactly a lost cause (4-2, 1-1 Big 12) and there’s plenty of time for Big Red to regain its footing and make a run in its division.
The bad news? Well, where do we start?
Missouri should never dominate Nebraska to this extent. The Tigers should never out-athlete the Huskers to this extent. Mizzou clearly was the more confident team. The Tigers were the ones with swagger and speed and toughness and assuredness. The Tigers rose to the occasion, and Big Red slinked out of town red-faced.
Nebraska once again started slow, as it did against Nevada, Wake Forest, USC and Iowa State. If there was ever a time NU needed to pounce on an opponent early, it was Saturday night. Faurot Field hasn’t been this jacked up in at least 20 years. The Huskers needed to start fast to take the sellout crowd out of it.
Of course, the opposite occurred. Missouri (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) broke to a 14-0 lead and never really looked back.
Nebraska’s lack of fire out of the gate is troubling. It’s one of the more serious issues faced by the coaches.
Another issue Callahan and his staff face is negativity from outside the program. This loss won’t help matters. Nebraska fans’ pride will be hurt by another embarrassing loss. Their pride should be hurt. The Huskers failed to score a touchdown against a Missouri defense that ranked 93rd nationally. A Big Red program that once prided itself on a pounding ground game managed 74 rushing yards against the Tigers.
Criminy, sophomore Geno Blow of Illinois State rushed for 116 yards against the Tigers.
One would think Callahan might use a pounding running game out of the gate. Instead, Nebraska came out throwing. The Huskers once again showed little confidence in their running game, twice throwing on third-and-2 early in the game.
Yes, this is disorder.
You knew Missouri would move the chains and score a lot of points. But did you expect the Tigers to pile up 606 yards? In short, Nebraska’s defense did basically none of the things it needed to do to have a chance to win. The Huskers didn’t hit Chase Daniel nearly enough; their three-man front early in the first half was ineffective. They didn’t stop the run, and they didn’t tackle particularly well.
Nebraska did nothing particularly well.
Missouri, meanwhile, feels it’s on track to make a run at its first conference title since 1969. Kudos to the Tigers. Much-maligned head coach Gary Pinkel has something going here. His offense is a beauty. And he has a slew of weapons — sleek thoroughbreds running precision routes.
As for Nebraska, the Huskers slide into the North Division pack. They looked like just an ordinary team Saturday night. Big Red now faces a weekly struggle to stay above water. It’s a scary place to be, and it’s certainly not the place we expected to find NU at this stage of the Callahan era.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
Strange things are happening around the nation. How in the world does Stanford beat Southern California? How did Kansas get so good? Has Texas really lost four straight Big 12 games?
And is Missouri really this much better than Nebraska?
Husker fans are afraid of the answer.
The 17th-ranked Tigers were faster, tougher and better prepared than the Huskers on Saturday night. Underline faster. In the biggest game for its program since the late 1970s, Mizzou was mighty and the Huskers looked like they have all season — ordinary, at best.
Missouri 41, Nebraska 6. There’s some disorder for you.
If you’re a Husker football fan, you’re probably feeling a bit confused. What has happened to NU since last season? Somebody rewrote the script for year four of the Bill Callahan era.
Nebraska seemed to make progress last season. The Huskers won the Big 12 North for the first time since 1999 and pushed a few traditional college football powers to the limit. The script said this season would be about Big Red breaking through. Instead, the season has been about NU breaking down.
Nebraska is not making progress under Callahan. Not this year. Not so far. NU is officially backsliding. The good news is the Huskers’ record isn’t exactly a lost cause (4-2, 1-1 Big 12) and there’s plenty of time for Big Red to regain its footing and make a run in its division.
The bad news? Well, where do we start?
Missouri should never dominate Nebraska to this extent. The Tigers should never out-athlete the Huskers to this extent. Mizzou clearly was the more confident team. The Tigers were the ones with swagger and speed and toughness and assuredness. The Tigers rose to the occasion, and Big Red slinked out of town red-faced.
Nebraska once again started slow, as it did against Nevada, Wake Forest, USC and Iowa State. If there was ever a time NU needed to pounce on an opponent early, it was Saturday night. Faurot Field hasn’t been this jacked up in at least 20 years. The Huskers needed to start fast to take the sellout crowd out of it.
Of course, the opposite occurred. Missouri (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) broke to a 14-0 lead and never really looked back.
Nebraska’s lack of fire out of the gate is troubling. It’s one of the more serious issues faced by the coaches.
Another issue Callahan and his staff face is negativity from outside the program. This loss won’t help matters. Nebraska fans’ pride will be hurt by another embarrassing loss. Their pride should be hurt. The Huskers failed to score a touchdown against a Missouri defense that ranked 93rd nationally. A Big Red program that once prided itself on a pounding ground game managed 74 rushing yards against the Tigers.
Criminy, sophomore Geno Blow of Illinois State rushed for 116 yards against the Tigers.
One would think Callahan might use a pounding running game out of the gate. Instead, Nebraska came out throwing. The Huskers once again showed little confidence in their running game, twice throwing on third-and-2 early in the game.
Yes, this is disorder.
You knew Missouri would move the chains and score a lot of points. But did you expect the Tigers to pile up 606 yards? In short, Nebraska’s defense did basically none of the things it needed to do to have a chance to win. The Huskers didn’t hit Chase Daniel nearly enough; their three-man front early in the first half was ineffective. They didn’t stop the run, and they didn’t tackle particularly well.
Nebraska did nothing particularly well.
Missouri, meanwhile, feels it’s on track to make a run at its first conference title since 1969. Kudos to the Tigers. Much-maligned head coach Gary Pinkel has something going here. His offense is a beauty. And he has a slew of weapons — sleek thoroughbreds running precision routes.
As for Nebraska, the Huskers slide into the North Division pack. They looked like just an ordinary team Saturday night. Big Red now faces a weekly struggle to stay above water. It’s a scary place to be, and it’s certainly not the place we expected to find NU at this stage of the Callahan era.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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