If Nebraska's football team had any intent of scaling back its practices this week, head coach Bo Pelini wasn't tipping his hand to that effect Monday.

“We’re not going to lighten much up,” Pelini said. “We know how to take care of their legs, but we need to get our work done this time of year.”

NU did cut its workout time in the Hawks Center by 20 minutes Monday, practicing in half-pads. Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini hinted after the Cornhuskers' 31-17 win over Kansas that the Blackshirts were leg-weary after a grueling month of football.

His brother brushed off that notion Monday.

“Everybody is tired this time of year,” Bo Pelini said. “It’s something you have to deal with. It’s something you have to overcome. It’s more mental than it is physical. Our guys are in good shape. They are ready to go.”

Indeed, this may not be the week for Nebraska to gear down. The Big 12 North championship is on the line, as is a date with Texas in the Big 12 title game. Kansas State, NU's foe, relies on the run more than any team in the league, and has running back Daniel Thomas, who leads the Big 12 with 1,166 yards rushing.

“They play smashmouth football,” NU safety Larry Asante said. “And (Thomas) is a real good tailback. They run the ball. They're going to come in here to run physical.”

That suits Asante, who's third on the team in tackles with 54 and whose forte is run support, just fine.

“I'm in the box in this game,” he said. “I can't wait. I feel like this is my strength.”

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Players of the game and grades from Nebraska's 31-17 win over Kansas:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Quarterback Zac Lee. He managed the offense, made good throws downfield, ran the ball for yards and first downs, and carried the team in the fourth quarter. For one week – Zac's back.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cornerback Prince Amukamara. For most of the game, he locked down on Dez Briscoe, whose biggest receptions came in the slot or while Amukamara was blitzing. Prince was the biggest bright spot in the secondary.

GRADES:

QUARTERBACK: A- A marked improvement of Lee's work for the last month. He generally made the right reads, threw decent deep balls to Niles Paul and crucially scrambled for 53 yards. It was Lee's best game of the year, considering the opponent and the circumstances – and even he knew it.

RUNNING BACK: B+ Roy Helu still looks to bounce too many runs to the corner of a defense, but when he does get there – watch out, as always. Big props to Tyler Legate, too, who blocked well for the second consecutive week as he led Helu into the hole.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: B A workmanlike effort in the blocking department, great work from Paul at receiver and some clutch plays by Mike McNeill at tight end. McNeill left the game, it seemed, with a concussion. Brandon Kinnie made a nifty catch. Khiry Cooper drew a key personal foul. OK, he didn't do anything to earn it, but still – right?

OFFENSIVE LINE: C+ Fair, although another personal foul on a poorly-executed cut block sure didn't help. The line finally started plowing some earth in the fourth quarter; before then, it was hit-or-miss, dependent on Helu's ability to hit the corner. From the naked eye, Jacob Hickman had a nice game.

DEFENSIVE LINE: C Kansas punked Nebraska's best unit by using a quick quarterback draw from Todd Reesing to negate the pass rush. From there, the front four played it much more safely. Barry Turner was twice sent into coverage on a zone blitz, with awful results – but that's not necessarily his fault. Ndamukong Suh was neutralized. But, then, that was the plan. And it worked.

LINEBACKER: B- Phillip Dillard was the only linebacker who played any significant snaps. He played OK. Didn't tackle the best. Got burned on a long pass play in which the ball was dropped by KU's Jake Sharp. Dillard got tested today by KU's varied offense.

SECONDARY: D+ Yes, this group deserves that grade. NU's unit was plum outplayed by KU's group of receivers, especially Kerry Meier, who had Dejon Gomes spun all around all day. Gomes did force a key fumble, but that was the secondary's best play of the day. Reesing actually missed four or five passes; otherwise, the day would have been even longer.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A Alex Henery hits three field goals, NU gets kickoff returns from Paul and Tim Marlowe to help set up touchdowns, and the kick coverage was strong. Good day all around.

GAME MANAGEMENT/PLAYCALLING: B- Shawn Watson's offensive playcalling was generally strong. He managed a solid balance between the 20s. In the red zone, he needs to create a better sequence of success for the Big Red, but we liked the mixture of power and playaction. Nicely done. On defense – we're still not wild about the zone blitzes on 3rd-and-long. Twice, the Brothers Pelini hurt their own cause when KU burned them with first downs. We also question NU's insistence on keeping its dime defense in the game when Kansas countered with a large running back, Toben Opurum. It turned out OK, we suppose, but Nebraska needs to pay Kansas State's running game more respect.

