- All the unrest in Lincoln is causing many Nebraska recruits in the 2008 class to de-commit and reopen the bidding war. Jonas Gray, a top 10 back in the nation, and Blaine Gabbert, a top 5 QB in the nation, have both either de-committed or taken trips to other schools in the past week. Not good. Things could get much worse before they get better. This coaching change could set things back a few more years unless Osborne or the new coach can work some magic with these guys.
NU Football: Callahan situation affecting recruits
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - With Nebraska football finding itself on shakier ground by the minute, Jonas Gray likely is going to pick somewhere else to stand.
The prized I-back recruit told assistant coach Randy Jordan on Monday night that he was de-committing. Gray had visited Notre Dame on Saturday and probably is going to look harder at Michigan and Louisiana State.
It fired the first of what could be several shots at the Huskers' commitment list in light of the three-game losing skid and uncertain future for coach Bill Callahan and his staff.
"He wasn't stunned," Gray said of Jordan. "He understood, in light of the situation, that I had to do what's best for me."
Nebraska already had gone into damage control, getting Tom Osborne's phone number to Gray and encouraging him to call Monday night. Gray never reached the NU interim athletic director and former coach, who said last week that he wouldn't announce any decision on Callahan's future until after the regular season.
Gray said that would be too long of a wait for him.
"Even if he does keep Coach Callahan, you figure every year he's going to be on a short leash," said Gray, from Southfield, Mich. "Was I committed to the coaching staff or the school? I was definitely committed to the coaching staff."
Gray said it "doesn't mean I'm completely done with Nebraska," but his situation isn't totally unlike that of other high-profile NU recruits suddenly reconsidering. Among those are quarterback Blaine Gabbert, linebacker Will Compton and offensive lineman Bryce Givens.
Asked earlier Monday what his message would be to NU recruits who are wavering, Callahan's answer included nothing about being able to guarantee them he would be around when they signed in February.
"I think a prospect selects a school because of its tradition, because of its value educationally," Callahan said on the Big 12 teleconference. "I think it's all-encompassing in terms of selecting a school. We just tell them to stay in there and just support our staff and our program and our players - and everything that surrounds Nebraska. We really try to sell that message to them."
However, linebacker Shaun Mohler of Costa Mesa, Calif., is like Gray in that he wants to know who will or won't be there next season because a lot of his decision was based on the Husker staff. In the meantime, he already has lined up a visit to Colorado and likely will take three to Pacific 10 schools.
"It's definitely not done now," Mohler said. "It is hard because I went on my recruiting trip there and loved it. Now you look at it and the coaching staff is getting fired, there's a new athletic director . . . what would you do in that situation?
"They say hang in there, just play your season out and don't worry about this right now, which is kind of hard to do."
Millard North senior Sean Fisher said he's tried to stay informed on NU matters through a friend on the team. The linebacker recruit also calls Husker defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove every Wednesday.
It's hard not to follow what's happening with the other 23 high school or junior college players who have committed before or after him.
"You'd like to make sure the recruiting class stays intact, regardless of the situation," Fisher said. "But I understand where they're coming from."
Fisher said his conversations with Cosgrove haven't included much insight into the future of the staff, "maybe because they don't know themselves."
- Much like the ATM game last week, which wasn't even televised on PPV, the Texas game this week just isn't as big anymore. Texas is .500 in conference and Nebraska might be the worst team in the whole Big 12.
College football: UT-Nebraska matchup lacks luster
Web Posted: 10/22/2007 10:41 PM CDT
Natalie England
San Antonio Express-News
AUSTIN — The Texas Longhorns talked a lot about respect on Monday, and an awful lot about history.
After all, Saturday's game against Nebraska is just the fifth in college football history between programs that each have more than 800 all-time victories.
And when you see those white helmets with the red "N's" and the burnt-orange Longhorns, "you know exactly who it is," UT coach Mack Brown said.
The two storied programs have come up with some gems — "Roll Left," anyone? Just don't expect the same kind of sizzle this week, when historical reputations are all that are keeping the Longhorns and Cornhuskers in the national dialogue.
The eyes of the conference won't even be on Royal-Memorial Stadium. They'll be on College Station, where Texas A&M plays that Big 12 North power Kansas — and it's not even basketball season yet.
