QB Zac Lee, 6-2, 215, Sr.

Isn’t it funny how Lee went, in the course of one month, from the most-maligned Nebraska quarterback since Joe Dailey in the Big 12 Championship to a gritty leader in the Holiday Bowl who toiled with an undisclosed injury for most of the season?

He’ll sit out all of spring football rehabbing his throwing elbow, and there’s no certainty he’ll regain that strong arm, and yet - eyes will be watching him, and he’ll be watching quarterbacks Cody Green, Kody Spano and Taylor Martinez try to catch him. Lee will have to settle for learning by watching, and who knows? Maybe it’s the best medicine for a player who frankly struggled with decision-making last year.

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In the summer and fall, Husker Locker created its “50 Huskers to Know” list for the 2009 season. We now review our list by examining production, injuries and depth chart position.
We’ll present these in five-player increments. Here we go!

No. 5 Keith Williams: Poised for a breakout year, Williams tore his pectoral muscle in fall camp. He played through excruciating pain anyway, and had his moments. In 2010, provided he’s healthy, look for him to be an all-conference pick. He’s still Nebraska’s best.

No. 4 Niles Paul: It was almost like his two colossal blunders of the fall - failing to catch a backwards pass vs. Texas Tech, then failing to recover the ball that Tech returned for a touchdown, and that fumble-recover-fumble vs. Iowa State that cost NU the win - actually set Paul free. Over the last five games of the year, including the Holiday Bowl, Paul became a new man - a different player, returning one punt for a score, almost returning another vs. Texas, making clutch third-down grabs vs. Colorado, making huge plays vs. Kansas and Kansas State, and displaying an all-around game in the Holiday Bowl to earn MVP. He caught 40 passes for almost 800 yards, and became the big-play most hoped he would be.

No. 3 Roy Helu: More brilliance in games vs. Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Kansas, and more perplexing injuries in many of the other games. Helu’s a tough guy to figure out on and off the field. Talent and instinct to burn, but there seems to be times when Rex Burkhead is the more consistent option. Still - it says something about a guy when he rushes for 1,137 yards, and you barely noticed him over the last four games of the year. He’s still a big-time weapon.

No. 2 Ndamukong Suh: Arguably the best player in Blackshirt history - remember, that doesn’t include Train Wreck Novak - and certainly the most decorated, Suh became the poster child for the emerging Bo Pelini era. He worked hard, excelled in the classroom and dominated on the field. A unique, game-changing talent in ways defensive linemen usually aren’t - pass coverage, downfield tackling. Hopefully NU fans enjoyed the show. He isn’t coming through that door again.

No. 1 Zac Lee: As great as we knew Suh was, Lee occupied the top spot for the obvious reason: He’s the only guy with the ball in his hands every play. So much has already been written about Lee, so let’s merely say one more thing: He turned a corner in his attitude and belief in himself as the year went on, and he doesn’t have a lot to fear in 2010. Bo likes him. It’s his job to lose.

The list is now complete! Check out the full list!

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Six strong takes, just as you like them, Husker football right at the top.

*One week ago, I mentioned heightened expectations for Nebraska’s football team. The definition of being “back.” Now that the Cornhuskers are beginning to appear in the top ten of various (and ridiculously early) top 25 rankings, you can begin to get the picture.

NU will be playing a 365-day season in 2010 - not 150. In recruiting, offseason development, spring football, the summer police “blotta” and all the rest, the Huskers will get more play - good and bad - from the national media outlets that control, to some extent, preseason perception and placement. Those things are important, understand, when it comes to bowl pairings later in the year. Possibly even BCS bowl pairings.

In a sense, that’s just another challenge for Bo Pelini and his staff. Whether or not Bo sees himself as a creature of the media - he’s going to become one. There’s something attractive - authentic - about his occasionally explosive sideline style, the emotions worn on his sleeve - hell, his bare arms. Bo isn’t prone to quotables, but his confidence plays well on talk shows and TV programs that crave black/white statements.

Bo has some acolytes in the national media. Jim Rome is one of them. Kirk Herbstreit, a former teammate, is another. Throw Andy Staples of SI in there, too, for all the positive pub he’s given the Big Red. Here’s a New Year’s resolution hoping he reaches out to those guys before spring ball, during spring ball, and throughout the summer. The recruitiniks at Rivals and Scout, too. Hey - those guys know how faithfully Husker fans follow Signing Day in February. Then - you post every one of those appearances and articles on Bo’s personal Web site.

Bo may not personally want that kind of hyper-attention. But it’s the kind Nebraska needs to keep up with the Big 12 South’s primary outpost, Texas.

*Would I put NU in the top ten right now? Upon further review, I guess not yet. Not until Zac Lee’s rehab points toward full recovery.

If Lee rehabs OK, I’d look hard at top 5-7, along with Alabama, Boise State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and a few surprises.

If not - I’d need a crystal ball detailing Cody Green’s development. Green will never get a better chance at taking the reins than this offseason - his second at Nebraska. These three months - that’s his window, whether he officially beats out Lee or not. If Green makes the leap, he’s the guy, at the very least, in 2011. If not, there will be some freshman nipping at his heels.

*And that freshman, if I had to play a hunch, will be Brion Carnes, Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee quarterback who will take a visit in January. If he can get past being “Tommie Frazier’s nephew” - a hurdle in Lincoln - Carnes possesses many of the skills a new, more physical NU offense desires. Carnes - who was committed to South Florida, but has wavered with the firing of Jim Leavitt - is mobile, has better-than-average footwork, and knows how to make throws on the run.

If not Carnes, than possibly Kain Colter out of Colorado. If not, Colter, then the mystery man, Darian “Stump” Godfrey, the Gilmer, Texas product who accounted for 64 touchdowns and more than 4,400 yards in leading his team to an undefeated season and a 3A championship.

NU is trying to put some tasty frosting on its 2010 recruiting class, as Chicago-area safety Corey Cooper and Portland defensive end Owa Odighizuwa are the biggest names the Huskers continue to pursue, and both seem intent on waiting until Signing Day to make their decisions. If Nebraska gets both, the class becomes a nice comeback after a slow summer. If both go elsewhere, you get the sense that NU may make changes in its approach for 2011. More changes, I mean, than the ones that have already been made.

The best potential recruit of the 2010 class? Jermarcus Hardrick, if he morphs into a Phil Loadholt clone and mans the right tackle spot for the next two years. Among the four-year recruits, Columbia (Mo.) product Chase Rome jumps out as a major defensive tackle in two years, with potential for Jared Crick numbers. Landing Odighizuwa - a bright, athletic end whose background, demeanor and intelligence is eerily reminiscent of Ndamukong Suh - would trump them all.

My sleeper? A guy Nebraska landed almost a year ago - offensive tackle Mike Moudy. A 6-foot-7, 300-pound rock. I just like the way he attacks defenders on film.

*So the SEC won its fourth straight national championship. It has to say something, right? Sure. But I’m not sure it’s saying the same things, year after year.

In 2006, Florida’s speed and defensive aggression forced an over-hyped quarterback, Ohio State’s Troy Smith into a game-long meltdown.

In 2007, LSU was simply better than Ohio State, and everybody knew it. Throw the statistics out the window. The Buckeyes actually competed more in that game than I anticipated.

In 2008, Oklahoma controlled the first half, threw the game away with its insistence on the no-huddle offense at the goal line, and wore down in the second half as Sam Bradford wasn’t protected by penalty flags like he was in the Big 12.

In 2009, you know the ugly story.

The binding statistic - SEC teams all rushed for more yards than its opponents - reflects a consistency of style, a commitment to traditional football, albeit from unconventional (or shall we just say old-fashioned) means: The single wing, the option, the counter trey. Three of the four opponents (Ohio State in 2006, OU and UT) were spread/shotgun offenses that routinely used four and five wide receivers. All of them were stymied in one way or another by the SEC‘s defensive speed, and unable to adjust.

Trends can be tough to detect. Was Nebraska a trend in the 1990s? Not on offense. On defense, though, absolutely: Following in the footsteps of Miami, Washington and Florida State, NU got smaller, faster and more aggressive. That trend remained true until Michigan and Tennessee won national titles with more traditional base defenses/pro-style offenses in 1997 and 1998.

Is there a SEC method that Bo’s trying to copy? You’d hope so, because it seems to work. It’s not exactly foolproof - goodness, look at LSU, post-Pelini, and South Carolina, since forever - but it puts Nebraska in a unique position in the Big 12.

*USC is panicking for the moment, but Pete Carroll’s departure from the program is precisely what it needs. That’s right. Carroll, for all his considerable strengths, was beginning to construct a team of diminishing returns, choosing transfers and freshmen over more seasoned position players, and a green staff over assistants who, like Norm Chow once did, might steal Carroll’s thunder.

While he was far from losing control of the Trojans’ program, Carroll had lost track of it, to a certain extent, and his hubris over Mark Sanchez’s timely departure last year, coupled with his various shrugs at off-the-field issues in 2009, suggested he was as committed to his highly-laudable work in the Los Angeles community as he was to game-planning and roster management. Nowhere was that more evident than in a game vs. Oregon - a team Carroll typically owned - in which the Ducks so badly out-schemed the Trojans that it looked as though USC was back in its Paul Can’t-Hackett days.

The Trojans ought to hire Carroll-lite - Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh, whose shoulder chip is similar to Carroll’s in 2001, with equal charisma and passion to burn - now that Mike Riley is no longer available. Harbaugh has the ego, NFL background and sheer personality to deal with USC athletic director Mike Garrett, who has a history of rubbing folks a certain way.

*Excellent debut for Christian Standhardinger, who scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in a 64-53 loss at Texas A&M Saturday. He got to the line five times and made four free throws. Expect those numbers to continue, and increase.

I know it’s not easy for head coach Doc Sadler to sacrifice defensive possessions and potentially wins in developing Standhardinger and center Jorge Brian Diaz as NU’s primary offensive threats, but everything I saw vs. the Aggies confirmed, again, that putting those two on the floor at the same time represents NU’s best long-term interests. Standhardinger provides at least some resistance on the boards, and Diaz really does have a deft touch around the basket. Plus - they can draw fouls. Right now, who among Nebraska’s true guards - be it Brandon Richardson, Sek Henry, Lance Jeter or Eshaunte Jones - is consistently doing that.

Sadler wants the Huskers to work for better shots instead of settling for long 3-pointer. But I’m not seeing any guards with a first step quick enough to do it. I am seeing two post players, now that Standhardinger is in there, who can create their shots and are serviceable from the foul line.

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Shotgun to stay? Whether we or you or any Husker fans prefers an under center power game is immaterial to what offensive coordinator Shawn Watson’s players can actually execute. And the Huskers look better in a shotgun spread offense. They just do. It suits the quarterbacks, the running backs, the offensive line, the receivers and the Wildcat formation.

How long does it take Zac Lee to recover - and is recovery successful? Funny that Nebraska fans would pin a potential national title run on the health of No. 5, but, after seeing Cody Green’s wobbly work in the Holiday Bowl, so be it. Lee is unquestionably the No. 1 guy going into spring practice - and he still isn’t very good. So not only does he have to rehab after surgery on his right torn flexor tendon, he has to find a way to improve without throwing the ball - possibly through all of spring camp.

Can Cody Green capitalize on Lee’s absence to develop for 2010 and beyond? We can’t ignore his struggles during the last half of the season - but we also can’t take too much from them, either. Green hasn’t been allowed to grow into a starter - too much attention for a handful for a good plays, too short of a leash for a handful of bad ones - and he should make “the leap” in the spring. Well, he’d better, anyway.

Whither Kody Spano? The things Spano reportedly did best - throwing those skinny slants and posts, and hanging in the pocket when bullets started flying - are attributes Watson appreciates most. Can he come back from two ACL tears? Can he trust his knee enough to make plays. It’s rare - but possible.

Is there a No. 2 receiver in the building? Some Husker - Brandon Kinnie, Khiry Cooper, Antonio Bell, Curenski Gilleylen - has to take the heat off of Niles Paul. And receivers coach Ted Gilmore has to stop sampling every guy on the roster for the role. Find two or three complimentary receivers, stick with them, and develop chemistry with Lee - when he returns - Green and whoever else tries out at QB.

How much can the redshirt freshmen - plus Jermarcus Hardrick - push the vets on he offensive line? Hardrick will push Marcel and D.J. Jones at right tackle - and potentially win the job. As for the redshirt freshmen, we’re talking about Brent Qvale (guard), Jeremiah Sirles (tackle), Jesse Coffey (guard) and Nick Ash(guard/center). At the very least, Qvale (huge, and nimble) and Sirles (looks the part) were slated for the two-deep before injuries tilted the risk/reward scale against burning their redshirt. Neither will likely start for NU in 2010, but they can provide important depth every third or fourth series, or serve as injury protection. At any rate - they sorely need experience for the future.

Where does Taylor Martinez fit in? We dug around in the few weeks after the Big 12 Championship game about Martinez, and found he was more feared as a receiver than he was at quarterback. And yet he’ll start at QB - potentially as a Wildcat guy - and take a run at the backup job. Either way - the kid needs to see the field, and get the chance to make plays. He’s among the fastest players on NU’s roster and he’s big enough to take some licks. T Magic is more like T Mystery.

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The story of Nebraska’s offense in 2009 turns out to be a crackerjack courtroom drama, complete with compelling characters, riveting testimony and a twist ending - touched off by a surprising revelation - that has some Cornhusker fans sailing out of theater satisfied, and others wondering if all plot threads meet up.

The men on trial - offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, his staff and quarterback Zac Lee - won acquittal in a 33-0 thumping of Arizona, returning to the shotgun, unveiling an effective version of the Wildcat - which running backs coach Tim Beck correctly described as an offense, not merely a play - and getting Lee to a point where he can run the zone read competently - if not beautifully - for yards and first downs.

Everything you could have hoped to see vs. Arizona - third-down efficiency, big running plays, Niles Paul, Mike McNeill, a dominant offensive line - you saw. Roy Helu got hurt early, but Rex Burkhead capably replaced him.

For the first time since the Kansas game, Lee looked like the solution instead of the problem. Afterward, when he revealed he’d been playing with a torn flexor tendon in his throwing arm, which requires surgery and nearly three months of rehab, it was like that beer glass in the novel “Presumed Innocent” that nobody could find - because nobody ever asked the guy who took it from the evidence room to return it.

