Right after Bo Pelini was hired to coach Nebraska in 2007, a good helping of Cornhusker fans, well-versed in both modern and historical college football, pointed to this upcoming week as an early mid-term, if you will, on NU's progress under Pelini.

A home game vs. Oklahoma, the standard-bearer of the Big 12 in the 21st Century, coached by Pelini's old buddy, Bob Stoops. If Pelini had a grace period of, say, 20 games – he's coached 21 thus far – OU, with its balance, talent, speed and reputation, would be an apt measuring stick for how far the Huskers had come – and how far, still, they had to go.

As we stand here now, with both fighters bruised and frustrated, it's harder to see that stick in the mist of injuries, offensive woes and close, painful losses.

But it's still there. And all of Nebraska's goals are still there, too. The Huskers control their destiny. Win out and punch a ticket to Dallas and the Big 12 Championship vs. Texas. Win out, and NU, with its fan base and classy reputation, is guaranteed no worse than the Holiday Bowl to tangle with another of Pelini's mentors, Pete Carroll and his USC Trojans.

Yes – win out, and a fairly cool prize awaits at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box.

NU's 20-10 victory over Baylor isn't the kind you love to relive, aside from one particular performance. We'll do it anyway, with an eye on the big stick that Nebraska would very much like to carry into the final quarter of its season – after measuring up to it, of course.

Five Players We Loved

Defensive tackle Jared Crick: Opponents pay so much attention to Ndamukong Suh that Crick feasts on the single-blocker approach. But Saturday, he tossed those blockers aside and chased Baylor quarterback Nick Florence like a wolfman. Thirteen tackles? Absurd. Crick's small-town persona only adds to the appeal.

Linebacker Eric Martin: He's been threatening to make a big special teams play all year; Saturday, he finally made it by setting up a blocked punt that was returned by Justin Blatchford for the Huskers' first touchdown. If Martin is able to make the leap defensive back Alfonzo Dennard made from his freshman to sophomore season, watch out.

Quarterback Cody Green: Warts and all, Green ran hard, competed bravely and generally seemed in command. He's got some work to do, particularly on timing routes, but he's finally a position to do something about it on the field.

Punter/kicker Alex Henery: Nailed two important field goals – Baylor's Ben Parks missed a chip shot of his own – and made a touchdown-saving tackle on a wild BU punt return right at the end of the game. Athlete first. Kicker second.

Cornerback Prince Amukamara: One terrific interceptions with three more pass breakups to boot. Amukamara rebounded from a so-so game vs. Texas Tech with a strong performance here.

Three Concerns We Have

No Daylight: Nebraska ran the ball 19 times in the second half for 61 yards. How many teams is that going to beat? The beefy offensive line has to earn its keep.

Going Horizontal: Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson laid off the sideways passes for the first half. Then, with a seemingly comfy 20-0 lead, he started getting cute again, trying to burn Baylor for loading the box by throwing 20 yards sideways, in the hopes of creating one-on-one situations on the perimeter. You all know what eventually happened. If Watson wants to go horizontal, here's a thought: Run wide receiver sweeps.

Shaky coverage: Baylor was close on a couple kick and punt returns to busting one open for a touchdown. The Huskers have to keep lane discipline and learn to break down and tackle better, instead of searching for the killshot.

Reviewing The Five Keys

Play to win, not to dominate: Nebraska did just that with a modest offensive gameplan and a defensive strategy that called for maximum coverage and zero blitzes. The result? Seven sacks and three turnovers on defense. Safe to say the plan worked.

Match up and move it: Dejon Gomes, Lance Thorell and Sean Fisher probably were exhausted by game's end, running in and out of the game as NU mixed and matched nickel, dime and dollar coverages, but the Huskers were rarely out of position, and almost always had double coverage on the deep receiver, which led to Gomes' interception. The Huskers were lucky that Florence wasn't more accurate on that skinny slant pattern to Kendall Wright, though.

Neutralize the earth-movers: Baylor couldn't do anything against Crick and Suh, while Nebraska had initial success against the Bears' front four, with that success waning by the second half.

Traye and Jay: Dontrayevous Robinson looked like Nebraska's best running option until he got hurt in the fourth quarter; Robinson, like Green, competes hard on every play. BU's Jay Finley was not a factor.

Bo vs. Briles: Baylor head coach Art Briles threw the kitchen sink at Nebraska, and the Brothers Pelini dodged nearly every bullet and landed some haymakers of their own. NU won this coaching chess match with a big dose of help from Crick and Suh.

Three Questions We Still Have

Is Roy Helu anywhere near getting healthy? Why did he play Saturday? Repeat: Why? If Nebraska couldn't beat Baylor without Helu – and, just for the record, the Huskers pretty much did – then Nebraska had no business winning, period. Helu should have stayed home and nursed his injured shoulder.

Where in the world is Mike McNeill, and how does Watson get him involved in the offense again? McNeill's too good to be wasted on well-covered tight end routes. Give the kid a chance to work on the edge and use his size advantage. He's a mismatch waiting to happen. Isn't Watson all about that?

Can the Nebraska crowd find some inner resolve? And create a nightmarish atmosphere for Oklahoma this week? Memorial Stadium needs to be the toughest environment that OU quarterback Landry Jones has ever played in.

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Players of the game and grades after Nebraska's win over Baylor:

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:

OFFENSE: Cody Green. He provided exactly the kind of spark you'd hoped he would. He was poised in the pocket. He didn't waste a lot of time at the line. He scrambled and ran with authority and power. And he was called upon to throw a beauty of a deep ball, he did so with accuracy and perfect placement. The second half wasn't so pretty - but, really, who else deserves it?

DEFENSE: Jared Crick. It was the kind of performance that reminded me of Danny Noonan and John Parrella, a display of power, tenacity, toughness and brute force. Ndamukong Suh made his usual array of plays all over the field; he's still one of a kind. But, on this day, Crick was that tough-nosed local boy that Nebraska used to ride to conference and national championships. Crick's a little nasty, too. We love it.

GRADES

QUARTERBACK: C Cody Green made some solid plays early in the game, and his two scrambles on third down help set up Alex Henery's 45-yard field goal. He also threw a beautiful pass to Niles Paul to set up a touchdown. But his second-half play? Not real pretty. Green has to watch those throws to the sidelines and try not to go airborne on, well, just about any running play, ever. It's a start. Not a perfect one. But a start.

RUNNING BACK: B Given the Huskers' injuries, this bunch did pretty well with the holes they were given. Traye Robinson is a valid option at running back. Roy Helu is hurt. Lester Ward did OK in limited action, but runs too high. Austin Jones didn't have a prayer.

WIDE RECEIVER: C A couple untimely drops were offset by two key catches by Niles Paul, who manned up and made some nice grabs. Cody Green missed a few receivers on top of everything else. The perimeter blocking, especially from Khiry Cooper, could have been better.

TIGHT ENDS/OFFENSIVE LINE: D The shoddy blocking in the second half is unacceptable. When Nebraska needs two yards – the line needs to be able produce those two yards against a team like Baylor. The Huskers were stymied far too often in short yardage situations. Also a costly holding and false penalty when they weren't needed.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A+ Seven sacks warrants a perfect grade in our book. Crick was spectacular. Baylor never got anything on the ground, either. This unit is scary good right now.

LINEBACKERS: A Phillip Dillard and Sean Fisher snuffed out Baylor's junk plays all afternoon, and got after the quarterback when it matter. Nice job by both against the zone read. Fisher, who was running on and off the field all day, adjusted quite well.

SECONDARY: B The Bears busted a couple big throws in the second half, but NU, for the most part, covered well. The Huskers could be a little more aggressive on the short routes, and the safeties could improve on laying out the receiver when there's underneath coverage. Terrific interception by Prince Amukamara; Dejon Gomes' pick was just a bad pass.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A A defensive touchdown, a ton of touchbacks and Alex Henery's key tackle on a wild Baylor punt return – this unit helped save the Huskers bacon.

GAME MANAGEMENT AND PLAYCALLING: B Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson got a little cute in the second half, but, for the most part, he called a tough-minded, simplified game that seemed to suit the Huskers' strengths. His presence on the sideline was helpful, even if it didn't always seem like it with NU's play. On defense, Bo and Carl Pelini kept the gameplan beautifully simple, and let the front four do what it does. No blitz calls on the day? Nice job, gentlemen.

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WACO, Texas - Finally. Maybe. We think. We hope. Sigh.

Yes, it's like that, right now, for Nebraska's offense. For Nebraska, period.

NU seemed to locate its offensive identity Saturday in 20-10 win over Baylor. For a half, anyway. It's not fully-formed, it still remains trapped a bit in the inane intricacies of West Coast Offense, but it's a start. Maybe. We think. We hope. Sigh.

Cody Green at quarterback, scrambling when necessary, running with poise and authority. A power offense designed to punish lesser teams and set up deep passes. A strong, forward-leaning running back in true freshman Traye Robinson. And, at long last, a compliment of big-bodied tight ends on the field – at the same time.

Fireworks, it wasn't. Well – unless you count the ones that got shot off after Baylor intercepted and returned one of Green's two mistakes for a touchdown.