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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's a frequent debate I have with a friend: Is it harder to be the head coach in college football, or in the NFL?

He claims the NFL, where the expectations are higher, players act like primadonnas, the media is merciless and the owners can essentially say and do whatever they want. No job security.

It's not a bad case. But it's not modern college football.

One reason: Program-building, which requires being a head coach, a salesman, a general manager, an owner, an occasional warden, a sociologist and, at long last, a father figure. In this era, it's a little like nation-building in a third world country. (Mea culpa for, you know, comparing football to an outbreak of malaria and genocide in the subtropical steppe.)

Building a program is hard enough. Sustaining it in places not named Florida, California and Texas is even harder. Look at the Big 12 North.

Bill Snyder reached the mountaintop with his unique formula of 100-hour work weeks, JUCO imports and maniacally-driven assistants. Then he walked away in 2005, and it immediately fell to pieces under Greedy Grimace. Missouri is punch-drunk on its passing game, which falls apart, clockwork, in the second half. Colorado is an unmitigated disaster, the Buffaloes never fully recovering from Katie Hnida, recruiting violations, and thrice getting thunderstruck in the Big 12 Championship game.

It's a big, unruly white whale, consistent success. Try Kansas on for size.

Mark Mangino's size masks his skill to fans, but opposing coaches aren't sitting around telling fat jokes, I assure you. He's toiled at the ultimate basketball school west of the Mississippi by creating a Texas-based recruiting template, alighting on the right quarterback in Todd Reesing, and scheduling quite modestly in the non-conference season.

In 2007, his team was the story of that year. Nobody to somebody in three months. The 12-1 record. The Orange Bowl win. KU took a step back in 2008, but it was expected – new defense, young offensive line. Still – when Reesing hit receiver Kerry Meier on that magnificent fourth down pass to slay Missouri in the Big 12's best game of the year, the prevailing notion was this: 2009 could be special.

I never bought it. I had KU fourth in the North, behind Nebraska, Mizzou and KSU. Mangino had built up everything but his offensive and defensive lines. He'd recruited like a devil to the offensive skill positions and the defensive secondary and left out the most important part. Surprising, considering Mangino is an offensive line guy. But that's how hard the job is.

The defensive line stunk it up in the first half of 2009. The offensive line still does. KU started 5-0 and watched that record crumble into a four-game losing streak.

“I’m not naïve,” Mangino said Tuesday. “I’ve been down this road before. It’s not uncharted waters for me. Through the years when we’ve had a tough spell, we’ve stayed the steady course. We didn’t panic, we don’t blame players, we don’t blame anybody, and it’s our own fault that we didn’t win. We keep our same routine, we keep encouraging the players and we keep coaching them. I think that’s the best way. When you take drastic measures during a tough time, the kids wonder if the coach is panicking or if they don’t have confidence that they can pull out of it.”

Except, if you've been paying attention to KU during the last month – Mangino did panic. He pulled his best player, Reesing, from the Texas Tech game – while it was still within reach – out of “fear for his health.” That's a Ron Prince move, folks, blaming your best player for running around for the last 30 games because he gets no protection. It's not Reesing's fault.

And the benching backfired. Reesing was rattled by it, and pressed terribly in a 17-10 loss to Kansas State. Was it a reaction? Of course. When KU had to force a KSU punt late in the game – the only weapon the Wildcats have is running back Daniel Thomas – the Jayhawks couldn't do it. No clutch defense.

Kansas is a casualty, of sorts, of what the Big 12's become in 2009. It's trending toward the run, and defense. The Reesing-Meier-Dez Briscoe trio that looked so trendy before the year is now just a collection of yards and touchdowns. It's not translating into wins.

KU is staring right down the barrel of 5-7. That's how quickly it can change.

There's a lesson in that for Nebraska, of course.