“It was them that (screwed) up,” Lipranzer tells defendant Rusty at the end of Scott Turow’s best book.

In this case, the few left in Watson’s corner could say the same of his many naysayers. If you only you knew of all the injuries on the offensive line, at running back, in Lee’s right arm.

You can see how the arguments set up.

Credit where it’s deserved: Watson crafted a good plan, and called an even better game. He and Barney Cotton got their offensive line to fire off the ball. He trusted Lee on third-and-long to extend drives. Lee did. In short, Watson seemed to be returning to midseason 2008, when Nebraska sliced and diced Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State with a dizzying array of formations and plays.

Lee was a poor man’s Joe Ganz, which, with Bo’s defense, was more than enough. He’s a tough kid who chooses to struggle with injuries and inconsistencies in relative silence. Commendable enough.

But “Holiday Bowl scoreboard” isn’t a sufficient salve for every offensive problem in 2009.

“Torn flexor tendon” isn’t a sufficient answer for why Watson had Lee throwing the ball in the Missouri rain, or why Watson couldn’t bear to call a trick play - just one! - vs. Texas in the Big 12 Championship.

“O-line injuries” doesn’t explain why the wide receiver corps fell apart, with two starters apparently so unmotivated and disinterested that they spent two weeks on the scout team.

No, Watson didn’t suddenly forget how to call plays.

But we can’t suddenly gloss over real struggles, either.

The offseason, beginning with Lee’s surgery and rehabilitation, will be a test of patience, creativity and coaching for Watson and his assembled crew. I look forward to watching skilled - but embattled - guys whittle away the problem, with a prominent chip on their shoulder, I suspect, and something to prove.

*At quarterback, Watson will have to play it by doctor and trainer as to when Lee can return. Then he’ll have to develop quarterbacks Cody Green, Kody Spano and Taylor Martinez in three distinctly different places in their career. Will Ganz, a new graduate assistant, help? Sure. But even that’s a adjustment, for these Huskers know and respect Ganz quite a bit, and may initially see Lee - or any signal-caller - in stark relief of the former No. 12. When a former teammate suddenly becomes a mentor, it’s can be an interesting transition. Ganz isn’t going to sugarcoat anything, nor should he.

*At running back, Tim Beck has to manage Roy Helu’s health, devise new ways to exploit Rex Burkhead’s skills and find a No. 3 running back between Traye Robinson, Lester Ward and Austin Jones.

*At offensive line, Barney Cotton gets to integrate young pups Brent Qvale, Jeremiah Sirles, Jesse Coffey and Nick Ash, get JUCO signee Jermarcus Hardrick quickly up to speed, break in center Mike Caputo, wait out the recovery of Keith Williams - who has a torn pectoral muscle - and hone the games of Ricky Henry, Mike Smith, Marcel Jones and D.J. Jones. Cotton has the most important - and arguably toughest - job of the bunch. As goes the offensive line, so goes NU.

*At wide receiver, Ted Gilmore needs to build around senior-to-be Niles Paul, with an emphasis on guys who can actually catch, run and keep their balance on a wet field. Gilmore has to put a better product on the field than NU offered up in 2009, when Menelik Holt’s drops cost the Huskers at Virginia Tech, and Paul’s midseason lapses in concentration contributed heavily to losses vs. Texas Tech and Iowa State.

*At tight end, Ron Brown just needs to keep doing what he’s doing, juggling time and snaps for a gifted unit.

Presuming he has enough healthy pieces, Watson then gets to play chemist. Which combination of formations, plays and players make the best brew? Injuries, execution and “inexperience” - plus Bo’s intervention right around the Oklahoma game - prevented him from figuring that out in 2009.

What are the key questions for this offseason? Click here.

Otherwise, continue the debate. Does the Holiday Bowl resolve your concerns? Does the end of the movie forgive its dull middle?

In 2010 - a national-title contending season - we’ll have the sequel.

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Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee revealed Wednesday after the Holiday Bowl that he needs surgery on his right flexor tendon, which developed from a wrist injury he suffered way back in a 38-9 win over Arkansas State.

Lee will get surgery in early January and won't be able to throw for 2-3 months. Whether he'll be able to throw in spring practice is yet to be determined. For the better part of the 2009 season, Lee dealt with significant pain in his elbow.

"It would have been a wildfire if that came out during the season," Lee said.

How does that affect the quarterback competition? Based on Lee's performance Wednesday - and Cody Green's performance - it may not affect it much. Green's going to have to significantly improve at passing and just figuring out the plays - he wore a perplexed expression before most of his snaps - before he can challenge Lee for the job.

Could Kody Spano or Taylor Martinez make a move? That remaisn to be seen.

How much was Lee affected during the year? Well, he never threw as sharply as he did vs. Arkansas State. As the year went on, his deep ball floated on him more, a sign of the pain getting to him. Could that have played a role in why Lee was benched - or why Lee didn't throw much in certain games? Potentially.

Then again, Lee played one of his best games of the year at Kansas.

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The Flex: Niles Paul executes a nifty double move, Arizona cornerback Devin Ross falls down, and Paul zooms past. Zac Lee hits Paul in stride for a 74-yard touchdown pass. Paul caps it off perfectly: With a flex of those impressive muscles. It drew a 15-yard penalty, but was an apt picture of what happened Wednesday night.

Dare we say Florida? Nebraska’s first play of the second series was a picture of plays to come in 2010. Rex Burkhead motioned to the backfield, Zac Lee faked to Roy Helu and ran the option - effectively! - pitching the ball to Burkhead for a 12-yard gain. Florida uses this play, and former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione made a living off of it.

Wildcat!: Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson waited three drives to unveil his bowl wrinkle, but, oh, did the Huskers alight on something good. Rex Burkhead out of the Wildcat - the first run for 34 yards - is precisely the medicine NU’s offensive line needed. Burkhead deftly read holes from that deep shotgun position all night.

Third Down Clutch: Facing the possibility of another long Alex Henery field goal, Lee hung in the pocket and nailed receiver Niles Paul on a 22-yard slant pattern on 3rd-and-7. It set up Nebraska at Arizona’s 5 yard line. Burkhead scored out of the Wildcat on the next play.

McNeill’s Hands Are Back: Nice grab by tight end Mike McNeill to extend NU’s first drive of the second half

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So much for motivation, preparation, hangovers, skeptics, doubts or close games in the Holiday Bowl.

Turns out Bo Pelini had a reason to strut in San Diego. A reason to gift-wrap a six-day break for his team before Christmas. A reason to bust out some lofty talk about 2010 in a handful of interviews.

What did Bo know? Something. That’s for damn sure.

Three plays, one Matt O’Hanlon pick, one quick Zac Lee touchdown, a dash of the Wildcat starring Rex Burkhead, Niles Paul as a triple threat, that magnificent golden foot of Alex Henery and Blackshirts, Blackshirts, Blackshirts.

First round knockout. Boom! Down! Nebraska as Mike Tyson, and Arizona as a weak-kneed Michael Spinks.

“We got whacked,” Arizona head coach Mike Stoops.

Yep. Thumped. Striped. Punished. Seems like the two teams did their share of trash talking during the week at joint functions, and the muddy blood carried over to Wednesday night. Like so many fights that start with a couple of loose jaws, it ended with one party - the Wildcats - on the floor - a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone.

Savor this Big Red ribeye of a win, Cornhusker fans. It tasted so good, sizzling from the start - and mostly because NU cooked it just so. In all three phases, I can’t recall a more complete bowl win since the 2000 Alamo Bowl. And even there, Nebraska had a few leaks. You might have to go back to the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. Or the 1969 Sun Bowl, when NU beat Georgia 45-6. Or maybe never. I’m leaning toward never.

At some point, Stoops stopped with his Jimmy Cagney/George C. Scott facial grimaces and submitted to total defeat. His willingness to forego an easy field goal at the end of the game and try for a touchdown - knowing full well his quarterback would face a seven-man blitz - was not merely a nod to his old friend Bo. It was a tip of the cap to the Husker defense as a whole. You’ve earned the right to shut us out. Good for Stoops. Intense guy. Class move.

Yes, the Blackshirts evoked memories of those days of heaven, the mid-1990s, when opposing quarterbacks gazed wistfully into the defense in the mere hope of completing a pass. Foles had that “blow-the-whistle!” look all night, his impressive arm - yes, I’ve seen it in other games - reduced to a bad parody of the Balloon Boy saga. Just 21 snaps in the first half. For 32 yards. And the Huskers didn’t even have to commit a blitzer on the pass rush. TV can’t do justice to how well NU’s cornerbacks challenge and blanket opposing receivers, so Foles, with the relative mobility of Pooh Bear, had no choice but to dance around, fruitlessly searching for downfield targets.

Once again, we saw irrefutable evidence that the best way to great defense is through a quarterback’s rattled cage. How many signal-callers have answered the bell vs. NU this year? In retrospect, just one: Texas Tech’s Sticks Sheffield.

“It’s nothing fancy,” Pelini said. In a sense, he’s right. Challenging receivers at the line of scrimmage, and taking away those easy throws spread teams thrive on isn’t fancy. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, either, but it’s not fancy. And the recipe works.

The secondary was nothing short of brilliant. I doubt Arizona had ever seen such aggressive coverage. A healthy Alfonzo Dennard, coupled with a healthy Prince Amukamara, might be as good a cornerback tandem as there is in college football.

And color me pleased by the offense, and impressed with offensive coordinator Shawn Watson from this perspective: He said NU would travel back in time with its offense, and that’s precisely what we saw Wednesday night.

Nebraska spread it out and mixed pass and run. Zac Lee throws much better out of the shotgun, and runs a competent zone read, even if he takes the ball too often. The big wrinkle - the Wildcat - was more of a no-brainer, considering how good Rex Burkhead was at running it, but it was good to see Watson actually put it on film and put it to good use.

Burkhead is a keeper. He runs hard, headlong, with the occasional surprising flourish - a spin move, a hard cut. A little Correll Buckhalter. A little Derek Brown. A little Josh Davis. Watson has a weapon there, whether or not Burkhead stays at the Wildcat QB, or hands the reins to Taylor Martinez.

Does Watson have a quarterback? Lee took a step forward Wednesday night, but I still think he is inconsistent and a little robotic as a runner. Cody Green, who burned a timeout and nearly threw a bad interception, again looked adrift and ill-prepared on the field. But it’s hard to get a grip in a couple drives when Lee gets the whole game.

Unfortunately, you don’t get the offensive sequel for nine months. You won’t even get a sneak peek trailer for four months. And don’t presume that Nebraska solved its problems in one bowl game. Arizona seemed struck by the stage and the stakes. Stoops’ team needs to grow up some. I suspect that he knew that earlier in the week, and hoped it wouldn’t matter too much in the game. But it did.

Arizona’s at now where Nebraska resided in early 2008. What a journey since then for the Big Red. Despite the kind of losses that make you want to starve for a week, Pelini pulled his troops through, and has them positioned for a national title run in 2010.

I don’t know about the Huskers being “five times better” next year. For one thing, a lot of pro-style offenses roll onto the schedule, and you can’t just trot Dejon Gomes out there at linebacker to stop the inside counter. The Huskers absolutely must find two or three serviceable linebackers.

But, provided Nebraska does that, a trip to Phoenix - for one of two BCS games held there - should be the early expectation. The Big 12 will be ripe for the plucking. The best of NU’s recruiting classes - the 2007 bunch rotates fully into upperclassmen mode. That solid class of 2008 - that included all of the red shirt freshmen, finally begins to contribute more, as well.

Hope springs eternal. Football championships are autumnal. I think we have 33 reasons to put those two sentiments together for next year.

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The five plays that thousands of Nebraska fans missed at the outset of the 2009 Holiday Bowl turned out to be the only ones No. 22 NU really needed to secure victory over No. 20 Arizona.

What followed the Cornhuskers’ touchdown in the first 75 seconds of the game - which went untelevised on ESPN because of the end of Idaho’s 43-42 win in the Humanitarian Bowl - was gravy, and arguably the most dominant performance in Nebraska bowl history, as NU crushed the Wildcats 33-0 at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium Wednesday night.

"It was a complete win," said a relatively subdued head coach Bo Pelini, who badly beat his friend, Arizona head coach Mike Stoops. "...It was nothing fancy."

Indeed, Stoops said Pelini "had mercy" on Arizona, which in turn prompted Stoops to forego a chip-shot field goal late in fourth quarter and try for a touchdown on the Wildcats lone successful drive of the game. Reserve safety P.J. Smith knocked down a fourth down pass from Arizona quarterback Nick Foles, preserving the shutout and touching off a wild, out-of-character celebration on NU's sidelines.

"Nothing was right all night," Stoops said. "Give Nebraska credit...I don't know if we were just content getting here, but we certainly didn't show up."

Nebraska certainly did - in all three phases.

Building off a brilliant defensive performance in the Big 12 Championship game, the Blackshirts managed to better themselves, notching the first shutout in the Huskers’ 46 bowl appearances, and the first in the history of the high-scoring Holiday Bowl, too. Nebraska held Arizona - an offense averaging more than 400 yards per game - to just 109 yards, more than half of its coming on the game’s final drive.

Nebraska, 10-4, felt disrespected by Arizona prior to the game, all-everything defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. Suh and his mates wasted little time in earning it, as safety Matt O'Hanlon intercepted Foles on the third play of the game, returning the ball to the Zona 6-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Zac Lee scored on a naked bootleg around the right end, diving over the pylon.

Anxious, frustrated Husker fans only saw a replay of that touchdown. ESPN joined the Holiday Bowl feed just as kicker Alex Henery made the extra point.

"It was huge," Pelini said. "We got momentum right away."

The next 58 minutes of the game weren't much different. The NU secondary blanketed Arizona's wide receivers. Foles, confused and frustrated, overthrew several targets, completing just 6 of 20 passes for 28 yards. Passes Foles threw well were dropped. The Wildcats (8-5) didn't bother trying to run the ball until their final drive of the game, when Keola Antonin ripped off 36 of the team's 63 rushing yards on a single play.

"I didn't have a good throw all night," Foles said. "I've got to get my butt back to work."

Henery nailed four field goals - a Holiday Bowl record - of 22, 41, 48 and 50 yards. Niles Paul set up the Huskers with excellent field position with a punt return of 28 yards and a kickoff return of 44 yards.