What did you expect after a month of sideways passes, soft-bellied screens and tentative quarterback play from Zac Lee? Sixty points? Saturday was a modest step forward. Finally. Maybe. We think. We hope. Green had all the advantages - a special teams touchdown, a dominant defensive performance, a Baylor offense, set to the melt setting every time it ventured into Nebraska territory. And there were times – like most of the second half – where he didn't do anything with those advantages.

But this is change we can believe in. Finally. Maybe. We think. We hope. It's an offense that, at long last, suits the kind of defense Nebraska has become. Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson had to descend from his perch – physically and philosophically – for it to happen. Yes, that was Watson on the sidelines, in his trademark sunglasses, barking excitedly, getting in the faces of his linemen at key moments.

“That was to help Cody,” Watson said. “We've got a freshman tailback (Robinson) that's playing a lot, we've got a freshman quarterback now. I wanted to be there with the guys. Something some of the older guys asked me about. I did that for them.”

It was good to see. He took ownership Saturday. He didn't have much of a choice.

Oh, Watson got cute again midway through the third quarter – and Green got lazy. Watson started calling the horizontal passes again, and Green locked onto receiver Khiry Cooper on a third-down play. The result: A Pick Six that might have had the last remaining members of the Zac Lee camp saying “I told you so.” A fourth-quarter fumble – when Green rather inexplicably left his feet on a quarterback draw – had them roaring a little bit louder.

We think they're wrong. Maybe. We hope so.

It really doesn't matter if NU can't run the ball. Once again Saturday, Barney Cotton's bunch did not deliver on its potential or responsibility. They played hard, but not in sync, and not as a smoothly-operating, confident unit. And head coach Bo Pelini was plenty vocal about it after the game.

“It's a huge concern,” he said. “We've got to be able to run the football better. We didn't run the ball to my liking today.”

This is the tone Pelini has to strike – the same kind of aggression and expectation he shows with his defense. He needs to show it weekly – heck, daily - with Watson, Cotton and that offensive line, which is too big and too experienced to make communication gaffes for the bulk of the second half. Watson tried pounding the ball with big sets, fullbacks, inside zones and the old-school Callahan stretch play. The offensive line didn't respond with enough gashes for Robinson, Roy Helu, Lester Ward and Austin Jones.

Yes, I just named four running backs there. Marcus Mendoza played a couple snaps, too. If Helu isn't 100 percent healthy, the Huskers really have no bellcow. Robinson can only do so much with the time he's been given, and the rest of the backs are not consistently good runners. Baylor wisely took away Green's running lanes on the zone read Saturday, forcing Helu and crew to pick their way through narrow holes, just hoping to stay upright and healthy. Helu got dinged again. So did Robinson.

Even if NU stumbled into success Saturday – even if it's a first step to something better – the Huskers have to healthy and confident enough to keep it going.

Bo pulled the trigger on Green. It was a must. Lee might have given the Huskers some looks in the passing game. But, honestly, I doubt it. NU's receivers were again average. Baylor's corners mostly did stayed with them. The Bears brought two or three blitzes that Green stepped away from for positive scrambles, or withstood in the pocket to throw first downs. Lee wilted under those same blitzes in recent weeks. Green gives defenses an element to worry about. And right now, the Huskers need every element on the periodic table they can get.

But now, Bo has to aim his sights on that offensive line. Whatever they've given already to the team – they've got to dig in and give a little more. The unit is not completely healthy – center Jacob Hickman is nursing a severely sprained ankle – but it's healthy enough.

Time for Cotton – who is a tough, honest coach and a skilled teacher from this point of view – to drive that unit just a little harder, and get them to execute a little better. Oklahoma blows into Lincoln next week plenty ticked off – with a wicked defense to match. If NU can't dent that OU front line, the Sooners will eat Green – or Lee – alive.

This is a unit fighting back the light, folks. The offense remains under siege from pundits and fans. Just one minute into Pelini's press conference, a fan clutching a white gate just feet away screamed a particular insult about Watson.

His boss took it in stride at the moment, but after his media session was done, he walked over to that fence, shook hands with athletic director Tom Osborne, and looked into that crowd. He wanted to know – who had the big mouth? It wasn't the most politically correct moment, but it was vintage Bo. Loyal and tenacious to the last. Nebraska fans may not always like it. But it's what they paid Osborne to find, and Bo to do.

Bo's in the thick of tough, grueling season. He knows it. This is the year that will forge his coaching character even more than he's already forged it himself. And he's fighting back with the best defensive front four I've seen at NU in years.

Now that offensive front five has to do their part.

Can it? Finally?

Maybe. We think. We hope. Sigh.

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WACO, Texas - A special teams touchdown. A home crowd on the road. A day without rain, boos or clouds. Plenty of sacks and turnovers. And the starting debut of a Nebraska freshman quarterback who seems to have the skills and poise to go as far as his long, powerful running strides can take him.

His arm may be another question.

But after two stunning home losses in a row, Nebraska's football team captured a needed rebound victory, beating Baylor 20-10 Saturday afternoon.

Bo Pelini's bunch, now 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12 Conference, inserted themselves back into the Big 12 North race in front 31,702 at Floyd Casey Stadium that included a reporter-estimated 15,000 Cornhusker fans.

“It was real important,” Pelini said. “We needed a win. We got a win. We got a lot of work to do yet. A win's a win. It's No. 5.”

Many of those raucous fans – silenced for whole portions of the second half - were from Texas, and took the opportunity to watch true freshman Cody Green – a native of Dayton, Texas – make his first start at quarterback. The decision was made on Thursday, Pelini said, because “you gotta go with your gut.”

Initally, Green didn't disappoint. His first-half performance – 6-of-9 passing for 85 yards, 25 yards rushing – was a portrait of efficiency. With offensive coordinator Shawn Watson calling plays on the sidelines and simplifying the attack, Green operated mostly out of multiple tight end, power formations. He ran only four times, but two of them were scrambles of ten and six yards on a drive that led to Alex Henery's 45-yard field goal.

All but one of his completions were of the short, controlled variety, but he did hit wide receiver Niles Paul on a 45-yard fade route, Green placing the ball perfectly on Paul's outside shoulder. Two plays later, true freshman Traye Robinson skied into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. That gave NU a 20-0 halftime lead.

“In the first half, things were rolling pretty good,” Green said.

But the freshman made a giant mistake midway through the third quarter, locking in on receiver Khiry Cooper, only to see Baylor safety Cliff Odom step in front of the pass at NU”s 45-yard line, pick it off and return it for an easy touchdown. Later, Green fumbled right after the Nebraska defense had forced BU to turn it over.

“It was just a late throw on my part,” Green said. “If I had thrown it a second earlier it would have been a completion, but I threw it a second later...one thing you have to do is go back on the next drive and just forget about it. You have to have a memory like a goldfish.”

For the game, Green completed 12 of 21 passes for 128 yards and rushed for 43 yards.

“He had some rough spots,” Watson said. “He did some things freshmen sometimes do first time out. He's got a lot to get better at, but, no doubt – he competed. He gave us some nice runs and did some good things. We didn't ask him to do much. We just asked him to kind of manage us. He had the one pick. Gotta get that fixed.”

Fortunately, Green had plenty of help.

NU got on the board quickly, as another true freshman – linebacker Eric Martin – bulled his way through Baylor's punt protection and partially blocked Derek Epperson's punt. The ball floated sideways and was caught by backup defensive back Justin Blatchford, who darted hard to his left, tip-toed down the sideline, and leaped into the end zone just before he fumbled.

“I just hit (the blocker),” Martin said. “I didn't even know it was blocked until I hear the crowd yelling and I look around, and Blatchford is taking the ball back.”

Just 90 seconds into the game, the Huskers had a bigger lead – 7-0 – than they had enjoyed since the waning moments of the Missouri game.

NU's Blackshirts – particularly defensive tackle Jared Crick, who had a record-breaking game – made sure the lead held up. Tested again and again, the Huskers' defense held up. Cornerbacks Dejon Gomes and Prince Amukamara both notched interceptions of Baylor quarterback Nick Florence in Husker territory. Nebraska chased Baylor's fast receivers and running backs sideline-to-sideline, throwing them down for short or no gain.

And then there was Crick, who benefited from the Bears choosing to double-team All-American Ndamukong Suh. Crick, just a sophomore out of Cozad, had a school-record five sacks.

“It could have been anyone today with all of those stats,” Crick said. “It is just a group effort.”

The final one of the first half, in which Crick bulled through two blockers and engulfed Florence in a massive bear hug, was as impressive as any play Suh's made this season. NU had seven sacks overall.

“Is that a monster game by him, or what?” defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “He just plays his tail off. He's strong, he's fast. Offenses? I don't know – they've just got to deal with him, because they started the game putting the center toward Suh, and it just makes them look foolish.”

Said Bo Pelini: “Jared's too good of a player if they're gonna do that.”

