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Unique Analysis
Jim Rose provides a weekly look at Nebraska athletics. Here is Jim's look back at the 2007 season.

2007 Season

Nebraska vs Colorado
Well fans, this great big downer known as 2007 came to a fitting end last Friday on the frozen tundra of Boulder, Colorado. It was cold and damp and put the careers of several coaches on ice.

Lets review. Season starts with great fanfare. Bill Callahan's West Coast Offense was ready to hit the beach. All the parts seemed to be there: O-Line? Check. Running backs? Check. Receivers? Check. Check. QB? A Free Agent but they're telling us Check. Schedule? Manageable. USC, OSU, KSU and TAMU at home. Toughie at Texas. But the Mizzou thing will be a draw. A bounce here and a bounce there and we might win that one. Worst, Worst case scenario: 8-4 and the Alamo. Boy how good would that look now?

Instead, reality struck like a blocking sled that wouldn't move. The defense was just awful all year. It showed in week #2 that it couldn't tackle average to good players and in week three against the Trojans, it showed it had no business wearing NU's colors. That group of guys played tired and slow all year. It lacked fundamental technique and fundamental toughness. More tackles appeared broken than made. Leadership waned. Depth never developed and the results made it clear that pride was iffy too. Quick, name a memorable hit delivered by our guys all season. Give it time....you might have to think a while.

Aside from Zach Potter, Lance Brandenburg and Cortney Grixby, I don't think any of those dudes should feel very good about the results. And the coaches are just as accountable. Clearly, whatever schemes the defensive staff had in mind didn't work, didn't play to the player's strengths or they were to too complicated or shaky for the players to learn and master.

On offense, too often, a gun-shy Sam Keller checked down to a running back to avoid a big turnover or because of a genuine lack of a running game. Despite his protests, coach Callahan never seemed to buy into the concept of a solid, consistent running attack. He rarely used two backs and practically never employed mis-direction. Play calling bordered on predictable while largely inconsistent. Yes, at times, NU racked up big yards, but did you ever get the feeling this offense took control against a quality defense? Getting big yards against USC long after the towel was thrown in or a few meaninless TDs against KU might pump up stats but it doesn't require the next opponent to toss and turn the night before the game.

It was all a little slice of the Bill Callahan era here. A lot of hats, but no cattle. A lot of hype, not much substance. Bold predictions and a .500 record.

The whole thing just did not work.

Why? Good question. The staff worked hard.....make that VERY hard. They dedicated practically all of their time to building this program. But in the end, an NFL system won't work here. An NFL system that required the players to be the best at what they ARE and not what they DO is a big gamble at this level. Here (and especially at Nebraska), players need to develop in a system. You can't simply plug in working parts. Here, players develop at different stages.....some take a year, some take three years. But the system will sustain lean talent because all are developed the same way. In other words, you ask each guy to do a job he is suited to do and nothing more. It works. You win big with exceptional talent. But you win with the system.

I think Bill's idea was to go get the very best athlete he could recruit and plug him into a position. If he is better than the guy across the line of scrimmage, he'll make the play (see the NFL). But the flaw in that thinking is that everybody on HIS TEAM is at the top of the charts. Big assumption. Wrong assumption.

I think this staff was long on scheme and short on developmental strength. How else do you explain how we go four years and don't develop one big play tight end? How do we go four years and fail to develop a top flight offensive lineman? Four years and not one LB? or Safety? Or only return one kick for a touchdown in four years?

Even though this thing failed, don't pillory Bill Callahan. He was an out of work NFL coach who got a phone call offering 1.5 m per year guaranteed. And he could do it HIS way. If you got that phone call, would you hang up?

Nebraska vs Kansas State
Hi Fans,

Why couldn’t we play KSU every week? How about that? More like it. Wake up the echoes!

Cliché fest.

How did that happen? Easy. Our guys made a choice. Play hard and then play harder. Plus, KSU is not very good defensivly. They might be the only team struggling to play a “Cover 2” defense more than Nebraska.