The surprise was NU's offense, which produced 396 total yards and a number of big plays, highlighted by Zac Lee's 74-yard touchdown pass to Paul in the third quarter.

"It was a little bit of redemption," said Lee, who added that Nebraska had won enough ugly games during the regular season to endure a repeat of that in San Diego.

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson - back in the booth for the Holiday Bowl, instead of down on the field - unveiled a series of wrinkles, including a shorter shotgun formation for Lee to run the zone read with Rex Burkhead and Roy Helu and the Wildcat formation with Burkhead playing quarterback. That formation accounted for most of the yards on a seven-play, 82-yard touchdown drive that padded Nebraska's lead to 17-0.

"It's something we had in our hip pocket," Pelini said. "It's a good wrinkle - something that Rex does well."

Said Stoops: "They kept us off balance all night. They had a good plan. Our defense struggled for some reason."

Nebraska churned out 226 yards, executed almost exclusively out of the shotgun, which mirrored the offense from earlier in the season.

"This was more 'us,'" said Lee, whose arm helped NU convert 9 of 18 third down attempts.

Lee tossed for 173 yards - 123 of them went on four passes to Paul. He played most of the meaningful snaps in the game. Freshman backup Cody Green got a series in the second quarter with NU leading 17-0, but nearly threw an interception. A series in the fourth quarter led to another three-and-out.

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And so, the final turn of a strange horse race for Nebraska football in 2009, ending in a place where folks still flock watch horses run: Southern California. It’s Nebraska’s second, and potentially last, trip to the Holiday Bowl, seeing that the game swaps places with the Alamo Bowl following this year, and NU has zero intent ever falling back down to fifth or sixth in the Big 12 bowl slots again.

Arizona, the Cornhuskers’ opponent, probably won’t be making the trip again, either. The Pac 10 is hopping to San Antonio, too. Weird that the Holiday Bowl actually wants an also-ran bunch from the Great Lakes in its game, as opposed to the Mountain West champion or runner-up, which hearkens back to the game’s impressive roots. But that’s that nature of bowls today. Remember - they’re about the kids!

Kudos to Qualcomm Stadium getting a full house, though. It’s an atmosphere every bowl game deserves and Husker fans typically deliver. If there’s one gift the best fans in college football give to their team each year, it’s the guarantee of the best possible bowl destination. If only more fan bases poured out their support like the Big Red. Sellouts at home. Clans of cornheads on the road. Can’t beat it.

On with the keys:

Preparation: I won’t say Nebraska has taken it easy during its bowl workouts. That would be inaccurate. The Huskers’ practices are plenty tough. But Pelini invoked no less than an NFL-style prep schedule for this game: Six days of install back in Lincoln, a five-day break, and three more practices in San Diego, all in the morning, with an eye toward letting the players enjoy their afternoons. I don’t much count Tuesday’s walk-through as a practice.

Arizona’s pursued a slightly busier schedule, arriving two days earlier.

What difference might that make? We’ll see. Nebraska’s defense, at this point, doesn’t need a lot of fine-tuning, while the offense needs so much that modesty is probably the best course of action anyhow.

Foiling Foles: Arizona quarterback has the stature, arm strength and feathered hair to make it as an NFL quarterback. He doesn’t jump off the page, but he puts some zip on the ball, and isn’t afraid to stick the ball into a tight window of defenders.

The question for the Holiday Bowl, of course, is whether he can do it against a highly aggressive nickel/dime’dollar defense. Against the nation’s best four-man pass rush.

Arizona will try to scheme success, I suspect. Watch for clearout slants like Kansas State used, and back-shoulder throws against man-to-man coverage, with the intent of drawing pass interference penalties. Any offense must already know how hard it will be to consistently hit passes in the 5-10 yard range. Nebraska doesn’t allow it. Texas tried for two drives, then gave it up. Missouri kept trying, and paid the price.

Only Texas Tech really figured it out. And I still think NU’s safeties are vulnerable against the deep out and throwback plays. Will Foles get the time to make those throws and reads?

Physical speed vs. mental speed: Arizona’s not your typical Pac 10 football team. Built on principles borrowing heavily from Oklahoma (defense) and Texas Tech (offense), the Wildcats are about as quick off the paw as any team NU’s faced, including OU, Virginia Tech and Texas. Because Zona blitzes more than most Pac 10 teams, it’s incumbent on the quarterback - in this case, Zac Lee - to make the right checks before the snap, have his hot reads ready, and fire under pressure.

Color me surprised if the Huskers are able to get in super-heavy formations and pound away at Arizona, although, most assuredly, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson will try. Rather, NU’s offensive success - at least when Lee is in the game - boils down to a short, smart playaction passing game balanced with inside runs.

Green Light? The mini-audition of freshman quarterback Cody Green intrigues me. Is it a half-hearted stab at putting the kid on the field as a gold watch, of sorts, for burning his redshirt? Or is it a full-bodied attempt to exploit his talents and create mismatches on the edge of the defense with zone read plays and moving pockets?

I suppose it depends on how Watson sees a kid like Green. Does he envision a Terrelle Pryor type, who struggles to throw the ball consistently, yet makes dynamic, exciting plays with his feet? Or does he envision somebody like Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson, who only scrambles when flushed and play an above-average West Coast quarterback?

Yes, I know I just asked four questions without giving you an answer. Mea culpa.

I’m just skeptical of Watson and Pelini’s plans for the kid, is all. Since his let-it-all-hang-out performance vs. Texas Tech - in which he flashed promising spirit and playmaking skills - Green has been asked to perform the bare minimum in terms of offense, rarely getting the chance to operate the versatile shotgun attack he ran in high school. If Nebraska ties Green to the proverbial tree in San Diego, there’s a better chance he makes a more costly error than if NU turns him loose. Hence, the skepticism. If you place an athlete - used to making decisions on the fly - inside a system that programs those decisions and asks for precision within a window the size of Mike Leach’s dark, cool closet, aren’t you trying to pound a round peg into a smaller square hole.

I’ll let you answer that one.

The Specials: Nebraska will meet its match in the Arizona, which sports excellent returners, a decent kickoff unit (11 touchbacks) and kicker Alex Zendejas, who made 17-of-22 field goal attempts this year. The Wildcats are a bit weak in punt coverage, but, otherwise, they comprise the best special teams test NU’s faced since, well, Virginia Tech. All those little details - snap, placement, lane integrity, creating space to catch the ball, protection on the punt team - will add up to one big play Wednesday. The question is: Who gets the play?

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Shawn Watson, owner of a lonely offense, is usually good for a line or two, and he didn't disappoint Wednesday.

Asked if having the nation's 102nd-ranked offense puts his job as Nebraska's offensive coordinator in jeopardy, Watson smiled and fired this one-liner: “Bo knows. He's been totally on the same page with us all the way through everything.”

Well, yeah. Bo Pelini darn near wrote the book for the last half of NU's season. It's not like Watson would draw the shell of a hermit crab on greaseboard and proclaim to his quarterbacks “Boys – the new attack!” Pelini gambled, placed all of his chips on the equivalent of the pass line at the craps table, and watched opposing offenses try – and miserably fail - to break the house defense.

The Blackshirts pulled a smash-n-grab. They destroyed Texas' beautiful offense, scrambled Colt's eggs. They're on too much of a roll to stop, collaborate and relearn techniques they've come close to mastering.

That's why, when asked whether NU was using much of this Holiday Bowl prep to run the scout team pups through the basics of the Brothers Pelini, Bo shrugged a little, dismissed the notion, and said “We're trying to win a football game.”

As in – who else is going to win it?

Watson, meanwhile, had his troops going through a three-day crash course that mirrored, “ an install, like a fall camp or spring ball.” Quarterbacks worked on drops and read recognition. Offensive line coach Barney Cotton rolled out the chute a couple times for a lesson in getting and staying low. Receivers shifted back to ball skills.

“We had to give ourselves an opportunity to get our wind back in our sails,” Watson said. Nebraska needed that after gaining just 106 yards in the Big 12 Championship, and being “humbled,” Watson said, by the paltry performance.

Zac Lee appears to be the guy again, if Pelini's endorsement on Tuesday means anything, even though he, Cody Green and LaTravis Washington have been getting equal reps during the “back to basics” days. Nor did Watson close off the potential of still recruiting a quarterback for the 2010 class.

What about a JUCO guy, he was asked. You don't typically recruiting junior college transfers, after all, unless the intent is for them to compete, quite strongly, for the starting job. There are a few still out there in the ether for NU to consider: Blinn's Cameron Newton, LA Harbor's Dominique Blackmon, and Fort Scott's Dominique Davis – who is currently committed to East Carolina, but now has three former teammates headed to Nebraska.

“I wouldn't say we wouldn't look at a junior college player,” Watson said. “But I'm not saying that's what we need, either. Don't misunderstand my statement: We'll take the best guy...it's not a must. I don't feel like anybody thinks it's a must. But we would like to bring competition into the room. An extra dimension. Elements we need.”

Read that however you wish, but couple those comments, at the very least, with Watson's answer to the Taylor Martinez question.

“We need to give him a chance to see what he can do,” Watson said. “We haven't had a chance to coach him in the full way. We won't exhaust that until we see what he can do.”

Martinez, of the lauded LA prep pedigree and the funny throwing motion, has been on scout team this fall. Outside of simulating Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor, he hasn't been used much at QB – most of those duties fell to the surprisingly capable, if you talk to NU defenders, walk-on Ron Kellogg – and was often lined up as a slot receiver.

“He can do it all,” said senior safety Larry Asante, who added Martinez is among NU's “top five” in terms of speed. “It doesn't matter. You can never be comfortable when he lines up. He challenges you. He's given us great looks all year.”

The Martinez-at-QB experiment wasn't supposed to last, mostly because he'd be too useful at other positions, especially as a nickel corner or safety. That Watson wants to give the kid a full shake in spring practice – and that he didn't entirely close down talk of a JUCO signal-caller – should suggest this: Mobility is in.

Comfort in one's place on the depth chart? Forget about it.

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At nearly every postmodern, faux-hip Christmas party not worth a damn, there is tinsel, mistletoe, a fine array of “strengthened” cordials, three idiots in Santa caps, the guy who likes to dance to “White Christmas” as he sloshes the highballs being held in each hand, the minx who revs up to Eartha Kitt, the beleaguered hosts who spend most of the night tidying the trash can, the kids who tracked in snow, the amateur showman blowing the dust off his guitar case from last Christmas, the depressive contemplating Chet Baker out the window and drawing flirtatious looks from nerdy cute girls, and, of course, the platter.

The platter is often some holiday dish, with cursive writing or festive designs, your mom bought. Or you did, in the post-Christmas after-sale extravanganza at the local Big Box. Sometimes it's just a long, oval paper plate with a snowman and some kids, on it. The platter contains every Christmas treat known to the western world – and a few the Thais don't mind either. Sugar cookies. Frosted cookies. Chocolate cookies. Chocolate-frosted sugar cookies. Peanut brittle. Candy canes. Bark-covered pretzels. Fudge with nuts, fudge without nuts. A hard clump of dough with craisins in it. Corn Flakes glued together with almost-primordial sugar and dipped in a green acid bath. Twigs and sticks, drenched in chocolate. Peanut butter balls laced with marshmallows that sprout from the orb like poisonous mushrooms. Some vegan bar made without eggs or butter that looks like a divot your pitching wedge might take in early spring.

There is always one treat on this platter – much like there is one Girl Scouts cookie – that you wait the entire year to eat. Maybe you even filch two or three for the road, wrapping them in cocktail napkins and shoving them in the pocket of your coat lying on the bed in the spare room. For me, this is a simple ginger cookie - not much bigger than the participation medal you get on field day in grade school - with a mint Chocolate kiss pressed gently into the middle of it.

On the opposite end of the spectrum: The rum ball. It makes fruit cake taste, by comparison, like the work of culinary genius.

For one thing, I don't really get booze candy. Does anyone want a Seagram's Sucker? A Keystone Kit-Kat? Zima Licorice?

For another – the rest of rum ball is comprised of crushed-up vanilla wafers, chopped nuts, powdered sugar and dried fruits. Sweet Santa! About the only thing missing in Icelandic hakarl.

And yet, inevitably, you find yourself, once a year, subjecting yourself to a single bite of the rum ball. You try to chew it. You know it's sour and pointlessly crunchy, yet chewy to the point where you can't just swallow it. Eventually, you either spit it out and rinse your mouth with water, or you drink some actual rum for a little company.

Shawn Watson likes to say he went on an “ego diet” as Nebraska's offensive coordinator this year.

I prefer to think - he drank the rum.

Only, for Watson, it was worse than that. You see, for the first two games of the 2009 season – he thought he was eating a ginger cookie. We all did. NU slammed Florida Atlantic 49-3, and Arkansas State 38-9. Remember that? Seems ages ago, doesn't it, when head coach Bo Pelini was picking at the toughness and tackling of his defense, and quarterback Zac Lee started so well (42 of 59 for 553 yards, six touchdowns and one interception) pundits (this one included) were thumbing through the “records” portion of the football media guide.

Lee threw to all parts of the field. Menelik Holt and Curenski Gilleylen were living up to their preseason billing as improved players. Niles Paul showed off his big play skills. Roy Helu was busy hitting home runs. Mike McNeill already had eight catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns. The offensive line, though light on depth, seemed to be holding up.

Even after red flags were raised in a 16-15 loss to Virginia Tech – red zone issues, dumb penalties, Lee looking shaky and uncertain – NU seemed, well, still OK. The Huskers gashed the Hokies for almost 200 rushing yards. Helu looked tougher than ever. Lee would recover.

But, after a 27-12 win over Missouri - “the moment we've been waiting for!” Watson exclaimed - the Huskers lost something.

First, Helu hurt his shoulder, badly, on the second-to-last play. Second, rex Burkhead got hurt two days later in practice. Third, NU receivers coach benched Holt and Gilleylen in the Mizzou game for not playing with courage. Fourth, Watson and Pelini at least toyed with benching Lee against the Tigers although, let's face it, the conditions in which he was being asked to complete 15-yard deep outs were just awful. Fifth, near the end of the game, with NU leading 20-12, Watson shifted to a archaic-albeit-effective four-tight end offense and jammed it down the discouraged Tigers' throats.

