Go for Broke? Backs to the Wall? Five Keys to the Cowboys

Keller, Cosgrove have to handle the heat against OSU

One hand in his pocket, the other working a foil gum wrapper into a ball, Bill Callahan gave one his most relaxed post-practice sessions in recent memory.

The NU head coach talked about cutting practices a little short this week, dialing down the reps to "concentrate on what we need to get done." He looked over at the Pop Warner football teams hanging out inside the empty hull of Memorial Stadium Thursday night and joked that maybe he'd find somebody in the bunch.

He lamented the lack of depth at the defensive line position, how defensive tackles and junior college transfers Shukree Barfield and Kevin Dixon were forced into action when a redshirt year would have benefited them.

"They were kind of thrown into the fire," he said. "Lots of guys are doing double duty."

He mused. He paused. He gave a plain assessment of the season to date.

"We're not where I'd like to be," Callahan said. "We're not where I thought we'd be. I'd like to see us play better. These last six games will determine a lot."

Callahan's demeanor turned a corner this week. It's still not clear whether it will affect his team's performance, but he's altered the way he talked about this season. There's an urgency now. Especially when your Athletic Director doesn't exactly give you a ringing endorsement in the state's largest newspaper.

The second season - and after that Missouri disaster, it really must be a fresh start - begins with the team that floored Nebraska 41-29 after spotting NU a 16-0 lead. It's also a team that's underachieved, both on the field and in the press room.

Oklahoma State, at 3-3, is fighting for its bowl life. The Cornhuskers are fighting for something larger: Tradition. A standard. Something not quite real, but all the more dear to this state for its intangibility. Maybe a win against a decent-yet-flawed Big 12 team will be enough to satiate fans. Or maybe it needs to be the kind of distinctive performance NU was supposed to have this year.

Either way, the five keys.

The Incredible Shrinking Offense If there is one trend to watch this weekend, and through the last month of the season, it's this: Now that quarterback Sam Keller is facing better defenses, more intimidating blitzes and more athletic cornerbacks, can he carry Nebraska's offense if the running game doesn't pan out?

Results against Missouri weren't encouraging. Charged with rallying the Cornhuskers from a 20-6 halftime deficit, Keller spit the bit on his two most important second-half throws: A woeful underthrow to an open Nate Swift on NU's opening drive, and the interception on a pass intended for Frantz Hardy down the sideline.

Both highlighted one of Keller's few weaknesses: The ability to process coverage under duress. Give Keller time and he'll carve up a defense. Turn up the heat, and he either wants that check down pass to running back Marlon Lucky or he apt to make a mistake.

Missing Swift was more costly; it was the kind of play that could have switched momentum, as many teams had done against the Tigers in the second half.

"It was kind of a miscommunication of where he was going to be," Keller said. "It was just a bad throw on my part. There is just no way around it."

Keller's been a fantastic distributor, particularly in the two-minute drill, when nearly any defense plays a protective zone, often to its own detriment. Against blitzes and man coverage, however, he's looked a little different. Most quarterbacks do. Most quarterbacks also have a running game to keep defenses honest.

NU Head Coach Bill Callahan, and nearly all of his players, lean on "execution" and lack of opportunity as reasons the running game has struggled. Against Iowa State, when the Huskers had three turnovers in the first quarter, that was probably accurate; eventually, ISU defense would have worn down and Lucky would have enjoyed some fat holes.

But in other games?

The Huskers consistently try to run out of heavy sets that often feature two tight ends and receiver Dan Erickson. The top play on the menu? Stretch left. Second play? Stretch right. There's a counter in there. And a couple toss plays out of bunch formations.

Callahan's shown a couple other running plays - a draw play out of the shotgun, a fullback belly and an option play in the Nevada game - but, essentially, Nebraska's running attack is that basic. And right now it's just not working.

Changes? Well, Matt Slauson moved from guard to tackle. D.J. Jones moved from tackle to guard. Mike Huff's starting again.

But a good running game isn't just muscle and execution; it's design. Tom Osborne, and, yes, even Frank Solich made little tweaks throughout their tenures. Osborne's option plays moved and shifted with the seasons and personnel. One year, the toss play would look like a student body; in other seasons, he used a short counter pitch play that Steve Spurrier uses now. Solich fell a little too in love with designed quarterback runs, but his 1999 team had a terrific stretch after its lone loss to Texas, as the coach mixed in the flexbone, the Maryland I and spread option attacks.

Callahan just hasn't been innovative enough. And he's watched lots of offenses during the last two seasons that could have given him ideas. Wake Forest. Missouri. Kansas. Oklahoma State. Even Ball State, which seemed to accomplish a lot with its offensive line.