Bo Pelini enjoys more advantages than Mangino does – tradition, history, better facilities, a real fan base – but NU's program remains in a fragile stage of its growth. Pelini said Tuesday, flatly, “I want to win now,” which is good. Wins, right now, is what NU needs. It needs a run to the Big 12 title game. It needs to knock Texas quarterback Colt McCoy on his rear end a dozen times. And it needs to run whatever ugly offense it takes to accomplish those goals.

The Huskers are going to get a ton of television exposure over the last month of the season. With every win comes a little more credibility, a little more exposure, a little more attention from recruits. NU's almost filled its 2010 class. But the 2011 class gets built next March. How valuable would it be for Nebraska to own a win over Oklahoma, and a strong performance vs. Texas in Dallas when that time rolls around?

So you get those Big 12 North wins any which way. Period. And then try to pitch a Bob Gibson shutout vs. Texas.

But Bo has to be mindful of the larger picture. There's something dreadfully wrong with the offense. The statistics prove it. A simple eye test proves it. That unit, as a whole, has not been coached or developed as well as the defense. And the offense does have the talent. Roy Helu is an NFL running back. Mike McNeill is a NFL tight end. Kyler Reed and Ben Cotton are mighty talented, too. Most of NU's offensive line has prototypical size and agility. Khiry Cooper, Brandon Kinnie and Niles Paul all have excellent athleticism and good personalities to boot.

It's not just a matter of experience. Folks, don't buy it. Jared Crick, Cameron Meredith, Alfonzo Dennard and Dejon Gomes are all key parts of NU's defensive success in 2009. Two of them didn't play a down last year. Crick and Dennard didn't play much.

Does the offense have similar success stories?

We've rapped fairly hard on offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and his staff, and clearly, they're troubled by the lack of production. Judging by his demeanor, by his willingness to make changes in scheme, personnel and how he calls plays, Watson probably hasn't had a tougher year. He's “all in” here. His gameplan to beat Oklahoma was painful – but perfect. I'm not kidding; had Zac Lee thrown, oh, five more passes, one of them would have been picked off. OU needed just one more turnover, but never got it.

"It takes a lot of guts to call that kind of game,” Watson said. “It really does. It's a hard game. It's easy in some respects, but it's hard in other respects because it's what we needed to do to win. You've got to get your ego out of it. Your ego's got to leave. You want to throw it, you want to do all that, but you've got to get rid of it.”
Watson's job, for the rest of this year, is to avoid grease fires. Some points would be nice, too.

But, after the season, he has to be on Bo's hook for what's happened. Bo and Watson need to take a hard look at why the offense went sour – lack of leadership, injuries, practice habits, coaching styles, inconsistent playcalling - and fix the bigger picture. Not merely react within the moment.

After a week of blaming the media and fans after the Texas Tech game, the loss to Iowa State woke Bo up. And, from there, we've seen a different coach. A smarter one. Better with the media. Open to more changes. More involved in the play-by-play details of the offense. I like NU's chances down the stretch here. And I like Nebraska to give Texas a very interesting game in Dallas, should it come to pass.

Just know this: Program-building is more – much more – than winning a handful of games. Sustaining it is even harder. Ask Mangino.

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A four-game losing streak. A star quarterback with a case of the mopes. A beleaguered offensive line that plays like a bunch of overfed hotel clerks. A crowd with one eye toward the parking lot the second the game goes sour.

This defines the last month of Kansas football. Throw in a couple brawls with the KU basketball team, and Jayhawks 5-4 season is heading toward the toilet.

But KU hasn't flushed quite yet.

“You have to figure they're going to be at their best,” NU head coach Bo Pelini said of the Jayhawks, who have been outscored 128-74 in their last four games and committed 12 turnovers. “You've got to got to figure they're going to execute at a top-notch level no matter what. That's how we prepare our guys...you have to be prepared for their best shot.”

NU defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said he was “surprised” Kansas, after a 5-0 start, had stumbled so much, especially in losses to moribund Colorado and seemingly-underrated Kansas State.

“I definitely thought they'd be at the top, contending for a title,” said Suh, who is 2-1 in his time vs. Kansas.

But KU still has “great pieces” on offense, Suh said, particularly at receiver and quarterback, where diminutive Todd Reesing is the most experienced Big 12 quarterback Nebraska's faced this season.