For the game, Baylor amassed 270 total yards, but ran 11 more plays than the Huskers did. The Bears (3-5 overall, 0-4 in the Big 12) thrice invaded NU territory after cutting the lead to ten. Once, kicker Ben Parks missed a field goal. On the second foray, Baylor turned the ball over on downs. The game clock ran out on their final charge, which occurred after a bizarre punt return that included three laterals and a touchdown-saving tackle by punter Alex Henery.

“We had plays at the end and we didn't do it,” BU quarterback Nick Florence said. “We fought hard in the second half, it was valiant effort, but it does hurt when it is so close.”

NU was left concerned with its running game, which produced just 145 yards and failed to deliver on several third down situations in the second half.

“Absolutely,” Pelini said when asked if he was concerned. “It's a huge concern. We've got to be able to run the football better. We didn't run the ball to my liking today.”

Said Husker center Jacob Hickman: “It was just missed communications that caused that. The effort was there.”

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The 11-hour drive to Waco goes through Dallas. The road to Dallas, home of the Big 12 Championship game (Arlington if you prefer, at the Cowboys Stadium) goes first through Waco. And then OU, Lawrence, Kansas State and Boulder. One foot in front of the other.

The talk this week has been of quarterbacks and big offensive changes. As it should be. But the game itself, to quote Al Davis (who doesn't know much about the mantra lately) boils down to this: Just win, baby.

The keys.

Play to win, not to dominate: Saturday isn't about style points. It's about putting one foot in front of the other, grinding out a win against a lesser team, and doing it with as little fuss as possible. It's about trusting the defense and taking field goals if you're range instead of taking unnecessary chances toward the goal line. On kickoff and punt coverage, NU has to be safe before it's sorry. It doesn't mean NU should play not to lose. Rather, it should trust its advantages along the offensive and defensive lines and ride its trench soldiers to a victory. Saturday is not about the quarterback. We think it'll be Cody Green, as it should be, but he just has to get Nebraska's motor running. He doesn't have to shoot for the moon.

Match up and move it: Baylor's one real chance on offense is to attack Nebraska's secondary with long passes to its swift receivers. Given busts in the Virginia Tech and Iowa State game – it's a risk worth taking. NU's defensive backs need to locate BU's biggest threats before the snap, lock up and cover their tails off. The interceptions will be there for the taking; that's for sure.

Neutralize the earth-movers: For Baylor to have any chance of running the ball – which would help set up those long passes head coach Art Briles like so much – it has to account for Ndamukong Suh and Jared Crick. Quick hitting plays used by Texas Tech and Florida Atlantic (remember those days?) work better than long developing zone read plays. As for Nebraska – center Jacob Hickman and guard Ricky Henry and Keith Williams will have the task of trying to unseat giant Phil Taylor (6-foot-4, 355 pounds) from his position. Taylor isn't as good as Terrence Cody – yet. But he could be a real impediment to any power game Nebraska would like to establish.

Traye and Jay: Two very key players in the game will be NU true freshman Dontrayevous Robinson and Baylor's Jay Finley, who should be recovered from an early-season injury. Robinson will likely get the bulk of the carries if Roy Helu is too hurt to contribute; after last week, we won't be surprised if Nebraska is a little more cautious with Helu. Finley, meanwhile, leads the Big 12 in yards per carry. Granted, he did that while having quarterback Robert Griffin as a terrific decoy, but the point still stands – he can break a long one or two.

Bo vs. Briles: Excellent match-up here, as Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini – who also calls the Huskers' defenses – will pit himself against Briles, one of the most innovative, tricky playcallers in the Big 12. Briles likes to sneak wide receivers and running backs onto the field at the last second, he freely calls trick plays, and he likes misdirection and playaction. Pelini will have to match those tactics with a smart game plan that keeps his players disciplined and their assignments based on athleticism instead of cuteness.

See also: Guess The Score NU-BU!

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We're back again with another installment of guess the score! We've yet to have anyone hit the nail on the head, but when someone does - they'll win a Husker Throwback Poster!

Give us your predictions for this week! A score, an offensive MVP and a Defensive MVP.

Fire away!

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When Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin last year darted around the end of Nebraska's front four on a fourth-and-short play, then accelerated past all of the Cornhusker defenders for a 47-yard touchdown run, a low murmur went up in the Memorial Stadium press box. And at least some of that murmur was formed by the words “Vince Young.” That No. 10 never took a snap in Lincoln. But Griffin, wearing the same number, seemed to be an heir apparent.

That's a threat NU doesn't have to worry about in 2009. Griffin underwent season-ending knee surgery after tearing ligaments in a blowout win over Northwestern State. With the quarterback's injury likely went the Bears' bowl hopes; since starting Big 12 play, they haven't been particularly competitive, especially in the running game where Baylor, now 3-4, has gained just 138 yards on 57 carries in three games.

BU coach Art Briles isn't exactly holding his breath on establishing a running game against Nebraska's front four, which he called the best in the Big 12.

“It's important,” Briles said. “It's more important to make first downs and put points on the board. We'll have to take what they give us and be productive with it. They're good up front, without a doubt. Doesn't mean we can't run the ball. Just means we're going to have to be precise in our execution and intelligent in our schemes.”

So an offense that once posed more of a balanced threat to Nebraska's Blackshirts is now, primarily, a passing attack led by strong-armed true freshman Nick Florence, who's filling in for Blake Szymanski, still nursing a shoulder injury from the same game that sent Griffin to the shelf.

One-dimensional as it may be, it still has Husker defensive coordinator Carl Pelini plenty concerned.

Why? One word.

“Speed,” Pelini said. “Big speed. They've got speed all over the place. They've got receivers who can fly, running backs who can fly.”

Because of that, Pelini said, Baylor will try to spread out NU's defense and “take shots” downfield five or six times a game. One-on-one. Man-on-man. And the Bears will mix and match their skill players in various formations and positions to create mismatches.

BU's most dangerous receiver, sophomore Kendall Wright, will occasionally line up in the backfield, motion to a wide receiver position, and try to match up on linebackers – presuming they're still in the game. Baylor's tight ends are faster than most, Pelini said, so Briles, who also serves as offensive coordinator, will try to test defenses that way. Running backs Jay Finley and Jarred Salubi are home-run hitters who need only a crease to break a big play.

It's a “risk/reward” strategy, Pelini said, that keeps a defense on its toes – even if the Bears aren't scoring many points.

“Probably more than any team we face this year, they're willing to take those deep shots downfield,” Pelini said. “So you always have to be accountable for that...they complete 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 of them per game and they're always big plays for them. They've done a nice job recruiting offensive speed.”

Baylor tries to switch its “big” and “little” personnel right before the snap, Pelini said, to catch an opposing defense in base or nickel defenses when they're prefer to switch to dime or dollar coverages. Nebraska tries to match up coverage more than most Big 12 teams – dime/nickel backs Dejon Gomes and Eric Hagg never stray too far from Pelini's side – so it needs to match BU's personnel.

NU struggled with it in last year's 32-20 win, especially in the first half, when officials weren't giving Carl and Bo Pelini enough time to counter Baylor's formation. Carl Pelini said the issue was addressed in the offseason, and the Big 12 has designed the rules to give the Huskers time to adjust before the ball is put in play.

“That's what the rule states,” said Pelini, wary anyway. “How each group of officials interprets it, it's going to be a little bit different. So we just have to get handle on that early in the game, and then adapt to it. We'll be fine.”

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Forget, for a minute, touchdowns, quarterback debates and even the extraordinary play of Ndamukong Suh. Here's one of the best stories of Nebraska's 2009 football season. One that cuts through the games, the controversies, the media, the penalties, the polls and the nonsense to get right to the communal spirit of this thing we call Husker Nation.

It's July, and one of NU's biggest alumni chapters, North Texas Nebraskans, comes up with an idea: Honor and reward troops from Nebraska by getting them a ticket to the NU-Baylor game this Saturday. By August, the chapter had decided to draw those troops from a pool of 53,000 soldiers and airmen at Ft. Hood, 60 miles from Waco, in Killeen, Texas. The base is one of America's primary suppliers of troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We thought it'd be a great tribute for everything they do for us,” said Jill Simpson, NTN president.

NTN contacted Ft. Hood's Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation office shortly after that. Public relations coordinator Monty Campbell put out the word to the base. More than 100 soldiers and airmen put their names in.

“They responded very favorably,” Campbell said. “Anytime they can go any event they love it. They're very appreciative of what North Texas Nebraskans are doing for them.”

Baylor had the tickets available. NTN had to raise the money.

Guess how long it took them?

“We put the vibe out there to do the fundraising and we literally raised our money in two weeks,” Simpson said. “We have far exceeded what we needed.”

Two weeks. NTN passed around hats at its three giant watch parties in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and raised $3,000. Two Husker fans collected $1,100 at Sidetracks Bar in Lincoln the Friday night before a home game. Two NTN members headed to Virginia Tech and raised money there. A few individuals gave $1,000. That's 20 free tickets per donation.

“It just ballooned,” Simpson said. “We weren't even sure we were going to get people to donate, and we have had donations from across the nation.”

More than the donations, Simpson said, were the emails and letters her group received. Even after they shut off the donation, more came pouring in. More queries. More offers to help.

