Huskers Seek Toughness, Improvement After USC Debacle
Callahan says NU will open up jobs and put on the pads
By SAMUEL McKEWON
September 18, 2007
Here comes the crucible.
After gathering his whole team Sunday to suffer through the game film of Southern California's 49-31 victory – and running that film personally – NU Coach Bill Callahan took an entirely new tone in Tuesday's press conference.
It was a style he had not previously shown in the 2007 season.
Callahan talked swagger. Toughness. Attitude. Guts. Practicing in full pads. Pitting the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense. Best on best. Starting jobs being up for grabs.
"We’ll see how we respond," Callahan said, referring to the USC loss. "We can sit here and talk about how we’re going to do this or do that, but we have to go out and do it. We have to go out and prove it and demonstrate it."
Hidden inside the coach's always polished answers were the seeds of disappointment and frustration.
When he called USC nose tackle Sedrick Ellis "dominant," it was a nod to the entirely unacceptable play of center Brett Byford.
Within his dissertation on NU's lack of fundamentals Saturday was a clear message to some of his defensive players, who were either too eager to get juked out of their tights, or lost in the circle of thought on the playing field.
"When we ask a guy to knife," Callahan said, "he has to knife. If we ask a guy to tighten down on the inside leverage, he has to tighten down on the inside leverage. If you lose those responsibilities and techniques, they cost you."
And when Callahan says that the defense had a performance "you never, ever think could happen," it means this: It better not happen again.
Good for him. Good for senior cornerback and captain Zackary Bowman, who chose to leave his Blackshirt on the hanger for Tuesday's practice.
The Huskers are shook up. They should be.
Because of the tremendous opportunity it afforded, that USC game was no ordinary loss. It was like fighting the champion in a rematch, only this time, instead of toying around with you for 12 rounds, the champ dials up a hook and puts you down for the count.
It seems clearer now that the team’s annoyingly calm exterior last week masked some performance anxiety that showed in just about every unit except quarterback and wide receiver. It played like a fascade that came tumbling down in the press conference.
Leave it to senior wide receiver Maurice Purify, always honest and, at times, unusually perceptive, to say it best:
"You could draw blank on a play and you forget what to do," he said. "Sometimes, with a bump-and-run, I have a 15-yard route and sometimes I run 20. You just get the feeling that you want to beat this guy so you give a little extra and you go a little too far.”
From NU quarterback Sam Keller said "If somebody's cage needs to be rattled, we have guys that can do that. We need our team to respond."
Nebraska was humbled so completely that there's no fragile ego to protect. NU doesn't have to pretend to be a high-performance acquisitions team in Tokyo for a conference. It can be vulnerable, angry, and even creative. Bowman's act is fundamentally that: A means of addressing this crisis outside the traditional Husker box of solutions. Unity is forged out of that. The Huskers now can be distinctive, if they so choose.
They could be the team that turned their Blackshirts in.
The defense, and Callahan, rallied around defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove, who watched the game film three times to determine what went wrong.
"He's hurt, he's down," Callahan said.
Cosgrove is not much of a talker. He answers questions like the trucker who's behind deadline eats his breakfast. He's not going to spend a lot of time sopping up the yolk.
So, unlike Callahan, it's difficult to determine just how Cosgrove processes this. After home games he puts on a sharp suit, makes his way toward the weight room, then quietly and succinctly answers questions in a voice that forces reporters to place recorders exceedingly close to his face to pick up the audio. On Saturday, he did the same. But as he left via a back stairway, he pulled the metal door behind him with a little disgust.
Tuesday, his attitude was resolute.
"If I read what was out there, it would drive me crazy, so I can't do that," he said. "I have to stay focused on the task at hand."
Just another reminder that while Rome wasn't built in a day, its progress can't be torn down in four hours, either.
Nebraska's not ready to let this season slip into the realm of 8-4 just yet.
Also read:
After USC, Huskers Need to Ask Tough Questions
Do You Like These New Tough-Talking Huskers?
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