[Husker] How popular is Bo?

[Steve Reichenbach]

> And Bo Pelini's team gave up a 21 point lead to lose. He deserves any 
> criticism he gets as well. I still believe he's vastly overrated as a 
> defensive coordinator. That's not because he's a former Nebraska coach. 
> It's because I can't recall a big game in which his defenses have 
> performed well, and in the case of LSU, he had a large cushion to work 
> with. 

This is a really crappy analysis.  With respect to the Tennessee game,
the 21 point lead was due largely to LSU shutting out a top-ten
opponent during the first half and scoring a defensive TD.  LSU's
defense held Tennessee to 7 points through 3 quarters (and matched that
with a defensive TD).  However, for the game, LSU's offense had only
13 first downs, 256 total yards, 2-13 on third-down conversions, and
3 turnovers.  One of the turnovers gave LSU the ball at the Tennessee
2 midway through the fourth quarter and LSU converted for a decisive
touchdown.  Discounting that TD, during regulation, LSU's defense
essentially gave up 17 points and scored 7 points on defense against a
top-ten team.  If the defense only needs an 11 point margin from the
offense and loses, the loss is due to something other than the defense
not performing well.

As for Pellini's defenses, at NU, he took over the defense with problems
after a 6-5 season and produced a defense that contributed greatly to
a 10-3 season --- with big game wins over Oklahoma State, Texas A&M,
Colorado in Boulder, and Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl.