LINCOLN — Not 48 hours after the first real step in the wrong direction of this Nebraska football season, Bo Pelini sounded on Monday like a coach who had determined the best method to get the Huskers walking straight again.
“You've got to respect the game or you get humbled,” Pelini said in his first public comments since the moments after NU beat South Dakota State 17-3 at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Pelini, speaking on the Big 12 coaches' teleconference, said the Huskers “bought into the hype.” This setback, he said, came at a “perfect time” as NU prepares for conference play to open Oct. 7 at Kansas State.
“All the things that were being said about them,” Pelini said, “they started believing it instead of taking a good, hard look at what we talk about every day.”
Sixth-ranked NU (4-0) managed a season-low 345 yards against the winless Jackrabbits of the Football Championship Subdivision.
Quarterback Taylor Martinez was benched with nine minutes to play. And the Nebraska defense, while keeping South Dakota State out of the end zone, allowed 141 rushing yards and did not record a sack despite 28 pass attempts from SDSU quarterback Thomas O'Brien.
“It was a reality check,” Pelini said.
“I'm looking for us to keep making progress, playing the way they've been taught to play. We need to keep our progression going, which, to a certain point, we were doing, and then we just went out there and went away from the basics. Fundamentally, we were bad. There were just a lot of things we can learn from.”
Pelini shouldered responsibility after the game — consistent with his approach after ugly performances in 2008 and 2009 — but the Huskers said it's not fair to blame the coach.
“Coach Pelini believes in pointing the thumb and not the finger, but as players we need to take ownership of our performance,” senior cornerback Prince Amukamara said. “He is the coach, and that's part of his role. I think he feels that he has to take the blame. But we as players know that it was on us.”
Amukamara said he was pleased with the Huskers' play near the goal line against the Jackrabbits. NU denied South Dakota State on five plays from inside the 11-yard line in the first quarter. Cornerback Alfonzo Dennard later intercepted O'Brien at the 2.
Not much else met the approval of Nebraska's All-America candidate in the secondary.
“We're just trying not to let it happen again, not let it be a domino effect and carry on to practice,” he said. “Coach Pelini likes to preach focus on the process. We're going to watch the film. Study it. Learn from it and focus on what we've got next week at Kansas State.”
Pelini appreciates such talk.
“Our players, they don't need me to tell,” he said. “They know how they played and what happened and why it happened. I just told them it happened at a good time. This week, we need to make progress, and they understand that.”
The Huskers returned to practice Monday. Pelini said this week would include more work between the top units than normal for this time of year. He described it as a “half week,” with the Thursday night game on tap next week in Manhattan. Nebraska will begin preparation for the Wildcats a few days earlier than in its typical schedule. K-State, 4-0 after rallying for a 17-13 win Saturday over Central Florida, is also off until Oct. 7.
The Huskers, no doubt, will be reminded of their latest performance during practice this week.
“We've got to fix ourselves more than anything,” linebacker Alonzo Whaley said. “It's definitely a wakeup call that we're not this great team that we think we are.”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1031, mitch.sherman@owh.com
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