[Husker] Well, it got worse

[Pat Gaule]

It's still obvious Cosgrove needs to go. The offense certainly 
contributed to the defensive collapse, but the defense still managed to 
give up 600 yards.  You can't pin all of that entirely on the offensive 
ineptitude (don't get me wrong, the offense also shares a lot of the 
blame for this abysmal performance, and I will address that later in 
this post).

Cosgrove is beyond redemption at this point.  Even if people want to 
give him more chances, I have no confidence that his defenses won't fail 
time and time again.  Do they fire him in the middle of the season?  
Probably not, but unlike a few weeks ago, I no longer care if they do.  
The downside is they would just replace him with an interim coach 
(somebody already on the staff), so it probably wouldn't have much of an 
effect this season.  In any event, it's probably a moot point because I 
think it will be addressed at the end of the season.  If it isn't, then 
the problems with NU's athletic department run even deeper than I imagined.

A few weeks ago, I posted similar comments about Cosgrove after the Ball 
State game.  However, I said that the only thing holding Callahan back 
at this point was Cosgrove's defense.  I said that his offense looked 
fine (for the most part).  However, I can't justify that after watching 
this abomination.. Nebraska went up against a team ranked 92nd in total 
defense.  They managed 274 total yards against a defense that gave up 
434 yards per game coming into this contest.   They managed 6 measly 
points against a team that gave up 25 points per game.  That is beyond 
pathetic, and there is no excuse for it in the 4th year of Callahan's 
tenure.  There is especially no excuse for it after signing such a long 
contract extension.

I can't think of a reason (outside of the ridiculous contract extension 
that Pedey inked) for continuing this experiment that has failed so many 
times already.  This program is no longer mediocre...Nebraska football's 
program in shambles.  I would go so far as to say that Notre Dame has a 
brighter future than Nebraska at this point.  Despite only having 1 win 
this year, I feel that Charlie Weiss will get that program back to 
respectability.  I cannot say the same for Callahan.  And that pains me 
to say because I do not like Notre Dame at all. The sad reality is that 
Nebraska would not have faired much better against Notre Dame's schedule 
to this point.  It's possible they wouldn't have even beat UCLA.  I only 
mention this because I've seen posts on other boards 
(*cough*huskerpedia*cough) where people say stuff like "At least we're 
not Notre Dame."  Sorry folks, but this program is in no better shape 
than it was before Callahan got here.  Mr. Pederson's now infamous sound 
bytes proclaiming, "We won't surrender this conference to Texas and 
Oklahoma" and "We will not gravitate toward mediocrity" sound extremely 
stupid in year 4 of this experiment.

We still need 2 wins to become bowl eligible, and there is a reasonable 
chance that won't happen.  I do not see us winning any of our remaining 
road contests.  I think we will win 2 out of 3 remaining home games, but 
that is far from guaranteed.  A 6-6 or 7-5 season seems very probable   
I expected a loss tonight, but what transpired just makes me sick.  I 
don't know what to call this any more, but this is not Nebraska 
football.  It is a sad parody of what I knew growing up in Nebraska.

For what it's worth, it looks like Nebraska's defense will now be 
averaging 441 ypg in total defense, which should put them around 95th in 
the country.  I wonder if that is a record for a Husker defense.