You see? Columnists exclaimed. It worked! POW-er football. Hey, me too here. I was a big ol peanut in the gallery. (Still am, I suppose, because power football can and does work.)

Thanks, really, to Ndamukong Suh and The Blackshirts, NU had the key victory season in its pocket by early October. But the seeds had been planted for change. And when Nebraska got a nasty wake-up call one week later vs. Texas Tech, Watson's vision and personnel got a final chance vs. Iowa State. To paraphrase McCroskey from Airplane!, the Huskers picked the wrong time to commit eight turnovers.

***

I've seen enough of Pelini to know, by now, that one his best strengths – and his biggest potential weakness – is an adherence to his gut feeling. As much as Bo talks about the consistency of his process – about never getting too high or too low – you are not likely to see more drastic change in the history of Nebraska's offense than the charted course from the beginning of this season until the end. Few head coaches would be daring enough to even attempt it, and fewer offensive coordinators would submit to that kind of direction. We poked a lot of fun at Watson this year, but, seriously, the man has an admirable dose of humility.

Bo shut this thing down, folks. After Cody Green threw that Pick Six in the Baylor game, and had ants in his pants to start the Oklahoma game, the Brothers Pelini went back to what they knew: Defense, and an offense that won't screw it up. Thanks, again, to the Blackshirts and Alex Henery, it worked. But, in the process, NU didn't change identities so much as it lobotomized itself. Within the rigid structure of NU's new offense, Watson had only three speeds:

1. Plunge into the line and hope for the best.
2. Deep ball to Niles Paul
3. Speed option, at the physical peril of Lee

The problem with that plan:

1. NU's o-line injuries made a power game hard to execute.
2. Watson forgot about every other receiver in the process.
3. Lee can't run the option.

You already know the result.

The question now becomes: What scars does it leave for 2010?

More than a few. The offensive line will have literal scars after offseason surgeries. The rest of the unit has trust and leadership issues to resolve. Especially NU's receivers, who watched Holt, Gilleylen and Chris Brooks never catch another pass after the Iowa State game. That's pretty stunning.

Bo invoked the bunker mode in 2009. He can't do it again in 2010 expect to get any kind of difference-makers in recruiting. He's already lost Curtis Carter and Tyler Gabbert because of it.

My suggestions? Click here.

Otherwise, here's the offensive ginger cookies and rum balls from 2009.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Roy Helu. An early-season injury – and the flu – slowed a terrific, instinctive runner. He's still the best back NU's had in nearly a decade, but he has one more year to become a complete player – block, catch and run – and emerge as a team leader. Helu was practically a ghost during the last half of this season. And playing when he shouldn't have in the Iowa State game was a mistake.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Ricky Henry. The junior guard committed his share of penalties, but Henry led the team in pancake blocks, and set himself up for a big 2010. And, oh yeah – please dismiss the comparisons to Richie Incognito. Henry keeps a lid on his temper much better than that, and is a more positive influence on teammates.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Rex Burkhead. He'll share the backfield even more with Helu next year than he did in 2009. Big things are expected from this smiling, humble workhorse.

BEST GAME: Lafayette. A 55-0 win, Lee was sharp, so was Green, and all the receivers, tight ends and running backs got in on the fun.

WORST GAME: Texas. NU's defense gave the Huskers so many good chances. And UT's defense, while good – isn't that good. A failure of imagination and execution, among other things.

BEST SINGLE PERFORMANCE: Roy Helu, Virginia Tech. Helu established a career-high 169 yards rushing against a salty, physical defense. He busted some big runs, yes, but he did it by breaking tackles and evading defenders. That game revealed a lot about Helu's skill as a runner.

BIGGEST PLUS IN 2010: We think it'll be depth along the offensive line. With JUCO transfer Jermarcus Hardrick and redshirt freshmen Brent Qvale, Jeremiah Sirles, Nick Ash and Jesse Coffey ready to contribute – plus the possible return of tackle Jaivorio Burkes – you should see Barney Cotton's unit return to, at least, its 2008 form.

BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: Before even the quarterback, it has to be scheme and coaching personnel. Let's see how the next month shakes out. Let's just see.

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As we delve back into one of the more painful losses in Nebraska football history, I want to step away from the field of play for a minute. Let's head, instead, into the homes of interested viewers.

What do you suppose Syracuse fans, mired in another ugly losing season, thought as they watched NU's defense thunder away at Texas? The Orange could have nabbed Bo Pelini in 2004, you know. Chose Greg Robinson instead. What do you suppose Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne was thinking? He could have taken a run at Pelini in 2006 or 2007. How about Arizona State, which recycled Dennis Erickson? Or UCLA, which tried the Skippy? Or even Michigan, which fixated on Les Miles and forgot to notice the defensive coordinator who delivered all of the crucial wins?

How about Steve Pederson? What do you suppose his thoughts were, after Pittsburgh's miserable defense blew a 31-10 lead over undefeated Cincinnati in the snow? As he watched the Huskers grind down UT quarterback Colt McCoy, who surely is as good as Cincy's Tony Pike, and the Longhorns, who are, in many ways, a mirror image of the Bearcats' offense.

What do you suppose Gary Pinkel, whose Missouri team has been repeatedly humiliated by Texas and Oklahoma, was thinking? Mike Gundy, whose OSU bunch got butt-thumped by both teams? What do you think Turner Gill, prepping for an interview at Kansas, was thinking?

Maybe they were thinking what Alabama, the odds-on favorite to win the national title, already knows: If you can ever manage to acquire primo defensive mind – my goodness, hold onto him and pay him what he needs to succeed.

Amidst all this offense in college football, the story of Championship Saturday was Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, who finally stopped Florida's trickery-based attack, and Pelini, who reduced McCoy, quite frankly, to a child lost in a supermarket. It was akin to Kubrick and Spielberg directing movies on the fly, back-to-back. You couldn't slow down the action to appreciate all the tiny quirks, but you knew it was brilliant, and you knew you couldn't stop watching. Seven hours of guts and gamesmanship worthy of NFL playoff games.

I have debated, with myself, the validity of Florida's offense; it is strangely and powerfully methodical, and yet couched in fakes and feints and funny business, too. Alabama exposed it Saturday night as an elaborate three-card monte, and Tim Tebow as more of an athlete than a quarterback. There are 10 or 15 Sabans in the NFL; I don't know Tebow survives at that level. The more motions and fakes and H-backs the Gators threw at the Tide, the more desperate and gimmicky it seemed, the more Tebow looked rudderless.

Robbed of his dive-and-counter game, UF's Urban Meyer prowled the sidelines – frantically, it seemed - and kept dialing Tebow's number – to no avail. Tebow was given every chance to win the Heisman Saturday night, and he kept double-clutching most throws, second-guessing most decisions. He was initially defiant, then frustrated, further confused and, finally, broken. When Saban takes a player of Tebow's sheer, raw athleticism and turns him into the lead actor of a “Happy Feet” sequel, he's really done something.

The Brothers Pelini produced an incredible encore. They dialed up aggressive blitzes, called for twists and stunts along the front four, and kept daring McCoy to throw it deep. The few times Texas did, it actually paid off with a nice gain or a pass interference penalty.

Both defenses proved this truth: Most college quarterbacks, good as they may be, have been coached within an inch of their life to make the smart, safe throw. McCoy, Tebow, Sam Bradford, Tony Pike, Andrew Luck, Greg McElroy, any of them. It takes a lot of NFL experience, or foolish moxie, to play otherwise.

If you take away that safety blanket - it you can get a 22-year-old to think in the pocket, instead of reacting – you have him dead to rights two downs out of three. So it went for Alabama and Nebraska.

NU did more than that, though – at least in terms of the Big 12. The Huskers stood up to Texas and Oklahoma like no other league team has in the last decade.

The secret is out. The gig could be up. The Russian is cut.

Nebraska didn't knock him down or out – some fans (not I) would argue the Big 12 politburo made sure of that in the final seconds of Saturday night – but the Huskers blazed a path through a dark forest, and left some crumbs behind to consider.

It's up to the rest of the league to wake up and smell the victories. The rest of college football, too.

Defense is back. And Bo is in the vanguard.

Now...about that offense...

Five Players We Loved

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh: A performance we'll never forget. Worthy, by itself, of the Heisman.

Now, this week, you're going to hear that Toby Gerhart, in a series of relatively meaningless games, getting the ball in every obvious goal-line situation, somehow earned it instead. Well, folks, he didn't. What he did do is beat Notre Dame on national television. And since the East Coast Heisman voters don't generally know their rear ends from their elbows when it comes to college football, they'll alight on the nearest relative of anything Fighting Irish.

Just one question: If Gerhart is bounding through a hole, Suh is there to meet him and it's one yard for a first down – who wins?

Cornerback Dejon Gomes: Twelve months ago, this kid wasn't even on NU's roster. Ted Gilmore recruited him. Marvin Sanders coached him. Some recruitniks like to bag on Gilmore and Sanders' efforts in this area, but they got this one right.

Cornerback Prince Amukamara: He needs to come back for one more season, and polish off his considerable potential. But Amukamara has turned into everything Sanders hoped he would become.

Defensive end Barry Turner: The quiet man of the Blackshirts – nary an interview during the 2009 season – looked strong and fast Saturday night, consistently collapsing the pocket on McCoy. In the last month of the season Turner finally seemed at full confidence.

Safety Matt O'Hanlon: The back middle was closed for business, and he made some key open-field tackles. Does Matty O get a free agent look from an NFL club? We say yes. There's more than a little Scott Shanle – who starts at linebacker for the New Orleans Saints - in the kid. He could, at the very least, be a valuable special-teamer at the next level – if that's what he wants.

Three Concerns We Have

Quarterback Development: Hello? McFly? Where is it? Most Husker fans wouldn't trust Zac Lee to run a band saw in shop class right now. The coaches apparently don't trust Cody Green to do the same.

Lee made one poor read after another Saturday night. He's entirely too skittish under pressure. Twice, he jumped and rifled screen passes to Roy Helu and Rex Burkhead, too hard for them to do anything with it. His second interception – to Niles Paul – was underthrown, off his back foot. A crossing route to Paul that would have gained big yards was thrown before Paul was looking.

On Nebraska's best shot a touchdown – after Paul's punt return – Lee immediately tossed an ill-advised fade pass to Brandon Kinnie – who wasn't open – instead of waiting for Mike McNeill's slant route to clear over the middle. As Lee released the ball, McNeill broke open for six. One problem: Lee never looked at anyone but Kinnie.

That's development. First – why is Kinnie is the isolation fade route – and not Paul? Second – did Lee have a hot read based on Texas blitzing (UT brought six, which is why McNeill was open). Third – why, if he didn't have a hot read, did Lee ignore McNeill? The QB has to wait for the route to clear. Has to. Even if you get knocked into next week.

Against Missouri, you'll recall, Lee did just that on two touchdown passes. Against Texas, Lee chucked the ball at first sign of danger. And many of his throws were chucks – high, wobbly balloons without precision or placement. Green's lone pass – a bottle of gas thrown into a lake of fire – looked just the same: High, wide, uncertain.

Who coaches those guys, anyway?

No Push: Nebraska's offensive line may look very different in a month, when certain players have had a chance to heal and rest. For now, it's a broken pipeline, and no match for Texas' front seven. Most disappointing: The backside leaks, which eliminated any chance of Helu and Burkhead cutting their runs back to the field. With zone blocking, you have create a crease or a wall for a running back to read and attack. Helu and Burkhead were perpetually caught at the top of a Tetris stack, with pieces piling on faster and faster.

Untimely errors: Adi Kunalic's kick out of bounds. Larry Asante's horse-collar tackle. Eric Hagg, failing to look back for the ball on a third down pass. Nebraska blowing a timeout because Roy Helu didn't know the audible. Blowing another one because Cam Meredith wasn't sure if he should be on the field. Little mental stuff that you can't afford.

Reviewing the Five Keys

Right Break, Right Time: Nebraska got them early. But not in the game's final seconds.

Beyond the Comfort Zone: Oh, Nebraska and Texas' offenses were certainly in that stage of life on Saturday night. But not by their own choosing. NU and UT both stuck much too close to the offensive script when attacked by superior defenses.

Stop Shipley: In relative terms, Shipley's catches – five for 50 – were absolutely huge. He got Texas out of the shadow of its own goal line once, and set up field position for the game-winning field goal, as well. The kid's gamer. I was more impressed with him than McCoy.

The Stage: Nebraska more than embraced the moment. Texas shrunk from the pressure, but benefited from an awful NU offense.

The Heisman Boys: Covered in depth, I believe.

Three Questions We Still Have

Cody for the Holidays? Green deserves at least a shot to start in San Diego. Nebraska has little to lose, and Lee's had plenty of chances. With three weeks to retool, you'd hope NU can shape a gameplan around its talented freshman.

Does Nebraska have a No. 2 receiver? Is it Kinnie now? He played OK Saturday. Is it Khiry Cooper? Is it whomever Gilmore tabs as his best blocker during bowl preparation?

Other than Suh, who leaves the biggest shoes to fill? I'd argue it's Phillip Dillard, who played linebacker with speed, spirit and toughness over the last ten games, collecting 76 tackles and three sacks. Will Compton played quite a bit this year – but, in terms of play recognition and sideline-to-sideline pursuit, he wasn't in Dillard league. Then again, one year ago, Dillard wasn't in Dillard's league. One player I'm not worried about: P.J. Smith, who takes for Larry Asante. Word is, Smith is a smooth, confident player who may lack Asante's thumping skills, but has a better nose for the ball.

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For a second, it seemed as though it would slip to the left, just wide of the goalpost. Like it did for Nebraska in the 1994 Orange Bowl – a game that mirrored Saturday night in so many unforgettable, painful ways.

But Texas kicker Hunter Lawrence's 46-yard field goal as time expired held its course. Texas 13 Nebraska 12, as the partisan crowd of burnt orange in Cowboys Stadium exploded with glee.

Lawrence jumped into the arms of his holder, Jordan Shipley. The Longhorn sideline rushed Lawrence to hoist him on its collective shoulder. UT quarterback Colt McCoy, who looked confused and stricken most of the night, his Heisman hopes up in smoke, walked around in stunned disbelief.

The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, felt like they have during all but once vs. the Longhorns in the Big 12 era – robbed. Only moreso this time – as, for a brief moment, Nebraska believed it had won the game on the backs of four Alex Henery field goals when McCoy's final pass was thrown away out of bounds, and the stadium clock expired.

