12. On the Criticism of Specific Team Struggles

A.  Penalties and Game Management

For the first few seasons of Pelini’s career, his critics wailed loudly about the high number of penalties called on his teams, and for what at times appeared to be poor game management.  Indeed, Pelini’s teams were flagged for between 62- and 71-yards of penalties per game in four of his first five seasons.  But look now: Nebraska has been flagged this year for just 52 yards per game in penalties, a significant reduction.   And many of this year's penalties have been called against second- and third-team offensive linemen forced into action after injuries to the starters. 

Clearly, Nebraska plays a much cleaner game now than in Pelini’s first few years.  Gone are the regular personal foul penalties.  Gone, too, are the frustrating delay of game penalties and last-second timeouts caused by the staff’s slowness in signaling in the play calls.  Fans used to howl about those moments.  Those problems are gone.  The critics don't seem to offer credit, though.

Pelini and his staff have made significant improvements in these areas.

As a further testament to Pelini’s improving game management, Nebraska has now won eight straight games that were decided by six points or less.  Nebraska’s longest previous streak of winning close games was a streak of four more than 20 years ago.  At LSU, by comparison, the much more experienced Les Miles has produced enough footage for a humorous highlight (lowlight) reel of his clock mismanagement debacles.

To successfully manage comebacks, quick do-or-die drives, and wins in down-to-the-wire Big Ten slugfests, requires a coaching staff that excels in preparation, poise, and leadership.  And to be doing this well in these areas just six years into his first head-coaching tenure speaks very well of what's to come in Pelini's future.

B.    Blowout Losses

There is no denying that Nebraska has lost some games by wide margins under Pelini.  More often than not, they were the byproduct of turnovers and poor play in all three phases (and in reality, misfires in the 2010 recruiting class).  Pelini, to his credit, doesn’t make excuses.  He accepts responsibility and vows to improve.

But the critics are erroneous in what they alleged to be the frequency of the blowouts.  In Pelini’s last 70 games, Nebraska has lost by more than two scores just 7 times, or 10 percent of the time.  By comparison, in the last 44 games of the Perlman-Callahan Experiment, NU lost by more than two scores 13 times, or about every third game.   So in transitioning from the Perlman-Callahan abyss to a brighter future, NU has progressed from an average of bad losses every three games to an average of a bad loss every 10 games.  

That is significant progress.  Imagine what's to come.

The thorn in the critics’ side are the two blowout losses at Wisconsin and Michigan in 2011, and the two that followed in 2012 at Ohio State and in the Big Ten Championship game vs. Wisconsin.  In those four games, turnovers and special teams breakdowns plagued the Huskers, and Pelini made no excuses. Got outcoached and outexecuted.

What the critics like to pretend, however, is that 2013 is the same as 1983.  But it’s not.  Scholarship limits and other factors have dramatically leveled the playing field.  Blowouts even happen to the best programs nowadays.  Just look at the latest Top 20.  There’s Oregon, one of the powerhouses of the modern era, losing its last game 42-16 to an unranked team.   There’s Bob Stoops, arguably the premier coach of the past 15 years, getting blown out three times in 10 games, not far removed from a 44-10 loss to Oklahoma State.  There’s Clemson, a top 5 team until suffering a 51-14 rout a few weeks ago, perhaps still scarred by a 70-33 loss in its 2012 bowl game.  There is Baylor, eyeing a national championship until losing last week by a count of 49-17.  There’s Missouri, in the top 5 this week, but last year losing four games by three or more TD’s.

Osborne himself suffered his share of blowouts.  From 1988 through 1992, the five seasons preceding his tremendous closing stretch, Osborne lost by double digits no less than 10 times.  Pelini critics like to defend those losses by arguing that Osborne lost to highly ranked teams.  But in Pelini’s four blowouts in 2011 and 2012, three of those victors also finished ranked in the Top 10 (2011 Wisconsin and Michigan, 2012 Ohio State).  The critics can’t have it both ways.  By their logic, Nebraska should have fired Osborne around 1992. 

The point: you don’t fire coaches because of a few bad losses.  If that was the rule, most BCS teams would swap coaches on an annual basis.

Instead you look for improvement.  This season, despite fielding an offense decimated by injuries and a defense dominated by first-time players, Nebraska is 8-3, had double-digit leads in its first two losses, and gave away the Michigan State game with five turnovers by freshmen forced into action due to injuries to starters.  A regular slate of injuries and this year’s team is likely 10-1 at worst.    

As Osborne has explained, as Saban has explained, as all great coaches explain: it is a process.  

C.    Turnovers

Yep, Pelini needs to fix this one.  Every team has its strengths and weaknesses, and Nebraska has been strangely plagued by the turnover bug.  You won’t find the answers here. A couple theories, but those are cheap.

But what you will find here, for the many reasons articulated above, is this: the faith that Nebraska has the right head coach to figure this one out. 

 D.  Recruiting

For those consumed by star ratings of recruits, who think that classes ranked around 20th or 25th will be the downfall of the program, the type who complained when we signed the 128th-ranked RB in the nation (some kid named Abdullah) - go back down to your mom's basement and resume your arguments that Bill Callahan wasn't as bad as people say.  And please find a new team.  May I suggest the Dallas Cowboys?