So NTN raised even more cash to pay for the troops' transportation to and from Ft. Hood and a tailgate party with food and T-shirts. Baylor will recognize the troops during the game and furnish a soda and popcorn. Simpson said at least 400 people will be in attendance at the tailgate party.

“That's the absolute minimum,” Simpson said. “We're expecting a lot more...(the soldiers and airmen) would have been thrilled with just the tickets.

“I had no idea that we would get this response. It's an awesome feeling knowing we're gonna take 100 soldiers to the game on Saturday and they're going to have something else to do for four or five hours.”

NTN plans on making a habit out of it. Next year: Texas A&M. After that, Texas.

It can be easy, in the fog of message boards and raucous student sections, to lose track of stories like these. But this story – much like our 50 Husker Fans, 50 States series – hints at the larger culture borne out of Husker football Saturdays. Name another fan base doing this. Not a university – a fan base. What NTN is doing – what other alumni groups will do, if they follow this example – is bloom beyond the game into something more: A communal character.

Tack a story like this onto the 300th sellout as another small, good reminder of who the program's backbone really is.

Check out our North Texas Nebraskans group! Join and tell them thanks!

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Grim and a little frustrated, Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel hustled up to the podium Tuesday at the Big 12 Media Days and immediately apologized for a delay at the Dallas airport that left him tardy for his appointed engagement.

Not long after Pinkel settled in, he was quickly peppered with queries about the immense talent – especially on offense – that he lost in the offseason to the NFL. Chase Daniel. Chase Coffman. Jeremy Maclin.

First, replacing Daniel, that love him/hate him quarterback that put Mizzou in the national spotlight and won two straight Big 12 North titles.

Pinkel shot straight: Former prep phenom (and Nebraska commit) Blaine Gabbert is the guy.

“Any time you have a transition quarterback,” Pinkel said, “everybody sits back and goes, ‘Wow, what's going to happen?’ When you lose a high level guy like that, hopefully, we can replace him with a high-level guy.”

Pinkel said he’ll bring along Gabbert, a sophomore, much as he did Daniel in his corresponding season. Daniel was inconsistent in 2006, alternating between excellent and average. He made “the leap” in 2007. Pinkel’s hoping the same for Gabbert.

He’s not so sure Maclin, the receiving and return whiz, can be replaced. But, he added, this version of the Tigers was his fastest.

On replacing two coordinators, Pinkel referenced the “Bill Belichick approach” of training and promoting from within. Pinkel the admitted he hasn’t lost two coaches, much less coordinators, in nine years at Mizzou.

***

Baylor’s Art Briles delighted the media with clever lines and quick answers. Briles kept referring to “turning hope into happen” throughout his interviews, because, at this point, that the Bears’ next step.

Briles talked a lot of about his quarterback, Robert Griffin, the fast, gifted sophomore quarterback. Griffin has helped with TV exposure, with recruiting, with fan recognition, with everything.

But Griffin, and his Bear teammates, won’t be sneaking up on anyone in 2008. Teams that narrowly escaped with wins – like Missouri, Nebraska and Texas Tech – learned their lesson.

“People are going to approach us differently on the other side, in other staff rooms and on other practice fields because they're going to come into Baylor with a different mindset than they did a year ago,” Briles said. “We understand that. We understand we're going to have to rise up and be better in all facets
of the game, not only physically, to deal with the charges that are going to come our way.”


Briles drew laughs for his stories about accompanying Jason Smith to the NFL Draft, and his comments on the wardrobe of some of his questioners. Briles is going to make an interesting push in the Big 12 South. He’s the first with the raw charm to recruit head-to-head with Mack Brown. His program doesn’t have the facilities, it doesn’t have the tradition, and it doesn’t have any recent success. But Baylor does have Briles.


***


There’s a curious, gentlemanly quality to the way Kansas Coach Mark Mangino handles himself in front of media. You tend to see a lot of different sides of the guy. You see the pride, the attention to detail, the self-made aspect. Just about every coach brings that to the table. But with Mangino it’s something a little more – a vulnerability, perhaps? A love for the little guy?


The coach talked with great care about recruiting quarterback Todd Reesing to KU several years ago, about how Reesing, tiny as he was, just had a confidence, a style, a belief that belied his looks. You could see why that might impress a guy like Mangino, who gets more comments about his appearance than he did his coaching.


Yes, Reesing runs around a little too much – and sometimes gets himself in trouble for doing it.


“But that's what makes him unique, you know, the idea that he believes in himself and that
he can make plays when there's not one,” Mangino said. “Kind of really reflects his personality; that he always thinks he can overcome. He always wants to prove the opposition wrong. Those traits have served him well.”


Good coaches tend to know – what’s best for each player is to fulfill their potential…through their own personality.


Also appreciated that Mangino admitted he likes to recruit “tough” players – read, guys a little rough around the edges – and that “sometimes we fail in that area, but we like kids that love to play this
game.”


***


Mr. Heisman and Big Game Bob was last to appear Tuesday, as Oklahoma took the podium.


The big questions for OU, of course, revolved around its offensive line. Everything else about the Sooners – QB Sam Bradford, the running backs, the extraordinary defense – is in place. But the line, which must replace three starters, remains a weakness.


“Mistakes they were making on day one, day two, they weren’t making on day 14 and day 15,” Bradford said. “I think we still need that progress once we’re in camp.”


Bradford also touched upon the “frustration” of never having won a bowl game. Especially when reporters, who have to find something negative about the kid, ask so often.


“It’s not something we like to do – “oh, we had a good season, let’s lose the last game,’” he said. “It’s starting to really to get to everyone.”



At one time, Bradford didn’t much care for the no-huddle offense, either.


“When we first switched to it, I didn’t it like it,” Bradford said. “It just seemed like chaos, it seemed like no one was on the same page. It sucked. If you would have seen us trying to run it the first couple days, you would have thought it was just a disaster.


“But the more time we spent on it, and the better we got, the more I fell love with it.”

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The season may not bear it out – water has, after all, been turned into wine a couple times – but one should expect the Big 12 Media Days, starting Monday in Dallas, to be a three-day tour and discussion of the Great Divide between the dominant South Division and relatively bedraggled North.

For it’s no longer just a question of Texas and Oklahoma rising above the other ten teams of the Big 12. It is, now, Texas Tech doing so in 2008. And Oklahoma State, poised to do so in 2009. And Baylor, the permanent member of the Big 12 basement, the Gregor Samsa of the bunch, hiring the right coach in Art Briles, who recruited the right quarterback in Robert Griffin, and has the right Texas high school connections. Suddenly, when you check offer lists and comments from the best players in Texas, some of them have Baylor right at the top. That’s how quickly lightning can strike.

Now, it’s not just Mack and “Big Game Bob,” but that West Texas pirate, Mike Leach, getting headlines. Childish or not, OSU coach Mike Gundy’s rant two years ago about a newspaper column won his team attention, and, somewhat surprisingly, praise from other corners of the media. Even Texas A&M, which stunk last year, is putting together a Callahan-style monster class for 2010 – already 18 verbal commitments, many of them top-line players.

The South has the money, the organization, the commitment, and the Mojo.

The North isn’t exactly floundering – Missouri and Kansas have gained a foothold of success, while Nebraska seems to have returned back to its core values, if not that classic option style.

But it is still recovering from its Dark Ages, that period between 2002-2006 when only one Big 12 North team – that 2003 Kansas State squad with Darren Sproles and Ell Roberson – could even manage to compete with the South. Colorado – a team rocked by recruiting allegations and the Katie Hnida scandal – still managed to win three league titles in that span. It then lost its three Big 12 title games by a combined score 141-13. Iowa State blew two North titles on the last day of the regular season, in overtime. Nebraska mostly played Humpty Dumpty during that time, while Missouri couldn’t shake its inconsistency, and KU was in the earliest, ugliest years of what’s become the quite successful Mark Mangino era.

Nebraska had moderate success during this period, but know this: That was more attributable the mediocrity of the competition than the excellence of the Cornhuskers.

Since that awful era, CU hasn’t really moved out of the fog, Kansas State went back to the old master, Bill Snyder, and Missouri and KU gamely filled the vacuum. But the Jayhawks were thumped thrice last year by UT, OU and Tech, while Missouri took its lumps from OSU, Texas and Oklahoma. A game that symbolized the chasm the best was probably Mizzou’s trip to Baylor, a game won, just barely, by the Tigers, 31-28. Here was the most potent team in Missouri history, playing the basement boys in their half-empty stadium. Baylor only had a handful of really good players – maybe eight – and that was nearly enough to win. The best team in the North. The second-worst in the South. Nearly even.

Telling.

So was this: On the Big 12 media’s all-conference squad, just five of the 26 members were from the Big 12 North. Not even 20 percent.

And for good reason: The South has most of the big-name talent in 2009. Certainly four of the five best quarterbacks in Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, Robert Griffin and Zac Robinson. Certainly the best offensive linemen. Certainly the best running backs (although I’d take Roy Helu over any one of them except Kendall Hunter).