Victories against Iowa State and Baylor have steadied the Longhorns after losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma, but they still need to win out and get help from others to wrestle back into the Big 12 or BCS pictures.
That scenario might actually sound like paradise for the Cornhuskers, who are mired in a three-game losing stretch that has the program at its lowest point since a 1-9 disaster 50 years ago.
Since beating Iowa State on Sep. 29, the Cornhuskers have been outscored 122-34. In a 36-14 home loss to Texas A&M on Saturday, Nebraska was gouged for 359 rushing yards — the second highest total for A&M in a road game.
This is not the Nebraska that advanced to 35-straight bowl games and won three national titles — these Cornhuskers rank 105th in total defense, surrendering 457.4 yards per game.
For the record, Florida International — which started its football program in 2002 and is winless in two seasons of Division I play — is No. 104.
"We're struggling. We realize that," Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. "We understand that we can be a better football team."
The Longhorns, at least, aren't looking at the Cornhuskers' struggles, including the 41-6 whipping from Missouri or the 45-14 rout by Oklahoma State. They'll just be focusing on those helmets and the red "N."
"Nebraska is a historic team — and that's something they'll always have," center Dallas Griffin said. "You've got to watch out for a team like that. They'll always be dangerous."
The Cornhuskers last visited UT in 2003, and a 31-7 Longhorns victory helped seal the fate of coach Frank Solich, who was fired after a 9-3 campaign.
Callahan took over the next season, but he comes to Austin on a similar hot seat — and Solich's 9-3 failure is looking awfully good right now.
When Callahan retreated from Memorial Stadium after the numbing loss to Oklahoma State, Nebraska fans — well, the ones who stayed past halftime — taunted him with boos and curses.
And last week, Callahan, offensive mastermind that he is, reportedly wasn't even allowed to call plays. That duty went to offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, under orders from interim athletic director Tom Osborne.
If this isn't rock bottom for Nebraska, what is? And that scares the Longhorns most of all.
"They'll be playing harder than they ever have to turn this trend around," UT nose tackle Derek Lokey said. "You have to expect that they'll give us their best blow."
- The Austin paper.....
Nebraska's skid takes edge off its Texas trip
Cornhuskers are in a downward spiral coming into Austin this weekend.
Click-2-Listen
By Suzanne Halliburton
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
At the beginning of the season, the glamour game on the Texas home schedule was the Longhorns' late-October matchup with Nebraska.
It's not so sexy anymore.
The Cornhuskers (4-4) are limping into Austin on a three-game losing skid. They need to win two of their next four to be bowl eligible. The defense is on track to be the worst in school history — as it stands now, the Blackshirts are 105th nationally.
And they've been outscored 122-34 during this latest losing streak.
Oddsmakers have established the Huskers as a three-touchdown underdog to the Longhorns.
On Monday, Texas coach Mack Brown was busy trying to verbally rub some luster back into the game, which is expected to draw the largest home crowd this year.
The team "won't even look at the record or even all the stuff you guys talk about all week," Brown told local media. "They will be excited about playing Nebraska. When you put those two helmets out on the field, we'll be excited to see that white helmet with that 'N' on it when they run out on the field."
Expect Brown to maintain that Nebraska rhetoric all week as he tries to prevent his team from overlooking their beleaguered foe. After all, the 17th-ranked Longhorns can empathize with their opponent. They were involved with their own two-game losing streak earlier this month, only to snap the slump by outscoring Iowa State and Baylor, 87-13.
The last time Texas played at Royal-Memorial Stadium was Sept. 29, when the Longhorns suffered through a 41-21 loss to Kansas State, their worst home defeat in eight years.
"We didn't play well last time we were home. We want to give fans a good show," said Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo.
Texas has provided a good show for its fans in past Nebraska games, losing only once in seven tries since the Big 12 Conference formed in 1996.
And the Texas wins have come in every possible fashion, from the boring to the dramatic.
Texas has won as a massive underdog — see the 1996 Big 12 title game, when Texas quarterback James Brown directed Texas to a 37-27 victory over the two-time defending national champions.
See 1999, when Texas knocked Nebraska out of the national title picture with a 20-16 win at Austin.
The Horns have won nail-biters, too. In 2002, Texas cornerback Nathan Vasher picked off a pass in the end zone to seal the 27-24 victory. Only a year ago, unknown walk-on Ryan Bailey kicked a winning field goal in the snow and swirling winds to give Texas a 22-20 win.
