Alright, 3 days of silence is enough.
I considered not even addressing the game because there really was nothing to say after that absymal performance. If the team wasn’t gonna show up to play, why should I show up and write? Well, maybe that’s a little silly.
It was painfully obvious what happened to the Huskers on Thursday night in San Diego. Half the players had one eye on Erin Andrews’ badonkadonk, with the other eye either on the break awaiting after the season, pre-draft workouts, or In-N-Out Burger (seriously hear the players talk about that all the time, and rightfully so).
Coming off a close loss in the game that would make-or-break the season, the entire team had mentally checked out well before the Holiday Bowl took place. That led to the embarrassment that Husker fans were forced to sit through on Thursday night.
Despite the transparent nature of the excuses, the majority of the blame has to fall on head coach Bo Pelini. It’s his responsibility to get the team up/motivated/prepared, which the team clearly was not, even through tough situations like the one that unfolded.
I would argue that everything Bo Pelini has accomplished up until the Big 12 Championship has been a step forward. These last two games have been his first two steps backward as Nebraska’s head coach.
The loss to the Oklahoma Sooners is what made this season a disappointment. The goal for this team was to win the Big 12 Championship. Even with an impressive win over the Washington Huskies, the season’s expectations wouldn’t have been met. This team started out the season ranked #8 in the country. They will most likely finish unranked. That’s a bad season.
I’m not about to overreact and call for Bo Pelini’s firing or anything. But, for the first time in his 3-year tenure, I am asking myself the question of if he is the right man for the job. And because I’m probably not the only one asking those questions, that now makes next season very big for Pelini. It won’t be a big deal as long as the negative momentum doesn’t transfer over into next season. This game will not be long remembered as long as the Nebraska program continues to move forward.
I correctly predicted that the Huskies would upset the Huskers immediately after hearing of the bowl matchup, but changed my mind closer to gametime because these were the types of situations where Pelini has been able to get his team to respond. He wasn’t able to this time around.
With my Holiday Bowl analysis now complete, let me say a few words about the “commentating” that took place during the game. Obviously, since Nebraska was getting absolutely throttled, I was able to focus on other aspects of the broadcast that night.
The constant gushing over Jake Locker was nonsensical. I just don’t understand why they deemed it necessary to build him up so much and forcefeed him down the audience’s throat.
The dude was 5-16 for 56 yards. This following his 4-20 performance against Nebraska in their last meeting. I’m not mad that the announcers were slob-knobbing the Huskies, because they deserved it after getting their revenge, but give credit where credit is due: to the defense and to Chris Polk, who racked up 177 rushing yards. Just give it up ESPN, Jake Locker isn’t good. No matter how bad you want him to be, he isn’t.