Did you see the seams wide open down the field? Yikes. Did they have 11 guys out there? At times, I wondered. This is the thing about that defense. You should be able to run against it but not throw against it UNTIL you establish the run. Usually, if you are throwing from the get-go against at “C2” you’re in trouble (See USC game). But in this case, Joe Ganz and the offense was razor sharp and he did a fabulous job.

Which of course, brings new questions. Why wasn’t he in there sooner this year? Why wasn’t he given more of a chance when Keller clearly suffered some confidence issues? You’ll notice that Joe rarely checked down to a running back like Sam did? Ganz is more of an aggressive passer and felt like he could drill it down field to a WR. He did. Next time, he might not. But it was great to see.

Key play? Grixby’s kick return. First one in nine years.

How about those starters in there so late? Not good. I know it was about pouring it on a north division rival but that was not the Nebraska way. Going for it on 4th and 23? Was there a message in that stuff from Bill Callahan? During the glory days, we pounded people and hung big numbers up but always did it with reserves and with a vanilla offense. We rarely threw the ball in the second half with a big lead. I’m sure coach Osborne was disappointed in some of that.

And, that second half was an excellent chance to get quality snaps for young players. We burned redshirts on folks long ago so why have them standing on the sidelines. Get them in there and let them learn on the job. Rare has that been so possible this year.

This win also puts NU back in a bowl picture. That is a good thing for the players. Bowl trips, even if they are in Yugoslavia, are fun for the players. It’s a reward and a vacation. They deserve that. But, gotta win at Boulder.

Enjoy the week off folks. You deserve it.

GBR!

Nebraska vs Kansas
Quite a trip to Lawrence, huh? Yikes. Not good. Pretty bad, actually. Sad. Sad. Sad.

There were several things about that game that puzzled me. Initially, it looked like we had a good chance to run the ball. Yes, the defense continued to give up some large plots of land, but was it me or we're we moving it pretty well early? Now, remember, KU's defense was straight out of the Pentagon. Very high level. Very impressive. The Jayhawk D was nationally ranked in a number of team catagories including rush defense and scoring defense. But there were the Huskers in a two-back set running pretty well. Why didn't we keep doing it? Yes, the NU defense leaked badly but if Nebraska runs the ball well in that game (especially when it was 14-14), it clearly keeps KU from getting momentum and shortens the game....and by that I don't mean minimize the depth of a loss but rather reduce the number of possessions KU can have on offense. And, if you look at games of yore, that has been a pretty decent strategy against NU.

I'll cite the 1993 game at Lawrence. NU was undefeated and ranked in the top five. KU entered the game a decided underdog. But the Jayhawks played some quality defense for two quarters, and RAN the ball. Remember June Henley? Trev Alberts still has a bruise on his shoulder from that guy. So we get to the fourth quarter of that game and suddenly, the Nebraska edge has shrunk because THE GAME HAS SHRUNK.

I'm not suggesting that the defense would have suddenly gotten good last Saturday but former Husker Assistant Kevin Steele once told me, "nothing demoralizes a defense better than a battering running game that gets three and four yards a pop." If we had done that on Saturday, I wonder if by the second half, things might have been a little different.

Reason two: The Jayhawks were playing a "Cover 2" defense. It INVITES you to run the ball. In fact, if you don't run it against a Cover 2, people wonder if you should have headsets on. The principle is simple. Do something until the other guy stops it. When they do, try something else.

I understand that with the success KU was having on offense, there was a pressing need to keep up on the scoreboard. Again, maybe we hit the panic button a little soon.

KSU this week is a little different (pardon the pun) breed of cat. They run a 3-4 defense (theoretically tougher to run against) so this could invite a more open attack. Additionally, KSU runs the WCO. And Josh Freeman, the KSU QB likes to lock on to one WR (Jordy Nelson) but he also runs well.

The key in this one is Special Teams. KSU is the Big 12 kingpin at this. They return everything from punts and kicks to summer shirts.

Two wins to bowl eligibility. Can they get them?

GBR

Nebraska vs Texas
Hi Fans,

Something about us and Texas. We bring out the best in each other. The ‘Horns certainly brought out the best in us. We played our most complete game of the year.

Dadgummit!

