Doing more than just second-guessing

The wise say you can learn something from every experience.

So what, as Nebraska football fans, did we really learn last Saturday night about the Huskers?

Apparently we learned that the West-Cost offense doesn't work when you're on the West Coast, at least we didn't seem willing to try and make it work.

Or maybe it just doesn't work against teams from the West Coast, especially teams the caliber of the University of Southern California Trojans.

I guess either one of those things could be OK since we don't play on the West Coast again during the regular season and the rest of the scheduled teams we face will be from no further west than Boulder, Colo.

Hopefully, somewhere along the way, we'll find something that consistently works against Midwestern opponents, though.

All week long, everywhere you go, people have been talking about the Huskers' performance at USC and Nebraska's game plan or perceived lack of any plan at all.

Whether it's analysts on national television or the Monday-morning quarterbacks down at the local coffee shop, everyone has an opinion.

And most of those opinions haven't been favorable toward the decisions made during the game by the Nebraska coaching staff.

Of course, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said he's not about to second-guess himself in regard to the playcalling.

But after all, he doesn't have to, because we're all very capable of doing that for him.

After showing good offensive balance against two out-manned opponents during the first two weeks of the season, the Huskers couldn't get much of anything going against USC.

Nebraska went into the game second in scoring offense in the nation averaging 52.5 points per game and third in total offense averaging 541 yards per game.

We all knew those numbers were a little inflated after playing Louisiana Tech and Nicholls State, but it sure didn't take long for them to be deflated by USC.

The Trojans held Nebraska to just 10 points and 211 yards of total offense in the game.

Nebraska had just 68 rushing yards after picking up more than 250 yards on the ground in each of their first two games.

So what happened?

For one thing, we were playing a better team than Louisiana Tech or Nicholls State, but that's obvious.

Lots of people are saying it looked like Callahan was trying so hard not to get beaten badly in the game, he forgot about trying to win it.

Calling Callahan's play calling in the game conservative is being a little too conservative in itself.

You might say we were running scared, but we weren't really able to run anywhere either, were we?

One of my favorite comments during the game came from ABC announcer Brent Musberger.

Musberger said something about Callahan's play calling not looking any different from that of former Nebraska coaches Tom Osborne and Frank Solich.

And then, kind of under his breath, he said, “But Mr. Osborne would have had some points on the board.”

At least I think that's what he said.

Now maybe I didn't hear that right. Maybe Musberger didn't really say what I thought he said.

It's a possibility I could have just thought I heard him say that because it was exactly what I was thinking at the time.

Oh, just think back on the good ol' days when Nebraska could run the football against just about anybody.

But just because the Osborne-era teams were able to keep the ball on the ground, pounding opponents into submission with the option attack, doesn't mean we can do that now.

Keeping the ball on the ground it's not what we're built to do right now.

The installation of the West-Coast offense has made it necessary to re-education our linemen when it comes to blocking. Pass blocking has supposedly become more important and we're not as able to blow opposing defenses off the line of scrimmage as we could in the past.

So why keep trying to do something the new offensive scheme isn't designed for?

If we're supposed to be able to throw the football then throw it.

I feel sorry for the Husker players when I see things happen like they did Saturday night.

I have a feeling they were as bewildered as the rest of us as to the calls being made from the sideline at times.

One of Nebraska senior quarterback Zac Taylor's comments following the loss was “I never got into a rhythm.”

But Taylor and the rest of the Husker offense were never really allowed to get into a “rhythm” during the game and that didn't have as much to do with the Trojan defense as it did with Callahan's playcalling.

Nebraska converted just 5 of 14 third-down opportunities.

Being conservative on first and second downs often put the team into third-and-long situations.

Of the five third-down plays the Huskers converted, the longest was seven yards with three being three yards or less.

Five of the third-down plays Nebraska didn't convert were five or more yards, including one 31-yarder.

We did convert 2 of 3 fourth-down attempts, which included the fake punt with punter Dan Titchener throwing a 28-yard pass to receiver Todd Peterson.

The fake punt was definitely the best call of the game.

Good thing Titchener got the ball to Peterson, too, as it was his only catch of the day and he's supposed to be one of our most reliable receivers.

Nebraska finished 9-for-17 in passing for 143 yards. Five of those pass completions were to running backs and accounted for 48 yards.

With Peterson's reception from our punter, that leaves just three passes from our quarterback to receivers.

I guess I thought with the West-Coast offense we'd be spreading the ball around a little more and throwing it a little further down the field. Silly me, huh?

Maybe I'm in one of those ruts again where I'm thinking too much.

And maybe that's what's happening with Nebraska's offense, too. We're spending so much time thinking about what we're going to do, we're not getting the job done.

We have a good group of athletes on the field with the ability to perform at high levels, so let them do it. Give the players a chance and let them play the game.

Figure out who our playmakers truly are and find a way to get the ball in their hands.

If we can't do that from the sideline, maybe we should try something like they do during the Pro Bowl and let fans phone in plays.

“Yeah, coach Callahan, this is Joe Blow in Section 36, Row 85, and I'd like to see you open things up a little bit. How about a down-and-out pattern with Matt Herian catching the ball along the sideline.”

“Hey, coach Callahan, it's me here down in the South end zone. I really think we'd be able to score if you'd just send Terrance Nunn on a post route.”

“Excuse me coach, but don't you think now's the time to run the football. How about putting Cody Glenn in the backfield and letting him bust a few moves through the line?”

Now that could make for some interesting playcalling, couldn't it?

Jane White is sports editor at the Daily Sun.