This divide of talent and experience is big enough as to inform which team will win the Big 12 North. Kansas, presumably the strongest club with a crucial home game vs. Nebraska, has to face OU, Texas and Texas Tech in the same year. That alone may take the Jayhawks out of the race. Missouri probably has the best go of it, getting Texas and Baylor at home. Meanwhile, Iowa State harbors realistic hopes of a bowl season simply by avoiding UT, OU and Tech.

Do you see any pundits piecing together the Big 12 North games for Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State?

So. How to fix it? We’ll look at both solutions both socialist – stuff the Big 12 can do to level the playing field - and free market-based – stuff the North teams can do to help themselves.

Close the Divide: An interesting argument, put forward most recently here, is to dissolve divisions and just go at it, much like the Big Ten and Pac 10 do. But, then, determining the contenders for a conference championship game becomes iffy, and some teams (you can bet it’ll be NU, OU and UT) will be penalized for being popular, and thus playing each other year in, year out. In turn some team – think Wisconsin in the Big Ten – will benefit from avoiding one or more of those teams. We’ll pass.

Better Revenue Sharing: The SEC recognized several years ago that in order to promote competition within the league – to spur schools to stay motivated – it had to make sure they all shared equally in the TV money pot, which, as many of you know, is getting sweeter for the SEC all the time. The Big 12’s structure effectively helps the stronger, more popular teams more.

Some capitalist-types cringe at this kind of socialism, but think of it more as a significant tax break to the Big 12’s smaller businesses, Iowa State, Colorado and Baylor. ISU, in particular, is inching toward morphing into the Big 12’s first MAC school. It doesn’t have the local fanfare in Iowa or the advertising opportunities to realistically get its name out there.

Do Something about Holding: Big 12 fans were confused when the high-powered offenses of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas Tech suddenly looked “less than” in their bowl games. With the refs no longer jamming their hands in their pockets, like they did during the Big 12 season, it suddenly became a lot harder to stave off blitzes. Holding isn’t called nearly enough, but it was an epidemic in 2008. And all it does is help the better team.

Build at Home: There’s nothing wrong with hiring an assistant coach with great ties in Texas. But, sooner or later, all you’re doing eating the leftovers Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and, yes, Baylor don’t want. The Texas pipeline will never be closed. But the entrance is a little narrower than it used to be.

Which is why Big 12 North programs have to do a better job of reaching into the high school levels to begin integrating their style of play and telling the coaches specifically: This is the kind of guy we want. And not just preferred walk-ons. Guys who are worth giving a scholarship to.

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In preparation for Big 12 Media Days, Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: No. 9 Baylor

Coach:Art Briles
2008 Record: 5-7

What’s Changed Since 2008: Expectations! All of the sudden, the national media knows where Waco is. Thank Briles and QB Robert Griffin, who wowed a lot of folks in a lot of losing causes. There’s now talk of the first Baylor bowl since 1994. The Bears have been the doormat of the Big 12 since its inception. Now, for once, there’s tangible hope.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule: It seems harder than it is, and is the key to BU’s bowl hopes. A game at Wake Forest isn’t only winnable – Baylor should win it; Wake’s due for a hard fall in 2009. Similarly, Connecticut lost a ton of talent to the NFL Draft and is starting at a five-win season. Northwestern State and Kent State are pushover wins. But take note: Pundits will be fooled if Baylor starts 4-0.

2009 Conference Schedule: And here’s why: BU still plays in the Big 12 South, and we don’t honestly see Baylor winning more than three league games. The schedule isn’t in the Bears’ favor. Home games vs. Oklahoma State and Texas don’t do Briles much good; Baylor won’t win them. Games at Missouri and Oklahoma don’t look promising either. That boils it down to winning three of these four: vs. Nebraska and Texas Tech (in Dallas) and at Iowa State and Texas A&M.

Offense: Spread/Mulitple
Coordinator:Briles, for intents and purposes. He’s smart, creative and a gambler. He incorporates elements of the old veer offense, Texas Tech’s “Air Raid,” I-formation, option football, and good, old-fashioned single-wing. Unlike some spread offenses, Briles has a package for short yardage situations. His offense is hard to stop, period. An NFL team should hire him.

Strength: Sophomore Griffin, the heir apparent to the Vince Young throne. In fact, Griffin (2,091 passing yards, 843 rushing yards) has more raw tools, if not the surrounding cast and offensive line. Griffin is faster and a smarter passer. But he doesn’t have Young/Tommie Frazier’s “literally impossible to sack” quality, though. Griffin tends to run around – a lot – East-West, and he got sacked 26 times last year. And now he won’t have that the franchise left tackle around to protect him. At running back, Jay Finley is a decent, bruising compliment.
Weakness:The offensive line needs to replace the two best tackles in recent school history, most notable Jason Smith, the first-round NFL Draft Pick who covered Griffin’s backside. The other tackle, Dan Gay, was a three-year starter.
Defense: 4-3
Coordinator: Brian Norwood, a Penn State guy who returned the Bears to some sanity in 2008, with a base scheme that takes advantage of the Bears’ talented safety Jordan Lake and a solid linebacker corps.

Strength: It’s really individual players, but expect Baylor to be pretty tough against the run. It has the 360-pound defensive lineman (Phil Taylor, a transfer from Penn State) to gum up the trenches, the tough-as-nails middle linebacker (Joe Pawelek) headed who reminds so much of Nebraska’s Barrett Ruud, and a free safety (Lake) who plays more like a strong safety against the run. The Bears will stack the box and force teams to beat them over the top

Weakness:Which teams will do. Baylor showed little ability to get to the QB in 2008, and teams completed 67.4 percent of their passes against the Bears. BU got a lot of turnovers, but 10 of them came in two games vs. Washington State (the worst major conference team we’ve ever seen) and Texas A&M. Always beware of the small sample size.

Special TeamsThe league’s best punter in Derek Epperson (38.8 yard average), and an up-and-coming kicker in Ben Parks, who made 6-of-9 tries last year. As a kick returner last year Mikail Baker average 25.3 yards per return and scored a touchdown. We expect receiver Kendall Wright to take over as the punt returner.

Intangibles: Casey Stadium is a morgue to play in, often half full of dispassionate, reasonably wealthy fans looking for a suntan. It’s simply no kind of home field advantage. It might be in 2009. But we’ll see. Usually, it’s home for the opposing team’s getaway day.

But BU has some intangibles in its favor. One of them is Briles, who is, right now, a smarter football coach than a lot of the guys in the Big 12. And he had the guts to put Griffin out there right away. Against all logical odds, Griffin rarely turned the ball over. And that’s because Briles put him in plays to succeed. It helped Baylor stay in a lot of games last year. A lot of coaches are just too stubborn to limit their playbook.

Best-Case Scenario: Baylor goes 4-0 in the non-conference and wins all four of those swing games, including beating Nebraska. We see at least four losses on Baylor’s slate no matter what.

Worst-Case Scenario: Griffin falls into a sophomore slump, and that defense is forced to bear too much of the burden of winning. Trust us: The defense can’t do it. The line isn’t good enough yet.

Our Take: It’ll come down to the last two games – A&M and Tech – as to whether Baylor makes a bowl. We think they do – at 6-6.

See other Big 12 Breakdowns: No. 12 ISU, No. 11 A&M, No. 10 CU, No. 9 BU, No. 8 KU, No. 7 KSU, No. 6 Texas Tech

Agree? Disagree?Tell us about it.

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Texas Tech at Nebraska, Oct. 17: The line might be even by the time this game is played, but, for now, Nebraska is the presumed favorite. But the Red Raiders have been consistently efficient against NU defenses – whether Bo Pelini called the plays or not – and that includes 2008, when Nebraska’s extraordinary ball-control kept it in the game vs. Tech, but still wasn’t enough. Fact: Tech only ran 43 plays in last year’s game. It averaged 8.79 yards per play. In other words: Watch out.

Missouri at Oklahoma State, Oct. 17: Playing a hunch here. If Mizzou sticks to the running game, and challenges OSU’s defensive line, it can keep up in track meet in Stillwater. The Tigers got suckered into too many passes (52) in last year’s 28-23 loss. The teams that best challenge OSU don’t abandon the run.

Kansas at Colorado, Oct. 17: Kansas has the better team, but it’s the mountains, it’s one of CU’s few winnable games, and, every year, it seems like the Buffaloes catch somebody gasping for breath up there. Truth be told, even though KU’s on a three-game winning streak in this series, each of them have been quite competitive.

Baylor at Iowa State, Oct. 17: ISU is the league’s worst team, but Baylor isn’t so much better that the Cys couldn’t catch the Bears looking ahead to a brutal four-game stretch of Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas. BU has nice individual pieces on defense, but it remains to be seen if it can function as a whole.

Texas at Oklahoma State, Oct. 31: The Pokes haven’t beaten UT since 1997, and have blown two giant leads (in 2004 and 2006) in the interim. Here’s OSU’s chance to exorcise some pain against what should be an undefeated Longhorn team. Expect the Cowboys to pour a lot – maybe too much – into winning it. Expect a ton of points, too.