We should have won this one. We should have won a lot of games against Texas over the last few years. Think back. In the 12 years of the Big 12, we’ve played Texas six times in the regular season. We’ve lost each one of them. In five of those six losses, we either clearly had the game won and simply gave it away or we were in position to win the game and failed at the key points near the end of the game.

We did beat them in the 1999 Big 12 Title game, but that doesn’t help today.

The Huskers gave it everything they had on Saturday but still failed to make key plays on both sides of the ball.

The offense had multiple chances to change the dynamic of the game in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Failed each time. After scoring on the opening drive of the 2nd half, the Husker offense went five straight possessions that ended with a punt. In that time, we ran like 19 plays. Not good enough. Can’t win that way.

That lack of offense caused two bad things to happen. One, it gave UT more possessions on which to get points and two, it kept the defense from getting proper rest between series. There were two key plays in the 4th quarter. The first one was our 2nd and 3 play at the UT 46 when Keller got the intentional grounding flag. Where was our running game then? The second key play was after the Potter INT at the UT 41 yard line we failed to even get a first down.

Meanwhile, the inspired defense finally collapsed back into what we’d seen over the previous month---poor execution against running plays. We broke down on the read option plays and we had poor gap protection on blitzes. Yes, when you gamble on defense you can get burned but to allow 246 yards rushing in the 4th quarter against anybody is hard to explain.

So, if you add it all up this was a bummer. Yes, we cheered the effort as we should. It was grand. But at Nebraska, effort is not supposed to be a bonus. It is expected. And though the Big Red fell in this one, if the Huskers take that inspired performance, add some execution and wise coaching, we’ll be talking about a lot more than effort on Monday morning.

GBR

Nebraska vs Texas A&M
Funny thing happened on the way to the loss to Texas A/M on Saturday. You fans were unbelievable. Ran into a chunk of you on Saturday milling around campus, the Husker Nation Pavillion and the game. To a person, you were glad to be there. To a fan, you were genuine.

Amazing.

It's been tough love this fall for all of us. Our football worlds collided (past and present) and the scene was not pretty. We started out believing that 2007 would be a memorable year. We were right. It has been. It's been the worst year statistically in fifty. And along the way we got sad, then mad, then even. And now, we're over it and ready to start the climb back toward the top of the world.

I detected sincere optimisim from you folks. I detected that while accepting this year as an utter failure, the status will be very temporary. Why? The Dr. is in the house. Tom is back. He's our Marshall Dillon. He's here to save the day and the football program.

Tough job. If he respectfully asks this staff to leave, he alone will be responsible for the identification, procurement and development of the next staff. It won't be easy. As John Gruden said a couple of years ago, "it takes guts to be the coach of Nebraska." Dead on. Here we expect to win the National Title a lot with so fewer tools than most of the annual contenders. Special job. Takes a very special group of guys. It'll take a group of ingenious, hard working, dedicated guys with three needed skills: Salesmanship (recruiting), shrewdness (game planning) and acumen (ability to develop players). For my money, three gentlemen in the last 25 years filled that bill better than any other (Osborne, Snyder and Beamer). There are others who have had some success in this area: Mangino, Kirk Ferentz, Bobby Petrino but those top three have won and won big.

Thing is, this ain't like hiring a receptionist. Dr. Tom needs to get it right. He gets one at bat and needs to hit a home run. We can't afford another four-year bust.

But is there anybody else more qualified to do it? As qualified...maybe. More qualified? Not a soul. He knows how this place operates. He knows it's limitations and fully understands it's strengths. So, in searching for the next group, Dr. Osborne will have a solid list of things the candidate must say, do and have done to be considered for this job.

More to come.

In the meantime, thanks for being there. Thanks for staying.

GBR

Nebraska vs OSU
Ok fans, uncle!

I say "Uncle."

Enough.

It's like an All-Star wrestling match. They've administered a submission hold.

The music dies at Memorial Stadium, 45-14 to an average team.

See what it's like to purge your bilge? Go ahead, repeat as necessary. Just one thing. Don't stop purging. Don't stop caring. Stay at the party. The music will start up again.

Nebraska football has been around for 120 years. A lot has happened in those times. World Wars, The Nuclear Age, man steps on the surface of the moon, the forward pass, Ball State nearly wins in Lincoln, Stanford upsets USC with a second string QB, the Berlin Wall comes down, KU is in the BCS poll.

