Maybe Nebraska's Bo Pelini and Texas' Mack Brown can compare notes this week as they try to move past what were mind-boggling, lackluster performances by their football teams.
“I've got to go home and try to put some sense into this,'' Brown said after UT's 34-12 home loss to 16-point underdog UCLA, which already had lost to Kansas State and was shut out by Stanford.
Nebraska at least won, but had no answers for why the score was only 17-3 over Division I-AA South Dakota State at home.
Brown used the words shocked, stunning and disappointing in reviewing his defending Big 12 champions' play against UCLA, which gashed the Longhorns for 264 rushing yards.
“It's the hardest thing in the world when you do not play well as a team,'' he said. “It's an awful feeling for a coach.
“You feel like you let your kids down. You feel like you let your fans down. We're paid to do it well. We didn't.''
Plenty of fans offered ideas for Brown. Within two hours of the loss, a record 2,414 people were on the Inside the 40 Acres message board at Orangebloods.com, and the venom gushed.
Nebraska has an open date to try to figure out its problems.
Texas (3-1) is in danger of its first 3-3 start since 1997. The Longhorns face Oklahoma on Saturday in Dallas, then have an open date before playing in Lincoln on Oct. 16.
So were the expectations too high for this UT team?
“Of course not,'' wide receiver Marquise Goodwin said. “This is the University of Texas, and expectations are always high. This one loss is not going to bring us down.''
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