Sunday School: A Mickey Mouse Kind of Day

It was appropriate that this game was played in Mickey Mouse’s Florida hometown because this game was cartoonish.

And Nebraska’s third quarter meltdown was almost as comical as one of Donald Duck’s failed schemes. It also outlined a key element that I see as a major obstacle that must be overcome before Nebraska returns to any kind of national title prominence or ends their 12 season conference championship drought.

The Huskers are sorely lacking poise and discipline – and it all starts at the top.


Pelini Post Game Press Conference

The third quarter of the Capital One Bowl was one of the most unforgiveable moments in Nebraska football history. After a three and out, Nebraska managed a drive that featured 25 yards in penalties. Then after back to back poor calls by the officials, Bo Pelini lit into the Big East crew which added to the angst. For the entire second half the Huskers gained 64 yards, they lost 58 in penalties. A net of 6 yards.

Then there was the sad spectacle that ended in the ejection of Nebraska’s Alfonzo Dennard and South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery. How do two fine players get thrown out of what is likely both their final college games? What was even more frustrating is that it happened right in front of the Nebraska bench and not one person tried to restrain Dennard and prevent the situation from escalating.

Yes, there was plenty of trash talk and much of it was coming from the Gamecocks, but the combination of missed opportunities – like four drives in USC territory resulting in zero points – the jawing and the pair of unfortunate penalties took its toll on the Big Red and they wilted.

As I watched the disaster unfold, I thought back to the halftime speech given by Tom Osborne at the 1995 Orange Bowl. How Osborne told his players that Miami would try to get in their heads, how they would be goaded into retaliating and how they must not lose their cool. That night, the Huskers were as poised and focused as you could ever be. That was sorely missing from the Cornhuskers on this afternoon in Orlando.

None of this is earth shattering; we’ve all seen how Nebraska finds a way to burn itself when the chips are down. The blinding glare of officiating incompetence in College Station last season masked that the real problem was how Nebraska reacted to adversity. Poorly. And just like the 2010 Texas A&M game, the “better team” (as spoken by Pelini in the postgame Monday) lost.

It was a stark contrast to two other Big Ten coaches who guided there teams on the same day. Michigan State was trailing Georgia 16-0 and suffered through six straight drives of 3-and-out. But behind a poised senior quarterback in Kirk Cousins and the calm of Mark D‘Antonio, Sparty rallied to win in overtime.

At the end of the first half in Pasadena during a spastically wild Rose Bowl, Wisconsin appeared to have been screwed out of a handful of seconds on a call where the official allowed the clock to run after a Badger was seemingly run out of bounds. But instead of a demonstrative berating of the officials, which may have been justified, Coach Bret Bielema calmly accepted the referee’s explanation and moved on and so did the Badgers.

I know Pelini is a fine X’s & O’s coach. I trust his judgment when it comes to evaluating and finding talent – both in players and coaches. He’s done a fine job with building character and keeping Nebraska’s academic success among the best in the sport. But if you want to take that next step, it’s time to work on developing some poise. You can be fiery, demonstrative and emotional but you can’t expect those following you to be cool and “execute” when the bullets are flying if your leader is acting like his hair is on fire every time a call goes against his team. 

Capital One Bowl Final Statistics

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

--Why does Tim Beck insist upon getting cute in the red zone? Throw back plays to the QB. Reverses. Throwing the ball on first and goal when you’ve been running successfully with #22. The turnovers were costly, but the play calling was just as responsible for NU’s scoring failures in the first half.

--Despite getting thrown out of the game with a quarter to play, my media colleagues voted Gamecock WR Alshon Jeffrey as the game’s MVP. Really?!?! Guess I missed that time Jerry Rice got thrown out of Super Bowl XXIII on his way to the MVP trophy. Wait, he didn’t? EXACTLY. MVP’s don’t get run for losing their heads.

--Last year was the stressful “last year in the old league.” This year it was “the hard initiation of a new league.” In 2012? No excuses.

See you next season!