You get the picture.

But through it all, Nebraska Football has remained a constant. The Huskers take the field, usually win, look great doing it and the fans are there. The rain falls, but the fans are wearing ponchos. We play in Shreveport for a bowl game and the faithful show up with cajun tailgate. O-State drubs us on our home turf and the fans keep co-----, oops! Maybe not.

I hope so. Be mad. Be crazy. Don't tolerate it. But don't give up. Don't find something else to do. I became concerned when during the course of that disaster on Saturday, the booing stopped. That was a bad vital sign. I don't like it when fans boo a college team but at least that meant folks cared. When the music dies and the fans stop booing, what is left? That says to me that the fans figure they have nothing left to lose.

Sure we do. We have a lot left to lose. Let's just not.

Nebraska vs Missouri
Well, well, well….that didn’t work out.

This is a tough one fans. I’m not even sure I, your faithful reporter can change what many are feeling today.

That Missouri game took a lot out of me too.

You all know me. I’m a cockeyed optimist. I look for the positive in things. No, I’m not oblivious to problems and concerns. I want us to win and return to glory just as much as any fan. But I’m inclined to support the program and hope that the leadership from Steve Pederson and Marc Boehm all the way through the coaching staff has both the ability and the will to do the things, plug in corrections and motivate the players to do better.

I’m not inclined to jump ship. I’m not inclined to condemn. I don’t call for people to be fired. Not my job. If I were the HC, the AD or the Chancellor, that would be in my wheelhouse. But it is not. I’m just a radio guy and a big fan.

I admit my closeness to the program probably jades me a little. I know these people. I know how hard they work. I see how dedicated they are. I see them anguish in pain when we lose and how proud they are of the players when we win. And I recognize that everybody in that profession works hard. They are all dedicated. They all recruit and scheme and evaluate hour after hour. But only one team wins on Saturday. And after that Missouri game, Husker fans everywhere must be wondering if we’ll be that team any more Saturdays this fall.

Good question. Honest question.

Let me tell you what I think (an opinion no more valuable than anybody elses). Nebraska has the talent and experience to win each of the remaining six regular season games. Yes, we are thin on the defensive line but there is enough there to get it done each time out. That would be a 10-2 regular season and probably a Big 12 North Division title. To get there however a couple of key things must change.

In no particular order, it starts with passion. The defense doesn’t have it right now. The Blackshirts appear defeated. They appear to lack confidence, conviction and on-field leadership. Somebody needs to step forward and through voice and action, lead his teammates. Maybe that person is one of the younger guys? Coach has pulled redshirts off of guys like Anthony Blue, Prince Amukamara, Blake Lawrence, Austin Stafford. Maybe their time has come? Will they give up big plays? Yes. But so are the veterans.

On offense, I’d like Coach to re-define his running package. It appears that at the very least we are highly predictable. It appears easy to identify our running situation by the groupings we have on the field. If I can figure it out, certainly opposing defenses can. Maybe off of that “look” we should try some play action or “tunnel screens?” Would it hurt to create a few plays involving the fullback? Could we do something with mis-direction? I’d like to see maybe Niles Paul on the “flash” plays that Missouri and WF used so effectivly against us. You should know that Nebraska currently does practice running formations and plays a lot. Maybe a little bit more?

To me, though the singular most important element still in play around here can be defined by one word: Pride. Do these guys have enough of it? I think some of our players do. But do enough of them? Don’t know. Clearly there has to be a crisis of confidence right now. Do all of these guys really believe in what they are doing? Do they have full trust in the system? If not, the coaches must do something to fix that. They must create, invent, assemble some kind of package that will work consistently and then motivate the players to give it 100% effort.

Call me a Husker Geek. I think they will. I hope they will.

Even though we have the talent to win the last six, we are also capable of losing the last six too. That would result in a 4-8 season, the worst since before Bob Devaney arrived in 1962. Yes, fans…..such a doomsday scenario is possible. Likely? No. Possible? Yes.

But along the way, we fans have to remain as resiliant as we ask the players to be. We have to take the blows and not lose faith.

