AUSTIN, Texas — Nebraska football coach Bill Callahan frequently uses catch phrases. We’ve heard “Pound the rock,” and “Third down is the money down,” and “Games in November are the games to remember,” and so on.

And who can forget, “We’re flipping the culture here.”

It’s more like he flushed the culture here.

No use piling on Callahan at this point. It’s an unfair fight. His reign as Husker coach nears finality. Four games to go, and it figures to be a brutal march. Husker fans probably will wince several times today as Texas rolls up big yardage. Yes, the score could get ugly, as it has the previous three weeks.

Nebraska has an 0-16 record under Callahan in games it has trailed at halftime. Any reason to believe the Huskers are going to suddenly rally behind the coaching staff at this stage?

I picture a casual college football fan from, say, New Mexico turning on the television today. I can imagine the guy turning to a buddy and saying, “So, there’s Nebraska. It’s wearing the same uniforms it always has worn. But,  man, it just doesn’t seem like Nebraska. Doesn’t feel right. Something’s missing. Where’s the punishing ground attack, the attacking defense? Something must have happened.”

A culture flip/flush — it stands as perhaps the most telling occurrence during Callahan’s four-year tenure at NU. It’s arguably played the lead role in the Huskers’ startling demise.

Blame Steve Pederson more than Callahan. No need to pile on Pederson, either. He has been pilloried enough already. But let’s face it, Pederson turned his back on many of the traits that made Nebraska unique when, in December of 2003 and early the following January, he doggedly pursued NFL coaches in the wake of Frank Solich’s firing.

You know the story. Pederson became desperate in his search. Callahan was unemployed. You could almost hear Callahan saying, “Sure, I’m interested in the job, Steve, but you have to know what you’re getting. I’m an NFL guy at heart, and I specialize in a West Coast offense that bears little resemblance to Big Red’s previous systems.”

And thus the spin began. Pederson would sell to Nebraska fans the notion that the Huskers would upgrade talent because, after all, the West Coast system is NFL-friendly, and Callahan and his staff could lure talent in part by dangling NFL dreams in front of young prospects’ cherubic faces.

Nebraska’s culture — developed and nurtured over four-plus decades — has been missing ever since.

Suddenly, too many Huskers were playing at dear old NU and not for dear old NU, an important distinction.

Suddenly, the program lacked a significant amount of walk-on players willing to run through a wall if only to earn a spot on the kickoff-coverage unit.

Suddenly, the Huskers weren’t doing much hitting in practice.

Nebraska, to a large degree, lost its identity. It says here that Nebraska needs an identity and culture more than most traditional powerhouse programs. Texas, Oklahoma and Southern California endured extended dry spells before returning to prominence without distinct identities. But unlike Nebraska, those schools are located in or near hotbeds of talent.

The Husker program needs something extra. It faces built-in limitations. It needs a strong and identifiable culture and a certain modus operandi that specializes in drawing the most out of players that don’t necessarily come to campus with five-star ratings and NFL aspirations.

“It’s about matching your scheme with the personnel and the situation you’re in,” said ESPN and ABC college football analyst Bob Davie, the former Notre Dame coach (1997-2001). “It’s who can match the place they’re at and the uniqueness it possesses (with) the personnel you can get on a consistent basis.”

Notre Dame, for instance, traditionally has needed a physical ground game to win, Davie said. Ohio State, same thing. Florida, on the other hand, has plenty of speedy athletes at its disposal in a talent-rich state, so the Gators will spread the field with those burners and throw the ball to them.

“You may change that style initially,” Davie said. “But there’s a reason that over a period of years and years, schools have taken on certain identities. I think that’s a huge part — figuring out a specific fit.”

Callahan’s system evidently isn’t the right fit at Nebraska. What’s more, this particular Husker team clearly lacks chemistry, synergy, and an identity — all those crucial intangibles that become especially important these days because talent is more evenly distributed nationally than ever before.

Some will say it’s a lot of hyperbole, a lot of hocus-pocus, this discussion about culture and identity and chemistry. I respectfully disagree. And I broach this topic mostly because the Huskers’ deficiencies in these areas — not to mention their substandard front seven on defense — probably preclude any chance of them pulling off a stunning upset today, thus sparking a late-season rally that would leave Huskerville more confused than ever.

Which is saying a mouthful, considering the unsettled feeling in the program since a 62-36 loss to Colorado in November 2001.

“It’s easy to get the chemistry out of whack,” said Nebraska interim athletic director Tom Osborne. “It’s a lot more fragile than people think. It can be brought back, but sometimes it isn’t going to be a one-year fix. It might not even be a two-year fix. Those are things I think people have to realize.”

At season’s end, Osborne, the laconic legendary former Husker coach, will sit down with Callahan and say something like, “Bill, it’s just not working,” and Callahan probably will retreat into a dark room to watch film as an NFL assistant coach or offensive coordinator. Not a bad fall-back plan.

His final Nebraska team will have no All-Big 12 players and no great leaders despite all those lofty recruiting rankings. The 2005 recruiting class that was ranked No. 5 nationally by Rivals.com? Well, it appears it ultimately will produce exactly one all-conference player — quarterback Zac Taylor last year.

In defending his program this week, Callahan cited Nebraska’s current 11th-ranked recruiting class, as if fans will forget the Huskers’ defense ranks 105th nationally.

Still, I feel for Callahan. He fell short at Nebraska not for lack of effort. He’s a grinder and a passionate student of the game. He sells himself well. He sells his program well. Sells his methods well. He seemed to be making progress last season. He painted a promising picture of the future, but it turned out to be an illusion.

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.