Reesing hasn't been immune to KU's struggles. He threw three interceptions in a 35-13 loss to Oklahoma, including one returned for a touchdown. Fumbles in a 42-21 loss to Texas Tech and a 17-10 loss to Kansas State arguably cost Kansas potential wins.

KU head coach Mark Mangino even benched Reesing at the end of the Tech game, citing his desire to protect the quarterback's health behind an awful, leaky offensive line that allows nearly three sacks a game – with a mobile quarterback who plays almost exclusively out of the shotgun.

Mangino said the media blew the benching out of proportion.

“Using the word 'benching' is quite strong,” Mangino said. “I have my reasons for why I took him out of the game.”

But, four days after it happened, Reesing still hadn't received an explanation for it. The captain even organized a players-only meeting to address the matter.

“It was a big deal to me,” Reesing said at the time. “It is what it is. It’s above my pay grade. It’s his decision. I’m still the starting quarterback here, there’s no doubt about that. This job is not up for grabs. I’m going to move forward.”

But Reesing didn't play much better against the Wildcats, clearly pressing to make plays, especially with his legs, that weren't there. Kansas State recovered a fumble just before halftime and converted it into a crucial touchdown.

“It's not a matter of his confidence,” Mangino said. “He's a confident guy. Prior to (Kansas State) he had already had a pattern of having some turnovers.”

Pelini expressed great respect for Reesing after NU's 45-35 win last year – arguably handing out more praise for Reesing than Oklahoma's Sam Bradford – and still sees him as a “heckuva football player” in 2009.

Said NU defensive tackle Jared Crick: “He's still a great quarterback no matter what's happened the last couple weeks...he can run. You wouldn't think for a little guy, but he can really scoot. You see that every game. The pocket breaks down and he just squirts out. We've got to take a good pass rush approach knowing he can do that to us.”

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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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(The above cartoon is from the Topeka Capital-Journal)


Here's a cute cartoon from the Topeka Capital-Journal one fan sent us following Nebraska's 56-28 win over Kansas State.



Maybe it's a little sad that we're celebrating back-to-back wins over teams Nebraska used to hammer so easily, but there you have it.



You can read more of the Journal's coverage, if you wish, right here.

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Player of the game: Ndamukong Suh. Suh played as well as any Nebraska interior defensive lineman has since, oh, Steve Warren or Jason Peter in the late 1990s. He disrupts the pile, he pursues down the line, he rushes the passer – Suh has put himself in position for postseason awards and maybe a nice spot in next year’s NFL Draft – if he wanted it, of course.




Best offensive play of the game: Roy Helu, Jr’s 52-yard touchdown run. Right call, terrific execution, at a moment when it mattered. It’s probably the offensive play of the year, in fact.




Worst offensive play of the game: Joe Ganz’s fumble on a play that was sure to go for a touchdown – if only Ganz had been able to get the pass off.




Best defensive play: NU perfectly diagnosed a fourth-quarter reverse play involvin Kansas receiver Kerry Meier, leading to a seven-yard loss. It helped force a punt. Helu scored on his long run right after that.




Worst defensive play: Whatever NU was trying to do on Todd Reesing’s 53-yard pass to Dez Briscoe, may the Huskers never try that again. It looked like Cover 2 gone very wrong.




GRADES:




Quarterback: A- Joe Ganz threw for more than 300 yards, and did a lot of his work on a gimpy ankle. He’s a warrior, that kid. His interception near the end of the first half wasn’t great, but Ganz mostly dissected KU’s zone defense, showing enough patience to let NU’s receivers pop open on crossing routes.




Running back: B+ Marlon Lucky had a costly fumble, but head coach Bo Pelini admitted he probably shouldn’t have been out there. Helu and Quentin Castille did very good work in Lucky’s absence. Castille ran with purpose. Helu was elusive and exciting. The kid can break tackles. Give him that. He needs to work on his pass blocking, though.




Offensive Line/Tight Ends: A- The false start and holding penalties were drive killers in the first half, but the big boys generally controlled KU’s defense – especially the pass rush. Tight ends played well, too. Mike McNeill made a few nice catches.




Receivers: B+ Good work here by the experienced bunch, especially after the catch. Nice grab by Chris Brooks in the second half, an even better grab by Nate Swift on NU’s final touchdown. Niles Paul had a quiet day.