“We thought the game was over,” wide receiver Niles Paul said.

But replay officials reviewed the play, and judged – correctly, by all accounts – that one second remained.

Head coach Bo Pelini said he didn't get an explanation on the field. He wouldn't address that question, or any other about officiating, which, at broad glance, favored Texas.

A composed, proud Pelini instead tipped his white cap to Texas - “I hope they win the national championship – and applauded the effort of his team - which battled UT to the wire – and his defense, which held the Longhorns to 202 total yards, forced three turnovers and sacked McCoy and mind-boggling nine times.

“Our guys got after them,” Pelini said. “It was a tremendous effort...I'm proud of them. They're champions. I'm proud of how they put Nebraska on the map. They just kept fighting. That's what this group has done all year long. Nobody gave us a chance going into that football game tonight.”

The few that did certainly didn't think NU could actually win the game amassing just 106 total yards – the 308 total for both teams was the lowest in Big 12 history - and quarterback Zac Lee throwing three interceptions. The Blackshirts, staking a late-but-vibrant claim for the nation's best defense, kept extraordinary tabs on McCoy and UT's high-flying offense despite some second-half busts of which Texas couldn't take advantage.

Ndamukong Suh made his own case for the Heisman Trophy with 4.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and 12 tackles overall. On several more plays, Suh harassed McCoy out of the pocket. His most memorable takedown was a tackle at the line of scrimmage – with a one arm.

“They just whipped us,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.

Just to stay in the game – the Blackshirts didn't have much of a choice. NU's offense produced its lowest output in the last 25 years, and needed a late surge on its final drive just crack 100. Given terrific field position much of the night, Nebraska only once moved into Texas' red zone – and that was following Niles Paul's 43-yard punt return. Lee completed just 6 of 19 passes for 39 yards and three interceptions. Nebraska averaged just 1.9 yards per carry. Its longest gain – of any kind – was 17 yards.

“We couldn't get any movement up front,” Pelini said. “(Texas) is a good defense. Formidable group. Very talented. Well-coached. Our formula to win was to hang in there. We had a chance to win at the end.”

Indeed. That 17-yard gain was Lee's zone read scamper at the beginning of NU's final drive. Three plays later, he hit Brandon Kinnie for a 16-yard gain to the Huskers in Henery's field goal range. Henery then nailed a 43-yarder to give Nebraska a 12-10 lead with 1:43 remaining in the game.

“I hit it well,” Henery said. “I was excited.”

Nebraska's defense, which had only allowed one drive over 42 yards all night, merely had to do its job.

That's when the ghosts of 1994 swooped in.

Kickoff specialist Adi Kunalic who had pinned Texas with excellent kickoffs all night, thumped one out of bounds. UT started its drive, thus, just 30 yards away from Lawrence's range.

It took Texas a single play to get in it, as McCoy his Shipley on a slant for 19 yards, and safety Larry Asante was flagged for a horse-collar tackle. Only seven seconds had expired.

Inexplicably, UT – holding a timeout – almost never got to kick that field goal. The Longhorns lost four yards on the next two plays – and didn't call a timeout. And so, with the clock rolling under ten seconds, McCoy leisurely took the snap, rolled to his right when chased by Suh, and threw the ball nearly into stadium seats. He threw it so far, in fact – the stadium clock dialed down to zero.

Nebraska burst off the sidelines. Pelini held a fist in the air.

Wait a minute.

“I thought the time was over,” Suh said. “I mean – it wasn't. From that point on, our job as a defensive line and as a team is to block that field goal.”

Said Paul: “A lot of us were upset. The referee felt like there was one second left on the clock. That was their decision.”

You know the rest, as 13-0 Texas heads to the BCS National Championship game, and Nebraska likely heads to the Holiday Bowl to play Arizona. That pairing should be announced officially on Sunday.

In the first half, it was as if Pelini dictated a script for Nebraska's defense, and Texas' offense, willing stenographers, happily complied. A masterful web of defense that held the Longhorns to just 121 total yards.

NU's front four blasted UT's offensive line into the backfield, immediately putting McCoy on his heels. The Longhorn quarterback, his short options robbed of him, struggled to find receivers downfield, and scrambled fruitlessly toward the sidelines, or into an oncoming rush. Then he'd trudge back to the bench, don a headset and try to figure just what the Blackshirts were doing to him.

McCoy's second pass of the game was batted up in the air by Pierre Allen and intercepted by Eric Hagg at the UT 41-yard line. After Rex Burkhead converted a fourth-and-short – replay officials reversed an official spot that left Burkhead short – kicker Alex Henery nailed a 45-yard field goal.

Two drives later, cornerback Prince Amukamara stepped in front of another McCoy pass, plucked it from the air, and kept his left toe inbounds for NU's second interception. Henery thumped a 52-yard field goal after Nebraska failed to convert a third-and-1.

Halfway through the first half, the Cornhuskers led 6-0. After linebacker Eric Martin partially blocked a punt to begin the second quarter, leaving NU with the ball at UT's 37-yard line, the margin seemed destined to grow.

But UT cornerback Aaron Williams intercepted Lee on the first play, tracking NU receiver Niles Paul step-for-step on a go route, picking off the ball in the end zone when Lee's slow balloon finally drifted back to the playing field.

Texas slowly began to adjust the field position over its next two drives, its defense stuffing every power play Nebraska attempted right at the line of scrimmage. The Huskers rushed 18 times in the first half. They gained 24 yards. When Henery, backed up in his own end, managed just a 31-yard punt to NU's 42-yard line, the Longhorns had the opening they needed.

McCoy hit Shipley for 13 yards. Williams, leaping over Amukamara, for 16. Then, on a third-and-long, officials flagged Hagg for pass interference in the end zone. Texas got the ball at the NU 4, and scored on McCoy's draw two plays later.

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No fancy stuff. No preamble. Let's get to the meat. Five keys, Texas, for the Big 12 title.

Right break, right time: Not unlike its 10-3 win over Oklahoma, Nebraska needs to get some fortune in the first quarter. A shanked field goal try. A muffed punt. A blown coverage. A fumble. A couple personal foul penalties. Something that either takes points away from UT or gives points to Nebraska. I don't think it'll be enough for the Cornhuskers to merely play the Longhorns to an early stalemate. It has to be aggressive, pursue turnovers and take calculated risks. Nebraska doesn't need two touchdowns, but it does need the Cowboys Stadium to settle down a little bit and potentially get quirt over a Texas mistake.

Beyond the Comfort Zone: NU and UT's offense both need to take a step back from the bread-and-butter tray to sample something else on the table.

Texas likes to ease quarterback Colt McCoy into the game with quick screens, short slants and 10-yard hook routes. But that plays right into Nebraska's wheelhouse. Look at Missouri, Oklahoma and Baylor. None of them got an inch of breathing room fro the Huskers' secondary, and they paid for its with poor offensive performances. As spread offenses evolve, you'll see less and less, I'd argue, of these predictable horizontal passes that are no less risky than some of the deeper routes (as Niles Paul's fumble in the Texas Tech game would attest).

UT must challenge safeties Matt O'Hanlon and Larry Asante to cover the deep corner routes. And the Longhorns may need to pick on nickel corner Eric Hagg, who is a terrific athlete struggling in deep cover situations. Texas Tech is the only team that really committed to the strategy -and it worked. If Texas sticks to its quick game, I think Nebraska stays in the game longer and gains more confidence. If, on the other hand, McCoy hits some early bombs – checkmate. The minute you get NU's defense to back up just a hair, the shorter lanes open wide.

Meanwhile, Nebraska's offense has every intention of running the ball. Fine. Hope it works. But NU may want consider a more daring plan that involves Zac Lee combining risk and reward for the best possible outcome. First-down passes, misdirection out of the shotgun, some Wildcat – offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and Lee have to get creative when Plan B is inevitably invoked.

I don't foresee the spread zone running game working very well. Texas is too good in ball pursuit. Heavy packages can work, but only if NU, like Texas A&M, varies the formations and sprinkles in the playaction game.

Stop Shipley: Nebraska has to mark UT wide receiver Jordan Shipley, tackle him on the spot and punish him when roams the middle. That's where Asante comes in, of course.

Shipley isn't the Big 12's best receiver. But he plays like he is, with sharp routes and good hands. What he does after the catch, however, is Shipley's calling card. Shipley will get touches in which he's not particularly open; McCoy thinks his roomie has earned the right to be option No. 1 in a pinch. The rest of the receiving corps are good, but not as shifty or canny after the catch as Shipley. Nebraska must find hm and get very loud about who has coverage. A catch-n-run from this guy is one of the more deflating moments for a defense. You get tired, after all, of chasing a guitar-strumming jackrabbit around the turf.

On punt returns, Shipley is equally talented, but we'll count on Alex Henery to do his job, spraying punts accordingly.

The Stage: Good for Bo Pelini to take his team to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium first. The more acclimated NU can get, the better.

Not trying overplay the big, blue bauble in Arlington angle. Honest. Nebraska's pretty together and resilient on the road. But this moment is much bigger than the 2006 Big 12 title game, with a much more hostile crowd in store for NU in JerryDome. Texas, accustomed over the years to the attention, the crowds and the high-line bowl games, will pride itself on being cool on Saturday. While Nebraska needs a little edge to help combat UT's talent advantage, that excitement can't bleed over into nerves. We'll get an early gauge on Lee, who's struggled with confidences and jitters at Virginia Tech and Missouri.

Heisman Boys: McCoy and Ndamukong Suh both enter Saturday's game as two of the most decorated players in recent memory. Suh, with a big performance, can sew up a slew of awards, and maybe even get himself an invite to New York. McCoy, meanwhile, wraps up the Heisman outright with his own big showing. The stakes for the teams are high. The personal ones are even higher.

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Bo Pelini stood near midfield of the Hawks Center on Wednesday night, stretching his left arm dramatically, as if a gull working out some feathery kinks. Somebody pitched him a ball. A southpaw, Nebraska's head coach cocked and threw – not gorgeous, but efficient – aiming to hit the makeshift south goalpost hanging from the rafters.

Bong! Right on the crossbar. Pelini nodded his head and engaged in a bit of strut. If you want to know why Bo's players would bum rush a barbed-wire fence on his command, this is one of those moments. Half of the team is laughing, watching. They want a shot.

But they're not the starting quarterback. Zac Lee, smiling – and meaning it – wraps his fingers around the laces. His turn.

***

He's a manager now. That guy in the tie at the grocery store who fixes all the little messes, locates the tapioca in aisle five and occasionally works register. That's Lee, the junior quarterback from San Francisco charged with leading NU's offense into the Big 12 Championship vs. Texas.

I don't mean it is as a knock. The Pig and Whistle needs a tie guy. The Cornhuskers' offense - flush with creaky linemen, mercurial running backs and an offensive coordinator on the Woody Hayes ego diet - needed Lee to be just who he was for the last month, starting with his first touchdown pass vs. Oklahoma. Safe. Smart. In bed by ten.

Aside from a brief lapse vs. Kansas State, Lee's been just that: 40-of-63 for 470 yards, three touchdowns, a single interception.

“The stats may not be pretty, the game may not be pretty – but really the only thing that matters is that we've been winning,” Lee said. “Doesn't matter how that may look.”

Has someone ever told you “don't blow it, OK?” Reassuring like a Denver boot, right? Shawn Watson's gameplan has been a month of measured expectations. An ego diet for him. Even moreso for Lee, who had to harness a quarterback's instinct to be the solution, rather than merely another integer in the equation.

“The quarterback has opportunity to make something happen, but sometimes the best thing a quarterback can do is take off and run or make a good decision with it,” Lee said.
That's one of the things I've learned this year. There's a bunch of plays in a game where a quarterback can make a decision that will swing momentum one way or another.”

The risk aversion worked. Nebraska's defense kept delivering one miraculous play after another. The Oklahoma masterpiece was just the beginning. Strip-n-recovers inside the five-yard line vs. Kansas and Kansas State helped seal those wins. Colorado shot itself in the foot. Baylor did, too, although Lee didn't play a down in that game.

“We won five games because we played conservative,” Watson said. “We've played field position, used our special teams, set up field position and we've rushed the football. We're doing three things really well.”

But 12-0 Texas is not a comedy of errors like the Buffs and Bears. Colt McCoy's 44 wins is more than than the five opposing quarterbacks had combined during NU's five-game winning streak. McCoy's averaging almost 400 yards of total offense per game in the last month. He won't react to pressure like OU's Landry Jones did a month ago. UT's kicker, Hunter Lawrence, is among the best in the league. He's not likely to shank a 30-yarder.

As good as Nebraska's defense has become – 3rd nationally in points per game and 11th nationally in total yards – Texas' offense is, stunningly, a mirror image: 3rd and 11th. The very definition of a stalemate.

It's just wishful thinking to presume NU can average seven punts per game – as it has for the last month – and expect the Blackshirts to produce the same results on a neutral-to-hostile field against arguably the nation's best quarterback in a game the Longhorns want just as badly as the Huskers.

And equally wishful to think that Texas A&M's successful running game on Thanksgiving paved the way for Nebraska to do the same. If anything, Texas learned its lesson last week. Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp hasn't spent the last seven years manning the sour cream gun at a Taco Bell. He'll fix it.

Cue Plan B. Cue the kid at midfield, with the ball, trying to hit a goalpost.

Lee didn't, by the way. He threw too long once. Then too short. It's like the longest, toughest game of horseshoes, and Pelini hit the ringer on the first try. That wasn't the point, I suspect. Rather, Pelini's trying to loosen up his QB, who may be faced with a touchdown-or-more deficit right away, in the first quarter.

“We have to be ready to respond no matter what happens,” Pelini said. “If that means managing the game, great. If that means we need him to throw four touchdown passes, let's go.”

When Lee was challenged at KU, he rose to it, playing his best game. Earlier in the year vs. Texas Tech, he gave in to the pressure.

On Saturday, Texas will force Lee to find out how far he's really come. Instead of wasting it on a after-practice game with Bo, maybe he kept that ringer up his sleeve for Dallas.

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These are some of our favorite stories to share with you - the ones that reveal what Nebraska football means on a day-to-day basis in the community at large.

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Nebraska's entire football team made visits to area hospitals. Once such group headed to St. Elizabeth's hospital to visit the neo-natal intensive care unit.