This football program has given us a ton a thrills over the years. Now the time has come to extend a little credit while we try to find our way back.

GBR!

Nebraska vs Iowa State
Hey fans,

Hope your weekend was good. The Huskers held up their end. They got a win.

And BTW (see how internet savvy I’ve become?), thanks for all of the email and postings on other boards about the radio broadcasts. Some of you wrote in with memories of days gone by listening to the games with your mom and dad, playing football in the backyard with the game on pretending to be the players themselves; and how this weekend was sort of a visit “back home” with the game only on the radio. I appreciate that a lot and by all means, keep it up!

End of self-promotion.

We did some good things vs. Iowa State but can certainly get better. You know me, I’m a glass half full guy so I choose to hang on the positives: McKeon, Ruud and Green were all much better on defense. Yes, we did have some gap busts but not nearly as many as vs. Ball State. Yes, we did give up some large pass plays but the safties did a better job of helping in coverage and I thought Grixby had one of his better all around games. The pass rush was improved and stayed that way even though we at one time were down three first team defensive linemen.

On the offensive side, Keller was very good again and the line protected him well. He picked up blitzes and checked down to keep the chains moving. His two-minute drill at the end of the half was a thing of beauty slightly overshadowed (sadly so) by his mental mistake in the last :14. His INT was a mess up but that was the only really bad throw he made all day.

The running game was pretty good….can be better but Marlon ran for over 100 yards and when you consider we only had the ball for about 6 plays in the entire first quarter, and quickly got down 10-0, that again takes you out of your initial plan to run it more.

The turnovers were the problem on offense again. Gotta cinch that up because the rest of the schedule will certainly convert three give-a-ways into more than three points.

Kicking game was solid except for the roughing the punter penalty, the disorganization on ISU’s fake punt attempt and the off-sides penalty that kept an ISU drive alive in the first half.

I was a bit disturbed by the inability of the Blackshirts (for the second consecutive week) to consistently get off the field. ISU converted way, way too many third-and-long situations to keep drives alive. That 17 play-97 yarder in the 2nd half was mind-boggling. In fact, for the day, I think the Cyclones had 7 drives where they moved it at least 40 yards.

But the game was a step in the right direction. It wasn’t exactly what we need to get and yes ISU had the worst statistical offense in the Big 12 but right now I’m looking for baby steps with this defense. I’m looking for them to get a little better at something new each week without sacrificing a phase from the previous week. This week it was gap responsibility, tackling and a pass rush. They were all measurably better. Against Missouri we need all of the above plus some big plays to end drives. My goal this week is for the LBs and DBs to contest the ball better while it is in the air. Make the MU skill people work for what they get.

Despite the win, this was not a good week for the Huskers considering what KSU and Colorado did. They “raised the bar” in the Big 12 North. They went up against the best in the league and smacked them in the mouth. For the Buffs, they held OU to 46 yards total offense in the first half. That is incredible. And KSU? Give those guys their due props. They may not be loaded with future NFL stars, but they obviously buy into what Prince is selling. And yes, they did get 21 unconventional points in that win but bottom line: They did it. And Colt McCoy got a headache in this game. They came after him and hammered him. You have to do that to win on the road in this or any other league.

Five top ten teams got beat this weekend. Two other ranked teams lost. Several of these kingpins lost at home. It can be done. The Huskers can do it this weekend. Just borrow the blueprint from our westerly and southerly neighbors.

GBR!

Nebraska vs Ball State
Have you been talked off the ledge yet? Of course you have..otherwise youwouldn't be reading this. Unless you have wireless internet in which caseyou are reading this which means you're really not ready to jump!

Remember fans, Comedy is simply tragedy + time.

I don't mean to be coy. Many of us are not feeling so good today and I don't wish to minimize your feelings about what happened vs. Ball State. Many of you great fans invest time, energy and money into the success of this program and want badly to become great in football again. I am one of those people. I understand your feelings. I have some of those feelings.

But I'm also optimistic about the program. I'm disappointed but notdiscouraged. I have faith in the folks in charge. I have faith in StevePederson, Tim Cassidy and Bill Callahan. They are leading this effort andare expecting great things from everybody around them. What I do know aboutthem is how dedicated they are to winning a title here. I believe thatnothing will stop them in that effort. They will enact whatever changes,alterations, adjustments and shifts necessary to get that goal.

