Steven M. Sipple: Huskers look ready to go bowling
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AMES, Iowa — After Nebraska dominated the first half Saturday — try 19 first downs to Iowa State’s two — press box wags started talking about crazy stuff, like Nebraska perhaps playing in the Alamo Bowl this season.
A dose of reality arrived in the third quarter. An Iowa State tailback burst into the great wide open en route to paydirt. Meanwhile, Nebraska momentarily forgot how to manufacture first downs.
My addled brain adjusted accordingly. Perhaps Nebraska was better suited for the Independence Bowl, or maybe the Sun Bowl, or Insight Bowl.
Point is, the Huskers legitimately look ready to go bowling again.
As surely as the wind whips through Jack Trice Stadium every autumn, these Huskers now appear to be eminently bowl-worthy.
The Alamo Bowl? Nebraska probably would have to finish with a record of 8-4 or at least 7-5 to get there. Crazy stuff? Actually, maybe not. A late-December tussle with a mid-level Big Ten team in San Antonio doesn’t seem like such a stretch in the wake of the Huskers’ last two performances, a close shave Oct. 11 at seventh-ranked Texas Tech followed by Saturday’s impressive 35-7 triumph against an Iowa State outfit that two weeks ago pushed 16th-ranked Kansas to the limit.
The Jayhawks escaped Ames with a 35-33 victory. They picked up 19 first downs, gained 436 yards and allowed 365.
Nebraska picked up 29 first downs against ISU, rolled up 548 yards and allowed 218.
No wonder the Big Red boss no longer was a weekend grump.
“I’m a pretty miserable human to be around after one loss, let alone three (straight),” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said.
The Huskers’ first-half dominance — try 349 yards to Iowa State’s 45 — probably made Big Red fans harken to the glory days when their beloved team so often would steamroll through Ames.
“We’re a long way from being that good,” Nebraska offensive line coach Barney Cotton said. “But it’d be nice if we’re moving in that direction.“
Nebraska, which improved to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12, is moving in the direction of a bowl game. Which bowl game doesn’t much matter. The Huskers just need to get back into the bowl scene, any bowl scene. They need it for the 15 additional practices that would further develop the 26 freshmen and sophomores on their two-deep roster. The veterans on the roster need a nice bowl experience after enduring last year’s bowl-less nightmare.
A bowl would represent tangible progress for Big Red.
Nebraska’s win Saturday was a critical step forward. The thing is, the 37-31 overtime loss at Texas Tech was also a step forward of sorts in that NU clearly gained confidence. The Huskers found rhythm offensively in Lubbock and brought it to Ames. Saturday, Big Red needed to a find a way to close the deal. There was urgency because with a loss, it would’ve felt like another season slipping away.
Nebraska’s no longer slipping and sliding. Suddenly, it seems like the Huskers are ready to start surging.
Take away Alexander Robinson’s 67-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Nebraska held Iowa State to 38 rushing yards on 24 carries. The Huskers never allowed sophomore quarterback Austen Arnaud to find much comfort. NU even forced a couple turnovers.
But Nebraska’s improvement offensively is why Big Red fans have visions of 7-5 or even 8-4 dancing in their heads.
Sometimes you find hope in unexpected places. Nebraska found it in the otherwise forgettable late stages of an embarrassing 52-17 home loss to Missouri on Oct. 4. NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said that’s when the Huskers decided to junk their “heavy” sets — two tight ends and sometimes two running backs — in favor of spreading the field more often and using one running back and one tight end. It forced defenders to stray from the line of scrimmage, clearing clogged running lanes.
Quarterback Joe Ganz is operating Nebraska’s revised look at high level. He’s rolling out of the pocket and slinging darts. Iowa State’s secondary was badly overmatched. The Huskers’ improvement on offense in the last two games “has a lot to do with our quarterback,” Watson said. “He’ll cut you up.”
He’ll also make even a sane Nebraska fan think wild thoughts, like the Huskers going 4-1 the rest of the way. Indeed, let’s not get carried away here. After all, Baylor whacked the Cyclones Oct. 11 to the tune of 38-10, holding them to 257 total yards. ISU looks lost offensively, the way NU once looked.
On the other hand, Nebraska fans maybe deserve a few wild thoughts after a large amount of suffering over the past six or so seasons.
Following NU’s loss here in 2004, angry Big Red fans standing near the field shouted to reporters, “Ask (Bill) Callahan the tough questions! Don’t let him off the hook!”
After the Huskers’ triumph Saturday, Pelini high-fived a couple of the hundreds of Big Red fans lined along the team’s walkway to the locker room.
In a few minutes, Pelini would tell reporters, “If we just stay with it, we should finish the season well.”
Nothing crazy about that talk.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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