The photos by Aaron Hahn tell the story so well, we don't have to. Enjoy and remember - this, too, is Nebraska football.

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See also: Big 12 Postseason Awards, 10 Unforgettable NU-UT Moments, Big 12 Rankings, Bowl Watch, Onward to DFW, Huskers Giving Back and [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/view/bid/2363/i/podcast

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Two days before Nebraska was to play at Colorado, head coach Bo Pelini was blunt about his hopes for a result.

“Get out of there with a win,” he said.

And that's just about all the Cornhuskers did in a 28-20 victory over the Buffaloes that remained in doubt until the game's final four minutes, when NU cornerback Prince Amukamara picked off CU quarterback Tyler Hansen at the Huskers' goal line on fourth-and-20.

Nebraska now heads to the Dec. 5 Big 12 Championship game to get its shot at undefeated Texas, which looked equally troubled in a 49-39 win over Texas A&M – a team, it's worth remembering, that Colorado beat 35-34.

“A win is a win,” safety Larry Asante said. “We're not happy with how we won the game, but a win is a win. We just look forward to Sunday and getting the corrections in.”

Yes 9-3 Nebraska gave 3-9 Colorado plenty of chances to overcome a 21-7 halftime deficit. CU sliced the lead to seven with a third-quarter touchdown, then politely declined the rest of NU's offers, missing two second-half field goals,succumbing to several penalties on the offensive line. The second miss from kicker Aric Goodman came with just over 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter, as the Buffaloes trailed 21-14.

The Huskers' early cushion – earned through Niles Paul's 59-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 20-yard interception return from Matt O'Hanlon – held up thanks to the ensuing drive, the Huskers' best of the day, a 13-play, 80-yard march that finished with a seven-yard touchdown from freshman Rex Burkhead, who carried the ball nine times for 55 yards on the drive, in relief of starter Roy Helu.

Burkhead, who returned from a foot fracture last week, had the best game of his young career – 100 yards on 18 carries.

Before that, Nebraska's offense was anemic, failing to punch much of a hole in Colorado's mediocre defense despite enjoying terrific field position throughout. It did score one first-half touchdown – a 24-yard toss from Zac Lee to tight end Ben Cotton – but offensive coordinator Shawn Watson stayed in ultra-conservative mode, running of out three and four-tight end sets, often the same plays, especially after Lee tweaked his ankle on an aborted option run. While NU chewed a good chunk of clock with that strategy, Alex Henery also had to punt six times.

Fortunately, three of Henery's first four were beauties, and helped set up two of the Huskers' scores. He downed three punts at CU's 2, 7 and 13-yard line. On those three possessions, the Buffs punted twice – Paul returned one of them for the touchdown - and Hansen threw the pick to O'Hanlon.

Hansen - who completed 21-of-44 passes for 269 yards, including a 56-yard hail mary to Scotty McKnight for a touchdown on the game's final play – frustrated NU's pass rush with his mobility and quick reflexes. He also threw the Pick Six, two more interceptions, and took an 18-yard intentional grounding penalty. Two of his 21 completions – the bomb to McKnight and a throwback to Markques Simas for 58 yards – accounted for nearly half of all Hansen's yards. For the game, CU outgained Nebraska 403-217.

“It was attention to detail,” said Asante, who was flagged for another personal foul Friday. “We lost focus as a defense.”

The success of CU's running game was an even greater concern. Running back Rodney Stewart (110 yards) gashed the Huskers' front seven several times, while Hansen got loose a few scrambles and zone read plays. NU played more base personnel – three linebackers, four defensive backs - than it had during the Big 12 season. CU's ability to run the zone read portends well for Texas, whose rarely-used rushing attack is almost solely comprised of that play.

Oh yes – the Longhorns, who now stand at 12-0 after their narrow, sloppy win over the Aggies Thanksgiving night, when UT's normally excellent defense gave up more than 500 yards to a team that lost by 55 points to Oklahoma and 48 to Kansas State.

Based on Friday night's performance, Nebraska isn't ready. But, then, NU and Texas aren't playing for a week.

“We have to our best football we've played all year,” Asante said. “We have to play perfect defense, we have to play perfect offense. There can't be any mental lapses. We have to play our best football all year.”

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You're busy with turkey, stuffing, yams and the blowout game on the TV in the background. No preamble. Just on to NU-CU, and those five keys.

Win one for the Hawk: Even when Dan Hawkins sticks as Colorado's coach, the Buffaloes are perfectly aware of his embattled situation, and now that he's said about every mea culpa possible for this debacle of a season – just watch how hard CU plays on Friday. That doesn't mean Colorado doesn't get beaten. But I think you'll see the CU defense, inconsistent for much of the year, hone in on their talent for at least one game. Nebraska's offense is still learning how to move with power treads on its wheels, so our hunch is Colorado thinks it can win against NU's running game, and sell out everywhere else.

Expect, as a result, the kitchen sink approach on offense. Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini even knows it's coming.

“We're prepared for a lot of different things we could see,” Pelini said after Wednesday's practice. “I'm sure they'll do some things we haven't seen. We've been dealing with that for a couple weeks now. A lot of teams throw things at us. We make adjustments and move past it. Our kids are pretty resilient that way. They don't get all caught up and flustered.”

Bo's right. But CU will have an extra dose of – something – for the Big Red.

The Specials: Colorado is among the nation's five worst teams in punting and punt returns, and kicker Aric Goodman remains one of the Big 12's spottiest performers. Nebraska, meanwhile, has two Mr. Reliables: Kicker/punter Alex Henery and kickoff specialist Adi Kunalic. Throw in much-better-than-average punt and kickoff return units, and Nebraska should have a whopping edge in an area where CU typically excels. Henery, meanwhile, has to be considered one of the MVPs of the entire Big 12, as huge punting performances helped turn around the Oklahoma and Kansas State games, while his reliable field goal kicking makes NU a threat anywhere around the opponents' 35-yard line.

Inside-Out: If you peruse the offenses that have had the most success against CU's defense – Toledo, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas A&M – all but the Mountaineers exploited the middle of the Buffaloes' secondary for big plays at touchdowns. While Colorado has fair corners, and its linebackers run downhill pretty well, the deep middle has been vulnerable from the opening-season kickoff, and CU's interior line has been susceptible to inside zone, iso and counter plays between the hash marks. Nebraska can – and will – challenge the core of Buffaloes' defense.

Tyler, Cody and Zac: That's Cody Hawkins, for those of you keeping track at home, not Cody Green. Expect to see all three on Friday, warts, talents and all, and if Zac Lee's one game can outplay the combined efforts of CU's two, then Nebraska should win by ten points or more. Lee is a hybrid, of sorts, of Hawkins and the slightly taller, more mobile Tyler Hansen. Like them, Lee still makes head-scratching mistakes now and again. Like them, Lee is capable of some big passing plays – seemingly out of thin air. And Lee's becoming - almost against his instincts - a better runner.

Play the odds: Hawkins' shoddy handling of the quarterback situation, coupled with errors upon errors, has put a mask on a fairly talented team in each spot but defensive line. Certainly Nebraska wouldn't mind some of CU's receivers and tight ends, that's for sure. The Buffaloes are one or two recruiting cycles away from having the talent to win the Big 12 North, but there's enough on hand for an upset at home over a rival.

But the Buffaloes always manage to do something dumb. They're 118th out of 120 in penalties, and 117th in penalty yards. They're 82nd in turnover margin. They're 117th in sacks allowed.

Translation: CU pretty much leads in America in self-inflicted, big-yardage wounds. How an athletic director could look at those numbers and conclude Hawkins should stay is beyond us. Just hope that it benefits Nebraska on Saturday.

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Maybe it's useful, sometimes, to close our eyes and imagine offensive coordinators as philosophers. Instead of the dismal tide of civilization and all that, the subject is, you know, how to use a fullback. Or the value of the wildcat formation.

You could not have divorced John Locke from the idea of tabula rasa, even if you don't agree with it, any more than Eleanor Rigby could throw away her face in a jar. It's what Locke believed. It's the rock upon which he built his worldview. Sages in some circles, fools in others – most folks stick to their philosophical principles.

So it's little surprise, really, when NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, asked for his vision of the future, said, simply: “It would be a team like we were last year.”

Shotgun spread. Zone running game. Controlled passing game. With some power formations mixed in near the goal line. The stuff that didn't work for the first half of this year. The offense never quite reached “diseased yak” stage, but it was taking on the hoof rot, and beginning to look incongruous with, you know, victory.

To Watson's credit, Tom Osborne's help and head coach Bo Pelini's leadership, Nebraska's offensive braintrust enacted an “Apollo 13” scenario, Watson said, hatching a plan to rescue the Cornhuskers from an overrated Pink Floyd album.

WatsOzBo dialed first Cody Green's number. To no avail, apparently – the kid's jersey hasn't been street-side in nearly three games. Now it's the option, the occasional (and successful) house call from Dr. Niles Paul, a rejuvenated Roy Helu and Zac Lee eating his fruits, vegetables and cheap shots from opposing linebackers. A steady diet of big, burly power football, replete with tight ends, fullbacks and all the stuff that makes us think of Osborne, Lassie, homemade deer sausage, and afghans knitted in the parlor and draped over couches in the sun room.

It's also a winning formula, playing to what Watson calls the “best defense in the United States of America.” If not Zanzibar.

“We've all had to diet our egos, and we've all had to put the stats behind us,” Watson said. “The most important stat we all care about is winning. We've done what it's taken to win football game.”

Just know: Watson doesn't intend it to last.

Oh, he'll keep some of the power tools in the shed.

“Some of the problems we encountered last year as our season wore on on was red zone football, red zone running game, and you have to have a lead running game down there,” Watson said.

But Watson will return the Great American West Coast Novel.

“We're going to have to grow into that at quarterback, to be honest with you,” Watson said. “We're going to have to grow into that at receiver. And that's going to be a process.”

Ah, the “p” word again. The single, seven-letter, two-syllable utterance used to explain the countless hours and unknowable effort that goes into the elaborate chess match that is football. It also describes how Velveeta is made.

How long does Watson's “process” take? I find the word equally vague when Pelini uses it, but his revamped defense is a Brazilian tarantula preying on baby toucans. He can call it Parker Posey for Nebraska fans care.

For Watson, the journey may be tougher. Lee knows the words, but not yet the music. Green's on-field development is pretty much over for 2009. The bowl practices and spring football will be an extended audition to see if Green can become a consistent passer and wrestle the job away from Lee. As for Kody Spano and Taylor Martinez – who knows?

At receiver, Nebraska faces a dicier proposition. Paul will be a senior. The guy is who he is. I actually like who he's become in the last month. It suits him. NU's power offense suits him, for that matter. Paul can block, and he can catch the deep ball. This version of DosQuatro seems more helpful than running ten-yard stick routes.

Menelik Holt and Chris Brooks graduate as unfulfilled (underdeveloped?) talent. Khiry Cooper will spend this spring playing baseball. Antonio Bell probably won't be allowed on the field until he can block. Will Henry probably won't be allowed on the field, period. That leaves Curenski Gilleylen, who hasn't caught a pass in a month, and unpolished-but-talented Brandon Kinnie.

Do you see Joe Ganz or Todd Peterson or Nate Swift – three guys who were so discounted that they honed their craft to precise detail – walking back through that door? That trio was so prolific because they shared a desire to prove their coaches and critics wrong. They had no choice but to be precise. They weren't going to play otherwise.

Does Watson appreciate the dynamic those three had? After all, when he talks about “growing” into the quarterback and receiver positions, he's talking about replacing what Ganz, Swift and Peterson brought to the table. It wasn't raw athleticism – it was canniness, mixed with smarts and sheer effort.

But how do you replace motivational lightning caught in a bottle?

You can't, really. So you either alter the scheme – a temporary fix, in Watson's eyes - recruit new guys to learn the scheme, or hire new coaches to teach it. And the last of those three options is never pleasant. But Boss Bo, at the very least, has to put it on the table.

If “Apollo 13” is really the soup du jour, and Watson wants his offense a certain way, then hard questions need to be asked. Why did Holt, Brooks and Henry slide by the boards? Recruiting? Development? How do you handle the quarterback competition between Lee and Green? Can you afford to keep around certain scholarship guys at the bottom of depth charts for the sake of kindness? Why were they recruited in the first place?

We know the questions sound like a broken record - but as Watson said Monday - he intends to return the scene of scratch.

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Not surprisingly, my column in the wake of Nebraska's 17-3 win over Kansas State – which clinched the Big 12's North division - caused a little dust-up among Cornhusker fans, who were feeling good and not willing – for one second – to even think about that name. Bill Callahan.

The point was to be in a gracious mood. A five-course prix fixe at a three-star Michelin joint doesn't come to the table by the head chef's talents alone, does it? There's the sous chef, the sommelier, the front of the house and, crucially, the buyer of the produce. He or she has to import the best ingredients, and know whom to tap for those items.

We're simply saying this: Everything else being even, Callahan gave Bo Pelini a much better product than Ron Prince gave Snyder. NU beat KSU by 14 points, and those two touchdowns were reflective of talent, not coaching.

Sometimes, just the opposite is the case. The Brothers Pelini thoroughly outcoached Oklahoma's offensive staff two weeks ago – you remember our hosannas then, right? - and did the same to Clemson in the Gator Bowl. Other weeks, the coaching battle was a wash.

Variables change from week to week.

All of it belongs in the narrative, folks. Fewer hacks were harsher critics of Callahan than I, but let's keep a little perspective here. Whatever his and Kevin Cosgrove's faults were, they didn't bilk the university for millions with some secret deal like Prince, they didn't run the program into scholarship limitations and institutional control issues like Gary Barnett, and they didn't leave the program reeling like Mark Mangino will. They left a messy house, but it wasn't condemned.

Pelini, to his distinct credit, kept continuity on offense, and went to work whittling away at the unpolished gems on defense. What you're seeing now is nearly two years of Bo's labor bearing fruit.

Now, as I've written before, Pelini will have to make hard choices about the offense – the staff, the personnel, the identity, the scheme – in the offseason.

But, with the advance counsel of Tom Osborne, Pelini didn't screw up like Callahan did in 2004. He gave himself the best chance to succeed.

So – you put the ingredients together with a good chef who learned at some of the best culinary schools, and you get a North division title – and a shot at Texas, which is, let's see, the biggest game Nebraska's played in nearly a decade.

