[Husker] Dire Straits - drastic changes are the only option

[Pat Gaule]

With an anemic 335 yards of total offense and 14 points, Nebraska's 
average ypg now drops to 424.43.  That should put them somewhere around 
40th in total offense, and well over 50th in scoring offense once all 
the stats come in for this weekend.  This might sound respectable if you 
don't consider the fact that NU has gone up against opponents who ranked 
below 90th in total defense the past 2 weeks, and managed only 20 
points, including a stretch of 7 consecutive quarters where they did not 
cross the goal line.  My only point in mentioning this is because a few 
were still trying to defend the offense after last week.  I think today 
showed that last week's struggles were not an aberration - the offense 
isn't very good either.

I don't think anything more needs to be said about the defense, but I 
will bring it up any way.  With another spectacular performance (giving 
up 551 total yards), NU's defense should drop to about 105th in the 
country.  If NU does not win next week (against a team that beat 
Oklahoma State), I do not think they will win another game this season. 
Even with a win, I cannot envision a scenario where NU does better than 
6-6 to finish the season.  There is only one thing that can be done at 
this point: clean house and start from scratch while there's still 
hope.  If this staff is not driven out of town at the end of the season, 
and Callahan is allowed to serve out the remainder of his contract, the 
damage to the program may be irreparable.

This is not a case of merely "gravitating toward mediocrity" where we 
consistently win 9-10 games and just need to make a few changes to "get 
over the hump."  This program is in as bad of shape as Oklahoma in the 
90's, and at least OU had the foresight to dump Schnellenberger and 
Blake once it became obvious that they were not the answer.  At NU, we 
are stuck with a megalomaniac Athletic Director who is too cowardly to 
admit he made a mistake, and so obsessed with trying to be "the savior" 
that he wastes millions of dollars on a completely undeserved contract 
extension just to satisfy his own ego.  If Pederson truly had the best 
interest of UNL athletic at heart, he would do the honorable thing and 
step down.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize what effect 
that will have on donation money.  At this point, I can't imagine there 
is anyone left who is willing to defend him.

Solich's 38-9 loss to Kansas State in 2003 was considered by many to be 
"the straw that broke the camel's back" as far as Pederson's decision to 
fire Solich.  That 2003 KSU team went on to win the Big 12 and destroy 
top-ranked Oklahoma by nearly the same margin, and finish in the top 
15.  That 2003 game was tied at half time and didn't get out of reach 
until the 4th quarter.  Today's game was over shortly into the 2nd 
quarter, if not before the end of the first quarter.  Today's loss was 
much worse than the 2003 loss to KSU, and people started to leave this 
game well before half time (I've never seen the stadium as empty as it 
was by the end of the 4th quarter).    This is an Oklahoma State team 
who entered the game with a .500 record and a blowout  loss to Troy.  
There is no excuse for this.

Pederson needs to be fired immediately, and his replacement can figure 
out the football staffing situation at the end of the season.  As far as 
donating money buy out the contracts of these bozos, I'm "N."  In the 
mean time, I feel awful for the players who are caught up in this mess.  
They deserve better.  The fans deserve better, and the whole state 
deserves better.