Weekend Wrap: Callahan Points to Turnovers

A few thoughts from a somewhat soggy weekend:

Bill Callahan points to turnovers as the key factor in losses last year, according to a story in today's Omaha World-Herald. It's easy to look at the Oklahoma game and see the impact of 5 turnovers. But Nebraska only turned the ball over once in losses at USC and at Oklahoma State, which makes that 41-7 drubbing down the stretch against the Cowboys even more baffling. While turnovers played a factor in some losses (they certainly didn't help), there were more problems other than turnovers that need to be addressed.

I posted some observations about the quiet confidence of the Huskers over at CornNation last week. Steve Sipple of the Lincoln Journal-Star made the same observation in picking the Huskers to win the Big XII North this season:

Two things about the Huskers stood out in San Antonio: Bill Callahan’s sense of calm, confidence and growing ease around reporters. And Bo Ruud’s sense of urgency.

“There are no excuses now,” said Ruud, a preseason All-Big 12 linebacker, alluding to the fact Callahan’s recruits are in place. “There’s nothing to fall back on. We have to take that next step.”

Speaking of the Journal-Star, talk of building a new arena in Lincoln is heating up. In some respects, Lincoln feels threatened by Omaha's Qwest Center, which has taken a few events, such as the State Wrestling Tournament, that used to be in Lincoln. But is that justification to spend $100 million on a new arena? Kind of doubtful. However, with the Devaney Center needing some updates and Pershing Center being out-of-date, there is a business case for a new arena if it becomes the new home of Husker basketball. I wonder how long it will take for some new Briejay fan to take a swipe at Nebraska basketball attendance, not even being aware of the fact that Husker hoops used to double or triple the Jays in attendance in the not-too-distant past. Good idea? If they are doing it just to get state wrestling back, fuggetaboutit. But if Lincoln is doing it in conjunction with the University as a replacement for the Devaney with all the prerequisite amenities (suites, club seating, etc.) it could make sense.

AJ the Huskerh8er has a nice take about the obsession some folks have with recruiting. And yes...it's an obsession for some. Remember that all-everything, Tom-Lemming-rated-#1 recruiting class of 2005? Well, yet another of those can't-miss-gonna-start-as-a-true-freshman signees is departing the football program early. Craig Roark suffered from injuries and position switches, and is leaving the team and considering transferring to a division 2 school. For those of you keeping track, 11 players from that class have left the program prematurely. As I said 2 years ago, the 2005 class was severely overrated:

The 2005 recruiting class was simply overhyped.

First of all, let me say this: It's way too early to judge the 2005 recruiting class.

It's too early now, it was too early this summer, and it was too early last winter when some people handed these guys starting jobs.

Let me also say this: The 2005 recruiting class was ranked more on numbers (31 recruits) than on quality. There will, no doubt, be some fine football players in this group. And in a year or two, we should be enjoying their success on the field.

But somewhere along the way, the hype meter went off the scale. Harrison Beck, Craig Roark, and Rodney Picou were going to be starting. Marlon Lucky was this year's Adrian Peterson. Zac Bowman was going to declare after this season for the NFL draft.

The problem with the obsession is that these players arrive with the expectation that they are going to play...and when it doesn't work out for them, they don't react maturely because they feel they've been promised the starting job. It doesn't help things either when the coaching staff is making the same promises. Bill Callahan confessed this week that he promised Terrence Nunn playing time as a freshman:

I remember Terrence asking me, Coach, am I going to play as a freshman? I said, There's no question you'll play as a freshman, because at that time we didn't have any wide receivers that really came from a passing system, per se.

We've heard these allegations before, from Brian Hildebrand and insinuated by Jordan Congdon. Now, even the coach admits it.

I also see that AJ hates my Cubbies... too bad that they're now a half-game out of first place. Nice to see that KOZN 1620 AM has picked the night and weekend games back up. Hard to say how long they'll keep it up, but Cub fans are always optimistic. Even with the idea that Kerry Wood might actually be able to pitch this weekend for the Cubs. Hope springs eternal....whether warranted or not.