Defensive Line: A+ A Herculean effort. Nothing more to say. The starting four, plus the backups were awesome.




Linebackers: B- Cody Glenn finally seemed like he was at full speed, flying around, making plays sideline to sideline. Kudos, too, to Tyler Wortman, who filled up a few holes and delivered some hits.




Secondary: D Tackling, tackling, tackling. How many points did Kansas score simply because defensive backs didn’t wrap up and make the open field play? We’re including Eric Hagg’s giant hit on Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing that resulted in a Kansas touchdown because Hagg didn’t actually take Reesing down.




Kickers/Special teams: C Alex Henery made a crucial field goal in the third quarter against the wind, then executed the fourth quarter fake field goal well enough to get a first down. On the flip side of the coin, Nebraska got little done on kickoff returns and Nate Swift handed KU seven points when he fumbled a punt.




Playcalling/Game Management: B+ Pelini deserves credit for trusting his defensive line to get four-man pressure and calling a more conservative defensive game as a result. On offense, I loved Shawn Watson’s first-quarter work, as he mixed runs with short screen passes to get a critical touchdown against the wind. Then, when it warranted, he opened it up when Nebraska had the wind. Since the Missouri game, Watson’s been spot on. Yes, even against Oklahoma, where most of the mistakes made weren’t his fault. Penalties hurt NU in the first half, but the Huskers cleaned it up after that.


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Hey all...these are the terrific photos taken by Josh Wolfe at the game today...enjoy!

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It’s one of those unwritten rules of college football: Never admit you’re too interested in paying back a team that took your lunch money in a previous season. Just in case, you know, they take it again.



But after Nebraska’s 45-35 win over Kansas, the Cornhuskers couldn’t help but admitting that, yes, just a little vengeance was involved, considering KU’s astonishing 76-39 victory in 2007.



A couple quotes:



Nebraska linebacker Cody Glenn: “It's incredible. I can't even describe the feeling right now just because what happened down there last year, and where our team is heading this year, just to make a statement and beat them.”




NU quarterback Joe Ganz: “It was awesome. It just feels so good to come back and redeem ourselves from what happened last year.”




Tight end Mike McNeill: "It feels great. All the guys are really happy in the locker room. It was nuts for a little while after the game. It's a big win."




NU defensive coordinator Carl Pelini: “This was a very meaningful game for our guys after what happened last year. They wanted a little payback and they played their tails off today.”

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It was arguably Kansas’ most conservative game plan of the year and it called for brutality in simplicity: Run the ball. Stop the run.



KU did a little of both against Nebraska Saturday afternoon, but not to the tune of a victory. In fact, the Jayhawks’ 45-35 loss to NU, coach Mark Mangino said, could be traced directly back to the Cornhuskers’ repeated victories in the trenches while Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing was left to fend for his life.




“We said all week that we had to stop their run,” Mangino said. “We did not do that effectively, at least not in key situations. We said we had to run the ball well, and we did not do that. Their defensive line disrupted our run game. We were able to get some runs in the perimeter with Jake Sharp, but we were not effectively able to run the ball between the tackles. And then we did not tackle well today.”




That combination was just too much for Reesing to overcome. He threw for 304 yards on just 15 completions – becoming KU’s all-time passing leader on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kerry Meier – but he threw a costly fourth quarter interception and was sacked five times by Nebraska’s relentless front four. Although Reesing and receiver Dez Briscoe (six catches 176 yards) put on a show, Kansas still had to punt seven times.




Why? A failure to execute the zone read and option plays Mangino clearly thought would work against Nebraska’s defense. KU ran the ball 39 times, gained only 119 yards, and never had a run longer than 14. And that was on a Reesing scramble late in the fourth quarter.




“Their D-line was great,” Briscoe said. “They dominated our O-line today, just to tell it like it is.”




When Kansas passed, Reesing had to face more pressure than he’s probably faced in his career in Lawrence. He was consistently harassed, pushed the turf, wrapped up and thrown down. On one play, certain to become a signature play for Reesing, he was hit hard by defensive back Eric Hagg. The quarterback absorbed the blow, regained his balance, and calmly threw the ball to a wide-open Meier for Kansas’ first touchdown.




