College football notes: Nebraska’s Bo Pelini in trouble
By CHUCK SAMPLES
ISL Correspondent
On Monday morning, Nebraska football was licking its wounds from the weekend’s second-half meltdown at home against UCLA.
Those wounds were inflicted on the field. A few more may have been administered off the field by now official lightning-rod head coach Bo Pelini.
First coming to light was Pelini’s response to Tommie Frazier, one of the program’s all-time great quarterbacks, who called for several defensive coaches to be fired after the 41-21 loss. In short, the response was, “We don’t need him.” The link to the full article from the Omaha World-Herald:
And from the Lincoln Journal-Star:
Pelini may be right about the program needing to ignore comments such as those, although doing so when they come from one of the best players in program history in such a manner…well…let’s just say it doesn’t add to the good feeling Pelini wants around his program but can’t seem to muster because the Huskers can’t get to the next level.
And that’s where the next Pelini blast comes into the picture.
Deadspin is rolling out an article based on audio apparently coming right after the Huskers showed some heart to charge past Ohio State two years ago. Problem: Pelini rips the fans who left before the comeback in no uncertain terms. The full story and audio, neither of which are for the faint of heart or fresh of ear:
If Bo Pelini wanted to bring wavering Husker fans back to the fold, there is no way that will happen now. None. Not with the Huskers seemingly clueless on both sides of the ball, players and coaches. And not with the head coach torching the bridge to the program’s fandom in such a spectacular fashion.
Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst hasn’t said how he plans to handle this Pelini-fed grass fire as I write this. But you can’t imagine Eichorst will simply stop with a meeting in his office. The clock is ticking on Pelini’s tenure at the University of Nebraska. This is not the way to set anybody at ease on how this season will end.
Thoughts from an, um, interesting weekend in college football:
1. Alabama apparently doesn’t need defense that badly. The Crimson Tide surrendered around 600 yards of total offense to Texas A&M on Saturday, but still came up big when it had to for the win. Johnny Manziel was spectacular again, but AJ McCarron performed at a winning level. Again.
2. Maize and Blue feeling blue. It was bad enough Michigan needed a wayward pass at the end of the game to edge past lowly Akron on Saturday. Visions of Appalachian State are still vivid, though. At least Michigan won.
3. Dear Old Nebraska U. Remember when I said I didn’t trust Taylor Martinez or Bo Pelini? This was why. Calls for Pelini’s job are now officially warranted.
4. Strange Doings in the Desert. What do YOU make of the Wisconsin-Arizona State ending? That takes the cake as one of the weirdest ending sequences I have seen.
5. Longhorns get processed. Again. After a shredded-beef defensive consistency against BYU, Texas got grilled again by Ole Miss. Mack Brown’s rear end is really starting to get grill marks now as well. Sorry, but I’m not going to miss this rare opportunity to rub it in.
