Steven M. Sipple: Wildcats' effort gives hope for NU vs. OU
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Shaking off the cobwebs after a trip to Waco, Texas, where the half-full football stadium at Baylor makes it feel as if you’ve temporarily stepped out of the Big 12:
* Perusing the Kansas State-Oklahoma box score is basically a good news-bad news proposition for Nebraska fans.
The bad news: Kansas State, despite its 42-30 loss Saturday night in Norman, Okla., augmented the growing sentiment that it’s the best team in the lamentable Big 12 North Division (though I remain unconvinced). The Wildcats were indeed impressive against the Sooners, scoring 30 points in the final 35 minutes and averaging 6.1 yards per play against a defense that still ranks 11th nationally in average yards allowed (277.3).
K-State gained 364 yards of total offense, including 149 on the ground (5.1 per rush), which brings me to the good news for Big Red faithful:
The Oklahoma defense isn’t impenetrable after all.
Given Nebraska’s enormous strength defensively, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see a close game Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, especially if Big Red’s offensive line digs in and taps every fiber of its collective being. NU’s big boys up front — a struggling crew most of the season — will need such an effort against the toughest front seven they’ve seen to date.
* There are obvious parallels in the rises of Bo Pelini and Bob Stoops. Both played defensive back at Big Ten schools (Pelini at Ohio State, Stoops at Iowa). Both broke into the college coaching business at Iowa under Hayden Fry (Pelini in 1991, Stoops in 1983). Both ascended from defensive coordinator positions to head coach, at Nebraska and Oklahoma, respectively.
And both were heavily influenced by the late Ron Stoops Sr., a legendary defensive coordinator at Cardinal Mooney High in Youngstown, Ohio. He coached his four sons — Ron Jr., Bob, Mike and Mark — and all five Pelini boys, all in a span of a decade.
“He was not only a hell of a coach, but also a great role model with how he was with his family,” Bo Pelini recalls.
“You know, you’re around guys who impact your life, from when you played for them. You watch them and respect them. You kind of become a product of what you see and what you do. And you’ll notice that you see a number of guys from Cardinal Mooney who went into coaching. … There’s the Stoops brothers, myself, Tim Beck, Carl (Pelini) — there’s a ton of them.”
It’s obviously worked out well for the Stoops and Pelini brothers. Their friendship endures, as does their mutual respect.
“He’s very intelligent,” Bo said of Bob. “But the big thing is, he’s a tremendous competitor. A very prideful guy. He’s a winner. That’s who he is, in every aspect of his life. Just like his dad. He’s a high-character individual.”
* Ndamukong Suh brushed past reporters Saturday, saying, “I’m not speaking to the media.” Perhaps the Nebraska defensive tackle didn’t want to discuss the personal-foul penalty he received in the fourth quarter for throwing Baylor quarterback Nick Florence to the turf. For what it’s worth, I agreed with the call. I’m all for hard tackling, but something didn’t look right about the manner in which Suh flung the QB to the ground.
* Junior Niles Paul, sophomore Brandon Kinnie and redshirt freshman Khiry Cooper received the majority of snaps among Nebraska wideouts against Baylor, with freshman Antonio Bell making a brief appearance.
Meanwhile, neither senior Menelik Holt nor sophomore Curenski Gilleylen, regular contributors for most of the season, played a snap. Gilleylen is from nearby Leander, Texas.
“They have to come back to work and do it every single day — every single snap in practice — and get themselves back in position because we need them,” Husker wideouts coach Ted Gilmore said. “We need them all.”
No argument there.
* It’s impressive watching highlights of teams such as Oregon, which rolled up 613 yards Saturday against USC, including 391 rushing. The Ducks’ speed and explosion at the skill positions seem light years ahead of Big Red right now. Or am I off-base?
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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