Hang in there.

This game is over. Iowa State is next. Time to move on. But of course, weneed some things to change on defense...in a hurry.

We need leadership.

We need somebody to step forward and demand excellence from his teammates. I don't know who that is? Bo Ruud is not that kind of personality. CoreyMcKeon has the personality but hasn't performed. Potter and Suh are tooyoung. Bowman has been injured. Maybe it's Steve Octavien? Maybe it'sGrixby? But it starts on the practice field.

I would like each Blackshirt jersey taken by the captains Ruud and Bowmanand locked up down there until this unit gets the job done. I want all ofthese guys in red jerseys until the guys start playing in games as thetradition demands. And if and when the Blackshirts return, they will returnto 11 folks. That's it. 11. These shirts should be for the first teamdefense. They should not be used for political correctness or to massage anego. If we open a game in the base 4-3-4 that is who will wear theBlackshirts that week in practice.

These jerseys have to start MEANING something truly special to these guys.They have to be sacred. They have to require extraordinary effort to earnand hold onto. They have to be used as symbols of greatness in ability andcharacter. There has to be minimum performance expectations from anybody who wears one.

And the coaches cannot be the proctors of this tradition. This has to comefrom the players themselves. There has to be a code of conduct monitoredsolely by the players.

I would like the coaches to re-analyze every element of our base defensivepackage and simplify it to match the guys on our roster today. What do we do well? What can we do well? Identify that and prepare it for the next game.

Some of our schemes, reads, and groupings for some reason appear beyond some of these guys. Either deep down inside they don't believe in what we are doing enough to do it well or they don't get it.

I've always thought defense was about disciplined fury. There is a lot of"want to" in good defensive football. At the very, very least we have tohave 11 guys willing to jump on a sword on every play. I believe if we getthat FIRST, we are on the road to recovery. If that means young guys likeBlue, or Thenarse or Lawrence or Stafford getting opportunities, we shouldsupport the staff if those personnel moves are made---knowing full well that mistakes will be made by young and inexperienced players.

If we don't win another game this year but I believe the players dideverything they could and gave it everything they had and committed body and soul to his teammates on the field for 60 minutes, I'm a proud Husker.

If this coaching staff has the confidence and faith in each other tocritically evaluate every facet of our preparation and the courage to makeunpopular but necessary changes, I'm a proud Husker.

But if they do all of the above, we may not LOSE another game this year.

GBR

Nebraska vs USC
Not to sound trite or minimize the disappointment but truly the first thing I thought about after getting up at 6:45am today to go in and tape the Bill Callahan TV Show was the following:

1. It's a beautiful Sunday morning in my hometown and my how lucky I am to be from Lincoln, Nebraska
2. I live in the greatest country on earth defended by the finest people on earth
3. I have a fantastic wife with two wonderful kids who are all healthy and happy
4. I have great friends.
5. I have a wonderful job that I love going to every day.
6. I have way, way more blessings than many other very deserving people.

So, remind me again, what am I upset about?

Because we care. That's why. If we didn't care, we wouldn't feel a thing after what happened vs. USC. Lets never stop caring, Husker Nation. If we ever stop caring, we become.....Missouri.

OK, what to do, what to do?

Gotta start tackling a lot better. This was the second straight week that the Blackshirts did not consistently do the job. It was the second straight week that the opponent had better than average athletes on offense. That will become the rule rather than the exception. So NU needs to adjust and start playing better more fundamentally sound football. It starts with gap discipline from the LBs. They need to play their responsibilities and be in position to make the tackle. Too many times we overran the ball carrier or receiver trying to make a big hit rather than a form tackle. Same thing with the corners and safeties when they have run responsibility. The down lineman need to be more aggressive. They need to fight off blocks better. I'd like to see more of Dillard and Brandenburg.

Overall, I thought our coverage was good but because we never got much of a pass rush, Booty was able to get the pass off to pretty much anybody he wanted.

Offensively, I'm disappointed by our lack of consistent physical prowess up fr

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