Smaller, slower and not as talented. With less depth. And a head coach without the pedigree, personality and national championship ring of Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini. Plus – one hand tied behind its back without a starting quarterback or running back.

You know what Iowa State had Saturday that Nebraska didn't? Momentum. Confidence. Trust. Positive energy. Luck. The first four produced the fifth. ISU hit harder, played smarter and stuck to its minimalist plan of zone read and the occasional rollout, playaction pass. It was boring. It was plain. It didn't do much more than eat up some clock.

But the Cyclones won, you see, by asking its defense to be scrappy – it was – in hopes of making the Huskers so sloppy – they were – that they'd eventually melt. Which Nebraska – with the game absolutely in reach – most certainly did.

Nebraska had something going in the third quarter. A downhill power game. Center Mike Caputo, subbing for Jacob Hickman, looked good. Nebraska was finally starting to get under ISU's pads. And the Huskers were not running horizontally, but vertically. Then, while fighting for extra yards, Traye Robinson had the ball torn out by ISU defensive tackle Nate Frere. That's what Iowa State does. Heck, the Cyclones did it last year with a different head coach. They're good at it.

But just after that fumble, NU's fifth turnover, the Huskers abandoned that power game, headed back to the shotgun, and gained 25 total yards on the next four drives, with three turnovers. At the moment Nebraska needed to keep leaning on the Cyclones, it pulled off, and tried throwing the ball downfield into the wind.

Why? Why did Nebraska do that? Why is NU's ball security among the wide receivers shaky for the second year in a row? Why is Nebraska's offensive line leaky vs. ISU's unit of future haberdashers and carpet salesmen?

And what's Bo Pelini going to do about it? I repeat: What's he going to do?

Fans need to stop demanding these answers from the offensive staff. I mean, they'll answer how they answer. They're entrenched in their philosophy, like most of us would be, and bound, to some extent, to circular logic. Coaches are proud. Most of us are.

Ted Gilmore will continue a rotation of players looking for courage first, good hands second. Tim Beck is forced to juggle around Helu's shoulder injury and deal with the very real consequences of Quentin Castille's dismissal. Ron Brown is ever the dutiful soldier, even if his unit is criminally underused. Barney Cotton will be habitually under fire, as he always is, although it's becoming clearer, to me, that Nebraska doesn't run an offense that caters to his or the line's strengths. Shawn Watson will remain an artful dodger who really is capable of running a great offense, but doesn't want look backward (the early 2008 offense) to go forward.

It gets old, holding them accountable every week. After all, they work for Bo. And, as he ever so forcefully put it last week, the buck stops with him.

Bo knows defense, clearly. Nobody debates that.

But if Bill Callahan had to be responsible for Kevin Cosgrove's defense, then Pelini has to answer the bell now. There's no real pleasure in trotting out those two names, beleive me, but that's what the $2 million is for, right? Now - Bo can provide any answer he wants to, or he can provide none at all. But they're his answers to provide. He's got to solve it.

Zac Lee isn't Watson's quarterback. He is Bo's. Cody Green isn't ready? Fine. It's Bo's decision to let Lee continue to incompetently run his part of the zone read. If NU wants to leave Antonio Bell on the sidelines for better blockers like Menelik Holt and Curenski Gilleylen – who are absolutely not useful in the two, four or six-minute drill – that's Bo's call. If Watson wants to start out with a short-passing game that works, shift to Power O, then screech into a shotgun passing gear in the fourth quarter against the wind, then Bo can explain it.

And Bo will account for it. That's the kind of guy he's shown himself to be. It'll be the account itself that merits examination.

We've spent two weeks whaling away at Watson. Enough of it. Let's not turn him into some misuse of a scapegoat like we did Cosgrove. Let's not relive that. Bo can hold Watson responsible, and fans can and should hold Bo responsible for Watson.

Bo tried adjusting intangibles after the loss to Texas Tech. He tried circling the wagons, casting the media and the fans as a horde who turned on the Huskers. He took the green jerseys off the quarterbacks. In a show of unity, the team locked arms during the Tunnel Walk. It was the Huskers-against-the-world.

To quote Ndamukong Suh, that's all “good and gravy” until the world forces eight turnovers. The button was pushed, and a cataclysmic upset came out of the ticket dispenser. A hardened heart doesn't win necessarily football games.

Which button is next? Tougher practices? Heart-to-heart chats? All-night fumble games? A media freeze-out? Personnel changes? All of them? None of them? Something else?

"It's coaching," he said to explain eight turnovers. "It's coaching and want-to and we didn't get it done. We got beat."

That's all up to Bo.

The buck is on his desk, awaiting instructions.

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