[Husker] Some Pre-Game Thoughts

[Steve Stone]

If I know anything about coaches, Bill Callahan has been preparing 
specifically for Saturday's game for, say, eleven months and about 
three weeks. How well such planning will pay off is yet to be seen.

I have no idea whether last year's game plan was terrific or 
pathetic, but I do think it was the only possibvle one under the 
circumstances: no possibility of beating the Trojans on their home 
turf, a still-developing Husker offense, and a shallow and hastily 
reorganized  defensive backfield. The best that could be done was to 
prevent disaster. In that respect it worked.

The Huskers wound up on the wrong end of a 28-10 score, but I did see 
one rather surprising and encouraging facet as the game drew to a 
close: the Trojan offense took possession of the ball near the red 
zone but made only a pro forma attempt to advance the ball. In a 
post-game LA Times interview, Trojan linemen admitted they they had 
had all the football they wanted that evening. They were exhausted. 
To me, that meant the Huskers had been outscored but not outmanned in 
the trenches.

In my view, this year's Huskers are a clear step ahead of last 
year's, and playing the game in Memorial Stadium should make it a 
little harder for the Trojans and a lot easier for the Huskers. But 
the Trojans' biggest challenge may come from having played only one 
game and having had two weeks to prepare for Nebraska without seeing 
any Husker film worth watching: Bill Callahan revealed practically 
nothing in the Nevada and Wake Forest scrimmages.

Having seen my first USC game at Stanford in 1946 and having attended 
Muir College in Pasadena and UCLA, followed later by a teaching stint 
at USC (when it was known as O.J. Tech) I've seen a lot of Trojan 
football over the decades. Then and now, when the Trojans think they 
have the opponent on the ropes, they become supermen, but when the 
opponent unexpectedly stands his ground and gives no quarter, they 
become suddenly human - - as last year's UCLA game proved.

That could be Nebraska's edge. I'm hanging my hopes on the premise 
that Bill Callahan has been operating with this in mind.

Steve Stone