"That is just a competitive guy,” Mangino said. “He fears nothing. He's always looking to make a play. He's played some great games since he's been here, but I think today's game typifies who he really is. I thought that he took some vicious hits today, but he bounced up, made throws, ran the ball.”




Said Briscoe, who looked like the next great Big 12 receiver: “I've never seen him on the turf as much as he was today. I mean, there's a first time for everything. He's a competitor. He always wants to end the game in clutch situations that we were in. He kept hitting and grinding and coming up and fighting through injuries if he had some.”




Kansas had less success on defense; NU gained 495 yards and scored 45 points, leaving another 14-21 points on the field because turnovers and penalties. The Huskers’ offensive line simply overwhelmed KU’s defensive bunch, especially on Roy Helu, Jr’s 52-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter that gave Nebraska a 31-21 lead and broke open a previously tight game.




“All week we focused on stopping the run, stopping the run, stopping the run,” cornerback Justin Thornton said. “When we need to stop them and they bust something like that, it definitely hurts."




It all led to KU’s third loss in the Big 12 this season; now the Jayhawks no longer control their own destiny in the Big 12 North. Kansas, dropping to 6-4, has already qualified for a bowl, but happens to be staring right down the barrel of a 6-6 season as it faces Texas and Missouri to end the season.




“We're gonna come out and play strong in our next two games and we're going to surprise some people,” Thornton said. “Hopefully they don't take it easy on us, because we'll be ready to play next week.”

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See, Virginia, Bo Pelini does smile.




Nebraska’s head coach had a lot to be happy about, considering his team made the kind of mistakes – penalties, turnovers, mental busts – that should have sunk the Cornhuskers against tough, savvy Todd Reesing and an active, gambling Kansas defense. And would have, had it not been for the NU boys in the trenches, on both sides.




The front four on defense and the big five on offense. That was the glue Saturday in NU’s 45-35 win over Kansas. Pat Roy Helu, Jr. on the back all you want. He deserves it, the way he’s played over the last two games. The kid is tough, elusive, and instinctive. I like him.




But Saturday was about that seven-yard area filled with violent, sweaty men who gather around the ball right before it’s snapped. And Nebraska owned that area. Again and again and again, vs. a KU team that, based on its game plan of running the football and blitzing NU quarterback Joe Ganz, kinda figured it would win the patch of land Charlie McBride used to call “a meat grinder.”




Well, not Saturday. The wind kicked up and NU’s offensive and defensive lines strapped it on. It wasn’t quite old-school – after all, KU is no juggernaut in 2008 – but on a cold November day, it’ll do.




NU’s front four on defense – Ndamukong Suh, Ty Steinkuhler, Pierre Allen and Zach Potter – played with so much anger that Pelini didn’t have to blitz his linebackers and safeties very often. They repeatedly collapsed the pocket on Reesing like no team has this year, and to do it with four guys is more or less how the perfect Cover 2 defense works.




“I expected that kind of game,” NU defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “I challenged them all week. I thought this was a game where our D-line should play well and dominate up front, and they did. I could go right down the line, but I’m so proud of those guys. I’m thrilled.”




Suh, in particular, put together one of those performances that goes on a highlight tape and ends up on some NFL GM’s desk in about a week. What a game! Twelve tackles, 2.5 sacks, four tackles, a quarterback hurry? That’s scary good. That’s All-Big 12 good.




And yeah, as many good defensive linemen as they are in the Big 12, Suh’s right there with them. He was like a big, 300-pound tick on Saturday, sucking the blood out of blocking assignments, running backs, Reesing, you name it.




This from a kid who seemed a little lost during the last half of 2007, when he was hurt and seemingly unmotivated. This from a kid who sat out spring ball with a knee injury. Thing is, Suh always had the immense talent, the power, the speed, and even the attitude, if reports about how hard he was to block in practice were true. The junior just never put it together until 2008, where he’s been an anchor inside, a beast. He barely comes off the field.




“We really came together and put a great game together,” Suh said. “We're just working off of and feeding off of each other. One guy makes a play, giving him love and working together as a unit as we're supposed to and as we have been throughout the season pretty well."