Nebraska at Baylor, Oct. 31: The one you’ve already worried about five times, and for good reason. Baylor’s half-empty stadium is always a weird place to play, BU quarterback Robert Griffin is the real deal and the Bears competed better than most expected in Lincoln last year. It’s a long way to Waco. Long, boring way. Missouri made the jaunt last year, and barely came out alive.

Oklahoma at Nebraska, Nov. 7: Even if OU drops a game to Texas (and we expect that) Memorial Stadium will be an electric zoo on that first Saturday in November. And the Huskers will pour more energy and creativity into that game than any on the 2009 schedule. This is NU’s “we’re back” game, the launching pad for 2010. We’ll see if Nebraska’s clear for takeoff.

Kansas at Kansas State, Nov. 7: It’s still a rivalry, it’s in Bill Snyder’s house and the Wildcats have enough special teams weapons to make this game. KU plays Oklahoma and Texas Tech before this game, and Nebraska, Texas and Missouri after it. You wonder how much will be in KU’s tank. And, KSU’s pretty good at home in this decade: 45-18.

Oklahoma at Texas Tech, Nov. 21: OU hasn’t won in Lubbock since 2003, so matter what tricked up Schooner the Sooners roll in there, expect a tough game at Jones Stadium. In this decade Tech is 47-10 at home. Hard to mess with those numbers.

Texas at Texas A&M, Nov. 26: We reserve the right to rescind this pick later, if the Aggies are limping home with 3 or 4 wins and getting ready to give Mike Sherman the heave ho. But, if A&M is within striking distance of a bowl – and we think, with games vs. Iowa State, Colorado and Kansas State, it just might be – then it’ll be the same fevered rivalry it usually is. Remember that Texas – even when it has a lot to play for – struggles in College Station. A thoroughly average team, with a freshman quarterback no less, took Texas’ national title squad to the fourth quarter in 2005.

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Baylor at Wake Forest, Sept 5: Here’s an upset in favor of Baylor that, by the end of the year, won’t be an upset. The Demon Deacons are ripe for a fall in 2009, having to replace six of the back seven with a ton of unproven talent while an offense that’s never been all that good continues to sputter along. Baylor will have the better quarterback, the better defense and the better special teams.

Kansas at UTEP, Sept. 12: KU’s non-conference slate of Northern Colorado, Duke, UTEP and Southern Mississippi doesn’t seem tougher – but it is. Specifically, the game in El Paso against Mike Price’s best team should be a tough win to get. The Sun Bowl is at a higher elevation, UTEP has potent offense and 15 total returning starters. Good thing the Jayhawks will have one of the Big 12’s best secondaries.

Kansas State at UCLA, Sept. 19: Here’s one that goes in the Big 12’s favor. Most expect KSU to limp out to Pasadena, take its two-touchdown beating, and limp back home. Eh – don’t plan on it. For as much as Bill Snyder liked avoiding tough teams, his teams performed OK in the actual games against them. Beyond that, there’s no evidence that proves UCLA has resolved its quarterbacking issues. The Bruins have more flash, but we won’t be shocked if KSU comes away with a win.

Wyoming at Colorado, Sept. 19: At first glance, this seems like the easiest of CU’s four non-conference games. Maybe it will be. But Wyoming recently hired Missouri offensive coordinator Dave Christensen, who thoroughly humiliated the Buffaloes each of the last three seasons. And Wyoming should have a pretty good run defense with five of the front seven returning that gave up just 3.7 yards per carry last year. Just a hunch here, but we think the Cowboys put a big scare into the Buffaloes in Boulder.

Missouri at Nevada, Sept. 25: This game sets up nicely for the Wolf Pack; it’s on a Friday night, national TV, and the crowd in Reno should be jacked up. UNR has one of the nation’s better quarterbacks in dual threat Colin Kaepernick and, when it’s working, one of the nation’s toughest offenses to stop in the Pistol. But Missouri’s stronger and bigger, and should post at least 35 points on an awful Nevada defense, and probably more. If Mizzou’s offensive line comes to play, the Tigers should win.

Texas Tech at Houston, Sept. 26: Get ready for a track meet. Houston averaged 563 yards per game last year, and have all pertinent offensive pieces back, including quarterback Case Keenum, who threw for – wait for it – 5,020 yards and 44 touchdowns last year. The Cougars will have two weeks to prepare and Tech will still be breaking in two new safeties. Plus, the Red Raiders will be reeling from what we expect to be a pounding on Sept. 19 at the hands of Texas.

Southern Miss at Kansas, Sept. 26: The Jayhawks make a second entrance on this list in facing a Golden Eagle team that has 19 returning starters, a rising star of a head coach in Larry Fedora, and one of the nation’s better running backs in Damion Fletcher. USM is no stranger to giant killing, either. Expect this one to go down to the last minute.

Oklahoma at Miami (Fla), Oct. 3: On paper, OU is the better squad by two touchdowns. But the game is in Miami, where the Hurricanes are 8-1 vs. major non-conference foes in recent years. And this is the best Cane crop since 2005. In front of a full, hostile house at LandShark Stadium, this will be one of Sam Bradford’s toughest tests.


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A gorgeous day produced upbeat, cheerful Husker fans.



In the coldest home game of the year, girls bundled up in their blankets, guys wore their long sleeves and (generally) left their face paint. As always, the Husker Pavilion was a place to be!



Enjoy your photos and, if you're in one, be sure to make a comment with your name and hometown! Join our Web site, too!

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Here's our photographer's take on the NU-Baylor game. Highlights include a number of big plays from Marlon Lucky and a number of big hits from the Nebraska defense.

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Following a game when Baylor couldn’t collect even one first-down conversion, one miscue in particular haunted quarterback Robert Griffin.

With the Bears leading Nebraska 20-17 midway through the third quarter, the freshman stood just a yard away from the Husker goal line and a potential 10-point cushion. On the third down play, Baylor ran a quick option to the left, with Griffin searching for a hole.

The Husker line stuffed him for a loss. Then Baylor kicker Ben Parks missed a 19-yard field goal.

Nebraska scored on its ensuing possession en route to a 32-20 Baylor loss, the team’s fourth in the last five games.

BU coach Art Briles said the empty drive was a crucial point in the game – and part of a 0-for-10 effort on third down tries. Upon reflection, he said some of his play calls were worthy of a little criticism.

“We felt like we were executing pretty well, making some plays,” Briles said. “And to get down there and stalemate, it stings you a little bit.”

Griffin refused to make any excuses as the Bears dropped to 3-5, including 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference.

“The coaches can say they made bad calls, but what makes a bad call a good call is when players make plays,” Griffin said. “So it’s up to us to go out there and execute, and we can’t just keep falling back on the coaches’ play calling. We got to be football players out there and do the job.”

Griffin finished with 121 rushing yards on 16 attempts and passed for 134 yards, completing nine of 20 throws. The freshman’s rushing output was among his finest of the season behind only a 225-yard, two-touchdown effort against Washington State.

Saturday, Griffin ran for 99 in the first quarter. The Copperas Cove, Texas, native broke loose for a 40-yard scamper and 47-yard touchdown run during a first-quarter drive that led to a 14-7 advantage for the visitors.

“(The Huskers) are a good, tough defense – solid – but when it comes to running (laterally) and up and down the field, they couldn’t stick with us,” Griffin said. “That just shows you that when it gets down the field, nobody can run with us.”

Unfortunately for the Bears, they didn’t get many chances to prove it. BU ran 53 offensive plays to Nebraska’s 83, and the Huskers held the edge in time of possession by more than 17 minutes.

Unlike Baylor’s offense, the Huskers flourished on third down tries, converting 11 of 17. Trailing 30-20, the Bears put Nebraska into a third-and-16 situation with more than seven minutes left in the game.

They failed – again – in collecting a stop, blitzing one way while Nebraska ran a screen play in the opposite direction for 69 yards.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” said BU linebacker Joe Pawelek. “It’s showtime. Third and 16 – get off the field.”

It was one of a bevy of regrets downtrodden players expressed following the loss. Griffin said the Huskers were focusing on stopping the quick slant passes he had found success with earlier in the season.

He found it frustrating that Baylor failed to counter with a strong rushing attack.

“We spread them out and they went with us,” Griffin said. “We should have been able to run the ball all day on them and we didn’t do that.”

Among the silver linings for Baylor was Griffin establishing a program record for pass attempts without an interception (175). The freshman also became the first Bear quarterback with three career 100-yard games on the ground.

“(The Huskers) are not as fast as we are,” Griffin said. “The speed that we have on the field is an asset for us, so we try to utilize that. It just didn’t work out that good.”

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Nebraska was fresh off a 32-20 win over Baylor, the kind of victory the Cornhuskers couldn’t have dreamed of in 2007, the kind of victory former head coach Bill Callahan did not have once – zip, zero, nada - in his career at NU: A second half comeback.
And what was the prevailing emotion in post-game interviews?

Angst. Discontent. Frustration. OK, so receiver Nate Swift, that smart unassuming kid, had a smile as wide as the Nile on his face after breaking the record for career interceptions. He had a right to be buoyant.

Everybody else seemed a little ticked off, almost like Nebraska’s players and coaches half expected to drop 50 on the Bears and hold their awesomely talented quarterback, Robert Griffin, to bubkis.

