Samuel McKewon of the State Paper is one of many reporters on the Husker beat without much nice to say after Saturday night’s humiliation.

Football pride matters around here. And it can’t get any more bruised than it did Saturday night.

Not even USC could have expected the Husker linebackers to seem so, well, “lost” isn’t a strong enough word. Bewildered? Statuesque? Just like they weren’t ready for Wake Forest’s speed, they just weren’t ready for Southern California’s brand of nasty. A fullback doesn’t run for 50 yards on the first play if you’re ready. The next play doesn’t go for 40. Wide receivers in motion don’t trigger massive brain freezes.

And to think Husker coaches and players talked all that psychological rot last week.

The opponent is the opponent, huh?

Before McKewon wraps his piece, he rallies and finds something nice to say. He believes Keller should be a captain, even if the players didn’t vote for him.

Keller was one of the few who actually came prepared. He took shot after shot, tossed two dumb interceptions, bounced right back up and still kept flinging it. He answered the media’s questions, took responsibility for the picks, and made a point to mention the fine play of his receivers.

Keller is the face of this team. He’s the arm of it, too. He willingly played scout team last year, arranged voluntary workouts with receiver Mo Purify while Purify was suspended, and has said all the right things during and after the quarterback competition with Joe Ganz.

I don’t know about the captain thing. Leaders often don’t have the titles they deserve.