For the second straight year, Corey Ross saved our offense and the day against Kansas. The defense played huge, even though our turnovers put them in tough situations. This was a great win to get because now we are only one of two teams in the Big 12 North (Missouri being the other) without a league loss.

Dailey continues to commit the kind of errors that typically make a quarterback lose his position. Certain people say to wait until he’s a senior and he’ll be better, but I’m kinda doubting he’ll still be behind center by then.

Ross is turning into a star, though it’s unfortunate to see the West Coast offense reduced to a pitchout on 3rd and 8 late in the 4th, with the outcome still in doubt. As the game unfolded, the home crowd increasingly voiced alarm whenever Dailey dropped back for a pass.

I realize the enlightened thing to point out whenever a younger player is not performing is that “he’ll get better”. I dispute the merits of this sort of enlightenment—especially if it means one cannot point out the obvious. Dailey had two weeks to prepare for Kansas, and right out of the gate he was throwing an errant sidearm pass and pitching the ball on the ground in his own end zone. Reality check: Dailey has had a full Spring and Fall camp, plus three games before this one. When does he start getting better? At what point does tossing back-to-back interceptions in multiple games cease to be blamed on running a new offense?

Kansas was a team Nebraska could have, and should have, beaten by two touchdowns or more. In several of our games this year, the final score has been closer than the two teams’ overall talent level. The main reason has been our QB’s penchant for turnovers. Callahan either needs to figure out how to get better play out of his current QB or have the courage to make a change—that, or spend the offseason listening to how he couldn’t win as many games as what got Solich fired.

RUUD FOR BUTKUS

There has been no better linebacker in college football through four games than Barrett Ruud. Since NU switched to the 4-3 base D in the 90s, I don’t know if we’ve seen a middle linebacker like him. Maybe Carlos Polk.

JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY…

Does anyone remember an NU opponent ending up with 8 points?

ON THE RADIO

Late in the game, sideline guy and 1997 Husker hero Matt Davison reported that the offense had just come together on the sideline, then told those listening to the broadcast to expect a TD to put the game away. A moment later, Dailey threw an interception.

ON THE TV

The Fox announcers for the pay-per-view broadcast expressed surprise that the entire Nebraska team seemed to start the game flat. This left me to wonder…

Why is it that off weeks seem to often help our opponents, but never us? I remember back in the option days, I heard various explanations about how long delays between games threw our timing off. Now that we run a different offense, what’s the rationale?

NATIONALLY

Kansas might have been a better team than their record and national standing might suggest. Before the NU game, Kansas had only lost to Northwestern and Texas Tech. Northwestern—who narrowly defeated KU—beat Ohio St on Saturday. And the Jayhawks’ loss to Tech was by only a point. Perhaps if Kansas is better that says good things about us.

THIS WEEK

Texas Tech moved the ball up and down the field on Oklahoma this past weekend in their 28-13 loss. Tech just didn’t score touchdowns when they got down in the red zone. Playing against this team in Lubbock is going to be tough. The Red Raiders are at least as good as Southern Miss. We need some combination of Carriker or McPherson back at full speed and a turnover-free (or turnover-limited) performance from Dailey to come out on top.

The voice of Scarlet Commentary is Jeffrey A. Leever, a Nebraska native also stuck behind enemy lines in Jefferson County, Colo. He is a 1994 graduate of the University of Nebraska (Kearney) and a freelance writer and author. Some of Jeff’s writings of the nonfootball kind can be found online at Barnes & Noble 1, 2, Amazon.com 1, 2, and at MenofIntegrity.net 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Contact Jeff at splasheditorial@hotmail.com.