Was it a misunderstanding of Baylor’s talent level? Doubtful. Was an impending game against Oklahoma the source of concern? Getting warmer.

It was more like this: As the Huskers gain confidence, their expectations grow. The right kind of arrogance sets in. A win like this is viewed as messy instead of gritty, even though, in truth, it was a little bit of both. Chalking up almost 500 yards isn’t as acceptable when you botch yet another fourth-and-short, fumble near the goal line and give up five plays longer than 30 yards – two of which went for Baylor touchdowns.

“This keeps us humble,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “You have this kind of output, and there’s so much we can get better at, so much we can get better at. We can even better than what we are. That’s what drives the kids and drives the staff. We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit today.”

The story wasn’t any different for the defense, which overran Griffin and BU running back Jay Finley at times, lost contain on other plays, and put a clown suit on itself for Griffin’s 47-yard touchdown, when the defensive line bunched closely together and Griffin simply ran around them and through an unsuspecting secondary virtually untouched.

Indeed, Husker defenders were so juiced up to start the game that they seemed off some of their keys. Once again, a spread offense turned NU into a flurry of signals and last-second alignments. Nebraska’s defensive line seemed to roll with the punches OK, and the secondary improved as the game progressed, but can the Huskers afford a 15-minute concentration lapse in Norman against the Sooners’ pinball machine of an offense?

“It’s not doing much for my blood pressure,” NU head coach Bo Pelini said. “Ultimately, we just need to fix the things that are hurting us. We need to make people beat us, we can't beat ourselves and at times we do that. That's just something we have to keep working on and keep trying to grow as a football team."

That leads to another question: Can Nebraska’s ball-control offense keep this up?

As porous as OU’s defense is – and the Sooners aren’t any good on defense right now, this is an immutable truth –it’s not going to just let quarterback Joe Ganz calmly flip four-yarders to his tight ends and receivers and first down, and hustle for some nifty third-down conversions. Baylor surprised NU today by using its young, backup corners to press NU’s receivers, faking blitzes and generally daring Ganz to beat them with the deep ball.

He did, finally in the second half, with a 53-yarder to Nate Swift. But it took a long time. The Bears pointed the way for the Sooners to do the same. And since OU can stop the run a little bit – emphasis on a little – Nebraska will have to find other dissection points. Or Ganz will have to throw the deep ball.

Are we getting ahead of ourselves, thinking about Norman? Are you kidding? Not when OU drops 55 in one half on Kansas State, and could have dropped 50 more had it chose to do so. Not when the Big 12 North title –with the perfect storm of effort and playmaking – is within the Huskers’ reach. Baylor was no speed bump, but NU’s sloppy execution late in the fourth quarter sure spoke to Sooner fever.

“It’s Oklahoma-Nebraska,” Cody Glenn said. “You gotta love that. It works in our favor, because we love to play a team like that’s going to line up and run the ball and play our kind of football, which is physical, hard-nosed, smashmouth football. We love that. We’re tired of playing all these spread teams, these soft teams that like to spread it out.

Yeah, but OU dropped 55, Cody. In a half.

“Fifty-five, heh, hopefully they don’t score that next week,” Glenn said. “We should have something for them.”

Be careful what you wish for.

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It got bent. It got busted. It got flagged. But when Nebraska’s defense needed to make two third-quarter stops to save its season against young, game Baylor, the Cornhuskers gambled, won and delivered against dynamic BU quarterback Robert Griffin.


The first was a goal line stand that ended in missed field goal. The second was safety Larry Asante’s sack of Griffin on a fourth down play inside Husker territory. Combined with receiver Nate Swift’s record-breaking day, they helped seal a wild, messy - but crucial - 32-20 victory over the Bears that keeps NU’s hope of a Big 12 North title alive.


The 85,104 fans at Memorial Stadium watched Swift, a senior, break Johnny Rodgers’ long-held record for career receptions with a ten-catch, 111-yard day that included two touchdowns. The second, a 53-yard hitch-and-go from quarterback Joe Ganz, gave the Huskers a 10-point lead and iced the game.
But it was the defense, after getting gashed for 20 points and 234 yards in the first half – that secured the win.



Leading 20-17, BU drove to Nebraska’s 7-yard-line and four downs to extend its lead to ten. The Bears got nothing, as Griffin, who ran for 99 yards in the first half, was stopped on consecutive running plays. Ben Parks then missed a 19-yard field goal.


After that miss, Ganz engineered a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that ended in a nine-yard pass Swift, who made his record 144th reception with the grab. Ganz also converted a third-and-ten play on the drive by scrambling hard to his right and throwing back across his body to Swift.


Ganz then hit Swift for the second touchdown. While Alex Henery missed the extra point, NU led 30-20 early in the fourth quarter.


The Bears went into halftime to a 20-17 lead thanks to four offensive plays over 30 yards and two personal fouls called on NU linebacker Cody Glenn. The second, a 15-yard facemask penalty with NU leading 17-14, negated Glenn’s sack of Griffin and put the Bears near midfield. On the next play, Griffin found receiver Ernest Smith for a 35-yard option pass play. Griffin then hit Kendall Wright on a 16-yard slant pattern to the Nebraska 1. Jacoby Jones plunged over the goal line one play later.


The Huskers blocked the extra point; after the play was over Ty Steinkuhler was flagged for Nebraska’s third personal foul of the half. Pelini spent much of the ensuing TV timeout huddled with three referees, pleading his case.


The Huskers had taken a 17-14 lead with Marlon Lucky’s 18-yard touchdown run, one play after Lucky had kept the drive alive with a one-handed grab of Ganz’s errant pass. NU scored 10 consecutive points in the second quarter, as the defense sacked Griffin twice and forced two punts.


Nebraska received to start the game and its initial drive stalled after Niles Paul was hit one yard short of a first down at Baylor’s 45-yard line. BU was pinned at its own eight-yard line by a Dan Titchener punt, and punted itself after a three-and-out. Paul’s 19-yard punt return set the Huskers up at BU’s 39-yard line.


NU scored in six plays, much of it on the ground, although Ganz capped off the drive with a six-yard play action pass to tight end Ryan Hill for a touchdown.


Baylor answered immediately after starting its drive at the 37 when NU kicker Adi Kunalic botched a pooch kick. Griffin gained five yards on an option play, and Glenn was flagged for a horse collar tackle. On the next play, running back Jay Finley busted through two tackles for a 43-yard touchdown run.



The Huskers then punted on their third drive of the game, pinning Baylor at the four. Griffin swiftly reversed that field position with a zone read play for 40 yards. Griffin then scored four plays later on a fourth down from NU’s 47. Nebraska’s defense line bunched together to guard against a sneak; Griffin simply swept around the left end, and blazed down the sidelines virtually untouched.

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[url][/url]Not that the entire Nebraska defensive line didn't stand out to Baylor offensive tackle Dan Gay - it did - but one player got his attention most - junior Ndamukong Suh.



"He's an aggressive guy," Gay said. "He gets his hands inside on a guy. If an offensive lineman has his base too narrow, he'll just throw them down. He has a prototype defensive lineman attitude, the way he plays."


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There was a period of time, however brief it was, when Nebraska football was a bit like the college version of America’s Team.



Starting with the 1994 Orange Bowl and ending with that Day After Thanksgiving massacre at Colorado in 2001, NU put a consistently dominant product on televisions across the nation, captivating kids still in Pee-Wee Leagues.



All-Big 12 safety Jordan Lake was one of them.



“Right when I started watching football, they were a powerhouse,” said Lake, whose Baylor teammates visit Nebraska Saturday. “Tommie Frazier, Lawrence Phillips, that Blackshirt defense. I remember watching all those guys. I loved Nebraska football. I’m more of a football purist and they were old school football.”



Lake can quickly rattle off the names of players from the era, including some of the lesser-known guys, like linebacker Carlos Polk. Former defensive end Grant Wistrom was “awesome – he’d get after you and maul you on every play.”



But Lake, named to the Big 12’s second team in 2007 by coaches and themedia, was more enamored with the Huskers’ style of play.



“They had standout guys,” he said. “But it was more so everyone flew around the ball with great intensity and great passion.”



Coming out of Memorial High School in Houston, Lake “definitely would have given a look” to Nebraska had an offer came. It never did, even though NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson had talked with Lake then, and knows him now.



“Jordan probably wasn’t that highly recruited, but should have been, man,” Watson said. “He’s a heckuva player. I haven’t seen a safety like him.”



Lake and the rest of the defense head to Lincoln as a “new Baylor” program under first-year coach Art Briles, who has ignited Waco with his spread offense and can-do mentality. Briles set that tone in his comments at Big 12 Media Days, and has continued to push the positive message during the season.



The Bears are 3-4, and already own one more Big 12 win than they had in 2007.



“From day one, Coach Briles was real big on ‘This is Baylor Now,’” BU linebacker Joe Pawelek said. “This isn’t Baylor last year, this isn’t Baylor five, ten years ago, this is Baylor Now. That was one of the biggest things to really focus on: What are we going to do from here? Nothing really carries over from last year or the past couple years. It’s a whole new regime.”