OK, now I'm done. Thwack me.

On with the review!

Five Players We Loved

Safety Larry Asante: He's always been a good hitter and sufficient in run support. But Asante, minus a few mistakes, has become a good coverage artist, too. Part of his growth is Pelini's willingness to plug P.J. Smith into the game whenever Asante isn't up to snuff.

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh: No. 93 has been curiously unemotional over the last two months. We're fine with that – the man has work to do. We bet that, in December, when the awards shows roll around – his achievements and success at NU will hit him all at once. With time, Suh will appreciate what's he done as much as the fans do. Some hardware will help, of course.

Wide receiver Niles Paul: He's made some nice adjustments and catches over the last two weeks. He's averaging nearly 20 yards per grab for the season. That's pretty sweet.

Cornerback Anthony West: Prince Amukamara is the better player, but West has been clutch in relief of Alfonzo Dennard for the better part of a month now. He stayed stride-for-stride with KSU's Brandon Banks on a couple deep throws.

Punter/kicker Alex Henery: Part of it's skill, and part of it's just plain good fortune, but Henery downed two punts inside KSU's 2-yard line. We'll take that and a side of hash browns any day.

Three Concerns We Have

Backside blocking: If you're going to run an option game, you have to account for blitzes and defensive ends trailing behind the play. The Wildcats blew up several plays – including an open option pass – because NU's offensive line couldn't execute on the backside.

Shoddy tackling: It's creeping up at the wrong time. KSU quarterback Grant Gregory and running back Daniel Thomas both notched their share of yards after contact because the first defender couldn't pen them in. The preeminent key to beating Texas: Tackling.

Iffy decision-making: Zac Lee was cruising along until the middle second quarter, when he again turned into “that guy,” who holds the ball too long and waits for the last receiver to pop open. To his credit, he copped to his mistakes after the game, but the kid has to learn: Tuck and run and live to get points on the board.

Reviewing the Five Keys

To the Banks: NU's special teams unit had little trouble with KSU's Brandon Banks, thanks to kickers Henery and Adi Kunalic. Nebraska's defense let him get loose for 66 total yards, but the Blackshirts marked him pretty well inside the red zone.

Power Play: Kansas State successfully ran the ball with Daniel Thomas in the first half. In the second half, KSU was forced to alter its gameplan after falling behind two touchdowns, which meant a lot of four-wide receiver sets and gadget plays. Nebraska certainly tried to run power, but executed inconsistently. We're still not seeing the option plays working, other than to set up a single pass.

Front Four: Nebraska's defensive line lost a few battles but won the war, drawing timely holding penalties – KSU's line gripped and grabbed all night – and eventually overwhelming the Wildcats in the fourth quarter. It's not a very deep unit – just six guys, really – but hopefully Terrence Moore can step into a starting role next at nose tackle.

Zac Attack: Lee's not a permanent solution at quarterback, but he takes a hit pretty well. Aside from an bad five-minute stretch, he was a strength of the Huskers' offense, not a weakness.

The Snyder Factor: Bill brought his boys perfectly prepared, and Kansas State exploited some intriguing weaknesses – namely, NU's tendency to vacate the short middle when stretched vertically – to move the ball. Snyder has zero good options at quarterback. Not this year. And really not next. Plus, he needs to keep Daniel Thomas around for another year. There's no guarantee of that. He's a first-day NFL pick right now, in my estimation.

Three Questions We Still Have

How hard does NU have to work to beat Colorado? We like Nebraska by a couple scores in Boulder. But, of course, the Huskers' depth and health would be better served by the Buffaloes surrendering their pelts at halftime. It's hard to say just how hard CU will play for Dan Hawkins.

What can Rex Burkhead's return add to the offense? Other than being a breather for Roy Helu – which I'm not sure Helu always needs. Burkhead, to us, is perfect for third down situations, and needs to be given the touches during the two-minute drill – instead of Helu, who is more of a gifted runner.

Can Nebraska's secondary really keep this up? They've been tested every which way, benefited from some crucial drops in the Baylor and Kansas games, and just keep making plays near the goal line. Does the luck run out in Boulder? In Dallas?

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So tell me what you want, what you really, really want.

A trip to Dallas? (Arlington for our Nat Geo types.) A date with the biggest jumbotron this side of a Japanese arcade in JerryWorld? Two weeks of contemplating vengeance against Texas for 1996?

Then finish it Saturday, in a game that won't test Nebraska's talent as much it will its patience.

Let's be blunt: Kansas State, 6-5 and clawing for its postseason life, is a shade more talented than Iowa State. The Wildcats remain, 11 games into their season, a work in progress. It's Ron Prince's parting gift to leave behind an undersized-if-energetic defense. The offense has two key playmakers – Brandon Banks and Daniel Thomas – who have to account for the lion's share of KSU's yards and points. Quarterback Grant Gregory is a better story – sixth-year transfer from South Florida makes good – than he is player.

Bill Snyder's 2009 team is not terribly unlike his last one in 2005. Fairly stingy at home. Weaker on the road. Run-heavy. Patient. Opportunistic on the special teams. But not a great team - and not one that should, with everything that's at stake Saturday, beat Nebraska, on Senior Day.

A loss for the Cornhuskers on national TV – with a berth to the Big 12 Championship on the line – wouldn't be a casual thing. This is, again, one of those defining moments. Good coaches – good teams – find ways to close out these games. Pundits talk about comparing the 2009 defense to 1999. Well, that 1999 bunch stoned top 20 teams – Texas A&M (37-0) and Kansas State (41-15) – in back-to-back weeks to help secure a Big 12 crown. KSU was still undefeated, in fact, at the time of its game with NU.

All the 2009 version has to do to is overcome a thoroughly mediocre Snyder club.

Just a little perspective – before the pressure sets in.

On to the keys:

To the Banks: KSU receiver Brandon Banks is the Wildcats' one true home run hitter. He's the punt and kick returner, for one – and he's dangerous enough in that arena. But his speed makes him sneaky tough to cover on deep routes, and his shiftiness makes him a pain to tackle in the flat. Kansas State tries to get him five-ten touches per game in a variety of ways – screens, sweeps, deep shots, quick slants. Nebraska needs to know where he is, successfully mark him and then – tackle, tackle, tackle.

Power Play: Both teams will line up in heavy formations, try to put “hat on hat,” and grind out clock and yards. And both teams will try to use their playaction passing game off of the power game. And both teams will do so out of a variety of formations, motions and personnel groupings. In short, plan to see two offense with the same goals, equally good running backs, and equally iffy quarterback. The difference?

Front Four: We're about to find out just how good Nebraska's much-praised defensive line really is at accepting the challenge of a straight-ahead running game with a big, talented, physical running back in Daniel Thomas. This isn't going to be a “flash” game for Ndamukong Suh and Jared Crick so much as a test of guts, strength, pad level and sheer technique. Again – great defenses eat one-dimensional teams like KSU for lunch. Behind the front four, NU's linebackers – expect plenty of Phillip Dillard, Sean Fisher and Will Compton, and maybe even Eric Martin – need to wrap Thomas and drive with their legs.

Zac Attack: Nebraska fans better hope Zac Lee's strong play at Kansas wasn't a one-week wonder. Not only does Lee need to keep NU in down-positive situations with timely scrambles and smart throws, he needs to continue on an improvement curve toward that game in Dallas, where Texas promises its own brand of nasty.

The Snyder Factor: Snyder is a major storyline in the game. But his best strengths are, in truth, minor, understated touches on gameday.

The man prepares well and gets his assistants to do the same. His offenses usually take care of the ball and rely on field position for points. His defenses aren't flashy from a sacks/tackles for loss perspective, but they tend to have guys in the right place against the run, relying on the athleticism of the secondary against the pass. The special teams are across-the-board strong. KSU conservatively clings like a leech to a small lead.

The Wildcats aim to win the hidden details, all while giving up yards, sacks and style points. Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini and his staff may be tested by this mindset. Or, the Huskers could jump out in front and run away with a three-touchdown win.

It may depends on which team can taste Dallas the most.

Is Nebraska as good as we remember? Saturday night - two contenders become one.

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Among the many conversations Bob Lee had with his son, Zac, about playing quarterback, the former NFL signal-caller once said this: You're not a true quarterback until you've been run out of at least one town.

Zac Lee certainly wasn't sent packing from Nebraska's football program – but the junior was benched during periods of the Texas Tech game, and seemingly for good when freshman Cody Green took the helm at Baylor. Fans and pundits who had seen Lee's on-field confidence and performance waver with each double-clutch and each tentative throw didn't figure the San Francisco native had a second act in him.

They also didn't know Lee's dad, who spent 12 years in the NFL with three teams – mostly in a backup role – had already prepared him for such a moment.

“Taking that to heart, and hearing that for as long as I've heard that – it's just part of the deal,” Lee said. “I've said that before.”

And yet – Lee's confidence went somewhere, didn't it? Head coach Bo Pelini had called Lee “borderline arrogant” during fall camp – Lee bristles a bit at this – but, by the Texas Tech game, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson termed Lee's mistakes as “chasing ghosts.” Misreading coverages. Refusing to scramble.

“Maybe earlier I was trying to make plays passing the ball too much instead of just reacting and going,” Lee said. “Holes close pretty quick.”

A seat on the bench for Baylor – and the first two drives of the Oklahoma game – woke up Lee, Watson said, to the realities of the position. At least the realities of NU's offense right now, as the Cornhuskers try to shift from a shotgun spread offense into a power-based, double-tight without pumping the clutch.

Such a jarring transition needed a steadier hand.

“He saw he wanted to play,” Watson said. “Wanted to be out on the field. Given his opportunity, he grasped what we've been trying to get him to grasp, and that's just managing the game. Start there, and grow from there.”

On the sidelines, Lee found “a little extra hunger that maybe I didn't know I had.”

“It was realizing you've got to do whatever it takes to win,” Lee said. “No matter what that may be.”

Against Oklahoma, that meant handing off and executing safe, playaction passes. Against Kansas, that meant reducing his reads – with the power formations there weren't that many reads to check anyway – and running when the holes were available.

“It wasn't an extremely conscious decision,” Lee said. “I just saw some lanes and took off...if 1 or 2's not there, take it, tuck it and run.”

He rushed for a career-high 53-yards at KU. Threw for 196. Considering the opponent, the hostile setting and Nebraska's so-so defense, Lee agreed it was the best game of his young career.

While Watson prepared some plays designed to utilize Green's strengths in Lawrence, Pelini said they weren't necessary.

“Why make a switch when you don't need to?” Pelini said.

Maybe that's why Pelini has noticed “a little swagger out of Zac.” And Lee has noticed it in himself.

“I don't want to necessarily call myself arrogant, but there's a certain amount of confidence you've got to have when you're the quarterback of a team,” he said. “A certain amount of it comes from just having fun, just playing, being an athlete. I got that back.”

Win Two Free Tickets to NU's Last Home Game of the Year!

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LAWRENCE, Kan. - It was billed before the season as the game for the Big 12 North crown. In reality, there was very little at stake in Saturday's Nebraska-Kansas game.

It just felt like it, as Kansas took a 17-16 lead midway through the fourth quarter, juicing the chilly 51,525 fans at Memorial Stadium, which included a reporter-estimated 10,000 Cornhusker partisans.

But NU answered with a short-field touchdown of its own. And then, pressed with finishing off the game – Nebraska did it again, going 74 yards in ten plays, all on the ground, all out of power sets, as if the Huskers jumped in a time machine and exited the craft back in 1986.

Nebraska 31, Kansas 17. Bring on the real battle for the Big 12 North crown, next Saturday vs. Kansas State.

“We did what we needed to do in the fourth quarter,” head coach Bo Pelini said. “I'm proud of the way they hung in there. I'm proud of the way they finished the game...the offensive line, the tight ends, fullback – that's the way you finish. That's the way you come out with a drive.”

In total, NU (7-3 overall, 4-2 in the Big 12 Conference) amassed 404 total yards, its best output since the Lafayette game in late September.

“We got our mojo back,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “We've been nicked up. The kids have just been resilient. They've never questioned or doubted themselves at all.”

The Huskers got a huge boost from quarterback Zac Lee – seemingly wresting control of the starting job once again – who threw for 196 yards and surprisingly scrambled for 53. Lee's only glaring mistake – a fumble at the goal line – was masked by Roy Helu's recovery of that fumble for a touchdown.

Lee was entrusted with an opened-up, retooled offense that again included more option plays – including an option pass that went to Niles Paul for 37 yards – and a heavy dose of playaction, which Lee often executed with precision and accuracy.

“We just saw some things that we could take advantage of in the defense,” Lee said. “Get behind them a little. And really just let our receivers make big plays. Let them go up and get the ball.”

Paul did just that, catching four passes for 154 yards. All of his receptions were longer than 20 yards, and three of them were jump balls. His catches helped set up nine points.

But Paul's biggest play occurred right after KU quarterback Todd Reesing hit receiver Dez Briscoe for a 21-yard touchdown with 7:34 remaining in the game. Kansas tried a pooch kick – the Jayhawks were offsides in doing so – but Paul came up to catch it. Then he rattled off a 44-yard return to set up the Huskers at Kansas' 31-yard line.

“I knew by the way he coming at the ball how he was going to kick it,” Paul said. “The kicking team gave me a lane to make a play.”

Kansas (5-5, 1-5) stuffed Nebraska on three consecutive plays. But on the last of those plays, KU defensive back Justin Thornton yanked Khiry Cooper's earhole, drawing a 15-yard facemask.

“The ref made a good call,” Thornton said.

Said Cooper: “I've never had it grabbed like that. He went up and under.”

Nebraska got the ball at KU's 20. Roy Helu – who gained 156 yards on 28 carries – scored on the next play, a gallop around right end on a counter call. Lee converted the two-point play with a heady scramble and toss to Paul in the corner of end zone.

Kansas couldn't answer. After keeping Nebraska's Blackshirts off-balance for much of the game, KU called an odd series of plays. The last of them was a tunnel screen to 240-pound fullback Toben Opurum, who lost five yards. The Jayhawks punted.

And, much like a month ago at Missouri – that seems almost two seasons ago, doesn't it? - NU slammed the ball down KU's throat, converting a 3rd-and-10 with simple counter play by Helu, who bounced the play twice before hitting the corner. Helu looked like he could have scored a touchdown, but he veered back toward the middle of the field, where he fell down for a 30-yard gain.

