Husker Mike brings some welcome perspective to our coaching problems.

I’m willing to give Bill Callahan at least one more year to see if we start seeing some progress. It’s not a endorsement of Callahan by any means; outside of recruiting, he’s made far more mistakes than he’s made good changes too date. But Nebraska can’t get into a coaching carousel. Look around at how difficult it is to replace a legend: it took Alabama 3 tries to replace Bear Bryant. It took Oklahoma 3 tries to replace Barry Switzer. How many tries did it take for USC to replace John Robinson??? I still don’t think Bill Callahan is the answer at Nebraska; he’s just the 2nd guy to try and replace Tom Osborne.

Personally, I believe it’s simply a matter of time before we send BC packing. So, who’s next? South Carolina isn’t paying Steve Spurrier the big money. I don’t know that he’d want to journey into unfamiliar territory, but he’s one hell of a college coach. Any other suggestions?

Neill Woelk in The Daily Camera is reporting (free reg. req. or find one via BugMeNot)that Nebraska has returned unsold tickets to the CU ticket office. Something that hasn’t happened in many moons.

Here’s something that would have been unheard-of just a few years ago: The NU ticket office will actually return some unsold tickets to Colorado.

There was a time when Nebraska fans not only snapped up their entire allotment, but purchased every ticket they could get their hands on through the CU ticket office. That led to years when Folsom Field had a distinctive red hue.

No more. That’s what the specter of back-to-back losing seasons can do to even the most rabid fan base.

Everyone has heard by now that Bill Snyder is retiring from K-State after their final game.

But what you haven’t heard is that he is moving to Lincoln in spring. Apparently, his plans for retirement are to get as far away from college football as he can.

Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News writes, Callahan can’t point at players

“You do the best you can with the players you’ve got,” Callahan said after the Kansas debacle. This is the same coach who, after a loss in a season full of them for his Oakland Raiders in 2003, said he had “the dumbest team in America.” This, ladies and gentlemen, is unacceptable. Any coach worth his weight in long-term contracts knows teams are a reflection of their coach. Says South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier: “If our guys aren’t lined up right, aren’t where they’re supposed to be, aren’t doing the right thing, there’s only one person to blame — me. Players play how they are coached.”

While the tumultuous football season winds down to the final regular season match up against Colorado in Boulder, we should point out a couple important dates to mark on your calendar between now and then.

The Husker Volleyball team continues to absolutely destroy everyone in their wake. After taking on Baylor tomorrow night in Waco, the Huskers return to Lincoln to finish out their home schedule with Kansas State on Saturday (11/19) and Colorado on Wednesday (11/23).

Following those games, the Big Red Spikers wrap up their regular season at Texas on 11/26. First and Second round tourney action takes place 12/1 - 12/4 with Regionals (at the Qwest Center) taking place 12/9 - 12/10; Semifinals in San Antonio on 12/15 and the National Championship in San Antonio on 12/17.

Frankly, we would have loved to keep tabs on them all season, but scoring a ticket is next to impossible. We will be in the house at the Qwest Center though.

Derek Weinbrenner, writing for OU’s OUDaily believes Husker’s Callahan is Ruining Nebraska’s Tradition.

“OU fans have no reason to hold disdain for Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan after two straight victories against him. But he must be ditched for the sake of college football and Nebraska’s integrity.

After losing his Oakland Raiders job following an abysmal 4-12 season, Nebraska decided Callahan was its man. How did it come to that conclusion?

He took the Raiders to the Super Bowl, but then completely lost the magic. He was not on the rise then and has only fallen since.

He has done nothing for Nebraska but make it look like a horse’s ass.”

While we have our issues with the coaching staff, I still believe the fundamental problems with the program start in the AD’s office. Calling for coaching changes is wasted breath until changes are made at the root of the issue, else the problems will continue.

I miss the good old days when we played Oklahoma (our true rival) on the Friday after Turkey Day. But times change. Yet, if you’re anything like me, it has taken a number of years for this new “rivalry” with CU to sink in. Sure, the beating they put us through in Boulder a few years back certainly helped make a case. And the fact that Gary Barnett is one of football’s biggest jackasses doesn’t hurt.

Of course, CU is favored in this year’s matchup. No one can argue that they’ve outperformed NU of late. But we can beat the Buffs, just like any Big 12 team can beat any other Big 12 team on any given Saturday. Oklahoma State proved that theorem in Stillwater last Saturday.

Yes, it is a longshot. But oh what a sweet holiday weekend such a victory would provide. Plus, depending on how Iowa State and Mizzou fare in their next games, a Husker victory could rob CU of exclusive rights to the Big 12 North title– a title they’ve come to expect.

Come on Huskers. We’re mighty hungry for some fresh Buffalo meat. As you may have heard, it’s the source of a healthy diet.

All of a sudden the future looks a bit brighter.

Congdon floating on air

After QB Zac Taylor got knocked unconscious, Callahan sent #3, Harrison Beck, the ballyhooed blue-chipper from Clearwater, Fla into the game. Turns out 3 was the magic number. With time running out and K State with the lead, Beck helped set the stage for Jordan Congdon’s 40-yard field goal with just over a minute left in the game.

Omaha World Herald sports writer, Dirk Chatelain put it this way:

In a wild, woeful four-hour marathon between Big 12 bottom feeders, Beck embodied Nebraska’s performance in a 27-25 bowl-clinching victory over rival Kansas State.

He (Beck) was as smooth as a cactus. Sloppy as a kindergartner with a cupcake. And his uh-ohs outweighed his oh-wows. But in the end, Beck was smiling and basking in the cheers of a raucous sellout crowd.

“This is what you wait for,” he said. “This is why you sign your name on the dotted line to get your scholarship, for games like this.”

Bill Callahan has had a bad losing streak in college football before. From 1988 to 1992, he endured five straight losing seasons as Offensive Line Coach at Northern Arizona, Southern Illinois (where he was Offensive Coordinator) and Wisconsin, respectively. This included the 1-10 season Wisconsin endured in 1990.

What’s my point? My point is he’s not going to be given that kind of leeway to lose in Lincoln.

Click book to buy from Amazon

Univ. of Nebraska Press: A journey into an obsessed Nebraska fan’s soul, Forever Red immerses readers in the mad, mad world of Cornhusker football fandom—where wearing the scarlet-and-cream Huskers gear has its own peculiar rules; where displaced followers act as the program’s ambassadors, finding Cornhusker subculture beyond the pale; and where the team’s performance can barely keep pace with its followers’ expectations but sometimes exceeds their wildest dreams. Blending wit and insight, Smith’s story of twenty-plus years following the team takes readers back to memorable game moments from 1980 to the new era under coach Bill Callahan, offering the uninitiated and the fellow fanatic alike a window on the world where fantasy and football meet, where dreams of glory and gritty gridiron realities forever join.

Steve Smith is an award-winning journalist now working as online editor for the Lincoln Journal Star.