Said Lake: “Everybody talks about how they can visibly see a difference when they sit down and watch a game. A different kind of tempo, a different kind of pace, different kind of attitude than this team had. It’s exciting and refreshing for all these fans here.”



Indeed, Baylor has been non-competitive in only two games, a 49-17 loss to Oklahoma and a 34-6 loss to Oklahoma State. Against the Sooners, Pawelek’s early interception was negated by a phantom pass interference call, giving OU crucial momentum. Against OSU, Briles said the Bears “let the environment get away from us” and collapsed quickly after taking a 6-0 lead.



So no, the growing pains haven’t ended. But Baylor is moving away from a gimmick defense geared on getting lucky with blitzes and toward a more preventative, disciplined style. Briles hired Brian Norwood, a longtime assistant at Penn State, to run the defense. Baylor no longer runs a 4-2-5, but a basic 4-3 formation geared to stop big plays down the middle.



It’s been an adjustment for Lake, who used to be primarily devoted to run support. He’s still involved in that aspect, but he’s playing more “back end” now.



“The energy (Norwood) expects us to fly around with on every play has really charged the defense,” Lake said.



BU overhauled its strength and conditioning program, too, hiring Kaz Kazadi to revamp workouts in a way similar to NU’s strength guru James Dobson’s changes for the Huskers.



“It’s really just focusing more on football-related runs and exercises,” Pawelek said. “It wasn’t so much ‘go out and get in shape,’ it was more ‘we’re doing this to help you out on Saturday.’”



Lake didn’t need to change too much. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, he arguably has prototypical size for a safety, and is fast enough to catch most of the Big 12’s running backs.



That he’s at Baylor, and not some bigger school, is something “I don’t regret for a second.” Like some of the upperclassmen playing under Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini hope to create a foundation for future Husker generation, so does Lake in Waco.



“I’m excited to play in Memorial Stadium,” Lake said. “At the same time, all the excitement and stuff can’t let me deviate from our plan to go up there and try to get a win.”



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The first time I saw Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin, it was in garbage time during a loss in the Bears’ season opener against Wake Forest. Flushed from the pocket, Griffin made a full stop, started running again, juked a Wake defender, accelerated, and was finally taken down for a short gain.



Like a jazz man on the sax, Griffin seemed to have no idea what note he was going to play next. He moved as if he were on an invisible track that could slide him back and forth in the field of play.



My goodness, would Barry Switzer have loved this kid in his wishbone offense. You could just see Griffin flying down that giant crown OU used to have at Owen Field and flipping the ball to Billy Sims, Marcus Dupree, Spencer Tillman, Patrick Collins, you name it. A Sooner magician to haunt Husker dreams.



Good thing he’s a Bear, eh? Still - he’s the most exciting freshman I’ve seen this year, even more so for his ability to take care of the ball, which he does beautifully, considering he hasn’t thrown an interception.



Barring something unforeseen, Griffin will make exactly one trip to Memorial Stadium – this Saturday. You never really got to see Vince Young in Lincoln. But you can see the second coming of him.



“You can’t compare this guy to anybody we’ve played yet,” Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini said. “He’s more athletic than anybody we’ve seen. This guy’s pretty special with his feet. He’s fun to watch to play. It’s fun to watch him on film. He’ll cause some sleepless nights for a coach, I’ll tell you that much.”



That ought to be endorsement enough.



Thing is, Baylor Coach Art Briles is being smart with his wunderkind. He is not throwing Griffin to the wolves of the Big 12 by letting him freelance and flit around like some young NBA star. Hardly. Yeah, Griffin makes some crazy moves in the open field, and his speed – he’s the Big 12 champion in the 400-meter hurdles – gets him out of jams.



But mostly, Griffin operates within the structure of the offense. He runs the zone read. He’ll roll with the option out of the shotgun. He throws screen passes and designed rollouts. And if it isn’t there, he tucks and runs.



Because Griffin enrolled early for spring football (and track), he grasped enough of Briles’ offense to be in a three-man race in the fall with returning starter Blake Szymanski and Miami (Fla.) transfer Kirby Freeman. Freeman got the nod against Wake Forest – for a half. Griffin iced the competition with a few nifty plays in the second half, and the rest is quite likely Baylor history.



“Robert is a great leader in the huddle,” Baylor left tackle Dan Gay said. “He’s got a look in his eye, he’s very confident. Robert has a keen sense of how to be a leader. He’s so young, but in the huddle, he doesn’t seem like a true freshman. To me he seems like a junior or a senior…he just stood out to us as being so young and having so much knowledge.”



Not an easy challenge for Pelini, whose defense struggled to stop Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor when it counted. Taylor burned the Huskers on a number of second-half runs in the Hokies’ 35-30 win over the Huskers, as designed QB sweep plays picked up just enough yards to keep a crucial touchdown drive going.



The best way to stop Griffin, Pelini said, is to “create a wall that he has to go through.” Whether that meant using a specific player to spy on him, like Nebraska did against Chase Daniel in 2006, Pelini would not say. Either way, it’s one of those games where the Huskers’ ends will have to color inside the lines.



“We have to be assignment sound,” defensive ends coach John Papuchis said. “We’ll always have somebody who’s responsible for playing him and we just have to carry out our assignments.”



Easier said than done.

One thing about scrambling quarterbacks, Pelini said, is that if they really want to break containment, they will – it’s whether doing such a thing will gain them any yards. More than once during a 34-6 loss to Oklahoma State, Griffin quickly pulled out of his downfield reads to run, only to find no room, or a sideline waiting as a comfortable harbor. He carried the ball 12 times for 12 yards.

“As long as we play our technique,” sophomore defensive end Pierre Allen, “we shouldn’t have to do anything out of the ordinary.”

But then Allen added: “I won’t know until I actually see him.”

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Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin poses a stiff challenge for Nebraska’s defense, head coach Bo Pelini said Monday during the Big 12 Coaches Teleconference.

A true freshman who has accounted for more than 1,700 yards and 17 touchdowns, Griffin has yet to throw an interception this year, Pelini said, because the Bears are designed around his talents.

“They do a good job of protecting him,” Pelini said. “Their offense kinda sets up well for him. They throw a lot of short things, a lot of screens, a lot of quick rhythm stuff.”

Pelini said BU Coach Art Briles “knows what he’s doing.”

“They’ve thought it out well,” said Pelini, referring Baylor’s offense, which is third in the Big 12 in rushing, averaging 182.7 yards per game.

Briles runs a spread offense, but it tends to place more emphasis on the ground game. Some fans might mistakenly believe that Briles’ old team, Houston, was a pass-happy bunch along the lines of Texas Tech or Tulsa; on the contrary, UH averaged more than 160 rushing yards per game in Briles’ last three seasons there, including 223.9 yards in 2007.

“I’ve always been kind of a run guy growing up,” Briles said Monday, referring to his own playing days at Houston in the mid-1970s, when the Cougars ran the famed “Houston Veer” option offense.

An improved Nebraska running game, Pelini said, has helped NU’s defense over the last two weeks, limiting the number of possessions for opponents Texas Tech and Iowa State.

“The best defense is not being out there for a ton of plays,” Pelini said.

NU’s linebacker corps – Phillip Dillard, Cody Glenn and Tyler Wortman – all played significant snaps together for the first time since the Virginia Tech game. Pelini termed their play “better.”

“Still too many mistakes,” he said.

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Baylor Coach Art Briles had the low, introspective tone Sunday of a coach whose team just slapped around pretty good in a 34-6 loss to Oklahoma State.


But he did talk a little Nebraska football in his Sunday teleconference, specifically about NU fans, whom he witnessed in 2001 when he was a part of a Texas Tech staff that came to Lincoln and lost to the Cornhuskers 41-31.



“They were rolling pretty good back then,” Briles said of NU’s 2001 squad, which featured Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch and finished 11-2. “I really the environment was a great college atmosphere. The fans, albeit solid Nebraska, were very respectful to the game of college football. That stuck in my mind.”


Briles left tech shortly thereafter to coach at Houston, where his spread offense won acclaim and converts. Now he’ trying to turn around the Bears, who haven’t sniffed a bowl in years, much less had a winning season.



The early returns have been positive. True freshman
quarterback Robert Griffin looks like the next Vince Young, having already accounted for 1,704 total yards, 17 touchdowns and zero – yes, zippo – interceptions despite 155 attempts. That’s a Division I record for freshmen.



“It’s been good so far,” Briles said. “He’s very intelligent with the football, very conscious. I think all that adds up to having a chance to minimize turnovers.”



Although the Bears were badly beaten by OSU and Oklahoma (49-17), Briles said “there’s not that big of a discrepancy” between those top ten teams and his own. Having Griffin helps, of course, but Briles, ever confident, isn’t conceding anything after years of surrender in Waco.



“We feel like we’re not that far off,” Briles said. “But we understand that we have to play almost error free to have opportunities to win games of that nature, but that’s the way it should be each week anyway. We feel like we should be a good enough football team to play error free and capitalize on opportunities.



“We’ve got a team of guys who believe in each other and fight hard in each other.”

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