They've trashed Nebraska traditions by snapping long Husker home winning streaks in 1998 (47 games) and 2002 (26 games). Both times, Nebraska had come into its games against Texas with the nation's longest home winning streak. For a decade, Texas was the lone team to beat Nebraska in Lincoln.
The last time Nebraska came to Austin represented the only lopsided Texas win. That's when the Longhorns mimicked two main Husker principles. They ran well — rushing for 353 yards. Conversely, they stuffed the run, limiting Nebraska to 53 yards on the ground, the lowest Huskers rushing total in 24 years.
But Brown is desperate to leave all this history in the past.
If anything, he's reminding the Horns what happened last season, when Texas blew a nine-point halftime lead.
"It basically is a rivalry game because we went down there and stole one from their hometown," said Longhorn receiver Nate Jones. "So they're going to come in and put up a great fight, so we have to continue to make sure that we remain in the right direction and try to get another win this weekend."
Expect Nebraska coach Bill Callahan also to bring up last year's game, in which Nebraska was only an Aaron Ross forced-fumble away from winning.
Callahan's livelihood could ride on the outcome. A victory over a ranked team would add some polish to the famous red N on the white helmet.
"We understand we can be a better football team, and we're doing everything we can to get these kids to play better," Callahan said. "They're receptive in that regard, and we try to hang together and stay tight-knit and put out the best product that we can."
- Big 12 Rankings
1) Oklahoma - Has looked pretty ordinary the past few weeks. Shutout by Iowa State in the 1st half? Is parity really that bad?
2) Missouri - Should have beaten Oklahoma a few weeks ago, and will beat them on a neutral field in December, mark it down.
3) Texas - Needs some breaks, but still in the hunt for the South.
4) Kansas - Refuse to put them any higher, let's see how College Station treats them this weekend.
5) Texas A&M - Has a chance in these next 4 weeks to prove they belong. A 3-1 record saves Fran.
6) Oklahoma State - Looks like they're getting things together finally. A 3-1 record in conference play.
7) Texas Tech - Typical stuff, beat up on inferior opponents with gimmick offense, have it shut down against top teams. Tech will always be Tech.
8) Kansas State - Tough team, but overachieves most of the time and is just average.
9) Colorado - Another team that will play you tough, but generally average.
10) Nebraska - I hate this team.
11) Iowa State - If they hadn't of lost to Nebraska, they'd be #10.
12) Baylor - Give it up.
- National Top 10
1) Boston College - I refuse to put Ohio State here. BC has a chance to jump to #1 in the BCS with a road win at Virginia Tech.
2) Arizona State - Next 4 games to prove they belong - home for Cal, at Oregon, at UCLA and home for USC. Win those, and you're in the title game.
3) LSU - What a gutsy, almost brain-dead play Saturday night. In field goal range, time running out, and you use up almost the entire clock and chuck it into the end zone? Wow, one of the craziest play calls of the year.
4) Oregon - An atypical PAC-10 team, they'll pound you with the running game. Big game vs. USC. Give me Oregon -3.
5) Ohio State - They'll get beat, maybe twice before the end of the year. Watch out for the White Out in Penn State this Saturday, should be a cool scene.
6) Oklahoma - Not sold on them anymore, too many lackluster performances. Will lose to Missouri the 2nd time around.
7) Florida - A good team, just a victim of the SEC schedule. Win out and could be 1st 2-loss team to ever play for the title.
8) West Virginia - On upset alert at Rutgers this Saturday. Rutgers has that mojo at home vs. top teams.
9) Missouri - Best team in the conference, I don't care what Oklahoma says.
10) USC - Might lose 2 more games.
On Cusp
- Virginia Tech - Wins ugly, big game vs. BC.
- South Florida - Hate this team. QB is overrated, doesn't know how to throw ball away and avoid sacks, and team as a whole is undisciplined. That Rutgers game should have let everyone know how overrated that coach is. Yes, he's intense, but all that intensity still can't prevent his players from late-hitting and committing penalty after penalty. Glad they lost, they don't deserve a BCS bowl.
- Kansas - Will lose this weeekend to ATM.
- Kentucky - Talented, but not talented enough to withstand the week-to-week beating of an SEC schedule.
- South Carolina - Was waiting for them to get exposed, and it finally happened.
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