The common thread among those teams, of course, is that they're committed to run out of the shotgun. Thus far, Callahan has not displayed the willingness. Is that just him being too stubborn? Patient? Conservative? Too tied to the West Coast Offense?

Know this: If Nebraska can't figure out some way to run the ball, it's going to head south for Keller. He'll be looking at five and six-man blitzes for the rest of the season. He's just not mobile enough to escape.

Enough of the offensive ideals. What's reality? Nebraska will spread Oklahoma State out with four wide receivers and see if the Pokes are willing to leave their linebackers on the field in coverage.

If so, watch for Keller to attack the seams and the middle underneath. Think crossing patterns. Think receivers Mo Purify and Terrence Nunn.

If not, well, it's be terrific to see the Huskers challenge Oklahoma State out of a spread, one-back set.

In theory, NU receivers should have an edge of OSU's back seven. But they had an edge over Missouri's back seven, too. The Tigers countered by using deep safeties and bringing pressure on Keller. Routes were open, but Keller either didn't have time or make the right reads. Too often, he settled for the short throw to Lucky or Sean Hill.

Coz's next plan No team squeezed the Blackshirts last year quite like Oklahoma State. It took a quarter for it to happen, but OSU's multiple offense finally busted one big play after another. The Cowboys were the only guys last season to line up against NU and wear them down on power running plays. Oklahoma didn't do that. Auburn didn't do that. Texas didn't do that.

Expect OSU to try it again. With a bigger dose of quarterback Zac Robinson's running skills. And dual shots of Kendall Hunter and Dontrell Savage. If Coach Mike Gundy doesn't try to pound NU, he's nuts; this defense hasn't shown the ability to stop that kind of attack.

So how does Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove combat it?

First - and finally - he starts two run-stopping linebackers in Lance Brandenburgh and Phillip Dillard. Second, he asks them to play, well, linebacker. Read, shed, locate, wrap up. Not try to sweep the leg. Not try to rip the ball out after a nine-yard gain. Not try to make the stop five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Just play what the position gives them. That's a bigger deal for this defense than you may realize.

Next, he has to commit to disrupting Robinson in the passing game. The guy's athletic; he's not Chase Daniel. Cosgrove loves baiting quarterbacks into risky throws, then watching his defensive backs pick them off. That seemed to be the plan against Missouri; it failed.

Then, he has to pick a poison.

Home Run or Double How does he cover receiver Adarius Bowman, who, behind Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly, is the best in the Big 12? And how does he cover tight end Brandon Pettigrew, who's averaging more than 17 yards per catch.

If he uses a "bracket" coverage on Bowman - corner up tight, safety over the top - he sacrifices some of the help for covering Pettigrew. If he leaves his safety to play deep middle, he takes a big, big chance on the outside with Bowman. Of course, it was bracket coverage when Bowman scored that huge touchdown at the end of first half last season.

That touchdown unnerved the Huskers, which could have taken a 23-13 lead into the break, but had it slashed to 23-20. In the second half, the Pokes found their rhythm again late in the third quarter and coasted to victory.

What makes Bowman more dangerous is that a big pass play, in front of a home crowd basically expecting one to happen, could force Nebraska to play safer than it must against OSU's running attack.

But Pettigrew could equally be thorny, because NU will have to cover him with a linebacker. Not a horribly encouraging thought; at least linebackers Bo Ruud and Steve Octavien are decent in coverage.

Vibe The Memorial Stadium crowd will be begging for something good to happen. They want to fall in love again. And an old mistress - the 1997 national championship squad - will be in town to rekindle old flames. Believe me, the coincidence will not be lost on The Sea of Red.

Nebraska can't - cannot - fall on its face in the first quarter. Not on the road and certainly not at home. Fans are in a prove-it mode. Think Corey McKeon was disconcerted by the booing a couple weeks ago? It could be much, much worse Saturday.

It'll help if the Huskers attack from the jump. It's an 11:30 a.m. game, and that favors the home team. If OSU takes a couple drives to shake off the yawns - this is its earliest game this year by three hours - Nebraska's offense has to pounce on the advantage. The Huskers haven't played with a significant portion of house money in one game this season. Not even against Nevada did NU put an opponent deep in the hole.

Are the Pokes vulnerable to that? Absolutely. This is a turnover-prone, inconsistent bunch coming off a stunning loss at Texas A&M. Robinson's recovering from a concussion, and Coach Mike Gundy, just by his very nature, has his team on the edge.

Nebraska should resist the idea of settling into the rhythm of a game.

NU should want this game its back pocket by high noon.

Because, if the Huskers wilt under the pressure, fans will be waiting behind the gym after school.

 

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