Some of the credit, at this point, has to go to Carl Pelini. Yeah, he’s working with some good talent – Suh and Potter bring a lot to the table physically, and Allen and Steinkuhler are nothing to sniff at – but he’s pushed the right buttons with these guys. They’re relentless. They get their hands up. They hustle down field. They cover for what I’d call a below-average secondary that missed so many tackles on KU receiver Dez Briscoe Saturday that I lost count. What’s scary is this: NU needed every one of those 28 tackles, and five sacks to beat Kansas. That’s how much falls on their shoulders.




The burden isn’t as big for the Huskers’ offensive line. Quarterback Joe Ganz can make plays on his own. Nate Swift has suddenly blossomed into complete receiver in his senior season. Roy Helu, Jr is more and more looking like a starting running back. Heck, even Chris Brooks made a nice grab for a touchdown.




It doesn’t change that, in key moments Saturday, Barney’s boys made holes and protected Ganz against KU’s somewhat desperate blitzes. When offensive coordinator Shawn Watson dialed up those elaborate screens on NU’s first touchdown drive, the line executed perfectly. When Ganz needed that extra second of time on a key fourth down play, he got it. Both sacks were Ganz’s fault, not the lines, and Ganz admitted as much.




In fact, if Ganz can find a way to swipe his dad’s credit card, he’s taking them out for a meal.




“They played awesome, awesome, awesome,” Ganz said. “They played so good today picking up blitzes. Kansas, they started struggling a little bit and they started bringing more blitzes, that's when we came in with our kill game and our passes and those guys picked everything up.”




Ganz, thus, had time to let Swift and Todd Peterson get into the clear on elaborate crossing patterns and post corner patterns. NU’s final touchdown – which turned out to be crucial – was a perfect example of the time Ganz had to throw a difficult 20-yard to a specific spot. That’s hard to do if you’re rushed; recall that it was the same play Nebraska couldn’t execute in overtime against Texas Tech.




The offensive line, even with Lydon Murtha’s injury, is growing.




As are most of the Huskers. The secondary remains a sore spot, as Nebraska dropped a couple interceptions and generally seemed shaky whenever Reesing pressed the ball downfield. NU’s special teams are still up and down. And fumbling has officially become a problem for Nebraska. It’s happening way too often.




But the men in the trenches don’t handle the ball. They just handled the Jayhawks.

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It was the final moments of Nebraska’s 45-35 win over Kansas and head coach Bo Pelini, as usual, was pacing the sidelines. Except his path kept getting interrupted by his sideline coaches, who greeted him with hugs. Not the kind of jubilant, emotional displays Pelini has been a part of in his LSU years. They were small and sincere. Ones of genuine happiness – and maybe a little relief.




It might not go down as a signature win for Pelini. It certainly wasn’t a masterpiece. And with a plethora of penalties, turnovers and mental busts, NU tried about as hard as it could
to give it away.




Those qualifiers aside, Nebraska iced a 14-14 halftime dead heat against Kansas with one big second-half play after another, notching its biggest win of the year, gaining bowl eligibility and generating the kind of hope that runs all the way through the offseason.




"I told them I was proud of them, proud of the way they hung together,” Pelini said. “After getting hit in the mouth last week they just came back and played hard. We didn't always play smart today. We gave them some things. But ultimately they just kept going and it shows. I kept saying all along there's a lot of character in that locker room, and I think it showed. It showed today and it showed time after time this year.”




Yes, it’ll more than do, as the Cornhuskers compiled 495 total yards, scored 21 fourth-quarter points and sacked Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing five times. Nebraska (6-4 overall, 3-3 in the Big 12 Conference) had three turnovers, a number of costly offense penalties and failed to recover an onside kick, but it made the crucial plays in the fourth to finish off the Jayhawks (6-4, 3-3).




NU trailed 21-17 late in the third quarter before scoring touchdowns on four consecutive drives. Sophomore running back Roy Helu, Jr. played a big role on all of them. First, he caught a 14-yard pass from NU quarterback Joe Ganz to start the ensuing drive, scoring from 10 yards out to give Nebraska a 24-21 lead.




After KU punted on its next drive, Helu busted the backbreaker, a 52-yard touchdown run on a zone read play in which he squeezed through a tackle at the line of scrimmage, cut to the sideline and outran the defense. Nebraska led 31-21.