“I did it because I was tired,” Helu said. “I didn't trust in where I was going. I didn't know the situation that well, so I just fell on the ground. Probably spoiled a good run there.”

Helu scored five plays later on a 14-yard run. Nebraska rushed for nearly 100 yards in the fourth quarter, better than one-third of its 233 total.

“Defenses get tired of tackling the same running back,” Helu said.

NU opened the game with a shot, literally and figuratively, as Lee hit Paul on a go route for 35 yards. Lee placed the ball perfectly on Paul's back shoulder. Five plays later, Nebraska got a crucial break that Kansas wouldn't get later in the game.

On third and goal from KU's 2, Lee veered around left end, cut back into a hole and was smacked at goal line. The ball rolled down his left arm, as if going down a chute, into the blue of Kansas' north end zone. For a second it sat there unattended to, until Helu, the pitch back on the play, pounced on it for a touchdown. NU led 7-0.

Kansas had a similar moment in the second half when Nebraska cornerback Dejon Gomes popped the ball from KU receiver Kerry Meier's clutch. But NU safety Matt O'Hanlon fell on the ball inside the Husker. It was the game's only turnover.

Back to the second quarter, Lee got busy again. He scrambled for 32 yards after a playaction fake. Then he perfectly executed an option pass to Paul for 37 yards down to KU's nine-yard line. The Huskers sputtered from there, and Alex Henery kicked a 25-yard field goal to pad the Huskers' lead to 10.

But Reesing, after a cold, inconsistent start, owned the rest of the half – with a little help from true freshman running back Opurum.

Reesing opened KU's touchdown drive following the Henery field goal with a 13-yard scramble; NU safety Larry Asante was flagged for a late hit personal foul. KU then ran the ball on eight of the next 12 plays – converting two fourth down plays on short runs by Opurum. Nebraska chose to keep its dime defense on the field for all of it, and corners Dejon Gomes and Eric Hagg were unable to make crucial tackles on Opurum and Reesing, who capped the touchdown drive with a five-yard, spinning scramble.

NU punted after three lackluster plays. Reesing then stormed down the field again. The crucial completion of the drive was his first, a 28-yard slant to Dez Briscoe on 3rd-and-14. Briscoe slipped by defensive end Barry Turner, who was in coverage while the Huskers sent a heavy corner blitz. Kansas burned Nebraska for the same play. KU had to settle for a field goal as time ran out.

Although Reesing only completed 19 of 41 passes, he made each completion count with 236 total yards. KU also used a delayed quarterback draw to stymie NU's front-four pass rush, which scaled back in the second half to take the play away.

“We have to credit Kansas,” linebacker Phillip Dillard said. “They came out with a good scheme and they came out with a lot of plays we hadn't seen before.”

The Jayhawks amassed 339 total yards.

“We had too many busts,” Pelini said. “We did not execute well consistently. Especially in a couple spots, which I'm not going to name. We gave them some things that there's no way should have happened.”

In the second half, KU's first drive was thwarted by Meier's fumble. NU put together two consecutive field goal drives to take a 16-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

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Be wary. Be plenty wary.

As Nebraska's football team floats into that final bend in the Big 12 river, it is, to borrow a Bo Pelini phrase, pretty obvious that just about anything can happen to the Huskers – that anything can happen to any team in the North division, for that matter.

It's the kind of league, right now, where Colorado, that collection of sunshine boys, has an outside chance at heading to Dallas (er, sorry Nat Geo types – Arlington) for the league title game.

We use the phrase “happen to” because, until a four-quarter defensive masterpiece vs. Oklahoma, NU hadn't fully seized its own destiny in the conference season. The offensive gameplan was geared toward a chess match with the opposing defense – not helping the Blackshirts. Running back Roy Helu either wasn't fully committed to playing hard or was sending mixed messages to the coaching staff about his relative health. Suddenly, of Helu's own volition, he toughened up and turned it around last week with a terrific performance vs. OU.

It seems now, finally, the Cornhuskers have found an identity for the whole, instead of the individual parts. Run big sets. Hope Helu busts a few. Throw playaction to offset the run. Let the defense do its thing.

And so – Kansas.

KU has the worst offensive line the Big 12. That's two years now, and that's on Kansas Coach Mark Mangino. Its defense is better, but still overmatched against stronger teams. But the Jayhawks have three skill players – quarterback Todd Reesing, wide receiver Dez Briscoe and wide receiver Kerry Meier – who can make plays off the board. The kind of guys who can take advantage of NU's momentary lapses in concentration.

It's senior day for Reesing and Meier, and it is might as well be for Briscoe, a junior who's gone, baby, gone to the NFL after this year, considering KU needed glue and chicken wire, so to speak, just to keep the kid academically eligible this year. They're going to put up a fight. As much as defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh would like to run over their collective dog, don't be surrprised if, entering the fourth quarter, you're wary. Plenty wary. On to the keys:

QB Shuffle: No easy answers for Nebraska's signal-caller, but we think the starter is Zac Lee, sprinkled with a dose of zone read from Cody Green. Bo Pelini hinted strongly that both quarterbacks might play in Lawrence. To what advantage? We've no beef with quarterbacks sharing time, so long as they're not out there doing the same thing. Use Green to run the spread game. Keep Lee in hand-off and playaction mode.

Reesing's Last Run: You get the sense that, despite a high degree of competitiveness, Reesing is about ready to move on with life. He's an international business guy, he's been running around behind an awful offensive line for two years, the crowds on Mt. Oread are indifferent, his coach is suddenly benching him for fumbles. Reesing has his magical year in 2007, he has win memorable win over Missouri, he has his place in the KU record book. Expect a loose, exciting effort from him on Saturday. Kansas has lost four in a row. There's not much else to lose.

Short Stuffed: Nebraska's secondary has been consistently excellent against the short pass. Bubble and tunnel screens, quick slants, rub-off routes, stops, curls, you name it. NU's cornerbacks are aggressive and confident 15 yards in. Kansas won't be immune to this treatment. So the Jayhawks have to gamble, and send their talented receivers deep. Reesing has to hit them. If they can't make plays downfield, the short-to-intermediate game will be closed for business, and KU is in for a lot of punts and potential interceptions.

Vengeance: Don't kid yourself. That 76-39 score from two years ago is in the hearts and minds of a lot of Husker players who lived through it – especially guys like Ndamukong Suh, Barry Turner, Roy Helu, Phillip Dillard, Larry Asante and Jacob Hickman. You think they've forgotten? Not a chance. You will see an emotional, hungry team Saturday. They won't give KU an inch. This is intended, after the OU win, as a statement game.

Keep It Together: NU's offensive line needs a half without penalties. Just a itty-bitty half of clean football. No false starts. No 15-yard hi-lo blocks. No personal fouls. No holding. No failing to place one's head at Hickman's torso. No illegal men downfield. A clean half. It would do wonders.

The Beck Advantage: Former Kansas assistant – now current NU assistant – Tim Beck knows the Jayhawks well. He recruited Reesing. He coached the wide receivers. He helped incorporate a spread running game at Nebraska. His knowledge of KU's scheme and personnel was invaluable last year – and it will be again this year. Kansas hasn't changed much since 2007, and the personnel is still similar.

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It was three hours before Saturday night's kickoff, and Nebraska's football team had just hopped off two red Arrow buses and prepared make the short, winding “Unity Walk” around the north side of Memorial Stadium. As is custom, Ndamukong Suh, headphones blaring, led the team. Linebacker Phillip Dillard and center Jacob Hickman were there, too.

Freshman quarterback Cody Green was right beside them.

Zac Lee was somewhere toward the back, tucked under a red “N” hat. Along the path he quietly, almost sheepishly, shook the hands of the few fans paying attention as he walked by.

It was a startling picture of their momentary fortunes that switched suddenly in the second quarter, when offensive coordinator Shawn Watson pulled Green and inserted Lee, who threw one excellent goal line pass for a touchdown and otherwise made perfectly safe, pedestrian plays that Green could have made. But Green never went back in to make them.

Watson said Green was “nervous in the service.”

Head coach Bo Pelini thought inserting Lee “felt like the right thing.”

“Make no mistake about it, I've got a tremendous amount of confidence in Cody Green” Pelini said. “(But) you've got to go with your gut. I felt that way. Wats felt that way. It played out for us.”

Will they reverse their places in the Unity Walk line this week? Do they both head to the front? Does Green start and Lee play relief pitcher? Does Lee start and Green become a mid-game spark?

Now that the euphoria of Nebraska's 10-3 win over Oklahoma has worn off a bit, the Huskers' offense are left with, among many, this central question: Who be the QB?

Green?

Lee?

Both?

Roy Helu in the Joker? Kidding. Maybe.

It's become a mess to assess, frankly. Watson seems caught between a spread running game and a power one, a quick passing game and one built on long, playaction fakes. The spread attack favors Green, who can run the ball, and isn't afraid to stick his passes in tight spots, whereas the power stuff favors Lee, I suppose, who's a slightly better ball handler and in better command of the offense.

Can Watson really try to run two different offenses? It hasn't worked so far. Green seemed stripped of his wits Saturday night. The quail Green threw into a wide expanse of field was not a good sign. Yet Lee is so comically painful on those zone read and option plays that you wish he'd make an executive decision, and simply change the call in the huddle. He had a “blow the whistle!” look about him every time he ran.

But Lee quite effectively ran three playaction passes. The touchdown to Ryan Hill. A little wide receiver drag route to Brandon Kinnie. And the best of them, a fake-then-throw to Helu, after the defense had vacated Helu's area.

It's baby steps for rebuilding Lee's confidence and skills. He can still throw a mean deep ball. And he's OK in playaction. If Watson wants to start there, and sprinkle in Green on some shotgun stuff, that's a plan that could win Nebraska the Big 12 North.

What about Green's confidence? Outwardly, it's there. You could say the same of Lee, I suppose. Inwardly – who knows?

The kid from Dayton,Texas has been often been presented as “the answer” to Nebraska's struggling offense because he make plays off the board, on athleticism and instinct, that Lee cannot.

But Green is trapped inside a rigid structure of NU's offense, which finally is playing to its dominant defense. Green talks a good game about letting instincts take over, but it's hard to freelance in the thick of a conference race, in the West Coast Offense, in an offense desperately trying to possess the ball behind a leaky, creaky offensive line. Watching the game tape again, Green's setting seemed stuck on “overload” of all kinds – emotional, mental, physical – and the WCO is too precise, even when masquerading as a spread, to accommodate that state of being.

Lee has already been there. Watson still hasn't stripped the quarterback run game from Lee's list of plays, but he has toned some of the other elements.

Is the offense too complex? It doesn't have to be. But you need a staple on the table first. Last year, Nebraska rolled its opponents with a short, controlled passing game of screens, stops, curls and crossing patterns. Defenses crept up to take it away, and Joe Ganz burned them with long throws to Nate Swift and Mike McNeill.

Lee is not a good short-game passer. Green is designed for a free-wheeling attack that allows him to hit the edge, throw all over the joint, and generate mismatches.

There is no good answer. Just survival.

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Players of the game and report card for Nebraska's 10-3 win over Oklahoma:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Roy Helu. He's back – and just in the nick of time! Helu made a few runs Saturday that only he, on NU's football team, can make. His vision and quick cuts to the hole are rare for a player at any level, and more than once he caught an OU defender peeking or heading the wrong way. He needs to improve with his pass protection. But what college running back doesn't, right?

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Matt O'Hanlon. He called his interceptions a product of being in the right place at the right time, which is true. But MattyO was terrific in run support – his tough tackles help convince OU to move away from the running game, and his one interception return – which helped set up a field goal – was fairlu crucial. Great game for a kid who's earned it.

GRADES

QUARTERBACK: C The position has now shifted into “don't kill us” mode for the rest of the season. Zac Lee and Cody Green didn't exactly make many plays Saturday – but they didn't lose the game, either. Who Nebraska plays from here is anybody's guess.

RUNNING BACK: B+ Roy ran like the old Roy, Traye Robinson had some authority, and Tyler Legate was solid in the blocking scheme. This unit is so much better when Helu is reasonably healthy.

WIDE RECEIVER: I For “incomplete.” They blocked, mostly. Only two receptions by the position all night, both belonging to Brandon Kinnie.

OFFENSIVE LINE/TIGHT ENDS: C Oklahoma has an awesome defense, and NU occasionally held its own in the running game, especially when Nebraska chose the power route with Legate as a lead blocker. But the pass pro was fairly shabby Saturday night. Neither Green nor Lee had much time.

DEFENSIVE LINE A The front four played so damn hard, blunting OU's run game and producing enough of a pass rush on Landry Jones to throw him off his rhythm. The Huskers are as physical and imposing across the front as any defense in college football. The Sooners and Alabama are up there, too.

LINEBACKERS: A Essentially a grade for Phillip Dillard – and we're OK with that. Dillard made two or three key tackles on screen passes, had an interception and a sack, and served as on-field emotional motivation for the defense. He's become an all-conference caliber player in a matter of months.

SECONDARY: A Landry Jones will see these guys in his dreams. O'Hanlon played great, Prince Amukamara and Alfonzo Dennard constantly challenged receivers, Eric Hagg and Dejon Gomes worked over the inside slot routes, Larry Asante provided the hits, and Anthony Blue and P.J. Smith looked good in spot duty. And what about Hagg's big tackle on fourth down? Yep – these guys can play!

SPECIAL TEAMS: B Nebraska's punt coverage units were a little leaky, sure, but Alex Henery's punting was strong overall, and Ndamukong Suh blocked a field goal attempt in the second quarter. Kickoff coverage was excellent. Niles Paul displayed sure hands on punt returns. Gomes needs to be a little more careful out there – he cost NU about 35 total yards on two penalties.

GAME MANAGEMENT/PLAYCALLING: B+ From a defensive perspective – brilliant! Bo and Carl Pelini constantly had OU guessing on offense, and the Sooners kept choosing the wrong door. On offense, coordinator Shawn Watson played it safe and smart. For this week, we can live with it. Expect Kansas and Kansas State to have better plans though, and Watson better figure out a way to move the ball. The offensive penalties early in the game were simply absurd. Why is Ricky Henry cut-blocking the opposite guard's man, 10 yards away from the play?

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