“It's so easy for an offense when you get big break-out runs,” Ganz said. “It's harder on a defense, it kind of demoralizes them a little bit, especially that break-out touchdown. That was huge, for me, for the whole offense, not having to do anything but the one play and go out there and put seven points on the board. It was a big swing of momentum too.”




For the game, Helu finished with 115 rushing yards and 176 total yards for the game as he spelled senior Marlon Lucky, who got hurt in the game’s first few plays.




“He got hot,” Pelini said. “He made some plays.”




Kansas answered with a touchdown to cut the lead to 31-28. Then Helu made another big play, busting a 23-yard run over the middle. Ganz, who completed 28-of-37 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns - converted a key third down with a 22-yard pass to Nate Swift, then finished off the drive with a two-yard pass to defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who was in the game playing fullback.




“I looked back to Joey and we made eye contact and he just lobbed it to me,” Suh said. “He took a little heat off the ball.”




It was the cherry on the top of Suh’s day, arguably one of the best games for a defensive tackle in recent NU history. Suh finished with 12 tackles, 2.5 sacks, four tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry. In all, the Huskers’ starting front four combined for 28 tackles, five sacks, and an interception.




“Since the beginning of the year that's been the strength of our defense,” Pelini said. “They got after (Reesing) and they made him uncomfortable start to finish and that allowed us to play some coverage in the back. We didn't have to blitz all the time.”




Said KU Coach Mark Mangino: “Their defensive line is probably the strongest part of their football team. They're very good, anyone that's played them knows that. We needed to be able to get some runs on the inside, take some pressure off the quarterback in the pocket, and we were not able to do that."




Defensive end Zach Potter intercepted Reesing on the following drive, NU kicker Alex Henery executed a fake field goal and Ganz hit Swift for a 20-yard touchdown for a 45-28 lead.




KU’s Reesing, who only completed 15 passes, but still amassed 304 yards, never quit, leading the Jayhawks down the field for another touchdown, which he scored with a 14-yard scramble. Then Kansas recovered the onside kick. Nebraska got a key sack of Reesing, however, and was able to force a turnover of downs.




So ended NU’s wildest, most entertaining game of year.




Nebraska led 17-14 midway through the third quarter when Swift fumbled a punt inside Nebraska’s 20-yard line. After Swift’s fumble, Kansas scored four plays later with Reesing’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Fields. KU led 21-17.




The Huskers answered with an eight-play, 78-yard drive directly following that ended in Helu’s 10-yard touchdown.




Nebraska outplayed Kansas in the first half, running 11 more plays and gaining 58 more yards. But the Huskers shot themselves in the foot with penalties, two turnovers, and two defensive busts.




NU’s offensive line was flagged for two false start penalties and a holding call that called back a 30-yard shovel pass from Ganz to Helu. Running back Marlon Lucky fumbled the ball inside KU 25-yard line, and Ganz threw an interception in that same end near the end of the half. In all, Nebraska visited Kansas territory five times, and scored only twice.




Kansas, meanwhile, struggled to move the ball consistently against Nebraska’s defense, but got three big plays en route to 14 points.




Trailing NU 7-0, Reesing hit Dezmon Briscoe on consecutive pass plays, the second of which was a 40-yarder on a quick slant pattern that set up the Jayhawks at the NU 28-yard line. On the next play, Reesing rolled to his right, absorbed a big hit from defensive back Eric Hagg, regained his balance, and threw to a wide open Kerry Meier behind the Nebraska defense for a touchdown. NU and KU were tied at 7.




“I was taken back by his size,” Pelini said. “He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he has a huge heart.”




Reesing’s next big pass was a 53-yarder to Briscoe, whom Reesing found wide open inside Nebraska’s Cover 2 defense. Briscoe caught the ball, hesitated briefly while a safety flew by and sprinted to the end zone to give Kansas a 14-7 lead.




Nebraska answered with its second touchdown drive of the game, an eight-play, 67-yard drive in which NU only gained yards on three plays, all of them Ganz passes. The last of them was a 25-yard touchdown pass inside KU’s zone defense to junior Chris Brooks, who caught the first touchdown of his career.




The Huskers opened scoring with arguably its most diverse drive of the season, using all three running backs on the eight-play, 80-yard march that ended with running back Marlon Lucky throwing a four-yard touchdown to tight end Mike McNeill.

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